"J. K. Rowling - 06 Harry Potter and The half blood Prince" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rowling J. K)

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First Edition


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To Mackenzie,
my beautiful daughter,

I dedicate
her ink and paper twin

-- CHAPTER ONE


The Other Minister


It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting
alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping
through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning
behind. He was waiting for a call from the president of
a far-distant country, and between wondering when the
wretched man would telephone, and trying to suppress
unpleasant memories of what had been a very long, tiring and
difficult week, there was not much space in his head for anything
else. The more he attempted to focus on the print on
the page before him, the more clearly the Prime Minister
could see the gloating face of one of his political opponents.
This particular opponent had appeared on the news that very
day, not only to enumerate all the terrible things that had
happened in the last week (as though anyone needed reminding)
but also to explain why each and every one of them was
the government's fault.

The Prime Minister's pulse quickened at the very thought
of these accusations, for they were neither fair nor true. How
on earth was his government supposed to have stopped that
bridge collapsing? It was outrageous for anybody to suggest
that they were not spending enough on bridges. The bridge
was less than ten years old, and the best experts were at a loss
to explain why it had snapped cleanly in two, sending a

8 ' harry potter