𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒-ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 ℙ𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣❥

𝐇𝐁𝐏 𝟗

Where was Dumbledore, and what was he doing? Emily caught sight of the headmaster only twice over the next few weeks. He rarely appeared at meals anymore, and Emily was sure Hermione was right in thinking that he was leaving the school for days at a time.

Had Dumbledore forgotten the lessons he was supposed to be giving Harry? Dumbledore had said that the lessons were leading to something to do with the prophecy; Harry had felt bolstered, comforted, and now he felt slightly abandoned.

Halfway through October came their first trip of the term to Hogsmeade. Emily had wondered whether these trips would still be allowed, given the increasingly tight security measures around the school, but was pleased to know that they were going ahead; it was always good to get out of the castle grounds for a few hours.

Emily woke early on the morning of the trip, which was proving stormy, and whiled away the time until breakfast by sitting in the common room next to Harry whilst he read his copy of Advanced Potion-making.

He didn't usually read his textbooks; that sort of behavior, as Emily rightly said, was indecent in anybody except Hermione and herself, which she admitted that they were simply weird that way.

Harry felt, however, that the Half-Blood Prince's copy of Advanced Potion-Making hardly qualified as a textbook.

The more Harry pored over the book, the more he realized how much was in there, not only the handy hints and shortcuts on potions that were earning him such a glowing reputation with Slughorn, but also the imaginative little jinxes and hexes scribbled in the margins, which Harry was sure, judging by the crossings-out and revisions, that the Prince had invented himself.

Harry had already attempted a few of the Prince's self-invented spells. There had been a hex that caused toenails to grow alarmingly fast (he had tried this on Crabbe in the corridor whilst he was tormenting Emily, with very entertaining results); a jinx that glued the tongue to the roof of the mouth (which he had twice used, to general applause, on an unsuspecting Argus Filch); and, perhaps most useful of all, Muffliato, a spell that filled the ears of anyone nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing, so that lengthy conversations could be held in class without being overheard.

The only person who did not find these charms amusing was Hermione, who maintained a rigidly disapproving expression throughout and refused to talk at all if Harry had used the Muffliato spell on anyone in the vicinity.

Lying across Emily's lap, Harry turned the book sideways so as to examine more closely the scribbled instructions for a spell that seemed to have caused the Prince some trouble.

There were many crossings-out and alterations, but finally, crammed into a corner of the page, the scribble:
Levicorpus (nvbl)

While the wind and sleet pounded relentlessly on the windows, Harry stared at the letters in brackets. Nvbl . . . that had to mean "nonverbal."

Harry rather doubted he would be able to bring off this particular spell; he was still having difficulty with nonverbal spells, something Snape had been quick to comment on in every D.A.D.A. class.

On the other hand, the Prince had proved a much more effective teacher than Snape so far.

Pointing his wand at nothing in particular, he gave it an upward flick and said Levicorpus! inside his head.

"Aaaaaaaargh!"

There was a flash of light and  Ron had let out a yell.

Harry sent Advanced Potion-Making flying in panic; Ron was dangling upside down in midair as though an invisible hook had hoisted him up by the ankle. He had come downstairs to sit with Emily and Harry.