The thunder of blood in her ears quietened for just long enough for her own common sense to tell her that Mr Podmore had absolutely no way of really knowing what she was and if this was him attempting to blackmail her for something then he was showing no signs of it at all. His excuse for buying her a gift sounded reasonable enough…could it be a ploy? She wouldn’t put it past him but even with her heart beating heavily enough she was sure her whole body was pulsing with it Morwenna didn’t think she could hear anything underlying in his words.

Apart from that last part of course. The department being what it was…well, what it was, though it was hardly in the leaflets they handed out to Hogwarts students, was run by a werewolf. Was that his meaning? He had never struck her as the subtle sort before but, understandably, paranoia had become her close companion this last year.

“I’m not overly fond of taking my work home with me,” she said, glancing at the cover again and trying not to flinch at the words that stared back at her. “Especially not after the year we’ve had with werewolves. But, I do thank you for the gesture,” her eyes flicked up. “I’m sure it was kindly meant.”

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MJ knows my soul rings to the rune of this iconic hat