*Alice thinks she can hear a vague strain in his voice, that he might be more annoyed than he's willing to let show. Good thing he's the politician.

A small amount of anger creeps up on Alice at the thought that it had to be her case that was sacrificed to make it clear how wrong Umbridge is. Wasn't Scotland enough?

But even inside she knows that Halkirk reflected more poorly on the three of them than it did on Umbridge.

Emotions are useless right now, Alice has to clear them out. She's had time to prepare for this meeting so her voice is measured as she asks the inevitable question.*

Is there any word on where Patil is now?