In Moody's Office, the air was as taut as a fully drawn bowstring.
The only sound was the crackling fire.
All the core members of the Charon Detective Agency had gathered around Moody's desk, piled high with detectors, their faces full of anticipation and tension.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hufflepuff's Ernie and Hannah.
They were like prisoners awaiting judgment, and even more like believers waiting for their share of a treasure.
Moody stood with the perfect report supplied by Malfoy pinched between his fingers.
He relished moments like this.
He relished this brief silence before revealing the truth, a silence filled with absolute control.
His magical eye spun, sweeping over each young face, while his good eye brimmed with the smug satisfaction of a master strategist.
"Children," he finally began, his raspy voice carrying a beguiling power, "according to my latest intelligence analysis..."
He paused, deliberately drawing out his words and sending everyone's hearts into their throats.
"We have identified the real mole."
"He is..."
Before he could finish-
Whoosh!
A piercing whistle tore through the office's solemn atmosphere.
A dazzling streak of red light shot precisely through the gap in the door like a flaming arrow!
Trailing an angry plume of smoke, it shrieked a circuit around the detectors before hovering in front of them all.
A Howler reserved for the Academic Affairs Office.
Before anyone could react-
Boom!!!
The envelope exploded in midair, transforming into a huge, angry mouth.
A wild, unrestrained voice roared from the paper mouth, loud enough to shake the heavens, making the detectors buzz and nearly malfunction en masse.
"Attention, all staff and students!!!"
It was Sirius Black's voice!
**"Following deliberation by the Academic Affairs Office, the December Joint Monthly Examination, delayed by the Christmas holidays, will take place as scheduled from next Monday