94 hp 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 horrific scream.Her eyes snapped open, and what she could see or feel clearly caused her terrible pain.She screamed one after another.Gwen and Ginny yelled too, grabbing Katie by the ankles, trying desperately to drag her back to the ground.Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed over to help.As they grabbed Katie's legs, she fell on top of them.Harry and Ron managed to hold her, but she was writhing so much they couldn't control her.So they put her on the ground.She writhed violently and screamed, apparently not recognizing any of them.

"Spell stop!" Gwen screamed, waving her wand, "No! The end—the end—" There was no response, and Katie was still struggling in pain.Gwen broke the spell with a few more curses, to no avail.

Harry looked around, but there was no one around.

"You stay here!" he yelled to the others through the howling wind. "I'll get help!"

After a while, he ran back down the path with Hagrid, and soon saw the small group of people gathered around Katie.Katie was still lying on the ground writhing and screaming, and Ron, Hermione, and Gwen were all trying to calm her down.

"Get out of the way!" Hagrid yelled, "Let me see!"

"Something happened to her!" said Gwen's lips trembling. "It's not a simple spell, it's not a curse, I don't know how to—"

Ginny was already covering her face and crying.

Hagrid stared at Katie for a second, then bent down to pick her up without a word, turned and ran in the direction of the castle.After a few seconds, Katie's screams were inaudible, and there was only the whistling of the wind.

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

"Did this happen suddenly, or—?"

"An accident happened as soon as the package was torn open." Ginny wiped away her tears and said with effort, pointing to the soaked brown paper package on the ground.The package was torn open, and something glowed green inside.Ron bent down and reached out, and Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Don't touch it!" Harry leaned over.He saw a gorgeous opal necklace peeking out of 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 label says it's enchanted. Katie must have come across it." He looked up Looking at Gwen, she was shaking uncontrollably by now. "How did Katie get this thing?"

"We were arguing about this just now. She came out of the Three Broomsticks toilet with it in her hand, and said it was a gift for someone at Hogwarts, and she was passing it on. She had an expression on her face when she spoke. It's weird... oh no, oh no, she must have had the Imperius Curse, I didn't realize it then!" Gwen was shaking with grief.Hermione quickly patted her on the back again.

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

"No... she won't tell us... I said she's out of her mind and she can't take this thing to school, but she just won't listen," said Gwen ruefully.

"Then...then I tried to snatch it from her...then—then—" Ginny let out a desperate scream.

"We'd better get back to school," said Hermione, still holding Ginny, "so we can find out what's going on with her. Let's go..."

Harry hesitated for a while, then took the scarf off his face. Ignoring Ron's screams, he carefully wrapped the scarf around the necklace and picked it up.

"We need to show this to Madam Pomfrey," he whispered to Ron a few steps behind. "Malfoy knew the necklace. It was in a box at Borgin-Bock's four years ago, when I was hiding in the shop from Malfoy and his dad, and I saw Malfoy poring over it. We followed That day, this was what he wanted to buy! He didn't forget it, so 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 Borgin & Bock's... and, besides, they didn't say Katie got the necklace in the ladies' room ?"

"She said Katie came back from the toilet with the necklace in her hand, didn't say she got it in the toilet—"

"McGonagall!" Ron warned.

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

"Hagrid said you five saw what happened to Katie Bell - please come upstairs to my office at once! What are you holding, Potter?"

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

"My God," said Professor McGonagall, taking the necklace from Harry, looking very nervous, "no, no, Filch, they're with me!" She saw Filch holding the pendant Encrypted device, came from the hall excitedly, tapping, and said to him quickly, "Take this necklace to Professor Snape at once, don't touch it, keep it wrapped in the scarf !"

Harry and several others followed Professor McGonagall upstairs and into her office.The splattered panes rattled in the frame, and it was cold in the room, despite the crackling fire in the grate.Professor McGonagall closed the door and walked quickly around behind the desk, looking at Harry, Ron, Hermione, Gwen who had calmed down, and Ginny whose eyes were still red.

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

Gwen looked at Ginny and decided to speak up herself, because it involved her best female friend at Hogwarts, and Gwen had to pause several times to control her emotions.She told Professor McGonagall how Katie went to the toilet at the Three Broomsticks and came back looking a little weird with the unmarked package in her hand; how the three of them argued because she thought Katie Dee should not have promised to hand over an unknown item; at the height of the quarrel, the snatching of the package had begun, and it had been torn apart.Having said that, Ginny on the side completely broke down emotionally. She felt that Katie was hurt by her scrambling action.

"Okay," said Professor McGonagall tenderly, "Miss Weasley, you go to the school hospital and ask Madam Pomfrey to give you some medicine. You haven't done anything wrong."

After Ginny was gone, Madam McGonagall turned to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Gwen.

"What happened after Katie touched that necklace?"

"She went up in the air," said Harry, ahead of the others, "and started screaming, and then fell. Professor, can I meet Professor Dumbledore?"

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

"Out?" Harry repeated angrily.

"Yes, Potter, out!" said Professor McGonagall sharply, "but I think you can tell me what you have to say about the dreadful business!"

For a split second, Harry hesitated.He seemed to have difficulty confiding in Professor McGonagall.And Dumbledore, intimidating as he is in many ways, seems unlikely to have sniffed at an idea, no matter how outlandish.However, this is a matter of life and death, and there is no time for ridicule.

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

Ron, on one side of him, rubbed his nose in embarrassment; Hermione, on the other side, slid her foot on the ground, as if eager to keep some distance from Harry.But Gwen didn't say anything, listening to Harry's speculation, and feeling a fit of intense anger inside of her.

"This is a very serious allegation, Harry," said Professor McGonagall, after a pause in astonishment, "do you have proof?"

"No," said Harry, "but..." He told Professor McGonagall about the conversation they had overheard between him and Borgin the day they followed Malfoy to Borgin-Bock's.After he finished, Professor McGonagall looked a little confused.

"Malfoy took an item to Borgin-Bock's to have it fixed?"

"No, Professor, he just wanted Borgin to tell him how to fix one thing, and didn't take it with him. But that's not the problem. The problem is that he bought something at the same time, and I think it was the necklace—"

"You saw Malfoy leaving the shop with a package like that?"

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

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

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

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

"Yeah, he'd look really silly with a necklace," Ron put in.

"Oh, Ron," said Hermione desperately, "the necklace must be wrapped, he won't have to touch it, and it's easily hidden in a pocket inside the cloak where no one will see it! I think he kept The thing in Borgin-Bock was either bulky or noisy, and he knew that if he walked down the street with it, it would attract attention—and, "she wouldn't let Harry had a chance to interrupt her, and just went on loudly, "I asked Borgin about that necklace, remember?