Letter 11: Hermione Granger to Arsenius Jigger, 29th 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 11: Hermione Granger to Arsenius Jigger, 29th December 1997

Hermione Jane Granger,

Hogwarts Castle,

Head Girl’s Room,

Gryffindor Tower,

Scotland,

United Kingdom.

Arsenius Jigger

c/o University of York,

School of Magical Arts

Faculty of Alchemy

Potions Research Centre,

York,

United Kingdom

29th December 1997

Dear Dr Jigger,

Many thanks for your invaluable help and thorough explanations. It was extremely kind of you to condescend to my level. Professor Snape granted me a moderately good grade for the paper I wrote. It was heavily based on your explanation and I cross compared it to other works on dragon blood. I found one of your early journal articles on the same subject. It was a fascinating read. I cannot abide by the local Ministry rules here which expressly forbid students from using certain potion ingredients. It leaves some of us quite unable to conduct our experiments. In order to better facilitate our work, we sometimes have to resort to unorthodox means of acquiring the ingredients and other substances from the professor’s private stores. He does not approve but what else can we do? In this field, theoretical papers have to be substantiated with empirical proofs.

Forgive my forwardness, sir – but I feel I am indebted to your indirect contribution to my paper. I have decided to work on the properties of aconite in the coming months. This does not mean that I have given up my arrowroot theory. I have spoken to Professor Snape who condescended to agree that it would indeed be more expedient for me to conduct a study on it at the University level. For the final year project, I shall be assisting Professor Snape on his cure for lycanthropy. There is a slight problem on this account though – he is presently unaware of my plans to work on this endeavour. I am uncertain as to his reaction. In all likelihood, he would fly into a rage and throw me out of the classroom. Alternatively, he could disparage my abilities as he always does and accuse me of speaking or learning out of turn. What do you think? Is it feasible for someone of my level to pursue this project? I feel that so doing would be an extension of my study on aconite. While I am very certain as to my plans, I do not know how Professor Snape will react. He could see the wolfsbane/werewolf project as a convenient cop-out meant to highlight my lack of originality and general laziness. Convincing him otherwise would be an almost futile activity. However, I shall say nought of this plan if you think it unsuited to the NEWTS. I anxiously await your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Hermione Granger

Footnotes

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

I shall be taking some time off for exams and other commitments. I’ll most likely post again after April 26th. Exercise patience, 31 letters to come.