Behind him Harry heard a sharp intake of breath and a small scream from Hermione. He looked around. They were surrounded by Death Eaters. The one nearest to Harry spoke. He recognised Lucius Malfoy's voice at once.

"You have done well, Flint. The Dark Lord will be pleased"

"What do we do know?" asked Ron.

"According to a popular rumour we are supposed to harm the mudblood..." began Malfoy

"And according to another popular rumour my cat is really Harry's mother" said Hermione "so I wouldn't believe everything I read"

She was speaking in a casual tone which enraged the death eaters.

"You do not fear us, mudblood?" asked Malfoy threateningly.

"Don't call her that!" said Ron angrily.

"Not really" said Hermione in the same casual tone. "I know what's going to happen. You'll talk a bit. Then we'll start using wands during which time most of our spells will miss each other. Then when it looks like Harry's completely done for, Professor Dumbledore will turn up and save the day"

"You appear to be quite confident in thinking Dumbledore will turn up" said Malfoy. "I suppose Potter has already sent someone to go and get him"

"No!" said Hermione far too quickly.

"You are lying" said a female voice which Harry recognised as Bellatrix Lestrange's. She turned to her fellow Death Eaters. "Potter has sent someone to fetch Dumbledore. Go and find whoever it is and stop them. Kill them if you have to. Chances are it's a minor character who will not be missed anyway"

Half a dozen death eaters raised their wands and ran out of the clearing. Harry was certain that Angelina and Katie wouldn't have made it back to the castle yet. Harry's thoughts were interrupted by Neville's voice.

"Stupefy!" The spell went over the Death Eaters heads. Without thinking Harry ran after them. He could hear voices behind him. But he didn't pay attention to who was speaking or what they were saying.

"Petrificus Totalus!" he shouted aiming his wand at another death eater, but his spell missed. Before Harry could try the spell again the death eater had turned and shouted "Expelliarmus!" Harry's wand flew out of his hand. He couldn't see where it landed. The other death eaters had their wands raised too. Harry jumped behind a large tree trying to dodge their spells. He ran not daring to look behind him. As he ran he came across the unconscious forms of Ron, Hermione and Neville. Harry had never been in a worse situation. He was surrounded by Death Eaters with no wand and no friends to help him. He looked around for some sign that Dumbledore was coming.

"It appears that Dumbledore won't be arriving to save your neck after all, Potter" said Malfoy as a cold laugh echoed around the clearing. Harry knew that Malfoy was right. What happened next confirmed that. Harry heard footsteps in the trees behind him and several twigs and branches snapping. It sounded like something or someone was being dragged along the ground. Two of the Death Eaters that had ran off earlier returned dragging Angelina and Katie.

"Got 'em" said the Death Eater holding Katie. He threw her roughly towards Harry where she didn't move. Angelina was struggling to free herself from the other Death Eater who had a massive arm locked around her neck. Harry guessed that he must be Crabbe or Goyle's father. He was holding a wand away from his body in his other hand.

"Harry, I'm sorry!" wailed Angelina tugging on the Death Eater's arm. "I couldn't do anything. They just..."

"Crabbe, shut her up!" ordered Malfoy.

Crabbe dropped the wand he was holding and clamped a large hand over Angelina's mouth.

"You're in trouble now, Potter" said the death eater who had disarmed Harry. "There's not much you can do without your wand is there?"

"Potter doesn't have his wand?" said Malfoy.

"I disarmed him" said the Death Eater.

Angelina said something that was completely muffled by Crabbe's hand still covering her mouth and kicked her wand towards Harry. It landed ten feet away from him.

"Try anything and your friends die, Potter" said Malfoy coldly as Harry started to move to pick up Angelina's wand. "Starting with those two (he pointed a long finger at Ron and Hermione) their deaths will upset the muggles greatly. Especially as so many of them believe your best friends have a relationship in store. And I doubt they want to see Longbottom dead either, not after he has become quite the hero. Why I have reason to believe that several people think it is Longbottom who will be the one to destroy the Dark Lord"

Harry gasped.

