After Dumbledore's death, she had no excuse, so they fled. However, her father allowed her to owl her Hogwarts friends through "safe methods", which in no way made up for the loneliness she felt, but was better than nothing.
12A,
Thorne Apartment,
Town Square
2nd September
Dear Lavender,
How are things in Britain? Good luck with the new Headmaster….
The new school term started today. Unlike Hogwarts, my parents had to drop me at school, but that was fine. Since Padma and I were new, we were Sorted alongside the first-years, but we were thankfully not the only ones: there were a few other British students who looked about our age.
The Sorting's very different from Hogwarts: we had to stand on these marble figurines of beasts, which lit up if they wanted us in that house. I was sorted into Pukwudgie: Padma's in Horned Serpent, which, from what we hear, is like Ravenclaw.
Our robes are much prettier than plain black: we have sky blue robes lined with silk the colour of those wild strawberries we found growing near the Divination tower. The school building's newer and smaller than Hogwarts: the dormitories are tiny. We don't have house colours, but we do have house flags.
As soon as I was sorted, I wondered: what, in the name of Merlin's beard, was a Pukwudgie? My question was answered soon after, as dinner was served. Ilvermorny doesn't have house-elves to do the chores: instead, crews of Pukwudgies, little hedgehog-like beasts, cook and clean.
I'll write again soon. Keep in touch.
Missing you,
Parvati
~ooOOOoo~
No. 7,
Oxford Street,
London
2nd October
Friend of friends,
What's Ilvermorny like? Are there any….*boys*?
Things are not so good here. We have two new ! teachers(I hope you remember the code and what ! means…) and they are very fond of….er….enthusiastic punishment. You're lucky you're there. Most of us hate Defence Against The Dark Arts and Muggle Studies (compulsory) now; all of us except Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy, that is. They're actually at the top of the class, but thankfully our parents know it's favouritism and don't care.
Be careful, Parvati. We've got word that You-Know-Who may be placing spies in America to cut off communication routes. If so, this may be the last letter from me (at least until this war is over).
Did you know that Potter, Granger and Won-Won Weasley have left Hogwarts?! Snape won't say anything, but everyone else says they're on some important mission. Whatever it is, I wish them luck. I never thought I'd say this, but they're our best and probably only hopes.
There is something else I wanted to write to you about, Parvati. It won't matter to anyone who gets hold of this, but I needed to ask: is Padma okay? She wrote a letter to me, but it seems like she accidentally attached a diary page to it. I'm attaching it here for you to read. Please, please check how she's doing, if you haven't already. I'm beginning to get worried.
Yours affectionately,
Lavender B.
The page, with a few short sentences scribbled on it in unkempt handwriting, read:
It's getting harder. Hogwarts was hard enough….everyone knows Ravenclaws are not the best at making friends. Just when I succeeded in doing so, everything was uprooted.
They are teasing me, the Ilvermorny students. I had ENOUGH of that at Hogwarts! But here, it hurts a lot more.
Parvati is and will be fine wherever she is. I can see it on her face, in her personality. She will be fine without me.
I wish I could end this.
It feels terrible, like my head and heart and soul are fighting. I know Parvati would go with her heart. But I was a Ravenclaw for a reason.
I want to end this, at least for myself.
I will end this.
Parvati wildly fought to regain control over her feelings as she stuffed the letter in her pocket and raced out of her dormitory.
