Gwenaderin Ferox
Earlier in the year, we had Professor Priaulx’s tumble and the ominous note that floated down with the ouroboros symbol drawn upon it. Then came a blackboard version of the symbol in Professor Venom’s mythology class. Now, we have second year Jesma Pearl’s poisoning at dinnertime. The second year student’s goblet of water was tampered with as she ate with best friend Eric Hyland. On the underside of the goblet was that same ouroboros symbol.
Last year, the smell of citrus became all too familiar to Owl Post readers as someone using the ouroboros symbol left invisible comments that were revealed when subjected to heat. While there are some similarities between the Ouroboros of last year and this year, they are likely different people.
The one thing both incarnations of Ouroboros have in common is the simplicity of their work. Old Ouroboros used citrus juice as ink, something that doesn’t require anything magical or complex. It is equally easy to reveal without magic. New Ouroboros uses similarly basic means to draw the symbol, rather than means more flashy.
That is where the similarities end, however. Old Ouroboros attacked emotionally and mentally through rumours, exposing people’s secrets, and inciting panic. New Ouroboros is physical in a whole new way, as was previously written by Saffron Foxclaw after the attack on Priaulx.
Miss Foxclaw discovered that the symbol from Priaulx’s attack is distinctly different from last year’s, even though the first rumour’s target and first attack’s victim are one in the same. I highly encourage all aspiring investigators to reference back to her article, “AN INTERVIEW WITH… CONSPIRACY,” from earlier this year. It is also interesting to note that Venom, Priaulx, and Jesma were all mentioned in the same article. Were Professor Venom and Jesma Pearl later targeted for their involvement in the case?
Priaulx was likely hit with a trip jinx taught to young students in their early years at Hogwarts. Jesma’s attack was the result of a tampered with goblet, poisoned with a basic hemlock tincture. It has since been confirmed that the symbols from both physical attacks this year are the same.
Neither of these attacks require any serious expertise, but the targets included a professor and a talented Ravenclaw metamorphmagus. Perhaps Ouroboros struggles with magic, or maybe they’re smart enough not to over-complicate things. The third theory is that maybe Ouroboros is sending some sort of message with the simplicity of their acts.
A new clue was left Monday morning. The note said only my name in painstakingly perfected writing, probably to disguise the sender’s handwriting. The sender is unknown. Within an accompanying package was a simple stone set in gold with a new incarnation of the ouroboros symbol etched into its face–this time the self-consuming serpent as a Gordian knot.
This rendition could be a reference to triquetras, valknuts, and other ancient trefoil knot based symbols used by Celtic, Norse, and other cultures artistically and religiously. Perhaps this version of the ouroboros symbol is meant to make reference to the number three and the symbols of such. Arithmancy professor Marcus Cowley theorised that the symbol is a joining of ouroboros and a Celtic knot. Alchemy professor James Rourke had the following to say on the latest symbol:
“I suspect the attempt is to combine the power of the three with the ancient symbol representing the beginning and the end of time. The pyramid, the triune has always represented strength and power. The striving towards perfection of the spirit the body and the mind. This may be a warning that out of destruction something else will be created and a perfection reached…[If] you are delivering it in person, your energy and intention is transferred from you to [the recipient]. If you wish to scare her or give her a warning, then this would certainly do it. You may be wishing a harm to come to her or attempting to intimidate in some way. You don’t always need to cast a spell. Sometimes a touch is enough. Entering her energy field is enough to affect her with your intention. Does that make sense?”
Professor Rourke concluded that, historically, much of a symbol’s meaning and intent has to do with where it is found. Maybe this is true of the stone, as well. While I don’t wish to incite a panic by publicly divulging where the “gift” was delivered, I will say that the stone was left in a place to intentionally make me feel unsafe and destroy all sense of ease.
Herbology’s Professor Arianna von DracheBlume had the following insight:
“It’s got a few names. Trefoil, triquetra, Gordian knot. The latter, all us American teachers will have one. We get a brooch with it on it when we enter Ilvermony.”
The Ouroboros Stone could also be meant as a Gordian knot. A Gordian knot can be represented by trefoils or knots of any number of unending loops. The only requirement is that it have no specific beginning or end, as it is the “impossible knot.” Perhaps it is then a taunt, letting me know that Ouroboros thinks him or her self the perpetrator of a grand and unsolvable mystery. There is, however, a phrase to the contrary: “cutting the Gordian knot.” Perhaps, more sinisterly, the stone calls out Ilvermony alumni Professor DracheBlume as its next target.
I’d like to thank Ouroboros for the gift. If my assumptions are correct in regard to your meaning, I’d like to assure you that, like Alexander the Great in myth, I’ll see this impossible knot severed. If this was designed to be a threat, then I look forward to the possibility of meeting you during a future attack. You have my attention and interest, Ouroboros.