new clothes and books and quills, and Young Miss needs a wand! Mistress told Tilly that
Young Miss goes to Hogwarts soon with Young Master. Tilly will be sad to see them go,
but she is proud, yes she is, ever so very proud."
Hermione smiled sadly at what looked to be real tears—very different from the fake
manipulating ones she had seen only moments earlier.
Tilly, though, had brought up something that Hermione had already forgotten. She
looked down at the envelope in her hands and smiled, running her finger over the scripted
lettering across it that read:
Miss Potter
Second Floor Room at the end of the Hallway
Potter ManorShe stared at the words with disconnected emotions. She knew that she would not
be able to be called "Granger" here. Dumbledore had found her a pureblood family for a
reason. As a Muggle-born, she was in danger and would draw unwanted attention over her
blood status. But her surname was the last thing she had left of her parents, and the feeling
that she had lost that now, too, broke something inside of her, something that needed to be
broken. She had spent months mourning the loss of parents who were not actually dead.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she cracked the seal and removed the
neatly folded parchment from the thick, heavy envelope. No longer Granger. Maybe she
could learn to heal now.
Harry had apparently been right. Hermione was, in fact, a Potter.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Dear Miss Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all
necessary books and equipment. Term begins on the first of September.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress