Book 1 - James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing

17. Night of the Returning
To her credit, Madam Curio didn’t let Professor Jackson’s accusations influence her treatment of
James. She examined the fracture for several minutes, poking and pinching, and then carefully splinted it.
She fell into a harsh but pedantic diatribe about the woes of Quidditch injuries, but it sounded to James like
something she’d said a hundred times before. Her mind was elsewhere, and James didn’t need to guess what
was preoccupying her. The invasion of Martin Prescott into the school had caused a wave of speculation and
anxiety. His identity as a Muggle news reporter, and the fact that he was being kept in the Alma Aleron’s
quarters had fed a load of rumors. There was a cloud of unease over the entire school, not alleviated by the
Headmistress’ announcement that Ministry officials were arriving to deal with Mr. Prescott. As Madam
Curio measured the Skele-Gro dosage, James caught her glancing at him suspiciously, looking him up and
down. Somebody had to have let the interloper in, after all. Why not this first-year son of the Head Auror?
James knew that some people--those who believed the lies of the Progressive Element--would expect him to
pull just such a stunt. Earlier that day, he’d heard a voice from a cluster of students saying, “It makes sense,
doesn’t it? The whole Auror line is that the Law of Secrecy is our only protection from the supposed Muggle
witch-hunters. So what do they do? They allow this guy to sneak in and scare us all into thinking Muggles
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