Since the disastrous episode of the pixies, Professor Lockhart had not brought any live creatures to class. Instead, he read passages from his books to them, and sometimes re-enacted some of the more dramatic bits. He usually picked Harry, Selena or both of them to help him with these reconstructions; so far, Harry had been forced to play a simple Transylvanian villager who Lockhart had cured of a Babbling Curse, Selena had been cast as a yeti with a head cold, and a vampire who had been unable to eat anything except lettuce since Lockhart had dealt with her.
Harry was hauled to the front of the class during their very next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, this time acting a werewolf. If he hadn't had a very good reason for keeping Lockhart in a good mood, he would have refused to do it.
"Nice loud howl, Harry – exactly – and then, if you'll believe it, I pounced – like this – slammed him to the floor – thus with one hand, I managed to hold him down – with my other, I put my wand to his throat – I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm – he let out a piteous moan – go on, Harry – higher than that – good – the fur vanished – the fangs shrank – and he turned back into a man. Simple, yet effective – and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks."
The bell rang and Lockhart got his feet.
"Homework – compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf! Signed copies of Magical Me to the author of the best one!"
The class began to leave. Harry returned to the back of the room, where Ron, Hermione and Selena were waiting.
"Ready?" Harry muttered.
"Wait till everyone's gone," said Hermione nervously. "All right…"
She approached Lockhart's desk, a piece of paper clutched tightly in her hand, Harry, Ron and Selena right behind her.
"Er – Professor Lockhart? Hermione stammered. "I wanted to – to get this book out of the library. Just for the background reading." She held out the piece of paper, her hand shaking slightly. "But the thing is, it's in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a teacher to sign for it – I'm sure it would help me understand what you say in Gadding with Ghouls about slow acting venoms…"
"Ah, Gadding with Ghouls!" said Lockhart, taking the note from Hermione and smiling widely at her. "Possibly my very favourite book. You enjoyed it?"
"Oh, yes," said Hermione eagerly. "So clever, the way you trapped that last one with the tea strainer –"
"Well, I'm sure no one will mind me giving the best student of the year a little extra help," said Lockhart warmly, and he pulled out an enormous peacock quill. "Yes, nice, isn't it?" he said, misreading the revolted looks on Ron and Selena's faces. "I usually save it for book signings."
He scrawled an enormous loopy signature on the note and handed it back to Hermione.
"So, Harry," said Lockhart, while Hermione folded the note with fumbling fingers and slipped it into her bag. "Tomorrow's the first Quidditch match of the season, I believe? Gryffindor against Slytherin, is it not? I hear you're a useful player. I was a Seeker, too. I was asked to try for the National Squad, but preferred to delicate my life to the eradication of the Dark Forces. Still, if ever you feel the need for a little private training, don't hesitate to ask. Always happy to pass on my expertise to less able players…"
Selena might have done something stupid, but Lockhart was starting to get under her muscles. She had had enough. "Excuse me Professor, my brother just happens to be the Youngest Quidditch player of the century. He doesn't need any advice on how to play Quidditch, now if you don't mind – we best be off, wouldn't want to interrupt your great and magical genius."
Lockhart made a strange indistinct noise in his throat as they hurried off before he could call them back.
Ron was staring at Selena in amazement. "That was bloody brilliant Selena,"
She was holding a hand to her forehead like she had a headache, which wasn't that far from the truth. "Lockhart's getting on my nerves, I had to put him in his place."
"Let's just hope you didn't do anything stupid," said Harry as the four of them examined the signature on the note. "I can't believe it, he didn't even look at the book we wanted."
"That's because it's all hot air in that head of his," said Selena.
"Who cares, we've got what we needed –"
"He is not all hot air up there," said Hermione shrilly as they half ran toward the library.
"Just because he said you were the best student of the year –" said Ron.
They dropped their voices as they entered the muffled stillness of the library. Madam Pince, the librarian, was a thin, irritable woman who looked like an underfed vulture.
"Moste Potente Potions?" she repeated suspiciously, trying to take the note from Hermione; but Hermione wouldn't let go.
