Catch The Snitch

Cassandra arrived at Hogwarts a few weeks prior to the momentous start of term on September 1. She suspected most teachers liked to arrive early to get settled and, most importantly, start with lesson planning. She had not been back to the school once after graduating all those years ago, and so she found herself staring in awe all around as she entered through the massive front doors. Many things had not changed: the row of trackers for the house points just outside the Great Hall, the smooth stone flooring and many staircases with their polished wood railings. She was not expecting the slightly musty odor of the castle to hit her so hard with nostalgia, but it did - bringing a flood of memories of her as a young girl being sorted into Ravenclaw and banding with a whole new group of friends, of smiling proudly with every Exceeds Expectation mark she got on a paper, of being liked and admired by her peers and a cause of pride for her parents.

She inhaled deeply and let herself smile a little. It was quiet in the castle - something she was not used to, but it allowed her the time to take in these surroundings. Sure the castle was big, but somehow the ceilings had seemed taller all those years ago, the halls a bit wider. She laughed a little to herself and gave a small shake of her head. She was older, that was all.

She gave a little flick of her wand and her luggage, which had been levitating silently behind her, jerked into motion and followed her as she made her way up to the North Tower where her classroom and quarters were located. She was wearing sensible flats, as she usually did, so the journey was no trouble to her. Unlike many fellow diviners, mystics, clairvoyants, and what-have-you, Cassie did not believe in chauvinism. She took after her mother in that regard. Along with her flats, she wore simple black robes and small diamond earrings. In fact, the only thing remotely “New Age” about her was a delicate amethyst bracelet hanging from her thin wrist. One didn’t need to dress to impress when they held domain over real talent - a lesson she intended to prioritize in teaching her students. Too many people’s impressions of Seers was that they were wacky people who dressed in flowy clothes and gaudy gemstones claiming they could predict the future by reading palms and looking into orbs. Sure, the ability to prophesize was very real, but it had nothing to do with low lighting, incense, chants, and any number of other things usually done for show.

Soon enough, she reached her office and private chambers which were also located in the North Tower. She hadn’t seen anyone on her way. The office was empty aside from a worn desk, some shelves, and a few cabinets. Leaving the door open, Cassandra entered with a frown and directed her luggage to the top of the desk. She proceeded to use her wand to unzip the smaller of the cases and start extracting her items. She had brought several books as well as some paintings and tapestries to cover the walls. She would work on her lessons after setting up her office and chambers.

It was a few weeks before the start of term, and Julian, of course, was already at Hogwarts; he had never left for the summer. Despite owning property in London, Julian hated going home to an empty house, and he much preferred to stay at the castle during breaks. Summer was definitely the loneliest of the holidays with all of the students and most of the staff gone, but the castle was not completely empty. The Aurors were stationed at the school year-round, and like Julian, a few staff members stayed for the holiday or came back early to work on personal projects. Not to mention, the ghosts, portraits, and suits of armour were always up for a chat.

After breakfast this morning, Julian returned to his office to work on his speech for the Welcoming Feast. He had been re-writing a particularly stubborn paragraph when he heard a familiar voice clear his throat somewhere behind him. Quill in midair, Julian froze and held back a groan. He knew all too well that the voice came from the portrait of a previous Headteacher: Phineas Nigellus Black, whose comments were almost always unkind and unwelcome. Julian returned his quill to the ink well, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes wearily before acknowledging him.

"Yes, Phineas?"

"A teacher has just arrived," Phineas drawled in a bored voice.

"Whom?" Julian asked, perking up. Lately, Phineas had been moving between the portraits throughout the castle and announcing when the members of the staff arrived. They were the only conversations that Julian enjoyed having with Phineas.

"Alas, I did not recognize her. She was heading up the North Tower."

"Ah! That must be Professor Lockwood. I'm very pleased to say she will be joining us as Divination professor." Julian could hardly contain his excitement; he had been very impressed with Professor Lockwood's résumé and interview, and he was eager to see a true Seer teach the difficult subject.

"Divination? Hmmph."

"Yes, Divination."

Undeterred, Phineas continued his diatribe, this time directed toward Julian. "Well, it's about time you've found another professor," Phineas said. "It was never a challenge when I was Headteacher."

"Yes, thank you, Phineas," Julian said pointedly.

