To My Sister

[Viola Prince]

21st September 1883

My dear Mathilda,

I am aware that I mention this quite often, but the house is exceedingly quiet now that yourself, Victor, and Father are away at Hogwarts for the new school term. However, as I have done every year previous, I shall begin to accept your absence but not for another few weeks, I believe.

I trust that the new school term is treating you well, and are you enjoying your new position as Prefect for Slytherin House? I must confess that I was quite proud of you when you had received the letter the two months previous! It is quite an honorable position to be in possession of! Mother would have been wonderfully proud of you should she have been alive.

Affectionately yours,
Viola

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[Mathilda Prince]

Dear Viola

You have said it every year, since Victor started – But I understand you. It must really make a difference that just one of us if there.

I wish you were here, though. You would make a much better prefect than I do, especially considering who the male prefect of the year is.

Mr. Macnair and I, we do not really get that much along, but for now it seems to work. I mean, if he has been chosen to be the Prefect, then he is probably not that bad.

I know this may sound strange but – I feel like I have to proof that I am worthy of being a prefect. That I am not just one because father is head of the house.

Just like I am trying to poof my grades.

I must say – it is strange having father as my potions professor instead of my herbology professor. I kind of have gotten used to him in herbology.

Please promise me that you will come out and try and find a sweet man who is worthy of you, I want you to have a happy future and marry happy as well. And I want nieces and nephews eventually. Preferably before I get children myself.

love,
Mathilda

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[Viola Prince]

23rd September 1883

My dear Mathilda,

I apologize that you find your Prefect counterpart to be unsatisfactory - it does make your duties a bit more difficult to commit to. However, you are correct, if Father or whomever has the authority to select the prefects each year finds a hidden potential within a student, then they cannot be as horrid as we believe them to be. Whatever you do, continue to be civil towards Mr. Macnair until you are given a reason not to be - a civil partnership always a successful partnership. However, considering that I have never been elected Prefect myself, it is up to you to decide whether or not you desire to heed my words.

My dear, you were chosen as a Prefect because a person of authority found something akin to Prefect material, and I must say that they have made a wonderful decision. Mathilda, you are driven, determined, kind, and reasonably well-behaved - you should not feel as if you have anything to prove. As for Father being the Head of House, I'm certain that he was not the only person who contributed to the selecting of the new Prefects.

Indeed! It must feel strange to enter the Potions classroom and find him sitting her rather than the greenhouses! I have only ever seen him within the greenhouses, and therefore, it is a bit odd for me to imagine him teaching Potions rather than Herbology, though I find that his recent return to Potioneering is a good sign that he is beginning to heal.

I can make the attempt to find a man whom I can reasonably tolerate and who also desires to marry me, but these kinds of occurrences take time, Mathilda. Besides, I'm not the type of woman who jumps at the opportunity to marry the first man that shows interest in me. However, I cannot deny that I am beginning to feel the pressure of becoming a wife more acutely of late as it has recently dawned upon me that I shall be turning twenty-one come next year in May. It seems as if it was only yesterday that I was a newly presented debutante and a graduate from Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Well, dear Sister, I fear that I have been rambling a bit too much, so I shall end this letter. I have also enclosed some homemade chocolate chip cookies the cook had made for both you and Victor to enjoy - indeed, they are not as wonderful as the food at Hogwarts, but they are still quite delicious.

Affectionately yours,
Viola

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[Mathilda Prince]

Dear Viola

Your words of advice are always appreciated - you are always the one I go to when I need a female advice - I mean, you and I, after mother died we came closer in a different way.

Concerning Mr. Macnair, it was my plan all along to be civil with him. I mean, even if we have been house mates for four years I still feel like I hardly know him, so it just seemed - well natural to stay civil and polite with him. Not to add that he is a Macnair, and related to the Lestrange family. Messing with them is probably not a good idea.

The Professors may agree with you, but the rest of the students? I just - I want to make it obvious that I am earning my responsibility, not just handed it because of my name and my family.

But yes, father back in the potioneering, it has to be a good sign. I just have to get used to it, I guess. But so far it is not that bad. But I still plan on keeping my promise of not taking potions to N.E.W.T level, just because he is there. It might make him feel more safe, and it will prove to him that I keep my word.

He seems, maybe not happy, but it seems more - natural - I guess is the word I look for, seeing him with potions. He knows exactly what he is doing, and he can sense a coming disaster hours before the rest of us - which is good, truly.

Well, as long as father is not putting any actual pressure on you, I am still wishing you good luck in finding the right husband. You deserve the best, whatever that might be to you.

And I enjoy your letters, so please do not stop writing to me every once in a while.

love,
Mathilda

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