"J. K. Rowling - The Goblet of Fire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rowling J. K)

first place. If it hadn't been for Voldemort, Harry would not have had the lightning scar on his
forehead. If it hadn't been for Voldemort, Harry would still have had parents...
Harry had been a year old the night that Voldemort -- the most powerful Dark wizard for a
century, a wizard who had been gaining power steadily for eleven years -- arrived at his house and
killed his father and mother. Voldemort had then turned his wand on Harry; he had performed the
curse that had disposed of many full-grown witches and wizards in his steady rise to power -- and,
incredibly, it had not worked. Instead of killing the small boy, the curse had rebounded upon
Voldemort. Harry had survived with nothing but a lightning-shaped cut on his forehead, and
Voldemort had been reduced to something barely alive. His powers gone, his life almost
extinguished, Voldemort had fled; the terror in which the secret community of witches and wizards
had lived for so long had lifted, Voldemort's followers had disbanded, and Harry Potter had become
famous.
It had been enough of a shock for Harry to discover, on his eleventh birthday, that he was
a wizard; it had been even more disconcerting to find out that everyone in the hidden wizarding
world knew his name. Harry had arrived at Hogwarts to find that heads turned and whispers
followed him wherever he went. But he was used to it now: At the end of this summer, he would be
starting his fourth year at Hogwarts, and Harry was already counting the days until he would be
back at the castle again.
But there was still a fortnight to go before he went back to school. He looked hopelessly
around his room again, and his eye paused on the birthday cards his two best friends had sent him
at the end of July. What would they say if Harry wrote to them and told them about his scar
hurting?
At once, Hermione Granger's voice seemed to fill his head, shrill and panicky.
"Your scar hurt? Harry, that's really serious.... Write to Professor Dumbledore! And I'll
go and check Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions.... Maybe there's something in there about
curse scars. . . ."
Yes, that would be Hermione's advice: Go straight to the headmaster of Hogwarts, and in
the meantime, consult a book. Harry stared out of the window at the inky blue-black sky. He
doubted very much whether a book could help him now. As far as he knew, he was the only living
person to have survived a curse like Voldemort's; it was highly unlikely, therefore, that he would
find his symptoms listed in Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions. As for informing the
headmaster, Harry had no idea where Dumbledore went during the summer holidays. He amused himself
for a moment, picturing Dumbledore, with his long silver beard, full length wizard's robes, and
pointed hat, stretched out on a beach somewhere, rubbing suntan lotion onto his long crooked nose.
Wherever Dumbledore was, though, Harry was sure that Hedwig would be able to find him; Harry's owl
had never yet failed to deliver a letter to anyone, even without an address. But what would he
write?
Dear Professor Dumbledore, Sorry to bother you, but my scar hurt this morning. Yours
sincerely, Harry Potter.
Even inside his head the words sounded stupid.
And so he tried to imagine his other best friend, Ron Weasley's, reaction, and in a
moment, Ron's red hair and long-nosed, freckled face seemed to swim before Harry, wearing a
bemused expression.
"Your scar hurt? But ... but You-Know-Who can't be near you now, can he? I mean ... you'd
know, wouldn't you? He'd be trying to do you in again, wouldn't be? I dunno, Harry, maybe curse
scars always twinge a bit... I'll ask Dad. . . ."
Mr. Weasley was a fully qualified wizard who worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts
Office at the Ministry of Magic, but he didn't have any particular expertise in the matter of