"Hmmph," Phineas said again, then disappeared out the edge of his frame.

Julian waited a moment to confirm that Phineas’ frame was indeed empty, then sighed with a mixture of frustration and relief. Returning his glasses to his face, he opened up his desk drawer and thumbed through the many folders until he found the one labelled "Lockwood, Cassandra" and plucked it out. Julian always provided an orientation package for all new hires; he knew how overwhelming it could be to return to Hogwarts. The orientation package included their class list and schedule, as well as a map with the staff facilities clearly labelled.

Although Julian knew that Professor Lockwood would likely be busy unpacking, he felt it would be polite for him to swing by her office to say at least say hello. Before leaving his own office, he popped into his private chambers to check his reflection in the mirror. Julian stared at the tired face looking back at him and was somewhat satisfied by his appearance. Other than needing a shave, he looked perfectly presentable to meet up with his newest member of staff.

When Julian reached the Divination office in the North Tower, he was glad to see that the door was open; a good indication that he was not about to rudely intrude. Nevertheless, he knocked against the doorframe to announce his presence. "Good morning, Professor Lockwood," he called out. "I hope I’m not intruding, but I've heard you’ve just arrived and I wanted to personally welcome you to Hogwarts." Julian smiled warmly, her orientation folder tucked beneath his arm; he could always give it to her later if she was not yet ready to receive visitors.

Using mostly magic, it didn't take Cassandra long to get the majority of things set up in her office. The bulk of what she had were books, which she had magicked onto the supplied shelves. They were the kind of books one would expect to see on the shelves of a Divination teacher: books on symbology, astrology, the writings of famous Seer's and clairvoyants through the years, etc. On her desk she placed a photo of her mother and father, who were still alive and enjoying retirement in York, as well as a photo of her recently estranged son. She stared at the photos for a moment as several emotions barraged her at once - both positive and negative. She missed her husband (couldn't even bring herself to put up a picture of him, although she had many); she missed her son. She loved her parents, but found herself jealous of their long marriage and that they still had each other. The jealousy made her embarrassed, the embarrassment made her feel ashamed... It was a useless cycle. She sighed and turned away from the pictures. The best insights and true Seer ability came from keeping a clear mind (another lesson she intended to instill in her students), and so she needed to set an example by not letting her emotions get the best of her. Squaring her shoulders, she placed the last remaining items on her desk by hand: her ink well and quill, several rolls of parchment, and 40cm tall Selenite crystal. The partially-transparent white crystal stood like a tower, tapering naturally at the top where chunks had been chipped off to form several small plateaus. Muggles used it to purify the energy in the vicinity by capturing negative energy. Cassie had charmed it with a little spell that was her mother's trick so that it would do just that. No pretending here. She tapped the very top of the crystal with her wand and it put off a soft glow before returning to normal. Cassie took a deep breath and smiled. She instantly felt better now that the crystal was activated. Of course, it couldn't protect against really strong emotion, but it helped keep other people's crap (and sometimes her own) out of her personal space.

Cassie was turning to consider the last remaining items in her suitcase - a few posters - when she heard the polite knock at her door. Although quiet, it still made her jump a little and she turned in surprise. "Oh! Headmaster Rossi!" she said with a laugh as she clutched her heart, recognizing him immediately from her interviews. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think anyone else was around." She smiled broadly and took the few strides to the door of her office, outstretching her hand to shake his. "Please come in," she swept her arm out to usher him into her office. "It is so good to see you again, and I can't thank you enough for this opportunity. I just arrived a little while ago."

Professor Lockwood's reaction to his arrival was in sharp contrast to the only other Divination professor Julian had known, who would have claimed her Inner Eye had seen him coming. "My apologies for startling you," he said, taking her hand in his to shake it. Julian was also touched by the warmth with which Professor Lockwood greeted him; over the years – both at Hogwarts and St Mungo's – his new hires tended to be excessively nervous around him, something he hoped to be simply due to his position of authority.

"Thank you, and the feeling is mutual. I hope your journey was well?" With all the protection charms on the castle, any form of transportation involved some travel to get onto school grounds; even Apparition and Floo powder could only get one as close as Hogsmeade. Of course, many disliked the sensations that came with those modes of transportation and preferred slower methods such as flying or the Hogwarts Express.

