Private message to Headmaster Dolohov

[alt_savitha]

Was out for much of last night trying to find Harry. My search was focused on Hogsmeade. Around 4 a.m., we discovered a bit of missing grid -- a bit outside of town, there should be a house but it's not there, and we think it's probably under the Fidelius charm. He might have holed up there.

How he slipped past the Enforcers on the grounds last night is not, thankfully, my job to explain or justify.

We've got someone posted outside the location near Hogsmeade to watch it, and have set anti-apparation wards, though whether they'll affect the area inside a Fidelius charm isn't clear to me. Someone's contacting Rookwood to see if there's a way to make that work.

I've checked on my Snakes this morning and they appear to be more or less bearing up. I assume you'll be appointing Padma Patil as Head Girl for the remainder of the year. I'd suggest Pansy Parkinson as seventh-year prefect; she's respectable and respected, and though there's not a great deal of year left I think the younger ones need some leadership from one of the seventh-year girls. In the fifth year, I think we should immediately replace Astoria Greengrass with Victoria Pummel; Astoria is distraught and not thinking clearly, and as the sister of a known traitor, she falls under the shadow of suspicion.

Is there anything else I can do to assist you?

Comments

[alt_antonin]

Yes, the team from Mysteries confirmed just now that it's Fidelius. The traditional version, not the bastardised version that's been springing up around the place. No hints as to when it was enacted, and the neighbours had little to contribute.

The appointment of Miss Parkinson makes sense. The question of Head Girl is slightly more fraught, and I am reluctant to put Miss Patil in such a place to appear to some as though she has seized an opportunity, but I'll have a word with her in a few days once immediate tensions have eased somewhat -- as you point out, at least there isn't much of the year left. Regarding Miss Greengrass and Miss Pummel, I am reluctant to make any sweeping changes quickly until we know more -- Miss Greengrass may or may not have been ignorant of her sister's motives -- but to attend to the immediate need, I will ask Miss Pummel if she is willing to assist on a temporary basis; I'm certain you can use all the help you can get.

Right now the greatest need is to pin down exactly what has gone on here, and my greatest concern is the difficulty of separating those who have something to hide from those who are simply distraught and having difficulty thinking clearly. Whatever has happened, it's likely Slytherin House is at the heart of it. Perhaps you could hold a house-wide meeting tonight, ostensibly for the children to remember and mourn their housemates, in which you keep a careful ear out for what is -- and isn't -- being said.

[alt_savitha]

Excellent idea. I'd like to ensure they're all given a little something to loosen their tongues a bit, too. I'll talk to one of my colleagues and see what she can pass along, if you don't mind opening your floo.

[alt_antonin]

Of course you may use my Floo for deliveries, but check with Haruman first -- if I recall correctly, most of that class of potion interacts dangerously with calming potions for at least a day or two after administration, and between last night's emergency and the dose I've had the elves keep in the tea, most of the children have likely had enough to be dangerous.

[alt_savitha]

Oh, that's a good point.

Perhaps we'll have to make do with the champagne, assuming Haruman thinks that will be reasonably safe. Though he might know something that will suit, I'll see what he thinks.