Basil was hungover the next morning from... everything that had transpired the evening prior. It was not just the physical intake that caused his head to ring in a way that made his skull want to crack; it was also the emotional onslaught that he'd experienced, still draining through the cracks of the gorge that had been created less than twelve hours prior. He didn't know how he was going to survive this day, much less make light in front of first years and the faculty. (For a moment he considered feigning illness, but that wouldn't do.) Instead, Basil dug into his correspondence and penned first a letter response to Ms. Malfoy that he was slightly sheepish about, and secondly he decided to settle into the comfort of a friend. A friend he's come to think of as a friend over a long summer, and whom he missed rather desperately this year already. At reading the first few lines of her letter, Basil felt something in his heart ache. Oh how wrong she was, in so many ways.

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I appreciate your congratulations. It is not a position taken lightly, and I do so hope to do it justice.

The year has started off much in the same vein as usual, though with one less cheerful face around the corridors. Your absence is noted and I am looking forward to the date upon which we can begin to correspond once again upon our work.

I am pleased to hear you are settling in at Flint. They are lucky to have you, and I cannot wait to hear more about your courseload and your discoveries. Please keep me abreast of any new and interesting developments, even if banal. I find myself missing the idle chatter my baby cousin used to supply, and your take on the on-goings of society I imagine much more interesting.

Mr. Chang is doing quite well. I too am pleased to have him in the house; if his intellect shines even half as bright as yours, which I may comment because I have already seen it has, then he shall be a true merit to Ravenclaw. I shouldn't dream of betraying him to you, however. I'm sure he deserves that broom regardless.

I shall take a look at the essays you have supplied! In return, I attach one here that I've dug up about the transformative powers of the moon on the lupine transformation. It is not quite the same as the animagus, but I am curious on your take. There must be more material on this topic as the two likely correlate to a degree.

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