Several house-elves huddled together, discussing in hushed voices. Zhang Xiao waited quietly. After a while, the house-elf leading them came over.
"A tall man with a long beard came here yesterday!"
Uh, Dumbledore? He got hold of the diary and opened the Chamber of Secrets? That was a fresh angle, but not very plausible.
"Anyone else?"
"And Dobby's idol, the great Harry Potter, and his two not-so-great friends!"
Zhang Xiao snorted with laughter. That wasn't it either. Harry, Ron, and Hermione hadn't got hold of the diary, and all three were in perfectly good spirits.
Harry and Ron in particular were so absorbed in the Grand Common Room that they hardly wanted to leave.
After two answers in a row had failed to help the great young master, the house-elves' ears drooped. A small house-elf suddenly spoke up in a quiet voice.
"Rainwater thinks he saw someone else!"
Zhang Xiao immediately turned to the young-looking house-elf, who said nervously:
"Rainwater likes the moon, because when the moon rises, the old master goes to sleep and stops beating Rainwater. That day, Rainwater was outside watching the moon.
"Someone wrapped in a black robe came to the hut, and Rainwater hid."
Zhang Xiao's heart tightened. He nodded at Rainwater, encouraging him.
"Very good. Did he have any distinguishing features? Or anything worth noting?"
Rainwater stared blankly at him, and suddenly great drops of tears welled up in his large eyes.
"Oh, what an approachable, kind young master!"
He puffed out his little chest and said loudly:
"He made Rainwater feel very bad. Very evil. Rainwater was frightened, but Rainwater remembers that he was tall, and he was a wizard!"
Well, it was still vague, but at least he had a lead. The trip hadn't been wasted. Zhang Xiao decided to send Hagrid