The Grimbriar Gazette | Issue No. X

6 hours ago

4 min read

Weather

The weatherstone is cool and grey, therefore it is cloudy. Four toads sit atop the weatherstone with their eyes closed, so the clouds will linger through Thursday. A cluster of acorns has rolled against the stone's North side, so expect a sharp frost by the weekend. Students are kindly asked to leave a spare mitten out for the toads.

Lost & Found

Found: A pocket watch that runs backwards. Ticks louder if you're late for class. Found outside the chronomancy classroom.
Lost: A knitted scarf, mustard yellow with a single green stripe. Twelve feet long and still growing. If found, please stop it before it reaches the Astronomy Tower. Return to North Dormitories.
Found: A teacup that only fills with cold soup. Leek, I think. Quite polite about it. Left on the windowsill in the Divination class.

Gossip

Gourd Grudges in the Pumpkin Patch

With the Autumn Harvest just around the corner, the annual Giant Pumpkin Contest has taken a sour turn. For eleven years running, Groundskeeper Voss has claimed the first place ribbon with his prized pumpkins, each one larger than the last. This year's entry, affectionately named Big Dennis, is currently the size of a small carriage. However, a challenger has emerged from the Grimbriar Greenhouse. Baldron the Gentle, the ghostly caretaker of the place, has entered a pumpkin of his own for the very first time.

Tensions began Tuesday morning when Voss discovered Big Dennis had moved nearly six feet in the night. He was found nestled cozily against Baldron's pumpkin.

"Dennis don't wander. Somebody rolled him," Voss grumbled, inspecting the patch with a magnifying glass. "And I've got a good idea who."

Baldron insists he has done nothing more than talk to his pumpkin each evening, sharing stories of his late wife and what love is like. Students who visited the patch report that the two pumpkins are found side by side every morning, no matter how many times Voss drags Dennis back to his rightful spot. Some even claim to have seen the vines curling together.

Professor Lintwiddle, after a brief tea reading on the matter, offered his verdict: "It isn't sabotage. It's love."

Rumors

A Toll in the Bell Tower

The bell in Grimbriar's old bell tower hasn't rung in nearly forty years. Its rope was removed after the Great Bat Infestation, and the tower door has been locked ever since. So why, then, have students in the North Dormitories been woken each night at exactly 3:13 AM by a single, mournful toll? Wilmer Haggit, a third-year with a habit of sleepwalking, claims he woke at the base of the tower last Wednesday clutching a grey feather. Headmistress Hennenthorpe confirms the tower door remains locked, and the only key has not left her desk drawer. Students are advised not to investigate the tower after curfew. If you hear the bell, simply roll over and go back to sleep.

Familiar Faces

Meet Nurse Bell, Grimbriar's Healer-in-Residence

If you've ever singed your eyebrows in Potions, sprouted antlers from a misfired spell, or been bitten by an opinionated library book, you've likely met Nurse Bell. Tucked away at the end of the West Hall, her infirmary smells like lavender, peppermint, and scorched fabric... that last one being an unfortunate constant. She stands barely five feet tall, wears her silver hair in a tight bun stabbed through with no fewer than three pencils, and carries a satchel that clinks with potions and tonics.

"Seen just about everythin' a student can do to 'emselves," she says, stirring a bubbling pot of something purple. "Then some bright spark comes in with a toad stuck in their ear."

Nurse Bell is known for her stern bedside manner, but students know better. Every patient brave enough to sit still for treatment is rewarded with exclusive candies from the jar on her desk. Third-year Odessa Prunt admits to visiting the infirmary fourteen times this semester.

"It's good candy," Odessa explained around the candy in her mouth, her arm in a sling.

When asked about the ongoing burn salve shortage, Nurse Bell narrowed her eyes and said, "There'll be more by Friday. And if I see one more firework in these halls, I'll be makin' the culprit bottle it themselves."

Nurse Bell has been healing at Grimbriar for over thirty years, citing the constant excitement and bright-eyed students as her reason for sticking around.

Word Search

This Week’s Menu at Grimbriar Hall

As always, every meal can be altered to meet the dietary needs of any student upon request.

Monday

Breakfast: Pumpkin spice griddle cakes, whipped maple butter, warm apple tea

Lunch: Roasted garlic and potato soup, buttered pumpernickel rolls, sparkling pear cider

Dinner: Honey-mustard glazed ham, roasted sweet potatoes, spiced cranberry cordial

Tuesday

Breakfast: Baked cinnamon apples, vanilla yogurt with oat granola, warm honey milk

Lunch: Turkey and brie melts, roasted acorn squash soup, chilled apple cider

Dinner: Beef and mushroom pot pie, buttered peas, warm blackberry tonic

Wednesday

Breakfast: Cheddar and chive scrambled eggs, toasted seeded bread, orange ginger tea

Lunch: White bean and kale soup, warm rosemary focaccia, sparkling cranberry fizz

Dinner: Maple-roasted chicken thighs, wild rice with mushrooms, spiced pear cider

Thursday

Breakfast: Pumpkin bread with cream cheese spread, crisp bacon strips, hot chai

Lunch: Broccoli cheddar soup in bread bowls, crisp apple slices, iced cinnamon tea

Dinner: Braised pork with apples and onions, buttered egg noodles, mulled cranberry punch

Friday

Breakfast: Warm apple fritters, soft-boiled eggs, toasted hazelnut tea

Lunch: Chicken and wild rice soup, buttered cornbread, ginger peach fizz

Dinner: Fish and chips with malt vinegar, mushy peas, sparkling lemon tonic

Saturday

Breakfast: Sweet potato hash with fried eggs, buttered toast, warm spiced cider

Lunch: Sausage and pepper hand pies, roasted root vegetable salad, blackcurrant fizz

Dinner: Slow-smoked beef brisket, honey-glazed carrots, dark cherry cordial

Sunday

Breakfast: Pecan sticky buns, fresh berries, hot cocoa with whipped cream

Lunch: Roasted vegetable and goat cheese tart, mixed greens, lavender lemonade

Dinner: Chicken and leek pie, buttered green beans, warm caramel apple cider