Antonin Nikolaevich Dolohov

Razzer my dear,

First off -- I'm on to the fourth years in my one-on-ones, and spoke with your niece yesterday. I found her charming, but frustratingly difficult to get a read on; I was left with the impression that she wanted to want to practise the Arts, but did not actually want to, if that makes any sense. I did tell her that if she were any other student I might advise her into theoretical study, but that familial expectations of course needed to be taken into consideration as well. I do not know which she will choose, nor whether Bella and Rod would even allow her to make that choice, but if you've some time tonight or tomorrow night after dinner, I would be most appreciative if I could pick your brain about the best way to reach Hydra in future; I felt extremely at sea throughout most of our discussion and suspect there are considerations I am not aware of that you may be able to shed some light upon. (Also, if you have a moment to talk with her, please do reiterate to her that whatever choice she feels is best for her, for whatever reason, I will wholeheartedly support it; I tried to convey that but could not tell how much she was believing me.)

To more widely pedagogical matters: now that the first few weeks of class have shaken out and settled down, I'm on to more of the practicalities with my NEWT-level students. They are quite interested and eager to learn, but I've noticed a certain narrow range of thinking (inspired, no doubt, by Alecto's insistence on raw power and on the Cardinals as the sine qua non of the subject) that I'd like to train out of them as quickly as possible.

It seems to me the best solution would be a demonstration of all that is possible with the Arts, and the first thing to come to mind was a demonstration fight -- I think I remember running the idea by you last Friday, although I may have just thought I should. Of the "few holds barred" sort, of course, not the more formalised duelling you teach in Duelling Club. (Which reminds me: if you need another instructor for that, I would be happy to serve.) In recognition that we are neither of us as young and hale as we used to be, we should likely place limits on certain classes of spells, but would you be willing? And if you are, do you think your Aurora would be willing to serve as crowd control?

Must confess I've lost track of what additional things darling Dolores has been adding to the schedule, but perhaps next Saturday afternoon or thereabouts? We can plan on Friday night if you're amenable.

By the by -- Aurora showed me your gift to her -- it is wholly stunning work.

Affectionately,
T

As there was some confusion with the third-year classes yesterday, please allow me to clarify: the timetables you have been issued are not in error. Due to the difficulty involved in integrating the changes to the curriculum, we have indeed been forced to schedule several classes through the lunch hour. In addition to yesterday's third-year students, this also affects the fifth-year Gryffindor class on Thursdays.

As I'm aware that in many cases, your schedule does not permit you to eat earlier or later, you may arrange with the elves for lunch to be delivered to the classroom, and eat quietly and unobtrusively through our discussion. (I will likely be doing the same.) I know this is less than optimal; I apologise profusely for the inconvenience and will do my utmost to keep the situation from becoming too untenable.

As always, if you have any concerns, please stop in my office during my scheduled open hours, arrange with me privately for evening or weekend hours, or contact me via private message. I remember from my own school days how reluctant we always were to disturb our professors, but you will not be a disturbance to me in the least: I would far rather clarify the issue early when whatever problem can still be easily solved.