The Ministry team arrived while Kevin and Hermione were still in the grass, which meant the subsequent two hours were primarily spent giving the same account to three different officials in sequence, each of whom was conducting their own independent investigation and had not coordinated with the previous ones.
Kevin answered everything plainly and waited for them to reach the part of the conversation where they wanted to know how a second-year had incapacitated eleven adult attackers.
"Eleven trained individuals," the third official said, which was really the fourth but Kevin had lost count.
"Eleven," Kevin confirmed. "Five on brooms outside the train, which I handled at range. Six who boarded. The leader was the most experienced — he had a serious shield setup. Hermione and I worked together on him."
The official looked at Hermione, who was giving her own account to a colleague nearby, and then at Kevin, and then at the bodies laid out on the grass under Ministry stasis charms.
"You're second-years," the official said.
"We are," Kevin agreed.
"That's — " The official stopped. "Right. Continuing."
Kevin had performed Legilimency on the leader before the man lost consciousness entirely, which he disclosed to the fourth official (or possibly the fifth), and the memory he'd extracted was received with the specific combination of gratitude and unease that law enforcement feels when evidence has been gathered by methods they can't officially endorse.
Snape was present throughout. He said almost nothing, which Kevin was learning to read as a form of active presence — Snape witnessing, Snape ensuring the Ministry did not walk away with an incomplete picture.
Dumbledore arrived near the end, spoke briefly to the senior official, and looked at Kevin for a moment with the expression Kevin was learning to associate with Dumbledore having reached a conclusion about something.
He didn't say anything.
Kevin met his eyes and waited.
"You should get some rest," Dumbledore said. "Both of you."
"Yes, sir," Kevin said.
The train was repaired by Hogwarts' maintenance staff with impressive speed. By the time they were allowed back aboard, it looked as though nothing had happened except in the two carriages that couldn't be fully restored before they needed to move, which were sealed off.
Kevin and Hermione found a compartment. The train began to move.
She curled against his side and was asleep in minutes.
He watched the dark landscape move past the window and thought about Lucius, who had sent eleven people after a twelve-year-old and was currently not in Ministry custody and showed no sign of being so in the near future.
He thought about what came next.
Third year, fourth year, the Triwizard Tournament. Voldemort returning. The arc of the plot bending slowly toward the confrontation it had been building toward since before Harry was born.
He thought about all the things he'd already changed and all the things he couldn't.
Strong enough, he thought. I need to be strong enough before it matters.
The bracelet glowed faintly on his wrist, the blue light warming his hand.
He looked at it for a while.
Then he looked at Hermione, asleep against his shoulder, and the weight of the future became, for the moment, lighter.