Fight her... better not.
"What are you all crowding around here for? Disperse at once."
Professor McGonagall strode over, her face icy and her tone brooking no refusal.
The Gryffindors withdrew immediately, and the Slytherins had no choice but to leave as well.
"Thank you, Miss Hall."
Professor McGonagall first thanked Audrey, then turned to Harry, who was still shaken. "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry. I know none of this has anything to do with you."
"It's all right, Professor."
She offered Harry a few more words of comfort before hurrying away.
"Are we still going to investigate this?" Hermione asked worriedly. "I feel like it's getting dangerous."
Audrey nodded in agreement.
"That's right, so I'll ask Professor Dumbledore for his opinion in a little while."
"But I just heard that he seems to have rushed off to the Ministry of Magic."
"Huh?"
Audrey froze. "Then should we tell Professor Snape or Professor McGonagall?"
At that moment, Harry couldn't help speaking up. "I want to find out the truth."
Hermione's jaw dropped. "Have you gone mad?"
"Because I'm the only suspect right now... they all think Malfoy ended up like that because of me. I... I don't like being falsely accused." At this, he turned to Audrey. "Besides, Malfoy probably ran into danger because he was helping you find the Chamber of Secrets. You ought to have a responsibility to find whoever hurt him... to avenge him, right?"
What Harry said... did seem to make some sense.
For some reason, a little excitement stirred in Audrey's heart. Having experienced a "battle of Warlocks" not long ago, she had grown even more interested in this sort of adventure.
The key was that this was her first time truly facing a "Beyonder incident" on her own. Although she felt somewhat sorry for Malfoy,