Priscilla Chattox-Kyteler (balm_of_gilead) wrote in lightning_war, @ 2008-09-17 12:08:00 |
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Current mood: | infuriated |
Owl from Priscilla Chattox-Kyteler to Dracaena Malfoy, dated 15 September 1942...
Securely warded, enciphered and sealed with the seal of St Mungo's:
Dear Lady Malfoy,
We will be keeping Secretary Zabini through the end of the day and possibly tonight for observation. I have no doubt that he will make a full recovery, and you must believe we are as anxious to get him home to you as he is anxious to return, but we need to be absolutely sure, given the sensitivity of the information with which he is entrusted by the Ministry, not to mention your safety, that he is no longer compromised.
We have not, unfortunately, found anything actionable. While there are deep curse structures similar in form to an annulus imperii, they are both organic and holographic in nature, almost as if Secretary Zabini had himself spontaneously generated these compulsions. I realise of course that this is impossible. We have been told about the new branch on your family tree, but of course, Secretary Zabini does not recall ever meeting Domitian Malfoy. In trance he recalls having seen the girl, Juliana, but even if he had had significant contact with her, she cannot possibly have done this at the age of seventeen. Yet the work is similar to a geas, and to other compulsions of non-human origin. Ordinarily I would feel morally obliged to consult with Mysteries on a matter of this nature, and under normal circumstances the law would require me to; but I know that Jezebel Walsingham will attempt to frame you for this, and that Viresh Patil will use it to gain access to Nicodemo and Alessio and to get his hands on my charts again, so with some misgivings, I am turning the matter over to Edward, who is the only person who can keep Taverner, Walsingham and Patil out of your hair and of mine. This is frustrating, for I should dearly love to set them all on Lalage Potter Parkinson, but I fear that like the pack of dogs they are, they will if anything collude with the bitch. (I am sad to say that Viresh was a friend of mine in school. How do times change!)
I have no doubt in my mind that Lalage Potter Parkinson did this, and I strongly suspect that if you had found it and tried to remove it--especially in your former weakened state, before your transformation--that you would have met a similar fate to that of Yvon. It cannot, however, be proven.
I will be sending Maddie down later this afternoon to examine both Juliana and Domitian Malfoy for signs of this tampering. If they do not co-operate she will have to bring them back with her. It would be much too easy for Parkinson to have done something of this nature before dropping them off at your door like a pair of abandoned kittens.
I did receive your owl of this morning. Alessio's position is secure. He will be working with me, with Yvon and also with Wilkes on a number of specific cases and projects, but his primary placement will be on Yvon's ward during his shift. He has a number of interesting suggestions for the curriculum for the unlicenced staff, and he has talents which I intend to find the most efficient uses for.
Bilius Lovegood has made a full recovery, but I have been discussing the general case with Jameson Wilkes and we have come to the conclusion that we require your son Lucius' most accurate and complete natal data. I am well aware of the good reasons for your family's tendency to falsify your public birth records and we will not release this information (especially not to the Ministry or to Mysteries, whose business this is absolutely not). But Wilkes is going to be speaking to Diggory later today. It is his opinion that a marriage between your son and Kathleen may be an essential part of resolving this situation. You of all people must know how strongly I feel against arranged marriages and contracts between children under the age of sixteen. I cannot permit Wilkes to give this advice without having seen the synastry and a composite chart, because a disastrous marriage between them will only make everything worse, so it is in everyone's best interest to have the most accurate data obtainable.
If we cannot send Secretary Zabini back to you before curfew, we will return his slates to him so that you may communicate freely. Madam Lyubov and Miss Umbridge seem to be able to handle his official duties, so that has also been seen to.
Sincerely yours,
Priscilla Chattox-Kyteler
cc: Kyteler Dux Bellorum