Dear Charlotte,
How are you? I hope you're well. Mum wrote me last week and told me you got an award for your science experiment-well done! I never really liked science as much as I do English. Words make more sense to me and maybe that's why I like reading so much, I can lose myself in the words. I find that harder with practical experiments.
I'm missing you a lot, Charlie! I really wish you were here with me, because I don't seem to fit in as well as I did back at our old school. I feel rather left out because there aren't many others like me, who come from the same background. I'm what is called a Muggleborn, and a few people here don't take too kindly to people like that. I know if you were here, although you'd be in the year below me, it would be a lot easier. I can get through anything when you're by my side. You're the best little sister anyone could want!
Excuse the soppy letter. I'm sure you have lots of questions about this whole different world. I'm still trying to answer a few for myself and it's been a month already. Mum will help you reply to this in regards to the owl. Anything you want to know, just ask. I wish you could be here with me to share this experience.
I love you lots and miss you even more.
Hermione xxx
Dear Hermione,
I'm so happy you wrote to me! Mum said you were going to and I was so excited to see the owl tapping on my window! Thank you for your letter. I'm sorry you aren't enjoying your school as much as you thought you would. Have you made any new friends? Do you remember Madison? She came and stayed with us last weekend, we had a sleepover. We're best friends now. She asked about you, because I talk about you so much and it was very hard to lie and say you were at a boarding school because she would not believe it if I told her you were a witch! It would be so exciting to tell her, but don't worry, I won't. I promised you I wouldn't.
I'm really happy about my science experiment, it was a lot of fun doing it so I was happy when my teacher told me I had done the best (out of everyone else too!) and that I would receive an award in front of the school. It was a little embarrassing standing up in front of everyone, and that mean girl Amanda said my hair looked stupid while I was up there but Mum said she will just be jealous because I got an award and she didn't even hand her experiment in. So that's good.
I have lots of questions! I hope you don't mind too much. Have you turned anyone into a frog yet? Do you get a special hat that you can pull bunnies out of? On the TV the other day, I saw a show about a magician and he did that, pulled a bunny out of his hat. Can you do that? Do you have just one teacher or lots of different ones? I wish I could be there too. Maybe I would get an award for an experiment there too, that would be cool. I just have one more question and then I'll send this because I am very excited for your reply! When you went through that brick wall at the station with Mum, when I waited with Dad, what was on the other side? And didn't it hurt when you went through it?
Please reply soon! I miss you a lot. Love you, big sister!
Charlotte xxx
Dear Charlotte,
I'm so glad you got my letter. I have so much to tell you, but first I'll answer your questions.
Turning something into something else (like turning a person into a frog) is called Transfiguration, and something that big takes a lot of work and study. At the moment we are doing small things, and just the week I turned a matchstick into a needle! I was the only one in the class to do it, too, so I was really proud. The magicians and magic that we see in the Muggle world (you remember what Muggles are, don't you?) are really different to what magic is actually like.
We have magic wands (remember you saw mine) and cast spells, but we don't pull rabbits out of hats. Disappointing, I know-maybe you wouldn't enjoy this as much as you think. I have lots of different teachers, depending on what lesson I'm in. I have a lovely teacher for Transfiguration; she is strict but really nice. I also like my teacher for Charms; he is a lovely man but very little! As short as our cousin Jessica and he is a fully grown man! I have one teacher that I am unsure of and that is Professor Snape. (We call the teachers 'professor' at this school, it was a little tricky to get used to) He is a good teacher but a little strange and doesn't let me answer questions as much as I would like to. He teaches Potions which I guess is a little bit like Science. We mix together different ingredients, horrible things like eyes, and they form a potion. There are easier ones and really hard ones. You would be really good at it Charlie!
On the other side of that brick wall was a platform pretty similar to what I had just left, except there was only one train, the Hogwarts Express, and all around it were students and their families, as well as their pets. It was such a sight. Next year, we can ask Mum and Dad if you can come to see me off through it. It doesn't hurt though, don't worry. It's like running through a curtain, almost.
I have made some friends, I'm happy to say! It's two boys, oddly enough, because the boys at our school, as I'm sure you know, weren't the nicest, but these two were really kind to me when I needed it. They weren't at first though, especially one. Their names are Ron and Harry, and Ron is the one who was really unfriendly to me. He wasn't as nasty as a few of the boys who look down on me because I'm a Muggleborn, but he got grumpy at me for helping him with a spell and said some not nice things! But you'll never guess what happened after that.
It happened on Halloween night, and I was really upset because of what that Ron had said. I was hiding in the toilets and heard someone come in. I started to come out of the cubicle when I saw these huge, hairy and disgusting feet-it was a troll, Charlie! I wish I could have taken a picture, but he was so big! I screamed and screamed, and somehow Ron and Harry knew where I was. I was too scared to move but the two of them tricked it (they aren't very clever, trolls, so it wasn't very hard) and eventually knocked it out. So, they saved my life really. We're really good friends now, and it's nice to have people to share things with. I hope you get to meet them one day.
I'm really looking forward to seeing you all at Christmas time! Love you and give my love to Mum and Dad.
Hermione xxx
P.S-You could always tell Madison something exciting like I've gone off to become a famous actress and that I'm starring in a movie about a girl who finds out she is a witch and goes to a special school-it's not totally a lie!
Dear Hermione,
WOW! A troll! Wow! That is so exciting but so scary! How did you not faint from being so scared? I would of, I know that. Maybe you're right-I don't think I would like that world very much. Where did the troll come from? How scary. I'm glad you're okay.
