Her First Postcard
Castle
She receives her first postcard on a drizzly Tuesday morning.
Clad in her wool-lined robe, Hermione shuts the mailbox down and quickly makes her way back into the house, lest the muddy water soaked into her robe and slippers.
Mug of coffee in hand, she pulls out the rickety wooden chair with a screech and takes a seat.
She removes the envelope from her pocket and places it in front of her. It's plain white and generic in appearance. Addressed on the tab is her name in neat, calligraphic handwriting:
To Hermione Jean Granger
She tears open the envelope and pulls out the letter—or, in this case, a postcard.
The first thing she notices is that the postcard is sent in an envelope. Usually, they are sent without one unless the envelope was carrying something else, too.
She examines the postcard. It's a picturesque view of the castle of Hogwarts, surrounded by the forest in the distance. She owns the exact postcard she bought from one of the shops in Hogsmeade.
She turns the postcard over and reads the message:
Dearest Hermione,
I hope that you have returned home safely.
- L.V
L.V? Who was that? She can't recall meeting anyone with those initials. And the only person she knows whose name starts with the letter 'L' is Luna, a fellow student in her course. But she hadn't attended the trip, and moreover, her last name doesn't begin with 'V'. It was probably from one of the lecturers at the castle, she ponders.
Hermione sets the postcard aside and eats her scrambled eggs and toast. She doesn't give it much thought again.