Attention First-Year Students

[alt_poppy]

Think twice before eating any sweets generously offered you by older students--particularly if they are presented as study aids, 'brain enhancers', 'sense brighteners', or the like. (It is extremely unlikely that you will find yourself able to memorise the contents of your textbooks by simply glancing at their covers. Nor are you at all likely to acquire the ability to see through the robes of other students.)

I have now administered antidotes to seven students made ill by ingesting owl treats, which, as it happens, contain an ingredient human bodies find difficult to tolerate. Come to me immediately if you believe you may have fallen victim to this so-called joke. Symptoms set in rather quickly, and may include rash, hives, nausea, vomiting, weakness in the extremities, rapid heart beat, difficulty breathing, dizziness, and/or loss of consciousness.

So far there have been no deaths, but that does not mean one ought to take the matter lightly.