rry tried with all his might to keep his 
face impassive. 
"Spare bit of parchment," he said with a shrug. 
Snape turned it over, his eyes on Harry. 
"Surely you don't need such a very old piece of parchment?" he said. 


"Why don't I just -- throw this away?" 
His hand moved toward the fire. 
"No!" Harry said quickly. 
"So!" said Snape, his long nostrils quivering. "Is this another 


treasured gift from Mr. Weasley? Or is it -- something else? A letter, 
perhaps, written in invisible ink? Or -- instructions to get into 
Hogsmeade without passing the dementors?" 


Harry blinked. Snape's eyes gleamed. 
"Let me see, let me see...." he muttered, taking out his wand and 
smoothing the map out on his desk. "Reveal your secret!" he said, 
touching the wand to the parchment. 


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Nothing happened. Harry clenched his hands to stop them from shaking. 
"Show yourself!" Snape said, tapping the map sharply. 
It stayed blank. Harry was taking deep, calming breaths. 
"Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield 


the information you conceal!" Snape said, hitting the map with his wand. 


As though an invisible hand were writing upon it, words appeared on the 
smooth surface of the map. 
Mooney presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep 


his abnormally large nose out of other people's business." 


Snape froze. Harry stared, dumbstruck, at the message. But the map 
didn't stop there. More writing was appearing beneath the first. 
"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor 


Snape is an ugle git." 


It would have been very funny if the situation hadn't been so serious. 
And there was more.... 
"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like 


that ever became a professor." 


Harry closed his eyes in horror. When he'd opened them, the map had had 
its last word. 
"Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his 


hair , the slimeball." 
Harry waited for the blow to fall. 
"So..." said Snape softly. "We'll see about this...." 
He strode across to his fire, seized a fistful of glittering powder from 


a jar on the fireplace, and threw it into the flames. 


240 



"Lupin!" Snape called into the fire. "I want a word!" 

Utterly bewildered, Harry stared at the fire. A large shape had appeared 
in it, revolving very fast. Seconds later, Professor Lupin was 
clambering out of the fireplace, brushing ash off his shabby robes. 

"You called, Severus?" said Lupin mildly. 

"I certainly did," said Snape, his face contorted with fury as he strode 
back to his desk. "I have just asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was 
carrying this." 

Snape pointed at the parchment, on which the words of Messrs. Moony, 
Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs were still shining. An odd, closed 
expression appeared on Lupin's face. 

"Well?" said Snape. 

Lupin continued to stare at the map. Harry had the impression that Lupin 
was doing some very quick thinking. 

"Well?" said Snape again. "This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. 
This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you 
imagine Potter got such a thing?" 

Lupin looked up and, by the merest half-glance in Harry's direction, 
warned him not to interrupt. 

"Full of Dark Magic?" he repeated mildly. "Do you really think so, 
Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that 
insults anybody who reads it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I 
imagine Harry got it from a joke shop --" 

"Indeed?" said Snape. His jaw had gone rigid with anger. "You think a 
joke shop could supply him with such a thing? You don't think it more 
likely that he got it directly from the manufacturers?" 

Harry didn't understand what Snape was talking about. Nor, apparently, 
did Lupin. 

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"You mean, by Mr. Wormtail or one of these people?" he said. "Harry, do 
you know any of these men?" 

"No," said Harry quickly. 

"You see, Severus?" said Lupin, turning back to Snape. "It looks like a 
Zonko product to me --" 

Right on cue, Ron came bursting into the office. He was completely out 
of breath, and stopped just short of Snape's desk, clutching the stitch 
in his chest and trying to speak. 

"I -- gave -- Harry -- that -- stuff," he choked. "Bought -- it... in 
Zonko's... ages -- ago..." 

"Well!" said Lupin, clapping his hands together and looking around 
cheerfully. "That seems to clear that up! Severus, I'll take this back, 
shall I?" He folded the map and tucked it inside his robes. "Harry, Ron, 
come with me, I need a word about my vampire essay -- excuse us, Severus 
--" 

Harry didn't dare look at Snape as they left his office. He. Ron, and 
Lupin walked all the way back into the entrance hall before speaking. 
Then Harry turned to Lupin. 