"I was wondering if I could keep it," she said breathlessly.
"Oh, come on," said Ron, wrenching it from her grasp and thrusting it at Madame Pince. "We'll get you another autograph."
"Ron's right Hermione, Lockhart'll sign anything that stands still long enough." said Selena.
Madam Pince held the note up to the light, as though determined to detect a forgery, but it passed the test. She stalked away between the lofty shelves and returned several minutes later carrying a large and mouldy looking book. Hermione put it carefully into her bag and they left, trying not to walk too quickly or look too guilty.
Five minutes later, they were barricaded in Moaning Myrtle's out of order bathroom once again. Hermione had overridden Ron's objections by pointing out that it was the last place anyone in their right minds would go, so they were guaranteed some privacy Moaning Myrtle was crying noisily in her stall, but they were ignoring her, and she them. Only Selena was on edge, having difficulties in deciding whether she should go over there and comfort Myrtle or stay put on the tile floor.
Hermione opened Moste Potente Potions carefully, and the four of them bent over the damp spotted pages. It was clear from a glance why it belonged in the Restricted Section. Some of the potions had effects almost too gruesome to think about, and there were some very unpleasant illustrations, which included a man who seemed to have been turned inside out and a witch sprouting several extra pairs of arms out of her head.
"Here it is," said Hermione excitedly as she found the page headed The Polyjuice Potion. It was decorated with drawings of people halfway through transforming into other people. Harry sincerely hoped the artists had imagined the looks of intense pain on their faces.
"This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen," said Hermione as they scanned the recipe. "Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed, and knotgrass," she murmured, running her finger down the list of ingredients. "Well, they're easy enough, they're in the student store cupboard, we can help ourselves… Oooh, look, powdered horn of a Bicorn – don't know where we're going to get that – shredded skin of a Boomslang – that'll be tricky, too and of course a bit of whoever we want to change into."
"Excuse me?" said Ron sharply. "What d'you mean, a bit of whoever we're going to change into? I'm drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in it –"
Hermione continued as though she hadn't heard him.
"We don't have to worry about that yet, though, because we add those bits last…"
Ron turned, speechless, to Harry and Selena, who had another worry.
"D'you realize how much we're going to have to steal, Hermione? Shredded skin of a boomslang, that's definitely not in the students' cupboard."
"That'll be in Snape's private stores, meaning we'll have to somehow break in. I don't know if this is a good idea…" said Selena, biting her lip.
Hermione shut the book with a snap.
"Well, if you three are going to chicken out, fine," she said. There were bright pink patches on her cheeks and her eyes were brighter than usual. "I don't want to break rules, you know. I think threatening Muggle-borns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But if you don't want to find out if it's Malfoy, I'll go straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back in –"
"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be persuading us to break rules," said Ron. "All right, we'll do it. But not toenails, okay?"
"How long will it take to make, anyway?" said Harry as Hermione, looking happier, opened the book again.
"Well, since the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon and the lacewings have got to be stewed for twenty-one days… I'd say it'd be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients."
"A month?" said Ron.
"Hermione, if Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin, he could attack half the Muggle-borns in the school by then!" said Harry.
"Do you think it's worth the risk, I mean we've got no evidence against Draco being Slytherin's Heir other than he's in Slytherin's House." said Selena but Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously again, and she added swiftly, "But it's the best plan we've got, so full steam ahead, I say."
However, while Hermione was checking that the coast was clear for them to leave the bathroom, Ron muttered to Harry, "It'll be a lot less hassle if you just knock Malfoy off his broom tomorrow."
Selena rolled her eyes. There was no point in arguing to Ron about it in here. He disliked Draco to the core.
Harry woke early on Saturday morning and lay for a while thinking about the coming Quidditch match. He was nervous, mainly at the thought of what Wood would say if Gryffindor lost, but also at the idea of facing a team mounted on the fastest racing brooms gold could buy. He had never wanted to beat Slytherin so badly. After half an hour of lying there with his insides churning, he got up, dressed, and went down to breakfast early, where he found the rest of the Gryffindor team huddled at the long, empty table, all looking uptight and not speaking much.