With her invitation, Julian stepped into Professor Lockwood's office, looking around with polite interest. His first impression was how different the office looked without its usual array of magical objects. If it weren't for the books on the shelf (whose titles Julian read sideways) and the large crystal on her desk, it wasn't immediately evident that this was a Divination office at all.

Julian pulled the orientation folder out from beneath his arm, and placed it on her desk, noticing the photos of an older couple and a young boy, who were presumably related to Professor Lockwood. The photos came as no surprise; it was fairly common for the staff at Hogwarts to display family pictures in their private quarters. Julian did so once himself, though never at Hogwarts. Even after six years, very few people in the castle knew that Julian had been married and (whether or not he still considered himself to be) that he was a father.

Julian stepped back from Professor Lockwood's desk and gestured to the item he just placed upon it. "I wanted to drop this off for you to peruse at your convenience. It’s your class schedule and the list of the students who signed up for Divination. I've also included a list of all the staff facilities, their locations, and instructions on how to gain entry," he said. As was typical in the castle, many rooms were hidden behind portraits or statues and required different techniques to open the door. "The Teacher's Lounge, the staff bathrooms," Julian continued, ticking them off as he remembered all of the parts of the castle that were (mostly) unknown to students and new professors. "Your colleague's offices are listed as well, but the passwords are up to their discretion to give out."

Julian had also included his own office in this list, although the location of the Headteacher's office had not changed since Hogwarts first opened many years ago, and most of the staff were already familiar with it from their own school days. He wasn't entirely sure if Professor Lockwood would know where to find it; he had taken a peek at her school file and learned that she had been Head Student and therefore not likely to have been sent to the Headteacher's office for misbehaviour. "The password to my office is ‘vervain’, and you are welcome at any time."

Although Cassandra did genuinely possess the Gift of sight, her background was in being a housewife and somewhat of a socialite. It was not within her refined nature to seek attention in a dramatic way. Having not formally practiced Divination before, she therefore had no need to pique people’s interest with showing off her abilities. Besides, it made people uncomfortable to have others (especially strangers) know intimate truths about them. Even if Cassandra did get intuitive “hits” on people she met, she rarely expressed them unless she was being asked to. But just because she was gifted with clairvoyance didn’t mean she knew everything. The truth was, she had been startled by Julian’s arrival. She had assumed no one would venture up this way until closer to the start of school.

“No apologies necessary,” she assured him brightly as she allowed him entry into the small room. She would add a few more touches to the decor in the coming days and weeks, but she was fairly simple by nature and would not be crowding the room with her things. “I do appreciate you coming all this way up here to greet me. I’m guessing one of the painting subjects notified you of my arrival?” Anyone who had spent any time at Hogwarts knew how bored and gossipy the paintings could be, especially when there wasn’t much activity going on. “Anyway, how kind of you to come. I had assumed I wouldn’t see you until at least dinner in the Great Hall tonight, if not at a later meal.” Her mindset was still partially on being a student - when they rarely saw the Headmaster outside of gatherings in the Great Hall.

“Ah, yes, the travel was well, if not a little slow.” She laughed, having not used slower modes of transportation since passing her Apparition exams. “I came on the Hogwarts Express. The pumpkin pasties are still as good as I remember, though.” She winked at him good-naturedly, deciding to make light of the situation. Of course, everyone was annoyed at the inconvenience caused by the need for additional security. She didn’t know how Headmaster Rossi coped with all the stress, and she figured it wouldn’t be polite to ask.

But he was here for more than just a casual greeting, as evidenced by the folder he produced from under his arm. Cassandra accepted it gratefully and took the time to peruse through it, allowing him the opportunity to take a look at her office. Of course, the air of mystery surrounding Divination and its similar forms naturally drew people’s interest, but Headmaster Rossi would also be interested in how she presented herself as a teacher.

“Thank you. This will be very helpful,” she said with a nod, finding the relevant sections of the folder as he listed them out. Her eyes swept over the names of the students who had signed up, and she felt a surreal emotion ascending her. She would be teaching these young people; she who thought she would always be a housewife with a Gift that was rarely used. Whoever thought she would end up back here and this time as a teacher?

