Private Message to Lucius Malfoy and Barty Crouch, Jr

[alt_antonin]

Dearests,

After the week I have had, including putting my foot in it at least once and barely avoiding putting my foot in it several times over, I am afraid I must throw myself upon your collective mercies and beg for the extended bout of What The Bloody Hell I've Missed, including but not limited to the details of:

-- what the hell happened to Reg (Miss Padma Patil fed me a story that was more confused than not, with extensive backtracking the moment she realised Reg was one of mine, but from the impression I got, I believe I may have acquired a debt there);

-- a story I have half-heard of you dueling with Alecto, Lyoushka, and more specifics of her and Amycus's decline (as it is proving more relevant than I'd thought);

-- a rather garbled tale of your apparent death and resurrection, Barty, and who the hell would dare to strike against you (you can imagine the fierceness of my reaction when I heard; that is the sort of thing that should have prompted a message, for the record, dear one);

-- the true stories behind Warrington's and Travers' demise -- was not at all surprised to hear Warrington had displeased Our Lord (though must confess, was slightly shocked at the public nature) -- but Mal?

Realise this is undoubtedly opening a box of curses and could be best handled in person, rather than through journal -- Lyoushka, I believe you will be up the castle this week for a Governors' meeting? Would be most appreciative if I could claim a few hours of your time after. And Barty, I will be in New London this weekend, as I've mentioned, and would take it as a kindness if I could lay claim to your Saturday afternoon at very least.

Certain I could come up with some way to show my gratitude,
T

Comments

[alt_antonin]

I've heard some of the details of Miss Lestrange's travails, but not all. I have her down for some one-on-one time this week (interviewing each of the little darlings to determine which placement they'd be best suited for) -- with luck I will be able to get a better sense of her after that. Though thus far I have found her an exceedingly self-contained young thing -- well, with Bella for a mother, one can hardly blame her.

I've been collecting bits and scraps of the story from multiple directions, actually. Razzer's been a help, of course, but there are bits of the story he can't fill in, having apparently been unconscious for large chunks of it. And Minerva -- well. Pomona Sprout has been most helpful in terms of factual detail as it pertains to the school, actually, though of course parsing her version of the story requires removing the overlay of moral outrage. And of course she can't give me the other end of the wand. Still, I would be a fool not to probe you for the detail: you see the interconnections more clearly than anyone else might.

Miss Patil -- I went into each interview asking the students for any prior experiences they've had with the Arts, good and bad. She told me of her brother's death, and that it had been at Regulus's hand, and intimated she had arrived at the conclusion Regulus was one of those for whom practise of the Arts was more damaging than uplifting, or that he had fallen into the same madness his brother had. (She stopped herself quickly when she realised what she was saying; believe I may have given too much of my reaction away, or I might have gotten more useful information out of her.) Am not surprised in the least to hear Reg was operating on orders -- I cannot imagine why he would have done so otherwise -- but if he made poor choices (and he obviously did) ... well. I must take at least some of the blame, I suppose, for that and for his other failures.

I will not mention it to Narcissa, and thank you for the warning.

Regarding the Games: am most interested in that conversation, yes. I can imagine half a dozen possible explanations. Some more ... comforting than others. Am most interested in your thoughts. There has to be a reason for

I am exceptionally glad Alecto did not get the better of you.