Dear Diary,

Detective Cooper is back. Turns out Hoffman is missing. The only leads they have are a frozen apartment, a missing snowman, and me. This is the last thing I need in my life. So when Cooper says he can make all that go away, at least the part that points to me, if I do him a favor, I agreed perhaps a little too quickly.

I mean, there's nothing illegal about obliterating an animated object I created in ritual. I could get out of that but it would mean Law Mages at my door and that would certainly get back to my dad. I just can't deal with that right now.

The favor is related to the first actual dead body I've dealt with since graduating so, in a way, I'm kind of glad. Resurrecting a fresh corpse is worlds easier after all the drama the snowman brought my way.

I'm meeting Cooper at Hopkins Cemetery - yea, the one connected to Hopkins Penitentiary where the magic wielding criminals spend their time. He said I'll have a pass waiting for me at the gate. I'm already charging my protection amulets. Cemeteries are full of uneasy ghosts anyways. I can only imagine how angry the dead are when they've died by execution or rotting away in a jail cell.

...

Diary...I know it's been a couple of days. I only just got back home. I'm not really sure what to say. Everything is a jumble in my head. "Post-ritual traumatic reaction" the Law Mages' shrink says. I'll try and write it linear but...I'm probably messing it up.

I met Cooper at the Hopkins gate at 6pm on Thursday. I brought a basic necromancy kit but the guards confiscated it. Cooper assured me that what tools I needed would be made available to me inside.

They let me keep my amulets once they made sure that they wouldn't interfere with the ritual markings that cover the place. A Law Mage named Andrews guided us into the cemetery lot. It's huge, I remember that. Andrews didn't need a map. Neither did Cooper. They brought me to the newer section where there was a fresh grave dug. We went to one nearby that was small and newly filled in. The headstone had concealment and protection sigils on it. I assumed the caskets have similar.

Cooper then explained the situation. The grave we were standing over was the one for ex-Frater Z of Ordo Ocularum. I recalled his case a few years back. He was charged with a shopping list of magical crimes that led to the experimentation on, torture of, and death of several of his brotherhood.

He was recently executed and buried. That should have been the end of it. However, the day of his death, Cooper and the other detectives who solved the case were sent a message. Something to do with Z's work continued.

Cooper and Andrews wouldn't allow me to know more and admitted that they didn't know much else themselves. That was why I was there. They needed Z to tell them who his accomplice is.

I think I asked why they didn't get a Law Mage specializing in necromancy to cover this. I'm pretty sure I asked why they didn't go to Crane. In the end, what it came down to is tight budget, politicians not wanting it out that we're resurrecting a murderer of Z's fame, and that Cooper felt we had some sort of connection.

Whatever the reason, I told Andrews to get my tools and started chalking out the ritual circle over Z's grave.

Resurrecting a soul for interrogation is a lot easier than reviving a body. I didn't need to animate the body itself and that meant it could stay tidily in the ground. Bringing his spirit forward was a blend of summoning, necromantic reach, and compulsion magic. The hardest part was making sure I got the right spirit (proximity to the body helped with that) and making sure that the area was contained (thanks to iron and salt).

Z's spirit seemed more than happy to come through. I remember he was handsome, not at all the monster I expected. I might have known this if I kept up with the news but oh well. He arrived in a tailored suit and his hair quaffed perfectly. Even winked at me. Rather than flirtatious, the whole thing felt gross.

Cooper did the talking and I just held space for them. My head is a little fuzzy on the details but I think that is less to do with post-ritual trauma and more to do with whatever spells the Law Mages cast when I signed a nondisclosure agreement that I wouldn't go to some journalist about all of this. I'm amazed I can even write it but that is probably thanks to the wards on you, Diary.

I remember Z saying, "Come on, Coop. We used to have so much fun!"

"The only fun I had was at your funeral," Cooper said. I remember this because it was actually kind of funny to me at the moment.

Things got heated though. Andrews tried to push me behind her and that caused me to break concentration. That was probably why things went hairy. Z was able to break the containment circle, just for a moment, and lay hands on Cooper. Cooper went down. I shoved Andrews off of me and reconnected the containment circle. Z only smiled.

He said something...something about appreciating my power. He told me to tell Cooper he looked forward to seeing him again soon.

I didn't have time to respond. The containment circle felt hot. So hot I knew I was burning in it. I heard screams and then collapsed.

I woke a day later in the Hopkins infirmary. No burns but also my magic is still so faint I can feel it like the weakest ember under a mound of ashes. The nurse said I'll be fine in a few days.

Cooper is ok, I'm told. He and Andrews are in trouble. Turns out they weren't technically allowed to bring me in or resurrect Z. I've been forgiven considering I'm a civilian and didn't know the details. Cooper told them that I wasn't to blame and that my involvement was his doing entirely. I don't know if he wants a thank you for it but I don't plan on giving it to him.

I was interrogated about what went down. Only after I gave my side of the story three times did anyone tell me what happened.

Z's spirit is loose. We don't know how bad that is right now but I can only guess its a problem. Especially since it looks like he has an accomplice out there.

I'm so tired, Diary.

Dad keeps calling. I'll have to answer it sooner or later. I'm sure he knows by now what happened. I'm not up for being yelled at.

I ordered in delivery. Fortune cookie says: The best exercise for the heart is to reach down and help someone up.