She mentally filed away the password to his office should she need to find him, glad he was willing to share that as well. Then, ever the gracious hostess, she put down the folder and went over to one of her luggage cases where she knew she had packed away her tea-fixings. “Please, won’t you have a cup of tea? I have the items right here…” She paused, though, and cocked her head at a faint whooshing sound coming from the hallway and getting louder. Just as she turned toward the door, a large brown owl flew in carrying a parcel nearly as large as it was. The parcel thumped clumsily against the doorframe as the owl pulled its huge wings in toward its body so it could fit through. Knocked off course and wrestling with the package, the owl nearly collided with Julian before landing on the desk and sliding across, taking all the contents with it. Cassandra gasped as the picture frames and heavy crystal collided with the stone floor first, breaking noisily on contact and followed shortly by the owl, the package, and a flutter of papers from the folder Julian had brought. The owl seemed fazed but not seriously hurt.

“What in Merlin's name…?” Stunned, Cassandra took assessment of the mess. Of course, the broken items could be fixed with a simple Reparo, but why was an owl delivering her a package right now? She wasn’t expecting anything, and usually the owls delivered mail to Hogwarts en masse in the morning. Besides, she didn’t even recognize this owl. Her parents had one but he was a smaller, dusty gray owl.

Remembering herself, she turned to Headmaster Rossi to make sure he wasn’t hurt before making further attempts to figure out what this package was all about. “Are you alright?” she asked.

Julian laughed when she correctly guessed that one of the paintings had informed him of her arrival. "Yes, indeed. They get rather lonely in the summer, and they know I'm always around to chat," he replied, and then, thinking of Phineas Nigellus Black and his sarcastic and demeaning comments, added, "… though I wouldn't mind if some of them were a little less chatty." He said the words lightly as if joking, though anyone who had spent any time at Hogwarts would know exactly how Julian felt.

When Professor Lockwood mentioned that she hadn't been expecting to see him until this evening, Julian felt the need to clarify his decision to interrupt her this morning, lest she thought him impatient and rude. "Ah, well, I will be at dinner, certainly," he agreed benignly. "But I wasn't sure if you would be; some of the staff prefer to take their meals in their offices." There was no rule that required staff to dine in the Great Hall, but Julian liked to make an appearance. Over the years, he found that he is much more approachable in neutral, informal settings, and tried to make himself available outside of his office as much as possible.

Julian laughed again with her comments about the Hogwarts Express, grateful that she was keeping the mood light with a joke about the extra security. His smile widened when she accepted his folder and thanked him, but he waved it off as though it were nothing. "Oh, it's my pleasure, I hope it covers everything you need." Though Julian pretended not to notice the look of emotion that passed over her face as she read over her class list, he was concerned that she might be feeling apprehensive about her new job. He hesitated a moment, then continued with what he hoped sounded like general words of encouragement. "It certainly felt daunting for me to return to Hogwarts after twenty years with no teaching experience. If there's anything I can help with, please let me know." His look of concern vanished as Professor Lockwood searched for her tea set, and he accepted her offer to make him a cup. "As long as it's not too much trouble," he said graciously.

Julian had been about to sit down when a large brown owl burst into the office. He turned, alarmed by the size of the package it was attempting to carry. With barely enough time to react, Julian ducked just in time before the owl could collide with him as it crash-landed on Professor Lockwood's desk. "Yes, I'm fine - are you all right?" he asked, straightening with glasses askew and a blush on his cheeks. He adjusted his glasses, and then looked around the office to assess the damage. Concerned about the broken glass, Julian hurried to check on the owl. He knelt down on the ground, relieved to see that the owl was uninjured; Care of Magical Creatures had been his worst subject.

As a former Healer, on the other hand, Julian could help save Professor Lockwood a trip to the Hospital Wing if she had not been as lucky. Cautiously, he scooped the owl into his arms and placed it tenderly upon Professor Lockwood's desk, where it sat as if dazed. "He doesn't appear to have any injuries, but he will need a moment to rest," he said. Since no one seemed to need medical attention, Julian felt comfortable moving forward. Knowing her package must be important but not wanting to be too nosy, he said "That must be urgent, otherwise it would have been delivered tomorrow morning. If you want to take it into your room and open it, I can start tidying up out here."

