Exposed movements and intelligence analysis (V)

Late at night, the Slytherin Prefect Dormitory lay steeped in an almost frozen silence. The fire in the hearth had mostly died, leaving only a few dark red coals flickering amid the ashes, casting light over the dark walnut wall panels like old scars slowly fading.

Draco Malfoy stood respectfully beside the desk, his hands at his sides. His platinum hair gleamed coldly in the dim light, like a moon that had burned itself out. His gaze rested on the Serpent-Crowned Raven crest on the carpet, and he did not dare look up.

Uchiha Madara sat in the high-backed chair behind the desk, his back to the window. The hem of his black robe draped onto the dark floor, almost blending into the night outside. He propped his chin on one hand and lounged lazily in the chair, his posture relaxed. Yet his slightly raised chin and scarlet Sharingan made this room, expanded by a Compound Undetectable Extension Charm and symbolic of a Slytherin prefect's authority, feel cramped.

Young Nott stood near the door, leaning slightly forward in a respectful posture. Yet an irrepressible excitement flickered in those gray-blue eyes—the fervor of a believer who had just reported to absolute power.

"So," Madara's voice drifted over from the window, quiet and unhurried, as though he were asking about some trivial matter, "Potter and his friends entered the common room disguised as Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy?"

"Yes, Lord Madara," Draco answered at once, his voice clear and every word precisely articulated. "By my assessment, they used the Polyjuice Potion sometime between half past three and half past four yesterday afternoon. At around three that afternoon, Pansy was lured into an abandoned classroom by a Ravenclaw boy calling himself 'Michael Corner.' That 'Corner' used the excuse that Potter wanted to talk to