That's good you made friends with those boys, even if they are stinky boys! Madison says boys have germs and girls don't. I don't think that's true, but be careful anyway, especially after they were mean to you. Don't let them be mean to you again, okay, or I will deal with them. (Don't tell them that, I probably couldn't get them) I hope they're nice to you now.
I thought it was such a good idea to tell Madison that about you being an actress that I told her the same day I got your letter. She was so excited and so jealous. Thanks for coming up with that story. She asked when we could go see it at the cinema, but I told her it's only coming out in America because it's a small film and she believed me. Mum told me that it's not looking good that I can lie that easily but I think it's good if it means Madison is jealous of me. We aren't best friends anymore, either, because she told Amanda (the mean one) that I said Amanda was dumb and now Amanda keeps looking at me weird. Madison just hangs out with me sometimes.
Your classes sound interesting, but boring too! I think I like the sound of the magic I saw on the TV though. Are you allowed to show me some when you come home at Christmas? I really can't wait to see you!
I have to stop writing now because Mum says it's past my bedtime. It's only 9pm but oh well, she is Mum I guess. Miss you, can't wait to see you. Not long now!
Charlotte xxx
Dear Charlotte,
I'm so excited because I get to see you in a week and a bit! It's getting really cold here now, we have snow all over the grounds and the castle is so cold! Hagrid, who looks after the grounds and is a friend of me, Ron and Harry, has been helping put up Christmas decorations and there are twelve big Christmas trees in the Great Hall! (The Great Hall is where we have our meals, and it's huge!)
I'm sorry Madison didn't turn out to be a good friend. It's nice for you that you can tell her things about me to make her jealous but be careful not to lie too much, or it makes you just as bad as her. Best just to ignore her and find a new friend. Are you still friends with that boy Oliver from next door? He was always nice to me and you. Remember when his Mum invited us over for dinner before I left for school and you almost told them where I was going in September? I wonder if they're wondering where I am now.
Don't worry, Harry and Ron are being really nice to me now. I help them out with their homework too, so they have to be nice to me really. They are staying at the castle for Christmas instead of going home. Ron has a really big family, with lots of brothers and a sister, but his parents are going away for Christmas so that's why he is staying at school over the holiday. Harry lives with his Aunt and Uncle but he told us they are horrible and he would rather stay alone in the castle then go back to them for Christmas! I guess I am really lucky to get to come home to Mum, Dad and you!
Can't wait to see you!
Hermione xxx
Dear Hermione,
This is just a quick note to say that I hope you have safe trip back home on the train and I can't wait until you finish school for the year. I miss you so much already!
Charlotte xxx
Dear Charlotte,
Thank you for the note tucked away in my bags! It was a nice surprise when I unpacked my bag that night when I got back. Sorry that I've taken so long to reply. Harry, Ron and I have been really busy trying to research someone for a school project. We finally found out what we needed to know about the person though, so I have slightly more time on my hands now.
I'm studying a lot recently because I want to be really prepared for next year. I know it's a long way away, but you know me, I love to study! Sorry this is such a short message, I have a big essay to finish for Professor Snape-the mean teacher!-so I better go and finish it. I hope you're well. Update me on how school is and what that Oliver is up to! Love you, little sister.
Hermione xxx
Dear Hermione,
Okay, well I can update you on my school if you like but it's very boring. We've just started a big unit on history and we have to choose someone important from history and do a poster about him or her. I don't know who to choose but I'm excited about doing the poster because I recently got some new felt pens! Oliver and I are really good friends now, actually, because he found me crying. I know, it's really embarrassing and I tried to hide the fact that I was crying but I think it was really obvious to him what I was doing. I was actually crying because I miss you, and I just felt really sad that you weren't here. I was out in our backyard and he climbed over the fence and he sat with me until I asked him what he was doing and he said he wanted to be my friend. I wasn't sure at first, but decided to say yes, and later when I was talking to Mum she said that any boy who will sit with me while I cried and not run away was a nice boy. Why is that though? What kind of boy would run away because someone was crying? Who knows, but Mum is usually right.
So Oliver and me are friends now. It's really cool because his Mum takes him to this park on the other side of town every Saturday and now most days I get to go too. Are you still friends with Ron and Harry? That was sad what you told me at Christmas about Harry's family and what happened to him. I hope he is okay and not too sad.
This year has gone really fast and I am really looking forward to you coming home for the holidays. It seems like not far off now and I can't wait. Don't study too hard, Hermione, I don't want you to be too tired when you eventually get home! Love you lots.
Charlotte xxx
Dear Charlotte,
Wow. It has been a crazy few days. It's the last day of term, but I wanted to reply to your letter. I will send this then go down for the end of term feast, and it will then be interesting to see if I beat this letter home!
A lot has happened over the past two days and most I can't really explain but do you remember that bad guy I told you about? Whose name starts with V? Well, he sort of came back but not really at the same time, and Harry had to fight him. Ron and I helped too. We had to go deep into the school and fight our way through these different obstacles to get to the end and stop the bad guy from winning and we won! Ron was hurt but he is okay now. I helped him while Harry went on to fight the bad guy, and Harry beat him! It was really scary but I was really brave, we all were really. It was actually kind of exciting, but I'm not going to tell Mum that.
I have had such a good year, really. I'm really happy I made these two friends, they've turned out to be quite nice and I'm very lucky. I have made a few other friends, but I think Ron, Harry and I are best friends, which is really nice. But you'll always be my best best friend, remember?
Well, I better go and send this. I can't wait to see you Charlotte! I am going to bring you back some treats from here too, but by the time you read this you might already have them. Love you.
Hermione xxx
Sooooo. Don't know what this is like, but I kinda like the idea for it. Hope you enjoyed it. I think I'll keep going through each book, and see where I go from there. Please review if you liked it :)