Chapter 9: Twelfth Birthday

The morning of my birthday, I awoke to a beautiful day. The sun was shining, it was warm, and we had Transfiguration class first thing. I rose before any of my dormmates awoke and dressed and showered quickly. I didn't feel like dealing with them that particular morning, and instead hurried to get down to the Great Hall before any of them could ruin my special day with an insult.

Content to be alone, I settled into a nice breakfast. I opened up the library book I was currently reading, A History of Wandmaking, and began to butter my toast. At some point, Neville joined me, taking a seat across the table and frantically trying to finish his essay for Professor Snape.

"Oh, by the way, happy birthday," he added, about halfway through his meal. "It's today, isn't it?"

"That's right," I nodded. I tried not to be disappointed that the only person at Hogwarts that I'd told about my birthday had almost forgotten it.

The mail came, and I waited eagerly for an owl to bring me a letter or package from home. Mum and Dad hadn't answered my letter yet, and I was hoping it was because they were waiting for my birthday to send something. When the last of the owls cleared out of the Great Hall and I hadn't received anything, I wondered if maybe they hadn't figured out how the wizarding postage system worked and decided to write them a letter at lunch explaining it.

As always, I was very excited for Transfiguration class. It was rapidly becoming my favorite class at Hogwarts, and I also happened to be exceptionally good at it. I was a little later than usual arriving to class, as I'd gotten quite caught up in my book about wandmaking, and the only seat left was next to Sally-Anne and Lily. Figuring it was better than sitting with Lavender and Parvati, I took a seat, ignoring the two girls, and preparing myself for class.

"Neville told us it was your birthday today," Lily said as we waited for Professor McGonagall.

"Why would he do that?" I frowned. Neville knew I didn't get along with my roommates. I figured he was probably just hoping that it would bring us together, them celebrating my birthday. Not that that would ever have worked.

Lily shrugged.

"Lily, don't you think it would be so lame not to have anyone to celebrate your birthday with?" Sally-Anne asked, pointedly not looking at me.

"So lame," Lily agreed. "But then, some people are just so uncool, nobody would want to be friends with them."

I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from crying right there in class. It was bad enough that I didn't have anyone to celebrate my birthday with. Not only did my one 'friend' almost forget to even wish me a happy birthday, my parents seemed to have forgotten too. I didn't need to be reminded by Lily and Sally-Anne that nobody liked me.

Professor McGonagall arrived, and I immediately put up my hand.

"Yes, Hermione?" Professor McGonagall called on me.

"I need to go to the bathroom," I said in a rush.

Professor McGonagall nodded. "Go ahead," she said.

As soon as I'd passed through the door into the corridor, I could feel the tears forming. I hated missing class, but I couldn't stay sitting next to the two girls after the way they'd been making fun of me. I just needed a minute to clear my head.

Because I hate to lie, I made my way to the nearest bathroom and sat myself down on one of the toilets, dropping my head into my hands as more tears started to fall. It wasn't my fault I was so unpopular. I'd tried making friends, but nobody had wanted to be friends with me. There had to be something wrong with me.

Once I'd cried away all my tears, I decided that I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself. I got out a quill and some parchment, and I began to compose a letter to my parents.

Dear Mum and Dad,

It's my birthday today! I'm sure you didn't forget. You probably just couldn't find an owl, which isn't surprising since you don't live in a magical castle with an owlery like me. I probably forgot to tell you though, that there are wizards working in the muggle post offices that will intercept any wizarding mail. So, all you need to do is mail me your letters like normal and address them to Hogwarts, and the undercover mail wizards will see that they get to the right place.

Classes are going well. Transfiguration is definitely my favorite. It's very logical and requires perfect precision, which as you know is one of my specialities.

History of Magic is quite possibly my second favorite class. There's obviously no practical component there, but we have to do a ton of reading. It's fascinating to see the comparisons between muggle and wizarding history.

My least favorite class is probably Herbology, but don't tell Professor Sprout. It's all about growing magical plants, which is all well and good, except that it requires a lot of manual labor without much reward. And it's not like it takes special skill to water a plant.

I've also been doing some light reading on the side, so that I can be sure to keep up with the students born into wizarding families. Right now, I'm reading about the history of wandmaking, and I have to say it's fascinating. Did you know that witches and wizards used to do magic without wands? One day some old wizard fashioned the first wand to better channel his magic, and eventually, wands became so widespread and so heavily relied upon that the ability to do wandless magic became something only the most advanced wizards could do. So now my goal is to one day master wandless magic. If the witches and wizards of old could do it, why not me?