As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school started to make its way down to the Quidditch stadium. It was a muggy sort of day with a hint of thunder in the air. Ron, Hermione and Selena came hurrying over to wish Harry good luck and Selena gave him a bear hug as he entered the locker rooms. The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, then sat down to listen to Wood's usual pre-match pep talk.
"Slytherin has better brooms than us," he began. "No point denying it. But we've got better people on our brooms. We've trained harder than they have, we've been flying in all weathers –" ("Too true," muttered George Weasley. "I haven't been properly dry since August") "and we're going to make them rue the day they let that little bit of slime, Malfoy, buy his way onto their team." Chest heaving with emotion, Wood turned to Harry.
"It'll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a Seeker has to have something more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we've got to win today, we've got to."
"So no pressure, Harry," said Fred, winking at him.
As they walked out onto the pitch, a roar of noise greeted them; mainly cheers, because Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin beaten, but the Slytherins in the crowd made their boos and hisses heard, too. Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher, asked Flint and Wood to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary.
"On my whistle," said Madam Hooch. "Three… two… one…"
With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. Harry flew higher than any of them, squinting around the Snitch.
"All right there, Scarhead?" yelled Malfoy, shooting underneath him as though to show off the speed of his broom.
Harry had no time to reply. At that very moment, a heavy black Bludger came pelting toward him; he avoided it no narrowly that he felt it ruffle his hair as it passed.
"Close one, Harry!" said George, streaking past him with his club in his hand, ready to knock the Bludger back toward a Slytherin. Harry saw George give the Bludger a powerful whack in the direction of Adrian Pucey, but the Bludger changed direction in mid-air and shot straight for Harry again.
Harry dropped quickly to avoid it, and George managed to hit it hard toward Malfoy. Once again, the Bludger swerved like a boomerang and shot at Harry's head.
Up in the stands, Selena was biting her nails, tears forming in her eyes. "What's going on with that Bludger!" she cried over the gasps and screams from the other Gryffindors.
"It's been tampered with, that's what!" shouted Vanessa. She had to shout as the crowd began screaming, unable to do anything other than sit tight and watch as Harry picked up speed, zooming toward the other end of the pitch with the Bludger whistling behind him. No one had any idea what was going on. Bludgers weren't supposed to concentrate on one player like this; it was their job to try and unseat as many people as possible…
Ron held out his broken wand. "I'll stop it!"
"No, don't!" Hermione snapped, wrenching his wand out of his hand.
"Hermione's right Ron, even with a proper wand it's too risky. You could hit Harry." said Adeline.
"We have to do something, that Bludger's gonna take my brother's head off." cried Selena.
"Then stop the Bludger!" Odessa shouted.
"You heard Adeline, I might hit Harry!"
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD! ARE YOU TELEKINETIC OR NOT!"
"Oh right!" Selena cried, shoving them out of the way to get a clear view.
Concentrating on the Bludger was difficult as the ball was zooming at the speed of the Slytherin team. The Bludger was putting up a great fight. It pulled through like a person walking through a hurricane and Selena was building up a sweat and her head hurt like her brain was being crushed. She tasted iron on her tongue and Hermione gave a yell. "Selena, stop! You're bleeding!" she was pointing at Selena's nose.
Selena reached up to her cupids bow and saw a red smear on her fingers. Her nose was bleeding. "Stop! Stop!" Hermione cried, urging Selena to stop using her powers. Selena did, and her head felt like it had been deflated. Adeline quickly handed Selena a handkerchief. Selena held the handkerchief to her bleeding nose and tilted her head back, pinching her nostrils shut. "What happened?" Ron asked, seeing the blood staining the handkerchief.
"I think you must have popped a blood vessel Selena, you may have pushed your powers too far." said Hermione.
"Does it hurt in anyway?" Odessa asked rubbing Selena's back.
"Ma head feels ike it's ben deflated!" Selena slurred, her voice sounding funny due to her nose being squashed shut.
"Maybe you should rest." said Odessa.
