"So, Mr. Potter missed the Hogwarts Express because he couldn't get through the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, so he used Arthur Weasley's flying car?" Albus asked.
"Yes. A House-elf closed the entrance," Minerva replied. "He seemed to know there was an evil force in the school that would threaten Potter's safety."
Pomona and Flitwick exchanged glances beside them.
Why would a House-elf from the Malfoy family care about Harry Potter's safety?
"Where is he now?" Albus asked.
"If you mean Potter, he's with Severus," Minerva said.
Albus rose and left the headmaster's office with an agility no centenarian should possess. Minerva followed closely behind, while Pomona and Flitwick looked at each other again.
"It seems we can leave now," Pomona said to Flitwick.
"What evil force do you think it could be?" Flitwick asked Pomona.
She shook her head.
"I only have a feeling that this school year will be terrible."
In fact, that year proved even worse than Pomona had expected. Not only had her Mandrake patch been destroyed, but to keep panic from spreading through the school, she had to give some children calming draughts.
The calming draught contained stewed Mandrake. Many apothecaries in Diagon Alley sold it; it was not some advanced potion. But Severus told her it had to be fresh. Fresh Mandrake was far more potent than stewed Mandrake—before Mrs Norris was petrified in the first Basilisk attack.
Albus knew it too. When Filch tearfully said he wanted justice for Mrs Norris, Albus comforted him before the entire school and told him that once the Mandrakes had matured, Mrs Norris could be saved.
They already knew what Dark Force was at work in the school. Dobby had overheard his "master," Malfoy, discussing the plan and immediately went to warn Harry Potter. But who