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Love,

Hermione

When I finished the letter, I put it away in my bag with my other things and returned to class. I wasn't going to skip the whole lesson – that would be incredibly irresponsible. Then, at lunch, I skipped eating in the Great Hall and instead headed up to the owlery to mail my letter. With any luck, it would reach my parents today, and I would have a response from them by tomorrow.

That evening, I studied in the library until about an hour before curfew and then headed up to the common room for the remainder of the night. My plan had been to find a cozy armchair in a corner somewhere and keep reading my book. However, when I arrived, I noticed Harry and Ron playing a game of wizard's chess and became intrigued.

I'd never played chess before. I'd always wanted to, but Mum and Dad didn't play, and I'd never had any friends to play against. It was a game of logic, so I knew that if I ever did play, I would undoubtedly excel at it.

Wandering over to Harry and Ron, I decided to try my luck at friend-making one more time.

"Hello boys," I greeted them. "Playing a game of wizard's chess, I see?"

The boys glanced up at me, with expressions that read 'why are you talking to us?'. I took a deep breath and sat down between the two of them.

"Maybe I can play the winner?" I inquired.

"I don't think so," Ron shook his head. "I don't play against girls."

"Well what if Harry wins?"

Ron laughed, and Harry glared at him. "What?" Ron demanded, looking at the other boy. "You know you're not going to win. You barely know what you're doing, and I've never lost a match."

Harry gave in and nodded. "True," he agreed.

"Never lost a match until now," I said, my tone a clear challenge. "Because I'm going to crush you."

"We just told you, you can't play," Ron said, turning to look at me again. "Go read a book or something."

Grabbing my bag, I made a show of storming away and up to my dormitory. If Ron didn't want to play, that was fine. I'd just read my book in bed. It would probably be more interesting anyway.

I told myself that Ron was just scared. He'd never lost a match, and he knew if he played me, then I would win. He didn't want to lose, especially in front of his friend. It would be embarrassing.

The next morning, I waited anxiously as the mail was delivered for an owl to bring me a letter from my parents. When nothing arrived, I figured it would probably just arrive later in the day.

Through all my classes, I watched the windows for any sign of an owl. I watched the ceiling through lunch and dinner, and when I returned to my dorm that night, I opened the window wide, in the hopes that a nice barn owl might swoop in and drop a letter for me on my bed. But nothing arrived.

I waited all week, and still nothing came. I wondered whether I hadn't been clear in my last letter and decided to compose another, this time not leaving any room for confusion.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I still haven't received any letters from you this year, and I wondered if maybe you were still unsure about the whole postage system situation. It's very simple really. Just mail your letters like you normally would in a regular mailbox, and they'll find their way to me. You'll still need a stamp – the undercover wizards will use that as payment for the owl. Owls don't deliver mail for free; you know.

We've started having our first assessments in class. Did you know that in the wizarding world, they grade on a different scale than in the muggle world? Instead of using the letters of the alphabet in alphabetical order, the letters represent the quality of your work. So, an A is really an O, for outstanding, a B is an E, for exceeds expectations, a C is an A, for acceptable, a D is a P for poor, and an F is a D for dreadful. Hogwarts also has a sixth letter grade; T. It stands for troll, which is even worse than dreadful. I can't even imagine how poorly someone would have to perform to receive a grade of T.

I've only received O's on my assignments so far, of course. Anything less would be completely unacceptable. I'm quite looking forward to writing the exams, though I still have a while to go before we get to that. Professor McGonagall says that if I continue the way I've been going so far, I could break the school record for student with the top marks.

Please write back soon. I miss you both terribly.

Love,

Hermione

I sent this third letter off with yet another school owl, and watched it fly away wistfully. I hoped my parents wrote me back soon. It was strange, being so far away from them. And with everyone always making fun of me and not wanting to hang out with me, I really needed my parents' support.

Last year, anytime Nancy Hummel would tease me, I could come home and hug Mum and Dad and feel loads better. But here, Lavender and Parvati would make fun of me, and I would have nowhere to go, no one to hug. I didn't regret coming to Hogwarts one bit, but sometimes I really wished it wasn't a boarding school.