"Two days," Alfred answered as he followed doggedly behind her. "Just the time it took to get us back to port. I didn't want anyone to mess around with it in the meantime," he explained, not because he thought she'd care, particularly, but because he was tired of people from the Ministry getting all judgemental about the decisions he'd made in relation to this chest. It wasn't as though they'd put out and sort of guidance on how best to handle strange magical objects, if they turned up, and he didn't think he'd done the wrong thing by getting it away from the rest of the crew. How was he supposed to know it was leaking magic all over the place?

When they got back into the slightly wider hallway outside the hold and she asked which direction to go next, he merely angled his way past her and started off in the direction of the cabin. It was a short walk — nothing on a ship was really very far, as long as you didn't get lost along the way — and he was soon standing in front of his cabin door, fishing a key out of his pocket. He unlocked it and swung the door open, then stood back to let her lead the way.