by Bryn Mclachlan and Essa Nazari
Eleanor Lovelace, a mystery that has been plaguing this school since the start of the term. Her first attacks happened at the start of the new year when she first attacked a young child in Hogsmeade and then, on the 31st of January, several Hogwarts students became her victims. It can be assumed that since then, she has also attacked several other students. She claims to have a child in this school, though who this child is, is hard to say. We do not know if the child is a biological one or a child that she cursed with to become a werewolf. All we know is that the attacks continue to happen, with the most recent one being upon Aiden Knight, Kamila Bullstrod, Adelaide Lascelles, and Olliver Carter all of whom are from the Slytherin house.
This lead to the question of who exactly was attacking people with little to no warning. A question which lead to a mystery that begged to be solved. One day, an article from September 27, 1988 was discovered, serving as our first real clue as to who was behind the attacks. The article describes Lovelace as a student, who at one time, walked these very halls. She was a Ravenclaw prefect in her sixth year, who was attacked on a night of a full moon while on a date with Percius Fletcher, father of one Adam Fletcher, at the end of the 1987/1988 school year.
According to the article, the elder Mr. Fletcher was quoted to say,
“I did everyfin’ I could for ‘er, obviously. I fel’ bad. I’d taken ‘er on this da’e, a lil pi’y fing y’know wha’ I mean? An’ then this big mess-a fur came ou’a no where. ‘Course I legged i’, no’ ’cause I was scared bu’ I fhough’, if one of us go’ away, well the ovva could be saved. I sen’ a Patronus ahead of me, I’d been practicin’ ’em early, ‘course, an’ sen’ up a few red sparks ta try an’ grab anyone’s attention. Shame abou’ ‘er face. Glad I was ‘er last da’e.”
Lovelace returned the following school year and was offered wolfsbane potion by the former Headmaster Albus Dumbledore with the promise that she would always have a place here at Hogwarts as a student. Unfortunately, before the first full moon of the new school year could occur, Lovelace withdrew and left, never to be seen again, at least not until this year.
However, this is not where the story begins or ends. Other bits of evidence have been uncovered by various students and citizens of Hogsmeade since the start of the term. We have been fortunate enough for these to be shared and it appears that we, in the present, managed to stumble into the middle of the story without knowing any of the history behind it.
Now, for the rest of the story, as a muggle used to say.
Another piece of the puzzle emerged from an adult at Hogsmeade who found and was kind enough to share it with the authors of this article. The following was found in the forest outside of the Shrieking Shack. It is a journal entry from November of 1988 and penned by Lovelace herself. It reads:
I should have died. I’ve killed. Four in the first month. Two in the second. One in the third and the fourth. Seven in the fifth. I lost count after that. I’m a monster now, or rather, a monster lives within me, uses me as a cage. The lock comes loose every full moon and I wake with blood matting my hair, the taste of flesh in my mouth, entrails caking my nails. It’s his fault, he left me. It should have been him. It should have been him. I wish it was. It will be.
This puts the original attack of Lovelace to be in the late spring, probably around the April or May full moon. It speaks to the anger that she kept inside because of the attack and the uncontrollable monster that took control of her body at least once a month. It also hints at the need for revenge against the mysterious “him.”
Next, a scrap of notes found one night by a young Slytherin gossip abounded about Lovelace and the elder Fletcher. In these passed notes (I’m assuming from a rather dull class) two unknown authors began gossipping about Lovelace (known to them as Ellie). They describe her as “Hogwarts pureblood sweetheart” who was “mauled by a monster.” But instead of discussing the werewolf they turn the attack blame on one Aoife (whom I am assuming is our very own Deputy Headmistress Aoife O’Keeffe who has admitted to knowing Lovelace while they were in school). The notes insinuated O’Keeffe was to blame for the attack and claim the mauling was a cover up to protect Aoife. Why would this Aoife attack Lovelace? Apparently because Lovelace was on the date with Percius Fletcher.