"But what bout 'arry!" Selena argued.
"I'm sure Fred and George will look out for him." Vanessa said, urging Selena to sit down. She gulped and whispered. "Let's hope so."
It had started to rain; Harry felt heavy drops fall onto his face splattering onto his glasses. He didn't have a clue what was going on in the rest of the game until he heard lee Jordan, who was commentating, say, "Slytherin lead, sixty points to zero."
The Slytherins' superior brooms were clearly doing their jobs, and meanwhile the mad Bludger was doing all it could to knock Harry out of the air. Fred and George were now flying so close to him on either side that harry could see nothing at all except their flailing arms and had no chance to look for the Snitch, let alone catch it.
"Someone's – tampered – with – this – Bludger –" Fred grunted, swinging his bat will all his might as it launched a new attack on Harry.
"We need time out," said George, trying to signal to Wood and stop the Bludger breaking Harry's nose at the same time.
Wood had obviously got the message. Madam Hooch's whistle rang out and Harry, Fred and George dived for the ground, still trying to avoid the mad Bludger.
"What's going on?" said Wood as the Gryffindor team huddled together, while Slytherins in the crowd jeered. "We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina scoring?"
"Twenty feet above her, stopping another Bludger from murdering Harry, Oliver," said George angrily. "Someone's fixed it – it won't leave Harry alone. It hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done something to it."
"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then…" said Wood, anxiously.
Madam Hooch was walking toward them. Over her shoulder, Harry could see the Slytherin team jeering and pointing in his direction.
"Listen," said Harry as she came nearer and nearer, "with you two flying around me all the time the only way I'm going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve. Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal with the rogue one."
"Don't be thick," said Fred. "It'll take your head off." Wood was looking from Harry to the Weasleys.
"Oliver, this is insane," said Alicia Spinnet angrily. "You can't let Harry deal with that thing on his own. Let's ask for an inquiry…"
"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" said Harry. "And we're not losing to Slytherin just because of a crazy Bludger! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave me alone!"
"This is all your fault," George said angrily to Wood. "'Get the Snitch or die trying,' what a stupid thing to tell him!"
Madam Hooch had joined them.
"Ready to resume play?" she asked Wood.
Wood looked at the determined look on Harry's face.
"All right," he said. "Fred, George, you heard Harry – leave him alone and let him deal with the Bludger on his own."
The rain was falling more heavily now. On Madam Hooch's whistle, Harry kicked hard into the air and heard the telltale whoosh of the Bludger behind him. Higher and higher Harry climbed; he looped and swooped, spiralled, zigzagged, and rolled. Slightly dizzy, he nevertheless kept his eyes wide open, rain was speckling his glasses and ran up his nostrils as he hung upside down, avoiding another fierce dive from the Bludger. He could hear laughter from the crowd; he knew he must look very stupid, but the rogue Bludger was heavy and couldn't change direction as quickly as Harry could; he began a kind of roller coaster ride around the edges of the stadium, squinting through the silver sheets of rain to the Gryffindor goal posts, where Adrian Pucey was trying to get past Wood…
For an agonizing moment, Harry hung in mid-air, not daring to speed toward Malfoy in case he looked up and saw the Snitch.
WHAM
He had stayed still a second too long. The Bludger had hit him at last, smashed into his elbow, and Harry felt his arm break. Dimly, dazed by the searing pain in his arm, he slid sideways on his rain drenched broom, one knee still crooked over it, his right arm dangling useless at his side – the Bludger came pelting back for a second attack, this time aiming at his face – Harry swerved out of the way, one idea firmly lodged in his numb brain: get to Malfoy.
Through a haze of rain and pain he dived for the shimmering, sneering face below him and saw its eyes widened with fear: Malfoy though Harry was attacking him.
"What the –" he gasped, careening out of Harry's way.
Harry took his remaining hand of his broom and made a wild snatch; he felt his fingers close on the cold Snitch but now only gripping the broom with his legs, and there was a yell from the crowd below as he headed straight for the ground, trying hard not to pass out.
