Private Message to Professors Sprout and Siz

[alt_cedric]

Valerie just came to me about Chelsea's behaviour today. She's been busy all day, incapable of sitting down to do anything other than coursework or eating a meal as quickly as possible. She says she 'has to be up and doing something all the time. Like cleaning or straightening or organizing' While we were discussing this she dusted all of the pictures in the common room. Just now she stumbled a bit and sat down down hard into a chair. After a moment she said 'I can sit down now!' with this note of wonder in her voice.

I'm not sure if I should be sending her to the Matron to be checked or just seeing how she feels tomorrow.

Comments

[alt_pomona]

Goodness. That seems odd. For her, especially. I wouldn't describe her as lazy or anything of the kind, but she's always struck me as the slow and measured type rather than perpetual motion, as it were.

Can you ask her a few more questions, perhaps? When it began, for example? And what changed when she felt she could stop?

Aurora, do you have ideas? (Oh, dear. You're up in office hours, aren't you? This will keep until 9 if you're busy.)

[alt_cedric]

Talking about what happened today. She says she got, ate breakfast and felt normal. She had her meeting with Madam Umbridge and says that she asked for their versions of events but couldn't believe that 'such a good upright boy as Mister Strangleweale would ever behave like that and they must have provoked him' She finished with some injunctions against idle hands. Herbology after that and she says she didn't notice anything during class. She says there was a game of Exploding Snap between then and lunch she'd been planning to play in but she felt 'restless' and decided to do all of her assignments for tomorrow instead.

Lunch is when she really started to feel odd. She ate much more quickly than normal and rushed back to the common room to start on her assignments for Wednesday in the half an hour she had before History of Magic. She took three feet of notes there and felt 'fidgety' all throughout class. Charms was fine, but afterwards she raced back to her dorm and organized all of her cloths (she even colour coded her socks) She again ate dinner very quickly and rushed back to the common room which she was cleaning between then and shortly after 8.

She stumbled and landed in a chair. I was with her by this point and she got this peculiar look on her face and and 'I don't have to be up and doing things!'

[alt_pomona]

Goodness. But she seems all right now? If she doesn't, you should take her to Poppy immediately. But if she says the - what do we call it, restlessness - has passed, perhaps not drag her out again tonight.

Do tell her to tell you or one of the prefects immediately if she feels strange again? Do you need me to come down? Or Aurora, if I can roust her? I don't know what your other plans for the evening might be.

I just - this isn't quite like the usual round of things. And I didn't notice anything too out of the ordinary this morning. Let me think through? And if you need one of us, I've my charm out and handy.

Just - did she say if she saw anyone near her with wand out?

[alt_cedric]

What she can recollect is that Madam Umbridge had her wand out but she didn't notice her cast a spell. She was just using it for emphasis. Everyone in charms class, obviously. There was some silliness at lunch but that was first and second years making 'sparks, flames and fart noises from the boys'

She seems okay at the moment. I've passed along the standard 'talk to a Prefect if you feel funny' for all the good it ever does. I've suggested if she feels at all odd tomorrow that she should go to the Matron after breakfast and before Defence.

[alt_sinistra]

Oh, goodness. Sorry for not responding sooner - Cedric, I heard the notification spell go, but I could not get Bletchley to stop talking. (For a good twenty minutes past office hours, too.)

Right. Very odd. Indeed. And Pomona, you're right it's not like her. You remember that conversation I had with her last week? Cedric, without breaching confidence, it was about her worrying she wasn't doing enough to keep up. And we had a long talk about steadiness being as much use as speed. (Insert your parable of choice here, really.)

Cedric - I agree with Pomona that there's no need to drag her out tonight if she's feeling less odd, but perhaps she should see Poppy in the morning just to be on the safe side. I'll let Raz know she might be late and why. And I can tell already it's going to stay cloudy - tell her to go to bed and not worry about her practical session tonight? I can catch her up easily one afternoon this week.

There's something tickling at the back of my mind, but I can't pin it down.

[alt_cedric]

I'll send her up to bed and ask her to talk to the Matron in the morning. Thanks for letting Professor Raz know. I'll also make sure to check in on her at breakfast.

[alt_sinistra]

Thanks for your care. Look - do you mind if I chat privately with Pomona here. And do let me know if there's anything else odd. I'll be up and all.

(Wandering down to catch Raz in a few.)

[alt_cedric]

Of course that's fine.

[alt_cedric]

Justin just pulled me aside and said that Starling was behaving the same, cleaning and scrubbing things in the corridors.

Starling was the other student involved in the incident yesterday and called down to talk to Umbridge this morning.

[alt_sinistra]

Wait, what?

That is ...

Thank you, Cedric. Well done, truly. Look, let us talk a tad, and keep an eye out?

[alt_cedric]

Of course Professor.

Private message to Pomona

[alt_sinistra]

Look, this is worrying me. You don't think...

I don't care for dear darling Dolores. One bit. But I also don't want to let my own biases run away with me. And yet.

It wasn't you. Not Binns. Not Acton. Not anything any of their classmates might do. I suppose it could be one of the NEWT students but who else would target both Chelsea and Starling?

And today, after a meeting where her wand was out? She's - look, she's not one of those people who always has it at hand, you know? Not like some of us.

Re: Private message to Pomona

[alt_pomona]

No, you're quite right.

Right. I'll stop down before breakfast, talk to Chelsea. And I'll have a word with Rolanda at breakfast, see what her thoughts are. (Better me than you, even if you'd be there, and I know you won't be.)

The larger matter's worrying, mind you. Did - when she took over, was there any discussion about discipline? Or were you not included in that? What you could do, as one of their teachers, suddenly seems far more clear and well defined to me, in contrast.

Re: Private message to Pomona

[alt_sinistra]

To be honest, that two weeks is more than a little bit of a blur. (Well, both the shock of them replacing me, and the worry about getting permission to marry.)

Let me think. And thumb through my notes. Right. I know she was off for meetings with the oversight board at least twice in there, but of course I've absolutely no idea what they discussed. Or if they've even talked about what discipline she's allowed.

When - actually, now I think about that, it was quite far back, under the previous board. It came up briefly in the investigation, but they dropped it in favour of other lines of questioning fairly quickly. It wouldn't surprise me if they'd implied she could take a fairly free hand in regards to encouraging obedience and discipline but...

They must have discussed it with Minerva, surely?

I did stop down for a quick word with Raz, so please assure Chelsea he'll understand if she's late. And let me know if I can help - don't worry about waking me if you need another warm body. I do have to be in New London tomorrow afternoon - appointments I really can't miss - but I could come back for supper if you need.

[alt_pomona]

Right, Diggory - would you ask Chelsea to come have breakfast in my office? That way we can talk more privately. I'll walk her up to Poppy myself.

And as Aurora says, thank you. Nicely handled.

[alt_cedric]

Certainly Professor. She's gone to bed at this point I'll catch her on the way to breakfast.