Violet had been absently picking at her food, moving more of it around on her plate than getting any of it into her mouth. She was mulling over the events of the past few weeks--the chaos in the Muggle Studies classroom, the destruction in Charms class and in the Trophy Room, the inexplicable behavior of Headmaster Trent, and the giant Ghost up in the Seventh Floor corridor...not to mention the letter she'd had from Miss Howard and her private talk with Professor Schmoe.

Suddenly she looked down and froze, fork in hand--what had happened to the food?!? For a minute, she thought some student was playing a prank on her by hexing her food, but glancing briefly around, she saw that the problem extended to all the food on the table, not just her plate. Curiously, Violet took her fork and picked up a piece of her rotting dinner and examined it for clues.