Harry and Ron tried to get her to talk some more about herself over breakfast, but she politely declined. She felt a little embarrassed. They were very nice, and very gracious to her, but she felt no real desire to talk about herself with them. There was too much there she did not want to reveal. Her goals, her ambition, her dreams. None of that, she thought, would sit well with them. They were still children, after all. Considering their attitude and behavior she could tell they weren't from a military background. She doubted they would understand her. Hardly anyone did.

Instead she decided to steer the conversation to their schools. "I must say." She said. "Hogwarts is a far grander Castle than Garreg Mach." She meant it, too. Once she had gotten over the shock of seeing the moving paintings and staircases she began to appreciate the otherworldly beauty of the architecture. There was a serenity to the Castle that was simply not present at Garreg Mach, which always felt like was in the middle of some kind of conflict.

"Yeah, Hogwarts is the most famous school in our world." Ron said, giving Harry a glance. "What's your school like?"

"Nothing so spectacular." She answered primly, as she buttered a small piece of toast. "We have far less students, and less classrooms. We have a small pond, but nothing like your lake." She had seen the Lake from a window as they descended to breakfast that morning.

"What are your friends like?"

Edelgard lowered the piece of toast onto her plate. She stared at it, as if she had never seen it before. Did she REALLY have any friends? Hubert was a retainer, nothing more.

"Edelgard?"

She decided to simply consider her House mates her friends. "Well…" She said cautiously. "My Housemates and I do everything together. We don't have a whole lot in common, besides hailing from the same general area…" She trailed off, thinking for the first time of the others. Dorothea, Bernadetta, Caspar, Petra, Lindhart. Oh, and Ferdinand too, she supposed. She wondered how they were getting on with Hermione.

Harry was giving her a considering look. She wondered what was going on in his mind. She found herself staring down at her own reflection in the spoon at her fingers. Hermione's mousy expression peered back at her. She strongly resembled Bernadetta, she thought. The hair had the same kind of wild untamedness to it. It was driving her mad: she much preferred her own body. Being in Hermione's shoes made her feel distinctly uncomfortable.

"I'm sure Dumbledore is going to get this thing fixed." Harry told her. "You'll be back home in no time."

Edelgard nodded, her lips pursed, her head turning to the staff table. Dumbledore was sitting there, conversing with a woman that Edelgard understood to be Professor McGonagall. She took the chance to get a good look at all of the other teachers. Many of whom had been shooting her curious looks all throughout the meal. Professor Snape, the man she had been told was the one tasked with fixing her problem, was not present. Although seemingly an unpleasant man if Harry and Ron's offhand remarks about him were any indication, Edelgard appreciated that he seemed to be taking the responsibility of her presence seriously. Nothing she had seen so far from the castle seemed to indicate that she was at any risk of attack.

No, her primary worry now, as it always was, what Hermione Granger would be doing with her body, and how the Church would react to the situation. If Hermione acted out, if she began to notice certain things about the Church and questioned them, if Garreg Mach was invaded… she could quite easily be killed. If that happened Edelgard would not have a body to return to. She would simply be declared dead and forgotten about, like all of her siblings…

The fingers around her silverware tightened. A raging, intense feeling of fiery emotion was welling up within her. Even if that happened… even if her body was killed, she would not give up. Even death itself could not stop her from realizing her Dream.

"Edelgard?"

Edelgard smiled as she turned back to Harry. "Forgive me." She said quietly. "I was… simply thinking of Hermione."

Ron sympathetically nodded behind her. "I miss her." He said, his voice gloomy. "Going to school in this place isn't the same without her."

Harry nodded.

"I'll try and make it as easy on you as I am able." Edelgard promised, smiling slightly. "Perhaps in the end you will miss me when I'm gone."

The boys laughed, and Edelgard found herself genuinely smiling along with them. They weren't bad people, not at all. If situations were a little bit different, if they had all been going to Garreg Mach together, they may have done very well for themselves.

Edelgard had been given a surprising amount of freedom by the Headmaster: Although she was not a student here and had no business being at the school, she was allowed to wander the castle and grounds at her leisure. Harry and Ron, out of concern for their friend, were more than willing to look after her.

"I had hoped we would have seen the last of this place for a while." Ron grunted as they stepped foot into the most magnificent library Edelgard had ever seen in her life. Her eyes widened as they wandered the rows and shelves lined with books. Ancient tomes describing this world's magic, guides to dealing with household pests, books on divining the future and…

"History!"

Ron and Harry gave each other knowing looks as Edelgard reached forward and procured a book called 'A History of Magic' by Bathilda Bagshot off of the bookshelf. She held it gingerly in her hand, her hands feeling the rough binding.

"Hermione had the entire thing memorized before she even got to school." Ron informed her, laughing. Edelgard smiled at him as she ran her hand along the cover.

