"I've heard a great deal about you this school year, from Cornelius."
"Mostly praise."
"Have you forgotten that you're a professor at Hogwarts, not an adviser to the Minister?"
"Or are you looking for a shortcut?"
Griselda Marchbanks stared at him.
"But you don't look like a shortcut."
"I'm more of a toll road."
Flitwick nearly choked.
McGonagall's expression did not change.
Sirius suppressed his smile.
"Hmph. Just look at what you've done this year."
Griselda Marchbanks, however, did not laugh.
"First you brought Umbridge here... all right, I know Cornelius was worried, but don't tell me you had nothing to do with it..."
"Then you roped in the Examination Authority."
"Shoved that lot from the Ministry of Magic into the assessment rooms."
"And put them through tests that left them in utter chaos."
As she complained, she took the data sheets McGonagall handed her.
Douglas kept smiling throughout.
Well, Sirius was a professional too.
She turned past the first page.
Then the second.
Halfway through the third page.
Her hand stopped.
"Average spellcasting stability among Fifth Years."
"Thirty percent higher than last year."
"Seventh Years' judgment speed in high-pressure scenarios."
"Close to the threshold for Auror trainees."
"These are internal school figures."
"Yes."
McGonagall answered steadily.
"We've kept all the original records."
Flitwick picked up where she left off.
"Sampling, verification, blind testing."
"We've done them all."
"If you need them."
"I can take you to see the source records right now."
A young examiner could not help speaking up.
"But they're still students."
"Yes."
Douglas spoke.
"That's why they need to be tested now."
The examiner turned to him.
"An examination isn't a battlefield."
"Only because the old rules have been too lucky."
The Entrance Hall fell silent for a beat.
Griselda Marchbanks turned to the last page.