Acquaintance, Percy Returns

An Unspeakable—just hearing the name, one would expect a serious, conscientious profession. In Kyle's mind, they should have been the sort who were meticulous, who spoke only when there was work to be done.

Like Diana. She had been far more rigorous when she was in the Department of Mysteries than she was at home.

But this one in front of him... Kyle kept feeling as though she was watching him make a fool of himself. Like when he saw Fred and George doing something stupid—rather than helping, she was standing by and taking pleasure in his misfortune.

He rubbed his forehead.

How should he put it? This Unspeakable was a little too lively, nowhere near as proper as he had imagined.

But whether she was proper or not was the least of Kyle's concerns. He stepped forward and said, "There's something I'd like to ask—"

"Sure."

Before he could finish, the Unspeakable nodded.

"What?" Kyle froze.

"Didn't you come to ask me to pass along a message? To Diana," the Unspeakable said.

"You knew?" Kyle asked suspiciously. "Did you hear our earlier conversation?"

"No, and I didn't need to." The Unspeakable shook her head. "Under normal circumstances, you should be at Hogwarts right now, yet here you are in the Department of Mysteries. Other than looking for Diana, what else could you be here for?"

"That makes sense... Wait, how did you know I was at Hogwarts?" Kyle blurted out, then immediately clamped his mouth shut.

He had pretended to be Dumbledore at school. No one else could be allowed to know about that, which meant his visit to Hogwarts was also strictly confidential. Other than him and several professors, no one should have known.

His mind had gone blank just now, and he had admitted it outright.

Kyle