I apologise for the issues with update notifications. It seems some people are getting them, others aren't. I promise I am still updating regularly and I appreciate your patience until the site sorts this out.

Friday morning post brought two letters addressed to Hermione. The first came by way of a particularly foul tempered owl with a long, hooked beak and savage talons. It snapped up her breakfast before rocketing off the table in a rush of hard, angular wings that sent the thick letter that Nott's bird had just delivered spinning like a shruikan across the table.

Hermione was just inspecting the strange metal clasp on the letter when the second owl settled next to her plate. This one was far more polite, taking the offered bacon with a delicate nibble and allowing Hermione to remove the parchment scroll from it's proffered leg. With the letter received, the bird took of in a gentle rustle of wings. Nott surfaced from beneath the table with his letter, just in time for Malfoy's owl to drop a large packet of sweets, upsetting his plate of beans all down Nott's fresh school shirt.

She looked back at her letters, realising that there was a familiar impression in the metal clasp. Puzzled, she pressed her sealing ring against it. It matched perfectly and there was a light, mechanical sounding click and the clasp snapped open.

"To The High Priestess of Gorlois.

High King Ragnuk the Ruthless sends his greetings on behalf of the Goblin Nations to the newest High Priestess. The High King understands that her Ladyship is still a witchling, yet there are matters that ought to be resolved with haste. As a compromise, his Highness would have a meeting arranged in the bank of the Goblin Nation; Gringotts in London, to take place at a time of her convenience, although her Ladyship's special attention is drawn to the upcoming Yule celebration.

With the greatest regard,

King Ragnuk the Fearless,

High King of the United Goblin Nations."

It was written in Ogham, which made her incredibly glad that she'd learned the runic language. No doubt her reply would be expected in the same tongue. She would have to consult with Gorlois and Lady Grindelwald to try and figure out what the goblins wanted and how to deal with them. History of Magic lessons may be boring, but she knew the goblins had staged several rebellions. She was certain that this meeting would be fraught with danger.

The second letter was sealed with a very familiar seal; that of the Hogwarts Headmaster and it appeared that Professor McGonagall had been true to her word. He wanted to meet to discuss her class work, and the letter contained instructions to find his office.

She gathered her belongings quickly, pushing her book back into her bag and swinging it over her shoulder. She left the hall quickly, cutting right out of the flow to pause in the relative privacy of a statue to wait for Nott, who'd rushed out of the hall after her.

'Hermione...' He called out, dancing around a group of Ravenclaw girls. She rolled her eyes, wondering why he'd bothered to call out when it was obvious that she'd stopped to wait for him. He looked slightly rumpled, his robes pulled tightly across his chest to hide the tomato stain from earlier and the letter he'd received clutched in his hand, crumpling it.

'I er...' He hesitated, going slightly pink. 'I don't know if you know, but my family have always been the wizarding world's historians.'

'Go on.' Hermione prompted, slightly impatiently. She was meant to be at the headmaster's office in twenty minutes and she wanted to be early.

'The seal you wear, it's the Gorlois seal.' Hermione rolled her eyes, but Nott seemed to find she hadn't understood the gravity of his statement. 'It's not a forged seal, that's not any stone or metal you can find. You couldn't wear it if you weren't a Gorlois.'

'I know I'm a Gorlois, I've been to my family's holdings.' She let irritation bleed into her voice.

'Your seal is part of the Nott seal.' He threw his hands up quickly as if to stop her rising irritation. 'We used to be vassals of your family. That's how we have so many ancient records; we used to keep them for your family.'

He opened the letter in his hand, smoothing out the creases against his leg and glancing at it quickly.

'He said that I should make a judgement as to whether your family's magic had held true, and if it has he instructed me to make your acquaintance.'

'Well, you have.' She said shortly, feeling somewhat exasperated. As interesting as it was that the Notts had been close to her family in the past, it was hardly surprising as they were meant to be one of the oldest wizarding families. Nott was twisting his letter between his hands now and he kept glancing up the staircase.

'He also said that if I could make myself deserving, I should seek to become your advisor.'

'At the moment, all you're doing is making me late. I have to meet with the headmaster in fifteen minutes.'

'That's what I have to talk to you about!' The boy finally said, eyes wide. 'You must be careful, Albus Dumbledore is not as friendly as he seems. Rumour has it, he had a fascination with Gellert Grindelwald and they schemed together, until Dumbledore saw an easier way to power and turned on him.'

'I am aware that it was Dumbledore who brought my brother down...' Hermione trailed off, thinking. She knew very little of the headmaster other than the glowing comments made in the books. Nott clearly knew the things that weren't published and she could certainly do with an ally. She completely missed his reaction to calling Gellert her brother, turning towards the staircase. 'Walk with me, we can talk along the way.' She instructed. Nott fell in beside her as they slipped back into the flow of students. As they walked, Nott relayed everything he knew about Dumbledore in a whisper; how his father had been arrested for attacking a group of muggles, how his sister had become a dark magical creature and the family had hidden her away without seeking help. He claimed that Dumbledore had become close friends with Grindelwald, planning a return to the old ways, then realised that hatred of the old ways would provide a quicker path to power. From there, Dumbledore had strung the wizarding world along as he refused to confront Grindelwald before eventually coming out as the 'reluctant hero'. Of course, from there on, he could do no wrong in the eyes of the people. He was, Nott told her in a whisper, a legilimens and some said he was in possession of several powerful artefacts.

