Owls to Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler

[ian-ma1co1m.livejournal.com]

Grant,

I saw this on my last jaunt to London and thought of you. Would that they all came equipped with an off switch. The other item I found in Flourish & Blott's, hope you don't already have it.

Happy Hanukkah Season's greetings,
Malcolm
The package contains a remote-controlled dinosaur
and a nonfiction book on dragons through Wizarding history.



Dear Ellie,

Merry Christmas, my dear, and I look forward to seeing you back at school. May you and your family find the New Year a blessed one.

Yours,
Ian
The package contains a book of Scottish poetry
and a gift certificate to Flourish & Blott's.

Comments

[dinosaurman.livejournal.com]

Malcolm,

A cross between a computer and a dinosaur. You shouldn't have. Really. In the spirit of the holidays, I got you some stuff you can't use gifts, too. The first book's for your next out of body experience, and the second's for your personal library. The binder isn't a gift, by the way, it's a copy of my notes on lycanthropy. You were concerned about the amount of energy used, if I remember correctly.

Cheers,

Grant

P.S. Thanks for the book.

Included with the note is a copy of a book on beauty (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/082125779X/ref=s9_asin_title/002-1099839-4850447) and a textbook on Arithmancy. There's also a thick binder with hand-written notes and illustrations. It's a mix of notes and excerpts from other sources, interviews with various people, and personal observations.

[ian-ma1co1m.livejournal.com]

Grant,

You're welcome, and thank you for the notebook. It is, shall we say, informative in a way that no published work is likely to be.

In return I offer an account of an interesting encounter I had Christmas eve (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1068685.html). Expostulating by the Christmas tree in the Great Hall was a man in a suit who was in fact a dead ringer for you in your de-aged state of a few months ago, who evidently can outdo both the Grinch and Scrooge for anti-holiday spirit.

He was approached by a teenaged girl with long strawberry-blonde hair and a pronounced Southern accent. From the snatches of their conversation I overheard, she was asserting that humanity would resist him and he was belittling her commitment to Christianity. While I watched, the man forced a sharp piece of glass deep into his thumb, which the girl removed (to prove her Christian charity perhaps?)

Upon hearing the girl's charge that he was the son of Satan and here to bring about Armageddon, I approached, adopting a play-dumb attitude I'm sure you'd find quite familiar. I pointed out they were standing under mistletoe; he took a familiar-sounding swipe at my powers of observation and declined to kiss the girl. She kissed me on the cheek and whispered "be careful" in my ear, then left.

I suggested he cut the girl some slack, it being Christmas. His reply was, and I quote: "The day when the Redeemer was born, to save humanity's worthless soul. I'm only doing my part by polishing her imperfections." He also said something about the girl having a black mark on her soul which he referred to as "my Father's mark." I also observed that by the time we were through talking, that deep cut had healed to the size of a small thin scab unlikely even to scar.

Assuming the man you saw and the man I spoke to are one and the same, and both are the alleged Antichrist your friend spoke of to you (could that be the same young lady I saw?), then I would say this encounter was highly suggestive. What do you make of it?

Malcolm

[dinosaurman.livejournal.com]

Malcolm,

You might not find it as useful as you'd like, though. It's rather short on quantitative data.

Before jumping to the obvious conclusion, let's explore a few other possibilities. It's possible that this man is completely insane, and only thinks that he's the antichrist. It's not like we have a shortage of mentally unstable people with superhuman powers.

I know that I'm grasping for straws here. It has to be better than the alternative.

Grant

[ian-ma1co1m.livejournal.com]

Grant,

I didn't expect quantitative data; I know quite well that historically persecuted groups tend to be wary of questioning. (European Jews of my grandparents' generation come immediately to mind.) If anything you've probably gained more access than the "experts," being a member of said group yourself - however little that access may be.

Either way, instability + superpowers = extremely dangerous. Also not to be discounted is his pride; I know you needle me for having a healthy ego, but I believe Thorn is well past me into egomania. Learning he is not a unique and special snowflake may trigger violence. You discovered his resemblance to you by accident; I recommend taking pains to prevent his discovering your resemblance to him.

Malcolm

[dinosaurman.livejournal.com]

Malcolm,

Or it could be that it's hard to get a good measurement single-handedly (or no-handedly, as the case may be) but if that theory works for you, then go for it.

Again, do I have to remind you that I'm not planning on running up to him and asking for the time of day? Plus, he's not the only one who is would be disturbed at finding out that he is not a unique and special snowflake.

Grant

[ian-ma1co1m.livejournal.com]

Grant,

I would be quite happy to dismiss the whole Antichrist thing as a folie a deux between Thorn's egomania and the young lady's religious mania, were it not for the fact that we manifestly have a Christ here at the school. Were you at Josh's Sorting? He may be able to shed some light on the concept of the Antichrist that would prove useful whether Thorn's status as such is real or delusional.

If you're uncomfortable tackling the matter yourself for whatever reason, I'd be glad to do the legwork. But I do think you'd get more out of Josh if you spoke to him yourself. Your call.

Malcolm

[dinosaurman.livejournal.com]

Malcolm,

I met this Josh kid. I found that his answers to my questions were just happy cliches about love and faith in God. I'm not sure if I'd get anything more from him than a meaningless platitude and a pat on the back.

Grant

[ian-ma1co1m.livejournal.com]

Grant,

I thought that might be the case. I disagree, which is why I'm willing to have this conversation with him in your stead, but your mileage may vary. Hearing about what happened if Josh offered those meaningless platitudes to Thorn might well be instructive, don't you think?

Malcolm

[dinosaurman.livejournal.com]

Malcolm,

I'm not sure if he'd even understand that I was talking about a possible antichrist. And honestly, the meaningless platitudes he gave me at his Sorting just made me want to punch him, so this whole thing could end poorly either way.

Grant

[ian-ma1co1m.livejournal.com]

Grant,

Leaving aside for the moment the inference that anything provoking such a strong reaction must have some kind of meaning to you - why don't I have that talk with Josh, then?

Malcolm

[dinosaurman.livejournal.com]

Malcolm,

Yeah, why don't you.

Grant