Harry, Ron, and the others had sent their owl out before three o'clock. Yet by the time Qiu finished class after five, and even after they waited another two hours or more, the owl still had not returned.
This was very unusual. Based on past experience, three hours should have been enough for an owl to fly to London and back. Now nearly five hours had passed, and the owl still had not returned. Something was not quite right.
"Has something really gone wrong at the Ministry of Magic?" Now even Hermione, Qiu, and Cedric-the latter two having only just learned what was happening-looked troubled.
"Why don't I try writing another letter to my dad?" Cedric suggested.
"I'm afraid there isn't time..." Harry pressed his lips together, his gaze flickering. "Voldemort is already there. I saw that room. It was full of crystal balls. He probably won't find it right away, but if we leave it much longer, who knows?"
"So, Harry, are you saying we should go to the Ministry of Magic?" Qiu asked with a frown.
"That probably isn't a good choice either." Harry shook his head. "Never mind that we have no way to leave school right now, or any way to get to the Ministry of Magic. Even if we got there, what could we do? I don't think for a second that we could beat Voldemort."
"Never mind Voldemort. We might not even be able to beat the Death Eaters under him," Hermione confirmed. "But..."
Here, Hermione changed tack. "Judging by what you saw, though, it feels as if Voldemort might already have left? Didn't his last words seem to mean that he was leaving the Death Eaters to search while he went back?"
Huh?
Everyone else froze at Hermione's words.
After Qiu, Cedric, and