I expect by now you've heard something of the misfortune of the past few days, but since I don't know who might have written and what they might have said I'll lay it out here: on the night of the 15th a strange man abducted Verity from a ballroom. We alerted the aurors. She eventually freed herself and returned yesterday morning. She's safe, but shaken, as you would expect. We'll update the report to the aurors and hopefully they'll find the man responsible, but at the moment he's still at large.

As I said I'm sure someone has already told you most or all of this; I'm writing to impress upon you the importance of keeping this news as closely guarded as you can. If you've already mentioned it to someone that's understandable, but don't tell anyone else about it unless they ask you directly and if you are asked, please don't speculate about anything beyond the facts. Having too many rumors flying about could impede the auror's investigation and put Verity's safety at risk — and what's more, they could seriously impact Verity's reputation. The very last thing she needs after such an ordeal is to have to fend off unfounded rumors about where she might have been or what might have happened to her in two days.

I hope you understand the gravity of this and will take what I've written to heart. Hopefully the man responsible will soon be caught and then we can afford to relax a little, but at the moment it's too much of a risk.

I love you,

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