Spark [J._K._Rowling]_Harry_Potter_and_the_Chamber_of_Se | Page 251

THE VERY SECRET DIARY ously hadn’t noticed the year on the cover and thought he had Harry’s own diary. A hush fell over the onlookers. Ginny was star- ing from the diary to Harry, looking terrified. “Hand it over, Malfoy,” said Percy sternly. “When I’ve had a look,” said Malfoy, waving the diary taunt- ingly at Harry. Percy said, “As a school prefect —” but Harry had lost his tem- per. He pulled out his wand and shouted, “Expelliarmus!” and just as Snape had disarmed Lockhart, so Malfoy found the diary shoot- ing out of his hand into the air. Ron, grinning broadly, caught it. “Harry!” said Percy loudly. “No magic in the corridors. I’ll have to report this, you know!” But Harry didn’t care, he was one-up on Malfoy, and that was worth five points from Gryffindor any day. Malfoy was looking fu- rious, and as Ginny passed him to enter her classroom, he yelled spitefully after her, “I don’t think Potter liked your valentine much!” Ginny covered her face with her hands and ran into class. Snarling, Ron pulled out his wand, too, but Harry pulled him away. Ron didn’t need to spend the whole of Charms belching slugs. It wasn’t until they had reached Professor Flitwick’s class that Harry noticed something rather odd about Riddle’s diary. All his other books were drenched in scarlet ink. The diary, however, was as clean as it had been before the ink bottle had smashed all over it. He tried to point this out to Ron, but Ron was having trouble with his wand again; large purple bubbles were blossoming out of the end, and he wasn’t much interested in anything else. ‘ 239 ‘