"You-you know" he stammered. "But how?"

Muggles have a rather unfortunate habit of analysing these books to death" said Potter. "It was incredibly easy to find the contents of the prophecy you stopped us from taking last year and to find several muggles' interpretation of what it all means. But there is one important thing we could not find out. We could only find theories which are no use to us in this particular case." Malfoy was tapping his chin which gave Harry an idea.

"What's that?" asked Harry "This thing you couldn't find out?"

"Who is the Half Blood Prince?" asked Malfoy. "I know it is not you or the dark lord. Is it perhaps your friend Finnigan? Or that oaf Hagrid? No it's not him. Perhaps that other boy, Thomas? Why I've even come across rumours that it's Draco. My son a half blood? Don't these muggles pay attention to the details?"

Harry certainly wasn't paying attention to Malfoy. Instead he was trying to signal Angelina without any of the death eaters realising what he was doing. He casually bit his fingernails on one hand trying to look as if this was a habit he had had for years.

"Potter!" said Malfoy angrily "Who is the Half Blood Prince?"

"I don't know" lied Harry still chewing on his nails. He winked at Angelina. She winked back at him.

"I know you're lying, Potter" said Malfoy "Now who is it?"

Harry didn't answer. He wasn't about to put a first year in danger.

"Who is it, Potter?" asked Bellatrix in her most dangerous voice. "Tell us! Imper..."

"He can fight that, Bella. Haven't you read the books?" said Malfoy

"You don't get the chance to read very much in Azkaban, Lucius" retorted Bellatrix. "But perhaps I can convince Potter to tell us what we want to know."

Even though Bellatrix's face was covered by her mask, Harry could make out an evil smile as she raised her wand "serpensortia!" she shouted. A large snake shot out of the end of her wand and shot towards Harry, ready to strike.

"Go away" yelled Harry. The snake turned and slithered between two thick tree trunks.

"Potter's a parselmouth?" said Bellatrix in surprise.

"Yes which you would know if you'd bothered to read the books" snapped Malfoy. "I told you to..."

Malfoy was interrupted by a several things all happening at once. Angelina bit Crabbe's hand causing him to yell in pain. As he moved to pull his wand out of her pocket, she wriggled out of his grip and retrieved her own wand from the ground. Neville leapt to his feet and hit Bellatrix with the impediment jinx. Ron and Hermione were awake too and firing spells at the death eaters. Jets of light were flying everywhere. Harry ducked and weaved trying to dodge them.

"Harry, what are you doing?" asked Hermione as he knocked her sideways trying to avoid the full body bind.

"I don't have my wand" he said ducking to avoid another spell.

"Use Katie's then" snapped Hermione.

Harry quickly rolled towards the spot where Katie was lying and grabbed her wand. He leapt to his feet and sent a stunning spell at the death eater closest to him. Then a loud honking noise from above made them jump.

"What the?" said Ron looking up "LOOK! IT'S OUR CAR!"

Harry looked up too. Sure enough the Weasley's old ford anglia was circling overhead flying lower and lower. Fred and George were grinning triumphantly in the front seats.

"I should have known!" said Hermione "I remember reading that the Weasley's car would turn up again!"

Lucius Malfoy gave the order for the Death Eaters to get out of the forest.

"Leave him!" he ordered as someone reached for the Death Eater Harry had stunned. George landed the car in the middle of the clearing and the doors flew open.

"Get in!" he shouted.

Ron and Angelina carried Katie to the car and put her in the back seat. Hermione and Neville climbed in after them.

"Come on, Harry!" yelled Fred.

"I can't. I've lost my wand"

"You can always get a new one, mate" said Ron.

"No he can't" said Hermione "JK Rowling gave Harry that wand for a reason!"

"Alright then" said Fred stepping out of the car. "We'll find it. Where did you lose it, Harry?"

"Over there" said Harry pointing.

"Well come on then" said Fred running out of the clearing.

"Wait a second" said Harry looking down at the death eater he had stunned. "I reckon we should take him along too"

Fred nodded. He and Harry dragged the death eater to the car and threw him into the back seat next to Ron. Harry reached into the Death Eaters robes and took his wand. Then Fred and Harry ran down the path where Harry had lost his wand.

