Harry Potter 05 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

the Bard
     
     
    Read on for the first chapter of the next book in the Harry Potter series...



 
    HARRY
POTTER
and the Half-Blood Prince
     

     
J.K. ROWLING

 
    All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher
    This digital edition first published by Pottermore Limited in 2012
    First published in print in Great Britain in 2005 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
    Copyright © J.K. Rowling 2005
    Cover illustrations by Claire Melinsky copyright © J.K. Rowling 2010
    Harry Potter characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Ent.
    J.K. Rowling has asserted her moral rights
    A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
    ISBN 978-1-78110-012-7
    www.pottermore.com

 
    by J.K. Rowling
     
     
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    Visit pottermore.com

 
    To Mackenzie,
    my beautiful daughter,
    I dedicate
    her ink and paper twin

 
    CONTENTS
     
     
    ONE
    The Other Minister
     
    TWO
    Spinner’s End
     
    THREE
    Will and Won’t
     
    FOUR
    Horace Slughorn
     
    FIVE
    An Excess of Phlegm
     
    SIX
    Draco’s Detour
     
    SEVEN
    The Slug Club
     
    EIGHT
    Snape Victorious
     
    NINE
    The Half-Blood Prince
     
    TEN
    The House of Gaunt
     
    ELEVEN
    Hermione’s Helping Hand
     
    TWELVE
    Silver and Opals
     
    THIRTEEN
    The Secret Riddle
     
    FOURTEEN
    Felix Felicis
     
    FIFTEEN
    The Unbreakable Vow
     
    SIXTEEN
    A Very Frosty Christmas
     
    SEVENTEEN
    A Sluggish Memory
     
    EIGHTEEN
    Birthday Surprises
     
    NINETEEN
    Elf Tails
     
    TWENTY
    Lord Voldemort’s Request
     
    TWENTY-ONE
    The Unknowable Room
     
    TWENTY-TWO
    After the Burial
     
    TWENTY-THREE
    Horcruxes
     
    TWENTY-FOUR
    Sectumsempra
     
    TWENTY-FIVE
    The Seer Overheard
     
    TWENTY-SIX
    The Cave
     
    TWENTY-SEVEN
    The Lightning-Struck Tower
     
    TWENTY-EIGHT
    Flight of the Prince
     
    TWENTY-NINE
    The Phoenix Lament
     
    THIRTY
    The White Tomb

 
     
— CHAPTER ONE —
     
The Other Minister
    It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind. He was waiting for a call from the president of a far-distant country, and between wondering when the wretched man would telephone, and trying to suppress unpleasant memories of what had been a very long, tiring and difficult week, there was not much space in his head for anything else. The more he attempted to focus on the print on the page before him, the more clearly the Prime Minister could see the gloating face of one of his political opponents. This particular opponent had appeared on the news that very day, not only to enumerate all the terrible things that had happened in the last week (as though anyone needed reminding) but also to explain why each and every one of them was the government’s fault.
    The Prime Minister’s pulse quickened at the very thought of these accusations, for they were neither fair nor true. How on earth was his government supposed to have stopped that bridge collapsing? It was outrageous for anybody to suggest that they were not spending enough on bridges. The bridge was less than ten years old, and the best experts were at a loss to explain why it had snapped cleanly in two, sending a dozen cars into the watery depths of the river below. And how dared anyone suggest that it was lack of policemen that had resulted in those two very nasty and well-publicised murders? Or that the government should have somehow foreseen the freak hurricane in the West Country that had caused so much damage to both people and property? And was it his fault that one of his Junior Ministers, Herbert Chorley, had chosen this week to act so peculiarly that he was now going to be spending a lot more time with his family?
    ‘A grim mood has gripped the country,’ the opponent had concluded, barely concealing his own broad grin.
    And unfortunately, this was perfectly true. The Prime Minister felt it himself; people really did seem more miserable than usual. Even the weather was dismal; all this chilly mist in the middle of July … it wasn’t right, it wasn’t normal …
    He turned over the