Author's Note: I decided to have the Half-Blood Princess' book contain diary entries, and not just Potions instructions, which makes things more interesting. Also, it adds some mystery and intrigue to the question of who the Half-Blood Princess is. Ooooo! When did this story get so professional?

Oh, and I don't own Harry Potter.


Chapter Eleven
Cuddles

Due to the heavy coursework, Harry, Ron and Hermione had not had a chance to see Hagrid that week. "We can do it right after Quidditch tryouts if there's time," Harry told Hermione at breakfast the next morning. "There might not be. A lot of people have signed up. I dunno why Quidditch is so popular."

"It's not Quidditch that's popular, it's you," Hermione said. "You've never been more fanciable!"

Harry felt himself turn red. "Are you saying you fancy me?" Harry asked.

"No," said Hermione. "In this book, I decide I love Ron for some reason."

"What?" Harry said indignantly. "You kissed me at the end of the fourth book, not him!"

"I'm going to pretend that never happened," Hermione said, "and focus on Ron now. I reckon I fancy him almost as much as you fancy Ginny."

"Actually, I kind of fancy The Half-Blood Princess," Harry said. "I've been reading the stuff she's written in the Potions book, and it's really interesting. I bet she'd be an interesting person to meet."

"I thought all she wrote were Potions instructions," Hermione said.

"She did," Harry said. "But there are a ton of folded-up pieces of paper hidden in the book. It looks like she used the book to hide her diary."

"Harry, you shouldn't read other people's diaries!" Hermione said. "That's not polite at all!"

Just then, an owl landed on the table, carrying the copy of the Potions book that Harry had ordered. "What an amazing plot device, I mean, coincidence!" Hermione said. "Here's the new copy of the Potions book! Now you can give The Half-Blood Princess's copy back!"

"No, I'm not," Harry said. He then magically swapped the covers of the two Potions books, so that The Half-Blood Princess's copy had a shiny new cover and the new book had The Half-Blood Princess's old cover.

Hermione looked like she was going to complain, but she was interrupted by an owl arriving with a copy of the Daily Prophet. "Oh my!" she said, reading the headline. "The Ministry has arrested a Death Eater!"

"Who?" Harry asked.

"Someone named Cuddles," she said.

As Harry expected, Quidditch trials took most of the morning. He eliminated more than half the people who tried out almost instantly, as most of them were unable to fly correctly.

Harry found some good Chasers: Ginny Weasley, Katie Bell, and Demelza Robbins. He found some okay Beaters: Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote. For the Keeper, the trials led down to two people: Ron and Cormac McLaggen, one of the members of the Slug Club that Harry had met on the train to Hogwarts.

McLaggen saved the first four goals that were thrown at him, but on the fifth one, he flew in the wrong direction, which let the goal in. Ron, however, saved all five goals that were thrown at him, so Harry declared that Ron would be the Keeper.

"Let me have another go," Cormac McLaggen said.

"No," Harry said.

"Please?" Cormac asked.

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"No."

"Dang!" Cormac said, then walked away, staggering slightly.

Harry, Ron and Hermione left for Hagrid's just after the tryouts. Buckbeak the hippogriff was outside Hagrid's hut.

"Hey!" a voice cried. Hagrid came around from the side of his hut. "Stay away from the hippogriff or, oh, it's you three." Hagrid looked at the three of them, then went straight into his hut and shut the door.

"Oh dear!" Hermione said.

"Don't worry," Harry said, walking up to Hagrid's door. "Hagrid!" he called. "Open this door, or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow this house down!"

"I'd like ter see yeh try!" Hagrid called.

"Fine," Harry said. "I'll just blow up the door, then."

Hagrid flung the door open. "Yeh can't do that!" he said.

"HA!" Harry cried. "You opened the door! Now we're all coming in!"

After Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the house, Hagrid said, "I wonder why I didn't just shut the door again."

"I have no idea," Harry said.

"Ar, I guess it don't matter, then," Hagrid said. "Jes' like using proper grammar. They both don' matter."

Hagrid frowned. "What's wrong, Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"It's Aragog," Hagrid said. "He's gettin' sick. I think he's dyin'."

"Can we help?" Hermione asked.

"No, but thanks fer offerin'."

After that, Hagrid seemed to be in a better mood and became his normal self again, so all four of them were able to talk freely.

"Is it safe to have Buckbeak here at your hut?" Hermione asked. "He was sentenced to death three years ago."

"Yeah, well, I don' call him Buckbeak anymore," Hagrid said. "By callin' him by a differen' name, no one'll know he's Buckbeak, see?"

"What are you calling him?" Harry asked.

"Cuddles," Hagrid said.

"I had a feeling that might be it," Harry said.

At dinnertime, Harry, Ron and Hermione headed back to the castle where Cormac McLaggen was having trouble opening the doors. For some reason, this struck Harry as suspicious. He didn't have time to think about it, though, as someone came to talk to him.

"Harry!" said Professor Slughorn, puffing his gigantic belly so that it accidentally smacked a first year who was passing by. "And Hermione! I'm holding a special dinner for the Slug Club members tonight in my office at eight!"

"Sorry," Harry said. "I can't come. I've got detention with Professor Snape."

"I'll see if I can get him to cancel," Slughorn said. He then waddled out of the Great Hall.

After eating dinner, they went back to Gryffindor Tower, where Harry realized what he found so suspicious about McLaggen being unable to open a door.

"Hermione," Harry asked, "did you put a spell on McLaggen today to mess up his sense of balance or something?"

"Of course," Hermione said. "I told you this morning: I'm fancying Ron in this book. I had to interfere during McLaggen's trial to make sure the Ron became the Keeper."

"Oh," Harry said. "Are sure you won't give up on that and start fancying me instead?"

"Yes," Hermione said.

Harry didn't say anything else, but instead watched Ginny with Arnold the Pygmy Puff on her head.

"Besides," Hermione said, watching Harry. "It looks like you're probably too busy fancying Ginny to get involved with me."

"Am not," Harry said. "Ginny has a boyfriend, you know. I have plenty of time to get involved with you!"

"I'll think about that," Hermione said, "Which is Girl for 'No'."

"I knew that," Harry said. "I guess I'll have to find someone else who fancies me. Maybe Moaning Myrtle?"

"Actually, she fancies Malfoy in this book," Hermione said, absentmindedly.

"What the heck?" Harry exclaimed. "I didn't see that coming!"

"Me neither," said Hermione.

"Harry?" someone asked. He turned to see the new Chaser, Demelza "Baskin" Robbins. "I've got a message for you from Professor Snape. He says you have to do your detention tonight, no matter how many parties you've been invited to."

Harry groaned. "Snape's just jealous because no one would ever invite him to a party."