Pandora was reluctant, but the predicament Vaughn had described did indeed exist.
In the end, she could only acquiesce. With a sigh, she asked, "When will the announcement be officially released?"
"The start of term is not far off. The announcement should come out within the next couple of days. After all, the school still needs to send out an additional notice and textbook purchase list, so they have to leave everyone some extra time."
The two walked beneath the grapevines deep in the orchard. As they drank tea, Vaughn spoke.
His judgment was correct.
The next day, while Pandora was conducting magical experiments in the basement, she heard pecking at the front door.
Before long, Luna came hopping into the basement with a parchment letter in her hand, holding it up before her. "Mum, Hogwarts' notice and purchase list!"
Pandora took it.
There was nothing unusual about the notice itself. It merely mentioned, as a matter of routine, that Hogwarts had hired a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, then introduced the new professor, Isabella Rosier, and her credentials.
Looking at Isabella's lively photograph printed on the final page of the parchment, Pandora's head began to ache faintly.
When she saw the textbook purchase list the woman had requested, her headache grew even worse.
"Merlin—has the new professor gone mad?"
At The Burrow, early that morning, owls swooped through the kitchen like bombers. After dropping off letters for the Weasley Family children and Harry, the house had barely been quiet for a moment before Molly's cry shattered the silence again.
"My Journey Through Africa, by Isabella Rosier. Let me see the price—oh no, 2 Galleons?"
"And this one, In Egypt: Traveling with Dream Messengers, by Isabella Rosier, priced at 1 Galleon and 4 Sickles—"
"*North America: The North