Xenophilius looked up in alarm at this, and Luna shared his reaction.  This was “the boy who lived,” the only known deterrent to the dark wizard Voldemort.  Twice now, Harry Potter had defeated the villain, once when he was no more than an infant, and again last spring.  At that time he was a first-year student at Hogwarts, almost completely unskilled in magic.⁷  Some of the most accomplished wizards and witches known had died at Voldemort’s hands.  Young Harry Potter had defeated him twice with some innate magical ability unknown to others of his kind.

“There must be a reason,” whispered Xenophilius, “something that we’re missing.  This could have been some sort of attack that Potter was defending against.  Some missile could have hurled toward him from outside the range of the Mumsy.”

“Well,” responded their guide thoughtfully, “I must admit, I hadn’t considered that.  If some projectile were hurled by magic from outside the range of the Mumsy — or even within the range, in the unlikely event that some force other than magic was used — then our friend might use a Levitation spell to deflect the missile.  If such a thing were to happen, though, it would come out in any eventual hearing.  The law excuses magic in self-defense, even within view of Muggles.”

“My real concern here,” Xenophilius worried, “is that Harry Potter might have been attacked!  We sit here not knowing what happened!”

“My understanding, off the record . . .” the wizard replied, pausing.

“Off the record,” Xenophilius agreed.

“. . . is that Mr. Potter is being watched by the Ministry, and that his safety is a top priority with the Minister himself.”⁸