CHAPTER FIVE
“Uh-oh,” said Ron, into the silence.
The nose of the car dropped. They were falling, gathering speed,
heading straight for the solid castle wall.
“Noooooo!” Ron yelled, swinging the steering wheel around; they
missed the dark stone wall by inches as the car turned in a great arc,
soaring over the dark greenhouses, then the vegetable patch, and
then out over the black lawns, losing altitude all the time.
Ron let go of the steering wheel completely and pulled his wand
out of his back pocket —
“STOP! STOP!” he yelled, whacking the dashboard and the
windshield, but they were still plummeting, the ground flying up
toward them —
“WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!” Harry bellowed, lunging
for the steering wheel, but too late —
CRUNCH.
With an earsplitting bang of metal on wood, they hit the thick
tree trunk and dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was
billowing from under the crumpled hood; Hedwig was shrieking in
terror; a golf-ball-sized lump was throbbing on Harry’s head where
he had hit the windshield; and to his right, Ron let out a low, de-
spairing groan.
“Are you okay?” Harry said urgently.
“My wand,” said Ron, in a shaky voice. “Look at my wand —”
It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling limply, held
on by a few splinters.
Harry opened his mouth to say he was sure they’d be able to
mend it up at the school, but he never even got started. At that very
moment, something hit his side of the car with the force of a
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