Order Only: Hogwarts

[alt_severus]

I apologise for my unavailability this afternoon; I was pressed into service to stand at the ready for MLE and could do nothing to call attention to myself. As you have no doubt seen, they have given up the search for Miss Fawcett, and are declaring her dead. Alice, please pass along to the girl that I will likely be called upon to remove her belongings from her room: while I am unlikely to be able to redirect them all, if there are any items she feels particularly sentimental towards, she should provide a list and I will do what I might to obtain them for her.

Mister Jordan, if the Messrs Weasley are still in distress and you believe they cannot wait for the spell to wear off naturally: I cannot think of any reason for Milland to make an appearance in the Gryffindor dormitory, but if you can bring them to Milland's office surreptitiously, I will examine them to see if it can be broken without risk to them.

Comments

[alt_lee]

That's good news about Fawcett, at least. It means our plan worked. I hope that will please Fred and George when they come back to themselves. Like, something made all this worth it.

I appreciate the offer to examine them, sir, but I think it would be difficult to accomplish. The twins aren't inclined to go anywhere, and our other roommates would be puzzled if I tried to take them somewhere--they're sticking tight, too. They have a lot of friends, and they've all been stopping by this afternoon. Don't worry, we're keeping it down to only one or two in the room at a time, and it seems to help as a distraction.

We tried chess. That ended badly. Fred looked down at the board and then up at Ken Towler, who was on the other side, and this sort of horrified look dawned on his face, and he said, 'I'll never play another game with him again.' And Ginny burst into tears, and that set George off again.

I'm going to try the tea in about an hour, and we'll see if we can coax them into going to sleep early.

Private message to Severus Snape and Poppy Pomfrey

[alt_lee]

They do need to be examined. I must admit, I'm real worried.

I told Mrs Longbottom: George made a serious attempt to throw himself out of the window earlier this afternoon, but we wrestled him back and sat on him for close to a half hour until he calmed down.

Fred's gone through periods of agitation, sort of an up and down cycle that seem to last about an hour at a time. Crying a lot, actually hitting himself, he's so sick about it 'all being his fault.'

We're trying all sorts of ways to distract them. We were going over some of our revisions for NEWTs, and I discovered that their brains are really full of holes. Fred is having difficulty with basic mathematics--we were sizing up and sizing down potion recipes. George is having difficulty writing--words are dropping out of the middle of sentences.

I sure hope these problems will ease up tomorrow.

[alt_severus]

I see. Yes, that does seem difficult.

Unfortunately, without knowing more exact detail about what that woman cast upon them, I cannot suggest any methods of calming them beyond tea and company. I saw your response to Madam Pomfrey, and unfortunately, a blue color could mean one of several curses — all of which, of course, have drastically different treatments and potions that are safe to use upon a victim thereof.

If you have not already, take their wands away before sleep. Ward off the windows and the doors in your room with, at very least, a barrier of force, and place an alarm line around their beds that will alert — loudly — should anyone cross it.

[alt_lee]

Yes, sir, we'll do that.

Re: Private message to Severus Snape and Poppy Pomfrey

[alt_severus]

I will venture a guess that the lacunae in their memory are due to those being moments during which they shared particular emotional resonance with each other. Mind magic — which memory magic is a variation upon — is notoriously imprecise; the human mind is a fascinating, and poorly-understood, creature.

If that is, in fact, the reason for their temporary infirmity, it should clear as the spell expires. If it is not, we will find a way for Mrs Weasley to remove them from the school for long enough for them to be treated by Poppy.

[alt_molly]

Here's what I have to report from my end, after exchanging comments with Director Selwyn. And, ugh, the Headmistress.

I told the Director that I had no intention of letting the boys be cursed again tomorrow morning. I think he made that in turn quite clear to the Headmistress when he wrote to her, because SHE then said to me, 'I trust your sons have now seen the error of their ways, and will not require me to renew the charm.' Lee, I would be grateful if you and Ron and Ginny could make they get a good breakfast and get to class without stopping at the horrible woman's office along the way.

If they feel up to going to class, of course. They may not. Oh, dear.

Another thing that Director Selwyn told me was that she is being called in to answer to the Lord Protector. Perhaps a week from tomorrow or so. Selwyn confided that he did not think she would be coming back to Hogwarts after that meeting.

Alice, do you think this means we should hold off on the plans to poison her? With luck, she'll be gone very soon anyway, and the less investigations here, the better.

[alt_alice]

I believe we ought to continue with our own plans as a back-up, just in case.

The whims of His Mightiness are difficult to anticipate, after all. He may give her a medal for service to the school.

Re: Private message to Severus Snape and Poppy Pomfrey

[alt_lee]

I just realised something else.

They have a knack for finishing each other's sentences, y'know? Really, they're quite famous for it at the school, and they always joke it's because they're twins.

They've both been speaking in unfinished sentences. Like they're waiting for the other one to fill in the missing words. Except they can't hear each other.

I wonder: was the spell more powerful BECAUSE they're identical twins? And not fraternal twins and not merely brothers?

Re: Private message to Severus Snape and Poppy Pomfrey

[alt_poppy]

Well, yes. However, I must say that if we reach the point of Molly's removing them from the school, I will recommend that she take them directly to St Mungo's. I am no specialist in curse damage. And you are absolutely right that mind magic is a queer thing, and not to be underestimated.

[alt_poppy]

I should certainly like to believe that Director Selwyn is correct about the brevity of her tenure.