That evening at Hogwarts, a first-year boy with shaggy bleach-blonde hair and the unmistakable black and gold Hufflepuff patterning on his uniform knocked on a heavy wooden door next to the potions classroom. He wore a rather nervous expression on his face as he waited for permission to enter the potion master's office.

"You may enter, Mister Malfoy," came the cool, monotonous voice from the other side of the door.

Draco opened the door just wide enough to squeeze himself in; he closed it just as quickly. He fidgeted for a moment, before Professor Snape gestured for the boy to take a seat across from his desk.

The expression on Snape's face was impassive as always, but the tone in his voice betrayed his gaze. There was a definite note of concern in it, a quality he rarely displayed, particularly in a public setting. "It has come to my attention, Draco, that you've had a bit of a run-in with three of my Serpents during breakfast this morning. Misters Crabbe and Goyle, and a certain Miss Parkinson. Does that sound accurate?"

Draco barely nodded his head. "Y-yes sir. I didn't start anything, I promise…"

"No, I do not believe you to be the antagonist." Snape returned the nod, his nostrils flaring ever-so-slightly. "This isn't the first time you've had a less-than-pleasant encounter with them, is it, young man?"

Draco hung his head. "They've had some sort of issue with me ever since the Start of Term Feast. I try to keep my distance from them, but sometimes avoiding them is impossible. I'm not one to look for trouble, sir. I don't like arguing, fighting, or breaking the rules…"

Snape cut him off with a quick gesture of his hand. "I'm not chastising your conduct or prowess as a student, which are beyond reproach. As it is, I sorely wish you were one of my own, as does your father, but alas, fate can be a cruel mistress…" He narrowed his eyes at Draco. "When I look at you, Draco, I see the same thing your father does – a tremendously gifted young man with potential to do great things in the wizarding world. I also see much fear in you… fear that will stunt said potential if you do not learn to control it."

Draco cocked his head. "I'm not sure what you're getting at, sir."

The corner of Snape's lips curled into a faint smirk. "You need to learn some confidence, which is why I've taken it upon myself to personally teach you some useful charms and jinxes… things that you wouldn't learn in Defense Against the Dark Arts from Professor Quirrell…" The way he emphasized the last two words, it was obvious he held the sitting Defense instructor in low esteem.

"Father says you've been wanting to teach Defense for a good while," replied Draco. "I wish you were teaching Defense this term… I think Professor Quirrell means well, but between his stuttering and his weird twitching, he makes it kind of hard to learn anything…"

Snape nodded curtly. "You'll learn more about Defense in two hours with me than you would in two months in his class." His eyebrows then furrowed. "Under my personal tutelage, you'll become a far more confident, well-rounded wizard by the end of term. However, I offer my services with a condition – what you will learning, will be strictly for protecting yourself should any of my delinquent Serpents get the jump. I never want to hear of you instigating anything with your new skillset. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Draco replied respectfully.

"Very good," Snape murmured. "And sometimes, the wisest move is to make a quick escape. There's nothing wrong with a hasty retreat so you can live to see another day. Your typical Gryffindor may confuse that with cowardice, but I assure you, it's not. It's survival, and nobody knows how to survive better than a Slytherin. Your father would agree."

Draco arched an eyebrow. "And when shall we begin?"

"The usual time," said Snape in a low voice. "Thursdays after dinner. You'll meet me here – we'll simply be adding a bit of Defense on top of your private Potions lessons."

"Thank you, Professor," Draco drawled with gratitude. "I'll see you then."

Back at Ilvermorny on Monday morning, hundreds of groggy students crowded the mess hall as trustees from each house handed out their respective charges' wands. To their collective relief, there was no physical training that morning, but there was little excitement as few of the students were looking forward to resuming their classes.

Once Harry, Othniel and Tallulah received their wands, they found some seats by Ana and her roommates. Ana's face glowed with anticipation, while Sabrina's countenance was more nonchalant. Jillian, however, was unable to hide her scowl. "I'm not ready for class to start," she grumbled.

"I'm not sure I'm ready either," admitted Sabrina, "but look on the bright side. No physical training this morning, and Christmas is less than a month away."

Jillian rolled her eyes. "If Christmas were tomorrow, it still couldn't get here fast enough."

Ana shook a fork in Jillian's direction. "Come on, Jilly. We have Defense first! At least it's not Potions!"

This time Jillian rolled her eyes so hard, they threatened to fall out. "That's easy for you to say, 'Stasia! You're the one with the crush on Professor Lupin!" She proceeded to imitate her teacher, complete with a facsimile British accent. "I'm Professor Lupin! I'm a snooty Hogwarts graduate who's too good for Ilvermorny…" Pop!

Ana slapped the top of Jillian's hand. "That's not funny," she snarled, "nor is it true. He loves it here, and he cares for all of his students. We're lucky to have him as one of our teachers." She then turned toward her three first year friends. "Oh good morning, you three! How was your Thanksgiving break?"

Harry and Othniel looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear, before addressing Ana. "You can say it was an adventure," replied Harry. "I got to spend a bit of time with my godfather and Professor Lupin in the Vancouver wizarding district."

"We were this close to witnessing a wizard's duel," added Othniel. "Harry's godfather threatened this creepy-looking dude with a bleach blonde ponytail, but something from the store must have activated as he somehow ended up outside the shop!"

"Oh Merlin," grumbled Ana as she covered her face with her palm. "Spare me the details… I probably don't want to know what led to the confrontation…"

"Let's just say that Padfoot and Lucius know each other from their time at Hogwarts, and they weren't exactly good friends," said Harry.

"The highlight of my Thanksgiving break was spending a bit of time on the phone with you two goobers," giggled Tallulah. "That, and a big ole slice of my Great Meemaw's pecan pie… mmmm!"

