The man was Theseus Scamander.
The mixed-race Black woman who had been saved was his fiancée, Leta Lestrange.
Dumbledore looked at him gently when he heard that.
"Theseus, you and Leta were both my students. However dissatisfied I might be with the Ministry of Magic, I wouldn't simply stand by and watch her die in the castle."
"Tch."
Hermione stood off to one side with her arms folded, watching coldly as she gave a quiet scoff.
The way he put it made her sound like some kind of archvillain.
At the sound of Hermione's voice, Theseus tensed.
Dumbledore continued:
"Theseus, trust me. Don't put blind faith in the Ministry of Magic. That will only make things worse. They've gone astray."
Theseus did not answer. He merely bowed to Dumbledore and hurried away.
Dumbledore watched Theseus leave, then looked at Hermione and asked:
"You seem to dislike Theseus and Leta quite a bit."
"Especially Leta," he added, somewhat puzzled. "You were almost ready to kill her just now."
Dumbledore felt that although Hermione had a fierce temper, she was not bloodthirsty. Even if someone offended her, as long as they were not utterly evil, she would generally do no more than give them a thorough beating.
But when she had gripped Leta's throat just now, her disgust had been almost completely undisguised.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Want to know why?"
"If you don't mind telling me." Dumbledore nodded.
"There are plenty of reasons. I don't like Black people, for one, and her surname being Lestrange is another. But neither is the main reason," Hermione said.
"It seems you have a very poor impression of that family."
Hermione nodded.
"I certainly do. Past, present, or future, there's hardly a decent person in the whole family."
"Let's start with her father. He fancied