Dumbledore plots in very complicated ways. I'm surprised he wasn't sorted into Slytherin . . . Her studies with Snape take off in the next chapter, I promise! Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Thank you! I'm glad that you liked the way things worked out. I know he was hard on her, but he's not the kind of man to go easy . . . is he?

I have such a soft spot for Snape when he's being positively evil! Their first real lesson will take place in the next chapter, which is in the queue . . . Thank you ever so much for the review!

Is that a literal or a metaphorical question? ;)I am implying that Minerva is more cuddly in her cat form than she would ever be in her human form; and similarly, that Severus is more likely to accept comfort from a cat, than he could from a human friend (even if he knows it's really the same person). Does that make sense?Thank you, thank you, thank you for the review!

Of course they didn't! If they had, you would have read about it in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This, as you may have noticed already, is *Hermione Granger* and the Half-Blood Prince!! ;) I'm glad you're enjoying it, and thanks for reviewing.

I know they didn't know... its hard to indicate vocal inflection when typing. I intended the tone to be wry/amused.

Oh, I *knew* you knew they didn't know . . . I had meant to sound tongue in cheek myself. Ay, I didn't mean that to come across the wrong way.

*Headdesk* We both fail at inflection xDClever username, by the way.

Thank you very much! ;)He can be very cruel. Sigh. I guess that's why we all like him so much. I think he wanted her to think about the consequences, too. In his opinion, Gryffindors can get too easily caught up in their own self-righteousness.

Thank you! :) We never get to see Severus alone with his Slytherins in canon, which is a terrible shame that I hope I'm making up for, if only slightly.

Thank you very much!*smiles happily*

.

:) It's on its way . . . Though I'm sure that the term will hold plenty of surprises for Hermione!

Hooray! Thank you! I'm so delighted that you're enjoying the story. The next chapter is in the queue, so it shouldn't be too long before you can read that too.

Thank you! I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story, and I hope that you continue to do so.

She can't wait either -- you know how much Hermione likes her lessons ;)I'm glad you find Ron cute. I like his character quite a lot and he's often maligned in the HG/SS ship.

I have to confess, that unlike Hermione, it took me a full year of running and hating every second of it until it suddenly turned to love.

Well, I reckon he just might have -- they are very nice legs, after all!! ;)

Thank you! I'm sure Hermione loves all kinds of reading material, but those from her snarky professor would have to be best of all.

I'm afraid that she's going to have plenty of time to be frazzled once school starts . . . but yes, for now it's the holidays and she deserves a bit of a break.

Poor, poor Severus! Not only does he have to kill Albus (in itself a horrific thing to have to contemplate), no-one can know why he did so and thus everyone will think the worst of him!! I'm so pleased that you're enjoying my story. Thanks for the review.

I should be thanking you, not the other way around. Actually, I have a theory about exactly how bad the deal was that Severus got, but it's coming much, much later in this story . . .

Thank you! I felt that the story needed to have his perspective on this incident, and to have it inserted back into the chain of events (rather than the much later point at which Harry learns about it), but I hope it wasn't too repetitive for my readers.

Albus' serenity about so many things astounds me! I'm delighted that you found Severus' reaction to the situation a useful addition.Thanks for the review!

When reading DH, I was horrified to learn that Dumbledore had set himself up as saviour of the wizarding world despite having virtually abandoned and quite possibly killed his younger sister (who was mentally unstable after an abusive incident) AND having given Grindelwald the rhetorical arguments necessary to become the magically endowed equivalent of Hitler -- and yet still manipulated and played upon Snape's sense of guilt, leaving him with a destroyed reputation with the world at large. Really, it didn't seem fair to me!

Oh, HOORAY for such a lovely and encouraging review! Thank you!

Thanks! I'm going to avoid answering the question, though, in order to prolong the suspense!

Absolutely! I'm certain it will surprise Harry . . .

I think we can pretty much guarantee that they'll have a couple of arguments! Thanks for the review.