On the third day after the International Confederation of Wizards ended, at the entrance to Hogwarts Floating City, the heavy city walls did not form a neat square. Instead, they had been built into one diamond-shaped section after another, the points where wall met wall forming extremely sharp angles.
A noisy clamor of people calling for their children rang out in the entrance barbican near Hogwarts Floating City's former new platform. Immigrants who had fled to the floating city from other countries appeared from the fireplaces, and under the guidance of Umbrella wizards in black Ancient Protective Robes, they followed the broad flagstone road forward. They passed through the enormous arched gateway in the inner wall, which was made of rune-carved metal plates covered in hard rock and looked exceptionally sturdy and majestic, then began registering in an orderly fashion with the Immigration Officers.
The leaflets meant to attract immigrants had only just begun to take effect, so this was precisely when the flow of people was heaviest. And though many wizards could not be said to have moved their entire clans, they had still brought their whole families along. Even with registration split into separate lines, the queues remained very long. The descriptions they had seen on the leaflets were deeply tempting, filling them with anticipation for their new lives in Hogwarts City, but the order and intimidation radiating from this barbican and its guards also left these immigrants, who had grown used to the laxness of their own Wizarding Worlds, with a powerful unease.
Outside the barbican, on the gatehouse of Hogwarts City, Allen stood stiffly on the steps. Hermione, dressed in wizarding work clothes, had finished straightening the cloak on him, then took his hand and made him grip his staff, arranging him in a pose of