A/N: Well, here we are again. I hope it will not take eleven years to write
this, so sorry for the delays, but unfortunately there are still other
things to do, much as I'd like to spend hours on writing. Thanks everyone
for the lovely reviews, you are helping me a lot. Suggestions and ideas
welcome, mail me at reepicheep@gmx.at.
Dec 25th, 1980
„Good bye, Zoe, thank you so much for coming," after a final embrace, Prudence finally managed to shove her sister in law out of the house.
„Phew!", she said, closing the door behind her, and leaning against it for a moment, taking a deep breath. „Why must everyone always insist on celebrating with us? It's not that I don't like the whole bunch, - well at least most of them, - but it IS a lot of bother, what with the surgery and the baby ..."
„I'm no baby!" Hermione, who had been watching her aunt's departure in the background of the hall, protested.
„Sorry, darling, of course you aren't like most other babies your age. Well, just listen to how you can talk ..." she went over to her daughter, picked her up and hugged her. „Now let's go back and clear the table, shall we?"
Back in the living room, George was already busy stacking cups and plates on a tray, and presently they had got the dishwasher filled.
„Now for some peace and quiet, finally," George said, collapsing in the chair next to the fire place. „Nothing nicer than quietly crackling fire of an evening like this ..."
„Yes, I'm glad we didn't get one of those horrible electrical things with plastic embers glowing with red fom the inside, I say, isn't there a slightly greenish tinge in those flames? No, must have been a trick of the light."
„Look, Daddy," Hermione had come up to her father's chair. She was holding a parcel, obviously containing a book, wrapped in bright red paper with a golden ribbon around it.
„Strange, I've not noticed it before," George was only mildly surprised. „But after all, there are always lots of parcels around at a time like this; let's open it."
„I'll do it." Careful not to tear the paper, but so quickly that her father couldn't even watch her fingers moving Hermione set about opening the parcel.
„It's unbelievable how she does it," he muttered to himself, „like magic ..."
Soon enough, Hermione had unwrapped the book and was holding it up for her parents to look at. The cover showed a huge pile of gold with a green fire breathing dragon on top of it.
„The Hobbit?" Prudence was astonished. „Who can have brought it? Is there any note with it?"
„Hmm... no card or anything, perhaps inside ... yes, look here," he handed the book to his wife.
In a sweeping hand, in emerald green ink and old fashioned letter, it said,
„There are more things in heaven and earth than are dream'd of in our philosophy. Merry Christmas."
„No signature," Prudence said thoughtfully. „And a very strange motto for a book like this. Almost as if ... no that's stupid, I should have grown out of it ..."
„What? Her husband enquired, who had evidently no idea what she was talking about.
„As if someone wanted to say that these stories might be TRUE... as I said it's a silly idea ... But who ... and, who is it for, I wonder. I've read it, everybody knows that, and you have, too, though-"
„Though I couldn't stand it," George finished. „ I mean, dragons, and dwarfs, little people living in holes in the ground, and rings and whatnot... It's a bit much for a grown up person.
I'll admit there's a nice satirical passage or two, but the rest ..."
„You're really hopeless, you know. However, this means the only person this book is meant for ..."
„Me!" Hermione shouted, grabbing for the book.
„So it seems, but aren't you a bit sma- I mean young for a book like this? Look, there isn't a single picture, only print, and you can't read yet."
„You'll teach me, daddy." Hermione said quite matter-of-factly. Then she climbed into her father's lap, thrust the book at him and demanded: „Now, read ... please."
And George, suppressing a sigh, opened the book and began:
„In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, ... „
*
„A narrow escape!" Albus Dumbledore wiped a few specks of ashes from his robes. „Just managed to deposit the book in their living room and get back to the fireplace before they came back."
„I'm still not certain it was a good idea," Minerva McGonagall said in a rather sceptical voice. „They will really wonder who the book is from, and when they start inquiring in the family ..."
„I'm sure they won't," Dumbledore retorted. „They have a very large family, there were about twenty people in their house today, and they will not take the trouble to ask every single one of them. After all, it's just a normal book written by a well known muggle writer, it's not as if I had chosen ‚Hogwarts, A History' or something."
„What's wrong with it?" Minerva asked slightly miffed, „It's a very interesting book, I've always wondered why there are so few people who have read it ..."
„Of course it's an interesting book, Minerva, especially your chapter on the origin of the Sorting Hat never fails to attract my attention. I'm sure it's fascinating, and I only wish I'd find the time to read it some day ..."
„Stop teasing me," Minerva had to smile in spite of herself. „What's the big idea of giving them that book, anyway?"
„Well, you know she's very clever for her age, and she would have started to get into books pretty soon, anyway. And I wanted her first book to be something for her imagination. It would be dreadful if her first book was The Something of Adventure, or, worse still, a Children's version of Robinson Crusoe."
„And why The Hobbit, not Peter Pan, or Alice?" Minerva persisted. „Isn't it rather brutal for a small girl?"
„Have you ever noticed the way girls' roles are decsribed in those? You an emancipated woman? I'm amazed at you. No, you can't possibly give these to her now, perhaps later whan she is able to judge things for herself. Yes, I believe it's a very good choice. It has a lot of the important things in it, and it also shows how a different world can just be found round the corner, which is what they all will find out sooner or later. Hence also the motto, - Shakespeare is invaluable, isn't he? I wonder whether any of them has understood it...?"
