Read Online Harry Potter 06 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by authors_sort - Free Book Online

his wand again and the front door opened on to cool, misty darkness.
    ‘And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.’

 
     
— CHAPTER FOUR —
     
Horace Slughorn
    Despite the fact that he had spent every waking moment of the past few days hoping desperately that Dumbledore would indeed come to fetch him, Harry felt distinctly awkward as they set off down Privet Drive together. He had never had a proper conversation with his headmaster outside Hogwarts before; there was usually a desk between them. The memory of their last face-to-face encounter kept intruding, too, and it rather heightened Harry’s sense of embarrassment; he had shouted a lot on that occasion, not to mention doing his best to smash several of Dumbledore’s most prized possessions.
    Dumbledore, however, seemed completely relaxed.
    ‘Keep your wand at the ready, Harry,’ he said brightly.
    ‘But I thought I’m not allowed to use magic outside school, sir?’
    ‘If there is an attack,’ said Dumbledore, ‘I give you permission to use any counter-jinx or -curse that might occur to you. However, I do not think you need worry about being attacked tonight.’
    ‘Why not, sir?’
    ‘You are with me,’ said Dumbledore simply. ‘This will do, Harry.’
    He came to an abrupt halt at the end of Privet Drive.
    ‘You have not, of course, passed your Apparition test?’ he said.
    ‘No,’ said Harry. ‘I thought you had to be seventeen?’
    ‘You do,’ said Dumbledore. ‘So you will need to hold on to my arm very tightly. My left, if you don’t mind – as you have noticed, my wand arm is a little fragile at the moment.’
    Harry gripped Dumbledore’s proffered forearm.
    ‘Very good,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Well, here we go.’
    Harry felt Dumbledore’s arm twist away from him and redoubled his grip: the next thing he knew, everything went black; he was being pressed very hard from all directions; he could not breathe, there were iron bands tightening around his chest; his eyeballs were being forced back into his head; his eardrums were being pushed deeper into his skull, and then –
    He gulped great lungfuls of cold night air and opened his streaming eyes. He felt as though he had just been forced through a very tight rubber tube. It was a few seconds before he realised that Privet Drive had vanished. He and Dumbledore were now standing in what appeared to be a deserted village square, in the centre of which stood an old war memorial and a few benches. His comprehension catching up with his senses, Harry realised that he had just Apparated for the first time in his life.
    ‘Are you all right?’ asked Dumbledore, looking down at him solicitously. ‘The sensation does take some getting used to.’
    ‘I’m fine,’ said Harry, rubbing his ears, which felt as though they had left Privet Drive rather reluctantly. ‘But I think I might prefer brooms.’
    Dumbledore smiled, drew his travelling cloak a little more tightly around his neck and said, ‘This way.’
    He set off at a brisk pace, past an empty inn and a few houses. According to a clock on a nearby church, it was almost midnight.
    ‘So tell me, Harry,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Your scar … has it been hurting at all?’
    Harry raised a hand unconsciously to his forehead and rubbed the lightning-shaped mark.
    ‘No,’ he said, ‘and I’ve been wondering about that. I thought it would be burning all the time now Voldemort’s getting so powerful again.’
    He glanced up at Dumbledore and saw that he was wearing a satisfied expression.
    ‘I, on the other hand, thought otherwise,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Lord Voldemort has finally realised the dangerous access to his thoughts and feelings you have been enjoying. It appears that he is now employing Occlumency against you.’
    ‘Well, I’m not complaining,’ said Harry, who missed neither the disturbing dreams nor the startling flashes of insight into Voldemort’s mind.
    They turned a