My dear Framer,
I hope this missive finds you in good health and happy. I am finding myself in need of some of your more unusual skills and connections over there across the pond to verify a story. I have an American professor who's been here a few weeks, and while I was suspicious at first, I put it down to my innate distrust for you people. I'm only joking, Framer, of course, but I confess that something about his interview for the position did not sit right with me. I resolved to give it a few weeks, but it is still nagging at me terribly. I hope you can put my mind at ease with a few inquiries into the relevant details. Let me tell you what information he has given McGonagall and I.
His name is Drew Stevens, but please check both Drew and Andrew for me. He claims that he attended a school called the Franklin Magical Institute in New Hampshire, a small school, that he graduated from about ten years ago. Apparently he became uncommonly knowledgeable about Dark Arts and defense while in school, and was recruited by your government for some kind of special program, a secret program. This was when the lycanthropy situation in Canada was at its worst, and he was hired to simply eradicate the most vicious werewolf communities. He called it "dirty work" and said the government wanted to keep the mass killings secret at the time. I believe he referred to himself as "black ops." After being attacked by a particularly vicious werewolf, without contracting the infection, he decided to retire from this work and asked the government to create him a Muggle identity. I know for a fact that a Drew Stevens has worked at the British Embassy in New York City for the last four years, because we were able to check that story with his superior there. What I want you to find, if you can, is a record of his school enrollment, any record you can find of government pay prior to the job in the embassy, and medical records from his attack.
I'm sure you can see why I cannot trust the man. It seems impossible, even ludicrous, that a man with that sort of past would be interested in teaching British children their Potions. I will, of course, be overjoyed if your information confirms his story, as he has turned out to be a fair instructor, and the students seem to like him. I still find myself wary, I suppose, of attacks from Dark wizards on the school, even several years after all that unpleasantness finally was ended. To find out that Stevens is indeed a Dark wizard with malicious intent would not surprise me, after the way he responded to our Sorting Hat. He seemed to think it would proclaim everything in his head to McGonagall and I. Any man who fears having the truth about himself spoken, well, that's not a man to trust.
I appreciate your discretion, Framer, and I will look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. My thanks for anything you can turn up.
With regard,
Zacharias Smith