"J. K. Rowling - 6 - Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince(2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rowling J. K)

Harry Potter
and
The Half-Blood Prince
by
J. K. Rowling


Chapter 1- The Funeral
“Gotta go to the bathroom… gotta go to the bathroom…” Harry Potter repeated
over and over in his mind until the words lost all meaning. He and Dudley had just spent
the past two hours celebrating their graduation from their fifth years at school by having a
soda drinking contest, which Harry won. Sadly, it was a pyrrhic victory. Harry had set a
personal record by chugging down fifty-three cans of soda, and now he had to let it out…
but where?
The restaurant in which the two of them had held the contest was just a small
diner, it had no bathrooms, and it was on a busy street, with very few other businesses. All
there was were houses, and Harry had to resist the urge to barge into one and demand to
use the bathroom. The closest place they could seek refuge was Dudley’s house, but that
was a little more than a mile away… could they make it?
“Why don’t you just use some magic and teleport us back home or something?”
asked Dudley, looking extremely red in the face, and almost in pain.
“I can’t… I left my wand at home,” said Harry, wanting to hit himself in the head
for doing so. He had been so used to just having his wand with him wherever he went that
he forgot that he actually had to bring it with him in order to have it. Back at Hogwarts, it
was normal to have his wand with him wherever he went.
Of course, nothing like that would be normal to us, only to Harry and the rest of
the wizarding world. You see, despite what you may think from the contest, Harry Potter
is not a normal boy. He is a fifteen year old, going on sixteen, wizard student at Hogwarts
School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. There, he among many other students learn how to
perform fabulous magic, and gain powers that could help them in dangerous situations,
everyday life… or situations much like the one Harry was in now.
“Arg, if I had my wand I could just summon us a toilet or something,” groaned
Harry and he walked slowly forward, the pain growing with each step.
“Oh, there has to be a place somewhere around here,” said Dudley, gripping his
stomach and desperately turning his head in all directions.
Harry couldn’t help but smile. This was his and Dudley’s first time out doing
something together, and actually enjoying each other’s company. For the past five years
during summer vacations at Hogwarts, and for ten years before then, Dudley’s family, the
Dursley’s, watched Harry. His parents were killed by the most terrible and vicious dark
wizard in over a century: Voldemort. He attacked their house one night, to try and steal
Harry from his parents. Both of his parents died in the attack, but Harry managed to
survive due to his mother sacrificing her life for his. When Voldemort performed the
killing curse on Harry, like he had done on hundreds of others, it just rebounded off of the
invisible shield of love, and gave Harry only a small scar on his forehead.
When the curse rebounded back to Voldemort, it nearly killed him, turning him
into a feeble spirit that wandered the world for thirteen years, trying to regain his former
power. At the end of Harry’s fourth year at Hogwarts, Voldemort managed to resurrect
himself, and rose to become even more horrible than before. Now, instead of trying to kill
Harry, he has been trying to recruit him into his army of darkness.
Up until now, Harry hadn’t stopped worrying about Voldemort. But, at this