With a splattering thud he hit the mud and rolled off his broom. His arm was hanging at a very strange angle; riddled with pain, he heard, as though from a distance, a good deal of whistling and shouting. He focused on the Snitch clutched in his good hand.
"Aha," he said vaguely. "We've won." And he fainted.
He came around, raining falling on his face, still lying on the field, with someone leaning over him. He saw a glitter of teeth.
"Oh no, not you," he moaned.
"Doesn't know what he's saying," said Lockhart loudly to the anxious crowd of Gryffindors pressing around them. Selena was kneeling in the mud beside Harry, holding a blood-stained handkerchief to her nose. "What happened to you?" Harry asked Selena.
"I was trying to stop the Bludger from killing you, but I ended up with a nose bleed. I'll be fine – Professor I really think he should go to the Hospital Wing!" Selena suddenly said as Lockhart starting to gently roll back Harry's sleeve. "Nonsense Selena, your brother is in good hands with me. Don't worry, Harry. I'm about to fix your arm."
"No!" said Harry. "I'll keep it like this, thanks…"
He tried to move, but the pain was terrible. He heard a familiar clicking noise nearby. Selena heard it too as she jerked her head in the direction the clicking was coming from and yelled: "COLIN IF YOU DON'T GET OFF THIS PITCH IN THE NEXT FIVE SECONDS, I'M GOING TO SMASH THAT CAMERA!" The clicking stopped instantly and Selena heard a choking whimper nearby. Of course, she was never going to break the camera. Perhaps it was the annoyance of Colin following them around whenever he could that made Selena lose her temper.
"Remain calm, Harry," said Lockhart soothingly. "It's a simple charm I've used countless times –"
"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" said Harry through clenched teeth.
"He really should, Professor," said a muddy Wood, who couldn't help grinning even though his Seeker was injured. "Great Capture, Harry, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say –"
Through the thicket of legs around him, Harry spotted Fred and George Weasley, wrestling the rogue Bludger into a box. It was still putting up a terrific fight.
"Stand back," said Lockhart, who was rolling up his jade green sleeves.
"No – don't –" said harry weakly, but Lockhart was twirling his wand and a second later had directed it straight at Harry's arm.
A strange and unpleasant sensation started at Harry's shoulder and spread all the way down to his fingertips. It felt as though his arm was being deflated. He didn't dare look at what was happening. He had shut his eyes, his face turned away from his arm, but his worst fears were realized as the people above him gasped and Selena was shrieking. His arm didn't hurt anymore – nor did it feel remotely like an arm.
"What did you do?" Selena snapped at Lockhart. "What have you done to my brother?!"
"Uh," said Lockhart. "Yes. Well, don't worry Selena, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind, Selena. So, Harry, just toddle up to the hospital wing – ah, Miss. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss. Granger, would you escort him? – and Madam Pomfrey will be able to – er – tidy you up a bit."
As Selena helped Harry to his feet, he felt strangely lopsided. Taking a deep breath, he looked down at his right side. What he saw nearly made him pass out again. Poking out of the end of his robes was what looked like a thick, flesh-coloured rubber glove. He tried to move his fingers. Nothing happened.
Lockhart hadn't mended Harry's bones. He had removed them.
Madam Pomfrey wasn't at all pleased.
"You should have come straight to me!" she raged, holding up the sad, limp reminder of what, half an hour before, had been a working arm. "I can mend bones in a second – but growing them back –"
"You will be able to, won't you?" said Harry desperately.
"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful," said Madam Pomfrey grimly, throwing Harry a pair of pyjamas. "You'll have to stay the night… now as for you Miss. Potter," she said turning to Selena and removing the now blood-soaked rag of what used to be a handkerchief from her nose. Selena's nose was still bleeding, and lumpy clots were forming, clogging her nostrils. "How did this happen?"
"I was trying to use my telekinesis to stop a mad Bludger from attacking Harry, but my head started to hurt and now my nose is bleeding." Selena explained, wiping away more blood that leaked out of her nose with the back of her hand.
"How does your head feel now?" Madam Pomfrey asked with a slightly softer expression.
