<div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/19/59/d5/1959d5a89df588d70e329492b8e6ff84.jpg)</div>The only true show of emotion from the professor came when other students hissed breath in shock at her poor word usage, a soft but permeating glare effectively thrown at the guilty parties as she focused on them first.  "In my classroom," she said, "we do not mock those who come with open hands in pursuit of knowledge.  Some of you may already know all this, but if you came for an easy A and would rather take the final exam immediately, I'll deliver it so that I can focus on those who came here to learn.  We all come into this world as devoid of knowledge as we are naked at birth, and I would gladly rather teach an honest and open mind than lecture to students who already know the material."<br/><br/>The other students went quiet, knowing full well that just because they knew a few basics didn't mean they were already ready to take the final test on the first day.<br/><br/>Only after that outburst did she look back to Tara.  "Correct.  True voodoo dolls are vessels for the Loa, deities of the Caribbean such as Baron Samedi, and are used with Summoning.  Poppets are an accurate use of thaumaturgy, and if I were to guess, would be the best bet to what your friend had done.  I would consider it more likely that the simulacrum, the model made to resemble the individual as I did with the window, was created before the death in question.  All it takes from the individual is some body part, with the most common being hair and fingernail clippings, given how quickly something like saliva will dry and become useless."<br/><br/>She spent several moments in consideration, trying to offer the full extent of detail as she understood it.  "If someone were to be bound to their body after death, it would either require the metamagic to mix and match Summoning into the entire procedure, or require the soul to remain on this plane after death.  This may or may not be remembered, either due to abrupt accidental death, with individuals who have little religious conviction, or especially under intoxication."<br/><br/>She raised a hand in gesture.  "Of course, depending on the cause of death, the person may not have been completely passed the threshold.  You may have heard of normie methods for resuscitating a body in cold water up to two hours later, and while I'm not an expert on medical techniques, it's entirely possible that it wasn't after death at all but only appeared to be."<br/><br/>One more idea occurred to Professor Merryweather, creating a flash of insight that could be seen in her eyes.  "If her lungs, liver, intestines, and stomach are missing specifically, then we're talking Egyptian canopic jars, effectively a mummification process but with the superior preservation methods used today rather than the best practices understood millennia ago."  The professor was considering the matter, and a look in her eyes suggested she wanted to research more before she said too much in that regard.  "Invite your friend to see me after class."<br/><br/>Matilda the goth seemed a bit surprised to be addressed, and would have seemed either not to hear Tara at all or have been thinking of something else but for the faintest of blushes.  Were she not so pale, it wouldn't have been glaringly visible.