On the revolving staircase at Hogwarts, Allen, who had been heading upstairs, stopped in front of a portrait called Mithrandir. In the painting, the old wizard in gray robes spoke in a voice so aged it was nearly a whisper. "Harry Potter went to the Headmaster's Office."
"Thank you, Gandalf... If they leave the school, please come and tell me." After giving his instructions, Allen headed toward his office.
"Allen!" In front of his office, Emily's voice rang out. Allen turned back and saw the petite Emily appear abruptly. She hurried over to him, with the tall Pansy Parkinson following behind her, an Invisibility Cloak draped over her arm—the very one they had confiscated from Umbridge back then.
"Allen, Pansy has something she needs to tell you. Let's go in first." Before Emily entered, she looked around. Though the corridor was completely empty, she still cast Muffliato on the office entrance.
Seeing Emily's cautious movements, Allen gave an almost imperceptible nod. He looked toward Pansy, whose fingers were twisting together constantly and whose mind was clearly heavy with worry. For a moment, the classroom seemed rather quiet.
"Professor Harris... I'm sorry I wasn't able to take your Ancient Magic Class this term." Pansy smoothed her blunt bangs one last time. "Draco's strength has been growing at an astonishing rate lately..."
"Draco himself has worked very hard too, and that's important... He really has gotten a pretty good grasp of shaping lightning spells..." Seeing that Pansy had not spoken directly, Allen went along with her words. He smiled. "Pansy, if you want to come now, you can just show up when class starts. Given your relationship with Draco and Emily, there's no need to be so formal. You can count as more than half one of us now..."
"Allen, Pansy wants