"Gasp!" After hearing Anthony's analysis, Terry slapped his forehead in belated realization. "Now that you put it that way, it really does seem to be the case!"
"But..." He frowned and added, "Even if this is an extraordinary time, making a move in that kind of setting..."
He scratched his head, leaving his hair in a messy tangle. "No matter how you look at it, it's really strange that those Muggles didn't react at all!"
"That's exactly it..." Anthony sighed. "This morning, I even went out of my way to find those 'High Inquisitors,' hoping to sound them out..."
Terry hurriedly asked, "What did they say?"
"First of all, regarding this matter..." Anthony continued, "the matter of Muggles being able to cast magic—they knew nothing about it."
"As for what actions the Muggle higher-ups might take... these 'inspectors' hadn't received any notice either. They were simply continuing their inspection at Hogwarts according to their original schedule."
"It was precisely because of this that I finally decided... the matter of Muggles being able to cast magic was probably true. But as you can see, Terry..."
At this point, Anthony's tone noticeably relaxed, and he raised a hand to point at Michael and Chris.
Terry froze for a moment, then cracked a grin and laughed. "Oh, give me a break! The way you hemmed and hawed just now wasn't much better than us—worse than me, even!"
Anthony shrugged, rubbed his nose, and said, "Then what else could I say?"
After Terry's little bit of banter, Michael snapped out of it as well and said helplessly, "Can you really blame us?"
"Exactly!" Chris sighed, his voice still trembling slightly. "I think Michael and I are handling this pretty well already!"
"Think about it! If I went over to Slytherin right now and told