How It All Goes Down
The Unbreakable Vow
- Things are not good on the friendship front, but Harry tries hard to be a friend to both Ron and Hermione without getting into the middle of their argument.
- As the buzz of Slughorn's holiday party gathers steam, all kinds of girls begin batting their eyelashes at Harry in the hopes that he will ask them as his date.
- Romilda Vane tries to slip Harry a love potion, but Hermione warns him about it in advance.
- Hoping to escape the hungry wolves, Harry asks Luna Lovegood to come to Slughorn's party with him as a friend. Luna is delighted.
- Hermione, however, decides to go with McLaggen (the runner-up for the Keeper position) just to make Ron mad.
- At Slughorn's party, Harry spends most of the time avoiding conversations with fame-loving celebrities or with Hogwarts professors.
- Draco Malfoy has been caught wandering around the hallways at night, and claims that he was heading to Slughorn's party. He wasn't invited, but Slughorn cordially allows him to remain.
- Snape, who's also at the party, tells Malfoy he would like to speak with him in private.
- Harry rustles up his Invisibility Cloak and follows the two to an empty classroom. There, he overhears Snape interrogating Draco about a plan, and Draco tells Snape to butt out of his business.
- Snape says, "I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draco –" (15.188).
- Draco responds, "Looks like you'll have to break it, then, because I don't need your protection!" (15.189).
- Though he doesn't get any information on what kind of plan Draco is cooking up, Harry does feel like he's getting closer and closer to the truth.