"Professor, I --" 

"I don't want to hear explanations," said Lupin shortly. He glanced 
around the empty entrance hall and lowered his voice. "I happen to know 
that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago. Yes, I know 
it' s a map," he said as Harry and Ron looked amazed. "I don't want to 
know how it fell into your possession. I am, however, astounded that you 
didn't hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a 
student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let 
you have it back, Harry." 

Harry had expected that, and was too keen for explanations to protest. 

"Why did Snape think I'd got it from the manufacturers?" 

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"Because...," Lupin hesitated, "because these mapmakers would have 
wanted to lure you out of school. They'd think it extremely 
entertaining." 

"Do you know them?" said Harry, impressed. 

"We've met," he said shortly. He was looking at Harry more seriously 
than ever before. 

"Don't expect me to cover up for you again, Harry. I cannot make you 
take Sirius Black seriously. But I would have thought that what you have 
heard when the dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect 
on you. Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. A poor 
way to repay them -- gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic 
tricks." 

He walked away, leaving Harry feeling worse by far than he had at any 
point in Snape's office. Slowly, he and Ron mounted the marble 
staircase. As Harry passed the one-eyed witch, he remembered the 
Invisibility Cloak -- it was still down there, but he didn't dare go and 
get it. 

"It's my fault," said Ron abruptly. "I persuaded you to go. Lupin's 
right, it was stupid, we shouldn't've done it --" 

He broke off; they reached the corridor where the security trolls were 
pacing, and Hermione was walking toward them. One look at her face 
convinced Harry that she had heard what had happened. His heart 
plummeted -- had she told Professor McGonagall? 

"Come to have a good gloat?" said Ron savagely as she stopped in front 
of them. "Or have you just been to tell on us?" 

"No," said Hermione. She was holding a letter in her hands and her lip 
was trembling. "I just thought you ought to know... Hagrid lost his 
case. Buckbeak is going to be executed." 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN 

THE QUIDDITCH FINAL 

243 



He sent me this," Hermione said, holding out the letter. 

Harry took it. The parchment was damp, and enormous teardrops had 
smudged the ink so badly in places that it was very difficult to read. 

Dear Hermione, We lost. I'm allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts. 
Execution date to be fixed. Beaky has enjoyed London. I won't forget all 
the help you gave us. 

Hagrid 

"They can't do this," said Harry. "They can't. Buckbeak isn't 
dangerous." 

"Malfoy's dad's frightened the Committee into it," said Hermione, wiping 
her eyes. "You know what he's like. They're a bunch of doddery old 
fools, and they were scared. There'll be an appeal, though, there always 
is. Only I can't see any hope.... Nothing will have changed." 

"Yeah, it will," said Ron fiercely. "You won't have to do all the work 
alone this time, Hermione. I'll help." 

"Oh, Ron!" 

Hermione flung her arms around Ron's neck and broke down completely. 
Ron, looking quite terrified, patted her very awkwardly on the top of 
the head. Finally, Hermione drew away. 

"Ron, I'm really, really sorry about Scabbers..." she sobbed. 

"Oh -- well -- he was old," said Ron, looking thoroughly relieved that 
she had let go of him. "And he was a bit useless. You never know, Mum 
and Dad might get me an owl now." 

The safety measures imposed on the students since Black's second 
break-in made it impossible for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to go and visit 
Hagrid in the evenings. Their only chance of talking to him was during 
Care of Magical Creatures lessons. 

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He seemed numb with shock at the verdict. 


"S'all my fault. Got all tongue-tied. They was all sittin' there in 
black robes an' I kep' droppin' me notes and forgettin' all them dates 
yeh looked up fer me, Hermione. An' then Lucius Malfoy stood up an' said 
his bit, and the Committee jus' did exac'ly what he told 'em...." 


"There's still the appeal!" said Ron fiercely. "Don't give up Yet, we're 
working on it!" 


They were walking back up to the castle with the rest of the class. 
Ahead they could see Malfoy, who was walking with Crabbe and Goyle, and 
kept looking back, laughing derisively. 


"S'no good, Ron," said Hagrid sadly as they reached the castle steps. 
"That Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm jus' gonna make sure 
the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had. I owe him 
that...." 


Hagrid turned around and hurried back toward his cabin, his face buried 
in his handkerchief. 


"Look at him blubber!" 


Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had been standing just ins