Albus was feeling better again, the elixir had restored his vigour, and he bounded around the castle with purpose, surveying how things had been running in his absence. He was pleased to note that the Castle looked much as it had done before his confinement, the pleasant aroma of a boiling stew told the Lord that the kitchen was running as normal, and he saw that the guards patrolled the halls and looked as alert as ever. After checking on things in the castle Albus wrote several letters on matters of state and arranged a meeting with the council of snake whisperers. He was concerned they might be suspicious of a meeting arranged so soon after the last, but he felt that the need was greater than the risk as he had left all the important matters in Lily's capable but unmotivated hands the past few weeks.He was just about to draft his final letter when there was a knock at his door. Beckoning the messenger to enter his office, he was alerted to some terrible news. A guard had fallen from the observatory tower, or that much had been surmised; in any case, his body was found at the bottom of the tower in the morning. Albus, keeping his composure, asked the guard to take him to the tower but was informed that the body had already been moved to the hospital wing.