14 May, 1895 - Ravenclaw Tower

Sir:

I have had your missive (requesting the urgent assistance of any in possession of vast transfiguration knowledge) passed to me by an acquaintance who, with the urgency to respond, has entreated me upon your behalf. While I cannot in good conscience claim vast resources in the faculty of the transfigurative domain, I dare to hope I may be at least marginally qualified to answer any inquiry if you wish to entrust your case via such correspondence as owl.

In an attempt to assuage any sense of doubt upon such an address, I will boast only as much as to say that I am a consistent contributor to our joint publication of office and I’ve dedicated much of my adult life to transfigurative research, as well as educating the minds of those still training.

willingly at your service,
Basil Foxwood

---

(The signed address is muddled and a bit mussed, unreadable— likely.)

Elsbeth Carrow & song

  

---

15 May, 1895

Mr. Fox —

It pleases me greatly to know that my advertisement reached you. I’ve had quite a few responses from who I can only assume are your esteemed colleagues, and I appreciate the reception that’s reached my desk.

I must impress upon you, as I have all the others, that this inquiry is of the utmost importance while discretion is paramount. I assure you there is nothing illegal or untoward afoot, however the reputations of those involved are quite near and dear to my heart.

Unfortunately, as much as I could demand some sort of token of your silence and discretion, beggars cannot be choosers. As such, I am resorting to ulterior methods and would ask a few trials of you.

If you could identify the following feather and what animal it came from and send your correspondence as soon as possible.

[enclosed — is a goose feather]

  

16 May, 1895 - Transfiguration Classroom

A goose feather. It was a mere goose feather and Basil, for the life of him, could not riddle out the meaning of it. At first he’d been convinced it must be something else transfigured to keep such a shape but, experiment as he liked, he could not get the feather to yield. At first this left him feeling resolutely stupid. Perhaps he was not so great a transfigurative mind as he’d imagined… but upon further inspection, he began to question if his first instinct had perhaps been wrong altogether. Perhaps this was meant to be identified as a simple goose feather. Perhaps it was a symbolic challenge more than a transfigurative one. He didn’t know anyone in his acquaintance by the name of Goose, or anything quite like it, but for lack of the author’s having sent any address at all— he attributed it to the man in his mind.

In the end, here wrote back only:

---

Sir:

I am (almost) ashamed to admit how long I have now studied this artifact. I willingly believed it to be a fallacy, a guise of some other incident with all the outward appearance of a feather. But — after much consternation — I have come to the conclusion that you have, in fact, sent a mere goose feather and I am proud enough to stand by that declaration, in err as it may be.

As to your quest for discretion, I can only pronounce my utmost commitment and hope it to be received in earnest. I am not a man of loose tongue by nature, regardless, and have every intention of remaining only in the strictest confidence as it pertains to your query.

willingly at your service,
Basil Foxwood

---

(The signed address is still muddled and a bit unreadable. Must be something with this quill he hasn’t yet noticed.)

Elsbeth Carrow & song

  

---

16 May, 1895

Dear Mr. Fox —

Thank you for your declaration of discretion; I know I’ll find myself quite in your debt, should this request pan out and turn into a partnership!

As for the goose feather — be not alarmed, for that was only the first of many tests that I have in mind, though I’m surprised at your willingness to admit at how much this feather perplexed you. Are you not afraid of my worrying you’ll be too incompetent for such an endeavor?

I apologize, I imagine that might have been quite rude of me to write out - I’ve been told in the past I’m too blunt sometimes. As it stands, I can assure you I do not think you incompetent at all. Please find enclosed the next object I wish for you to inspect at your leisure.

[enclosed — is a golden goose feather that transforms into metal when coming in contact with water]

  

18 May, 1895 - Transfiguration Classroom

Puzzled by the tests but intrigued nonetheless, Basil noodled over the golden goose feather for some days. He carried it about in his breast pocket and it wasn't until he'd settled into his office one evening, intent on preparing some things for his NEWT finals, that the feather fluttered out of his pocket on accident and right into a glass of water. It shimmered on impact and glowed ever so slightly as it transformed into something else and, delighted, if a little surprised, the transfiguration professor set aside what he'd been working on. He instead lifted the feather and gave it a good inspection, noting it was quite a bit heavier now than before and it had transformed into some kind of plated iron. He poked and prodded at it a bit with his wand, transforming and speculating and transforming again, until he was satisfied with a decent enough analysis to deign response to the mysterious sir with whom he'd been corresponding.

