Cue No. 31

Clarinets playfully enter with Double Trouble, which serves to represent the teenage shenanigans at this point. Ron’s theme takes over in the english horn while Harry waits outside Slughorn’s door. After much hesitation, he finally lets the two into his office.

More movement is introduced into the texture, complementing the quick camera movement towards Slughorn’s chest of potions. His theme takes over for the majority of this section, stopping, starting, and playfully bouncing around under the conversation. Ron’s theme comes back, played by a solo horn, giving his ditsy nature a faux nobility, until he falls off the couch.

Pizzicato strings and bassoon add to the awkwardness of the situation, then tremolo strings halt everything. Ron takes a potion, and slowly comes back to reality. He gets another theme statement, this time in the clarinet, which is more appropriate to his normal personality.

Slughorn decides to get out a drink to celebrate. The octatonic scale is introduced into the cue, creating an atmosphere of slight unease. Without warning, Ron falls to the floor having somehow been poisoned. A reprisal of the "Devil’s Snare" material, also used for the Borgin and Burke's in Chamber of Secrets and the gillyweed in Goblet of Fire, emphasizes the violent turn the scene has taken.

After a moment of panic, Harry remembers the Half-Blood Prince’s book and finds a bezoar for Ron. Low notes hold and harp plays hesitantly, awaiting what will happen next. Ron comes to, and the music shifts to a more tonal world, giving the feeling of resolution. A slow Hedwig’s Theme plays in the harp, ending yet again another side adventure for the main characters.