26th December

A DRINK at Christmas is nothing untoward, but one unlucky Muggle did not expect to become the drink. Christmas morning, a body was found in Kensington Gardens by two passing squibs - Cyril Lancaster and Mary Vane.

“We thought he was asleep,” Lancaster, a St Mungo’s Hospital caretaker, explained to the Prophet, “had a bit too much to drink.”

But as the pair closed in it was apparent the victim was drunk in another way: “The bite marks on the neck, I’ve seen those at the hospital. We raised the alarm straight away!”

The Department of Law Enforcement and the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures scrambled to the scene. “Initially they weren’t sure if they were Muggle or magic,” Vane, Lancaster’s companion, explained. “They found a wand.”

This is the second case in the past year of a muggle discovered in London, dead from a vampire bite. In March two muggles were found in Whitechapel, their bodies drunk dry by vampires[1]. The investigation was inconclusive, despite the Ministry pursuing missing-presumed-turned Matteo Amherst. Amherst was ruled out of the investigation in May, leaving a muggle-drinking vampire at large.

When reached for comment, Cepheus Gamp, Head of Being Division confirmed that a body had been discovered with bite marks to the neck. “The victim was identified and the muggle authorities have notified the family.” When pressed for comment about Vane’s claim of a wand found at the scene, Gamp declined to comment.

“Investigations are ongoing to identify the circumstances that led to the death. The magical community are urged to contact the Division with any information that may be relevant to this investigation.”

1.	18th March, 2011 Drink Them Dry