Hermione Jane Granger

Now that the students are back I don't get as much time to work on my project. But it will be done soon. It's taken so much longer than I ever imagined!

And all the fir branches are down and the decorations too, and it's a new year. I wrote '1992' for the first time two days ago and that was very strange.

Terry hasn't been around and I am always nervous when Terry isn't around, although I know I oughtn't be. I'm glad Dennis is back. He's a little strange but at least he's someone that I'm allowed to speak to properly. I can't speak to my betters properly and the house elves don't really listen, I mean they do, but they don't care about any of the same things I care about at all and it isn't any use to talk to them because of that.

I haven't had much time to work on the Pretiosissimum Donum Dei because I have been spending so much time in the library fixing books instead of being a scriptor. I just dyed the cover black which is all right because I think it will look good with gold embossing, before it was just plain because I had run out of time to do anything interesting on it. But now I need to do the illstrations again and I have been thinking about how I should do them. Last time I did them I just copied them out in a strong light box and they looked traced. But now Professor McGonagall told me that there isn't any hurry because the Lord Protector knows what happened.

So I have been thinking that perhaps I ought to draw the illustrations out myself so that they are really unique. Unique was a word of the day a long time ago, when I was less good at things. I think it will take me a long time to do, because I have only ever doodled a little bit. But it won't take as long as it might because last time I wrote out the Donum Dei I had to use all the paints and gold leaf and so on so I know how to use them at least a little.

Also now I won't have to get Madam Pince to charm the light box.

But I will have to be very careful that they are basically the same because they might mean something important. Also, Madam Pince said that she didn't think I should spend a lot of time copying them out because they have men and women "coupling" on them. But it isn't anything I hadn't seen before. Mum used to try and make me not see it in the camps but there are only so many places you can look. It's kind of gross but I suppose it is important for alchemy. So Professor McGonagall sat me down and asked me whether I had any questions and whether I understood that this was grown up things, and I don't think I would be a good alchemist anyway, so that was all right and I'm still allowed to copy them out.

Madam Pince also said that I could look at other pictures and copy off of them for the positions of people and things. So that is what I am going to do.

Terry, now that you have boots could you come out walking with me? Will Professor Carrow let you, today before it gets dark? While Professor Carrow is at lunch and he doesn't need you maybe? I know that you haven't been but you should see how pretty it can be in winter, even when there isn't snow, there's ice on the lake and I know you haven't seen that before because your toes would freeze off.

I'm just finished recopying and binding the Pretiosissimum Donum Dei, and it's beautiful!!! I'm so happy that I did it well. That was the secret job I had, to recopy and bind it. Madam Pince is excited too. It was the first time I was allowed to copy out a book! Soon she'll let me do it for books that can't be reproduced any other way, and then I'll be a real scriptor!! The Pretiosissimum Donum Dei is supposed to be Professor McGonagall's gift to the Lord Protector. She told me it wasn't a secret as of today, so I could tell people. It's as if I'm giving him something too, even though I know he wouldn't want anything I could give him, because I'm a Mudblood.

Anyway I'm looking forward to the Feast so I can see it be presented to him! I keep looking through it, it's so nice. I'm really proud of myself.

I'm learning a little bit of Latin as I go too. Not much but I can say "Ave et vale!" So ave et vale!!!