"It was about here" said Harry stopping suddenly and looking around. Fred pulled out his own wand.

"Accio wand!" something came zooming into his hand.

"That's it" said Harry. Fred threw him his wand and he caught it. They ran back to the others and jumped into the of the car. George took off at once.

"I wonder who the death eater we got is" thought Harry out loud as they flew over the treetops. He reached out and pulled off the Death Eaters hood. He recognised the pale watery eyes and thin colourless hair at once. Harry and Ron edged away from Wormtail in disgust.

"Almost there" said George loudly as they flew over the smooth lawns. The car landed with a slight bump. Harry got out of the car to find professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and Bill and Charlie waiting on the front steps.

"Ah that time of year again" said Dumbledore looking at Harry "How quickly it seems to fly"

Harry pulled Wormtail out of the car by the neck of his robes. Then Ron and Angelina helped Katie out of the car. Hermione and Neville had already got out on the other side. Fred and George were going to try to take the car back to their father.

"Don't try to fly all the way!" yelled Ron as the twins took off.

"What happened to Miss Bell?" asked professor McGonagall in a shocked voice.

"She got her foot caught in some muggle thing" said Angelina

Dumbledore conjured a stretcher out of thin air and asked Bill and Charlie to take Katie to the hospital wing.

"Perhaps you four had better go along and see Madam Pomfrey too" said Professor McGonagall looking at Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville.

"But I don't need..." began Harry. Professor McGonagall gave him a stern look.

"Hospital wing, Potter" she ordered.

"I'll come too" said Angelina.

As they crossed the entrance hall they met Adam Prince.

"Harry! You were brilliant today"

"Thanks, Adam" said Harry "Oh Adam this is Angelina. Angelina, this is Adam. He's the Half Blood Prince"

Adam went to shake Angelina's hand and saw that it was covered in blood.

"We just had the bit where someone tries to kill me" Harry explained seeing Adam's confused expression.

"But I thought that was after your exams"

"It usually is. But I think Rowling likes to make sure I'm not really prepared for it" said Harry.

"I wasn't expecting the Half Blood Prince to be a kid" said Angelina.

"Neither was I" said Adam and they all laughed.

"I bet Malfoy wouldn't have believed you if you'd told him that, Harry" said Angelina. "I wonder why he was asking"

"He's probably just too lazy to read this and find out for himself" said Ron. "He doesn't have Dobby to do that sort of thing for him anymore"

"I was reading about Dobby" said Adam "and I was wondering, if house elves are so powerful, what's to stop them using their magic? Even if they don't have their owner's permission?"

Hermione cleared her throat.

"Unfortunately most house elves are completely uneducated and they believe that their sole purpose is to..."

"I should have known I'd get a lecture if I mentioned house elves around her" interrupted Adam. "I'll see you later, Harry"

They reached the hospital wing. Harry led the way over to Madam Pomfrey

"Er Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall sent us to come and see you" he said.

"I see you've had your annual brush with death, Potter" said Madam Pomfrey sounding half disaproving, half relieved. "I'll be with you in a minute. I'm just fixing up Miss Bell"

Katie was lying on a bed still unconscious. Madam Pomfrey dabbed at the wound on her leg with some purple liquid before healing it with her wand.

"She'll have to stay in here overnight" said Madam Pomfrey "And don't worry about N.E.W.Ts, Miss Granger" she added as Hermione opened her mouth.

"Will she be alright?" asked Angelina.

"Of course she will" said Madam Pomfrey.

"Can I stay with her for a while?"

"Yes of course. I'll fix that cut of yours while you're here"

Madam Pomfrey pulled out her wand and magically healed Angelina's cut. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville were unhurt apart from a few scratches. When Madam Pomfrey had finished healing them the door of the hospital wing opened and Snape walked in.

"The headmaster has asked to see you three right away" he said pointing at Harry, Ron and Hermione "And Miss Granger, he has requested that you bring your cat"