Penelope shut the door with a snap, and Allen's gaze lingered for a while on Hermione's tear-streaked face.
Allen rubbed his fingers against his forehead, let out a breath, and seemed to shrink in on himself as he said in a low voice, "I have to admit this to you, Hermione. I knew about these experiments, and I was the one who told Doctor, Four-Eyes, and the others not to tell you, and to carry them out behind your back."
Although Hermione had worn herself out with guilt, she still noticed something off about him—compared with usual, Allen's tone seemed a little stiff. And judging by Allen's usual habits, he would have acted more intimate, like patting her head...
So Hermione took Allen's hand and said in some pain, "Oh no, Allen, you don't have to take on a mistake like that just to comfort me."
"Hermione, do you know how Muggle medicine developed?" Seeing Hermione did not believe him, Allen did not press the point. When he saw that a question could still make Hermione begin thinking out of habit, he continued slowly, "Exploring unknown fields and conducting experiments for that purpose inevitably produces some dark sides and sacrifices. In the development of Muggle medicine, because there were no measures like anesthetics or blood transfusions, for a time they tried to be as fast as possible..." Allen paused. "In amputations, someone once removed a thigh in under seven seconds, and there were military surgeons who performed over two hundred operations in twenty-four hours, an average of one every seven minutes..."
Hermione looked at Allen in confusion and said nothing, not understanding why he was bringing this up.
"Was there any extra benefit to being that fast? Of course there was. At the very least, it reduced the duration of