Dear mum and dad,

I can't believe I'm studying magic! My first week is going great so far. I got sorted into a house. There are four houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor. Each house has certain attributes ascribed to them, like bravery, intelligence, loyalty and cunning. I'm in Gryffindor, the house of the brave ones. The hat – we got sorted by a magical, talking hat! – wasn't sure whether to place me in Ravenclaw (the house that emphasizes intelligence) or Gryffindor. I wasn't entirely sure where I wanted to be either, they both seemed good places to be, but then I thought: 'I can be smart anywhere, maybe being among students who are considered brave wouldn't be so bad', and then the hat called out that I'd be a Gryffindor. I couldn't be happier.

Although… I don't really get along with the other girls in my year. Each house has a dormitory, and ours is in one of the towers. I'm in a room with the only other Gryffindor girls my age: Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. They're nice enough, but I think they find me a little weird. They're both from magical families, you see, and they think everything here is normal. I don't see how anyone could get used to this, though, no matter how much time you spend dealing with it.

Anyway, there's six boys in my year in Gryffindor: Ron Weasley – he's also from a magical family. He's a little strange, and he has a rat as a pet. He's made friends with Harry Potter, who, from what I've heard, is famous. Apparently he defeated a Dark Lord when he was just a baby, can you imagine? Then there's Seamus and Dean. I haven't talked to them much, but they've also become friends. They're a little childish, but I suppose that's only normal. Neville Longbottom is also from a magical family. He's a bit shy and a bit of a scatterbrain, but he's nice enough. And then there's Draco Malfoy. People talk about him a lot, but I don't understand why. I've asked Lavender and Parvati, but they only look at me strangely and say that he's a Malfoy, like that's supposed to explain everything. I know his family was all in Slytherin, and everyone expected him to be there too, but then he got sorted into Gryffindor and everyone is so confused.

He's nice enough. He sat next to me in Potions class and Transfiguration. I think it's because I'm muggle born – that's what they call people when neither of their parents have magic – and I don't really know about his family. He doesn't say a lot though. He's good at Potions, and I'm good at Transfiguration – so far – so we're just helping each other out. It's the smart thing to do, I think.

Most of the other Gryffindors in our year sort of avoid us, though I've heard the older students call Draco names. I don't understand what they mean, but I see Draco wince whenever they do that. I've told them to stop, but they just laugh and Draco tells me to leave it alone. At least Harry is nice enough. He sits with us sometimes, when Ron isn't around. Ron is… I don't think he's really made up his mind about Draco. Obviously, being from a magical family, he knows a lot more about Draco's background than me, but he's always either mean, or sort of nice. I think Harry makes him be nice though.

Anyway, I have Charms next. I'm not entirely sure what we'll be learning, but everyone else seems to be looking forward to it, so I am too. I miss you so much! Please write back soon. You're just supposed to give the letter to the owl, and tell it to bring it back to me. Or tie it to its leg if it's too big. I know, I thought it was odd too, but I've seen plenty of the other students do it.

All my love,

Hermione