Rodolphus and Lucius, the Dark Lord has considered the matter and while I am certain he will tell you himself at some point this week, I wished to inform you that from this point on you have his attention and ear whenever you have need of it.

Welcome to his Inner Circle.

I trust you have an explanation for your absence.

Outside of the loss of a dear friend we have also lost a colleague this month. It strikes me that, pending the Dark Lord's approval, the movement of some of the more experienced and devoted of our outer circle might benefit us all at this time.

Young Rodolphus Lestrange is now the head of his family. His wife is a talented and forceful woman, and he will be taking his father's place in other areas as well. I suspect he would prove a beneficial member of our Inner Circle. Other names that have come to my mind are those of Augustus and Lucius. Both have proven themselves capable of gathering information and of leadership during these past difficult months.

I do not necessarily foresee all of them moving into the Inner Circle, and the Dark Lord will no doubt have thoughts on the matter as well, but Caracatus has reminded us that even with our experience those we fight may get lucky upon occasion. I do not wish for us to leave those talented among the next generation struggling should something happen to one or more of us.

After we settle this matter with the Dark Lord, I would suspect we will need to rearrange our mentoring system a bit as well.

Thoughts?

My wife has sent our condolences, but I wish to personally provide my own. He was a good man, strong in our cause, and I counted it a privilege to work beside him. He will be greatly missed.

Report.

Now.

The shield of Gryffindor is on display at the Brookstanton Memorial Library. You are to retrieve it for our Lord.

Make a plan and take into consideration that we would prefer this to be completed without notice. Either way, I expect the shield to be in the Dark Lord's possession by the end of the month.