94 Diagon Alley

     stared blankly at her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were nearby were also stunned.

    Then, six feet above the ground, Katie let out a terrifying scream. Her eyes snapped open, and what she could see or feel was clearly causing her horrific pain. She screamed one after another. Gwen and Ginny also screamed, and they grabbed Katie by the ankles, trying desperately to drag her back to the ground. Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed to help. Just as they grabbed Katie's legs, she landed on them. Harry and Ron finally hugged her, but she was twisting so hard they couldn't control her. So they put her on the ground. She writhes violently and screams, apparently not recognizing any of them.

    "Curse stop!" Gwen screamed and waved her wand, "No! It's over—it's over—" There was no response, and Katie was still struggling. Gwen used a few more curses to break the curse, to no avail.

    Harry looked around, there was no one around.

    "You stay here!" he shouted to several others in the howling wind, "I'll call for help!"

    After a while, he took Hagrid and ran back down the path, and soon saw the small group around Katie. Katie was still on the ground writhing and screaming as Ron, Hermione and Gwen were trying to quiet her.

    "Get out of the way!" cried Hagrid, "let me see!"

    "She's in trouble!" Gwen's lips quivered. "Not a simple spell, not a curse, I don't know how to—"

    Ginny was already crying while covering her face.

    Hagrid stared at Katie for a second, then bent down and picked her up without a word, turned and ran towards the castle. After a few seconds, Katie's screams were inaudible, only the gusts of wind whistling around.

    Hermione hurried over to Ginny and put her arms around her.

    "Did this happen suddenly, or—?"

    "As soon as the package was torn open, something happened." Ginny wiped away her tears and said hard, pointing to the soaked kraft paper package on the ground. The paper bag was torn open, and something inside was glowing green. Ron bent down and stretched out his hand, and Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

    "Don't touch it!" Harry leaned down. He saw an ornate opal necklace revealing from the paper bag.

    "I've seen it before," said Harry, looking at the thing. "It was on display at Borgin-Bock a long time ago. The logo says it's enchanted. Katie must have touched it. It's here." He looked up at Gwen, who was shaking uncontrollably by now. "How did Katie get this thing?"

    "We were arguing about this just now. She came out of the three-broomstick toilet with it in her hand, saying it was a gift for someone at Hogwarts, She handed it over. She had a weird look when she spoke... oh no, oh no, she must have been under the Imperius Curse, I didn't realize it!" Gwen was shaking all over with sadness. Hermione quickly patted her on the back again.

    "Didn't she say who gave it to her, Gwen?"

    "No...she wouldn't tell us...I said she was dizzy and she mustn't take this to school, but she just wouldn't listen." Gwen said angrily.

    "Then...then I tried to grab something from her...then-then-" Ginny let out a desperate scream.

    "We'd better go back to school," Hermione said, still holding Ginny, "so we can find out how she is now. Let's go..."

    Harry hesitated for a moment, then removed the scarf from his face, ignoring Ron's exclamation, carefully wrapping the scarf around the necklace and picking it up.

    "We need to show this to Madam Pomfrey," he whispered to Ron a few steps behind. "Malfoy knew about this necklace. It was in a box at Borgin-Bock four years ago, when I hid in the store from Malfoy and his dad, and I saw Malfoy scrutinize it. We followed it. That's what he wanted to buy that day! He didn't forget it, he wanted to go back and buy it!"

    "I-I can't tell, Harry," said Ron hesitantly, "there's a lot of people going to the Borkin-Bocks...and they don't say Katie is a girl. Did you get the necklace in the toilet?"

    "She said Katie came back from the toilet with the necklace in her hand, not that she got it in the toilet—"

    "Mag!" Ron warned.

    Harry looked up, and sure enough, Professor McGonagall hurried down the stone steps to meet them in the rain and snow swirling in the wind.

    "Hagrid said the five of you saw what happened to Katie Bell—please come to my office upstairs at once! What do you have in your hand, Potter?"

