I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.

Mum and Diane -

I'm sure Andromeda's gotten around to writing by now, but I thought I'd add a few notes, since I know you were both anxious over her first days at Hogwarts. (I meant to write sooner, but it's been quite chaotic here, getting everyone settled.)

As we'd all expected, Andromeda was promptly sorted into Hufflepuff, and seems to be settling in quite nicely with her classmates. (I don't know any of them well yet, but they seem as pleasant as first-years ever are. It always takes everyone a few weeks to stop being nervously on their best behavior and relax into being themselves a bit more, as well.) There seems to be plenty of cheerful conversation from that part of the table during the meals I've been around for, and of course, I've checked in with her casually several times, just to make sure there isn't anything she needs.

(Her biggest complaint is finding her way around - but really, that's true for everyone and there's nothing for it but practice.)

As you can imagine, we're still all a little bit overwhelmed with the aftermath of the attack, especially having so many of our students actively involved in really quite dangerous situations. At the same time, I'm so very proud of the students in the CCF programme who stepped forward to be of help, and I've received some really quite gracious thank yous from senior ministry officials, as well as those who were directly helped.

Mum - thanks for the package to start the year. It was much appreciated. I've been able to share them with Poppy, and with Rabastan, and I'm sure the rest will quickly disappear once students remember I sometimes have treats out before I go up to observe in the evening.