---

Sir:

Fret not, I am not so easily offended as to take your words at more than face value. In return, I shall honor you with my own reasoning in appreciation for your bluntness:

I am not, myself, a proud or vain man - at least not much as those with the intolerable vice bred into their character - and though happy to help, I will not take offense if you find my skills to be lacking. I would much rather share my observations open and honestly and build whatever can be built of a rapport between us such that if, or when, you confide your curious case to me-- we might work in partnership to resolve it. I should hate to feel any kind of pretense necessary if we are to be successful in mitigating your quandary.

That said, I share back with you my observation that this goose feather has been dipped in gold powder - the kind young ladies sometimes use to draw attention to their hair, ridiculously - and enchanted to transfigure into solid copper when wet. Water only, mind you, not tea. (An unfortunate circumstance led me to this conclusion, but I digress lest you find further explanation incompetent.) A jest, blotted out for fear of being found unprofessional.

Please send along your next trial at your earliest convenience!

willingly at your service,
Basil Foxwood

---

(The signed address is basically rubbed off by this point. Definitely something with this quill.)

Elsbeth Carrow & song

The following 1 user Likes Basil Foxwood's post:1 user Likes Basil Foxwood's post
   Elsbeth Carrow

---

18 May, 1895

Dear Mr. Fox —

I find myself horribly touched and equally impressed by your candor, and I thank you for it. In drafting these letters reaching out to academics, I’ve run into much of what you’ve stated you’re bereft of: vanity, pride, and ego most of all, though I suppose I can’t be surprised at finding these kinds of voices in a world of scholars and academia. But nonetheless, I’m glad to see I might have found a kindred spirit in pursuit of mitigating my current predicament.

You were quite right in your assessment of the goose feather! I should also state that you are free to do with these items what you wish after you are through with your diagnosis.

For the next assessment we are straying away from geese, nay feathers altogether!

Do take your time with this one.

[enclosed — is an apple; but is it really?]

  

23 May, 1895 - Transfiguration Classroom

Basil was beginning to find himself horribly amused by these tests, feeling himself a student again eager to please his professors. It was a silly, probably distracting hobby he'd taken up in these last important days before the end of term exams, but they served as sense of stress management-- if nothing else. The apple therefore he settled upon quite a bit longer. With the final touches on his exams notwithstanding, it was some good few days before he returned to the puzzle.

The first spells he settled upon yielded nothing. Not even a shimmer of variance could he encourage from the fruit, instead its vitality rapidly deteriorating. Tasting it, or at all ingesting any piece, was utterly out of the question so Basil turned to his texts. He spent one evening trying a few more tricks, refusing to believe his corresponding acquaintance would resort to dubious magic, but in the end-- he was forced to take a second, closer look at a book he'd actually just returned to a fellow from Flint. There was a particular passage about living organisms and the fruit thereof (pun unintended) attracting hereditary curses that stuck out to him at the time. (This all rather having to do with his search for more information on the maledictus.) Returning to it now, Basil puzzled over whatever could be causing the fruit to decay at so alarming a rate and if it was inherent to this specimen. In the end, there was one rather nasty hex reversal spell that caused the thing to tremble and unfold into the most beautiful peony blossom he'd laid eyes on this year.

---

Sir:

I find your assessment of my beloved academic community quite faithful, however much it pains me to say so. And while I cannot proclaim myself entirely devoid of these vices myself, as pride in one's work and a vanity towards that which one has applied oneself to for many years must naturally be expected, I do hope you will find that I am, generally, an agreeable sort of man.

