The Park, Saturday morning

[not_called_icky]

Was this a dream? Ichabod Crane had woken up in an unfamiliar room that he certainly did not remember falling asleep in. Quickly he had fled the building and now found himself in a park. All this was quite disturbing, especially as Ichabod was supposed to be on his way to the village of Sleepy Hollow to investigate some particularly grisly murders

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[not_every_mage]

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was certain of precisely two things this morning.

The first was that he wasn't at Hogwarts -- which, as he distinctly remembered falling asleep in his bed in Gryffindor, was rather a problem.

The second was that there were entirely too many Muggle contraptions around for him to trust wherever he was. He frowned as he gazed at the landscape, jingling the sickles in his pocket and wondering how on Earth he was going to get home when he didn't have so much as a grain of floo powder.

The pink birds distracted him, anyhow.

"Hullo," he called to the other man. "D'you have the first idea what those birds are?"

[not_called_icky]

Ichabod looked up. "I believe they are called flamingos," he said. "Although I have never seen one myself before." He eyes the stranger a little suspiciously. "Forgive me, but I seem to be a little lost. Do you by any chance know the way to Sleepy Hollow?"

[not_every_mage]

"Oh! I've heard of those," Albus said with a flash of recognition, and watched the queer birds for a moment before he turned his attention back to Ichabod. "But not of Sleepy Hollow. Is that in Scotland?"

[not_called_icky]

"Scotland? Certainly not that far. It is still within the state of New York."

Was the boy perhaps a little confused?

[not_every_mage]

"New York?" Albus repeated, as though his mouth wasn't used to the words. "As in the one in America?"

Clearly, the man was touched in the head. America was thousands of miles away.

[not_called_icky]

"Yes, as we are in America, that would seem the most plausible one, wouldn't it?" Ichabod tried to be patient with the mad, and at least benefit from the conversation by some scientific insight.

[not_every_mage]

Albus, meanwhile, had decided this man was probably a muggle, and not a particularly bright example of his kind,

"You may be mistaken," he said, gently as possible given his utter disdain. "Because I certainly went to bed in Scotland last night. How would I get across an ocean since then?"

[not_called_icky]

"And I went to bed last night in an inn on the road to Sleepy Hollow in New York, so clearly one of us must be mistaken." And it wasn't Ichabod. "This is most frustrating. I am urgently needed in Sleepy Hollow to investigate the recent murders."

[not_every_mage]

"Murders?" Albus asked, as that was somewhat more interesting to him than what promised to be a frustrating fight with a madman. "Who was murdered?"

[not_called_icky]

"The information I have received so far is somewhat vague, but apparently the local community is superstitious," Ichabod said. "My scientific approach will no doubt shed light on the matter."

[not_every_mage]

"Oh," Albus sniffed. "How ... quaint. Are you going to make deductions like Sherlock Holmes?"

Certain bits of pop culture infiltrated even the wizarding world. Sherlock Holmes was among them.

[not_called_icky]

"I am unfamiliar with the man you speak of," Ichabod replied, surprised at the question. "Are you at all familiar with the scientific investigation of crime scenes?"

[not_every_mage]

"Only in fiction," Albus told him, after a brief hesitation. "But I do know that a lot of so-called murderers had reasons for what they did."

His father, for example.

[not_called_icky]

"Of course they have reasons, unless they are mad," Ichabod replied. "Finding the motive is essential in any investigation. However, it is rare that these reasons justify the law to show leniency."

[not_every_mage]

"Maybe," Albus said, and sat on a bench as he decided what to say. "I knew a family once where the daughter was attacked. Drove her mad. For ... complicated reasons, her attackers couldn't be brought to justice. Her father tracked them down and did what the law couldn't."

He realized his tone had gotten oddly strident, blamed it on the strange situation.

"In a case like that, I can see an argument for leniency. Though the courts agreed with you, as it happened."

[not_called_icky]

"That is the duty of the court," Ichabod replied gently. "But in our hearts we may still feel compassion for a man desperate to avenge his daughter. I do not believe this is the case in Sleepy Hollow, however. I understand all the victims have been decapitated, and that a local ghost is being given the blame."

[And now I need to sleep!]