To take this a step further, the unknown gossipers describe Lovelace and Aoife’s relationship as once being “best friends.” However, something happened because they later claim that Lovelace was Aoife’s “gobby tormenter.” It seems that sometime between the Winter Ball and the fateful encounter with the werewolf, the elder Mr. Fletcher had shifted girlfriends from Aoife to Lovelace, causing (according to speculation of the gossipers) the attack to occur. It becomes clear, by the end of the note that Lovelace has fallen from grace because she contracted lycanthropy during her attack. Her classmates are disgusted by the fact she had become a werewolf and that she was allowed to be back at school.
Despite this, Lovelace’s true friends reached out. Evidenced by scraps of parchment found around the castle and the Three Broomsticks Lovelace was still thought of. Her friends, one by the name of Perry Mott, questioned why did she have to pursue the elder Fletcher. He states, “Why did you have to choose him [Mr. Fletcher]? You must have known what he was like. Everyone knew what he did to Olivia that time, everyone knew how he ignore Aoife entirely after that kiss at the ball. So why him?” We have no answers.
In March of 2023, it seems that Lovelace returns to Hogsmeade while Dorchester began her reign of terror upon the school. A bit of found parchment penned in her hand states, “Hungry. Not eaten. No fun. Need it. Dorchester… Hogwarts. Been asked. Sounds delightful.” This note aligns directly with an attack on a student during that time frame. Those who were students at Hogwarts at this time might remember this, but to refresh our memories and to catch up the younger students, Judy Dorchester called an assembly about the attack, informing the school that a student had been bitten and infected with lycanthropy. She then promptly called in a pair of werewolf hunters and their pet dog. This led to students banding together to protect the werewolves of Hogwarts.
We also know that after this, Lovelace wandered the country, constantly changing her name. A letter found from an unknown author, simply called, “a friend” gave us a list of her known aliases: Gwendolyn, Evelyn, Beatrice, Yvonne, and finally the Hag of Hagley. Who is she now? We don’t know. In fact, there is very little that we know about her in the present. What we do know is gathered from scraps of letters.
We know that Lovelace is looking for something based on a letter penned by a mysterious H.F who claimed several things. First, H.F knows who Lovelace is. Second, they want the same thing, to make “him suffer, we want to tear his family apart, we want to turn whatever happiness he has into ashes.” Third, H.F makes an offer of help to Lovelace. A quid pro quo type of situation followed by information that whatever Lovelace is looking for is in Hackney.
In the “from a friend” letter the author tells her of the events that happened in the castle. Dorchester’s ousting. Hannah Fischer’s return. Fischer’s election as a minister and Oreyn Fox’s appointment to be Headmaster. It also speaks of the dark times which occurred in the castle earlier this year. Surely we can all clearly clearly recall the problems this past term with the Acromantula and vampires. The note closes with a very scary statement.
“Seems the place isn’t quite as secure as it was before. Have fun.” (Emphasis added.) This also works directly with another journal entry found on the school grounds. This time dated January of this year. “Happy New Year, Hogwarts, enjoy the peace while you can. They will all suffer. They will learn true fear, when I rip apart every single one of them. My child is still there. She will have siblings, and they will come to me, in time. I know. Hogwarts hates monsters, afterall. He can wait.”
There is very little evidence outside of what I have presented about Eleanor Lovelace outside of photographs that have been found randomly around the castle. She seemed to be a happy, well adjusted, sixth year who had her life turned upside down because of one event. Whether it was out of revenge, spite, or just an opportune attack, we will never know. Similarly, we will never fully know the motives of her classmates actions against her.
What we do know though is simple. Lovelace was attacked by a werewolf. She has sworn to make someone suffer, though that can wait until after her current plans. At one point, she was seeking something that was in Hackney. She has received news about what has happened here in the Fall from an unknown informant. And she is using this paranoia and fear that still weigh down the castle to her advantage. As for the reason why? It is anyone’s guess. Though, based on her constant references towards ‘him’ and ‘he’ needing to suffer, she has a list of people that deserve to be made to pay. Perhaps, the Banshee visit in the fall was not just warning us of Elliott’s brother and the acromantula. After all, the banshee warned us that this was “only the beginning.” This feels like it falls into her prophecies that, “all will suffer, death is coming. All will perish when it comes.” We all assumed that it was speaking only of the fall situation but now, it has become clear that the banshee was speaking of more than we realized at the time.
Death is coming. Fear is coming. And if those who live and work at Hogwarts are not constantly aware of the world around us, it will claim us.
