Magic. The dwindling of the purebloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable

circumstance … She would have us all mate with Muggles … or, no doubt, werewolves

… “

Nobody laughed this time. There was no mistaking the anger and contempt in

Voldemort’s voice. For the third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape. Tears

Were pouring from her eyes into her hair. Snape looked back at her, quite impassive, as

She turned slowly away from him again.

“Avada Kedavra”

The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell, with a

Resounding crash, onto the table below, which trembled and creaked. Several of the Death

Eaters leapt back in their chairs. Draco fell out of his onto the floor.

“Dinner, Nagini,” said Voldemort softly, and the great snake swayed and slithered

From his shoulders onto the polished wood.

In Memorandum

Harry was bleeding. Clutching his right hand in his left and swearing under his breath, he shouldered open his bedroom door. There was a crunch of breaking china. He

Had trodden on a cup of cold tea that had been sitting on the floor outside his bedroom

Door.

"What the --?"

He looked around, the landing of number four, Privet Drive, was deserted.

Possibly the cup of tea was Dudley's idea of a clever booby trap. Keeping his bleeding

Hand elevated, Harry scraped the fragments of cup together with the other hand and threw them into the already crammed bin just visible inside his bedroom door. Then he tramped across to the bathroom to run his finger under the tap.

It was stupid, pointless, irritating beyond belief that he still had four days left of

being unable to perform magic…but he had to admit to himself that this jagged cut in his

Finger would have defeated him. He had never learned how to repair wounds, and now he

came to think of it – particularly in light of his immediate plans – this seemed a serious

Flaw in his magical education. Making a mental note to ask Hermione how it was done,

He used a large wad of toilet paper to mop up as much of the tea as he could before

Returning to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

Harry had spent the morning completely emptying his school trunk for the first

Time since he had packed it six years ago. At the start of the intervening school years, he

Had merely skimmed off the topmost three quarters of the contents and replaced or

updated them, leaving a layer of general debris at the bottom – old quills, desiccated

Beetle eyes, single socks that no longer fit. Minutes previously, Harry had plunged his

Hand into this mulch, experienced a stabbing pain in the fourth finger of his right hand,

And withdrawn it to see a lot of blood.

He now proceeded a little more cautiously. Kneeling down beside the trunk again,

He groped around in the bottom and, after retrieving an old badge that flickered feebly

Between SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY and POTTER STINKS, a cracked and worn-out

Sneakoscope, and a gold locket inside which a note signed R.A.B. had been hidden, he

Finally discovered the sharp edge that had done the damage. He recognized it at once. It

Was a two-inch-long fragment of the enchanted mirror that his dead godfather, Sirius, had

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 618