Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 5: Messages In The Night

Sunday, 7 September 1994
4:00 p.m

At the sound of a soft knock, Gregory Goyle Jr. looked up from the owl post he'd received earlier from his parents and rose to open the door. Waiting in the hallway were Amy and Harry. Nervously, Greg poked his head out of the door and looked both ways to make sure no one was around to see his visitors. Given their prior history, he might be able to get away with his former adoptive sister, Amy Wilkes, coming to visit. But Harry Black? Not a chance. Quickly, he ushered the two inside, and Amy gave him a hug, which he returned gratefully.

"Hello, Greg," Harry said. "You wanted to speak with me?"

In fact, the boy had indicated nothing of the sort, at least not directly. Harry noticed that Greg had received an owl post at lunch, and after reading the letter, he gave Harry an anguished look that Harry intuited as a cry for help. He just hoped that none of the Slytherins around him—mainly Cassius Warrington's cabal of "Death Munchers"—had picked up on it.

"Yeah," the larger boy stammered. "I got a letter from my mother and father. It ..." He paused and shook his head before handing over the letter. "I should probably warn you. The words Mudblood and blood traitor filth get used a lot."

Harry nodded and reviewed the letter. It was from Gregory Goyle, Sr., a marked Death Eater who escaped Azkaban through the machinations of Narcissa Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy had once described the elder Goyle as "a feral hog that somehow learned to dress itself and perform magic." The letter advised Greg, through the extensive use of blood purist slurs and general profanity, that Greg was no longer to take tutoring from Hermione Granger. Moreover, he was somehow expected to keep his grades up despite the loss of the extra tutoring that had thus far kept him from being held back a year if not flunking out. He was also ordered not to associate with Harry Black "except when directed to do so by Cassius Warrington," an instruction that caused Harry to crook an eyebrow.

"House Goyle is allying with House Warrington?" he asked.

"I think so. House Nott paid our Wizengamot dues for this year, but I think Father sees the Warringtons as a way to get in with House Selwyn."

"Hmm," Harry murmured. Idly, he wondered whether the elder Goyle knew that Tiberius Nott was dead and Narcissa was acting as Regent through the fiction that he was just ill and bedridden. Then, he focused an intense gaze on Greg, who swallowed nervously without understanding why.

"How do you wish to proceed, Greg? I protected Amy as I promised I would, but I would have done that even if you hadn't agreed to spy for me. If you feel it might put you in danger to keep doing so, I won't mind if you stop and break ties with me."

"Well, I would!" Amy said hotly. "No offense, Greg, but Uncle Gregory and Aunt Agnes are beastly people. Harry, you helped me get away from the Goyles and Lord Nott! You've got to do something to help Greg too!"

Greg smiled and put his arm around Amy. "Shh. It's okay, Amy. And you know the Goyles aren't all bad. Just, you know, the ones I'm stuck with."

"Oh?" Harry asked, suddenly curious. "I'm sorry but I don't know much about your family. I'd assumed it was just you and your parents."

"Oh no! I've got loads of cousins, but they're from the lines that didn't stay Pureblood. Over a hundred years ago, there were three Goyle brothers. The eldest married a Pureblood, the middle married a Muggleborn, and the youngest snapped his own wand and went Muggle. I don't know any details about that, but that's why the Goyle's aren't in the Sacred 28."

"I've met a few of them," Amy told Harry. "Well, not the ones that went Muggle, of course. But Uncle Gregory is required to provide a stipend for any Halfblood Goyles because of the house charter. Only Purebloods can inherit the Lordship, though."