Thank you, Arthur, for sending that report. I already have a request in to St Mungo's to firechat with the disease specialists there, but given all of this, I suspect my request will not be their top priority for a while. Perhaps they'll know a bit more by the time I hear from them. Rest assured: I will not give any indication that I've had access to any of this information.

I can't deny that we are seeing a lot of illness here this autumn or that there is some superficial similarity between the initial symptoms the camps are seeing and those cropping up here--because fever, aches, congestion, and even some muscle weakness are the basic symptoms of many common ailments.

I can only tell you that we've not had any cases with long duration or with the total debilitation described in the report. Most of ours respond very quickly to Pepper-up or Tummy Tonic, and even the more severe cases have all responded to the medicines I have on hand.

I must say that at the moment, the worst difficulty we are facing is the need to reassure a great many parents after they read yesterday in the journals about young Mr Wood's illness. I've lost count of the number of owls I've answered today, and my fire! Oh, my. I believe the Headmistress has taken things in hand and will be communicating with parents directly.