    "That's what Katie touched," said Harry.

    "My God," Professor McGonagall said, taking the necklace from Harry's hand, looking very nervous, "No, no, Filch, they're with me!" She saw Filch stomping up and down the hallway with the spy device in hand, and she quickly said to him, "Take this necklace to Professor Snape at once, and don't touch it, Just keep it wrapped in a scarf!"

    Harry and several others followed Professor McGonagall upstairs into her office. The rain-splattered windows rattled in the sashes, and it was cold despite the crackling fire in the grate. Professor McGonagall closed the door and walked quickly behind the desk, looking at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Gwen, who had calmed down, and Ginny, who was still red-eyed.

    "Tell me," she said sternly, "what's the matter?"

    Gwen looked at Ginny and decided to speak for herself, because it involved her best girl friend at Hogwarts, Gwen had to pause several times to control his emotions . She told Professor McGonagall how Katie had gone to the bathroom at Three Broomsticks and came back looking a little weird with the unmarked package in her hand; how the three of them were arguing because she thought Kay Ti shouldn't have promised to hand over an unknown item; at the height of the argument, he started to **** the package, which was torn apart. Speaking of this, Ginny on the side was completely broken down, she felt that her fighting action had harmed Katie.

    "Okay," Professor McGonagall said softly, "Miss Weasley, you go to the school hospital and ask Mrs. Pomfrey to give you some medicine. You didn't do it. What's wrong."

    After Ginny left, Mrs. McGonagall turned to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Gwen.

    "What happened when Katie touched that necklace?"

    "She rose into the air," said Harry before the others, "and started screaming, and then fell. Professor, may I see Professor Dumbledore?"

    "The principal is out and won't be back until Monday, Potter." Professor McGonagall said, looking surprised.

    "Out?" Harry repeated angrily.

    "Yes, Potter, out!" said Professor McGonagall sharply, "but I think you can tell me anything you have to say about this terrible thing! "

    For a moment, Harry hesitated. He seemed to have a hard time trusting Professor McGonagall. And Dumbledore, though intimidating in many ways, seems unlikely to scoff at an idea, no matter how outlandish it may be. However, this is a matter of life and death, and there is no time to consider whether it will be ridiculed.

    "I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, Professor."

    Ron, who was standing on one side of him, rubbed his nose awkwardly; Hermione, who was standing on his other side, slid her feet on the ground, as if she wanted to keep a certain distance from Harry. But Gwen didn't say anything, listening to Harry's speculation, and a burst of intense anger came from his heart.

    "This is a very serious charge, Harry," said Professor McGonagall, after a pause in astonishment. "Do you have any evidence?"

    "No," said Harry, "but..." He told McGonagall the conversation they overheard between him and Borgin the day they followed Malfoy to Borgin-Bocks professor. When he finished, Professor McGonagall looked a little confused.

    "Malfoy took something to Borgin-Bock to fix?"

    "No, professor, he just asked Borgin to tell him how to fix an item and didn't take it with him. But that's not the problem, the problem is that he also bought an item at the same time, I Thought it was the necklace—"

    "You saw Malfoy leave the store with a package like that?"

    "No, Professor, he asked Bogin to keep it in the shop for him—"

    "But Harry," Hermione interrupted, "Borgin asked him if he wanted to take it away, and Malfoy said 'no'—"

     "Because he doesn't want to touch that thing, so what!" Harry said angrily.

    "His original words were: 'What do I look like walking down the street with it?'" Hermione said.

    "Yeah, he does look silly with a necklace," Ron interjected.

    "Oh, Ron," said Hermione desperately, "the necklace must be wrapped, he doesn't need to touch it, and it's easy to hide in the pocket inside the cloak, no one will See! I think the thing he keeps in Borgin-Bock is either bulky or makes a lot of noise, and he knows if he walks down the street with that thing it's sure to get noticed —and," she said aloud before Harry had a chance to interrupt her, "I asked Borgin about that necklace, remember?