Hermione lowly revealed the details of the planned duel to Terence and the triplets when they were all on their way back to their common room. They expressed concern for neither Harry nor Ron, just how many points Malfoy's mischief potentially would cost Slytherin if he and his minions were to be caught.

"Really? The four of you are just –! Do you really think winning the House Cup is more important an issue in this situation?"

"Well what do you want us to say, Granger? You tried to stop them, didn't you? Whatever happens in their duel is on them and their House," Terence softly replied before turning to the triplets. "But if the Malfoy brat ends up ruining Slytherin's chance of winning the House Cup, I'll spread the word and have him blacklisted throughout all of Slytherin."

The triplets giggled, relishing the thought of Malfoy being socially ousted by the members of his own House. But with her concern for Harry governing her thoughts, Hermione could find no entertainment in any jeer that could've made her smirk any other time.

"Perhaps I should tell Ian...?"

Terence shook his head. "I don't think you'd be able to rat out Malfoy without getting Potter and Weasley in trouble, too. You really think he wouldn't try to pin it all on them, make the teachers think it was all their idea?"

So much for that. Further up the throng of Slytherins, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle laughed at the top of their lungs with some other Slytherins. Hermione glared at the distant head of the boy who unwittingly made himself the mascot for everything she despised. Never had she ever wanted another person to suffer as badly as she did Malfoy. She prayed for that day she would catch him walking down a corridor alone and send her most hazardous hex to the back of his sorry cranium.

When the four girls were settled in their dorm, Hermione decided to work on Professor Poe's haiku assignment; she supposed his subject was the closest thing to an English class in the magical world. Normally she would've done this in the library, but the sloshing of water outside the window of their dorm was quite soothing to her and made it easier for her to focus.

Lucie, Lizzie, and Laurie chose to tend each other's hair, fishtails and ponytails let down. On the bed, Lucie sat in front of Laurie as she gingerly brushed her hair, while Lizzie sat behind Laurie brushing her hair.

A muffled conversation between several Slytherin girls floated outside the door. "It reeks of Mudbloods and Blood Traitors down this hall!"

They laughed as their presence faded.

Hermione clenched her fists and looked back to the triplets, who were no less focused on their collective hairdressing than they were moment ago. Point in fact, the only thing to come out of Lizzie's mouth was, "I hear from the older Slytherins Professor Binns was so boring that it killed him – along with several other students."

Her sisters laughed while Hermione fought the urge to gape. "Didn't you all just hear them? They just called us –!"

"Who cares, Granger?" Lucie listlessly responded. "Trash like them aren't worth our attention – or yours for that matter."

"You're going to have to learn to tune things out if you want to survive in this House. That's what Mum always told us," Laurie chimed in, her eyes still not leaving her sister's hair. "Not all Slytherins think they're racially superior, but all wizards who do are in Slytherin. Horrible, we know, but that's the reality."

"You think a Muggle-born would be the only type of Slytherin to be ridiculed by supremacy? Like many Slytherins, we don't hate Muggle-borns, so Salazar Slytherin wouldn't be too thrilled to have us in his House either – pureblood or not," Lizzie added.

"So your family has no ill will towards wizards like me?"

"It would depend on which side of our family you're referring to," said Lizzie. "Our father is an American wizard who was raised in Louisiana and attended Ilvermony."

"Ah, one of the American wizarding schools," Hermione said knowingly.

"That's right," said Lucie. "The Lovetts are a family of southern purebloods, and that's why you won't find their name on the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Our mother comes from the Slughorn family, and a good number of them are anti-Muggle. But she doesn't agree with it, along with our father and his family. Mom rarely speaks with her parents because of it."

"Oh...I'm sorry."

"Please. It's no skin off our bones if they want nothing to do with us," said Lizzie.

"Okay...So why did your father leave America?"

"Our mother and a handful of other Slughorns wanted to be as far away from the country as possible in the last two years You-Know-Who was still at large and killing wizards left and right," Lucie explained. "Dad was an Auror in the American Ministry when he met Mum. They fell in love and began a relationship, later becoming engaged. Two years later, You-Know-Who was gone and Mum was pregnant with us three. She longed for her home in England, so Dad agreed to leave with her to Hogsmeade Village after they were married."

Hermione smiled. "How romantic."

"That would be an understatement," Lizzie said with a jocular tone. "Dad worships the ground our mother walks on. She's told us in secret how smothering his devotion can be sometimes..."

"And that she loves every second of it," Lucie giggled.

And all four girls laughed merrily as one, as best friends, as cordial Slytherins. She internally concluded that this was a warm introduction to Slytherin fraternity, and it had cleansed her of the rage the words of the other Slytherins had caused her.