分节阅读69

  n his father cast hi a threateng look he chand his d, berg away to the tta with an odd rollg gait and sg the front door behd hi, that the snake swung sadly aga
  ”it39s your n i39 here to see, r gaunt,” said ogden, as he opped the st of the p fro the front of his at ”that was orf, wasn39t it?”
  ”at, that was orf,” said the old an differently ”are you pure-blood?” he asked, suddenly aggressive
  ”that39s neither here nor there,” said ogden ldly, and harry felt his respect for ogden rise apparently gaunt felt rather differently
  he sted to ogdens ce and uttered, what was clearly supposed to be an offensive tone, ”now i e to thk about it, i39ve seen noses like yours down the vil”
  ”i don39t doubt it, if your ns been let loose on the,” said og-den ”perhaps we uld ntue this discsion side?”
  ”side?”
  ”yes, r gaunt i39ve already told you i39 here about orf we sent an owl —”
  ”i39ve no e for owls,” said gaunt ”i don39t open letters”
  ”then you can hardly p that you t no warng of vis-itors,” said ogden tartly ”i a here follog a serio
  each of wizardg w, which ourred here the early hours of this orng —”
  ”all right, all right, all right!” bellowed gaunt ”e the bleedg hoe, then, and uch good it39ll do you!”
  the hoe seed to nta three ty roos o doors led off the a roo, which served as kitchen and livg roo -bed orf was sittg a filthy archair beside the sokg fire, istg a live adder beeen his thick frs and croong ftly at it parseltongue:
  hissy, hissy, little snakey,
  slither on the floor
  you be good to orf
  or he39ll nail you to the door
  there was a scufflg noise the rner beside the open -dow, and harry realized that there was body else the roo, a girl whose ed gray dress was the exact lor of the dirty stone
  wall behd her she was standg beside a steag pot on a griy bck stove, and was fiddlg around with the shelf of salid-lookg pots and pans above it her hair was nk and dull and she had a p, pale, rather heavy face her eyes, like her
  other39s, stared opposite directions she looked a little cleaner than the o n, but harry thought he had never seen a ore defeated-lookg pern
  ”39daughter, rope,” said gaunt grudggly, as ogden looked
  irgly toward her
  ”good orng,” said ogden
  she did not answer, but with a frightened gnce at her father turned her back on the roo and ntued shiftg the pots on the shelf behd her
  ”well, r gaunt,” said ogden, ”to t straight to the pot, we have rean to believe that your n, orf, perford agic front of a le te st night”
  there was a deafeng cng rope had dropped one of the pots
  ”pick it up!” gaunt bellowed at her ”that39s it, grub on the floor like filthy le, what39s your wand for, you eless sack of uck?”
  ”r gaunt, please!” said ogden a shocked voice, as rope, who had already picked up the pot, fshed blotchily scarlet, lost her grip on the pot aga1 drew her wand shakily fro her pocket, poted it at the pot, and uttered a hasty, audible spell that caed the pot to shoot across the floor away fro her, hit the op-posite wall, and crack o
  orf let out a ad cackle of ughter gaunt scread, ”nd it, you potless p, nd it!”
  rope stubled across the roo, but before she had ti to raise her wand, ogden had lifted his own and said firly, ”reparo ” the pot nded itself stantly
  gaunt looked for a ont as though he was gog to shout at ogden, but seed to thk better of it: stead, he jeered at his daughter, ”cky the nice an fro the istry39s here, isn39t it? perhaps he39ll take you off y hands, perhaps he doesn39t d dirty sibs  ”
  without lookg at anybody or thankg ogden, rope picked up the pot and returned it, hands treblg, to its shelf she then stood ite still, her back agast the wall beeen the filthy dow and the stove, as though she wished for nothg ore than to sk to the stone and vanish
  ”r gaunt,” ogden began aga, ”as i39ve said: the rean for y visit —”
  ”i heard you the first ti!” snapped gaunt ”and what? orf gave a le a bit of what was g to hi — what about it, then?”
  ”orf