Chapter 79 - Long awaited answer?

The letter she had waited for so long in her hand, Professor Sprouse watched the students leave for Hogsmeade. She hadn't opened it yet, because she knew whatever was written inside wasn't something she wanted others to see. It was addressed to her in Dogon, her name shimmering in black ink, accompanied by a painted serpent and the sun in bright colours. The paper was unlike any modern white smooth, it made even the yellow parchment that was usually at school look refined. Much thicker, the traditional Papyrus was still handmade by the women of her old dorp.

She had nearly lost hope to hear from the Bandiagara Highlands, after all she had known she went against tradition, reaching out to her old Dogon Master. By leaving the Village, and shortly after the Kingdom, she had left the community and her right to be heard. This letter was more than she had dared to hope for, but everything she had wished for.

She was about to head up the stairs towards her tower, when she noticed that the crow was back again. It flew in through the open doors to land on it's spot high up in the columns, but missed the spot and wasn't able to land. While it circled, Professor Sprouse noticed that something was off about it. One of the wings was set in a strange angle, that made it hard for the bird to fly. The flaps were uneven and the crow lurched through the air.

She felt her heart squeeze while she watched it's spasmodic efforts, until she noticed it loosing it's strength. It tried some more strokes with it's wings, but staggered to the ground slowly. Luna transfigured a coin from her pocket into a blanket as she hurried over, to catch the bird.

"Phew! Nice catch Prof!", one of her students howled and he and his friends clapped. When she looked over at them she saw a group of Hufflepuffs leaving the castle, in their midst Gerald Smith.

The bird in her arms twitched and Luna covered it's head with a corner to make it rest. From close up the black plumage had an uncommon silver sheen. When Professor Sprouse turned around to resume her way to her tower she noticed that she had dropped her letter in her hurry to get to the crow. Carefully she bent down to pick it up without disturbing the bird in her arm that had stopped moving, now that it's head was covered. Once she had it up in her room she would check it over.

XxX

Later that night Professor Sprouse finally got to open her letter. The patched up crow sat near her window and watched the outside, but didn't try to move anymore. She was still devastated over what she found when she doctored him - she had learned it was a male - his wings had not just been broken, but miserable fixed by an amateur.

Her heart still hurt for the poor animal, that would need some time recovering until he would be able to fly again, now that she had adjusted the bones. Looking back down at her letter she blinked when she noticed that it wasn't in Swazi or Dogon, as it should be, but in English. It was her Masters writing, that much she was sure of, but someone had either translated it for her, or there was more behind this than she had thought.

"When on the sky hoodoo is born

When thru two time was torn

While darkness is slowly creeping

They planted a seed while the world is sleeping

A symbol of balance could manifest

To help lay the distortion to rest"

"ba:ŋga." She whispered to herself. "What do you want to tell me with this, talking even more in riddles than normally."

There was no signature and no greeting either, telling her that she would get no more answers. This was already more than tradition allowed for. It made Luna glad to have an answer, even if it brought up more questions. At least she knew her feelings hadn't been off, something was going on.

That the letter came in English made her quiet sure her Master had received it like this. For a moment she wondered, if the old woman even knew what she had written. Looking at it again she was sure, while the Master maybe hadn't understood it word by word, she might have gotten a feeling while holding the ritual. Reading the stars to get an answer like this was done in a trace like state, with the aid of various magical plants, and could take a whole night.

AN: Sorry for this long wait between updates. I haven't forgotten, nor abandoned my story, but like many of you I had to sort out my life with Corona. It's something I'm still not done with, but nothing can be done about it, so please bear with me and the slow updates.