"J. K. Rowling - 06 Harry Potter and The half blood Prince" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rowling J. K)

of his desk, Fudge continued, 'But Black's by-the-by now. The
point is, we're at war, Prime Minister, and steps must be
taken.'

'At war?' repeated the Prime Minister nervously. 'Surely
that's a little bit of an overstatement?'

'He Who Must Not Be Named has now been joined by
those of his followers who broke out of Azkaban in January,'
said Fudge, speaking more and more rapidly, and twirling his
bowler so fast that it was a lime-green blur. 'Since they have
moved into the open, they have been wreaking havoc. The
Brockdale bridge -he
did it, Prime Minister, he threatened a
mass Muggle killing unless I stood aside for him and '

'Good grief, so it's your fault those people were killed
and I'm having to answer questions about rusted rigging and

18 harry potter


corroded expansion joints and I don't know what else!' said
the Prime Minister furiously.

'My fault!' said Fudge, colouring up. 'Are you saying you
would have caved in to blackmail like that?'

'Maybe not,' said the Prime Minister, standing up and
striding about the room, 'but I would have put all my efforts
into catching the blackmailer before he committed any such
atrocity!'

'Do you really think I wasn't already making every effort?'
demanded Fudge heatedly. 'Every Auror in the Ministry was and
is -trying
to find him and round up his followers, but
we happen to be talking about one of the most powerful wizards
of all time, a wizard who has eluded capture for almost
three decades!'

'So I suppose you're going to tell me he caused the hurricane
in the West Country, too?' said the Prime Minister, his
temper rising with every pace he took. It was infuriating to
discover the reason for all these terrible disasters and not
to be able to tell the public; almost worse than it being the
government's fault after all.

'That was no hurricane,' said Fudge miserably.