"Like it's not even there, and the bleeding won't stop."
Madam Pomfrey nodded and tossed her a pair of pyjamas as well. "I'll keep you here overnight, just so I can monitor you Miss. Potter. You two can keep each other company."
Hermione and Selena waited outside the curtain drawn around Harry's bed while Ron helped him into his pyjamas. It took a while to stuff the rubbery, boneless arm into a sleeve.
Selena was already dressed in her pyjamas and she held a clean rag under her nose. Madam Pomfrey wanted to keep her overnight if the bleeding didn't stop after ten minutes. Nose bleeds were easy to fix as they usually stopped on their own after five minutes, but Selena had to have been bleeding for half an hour. She had been given some Blood-Replenishing Potion to make up for the amount of blood she had lost, but Madam Pomfrey was worried the nosebleed was linked to Selena's telekinesis. From what little information there was about telekinesis, only Muggle Telekinetics suffered nosebleeds after using their powers, but it was unconfirmed if the same occurred in Wizards and Witches just at an exhausting level.
"How can you stick up for Lockhart after that, Hermione, eh?" Ron called through the curtain as he pulled Harry's limp fingers through the cuff. "If Harry wanted a deboning he would have asked."
"Anyone can make a mistake," said Hermione. "And it doesn't hurt anymore, does it, Harry?"
"No," said Harry, getting into bed. But it doesn't do anything else either."
"Here, here," slurred Selena.
As Harry swung himself onto the bed, his arm flapped pointlessly.
Hermione, Selena and Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain. Madam Pomfrey was holding a large bottle of something labelled Skele Gro.
"You're in for a rough night, Potter," she said, pouring out a steaming beakerful and handing it to Harry. "Regrowing bones is a nasty business."
So was taking the Skele Gro. It burned Harry's mouth and throat as it went down, making him cough and splutter. Still tut tutting about dangerous sports and inept teachers, Madam Pomfrey retreated, leaving Ron, Hermione and Selena to help Harry gulp down some water.
"We won, though," said Ron, a grin breaking across his face. "That was some catch you made. Malfoy's face… he looked ready to slaughter you!"
"I want to know who fixed that Bludger," said Selena darkly, "in a way, it's injured both of us."
"We can add that to the list of questions we'll ask Malfoy when we've taken the Polyjuice Potion," said Harry, sinking back onto his pillows. "I hope it tastes better than this stuff…"
"If it's got bits of Slytherins in it? You've got to be joking," said Ron.
"Cheer up, that Blood-Replenishing Potion tastes like licking a penny." said Selena jokingly.
"Had a lot of experiences with that, Selena?" Hermione grinned.
Selena gave her a look.
The door to the hospital wing burst open at that moment. Filthy and soaking wet, the rest of the Gryffindor team had arrived to see Harry. "Unbelievable flying, Harry," said George. "I've just seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy. Something about having the Snitch on top of his head and not noticing. Malfoy didn't seem to happy."
Fred looked over and noticed Selena. "What happened with you?" he asked her.
"I tried to stop the Bludger from attacking Harry and my nose started bleeding. It hasn't stopped either." Selena explained.
Wood only heard bits of her explanation and glared. "Were you the one controlling the Bludger?!"
Fred and George, along with the other members of the Gryffindor team gave their Captain an 'are you serious?' look.
"Yeah Oliver, Selena tried to murder her own brother," Fred said sarcastically, "that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"I was trying to stop the Bludger, not egg it on!" Selena sneered, though it was hard to tell because of the rag on her nose.
Oliver's face flushed as he stammered out an apology to Selena. The team had brought cakes, sweets, and bottles of pumpkin juice; they gathered around Harry's bed and were just getting started on what promised to be a good party when Madam Pomfrey came storming over shouting, "This boy needs rest, he's got thirty-three bones to regrow! And this girl has lost a lot of blood! Out! OUT!" And the twins were left alone to distract Harry from the stabbing pains in his limp arm and the blood leaking out of Selena's nostrils.
