Percy Jackson and Harry Potter Halfblood Heroes (Book 6)

Chapter 7

Katie was removed to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries the following day,by which time the news that she had been cursed had spread all over the school, though the detailswere confused and nobody other than Percy, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Leanne seemed to know thatKatie herself had not been the intended target.

"Oh, and Malfoy knows, of course," said Harry to Percy, Ron and Hermione, who continued their newpolicy of feigning deafness whenever Harry mentioned his Malfoy-Is-a-Death-Eater theory.

And after the private lesson, they also discovered about Voldemort's past. How his father Tom Riddle Snr. a muggle, left his mother Merope Gaunt a witch when she was pregnant with the dark lord.

"Wow, scary thought, the boy You-Know-Who," said Ron quietly, as they took their places around oneof the gnarled Snargaluff stumps that formed that term's project, and began pulling on their protectivegloves. 'But I still don't get why Dumbledore's showing you all this. I mean, it's really interesting andeverything, but what's the point?'

 'Dunno,' said Harry, inserting a gum shield. 'But he says it's all important and it'll help me survive.' 

'I think it's fascinating,' said Hermione earnestly. 'It makes absolute sense to know as much about Voldemort as possible. How else will you find out his weaknesses?' 

'So how was Slughorn's latest party?' Harry asked her thickly through the gum shield.

 'Oh, it was quite fun, really,' said Hermione, now putting on protective goggles. 'I mean, he drones onabout famous ex-pupils a bit, and he absolutely fawns on McLaggen because he's so well-connected, buthe gave us some really nice food and he introduced us to Gwenog Jones.' 

'Gwenog Jones?' said Ron, his eyes widening under his own goggles. 'The Gwenog Jones? Captain ofthe Holyhead Harpies?'

"Yeah, got her autograph," said Percy grinning

'That's right,' said Hermione. 'Personally, I thought she was a bit full of herself, but –' 

'Quite enough chat over here!' said Professor Sprout briskly, bustling over and looking stern. 'You'relagging behind, everybody else has started and Neville's already got his first pod!' 

They looked round; sure enough, there sat Neville with a bloody lip and several nasty scratches alongthe side of his face, but clutching an unpleasantly pulsating green object about the size of a grapefruit. 

'OK, Professor, we're starting now!' said Ron, adding quietly, when she had turned away again,'Should've used Muffliato, Harry.' 

'No, we shouldn't!' said Hermione at once, looking, as she always did, intensely cross at the thoughtof the Half-Blood Prince and his spells. 

'Well, come on ... we'd better get going ...'  said Percy

They all took deep breaths and then dived at the gnarledstump between them.It sprang to life at once; long, prickly, bramble-like vines flew out of the top and whipped through theair. One tangled itself in Hermione's hair and Percy beat it back with a pair of secateurs; Harry succeeded intrapping a couple of vines and knotting them together; a hole opened in the middle of all the tentacle-likebranches; Hermione plunged her arm bravely into this hole, which closed like a trap around her elbow; Percy and Ron tugged and wrenched at the vines, forcing the hole to open again and Hermione snatchedher arm free, clutching in her fingers a pod just like Neville's. At once, the prickly vines shot back insideand the gnarled stump sat there looking like an innocently dead lump of wood.

'You know, I don't think I'll be having any of these in my garden when I've got my own place,' saidRon, pushing his goggles up on to his forehead and wiping sweat from his face.