They were going even deeper now and gathering speed.

The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to
see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.Obedient to Sirius's wish of hearing about anything odd at Hogwarts, Harry sent him a letter by brown owl
that night, explaining all about Mr. Crouch breaking into Snape's office, and Moody and Snape's conversation. Then Harry turned his attention in earnest to the most urgent problem facing him: how to survive
underwater for an hour on the twenty-fourth of February.I haven't got any money - and you heard Uncle Vernon last night... he won't pay for me to go and learn magic. Don't worry about that, said Hagrid, standing
up and scratching his head. D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything? But if their house was destroyed - They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a
sausage, they're not bad cold - an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither. Wizards have banks? Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins. Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.So, said
Wood, at long last, jerking Harry from a wistful fantasy about what he could be eating for breakfast at this very moment up at the castle. Is that clear? Any questions? I've got a question, Oliver, said George, who had
woken with a start. Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake? Wood wasn't pleased.S-sorry? said Harry.Harry stared. Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy, Crabbe,
Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them,
with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall.if he expected something like this to happen. I brought some parchment and a quill out with me - Come off it, said Harry, looking around
to check that they couldn't be overheard, but the grounds were quite deserted. He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He'll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone's
entered me in the Triwizard Tournament - He'd want you to tell him, said Hermione sternly. He's going to find out anyway - How? Harry, this isn't going to be kept quiet, said Hermione, very seriously. This
tournament's famous, and you're famous. I'll be really surprised if there isn't anything in the Daily Prophet about you competing.... You're already in half the books about You-Know-Who, you know... and Sirius
would rather hear it from you, I know he would. Okay, okay, I'll write to him, said Harry, throwing his last piece of toast into the lake. They both stood and watched it floating there for a moment, before a large
tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it beneath the surface. Then they returned to the castle.

My subject is History of Magic, he said in his dry, wheezy voice. I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends. He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk snapping and continued, In September of
that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers - He stuttered to a halt. Hermione's hand was waving in the air again. Miss Grant? Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact? Professor Binns was looking
at her in such amazement, Harry was sure no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead.With two days left, Harry started to go off food again. The only good thing about breakfast on Monday was the
return of the brown owl he had sent to Sirius. He pulled off the parchment, unrolled it, and saw the shortest letter Sirius had ever written to him.And yet it was because of Voldemort that Harry had come to live with
the Dursleys in the first place. If it hadn't been for Voldemort, Harry would not have had the lightning scar on his forehead. If it hadn't been for Voldemort, Harry would still have had parents....Right, he said, sitting
on Harry's ankles. Here is your singing valentine:Mr. Malfoy then saw an extraordinary apparition. Can you imagine what it might have been, Potter? No, said Harry, now trying to sound innocently curious. It was
your head, Potter. Floating in midair. There was a long silence.Light green weed stretched ahead of him as far as he could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass. Harry was staring unblinkingly
ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the gloom... and then, without warning, something grabbed hold of his ankle.Well, I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron, said Hagrid loudly over the thuds of
more slugs hitting the basin. Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble. Harry would have pointed
out that trouble didn't come much worse than having slugs pouring out of your mouth, but he couldn't; Hagrid's treacle toffee had cemented his jaws together.
 Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape'd never be able to get it and
Help yourself, said Harry. But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos. Do they? What, they don't move at all? Ron sounded amazed. Weird! Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a
small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion,
Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.I was so sure it was Malfoy, said Ron, for about the hundredth time. What's that?
asked Harry, pointing to something gold sticking out fromSlimy gits, Ron muttered as he, Harry, and Hermione turned to face the field again. Next moment, Ludo Bagman charged into the box.Dear Ron,He swam on for what felt like at least twenty
minutes. He was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. Then, at long last, he heard a snatch of haunting mersong.

Just a get well card, said Hermione hastily, trying to poke it out of sight, but Ron was too quick for her. He pulled it out, flicked it open, and read aloud:Did sir just call me Dobby? squeaked the elf curiously from between its fingers. Its voice
was higher even than Dobby's had been, a teeny, quivering squeak of a voice, and Harry suspected - though it was very hard to tell with a house-elf - that this one might just be female. Ron and Hermione spun around in their seats to look. Though they
had heard a lot about Dobby from Harry, they had never actually met him. Even Mr. Weasley looked around in interest.Seeker? he said. But first years never - you must be the youngest House player in about - - a century, said Harry, shoveling pie into
his mouth. He felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. Wood told me. Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry. I start training next week, said Harry. Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret.
Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried over.With a roar, the fire turned emerald green and rose higher than Fred, who stepped right into it, shouted, Diagon Alley! and vanished.You what? said Harry.It's Monday,
he told his mother. The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television. Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday - and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days of the week, because of
television - then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday. Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun - last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Still, you weren't eleven every day.
Malfoy was furious about Buckbeak. He was convinced that Hagrid had found a way of smuggling the hippogriff to safety, and seemed outraged that he and his father had been outwitted by a gamekeeper. Percy Weasley, meanwhile, had much to say
on the subject of Sirius's escape.