Hours and hours later, Harry woke quite suddenly in the pitch blackness and gave a small yelp of pain: His arm now felt full of large splinters. Selena woke sooner to his yelp and sat up. Her nose had stopped bleeding and her cupids bow was now smeared and stained with red. For a second, they thought that it was the pain in Harry's arm that had technically woken them both up. Then, with a thrill of horror, Selena realized that someone was sponging Harry's forehead in the dark.
"Hey, what are you –" she said loudly, and then, "Dobby!"
The house-elf's goggling tennis ball eyes were peering at the twins through the darkness. A single tear was running down his long, pointed nose.
"The Potter Twins came back to school," he whispered miserably. "Dobby warned and warned them both. Ah sir, miss, why did neither of you need Dobby?"
"Why didn't Harry Potter and Selena Potter go back home when they missed the train?" Harry and Selena heaved themselves up on their pillows and Harry pushed Dobby's sponge away.
"What are you doing here?" he said.
"And how did you know we missed the train?" Selena asked suspiciously. Dobby's lip trembled, and the twins were seized by the sudden realization.
"It was you!" Selena said slowly. "You stopped the barrier from letting us through!"
"Indeed yes, miss," said Dobby, nodding his head vigorously, ears flapping. "Dobby hid and watched for Harry Potter and Selena Potter and sealed the gateway. Dobby had to iron his hands afterward" – he showed them ten long, bandaged fingers – "But Dobby didn't care, sir, miss, for he thought Harry Potter and Selena Potter were safe, but never did Dobby dream that Harry Potter and Selena Potter would get to school another way!"
He was rocking backward and forward, shaking his ugly head.
"Dobby was so shocked when he heard Harry Potter and Selena Potter were back at Hogwarts, he let his master's dinner burn! Such a flogging Dobby never had, sir, miss…"
Harry and Selena slumped back onto their pillows.
"You nearly got Ron and us expelled," Harry said fiercely, while Selena glared dangerously at the elf. "You'd better clear off before my bones come back, Dobby, or we might strangle you."
Dobby smiled weakly.
"Dobby is used to death threats, sir. Dobby gets them five times a day at home."
He blew his nose on a corner of the filthy pillowcase he wore, looking so pathetic that Harry and Selena felt their anger ebb away in spite of themselves.
"Why d'you wear that thing, Dobby?" Selena asked curiously.
"This, miss?" said Dobby, plucking at the pillowcase. "'Tis a mark of the house-elf's enslavement, miss. Dobby can only be freed if his masters present him with clothes, miss. The family is careful not to pass Dobby even a sock, miss, for then he would be free to leave their house forever."
Dobby mopped his bulging eyes and said suddenly, "Harry Potter and Selena Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make –"
"Your Bludger?" said Harry, anger rising once more. "You made that Bludger chase after me?"
"If you wanted to protect us, why did you try to kill Harry!" Selena hissed aggressively. "Because of you we're both in here over night. Do you know how much blood I lost just from a nosebleed!"
"Dobby never wanted to kill Harry Potter, miss," said Dobby shocked. "Ah, miss, Dobby forgot that Selena Potter was a telekinetic, all the more reason to protect her, miss, the only telekinetic witch in the whole world. Dobby regrets that Selena Potter was injured too, all by Dobby's doing. Dobby only wanted to save Harry Potter and Selena Potter's lives! Better be sent home, grievously injured, than remain here, sir, miss!"
"Oh, is that all?" said Harry angrily. "I don't suppose you're going to tell us why you wanted us sent home in pieces?"
"Ah, if Harry Potter and Selena Potter only knew!" Dobby groaned, more tears dripping onto his ragged pillowcase. "If they knew what they mean to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, wee drags of the magical world! Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers, sir, miss! We house-elves were treated like vermin, sir, miss! Of course, Dobby is still treated like vermin, sir, miss," he admitted, drying his face on the pillowcase. "But mostly, sir, miss, life has improved for my kind since you two triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry Potter and Selena Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, sir, miss, and Harry Potter and Selena Potter shone like beacons of hope for those of us who thought the Dark days would never end, sir, miss… And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby cannot let Harry Potter and Selena Potter stay here now that history is to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once more –"
Dobby froze, horror struck, then grabbed the water jug from the bedside table and cracked it over his own head, toppling out of sight. A second later, he crawled onto Selena's bed, cross eyed, muttering, "Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby…"
"So there is a Chamber of Secrets?" Harry whispered. "And you said it has been opened before? Tell us, Dobby!"
