"Dear Hermione,
Long time no see.
Thank you so much for your letter. How have you been lately... (One hundred words omitted here)
By the way, you asked me to look into someone named 'Christopher Patrick'?
I'm sorry, but I have to ask—are you sure you didn't make a mistake with the name? As far as I can recall, Durmstrang has never had a student by that name. I even went through the student records from the past five years—several times—and there's no sign of anyone called 'Christopher Patrick.'
So, either you spelled the name wrong, or this Patrick is lying!
Also, Durmstrang hasn't accepted a single wizard from Austria in the past five years... not even one!
That much, I can guarantee.
Viktor Krum
January 10th"
Jon folded the letter carefully, his expression darkening. His hands trembled faintly, a cold bead of sweat tracing down his spine.
"Christopher, are you still reading that Mudblood Granger's letter?" Pansy Parkinson turned around with a teasing smile. "Don't tell me you've fallen for her? I'll admit, she is quite a pretty girl!"
"What kind of joke is that? Christopher would never be interested in a Mudblood!" Draco Malfoy shot Pansy a displeased look.
"Yeah, don't joke about that," Jon said with a faint smile.
At the same time, he calmly slipped the letter back into the pile as if nothing had happened. Then he looked up, his voice steady.
"Draco, are there any more new letters from Potter's lot? Bring them over. I'll check them myself."
"There's one more..." Malfoy bent down to search for a while before picking up a letter. "This one's addressed to Ron Weasley... looks like it's from one of his brothers—Percy Weasley, maybe?"
"Alright, hand it here. I'll take a look," Jon said quickly, reaching for it.
Malfoy turned toward the others, raising his voice. "Stay alert, everyone! Anything rebellious, report it straightaway!"
The classroom filled with the soft rustle of papers being turned.
Half an hour later, the inspection was finished. Jon led the D.A. members out of the classroom.
"I found two prohibited letters," Malfoy said, handing them over. "Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff and Lee Jordan from Gryffindor."
"I've got one too," said Tiffany Selwyn.
"I'll hand them to Professor Umbridge," Jon replied, taking the letters one by one.
Then he noticed Blaise Zabini carrying a stack of wrapped letters—ready to be given to Filch for redistribution.
"I'll take those," Jon said as he approached, speaking gently. "I actually need to see Mr. Filch about something. Go ahead and have lunch, Blaise."
"Thanks, Christopher," Blaise said gratefully, handing the stack to him.
Jon accepted the neatly packed letters, parted ways with the others, and headed upstairs toward the caretaker's office.
All the way there, he kept perfectly calm, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
When he entered Filch's office, it was empty—unsurprisingly, Filch and Mrs. Norris were out patrolling the castle as usual.
Jon quickly unwrapped the stack, found the letter from Krum to Hermione—the one he had folded earlier—and slipped it into his pocket. Leaving a short note for Filch, he quietly left the office.
Inside an empty Charms classroom, Jon finally let out a long breath.
He was relieved. It was lucky that, starting the day after Christmas, Umbridge had ordered the D.A. members to help inspect all student mail for anti-Ministry or illegal content.
Jon had been cautious enough to instruct them not to touch letters addressed to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, or Hermione Granger—those, he said, he would inspect personally.
Given his current standing among the would-be Death Eaters, no one found that suspicious.
He hadn't expected that, just a few days into the job, he'd stumble upon a letter like this.
From what Jon could piece together, the identity of "Christopher Patrick" was a false one. Dumbledore must have used a powerful Confundus Charm to fabricate the details of this identity. But such a spell couldn't alter everyone's memory completely—meaning that Durmstrang's teachers and students wouldn't remember someone who never existed.
That had been a close call. If the Trio discovered something strange about the Patrick identity, it wouldn't matter much as long as they kept quiet. But if Umbridge or the other D.A. members saw this letter and realized that no such person existed at Durmstrang, things would turn disastrous—suspicion would immediately fall on him.
He had nearly been caught because of the Trio this time.
But now he faced a difficult problem—what should he do with the letter?
Destroy it and pretend it never existed? Too risky. Hermione might write another one or find another way to contact Krum.
Alter it with magic? Also foolish. Hermione Granger was sixteen now, and her command of charms was impressive. Any simple alteration would be spotted instantly.
Forge a new letter? That wouldn't work either—Viktor Krum's handwriting wasn't easy to imitate. They had been pen pals for a while, so Hermione would recognize it at once.
After a few minutes of thought—
"Incendio!" Jon raised his wand and aimed at the letter.
A flash of flame burst forth, and in an instant, the letter was reduced to ashes.
"Seems the straightforward method will have to do," Jon muttered to himself.
Then he walked out of the Charms classroom.