Changes

Harry put down his fork.

"If the system's results match the client's expectations, then they should be somewhere right now, quietly watching all of this happen. They don't need to do anything else. The system will automatically complete the rest of the work."

"Do you think they'll keep waiting?" Ron asked. "Or once the system is completely locked in, will they show up and reveal themselves?"

"I don't know," Harry said. "But if we look at it from their perspective—they spent so long preparing the equipment, bypassing the Confederation's monitoring network, and repeatedly testing the barrier's response at the Backup Channel Entrance. They were extremely cautious while doing all that and left no identifying information from beginning to end. A team that careful probably wouldn't suddenly step forward and announce that they did it once everything was finished."

"So they might never appear publicly," Hermione said.

"Maybe not," Harry said. "But they might let the Confederation know they exist at some appropriate time, in some way—just not like this. Maybe through official channels, maybe through a third party. They activated the system, but they don't want to be treated as saboteurs."

Ron frowned and thought for a while, then shook his head.

"Too complicated. I still think that if someone put that much effort into doing something and didn't even leave a name behind in the end, that'd feel pretty miserable."

"Some people don't need recognition for what they do," Hermione said. "Seeing the result is enough for them."

She gathered her dishes and stood up. "I have an online meeting with someone from the Technical Group this afternoon. They want to discuss data collection standards for the long-term monitoring project. I'll be going now."

Ron watched her back disappear through the Great Hall doors, then turned to Harry.

"What