Letter 21: Hermione Granger to her Mother, 14th March 1998

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; those only have been given which appeared necessary to a complete understanding of the events in this group. 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 21: Hermione Granger to her Mother, 14th March 1998

Hermione Granger

c/o Professor Albus Dumbledore

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

Scotland, United Kingdom.

14th March 1998

Dearest Mummy,

Sorry for not writing sooner. We have only just settled everything and are very tired. Thank heavens the war is finally over. I hope the same can be said of the state of emergency throughout Britain. I know for certain that the eclipse is no longer over the British Isles. The brand of the Dark Mark over us is also no more. The sad news is that we have also lost some of our number. I do not want to go into details, as it is still very painful for me recount. Moreover, we have only returned to Hogwarts yesterday and are trying to re-establish a sense of some normalcy. Ron is recovering very slowly, as he barely made it. Harry, unfortunately, is still unconscious at St Mungo’s (the wizarding Hospital). I speculate that this was due to too much magical power coursing through him.

It would be clearer if I started from the beginning:

Professor Snape and Mr Malfoy brought the lot of us before Voldemort on the pretext of having captured us. Professor Dumbledore feigned injury and is almost as accomplished an actor as Professor Snape. Voldemort wanted us to stand in a semi-circle around him so that he could survey this great capture by his most loyal Death Eaters. While the rest of us begrudgingly fanned ourselves out for his inspection, Mr Malfoy and Professor Snape flanked him on his left and right. Feeling complacent, Voldemort laughed manically a couple of times before rising to point his wand at Professor Dumbledore. At that moment, Professor Snape very valiantly caught him off guard and disarmed him, thereby enabling all of us to point our wands at Harry’s. Harry and Professor Dumbledore then cast a spell, in which process was aided by Professors McGonagall and Snape. This spell subsequently resulted in Voldemort’s demise.

It must have been too much for Harry for he collapsed immediately after the villain turned to dust. Professor Snape cursed Harry for being pigeon-livered and whisked him off to St Mungo’s for professional medical care. On our way out, Ron stupidly and clumsily tripped over what he thought was a thick rope. That ‘rope’ was, in actuality, Voldemort’s pet serpent, Nagini. Nagini bit Ron and her lethal venom nearly killed him. Madam Pomfrey tried to do all that she could to stabilise his condition before Professor McGonagall and Mrs Weasley took him to St Mungo’s. Nagini has since been transferred to a high-security wizarding zoo, where her venom will be studied.

At least, it is over. I hope this will bring us relative peace and calm. I do not want to see another such threat to the world during my lifetime. Don’t worry, Mummy, I’m all right. A few scratches here and there don’t matter. I am tired, so I’ll pen off now. My love to Daddy as well.

Your loving,

Hermione

Footnotes

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