You must know that August isn't quite the same without your presence. And if you were not yet aware, perhaps this letter may serve to inform you. It seems equally unusual that I should have to pen a full letter to a dearest friend, who lives not far away at all, in order to reach her through this mysterious absence she seems to have taken from our lives.

I have finished my latest novel, The Jungle Book, you may recall me mentioning the author. I always enjoy Muggle authors who can paint such a magical world without having any themselves. The characters are very colorful and incredibly human, though most are animals. Some are even wiser than our Hogwarts professors, and I'd ask you not to repeat that to the professors at the castle, please. Levity aside, I felt most deeply for Mowgli, however, he is raised away from mankind among animals, yet he's more truly human than the brutish men in the book. How horrible it would be to live among your own kind and yet feel such closer affinity for others unlike you.

There has been so little else going on, I fear, that a book review had to dominate my letter to you. I know you dislike them, Anne, and humor me well enough. Sometimes the days I spend working for Daffy I would wish to be reading instead, even though that feels dishonest to consider. It didn't feel like such an obligation when the summer began, yet now there are days at the shop when I long to be anywhere else. I suppose I should be happy that I get along with Daffy, and I am helping out family after all. With so many new babies in the family this year, I am disappointed to discover that nursemaid is not a task I am well-equipped for, so it is better to be around plants and flowers that won't screech if I hold them wrong.

This letter seems long enough, so I will end it here. I miss your presence and our conversations, particularly the many insights you bring. Perhaps one will be the subject of what has kept you so tightly hidden away, too.


P.S. Since you missed our planned gathering for the astronomy homework, Papa says we could make another try of it this weekend if you are able.

P.P.S. My letter from Hogwarts came with a prefect badge, and I haven't had anyone else to tell. No one else in the family was prefect or head student, which came as a shock.

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