If things were truly as described earlier, then the House-elves would be of no use at all in investigating Harry Potter.
Unless Harry Potter willingly revealed his whereabouts to the House-elves, even Draco stepping in personally would not make them agree to help.
Not even Dobby's connection would be enough to persuade them.
To say nothing of the fact that Harry Potter's "Chosen One" aura still shone rather brightly in the eyes of these House-elves.
In other words, if Draco truly wanted to investigate Harry Potter's current whereabouts, along with the reason he had risked returning to Hogwarts alone, he would have to find another way.
And that was exactly what Hermione was most curious about.
Hermione pushed up her glasses. "It's unfortunate, but you understand, don't you? We won't be able to get any useful help from the House-elves."
"Ah..."
"..."
"What kind of answer is that? Don't you have anything else to say?"
Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation.
This was clearly an extremely important matter, yet somehow she seemed to be the one most anxious about it.
Or perhaps Draco already had a plan in mind?
Thinking this, Hermione took a sip of water, then walked over to Draco's side and followed his gaze.
If she remembered correctly, that direction should be where the base entrance was.
Realizing this, Hermione suddenly caught on.
The next second, she whipped her head around to look at Draco. "You're not planning to risk leaving the base and investigate this on your own, are you? Sorry, but I don't agree!"
"What?! Then I don't agree either!"
As soon as Hermione finished speaking, Pansy, who had been quietly eavesdropping nearby, raised her little hand as well and, in a rare moment, sided with Hermione.
Anyone who had not known she had been listening the whole time might have thought Pansy simply did not want to be left behind by Hermione.
But both Hermione and Pansy knew very well that once Draco made a decision, it was extremely difficult to stop him or change his mind.
Draco had strong opinions of his own, and for that same reason, it was hard to sway him from what he had already decided.
Even if Draco was not the kind of person who clung stubbornly to his views, his excessive confidence and the fact that he had rarely failed naturally gave him this small flaw.
It was not exactly a problem, but it did make the people around him worry.
...
In truth, Draco had planned long ago to investigate the matter of Harry Potter himself.
It had nothing to do with his recent conversation with Ginny.
Nor did it have anything to do with what was about to happen.
From the very beginning, Draco had already thought of this and come up with a way to handle it.
Looking back at the girls, who were both puffed up with anger, Draco blinked, surprised but not entirely surprised. "Don't worry. I have the Marauder's Map. With this map helping me, there's no way I'll be discovered, much less caught."
Draco's confident declaration did not satisfy Pansy and the others at all, nor did it put their minds at ease.
After all, accidents always happened.
"But... no one can guarantee there won't be any accidents."
"Exactly. Don't forget how you avoided Potter back then. Can you really be sure you won't run into a wizard just like you?"
"..."
"..."
It had to be said.
The combined combat power of Pansy and Hermione was not to be underestimated.
For a moment, Draco was truly backed into silence by the two of them.
But to be fair, it was hard to refute what Pansy and the others had said.
After all, those were things that had actually happened.
"..."
"..."
Just as the atmosphere was starting to freeze, someone knocked on the door again.
Who was it this time?
They were almost ready to make up a full mahjong table.
Interrupted by the knocking, Draco and the others could not help silently grumbling to themselves.
But unlike last time, this knock carried a clear sense of urgency.
Knock, knock, knock, knock!
After the rapid series of knocks, the person outside did not push the door open directly like the rather impolite Hermione had. Instead, they waited for Draco's response from inside.
"Come in."
"Draco, I... Hm? Granger, you're here too? Perfect. That saves me another trip."
The person who entered was the Deputy Minister of the Draco Constellation Intelligence Department, Fleur Delacour.
She looked rather anxious, as though she had received some urgent intelligence and had hurried up from the second basement level to the eighth floor.
Seeing that Fleur was nearly out of breath, Hermione thoughtfully poured her a glass of water. After handing it to her, she was the first to ask on Draco's behalf, "What's going on? This is the first time I've seen you look so... panicked?"
"Anyway, look at this first. You read while I explain."
After catching her breath, Fleur sat down on the sofa without ceremony and explained why she had come.
"Something's happened."
"..."
"..."
Fleur's words made Draco and the others look at her with indescribable expressions.
What did that mean?
Something had happened?
For the first time, Draco understood just how irritating a Riddler could be, and he finally understood exactly how Pansy and Hermione felt.
Because Draco often did the same thing to Pansy and the others.
As if their minds were linked, in the next second, Pansy and Hermione rolled their eyes at Draco in perfect unison.
It was as if they were saying, Now you know how annoying it is, don't you? This is exactly the sort of thing you do, Draco.
In any case, Fleur, who still had no idea what kind of emotional damage her behavior had just caused them, glanced suspiciously back and forth between Draco and the other two. "...I received intelligence that the Werewolves have made a move."
"You mean the Werewolves in Hogsmeade Village?"
"That's right. Those Werewolves are surrounding Hogwarts."
"Does that mean Voldemort has already...?"
"No. We haven't received any information about Voldemort's whereabouts yet, but we can confirm that he probably hasn't reached us. At least, no one resembling Voldemort has been seen among those Werewolves."
This news certainly counted as something going wrong.
It was also worth Fleur treating the matter with such urgency.
"The only good news is that they haven't attacked us yet. But I think that moment won't be far off."
"So it could be tomorrow, or it could be a few seconds from now..."
"But Draco, why aren't they attacking immediately?"
"Could they be waiting for someone?"
"No matter what, shouldn't we come up with a way to respond?"
Compared with the silent Draco, the three girls present had already started discussing it among themselves.
Clearly, they felt the sense of danger, which was why they were so eager to resolve the matter.
At that moment, Draco suddenly sensed something. He reached out, shoved the window open, and looked up at the blue sky overhead, a sky created by magic.
Faintly, the semi-transparent magical barrier could still be seen.
But it was obvious that Draco was not admiring the sky, nor was he checking whether the magical barrier was operating normally.
As he pushed open the window, Draco murmured for no clear reason, "I sense something."
"Draco?"
"Send someone to ask the House-elves. Ask them whether something is happening at Hogwarts right now."
"Huh? Oh, I'll go find someone to ask right away!"
Seeing the serious expression on Draco's face and realizing this was no joke, Fleur immediately opened the door and ran out. Her complete lack of hesitation showed just how much she trusted Draco.
Judging from the direction she went, Fleur was probably heading toward the Intelligence Department on the second basement level.
Pansy and the others did not stop her. Among everyone present, only Fleur could carry out the task Draco had just assigned.
Speaking of which, the ones who had been monitoring the area around Hogwarts all this time were not actually the Werewolves, who transformed directly under the full moon and lost control of themselves.
Rather, they were Dementors, creatures that needed almost no rest and could fly through the air.
In truth, these tireless Dementors were the true main force used to monitor and surround Hogwarts.
Of course, if it came to launching an attack, these Dementors would definitely not be Voldemort's first choice.
Their weakness was simply too obvious. In front of powerful wizards, these Dementors had almost no combat power at all.
After all, a single Patronus Charm was enough to send them fleeing in disarray.
And now, it could be seen that all around Hogwarts, wizards with human faces but Werewolf features were taking over the guard positions once held by the Dementors, one after another.
At this moment, all their eyes were fixed on the place before them. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!