"J .K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rowling J. K)

cessor. I rather thought he'd be here by now, but of course, he's very busy at
the moment, with so much going on."
Fudge looked around at the portrait of the ugly little man wearing the long curly
silver wig, who was digging in his ear with the point of a quill. Catching Fudge's
eye, the portrait said, "He'll be here in a moment, he's just finishing a letter to
Dumbledore."
"I wish him luck," said Fudge, sounding bitter for the first time. "I've been writ-
ing to Dumbledore twice a day for the past fortnight, but he won't budge. If
he'd just been prepared to persuade the boy, I might still be... Well, maybe
Scrimgeour will have more success."
Fudge subsided into what was clearly an aggrieved silence, but it was broken
almost immediately by the portrait, which suddenly spoke in its crisp, official
voice.

10
"To the Prime Minister of Muggles. Requesting a meeting. Urgent. Kindly re-
spond immediately. Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic."
"Yes, yes, fine," said the Prime Minister distractedly, and he barely flinched as
the flames in the grate turned emerald green again, rose up, and revealed a
second spinning wizard in their heart, disgorging him moments later onto the
antique rug.
Fudge got to his feet and, after a moment's hesitation, the Prime Minister did
the same, watching the new arrival straighten up, dust down his long black
robes, and look around.
The Prime Minister's first, foolish thought was that Rufus Scrimgeour looked
rather like an old lion. There were streaks of gray in his mane of tawny hair and
his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed
spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a
slight limp. There was an immediate impression of shrewdness and toughness;
the Prime Minister thought he understood why the Wizarding community pre-
ferred Scrimgeour to Fudge as a leader in these dangerous times.
"How do you do?" said the Prime Minister politely, holding out his hand.
Scrimgeour grasped it briefly, his eyes scanning the room, then pulled out a
wand from under his robes.
"Fudge told you everything?" he asked, striding over to the door and tapping
the keyhole with his wand. The Prime Minister heard the lock click.
"Er тАФ yes," said the Prime Minister. "And if you don't mind, I'd rather that door
remained unlocked."
"I'd rather not be interrupted," said Scrimgeour shortly, "or watched," he
added, pointing his wand at the windows, so that the curtains swept across
them. "Right, well, I'm a busy man, so let's get down lo business. First of all,
we need to discuss your security."
The Prime Minister drew himself up to his fullest height and replied, "I am per-
fectly happy with the security I've already got, thank you very тАФ "
"Well, we're not," Scrimgeour cut in. "It'll be a poor lookout for the Muggles if
their Prime Minister gets put under the Imperius Curse. The new secretary in
your outer office тАФ "
"I'm not getting rid of Kingsley Shacklebolt, if that's what you're suggesting!"
said the Prime Minister hotly. "He's highly efficient, gets through twice the work
the rest of them тАФ "