In regards to dinner in the Great Hall, Cassandra hadn’t even considered not making an appearance. She was curious to meet the other staff members, and doing so over a nice meal was the perfect way to relax and talk more freely. “You mean stay here in my office and miss that wonderful enchanted ceiling?” She asked with a wide smile. “Never.”

She glanced up at him over the portfolio of papers when he mentioned his 20 years between setting foot in Hogwarts. That was nearly as long as she had gone. She hadn’t considered that someone else would have been in the position she was now; coming back to this place after so long - first as the student, now as the teacher. “Thank you, I do appreciate that,” she said sincerely as she put aside the folder. “Nothing comes to mind right now, but I’m sure once I’ve settled in I’ll need something.”

After the disturbance with the owl, Cassandra moved forward carefully so as not to traipse across the crystal shards. “I’m perfectly alright, thank you,” she assured him with a nod and then reached out to untie the package from the owl’s leg. The reason it was so heavy was that it was actually a small wooden crate rather than flimsy wrapping. Setting it aside, she allowed Julian to look over the owl, sensing from the way he handled the creature that he was experienced in these matters. “That is a relief,” she said with a touch to her heart when Julian declared him to be alright, and she was a bit surprised by how thoughtful he was for her autonomy when he asked her if she would like to open it in private. She was about to accept his offer and conclude their visit, but a thought came to her. What if the package wasn’t meant for her but was actually meant for him? It could be something urgent, and thus the owl could have been sent to find him right away. They had a keen sense of knowing where their recipient was.

She had learned long ago not to get hysterical over surprising events, so rather than voicing her thoughts she said in a good-nature voice, “Well, after such an epic disturbance I guess we should just cut right to it and see what’s in this thing.” Taking up her unicorn hair wand, she pointed it at the box to untie the bindings and then slowly lift the lid.

At first, all that was visible was a bed of packing straw. Cassandra leaned closer to see better as she directed the lid all the way off the crate. Startled by the appearance of a black blob amongst the pale straw, she jumped back a little but then frowned and looked closer.

It was a dead raven. There was no mistaking it. It was on its back with its thin black legs sticking straight up in the air, curled into little fists at the talons. There was no movement. The way it was nestled amongst the bed of straw indicated that it had been deliberately packaged this way. Someone hadn’t sent her a live bird that died en route. This was a deliberate message, and a particularly hostile one at that.

She had seen enough. Jerking her head up, her dark blue eyes met Julian’s. Her face was etched with a mixture of fury that someone would do this to an animal just to send a message (really!, how archaic) and confusion in general. “Who would do something like this?” she said stiffly, as if Julian would know. But it was the only thing she could think of to say.

While Julian often received urgent owls throughout the day, the timing of the delivery had been so specific to Professor Lockwood's arrival that he had no reason to suspect that it had been for him. Touched that she would choose to open her parcel in his presence, Julian smiled warmly at her before he politely looked away and busied himself with the next order of business: her office in disarray.

Though the mess looked quite catastrophic, it would be easy enough to clean up with magic and Julian's main concern was her more sentimental items, particularly the photographs in the broken frame. He waved his wand in a sweeping motion across the room and watched as the room repaired itself: the broken glass zoomed back into the picture frames, the shattered crystals reformed into the Selenite, and the loose papers re-ordered themselves in midair and then fluttered upon her desk.

Julian had just been checking that the photo inside the frame had not been damaged in the crash when he sensed that something was wrong. He turned swiftly, a picture frame in each hand just in time to see Professor Lockwood jump back from the now-opened package. Julian searched her face for clues as to what she had seen, but found none as she lowered her head back in for a second look and then proclaimed, "who would do something like this?"

Taking her question as an invitation, Julian rushed to her side to take a look for himself; the picture frames returned to their original place on her desk by magic, though he had uttered no spell and his wand remained in his pocket. Julian's complexion paled and his mouth formed into a hard thin line, but he maintained an otherwise calm exterior as he peered down into the crate at the dead raven. He considered that the message could have been for him, but he could not see the significance in its method of delivery. It didn't make sense.

Julian began digging through the straw in search of a card, a letter – anything - that might help explain, and tried to think of something reassuring to say to Professor Lockwood. But he could not think of any non-sinister reasons to receive a dead bird in the mail; they did not teach necromancy and "fully intact potions ingredients" didn't sound very convincing. Defeated, he looked back at Professor Lockwood. "I don't know," he said finally, and then trying to keep his tone light, "but there may be a... er, reasonable explanation for this."