Selena quickly grabbed his bony wrist as Dobby's hand inched toward the water jug. "Neither Harry or I are Muggle-born – how can we be in danger from the Chamber?"
"Ah, miss, ask no more, ask no more of poor Dobby," stammered the elf, his eyes huge in the dark. "Dark deeds are planned in this place, but Harry Potter and Selena Potter must not be here when they happen – go home, Harry Potter and Selena Potter, go home. Harry Potter and Selena Potter must not meddle in this, sir, miss, 'tis too dangerous –"
"Who is it, Dobby?" Harry said as Selena kept a firm hold on Dobby's wrist to stop him from leaving.
"Who's opened it? Who opened it last time?" Selena hissed.
"Dobby can't say, miss, Dobby can't, Dobby mustn't tell!" squealed the elf. "Go home, Potter Twins, go home!"
"We're not going anywhere!" said Harry and Selena fiercely.
"One of our best friends and one of Selena's dorm mates are both Muggle-born; they'll be first in line if the Chamber really has been opened –"
"We're not leaving when our friends are in possible danger." hissed Selena.
"Harry Potter and Selena Potter risks their own lives for their friends!" moaned Dobby in a kind of miserable ecstasy. "So noble! So valiant! But they must save themselves, they must, Harry Potter and Selena Potter must not –"
Dobby suddenly froze, his bat ears quivering. Harry and Selena heard it, too. There were footsteps coming down the passageway outside.
"Dobby must go!" breathed the elf, terrified. There was a loud crack, and Selena's fist was suddenly clenched on thin air. The twins slumped back into bed, their eyes on the dark doorway to the hospital wing as the footsteps drew nearer.
Next moment, Dumbledore was backing into the dormitory, wearing a long woolly dressing gown and a nightcap. He was carrying one end of what looked like a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared a second later, carrying its feet. Together, they heaved it onto a bed.
"Get Madam Pomfrey," whispered Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall hurried past the end of Harry and Selena's bed out of sight. The twins lay quite still, pretending to be asleep. They heard urgent voice, and then Professor McGonagall swept back into view, closely followed by Madam Pomfrey, who was pulling a cardigan on over her nightdress. He heard a sharp intake of breath.
"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey whispered to Dumbledore, bending over the statue on the bed.
"There's been another attack," said Dumbledore. "Minerva found him on the stairs."
"There was a bunch of grapes next to him," said Professor McGonagall. "We think he was trying to sneak up here to visit the Potters."
Harry and Selena's stomachs gave a horrible lurch. Slowly and carefully, they raised themselves a few inches, so they could at the statue on the bed. A ray of moonlight lay across its staring face. Selena felt her stomach sink.
It was Colin Creevey. His eyes were wide and his hands were stuck up in front of him, holding his camera.
"Petrified?" whispered Madam Pomfrey.
"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "But I shudder to think… If Albus hadn't been on the way downstairs for hot chocolate – who knows might have –"
The three of them stared down at Colin. Then Dumbledore leaned forward and wrenched the camera out of Colin's rigid grip.
"You don't think he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" said Professor McGonagall eagerly.
Dumbledore didn't answer. He opened the back of the camera.
"Good gracious!" said Madam Pomfrey.
A jet of steam had hissed out of the camera. Harry and Selena, three beds away, caught the acrid scent of burnt plastic.
"Melted," said Madam Pomfrey wonderingly. "All melted…"
"What does this mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked urgently.
"It means," said Dumbledore, "that the Chamber of Secrets indeed open again."
Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth. Professor McGonagall stared at Dumbledore.
"But, Albus… surely… who?"
"The question is not who Minerva," said Dumbledore, his eyes on Colin.
"The question is, how…"