Letter 7: Hermione Granger to her Mother, 11th December 1997

A/N: For simplicity’s sake, titles of books, journals etc are underlined and emphases are italicised. In reviving the old tradition of epistolary novels, I understand the plot may be a little slow, laborious and difficult to follow. Some might consider it AU and a little OOC.

In order not to weary the reader’s patience, a number of letters from the series of correspondences have been suppressed; only those which are necessary to a complete understanding of the events in this group are reproduced. For the same reason, some letters from the actors in the events of this drama have also been suppressed.

Proestigium or What the Seasons may Bring

Letter 7: Hermione Granger to her Mother, 11th December 1997

Miss Hermione Jane Granger,

Hogwarts Castle,

Head Girl’s Room,

Gryffindor Tower,

Scotland,

United Kingdom.

11th December 1997

Dearest Mummy,

We are all very well here and the weather is very fine out. How are you and Daddy? Have you managed to extract yourself from the potential lawsuit? I feel that it is ridiculous for Miss Havisham to make such a fuss over the matter. The surgical removal of wisdom teeth is bound to be underlined with some risks. Furthermore, the x-rays that you showed me prove that the teeth were near the nerves and the roots were curved. The indignation that you and Daddy feel is perfectly acceptable. The consent form that she signed must have explicitly stated that risks are present. Why didn’t she pay attention to it?

Oh, you would not believe what has happened! I am so very thrilled and honoured! Dr Arsenius Jigger (Doctor of Philosophy, not medicine. They call it the D.Mag.A here in the wizarding world. It stands for Doctor Magicorum Artium) replied to my letter! Do you remember Dr Jigger? He wrote the Magical Drafts and Potions text that we use at Hogwarts. I was raving about his latest article in Midlands Journal of Alchemical Studies when I was last home. He is a great intellectual, and you were always teasing my admiration of his work. Well, I had spotted an inconsistency in a chapter and wrote to him about it, forwarding my alternative hypothesis on the matter. I was actually quite certain he would dismiss me as a mere child. I seem to recall that you had once informed me that authors very rarely read and reply to their fan mail, so I was full prepared for a perfect silence. After all, he is an associate professor and I am a mere schoolgirl.

To my complete surprise, he personally replied and was extremely kind (though rather patronising) in explaining the nature of his inconsistency in chapter 5 (where I found the oddity). He also took my suggestion and thesis with moderately good grace. He does not seem be like Cousin Amelia’s Political Science professor who browbeats and intimidates his students with the “I have a PhD you do not” stance. Maybe Dr Jigger was really trying to be kind and was trying to put me and my theory down gently. Still, I do not care! He replied! He said that my theory could hold water! I think him wonderfully progressively, though condescendingly so. But of course he is progressive – he is terribly clever after all.

On a more sombre note, the boys have landed themselves on trouble again. This time, it was in the Defence Against the Dark Class. They were, apparently, trying to defend my honour. How trite! I thought chivalry and gallantry are dead arts. Malfoy had called me a “mudblood” (again) because I wanted to better understand one of the principles in a new protective spell. It seems (in Malfoy’s opinion) that the “purebloods” have long understood the theory behind that spell. Professor McClaggen heard it, as did the rest of the class, and issued an order for him to take himself to the Headmaster’s office. Before he could leave the classroom, Harry and Ron pounced on him and his faithful attendants. They were mobile duellers along the corridors and had almost reached Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration classroom when Harry and Ron jinxed them soundly. Professor McGonagall must have heard the scuffle, for she emerged from the classroom and turned quite pale with anger. I hope you do not think me uncharitable, but I enjoyed looking at Malfoy as a slug. He made a very handsome slug, I think. Harry and Ron were turned into purple chimpanzees for all their efforts. As an upshot, they had to serve detention with Professor Snape. I told Victor (you remember Victor, the Quidditch player from Durmstrang) about it and he laughed himself silly over the boys’ supposed gallantry. It is a little odd communicating through the specially charmed Krum action figure (which he gave me as a souvenir) but one gets used to it after a while. I try to think of it as a cassette tape recorder that sends my messages directly to his Krum action figure. Victor can send Daddy a moving non-cassette recorder one if he likes. He also sends you his best regards. He’s seeing a Russian Quidditch player now, Irina Alexandrovna Karenina. I’ve been told she’s very amiable. She’s also very good in transfigurations or so Victor claims. I’ll be receiving a journal article from him soon and my interpretation of it could form the basis of my subsequent potions project for the year.

There is something I must tell you and I hope you will not be too disappointed. Given the present state of affairs in the wizarding world (which look set to extend into the muggle world as well, Professor Dumbledore has issued an order for all students to remain at Hogwarts for Christmas. I am sorry that I will not be home for Christmas this year. I am not sure whether Harry, Ron and I will have to remove to the late Sirius’s family residence to be better protected. I will keep you informed of any other developments.

The bell has just sounded and it’s time for dinner. Kiss Daddy on the cheek for me.

Your loving,

Hermione

Footnotes

Proestigium is Latin for illusion. Ironically, the English word Prestige derives from it.

The late Sirius’s family residence is a reference to the Order of the Phoenix’s headquarters at Grimmauld Place.

D.Mag.A. stands for Doctor Magicorum Artium. In this story, it is the wizarding equivalent of a PhD.

Those puzzled as to the ‘inconsistency’ as to my usage of Prufrock as the literary agent, should note that I was trying to be ironic and deliberately so. I like my readers to do a little thinking as to why the plot is the way it is and why I write a character in such a way. However, you need not fear, Prufrock will feature again soon.

Those confused as to the reference to the Krum action figure should refer to the requirements of this fic challenge.

One of my betas brought this to my attention: there might be some readers who take issue with the odd Russian name. My spelling is my own transliteration of the language.

Those confused as to the Russian name, should bear in mind that Russian names are arranged thus: First name, patronym, surname (the last 2 are fixed according to gender).

E.g. Father’s Name: Nikolai (Nicholas in English). Surname/Family: Kerensky. Daughter’s name: Irina (Irene in English), Son’s name: Viktor. The daughter will be called, “Irina Nikolaievna” by her teachers and elders. In Russian, they drop the surname when addressing people. Officially the daughter’s name will be “Irina Nikolaievna Kerenskaya”. The Son’s name will be “Viktor Nikolaievich Kerensky”. The patronym and surname are always ‘fixed’ to accommodate gender. A ___sky (e.g. Vronksy) for male would always be ___skaya (e.g. Vronskaya) for female; a ____nin (e.g. Ptotemkin) for male would always be a ___nina (e.g. Ptotemkina) for female; and a ____v (e.g. Orlov) for men would be ___va (e.g. Orlova) for women. I hope this makes it clear.

I have a packed week come Monday (classes and work demand that I have 8am-10pm days), so I wouldn't be able to post. I hope this pacificies my dear readers for a while.