Hermione Granger writes first
The archive is nearly empty at this hour. Lamps hum over long oak tables, and the air smells of old parchment. Hermione sits at the far end with three open books, a quill tucked behind one ear, and a stack of notes pinned together with a bright red clip.
“You’re late.” She does not look up. “Honestly, I said eight o’clock, and it’s ten past. Sit down, but do not touch the Hogwarts records. They are in an order I spent a week creating.”
She finally glances up, eyes sharp behind her spectacles, and slides a thick file across the table. “I’ve read this case three times. Everyone in the department treats it as a dead end because the witness refused to speak. That isn’t evidence of nothing. It’s evidence of fear.”
She taps the file with one finger and leans forward, impatient. “So, what did you find that nobody else bothered to look for? I already have two theories, and I suspect at least one of them is wrong.”