Dec 25th, 1980
„Good bye, Zoe, thank you so much for coming," after a final embrace, Prudence finally managed to shove her sister in law out of the house.
„Phew!", she said, closing the door behind her, and leaning against it for a moment, taking a deep breath. „Why must everyone always insist on celebrating with us? It's not that I don't like the whole bunch, - well at least most of them, - but it IS a lot of bother, what with the surgery and the baby ..."
„I'm no baby!" Hermione, who had been watching her aunt's departure in the background of the hall, protested.
„Sorry, darling, of course you aren't like most other babies your age. Well, just listen to how you can talk ..." she went over to her daughter, picked her up and hugged her. „Now let's go back and clear the table, shall we?"
Back in the living room, George was already busy stacking cups and plates on a tray, and presently they had got the dishwasher filled.
„Now for some peace and quiet, finally," George said, collapsing in the chair next to the fire place. „Nothing nicer than quietly crackling fire of an evening like this ..."
„Yes, I'm glad we didn't get one of those horrible electrical things with plastic embers glowing with red fom the inside, I say, isn't there a slightly greenish tinge in those flames? No, must have been a trick of the light."
„Look, Daddy," Hermione had come up to her father's chair. She was holding a parcel, obviously containing a book, wrapped in bright red paper with a golden ribbon around it.
„Strange, I've not noticed it before," George was only mildly surprised. „But after all, there are always lots of parcels around at a time like this; let's open it."
„I'll do it." Careful not to tear the paper, but so quickly that her father couldn't even watch her fingers moving Hermione set about opening the parcel.
„It's unbelievable how she does it," he muttered to himself, „like magic ..."
Soon enough, Hermione had unwrapped the book and was holding it up for her parents to look at. The cover showed a huge pile of gold with a green fire breathing dragon on top of it.
„The Hobbit?" Prudence was astonished. „Who can have brought it? Is there any note with it?"
„Hmm... no card or anything, perhaps inside ... yes, look here," he handed the book to his wife.
In a sweeping hand, in emerald green ink and old fashioned letter, it said,
„There are more things in heaven and earth than are dream'd of in our philosophy. Merry Christmas."
„No signature," Prudence said thoughtfully. „And a very strange motto for a book like this. Almost as if ... no that's stupid, I should have grown out of it ..."
„What? Her husband enquired, who had evidently no idea what she was talking about.
„As if someone wanted to say that these stories might be TRUE... as I said it's a silly idea ... But who ... and, who is it for, I wonder. I've read it, everybody knows that, and you have, too, though-"
„Though I couldn't stand it," George finished. „ I mean, dragons, and dwarfs, little people living in holes in the ground, and rings and whatnot... It's a bit much for a grown up person.
I'll admit there's a nice satirical passage or two, but the rest ..."
„You're really hopeless, you know. However, this means the only person this book is meant for ..."
„Me!" Hermione shouted, grabbing for the book.
„So it seems, but aren't you a bit sma- I mean young for a book like this? Look, there isn't a single picture, only print, and you can't read yet."
„You'll teach me, daddy." Hermione said quite matter-of-factly. Then she climbed into her father's lap, thrust the book at him and demanded: „Now, read ... please."
And George, suppressing a sigh, opened the book and began:
„In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, ... „
*
„A narrow escape!" Albus Dumbledore wiped a few specks of ashes from his robes. „Just managed to deposit the book in their living room and get back to the fireplace before they came back."
„I'm still not certain it was a good idea," Minerva McGonagall said in a rather sceptical voice. „They will really wonder who the book is from, and when they start inquiring in the family ..."
„I'm sure they won't," Dumbledore retorted. „They have a very large family, there were about twenty people in their house today, and they will not take the trouble to ask every single one of them. After all, it's just a normal book written by a well known muggle writer, it's not as if I had chosen ‚Hogwarts, A History' or something."
„What's wrong with it?" Minerva asked slightly miffed, „It's a very interesting book, I've always wondered why there are so few people who have read it ..."
„Of course it's an interesting book, Minerva, especially your chapter on the origin of the Sorting Hat never fails to attract my attention. I'm sure it's fascinating, and I only wish I'd find the time to read it some day ..."
„Stop teasing me," Minerva had to smile in spite of herself. „What's the big idea of giving them that book, anyway?"
„Well, you know she's very clever for her age, and she would have started to get into books pretty soon, anyway. And I wanted her first book to be something for her imagination. It would be dreadful if her first book was The Something of Adventure, or, worse still, a Children's version of Robinson Crusoe."
„And why The Hobbit, not Peter Pan, or Alice?" Minerva persisted. „Isn't it rather brutal for a small girl?"
„Have you ever noticed the way girls' roles are decsribed in those? You an emancipated woman? I'm amazed at you. No, you can't possibly give these to her now, perhaps later whan she is able to judge things for herself. Yes, I believe it's a very good choice. It has a lot of the important things in it, and it also shows how a different world can just be found round the corner, which is what they all will find out sooner or later. Hence also the motto, - Shakespeare is invaluable, isn't he? I wonder whether any of them has understood it...?"