Ana giggled. "I'm sure her pecan pie is very tasty, but wait until you try my Great Aunt Maggie's seven berry pie. It's nothing short of heavenly!"

"No way, girlfriend," replied Tallulah. "Try pairing my Great Meemaw's pecan pie with a scoop of her homemade vanilla ice cream… you simply can't beat that combination!"

"I'm sure it's delicious," Ana said. She let out an exasperated groan. "You're making me wish I went home for Thanksgiving instead of staying at the castle and studying. Thanks a lot, Tallulah."

Tallulah snickered. "Don't mention it, Ana."

"You are going back home for Christmas, I hope?" Harry asked. "I know you take your studies seriously, but you really need some time to relax. I'm sure your friends and family back home miss you."

Ana covered her mouth, stifling a giggle. "Yes, Harry, I promise I'm going back home for Christmas break." She threw Harry a sneaky grin. "I won't promise I'll forget to take some textbooks with me…"

"That's fine Ana," Harry said, "but I'd think just an hour or two a day should be enough. You don't need to be cooped up in your room all day long…"

Ana shook her head. "Relax, Harry! An hour or so should be enough to take the edge off."

All of a sudden, a flurry of avian messengers stormed the mess hall, and one of the school owls plopped a letter in front of Ana's half-eaten stack of flapjacks. Upon noticing the unmistakable Hogwarts seal, she let out an excited squeal and opened the yellowish-white envelope.

"22 November 1991

Dear Anastasia,

Hiya! I hope you're enjoying your week off from school. I remember you telling me that you made a last-minute decision to stay at the castle instead of going home – if it was me, I'd be going back home, but I also understand your reasons for staying – I'd be busting my bum preparing for the Quiz Bowl too, especially if there's a trip to another wizarding school on the line!

Speaking of which, I may try out for the Gryffindor Quiz Bowl team next term. I'm not one to toot my own horn, but I'm comfortably in the top five of my year so far. I don't expect to make it the first time, but if there's someone in our year who can do it, it's my housemate Hermione. She's unquestionably the top student of our year – she spends more time studying than anyone I know, with the exception of yourself. She takes it upon herself to lead our study sessions – while she knows I'm a capable student, she does have to harp on my other housemates Lavender and Parvati every now and then. I'm sure they find her rather frustrating from time to time, but I actually admire Hermione and her persistence – she refuses to let her friends settle for second-rate marks when she knows they're capable of being better than average.

Here's a photo of the four of us from last week. The girl with the exceptionally long hair is Lavender, the girl with the twin black pigtails is Parvati, the girl with the halo braid and braces is Hermione (she does look a bit like you, now that I think about it), and of course myself. I'd love for you to join us for a group photo if you make it to Scotland this coming spring!

I feel so happy for Hermione lately – Parvati, Lavender and I have boosted her self-esteem by a significant amount as of late. Since September, I've asked and asked and asked if we could give her a non-magical makeover; she finally relented a few weeks ago and let us style her hair (it's usually a bushy chestnut jungle). When she looked at herself in the mirror for the first time after seeing every single hair in place, she cried big, fat happy tears – she said that for the first time in her life, she actually felt pretty, and that she couldn't wait to show her parents at Christmas.

What about your friends and roommates? I don't think you've told me a lot about them. For instance, you mentioned this Nova girl before – I'm assuming she's got ties to Magical Britain if her father went to Hogwarts?

So, what are your plans for Christmas? I'm assuming you're returning to your family, which is what I'm doing. I haven't seen them in nearly three months – I'm probably going to break down and cry my eyes out when my parents hold me. I've never been apart from them this long before, and while I try to put on a brave face, I can't help but break down and sob every now and then. I miss them terribly, even though I do write to them every week.

Your letters always bring a smile to my face, Anastasia. I hope you enjoy reading my letters as much as I read yours. I can't wait to see what you have to say next time.

With love from Hogwarts,

Daphne"

"Oh, she sent another picture," squeaked Tallulah. "D'you mind if I take a peek?" Ana nodded, and passed the moving photo to Tallulah, who grinned rather like a Cheshire cat. "She's got some cute housemates." She flipped the back of the photo over, which had an inscription of each Hogwarts girl's name in order. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Okay, that's definitely Daphne on the left," she deduced, pointing at the giggling blonde girl. Her voice softened a smidge, trying to enunciate her roommate's unusual first name. "HAIR-mee-owe-nuh?" She shook her head in confusion as she pointed to the halo-braided girl, second from the left – also giggling. "Sort of a strange name she's got, but she's pretty cute too." She looked back up at Ana. "Y'know something, Ana? She kind of looks like you, except with braces and without the freckles."

Ana burst into laughter. "First off, it's Hermione. Her-MY-uh-knee. It's a lot like Daphne and Anastasia in that it's uncommon, and is derived from Greek." She smiled at Tallulah. "She does look a little bit like me I suppose, but her eyes and nose are different. She's a very cute girl, at any rate."

Tallulah nodded. "Pur-vatty?" she murmured, admiring the third girl's twin pigtails.

"I think it's Par-vah-tee," corrected Ana. "She must be of Indian descent."

"Tallulah's an Indian name," Tallulah exclaimed with pride.

Ana smiled at her friend. "No, I mean, Indian, as in South Asian."

Tallulah's mouth rounded into an 'o'. "I was gonna say, it doesn't sound like a Choctaw Indian name. And she's a pretty girl too – I love those pigtails of hers!" She then looked at the last girl, with the light brown hair that looked like it hung all the way down to the small of her back. "This must be Lavender. At least hers is easy to pronounce!" She then handed the photo back to Ana. "Y'know, we need to get a group photo before you send out your next letter. I'm sure Daphne would love that!"