So absorbed was she in opening her parcel that she didn’t notice the care Julian was taking to return her office back to normal. Normally she would be very appreciative, but the cryptic scene before her took all of her attention. Even when she looked up at him to ask who would do such a thing, the office background went unseen.

She was grateful for his presence as he came forward to check the box for himself. Although she was standing quietly, she could feel a threading twist of emotions rising within her - mostly fear, but backed right behind it was the sad hole left by the disappearance, and probable death, of her husband. Corky was no longer there to make her feel protected; like a team. The gutted feeling made all other difficult emotions that much harder to bear. In her mind, Hogwarts was always a safe, comforting place. That was what she identified with when she took the teaching job, and this was nowhere near what she had in mind for her first day. Headmaster Rossi’s calming presence did, however, help her feel more centered.

She found herself pushing the box numbly into Julian’s hands, allowing him full access to tear through it as she watched. “Wait!” she cried suddenly and jumped forward to snatch out a piece of paper that had been revealed as he sifted through the straw. She was positioned at such an angle that she was able to see it before him.

It was a newspaper clipping - crudely torn from the Daily Prophet, but she recognized the article at once. It came out last month announcing her new position at Hogwarts. Just a small piece buried in the back of the paper, but it did feature an older picture of herself that had been taken when she was head of her local Witches & Wizards Historical Alliance (known lovingly as the WiWi-Ha). With her mother having been a writer for the Prophet, and the status of her family overall, Cassandra received more media attention than would ordinarily be given to someone. The Prophet had reported a few times on her husband’s disappearance, as well as his official death announcement. The person who had ripped the article out had done it so savagely that the portrait photo of her was torn practically in two across the diagonal, revealing only one blue blinking eye but a full smiling mouth. The result was eerie.

The most startling thing about it was that someone had written in huge, red block letters “FAKE” across the print of the article. “Well…” she began stiffly as she put the paper down on the desk and looked down at it, allowing her fingers to lace themselves tightly together in front of her. The mouth kept smiling pleasantly, the blue eye blinking every so often. “I guess there’s no mistaking the meaning of this.”

She was used to people thinking Seers were a joke, and as a student she knew Divination was not taken seriously by many of her peers, but she had never experienced such a hostile reaction. This felt oddly personal. However, she still had no idea who would do such a thing. She was generally on good terms with everyone. She volunteered and generously donated to charity. She had never practiced her Seer abilities for profit or to the public in general, so she had no reason to believe she’d scorned someone with an undesirable reading. Well, maybe she was a fraud after all because despite all her psychic abilities she was mystified by this. Remembering Headmaster Rossi, she turned to see what his reaction to all this was.

After finding nothing in the straw, Julian had been about to give up when Professor Lockwood spotted what he had missed. It was a small newspaper clipping, and his hands froze in place to avoid disturbing the straw any further and risking losing it again. Once it was safely plucked out of the box, Julian stepped back and waited with bated breath as Professor Lockhart held it out to be examined. The clipping was torn in half and defaced with the word "FAKE" written across it, and though Julian was an avid reader of the Daily Prophet, it was not immediately recognizable to him. Judging by Professor Lockwood's reaction to it, though, Julian perceived it to be significant, and he leaned in for a closer look.

Recognizing the subject in the photo to be the Divination professor herself, Julian recalled the article he had read last month about Seer Cassandra Lockwood's return to Hogwarts. Ever since the announcement came out, Julian had faced criticism from those who had thought the Headteacher had scrapped the controversial subject at Hogwarts and were outraged that he was reinstating it. The owls he had since received carried similar messages - albeit much less sinister, and more about Divination and less about who taught it.

Julian had never intended to share this backlash with Professor Lockwood (or anyone for that matter), but as he stared down at the dead bird and deliberately torn photograph, he reconsidered this white lie. This was more than just the usual hate mail; it was a threat and he began to consider that it had not been for her at all. Of course, he did not know for certain; this package hadn't been addressed to anyone and was definitely more cryptic and menacing than his usual letters. Hoping to calm any fears that she might have, Julian admitted, "This may have been intended for me," but wanting to spare her feelings for as long as possible, did not offer any explanations.