This latest challenge of yours, I will confess, has surprised me. I will take it to imply that whatever this case of yours is that requires so secretive a review must have, in some essence, a malignant nature to it. I will impress upon you now that any further such trials, if dangerous at all in nature, will have to wait until I have returned to Bath for the summer in a few weeks. Only then can I dedicate the appropriate time and attention, and ensure proper safety measures, to unravel our mystery further.

I must ask however, in relation to these latest trials, has your case anything to do with the alchemical field or merely the transfigurative? I confess a resolute curiosity and shall attempt to prepare myself as best as possible for that day upon which we can discuss it.

willingly at your service,
Basil Foxwood

---

(The quill remains at large.)

Elsbeth Carrow & song

  

---

24 May, 1895

Dear Mr. Fox —

Trust that you have been all kindness and agreeableness thus far, so you are in no danger of performing at the level some of your colleagues have stooped to!

You are not wrong in your assumption that this case involves something of a malignant nature. To what degree, I am not able to disclose, not because of a desire to withhold information, but because of how out of my depth I am. It’s why I’ve reached out to you and your colleagues for help.

Of course, I understand that you must go where you are needed.

You are quite perceptive! As it stands and from what I can understand, it does have to do with a certain degree of alchemy. I myself have made quite a study of alchemy, though I would by no means declare myself an expert.

Should you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Shall I pause in sending along different trials?

  

25 May, 1895 - Transfiguration Classroom

Sir:

Thank you for your candid appreciation; I vainly accept it for all that it can flatter my pathetic pride.

I will confess, the more I learn of your case, the more curious I find myself! I do hope this malignancy does not cause undue hardship and that we may be able to resolve it together, quickly, if it does. In the interim, I shall endeavor to brush up on my alchemy as it pertains to transfiguration. I've amassed a great many books in my time that, I confess, I have left to the wayside in preference of herbology texts. (A rather quiet passion of mine for the one day a year I find myself fatigued with our great subject.)

I shall be in London within a fortnight. (A small correction upon my last letter as an engagement with a colleague calls me away from the countryside rather sooner.) I am sending along the address to which you might send your additional trials, though I will offer that come June the third we might have the opportunity to meet in person rather than exchange letters-- if you so wish. I don't endeavor to guess how many more trials you may deem a sufficient test of my experience, but I am happy to entertain as many as might be needed.

willingly at your service,
Basil Foxwood

---

(The quill does not tire of its game.)

Elsbeth Carrow & song

  

---

28 May 1895

Dear Mr. Fox —

I should be grateful for your curiosity, as I can imagine it will only serve to help my affliction. Furthermore I appreciate your desire to ameliorate your knowledge of the subject. If I hadn’t fallen into it by pure necessity, I wonder if I would have discovered it at all, for it’s a very fascinating subject.

I must check my diary to see if June the third will work — I may have a prior engagement.

This next trial I send you is more difficult than the last but I hope it won’t discourage your admirable determination thus far!

[enclosed — a metal scrap of leather that must be rendered back to its original state]

  

8 June, 1895 - Foxwood House, London

Sir:

Apologies for my extended silence; the end of every season is always a transitional period for my vocation.

I return to you a piece of worn leather with a very interesting alchemical composition. It took a few tries of my, albeit, somewhat unpracticed skills to consider moving way from the purely transfigurative and more towards the compositional. In the end a practical application of both was needed and I find myself curiouser and curiouser as to these trials!

In the weeks since our last correspondence, I have found my time split between a topic of separate interest for my own publication and the world of the alchemist. I must offer a word of gratitude for your sparking such an interest; I feel like a school boy again for the first time in many years! Have you read the recent works of Dr. Hieronymus Quince? I've found my way through about half of his Amber Crucible* and three scrolls worth of parchment later I found my answer to your riddle. Fascinating chap, and with a rather unique style.

I await further communication.

willingly at your service,
Basil Foxwood

---

(The quill has tired of its little game and Basil's obliviousness. It decides to omit 'Basil' and change 'Foxwood' to 'Mssr.' )
* The Amber Crucible: Binding Life to Base Metal

Elsbeth Carrow & song

  

---