THE DUELING CLUB
potion. When Snape turned and walked off to bully Neville,
Hermione caught Harry’s eye and nodded.
Harry ducked swiftly down behind his cauldron, pulled one
of Fred’s Filibuster fireworks out of his pocket, and gave it a
quick prod with his wand. The firework began to fizz and sputter.
Knowing he had only seconds, Harry straightened up, took aim,
and lobbed it into the air; it landed right on target in Goyle’s
cauldron.
Goyle’s potion exploded, showering the whole class. People
shrieked as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them. Malfoy got
a faceful and his nose began to swell like a balloon; Goyle blun-
dered around, his hands over his eyes, which had expanded to the
size of a dinner plate — Snape was trying to restore calm and find
out what had happened. Through the confusion, Harry saw Her-
mione slip quietly into Snape’s office.
“Silence! SILENCE!” Snape roared. “Anyone who has been
splashed, come here for a Deflating Draught — when I find out
who did this —”
Harry tried not to laugh as he watched Malfoy hurry forward,
his head drooping with the weight of a nose like a small melon. As
half the class lumbered up to Snape’s desk, some weighted down
with arms like clubs, others unable to talk through gigantic puffed-
up lips, Harry saw Hermione slide back into the dungeon, the
front of her robes bulging.
When everyone had taken a swig of antidote and the various
swellings had subsided, Snape swept over to Goyle’s cauldron and
scooped out the twisted black remains of the firework. There was a
sudden hush.
187