Expecto Patronum! Harry yelled. Expecto Patronum! Expecto Pat - White fog obscured his senses... big, blurred shapes were moving around him... then came a new voice, a man's voice, shouting, panicking -- courage you will find, unless you wish to feel the full extent of Lord
Voldemort's wrath - My Lord, I must speak! said Wormtail, panic in his voice now. All through our journey I have gone over the plan in my head - my Lord, Bertha Jorkins's disappearance will not go unnoticed for long, and if we proceed, if I murder - If? whispered the second voice. If? If you follow
the plan, Wormtail, the Ministry need never know that anyone else has died. You will do it quietly and without fuss; I only wish that I could do it myself, but in my present condition... Come, Wormtail, one more death and our path to Harry Potter is clear. I am not asking you to do it alone. By that
time, my faithful servant will have rejoined us - I am a faithful servant, said Wormtail, the merest trace of sullenness in his voice.This whole tournament's supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them! said Hermione hotly.I don't know so much about Professor,'
growled the voice, never got round to much teaching, did I? Get down here, we want to see you properly. Harry lowered his wand slightly but did not relax his grip on it, nor did he move. He had very good reason to be suspicious. He had recently spent nine months in what he had thought was
Mad-Eye Moody's company only to find out that it wasn't Moody at all, but an impostor; an impostor, moreover, who had tried to kill Harry before being unmasked. But before he could make a decision about what to do next, a second, slightly hoarse voice floated upstairs.There was a long silence.
Then Dumbledore said, Please explain why you did this. It would have been better if he had shouted. Harry hated the disappointment in his voice. For some reason, he was unable to look Dumbledore in the eyes, and spoke instead to his knees. He told Dumbledore everything except that Mr. Weasley
owned the bewitched car, making it sound as though he and Ron had happened to find a flying car parked outside the station. He knew Dumbledore would see through this at once, but Dumbledore asked no questions about the car. When Harry had finished, he merely continued to peer at them through
his spectacles.Follow the spiders, said Ron weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive. I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his, said Harry.We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.
Taped to the note was a fifty-pence piece.

I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl! said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her. They don't make them like that at Hogwarts! They make them okay at Hogwarts, said Harry without
thinking. Cho happened to be sitting only a few places away from the girl with the silvery hair.leave its pages at last.... I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many
questions for you, Harry Potter. Like what? Harry spat, fists still clenched.So - after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating - Jordan! growled Professor McGonagall.He was falling, falling through the icy mist.
Hoping you are well, Yours sincerely, IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE Ministry of MagicThat's better, Harry, that's loads better, Hermione said, looking exhausted but very pleased.Harry listened; a loud and
oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed....

The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies.... I think they might be ter suck blood. Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive, said Malfoy sarcastically. Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once? Just because they're not very pretty, it
doesn't mean they're not useful, Hermione snapped. Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you? Harry and Ron grinned at Hagrid, who gave them a furtive smile from behind his bushy beard. Hagrid would have liked nothing better than a pet dragon, as
Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew only too well - he had owned one for a brief period during their first year, a vicious Norwegian Ridgeback by the name of Norbert. Hagrid simply loved monstrous creatures, the more lethal, the better.He wheeled his trolley forward cautiously until it was right against
the barrier and pushed with all his might. The metal remained solid.Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off, said Hagrid, nodding. Eurgh! said Lavender Brown again. Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointyBack in the kitchen, Moody had replaced his eye, which was spinning so fast after its cleaning
it made Harry feel sick. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Sturgis Podmore were examining the microwave and Hestia Jones was laughing at a potato peeler she had come across while rummaging in the drawers. Lupin was sealing a letter addressed to the Dursleys.Don't be silly, Ron, I've got to keep up, said
Hermione briskly. Her spirits were greatly improved by the fact that all the hair had gone from her face and her eyes were turning slowly back to brown. I don't suppose you've got any new leads? she added in a whisper, so that Madam Pomfrey couldn't hear her.Ignore him, said Hermione, who was
right behind Harry. Just ignore him, it's not worth it Hey, Potter! shrieked Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl with a face like a pug. Potter! The dementors are coming, Potter! Woooooooo! Harry dropped into a seat at the Gryffindor table, next to George Weasley.Ouch - gerroff - gerroff, you mad old
bat! Someone's gotta tell Dumbledore! Yes - they - have! yelled Mrs. Figg, still swinging the bag of cat food at every bit of Mundungus she could reach. And - it - had - better - be
 Potter can speak Parseltongue, reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all
hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power. Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who
himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in
the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers. Similarly, anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence. Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should
be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening.one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me one of them wouldNick! he roared. How are you?
Head still hanging in there? He gave a hearty guffaw and clapped Nearly Headless Nick on the shoulder.-BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING? Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did -
Hermione began. CAN'T'VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU'D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR - Well, he did - FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND
OUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON - We wanted to - I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER - No, honest - Harry, we're really sorry! said Hermione desperately, her eyes now sparkling with tears. You're absolutely right,
Harry - I'd be furious if it was me! Harry glared at her, still breathing deeply, then turned away from them again, pacing up and down. Hedwig hooted glumly from the top of the wardrobe. There was a long pause, broken only by the mournful creak of the floorboards below Harry's feet.'As Karkaroff
arrived yet? Madame Maxime asked.Harry stared at the dot. Mr. Crouch was supposed to be too ill to go to work or to come to the Yule Ball - so what was he doing, sneaking into Hogwarts at one o'clock in the morning? Harry watched closely as the dot moved around and around the room, pausing
here and there....

