A Photo of Great Aunt Muriel Hidden Under the Pillow

Hermione pressed her lips together. She had deliberately staggered her return time from Allen's, only to be delayed again that morning because she had needed to tidy up her room at the London house herself. She found herself rather missing the days in the lower years when the Gryffindor girls ignored her; if things were still like that, her roommates definitely would not be curious enough to ask about her situation.

"Oh, there was something at Umbrella Corporation that needed me to handle it." Hermione's tone was extremely serious, preserving her dignity, and to Harry and the others it sounded as though it must have been something terribly important, urgent, and difficult for the usually rule-abiding prefect to stay out all night—only Ginny, as her close friend, noticed that beneath the long hair Hermione had tucked behind her ear, the ear on her side had already turned red.

Just then, the buzzing discussion in the Great Hall gradually quieted and vanished. They looked up in astonishment and saw several Aurors in H94 Uniforms appear at the entrance to the Great Hall. Unlike their colleagues guarding the corridors, they marched in neat steps behind a middle-aged man.

The Aurors walked straight toward the staff table and went to Dumbledore's side. The leader, a man of about forty with short golden curls and round glasses, shook Dumbledore's hand. They spoke quietly for a few moments, and then were invited to sit at the staff table.

The Aurors' backs were very straight. They ate quickly, but with measured manners, and did not give off a rough impression. The middle-aged male auror in the lead did not hurry to eat. Smiling, he looked over the Great Hall and the students.

"What are they doing at Hogwarts?" Ron asked Harry indistinctly before he had even