A Tale of Two Cities

Book 1 | iii. Midnight Adventure

"If you knew what a conflict goes on in the business mind when the business mind is divided between good-natured impulse and business appearances..."

The first day of classes-a bright and shining Monday morning- had Hermione scrambling around as she ensured that she wouldn't be late for her classes. However, it didn't help matters much that the Castle was rather big and Hermione had gotten lost a few times, thankfully most of the older students were very helpful and often pointed her in the right direction--even the students from Slytherin House.

Her favourite class in the day had to be Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, who had almost seemed to know that Hermione was struggling on her first day; and thus rewarded her with a small smile after Hermione had successfully turned her matchstick into a long silver needle; and proceeded to show it off to the rest of the class, much to Hermione's embarrassment.

By Friday, Hermione had gotten a good idea of how to plan her schedule accordingly and was feeling much better about her sense of direction around the castle. At Night, she would chat briefly with her roommates—though they were rather girly for her taste- or study, or write her letters to her parents. And during the day, she and Neville spent most of their time studying in the library or exploring the grounds, as Neville was fascinated by the different plants they would come across.

Her biggest highlight of the day would be the mornings during breakfast when the owl post would arrive. She eagerly tore open letters from home, missing her parents terribly. And as she poured syrup over her pancakes, she asked Neville,

"What have we got today?"

Neville frowned as he glanced despairingly at her; "Double Potions with the Slytherins," he said making a face and Hermione sighed heavily.

That would mean seeing Draco Malfoy and his posse. He and his group of friends were often in her classes and they never failed to pass up the opportunity to make fun of mostly the Gryffindors and occasionally the Hufflepuffs, surprisingly they left Ravenclaws alone.

"It's going to be a long day." She said simply and Neville sighed mournfully as he took a bite of his toast.

Just then, the mail arrived and Hermione beamed happily, forgetting about Malfoy and double potions, as almost about a hundred owls flew into the Great Hall at once. The Birds circled the tables until they saw who they needed, and began dropping letters and packages onto their laps or any empty spots on the table.

Hermione smiled as one of the school owls dropped a letter onto her lap. She hurriedly tore it open and began to read.

Dear Poppet,

You're Dad and I love reading the letters you send us. Hogwarts sounds very interesting indeed! It makes us happy to know you're having a good time. It helps ease the heartache a bit. We miss you so much! Say hello to Neville and the rest of your friends from us.

All our love,

Mum and Dad

Ps- Try not to eat too many sweets love, it isn't good for your teeth. And also make sure you brush and floss daily!

Hermione chuckled as she read the letter; her mother was always reminding her to take better care of her teeth. She hadn't told them exactly how much of the sweets she was indulging in but from her detailed descriptions of everything in the castle especially the feast in the Great Hall, she assumed her mother had read between the lines and figured it out. She carefully folded her letter and placed in her bag just as Neville stood up. Together they silently made their way down to the eerily quiet dungeons, where their Potions classroom was.