Hermia nodded her enthusiastic agreement. It would be foolish to do anything but assimilate at Hogwarts. As an ambassador's daughter, she was used to being an outsider. Still, she had learned that investing in the people around her, no matter how difficult, made the challenge bearable. "You must adapt to their ways, but do not lose who you are. And that can be very difficult here. My parents and brothers all attended Beauxbaton, and I felt very alone when I was sorted." Hermia confided. It was not something she spoke of often; she did not like to ruminate on her own history, but if it could help the younger girl, she was happy to try. "Oi, Papa is the French ambassador to Britain now. Though I wish we were still in Tunisia, the weather there was far more to my liking." Hermia remembered that the DeCroix family held some prominence in neighboring Algeria, but trade relations had never been Hermia's interest.
Hermia laughed at that. As a lover of history, she wasn't certain the younger girl was far off the mark. "Wait until your third year, Miss DeCroix. If you take Ancient Studies, you'll be reading scrolls written by fully mad recluses from even earlier than that."
Hermia was relieved the Slytherins hadn't started cannibalizing themselves yet this year. This year's Sorting seemed to bring several unpleasant surprises for some of the first years, and Slytherin had a particularly vicious reputation already. It was not a common room Hermia had any desire to be in.
"It would be no bother, I assure you." Now in her sixth year, Hermia had performed impressively, as expected, on her OWLs; she was a prefect and quidditch captain; she had been accepted into Alchemy; and her club life was flourishing. She was also avoiding her losses. The first anniversary of her brother's death over the summer had been torturous, and she had to give up four classes she had loved. Hermia would never voice that the loss of her classes mattered more to her now than any thought of Pierre. "Tell me, which classes are proving the most difficult?"
Hermia laughed at that. As a lover of history, she wasn't certain the younger girl was far off the mark. "Wait until your third year, Miss DeCroix. If you take Ancient Studies, you'll be reading scrolls written by fully mad recluses from even earlier than that."
Hermia was relieved the Slytherins hadn't started cannibalizing themselves yet this year. This year's Sorting seemed to bring several unpleasant surprises for some of the first years, and Slytherin had a particularly vicious reputation already. It was not a common room Hermia had any desire to be in.
"It would be no bother, I assure you." Now in her sixth year, Hermia had performed impressively, as expected, on her OWLs; she was a prefect and quidditch captain; she had been accepted into Alchemy; and her club life was flourishing. She was also avoiding her losses. The first anniversary of her brother's death over the summer had been torturous, and she had to give up four classes she had loved. Hermia would never voice that the loss of her classes mattered more to her now than any thought of Pierre. "Tell me, which classes are proving the most difficult?"
![[Image: 8hJrlbS.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/8hJrlbS.jpg)