Julian finally broke his gaze away from the macabre sight in front of him and turned to Professor Lockwood, his expression softening. "I'm so sorry this happened on your first day. Please rest assured that it is perfectly safe at Hogwarts and there are Aurors stationed at every entrance." Julian wanted to offer as much comfort to her as he could, but they both knew that the added security could not prevent another threatening message from arriving in the mail. For the sake of everyone's privacy, he did not want to screen owl post unless it was absolutely necessary.

Cassandra was surprised when Headmaster Rossi voiced his view that the message was actually meant for him. In her mind, it was so clear that this was directed right at her but something in the way he said it suggested to her that she didn’t know the whole story. Now she considered this from his perspective. “Why would you say that unless you had reason to believe it was true?” She looked at him pointedly and then asked what she suspected to be true. “Headmaster Rossi, have you been under heat from the public for hiring me?”

After giving her such a heartfelt and genuine apology, even though there was no way he could have been responsible for it, she checked herself and calmed down. Lifting a hand to wave it dismissively, she said, “That’s very kind of you to take responsibility for something beyond your control, but no apology is necessary. This is hardly your fault.” She moved a few steps away from the desk, the box, and the bird as she gathered her thoughts.

“I suppose neither one of us will know anymore unless we are able to find out more information,” she stated, “including the true intended recipient. I would like to do some investigating into this and see if I can find anything more out.” She could start with some simple charms she knew. She doubted she’d come up with anything with her limited knowledge, but there was a whole library of information right here at the school as well the knowledge of the other faculty members.

She nodded when he assured her of the Aurors and her safety. “Yes, you're right of course,” she agreed and then laughed a little. “After all, they say Hogwarts is one of the safest places to be.”

Julian smiled ruefully when Professor Lockwood asked if he had been under heat for hiring her. "A little bit," he admitted gently, thinking of the conversation he had had with Phineas Nigellus Black an hour ago. "Nothing regarding you, but rather the subject that you teach." Julian looked down and gestured at the dead bird, and added "And certainly, nothing like this."

The Headteacher nodded his approval when Professor Lockwood voiced her intent to investigate further into the mysterious threat. Despite his calm demeanour, Julian's thoughts were racing and he struggled to keep the concern out of his voice as he spoke. "Good thinking," he agreed. "But I think we should be discreet, even amongst the staff. Gossip spreads quickly around here, and we wouldn't want the students to hear about it."

Julian also intended to conduct his own investigation, but his areas of expertise were medicine, Herbology, potion-making and alchemy -- not dead ravens and threatening messages in the mail. Thankfully, there was someone at Hogwarts that could help. "Might I make a suggestion?" he asked. "I would talk to Professor Ethan Forrester about it. Professor Forrester teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts and is our Head of Ravenclaw. He's also an ex-Auror and an accomplished Curse-Breaker. If anyone had ideas on where to start, it would be him."

As Julian continued to stare down at the dead raven, an idea came to mind. "I would also magically preserve the…" he paused as he thought of what to call it; "corpse" sounded too ghastly. "… the evidence." He gave the bird one last look, then turned his attention to the other piece of evidence: the owl. Julian picked the large brown owl up in both hands and held it gently, yet firmly. He knew he couldn't release the owl - it was needed in tracking its owner - yet Julian did not want Professor Lockwood to know that he was more concerned than he was letting on. "Well, he seems to be just fine," he said cheerfully, and the owl hooted softly as if in agreement. "But I'll have our Care of Magical Creatures professor take a look, just to be safe." He was telling the truth, so the words came easily; Julian omitted the part where he would put the owl in a bewitched sleep while he consulted with Professor Forrester.

As Julian turned to leave, he remembered what he had been about to tell the new professor before they had been interrupted by the delivery. "Oh," he called out at the doorway, still holding the owl in his arms. "Please let me know if you'd like your fireplace hooked up to the Floo Network. For security purposes, not all fires are registered, and some staff prefer to have their fires disconnected…" he trailed off distractedly, his expression vacant. Suddenly, he smiled again. "I'll see you at dinner." Julian bowed out of her office, all traces of his smile vanishing once he was in the hallway and out of sight.