"Did she?" The more she heard about Hermione's studiousness the more she began to respect her. She knew by now that first year students at Hogwarts were usually around ten or eleven years old. Most would not have read a tome like this cover to cover that young. She could tell at a glance that Ron and Harry had not.

She had been wanting to learn more about the background of this new world for quite a long while now, and a good History Book was just what she needed to iron out the details. She found herself settling down at a library table with Harry and Ron and began to read.

She had just been in the process of learning about the concept of Muggles and segregation of the magical community from them when Ron nudged her in the arm. She looked up at him, blinking owlishly, as he tilted his head to the side. She followed his gaze, and noticed a blonde, pale faced boy snickering with his friends some distance away.

"Malfoy." Ron said disparagingly. "Stay away from him, alright?

Her eyes narrowed. "And why should I do that?" She asked sharply. She did not appreciate being told what to do.

Ron seemed somewhat taken aback and did not know how to answer.

"Because he's a prat that's why." Harry said, recovering faster than Ron did. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "His Father is in with Voldemort."

"Who?"

Ron started, giving her a surprised look. But Harry looked calm and composed. Ron turned on him, hissing. "Don't say the name!"

"Who?" Edelgard repeated, this time a bit more dangerously. Harry bent his head closer to her and lowered his voice.

"Voldemort." He said, ignoring Ron's agitated noises. "Is a murderer." Edelgard stared at him, the gears in her head turning. There was a strange, venomous quality in his tone that told her all she needed to know, and yet at the same time nothing at all.

She tilted her head back to Malfoy, deciding that she should change the topic. "And Malfoy's Father is working for him?"

"Yes." Harry said simply.

"I see." Edelgard said, unwilling to comment further until she more thoroughly understood the situation. She had never heard the name Voldemort before, but the way Harry and Ron spoke of him made her think that he was hated and feared by all who knew his name. It reminded her an awful lot of how students at the Academy spoke of the Flame Emperor. How the mysterious, masked enemy of the Church seemed to always be one step ahead of her enemies.

Unlike the Church and its followers, however, Edelgard knew the Flame Emperor very well. She was well aware that the common perception of her being a monster were completely unfounded. The gossip, the stories, the propaganda that was pushed by the Church… all of it was a sick twist of what had actually happened. They controlled the narrative, and therefore controlled the way history was seen. Even Professor Byleth-

She found herself tightening a little bit. More than anyone else in her life, she found herself longing to speak to the Professor. He understood her in a way that no one in her life had ever had before. She found herself opening up to him more than she ever had to anyone in her life ever before. He made her feel….

Sad?

Happy?

Lonely?

It was all such a strange mixture. Such a strange torrent of emotions poured through her every time she thought of Byleth, which was very often, that she often had no idea what to make of them. The only thing she knew for sure, the only thing that mattered to her, was that ensuring that Byleth was by her side when she took the Empire for herself. After that happened, after she was able to reveal her true self to him… then maybe it would all start to make sense.

"This… Voldemort." Edelgard said, her voice quiet. "Please tell me more, once we return to the common room."

Harry gave her a nod, and Edelgard felt a strong burst of understanding between them. Perhaps they had more in common than she had originally assumed.

…

The books at Garreg Mach were fascinating. Although the library was far lesser than that of Hogwarts, Hermione could not bring herself to mind. As she was in a completely new world, each and every book on those shelves was completely alien to her. It was like discovering a new book series from her favorite childhood author: it was a magical feeling combing through the books with Lindhart, trying to pick out topics that interested her. Although her intention was to try and discover some method of returning home, she ended up giving in to temptation and pulling a wide variety of books of the shelves. From the history of the Adrestian Empire to religious texts, Hermione dove in with gusto.

She started with a general outline of the continent, examining its shape and layout. As she had been told, there were three major powers. The Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance. It seemed hundreds of years ago the Adrestian Empire had controlled most, if not all of the territory on the continent before losing control to Faerghus, which in turn led to the formation of the Leicester alliance.

She had hoped to learn more about Edelgard in these books, the same way she had learned about Harry Potter before actually meeting him, but was disappointed to see that she was not mentioned. This was a medieval period and they possibly could not keep up to date with current events. Or perhaps Edelgard had simply not yet made her mark on history.

Lindhart had been watching her pour over books, and although he had offered many suggestions he was not reading with her. He simply sat, his hands on his head, yawning occasionally. Hermione brushed the long silver hair with her fingers as she stared at the large pile of books before her.

…

A/N

Finally found the time to finish this chapter! Funnily enough it happened so soon after I started my second playthrough of Three Houses. I'm HOPING to finish Golden Deer before my next update, and then I can finish off with Blue Lions. I'm so excited! This is my favorite game on the Switch in a long time.

Please, please, please leave a favorite and review. I definitely want to hear what you think of my portrayals of Edelgard and Hermione! And what you think of where the plot is headed. Thank you!