They reached the statue that supposedly guarded the Headmaster's office, falling silent quickly incase there were any monitoring charms on it.

'Thank you for your advice, Heir Nott.' Hermione said formally, bowing her head to her companion.

'I serve in any way I can...' He hesitated, glancing at the statue, then saying very deliberately 'Lady Hermione.'

The lack of her true rank or title was irregular, but Hermione immediately understood that Nott seemed to think her true title shouldn't be acknowledged in front of Dumbledore. After everything she'd just learned about the crook, she was inclined to agree with him.

'Please, call me Hermione. I'll see you at lunch?'

Nott's face lit up with a bright grin; all teeth.

'Sure, see you there. I'm Theodore, but unless my father's around, call me Theo.'

She waved at Theo once, rather pleased with her new ally. He was intelligent, knowledgable and at least decently powerful if she could persuade him not to use a wand. She forced herself not to be distracted, checking her occulumency shields and straightening her hair and robes until she looked immaculate. She briefly considered a colour-changing charm on the ribbons in her hair to make them a little less... Slytherin, then decided against it. She was proud of her house and her heritage.

At precisely nine o'clock, the gargoyle began to grate upwards and she hopped onto the staircase, allowing it to carry her upwards as it rotated. It grated rather dramatically and in her opinion quite unnecessarily, perhaps a design factor to help intimidate students in trouble.

The door at the top had no knocker, but it swung open as soon as the staircase reached the top, allowing her to stride through with projected confidence. The office itself was fascinating, a huge array of instruments and tools, books piled on shelves and rows and rows of portraits. A phoenix ruffled it's feathers on a perch near a staircase whilst the owl that had delivered her letter snoozed on a different perch. Among all the clutter, one could almost miss the headmaster seated at a large desk.

'Miss Granger. Have a seat.' The headmaster requested.

'It's either Miss Gorlois, or Miss Grindelwald.' She corrected sharply without taking the offered seat.

'Ah.' Dumbledore said delicately. His long fingers unwrapped a curiously muggle sweet. 'We don't often have students with quite as many names to choose from.'

'Perhaps not. I'm sure you will respect my decision on the matter however.'

'Of course, Miss Gorlois. I do wonder at your haste to rid yourself of your muggle name...'

'It is the correct term of address and to prioritise my muggle name over my wizarding ones would be disrespectful to both families.'

Dumbledore pursed his lips, looking less than pleased with her answer. Rather than push the point though, he lifted a sheet of parchment from his desk and Hermione recognised her elegant calligraphy covering the page. It was not an exhaustive list of everything she knew and now that she'd spoken to Theodore, she was glad she'd left the less defined Gorlois magic off.

'Wandless magic is dangerous and difficult, that your... guardian... would force you to learn magic this way is very concerning.'

'I find the practice beneficial.' She said shortly. 'With appropriately skilled tutoring, witchcraft is no more dangerous or difficult than wizardry.'

'Hmm.' Dumbledore peered at her over his oddly-shaped spectacles. Whilst his expression was friendly enough, she could already feel the animosity in his gaze. She was getting the distinct impression that she was foiling whatever plans he had laid for her. 'There is also a significant portion of this magic that certainly falls on the darker side of the magical spectrum.'

'What?' Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes.

'Ritual magic is, by its very nature, dark. Ogham too is considered the language of dark magic and very few texts survive that don't involve necromancy of some form.' His eyes had definitely turned cool by now and Hermione made a decision that would certainly mark her path for the future.

'Ritual magic is old, not dark. Just because those who do not practice it do not understand it, doesn't make it evil. Neither is Ogham; it is merely a language and what you choose to do with it is what makes it light or dark.'

Dumbledore definitely had his lips pursed now and he leaned back in his chair.

'Those words could have come straight from the words of Gellert Grindelwald himself.'

'Yes. We do share the same mother, I dare say we have been taught similar lessons.' She finally took the seat she'd been offered, lounging in it somewhat arrogantly. For the first time, she met Dumbledore's eyes and immediately felt the intrusive tapping of occlumency. She retaliated with a spike of magic, driving it towards the tapping and letting her natural fire scorch it's target. She was rewarded with a pained intake of breath and the intrusion disappeared. She smiled smugly.

'Unsolicited legilimency is both rude, illegal and most certainly dark.' She said coldly. She hadn't particularly liked what she'd heard about him and with that, even if she'd managed to fend him off, she decided he was just as bad as everything she'd heard. 'Now, I believe you called me here to discuss my education.'

'Unfortunately, Miss Granger, I find myself concerned by your attitude and opinions. I do not believe it is within the best interest of the greater good to provide you with anything else, except perhaps lessons in magical ethics - a course that I believe is delivered at Durmstrang. It is my opinion that you need to go back to the basics and learn magic in an appropriate, safe manner. You will continue to learn with your classmates.'

Hermione gritted her teeth furiously. Shouting would get her nowhere except thrown out. She had to forcibly remind herself that she had plenty of avenues for learning during her time in the past, and even independent study.

As she left the room, she swore that Albus Dumbledore would rue the day he turned her hope for additional education down. She would use the time to cultivate his pawns, working them out from under him until he had nobody left, turning them into her followers. She would wield her influence to bring back the old ways that he so feared, and she would prove that she was the greater good.