Magical Hogwarts

Alyona was slowly processing what she had witnessed and had agreed that the girl could stay and investigate more because she had been too confused to express herself properly than anything else. It was still strange to hear that the girl only needed a little space where she could take root and that she needed something to cover herself after she morphed. Despite just having witnessed it and having heard of elementals before, it was still a very foreign concept to the healer.

“The resources won’t be a problem,” Alyona said. The family was wealthy enough to offer the girl proper meals. It was almost offending that she claimed that she needed nothing. That was not the way the Tikhomirovs treated their guests, though, technically, Linnet wasn’t a guest but someone who was supposed to work for them.

“Yes, of course.” Alyona agreed. “Showing you around might look strange at first but if we can back it up with a good background story, it might be okay. I’m sure that an objective perspective might be useful and, who knows, maybe you actually find out something we haven’t been aware of. ” Truth be told, the witch didn’t really believe that, but there was a slight chance anyway.

“You should be aware, though, that my daughter doesn’t know I hired an investigator and I’m not sure how she’ll react to you, even if you use the cover as a writer. I suspect that, to her, it feels like an intrusion and she probably won’t appreciate it.”

Rather belatedly, Linnet remembered her tea. Now that she was dressed and back in human form, her social skills had returned and she sat down again and picked up the cup. While she still wasn't sure how much help she could be in tracking down a stalker, perhaps the presence of someone new and unfamiliar would be enough to deter or perhaps scare them into making a mistake. She would hope so anyway, and would send an owl to Ms Robbins later and let her know what was going on.

"Thank you" she said once she'd drunk her tea and set the cup down again. She got a strange sense that she had somehow offended the older woman, though she couldn't imagine what she could have said. Linnet decided it didn't matter. She was here to work, not to be liked.

"We'll go with the French writer cover story, then?" she confirmed. That would be the most useful; she could walk around with a notebook, ask questions, and generally wouldn't be suspected of anything other than professional curiosity. Which would be absolutely true, just not in the way people would assume. As for the actual victim being currently unaware of her - well, that wasn't altogether surprising.

"That could be awkward, but perhaps for now you could just show me around and we can meet later, when you feel it would be appropriate?" she suggested. As long as she was able to learn where she would be working, that would be enough to begin with and she would feel she was doing her job. She could deal with a potentially angry sports star later (hopefully, much later). "If you're ready, I'm happy for you to show me around the school" she said, reaching for her cloak.

[out]

Linnet seemed to be a nice and decent girl. Totally someone that Alyona respected as a person. She wasn’t sure, though, how she felt about the young woman as the private investigator in this case. She wanted to give her a chance, but part of her doubted that this was going to help or be well received by others.

“Yes, I think the French writer story is a good cover.” Alyona still didn’t know why it had to be a French writer, but if Linnet liked the role Alyona was the last one to judge her.

“Definitely.” Alyona agreed. “I’ll show you around.” She wanted to add ‘after I had a vodka shot’, but bit her tongue. The young witch didn’t have to know about this weakness. Besides, if they happened to run into Aglaya, Alyona thought that she should, maybe, not be too drunk. She’d have to tell her daughter in a plausible way that this young woman was getting access everywhere and ask questions. She could already imagine Aglaya’s fury and hoped that, for today, they’d be able to avoid meeting her. She’d definitely have to figure out what to tell her first. Part of her wanted to tell Aglaya who Linnet was, but she was afraid that her daughter would disapprove and make a scene in front of the private investigator.

“Yes, I’m ready,” Alyona said, feeling not ready at all. She offered a smile as she, too, got to her feet. “We’ll walk to the school. Then you can already take a look at the surrounding area and ask any questions that might still come up.”

[out]