hings Harry didn't really want to know the name of at the
moment. The fireplace was dark and empty. Snape closed the door
and turned to look at them.
"So," he said softly, "the train isn't good enough for the famous Harry
Potter and his faithful sidekick Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a bang,
did we, boys?"
"No, sir, it was the barrier at King's Cross, it -"
78
"Silence!" said Snape coldly. "What have you done with the
car?"
Ron gulped. This wasn't the first time Snape had given Harry the
impression of being able to read minds. But a moment later, he un
derstood, as Snape unrolled today's issue of the Evening Prophet.
"You were seen," he hissed, showing them the headline: FLY
ING 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 be
lieve 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 ....
"I noticed, in my search of the park, that considerable damage
seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow,"
Snape went on.
"That tree did more damage to us than we -" Ron blurted out.
68
"Silence!" snapped Snape again. "Most unfortunately, you are
not in my House and the decision to expel you does not rest with
me. I shall go and fetch the people who do have that happy power.
You will wait here."
Harry and Ron stared at each other, white-faced. Harry didn't
feel hungry any more. He now felt extremely sick. He tried not to
look at a large, slimy something suspended in green liquid on a
shelf behind Snape's desk. If Snape had gone to fetch Professor
McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, they were hardly any better
off. She might be fairer than Snape, but she was still extremely strict.
Ten minutes later, Snape returned, and sure enough it was Professor
McGonagall who accompanied him. Harry had seen Professor
McGonagall angry on several occasions, but either he had forgotten
just how thin her mouth could go, or he had never seen her this angry
before. She raised her wand the moment she entered; Harry and Ron
both flinched, but she merely pointed it at the empty fireplace, where
flames suddenly erupted.
"Sit," she said, and they both backed into chairs by the fire.
"Explain," she said, her glasses glinting ominously.
Ron launched into the story, starting with the barrier at the station
refusing to let them through.
"
-so we had no choice, Professor, we couldn't get on the train."
"Why didn't you send us a letter by owl? I believe you have an owl?"
Professor McGonagall said coldly to Harry.
Harry gaped at her. Now she said it, that seemed the obvious thing to
have done.
"I - I didn't think -"
"That," said Professor McGonagall, "is obvious."
There was a knock on the office door and Snape, now looking happier
69
than ever, opened it. There stood the headmaster, Professor
Dumbledore.
Harry's whole body went numb. Dumbledore was looking unusually
grave. He stared down his very crooked nose at them, and
*80*
Harry suddenly found himself wishing he and Ron were still being
beaten up by the Whomping Willow.
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.
"We'll go and get our stuff," said Ron in a hopeless sort of voice.
"What are you talking about, Weasley?" barked Professor
McGonagall.
"Well, you're expelling us, aren't you?" said Ron.
Harry looked quickly at Dumbledore.
"Not today, Mr. Weasley," said Dumbledore. "But I must impress upon
both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to
both your families tonight. I must also warn you that if you do anything
like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you."
Snape looked as though Christmas had been canceled. He cleared his
throat and said, "Professor Dumbledore, these boys have flouted the
Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious
damage to an old and valuable tree - surely acts of this nature -"
70
* 8i
"It will be for Professor McGonagall to decide on these boys'
punishments, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "They are in her
House and are therefore her responsibility." He turned to Professor
McGonagall. "I must go back to the feast, Minerva, I've got to give
out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking cus
tard tart I want to sample -"
Snape shot a look of pure venom at Harry and Ron as he allowed
himself to be swept out of his office, leaving them alone with Pro
fessor McGonagall, who was still eyeing them like a wrathful eagle.
"You'd better get along to the hospital wing, Weasley, you're
bleeding."
"Not much," said Ron, hastily wiping the cut over his eye with
his sleeve. "Professor, I wanted to watch my sister being Sorted -"
"The Sorting Ceremony is over," said Professor McGonagall.
"Your sister is also in Gryffindor."
"Oh, good," said Ron.
"And speaking of Gryffindor -" Professor McGonagall said
sharply, but Harry cut in: "Professor, when we took the car, term
hadn't started, so - so Gryffindor shouldn't really have points
taken from it - should it?" he finished, watching her anxiously.
Professor McGonagall gave him a piercing look, but he was sure
she had almost smiled. Her mouth looked less thin, anyway.
"I will not take any points from Gryffindor," she said, and
Harry's heart lightened considerably. "But you will both get a de
tention."
It was better than Harry had expected. As for Dumbledore's
writing to the Dursleys, that was nothing. Harry knew perfectly
well they'd just be disappointed that the Whomping Willow hadn't
squashed him flat.
82
Professor McGonagall raised her wand again and pointed it at Snape's
desk. A large plate of sandwiches, two silver goblets, and a jug of-iced
pumpkin juice appeared with a pop.
"You will eat in here and then go straight up to your dormitory," she
said. "I must also return to the feast."
71
When the door had closed behind her, Ron let out a long, low whistle.
"I thought we'd had it," he said, grabbing a sandwich.
"So did I," said Harry, taking one, too.
"Can you believe our luck, though?" said Ron thickly through a
mouthful of chicken and ham. "Fred and George must've flown that
car five or six times and no Muggle ever saw them." He swallowed
and took another huge bite. "Why couldn't we get through the barrier?"
Harry shrugged. "We'll have to watch our step from now on, though,"
he said, taking a grateful swig of pumpkin juice. "Wish we could've
gone up to the feast ......
"She didn't want us showing off," said Ron sagely. "Doesn't want
people to think it's clever, arriving by flying car."
When they had eaten as many sandwiches as they could (the plate
kept refilling itself) they rose and left the office, treading the familiar
path to Gryffindor Tower. The castle was quiet; it seemed that the
feast was over. They walked past muttering portraits and creaking
suits of armor, and climbed narrow flights of stone stairs, until at last
they reached the passage where the secret entrance to Gryffindor
Tower was hidden, behind an oil painting of a very fat woman in a
pink silk dress.
"Password?" she said as they approached.
"Er -" said Harry.
They didn't know the new year's password, not having met a
Gryffindor prefect yet, but help came almost immediately; they heard
hurrying feet behind them and turned to see Hermione dashing toward
them.
"There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors -
someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car
"Well, we haven't been expelled," Harry assured her.
"You're not telling me you did fly here?" said Hermione, sounding
72
almost as severe as Professor McGonagall.
"Skip the lecture," said Ron impatiently, "and tell us the new
password."
"It's 'wattlebird,"' said Hermione impatiently, "but that's not the point -
"
Her words were cut short, however, as the portrait of the fat lady
swung open and there was a sudden storm of clapping. It looked as
though the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into
the circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and
squashy armchairs, waiting for them to arrive. Arms reached through
the portrait hole to pull Harry and Ron inside, leaving Hermione to
scramble in after then-t.
"Brilliant!" yelled Lee Jordan. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a
car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that
one for years -"
"Good for you," said a fifth year Harry had never spoken to; someone
was patting him on the back as though he'd just won a marathon;
Fred and George pushed their way to the front of the crowd and said
together, "Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh?"
84
Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassedly, but Harry could
see one person who didn't look happy at all. Percy was visible over
the heads of some excited first years, and he seemed to be trying to
get near enough to start telling them off. Harry nudged Ron in the
ribs and nod