I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle, said Sirius. But... well... think about it. Once my name's cleared... if you wanted a... a different home... Some sort of explosion took place in the pit of Harry's stomach.
Just stay with him, said Harry, starting to get up, but his movement seemed to trigger another abrupt change in Mr. Crouch, who seized him hard around the knees and pulled Harry back to the ground.You were seen, he hissed, showing them the
headline: FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES. He began to read aloud: Two Muggles in London, convinced they saw an old car flying over the Post Office tower... at noon in Norfolk, Mrs. Hetty Bayliss, while hanging out her
washing... Mr. Angus Fleet, of Peebles, reported to police... Six or seven Muggles in all. I believe your father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office? he said, looking up at Ron and smiling still more nastily. Dear, dear... his own son... Harry
felt as though he'd just been walloped in the stomach by one of the mad tree's larger branches. If anyone found out Mr. Weasley had bewitched the car... he hadn't thought of that....We agreed not to make the announcement until all the details - Oh
details! said Bagman, waving the word away like a cloud of midges. They've signed, haven't they? They've agreed, haven't they? I bet you anything these kids'll know soon enough anyway. I mean, it's happening at Hogwarts - Ludo, we need to meet
the Bulgarians, you know, said Mr. Crouch sharply, cutting Bagman's remarks short. Thank you for the tea, Weatherby. He pushed his undrunk tea back at Percy and waited for Ludo to rise; Bagman struggled to his feet, swigging down the last of his
tea, the gold in his pockets chinking merrily.You know what? said Ron, once he, Hermione, and Harry had left the kitchens behind and were climbing the steps into the entrance hall again. All these years I've been really impressed with Fred and
George, nicking food from the kitchens - well, it's not exactly difficult, is it? They can't wait to give it away! I think this is the best thing that could have happened to those elves, you know, said Hermione, leading the way back up the marble staircase.
Dobby coming to work here, I mean. The other elves will see how happy he is, being free, and slowly it'll dawn on them that they want that too! Let's hope they don't look too closely at Winky, said Harry.I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any
idea what you said, Harry, said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling.From far away, above his head, he heard a high, cold voice say, Kill the spare. A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words to the night:
Sleep well,
Avada Kedavra! A blastsaid Professor
of green Dumbledore,
light blazed closing
through Harry's the door
eyelids, and hebehind him.CHAPTER
heard something heavy fallNINE
to the THE
groundWRITING
beside him;ON THEin WALLHarry
the pain his scar reachedscanned thethat
such a pitch table
he more carefully.
retched, and then itTiny little Professor
diminished; terrified ofFlitwick, theabout
what he was Charms
to see,
he openedwas
teacher, his stinging
sitting eyes.
on a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, whose hat was askew over her flyaway gray hair. She was talking to Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department.
On Professor Sinistra's other side was the sallow-faced, hook-nosed, greasy- haired Potions master, Snape - Harry's least favorite person at Hogwarts. Harry's loathing of Snape was matched only by Snape's hatred of
him, a hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius escape right under Snape's overlarge nose - Snape and Sirius had been enemies since their own school days.Good afternoon, he
said smoothly. They stared at him.Harry looked back at the snake, willing himself to believe it was alive. If he moved his head, the candlelight made it look as though it were moving.It wasn't only Professor Lupin's
departure that was weighing on Harry's mind. He couldn't help thinking a lot about Professor Trelawney's prediction. He kept wondering where Pettigrew was now, whether he had sought sanctuary with Voldemort
yet. But the thing that was lowering Harry's spirits most of all was the prospect of returning to the Dursleys. For maybe half an hour, a glorious half hour, he had believed he would be living with Sirius from now
on... his parents' best friend It would have been the next bestDear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,

He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him.
Round at my place, my parents are out, said Gordon. See you then, said Dudley.Harry sat down, feeling goose bumps rising up his arms despite the glow of the fire. Fudge took off his pinstriped cloak and tossed it aside, then hitched up the trousers of
his bottle-green suit and sat down opposite Harry.You've been ages, said George when they finally got back to the Weasleys' tents.Yeah? said Harry, raising his eyebrows. Have either of you been attacked by dementors this summer? Well, no - but
that's why he's had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time - Harry felt a great jolt in his guts as though he had just missed a step going downstairs. So everyone had known he was being followed except him.Come here, Quirrell
repeated. Look in the mirror and tell me what you see. Harry walked toward him.Now, now, Penny, no sabotage! said Percy heartily as she examined the Firebolt closely. Penelope and I have got a bet on, he told the team. Ten Galleons on the outcome
of the match! Penelope put the Firebolt down again, thanked Harry, and went back to her table.