Abigail Reid
London, UK

Tyr Brunn
Hogwarts
Scotland, UK

Dear Tyr,

Greetings!! I sound like a Martain.

I do apologize for taking so very long to respond to your letters this summer. I must assure you it was not my intention to ignore you. I was simply quite busy living it up in Egypt! Fantastic place. Oops, I shouldn't have a sentence fragment. Oops - I shouldn't say oops.

So my mother said I should act very formal and polite toward you but I'm going to drop that because I hate it! Let's try this again.

HI! I'm Abby! I got your letters but I ignored them only because I wanted to annoy my parents.

I really did have a fantastic time in Egypt! Aileen (my older sis) and a bunch of professors took us to see the pyramids and tombs and history to enrich our lives! Whoo! We got to go surfing, and ride on camels, and I got lost in the markets three times! I was with friends so it was all good. I also explored a tomb with two other students On Our Own, so we got into big trouble for it. Did anyone warn you that my sister has eyes in the back of her head? She does. It's scary.

So how is the school year going so far! Tell me everything. Do you like Hogwarts? Do you like the Hogwarts students? Do you like the Hogwarts food? How does it compare to Durmstrang? Are the classes easier? What do you think of the tournament?

I await your owl with bated breath! Wait. Bated breath sounds gross somehow. Fresh breath? But fresh breath sounds suggestive. Hm.

I await your owl armed with fluffy, colourful quills and witty quips!

~Abby!

Tyr Brunn
Durmstrang Dormitories
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scotland, UK

Abigail Reid
London, UK

Dear Abigail,

I am glad you had a good time in Egypt. Hogwarts seems much more invested in fun than Durmstrang. The only school trips we have are for an express purpose, such as the Yeti hunts the Headmaster has during the summers. A student lost an arm last year. I will be optimistic and assume Egypt was more pleasant for you, despite you becoming lost repeatedly.

Hogwarts is very strange. The students here seem very muggle compared to Durmstrang and based on their appearances Headmaster Eisenberg has banned the wearing of jeans by our students. They're quite friendly and loud which is strange and some of them even talk back to their professors! The punishments here are very lenient. The students here loose points for their misdemeanors, where as we would have lost our ranks or been lashed.

Miss Magdalena was chosen as one of our champions for the First Task and so I have been aiding her in her preparations. The students at Hogwarts seem to find our arrangement an oddity. Overall I am finding myself a bit envious of the students here as they do not have a strata system like Durmstrang does - and they seem to get in trouble for bullying. It's an interesting system though the Obertiels seem to be finding the increased teacher attention to their activities grating. Back at Durmstrang anyone of that rank is more or less left alone and can conduct themselves as they see fit.

Your sister is a very competent teacher though she seems not to like me much. It is odd to get so much attention from a teacher and it is making me glad she cannot make me a Dreg. Also, it is very odd to have such tiny and unprivate dorms here. I am used to Miss Magdalena's suite back at Durmstrang. It is odd to see the Obertiels having to sleep in the same rooms and many of them are finding the accommodations subpar.

I apologize for the briefness of this letter but Miss Magdalena requires my assistance and Kitty wishes to speak with me.

Abby Reid
London, UK

Tyr Brunn
Durmstrang Dormitories
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scotland, UK

Dear Tyr,

You can call me Abby! Most everyone does.

Yeti hunts! Real yeti hunts? With real yetis? I heard something last year about a fake yeti in the Hogwarts Care of Magical Creatures class, and there was much whinging and dramatics to be had! Wow. Yetis!

Don't lose an arm, by the way. Not in a hunt, or the tournament. That would be bad.

Durmstrang sounds so much more strict than life. I guess I wouldn't talk back much either if those were the consequences! Have you ever   Like Headmaster Eisenberg, my sister tends to think jeans are evil too. I like them, because they're comfortable, but I like a lot of things. And I can be friendly and loud and strange! Don't worry. You'll get used to me.

Feel free to ignore my sister! Well, feel free to ignore her glares. I expect you can't completely ignore her in class. It's nothing against you, though. She'd glare at anyone I might get married to. It's like... a test! If you can act unaffected by it, you pass!

That is exciting that your friend Miss Magdalena got into the tournament for the first task! One of my best friends, Sasha (he is tall and shy and hilariously awkward), is competing so I'm going to cheer him on in the stands. Are you close to Magdalena? What is she like? I wish her luck and hope she gets second place!

So this strata system - the Oberteils are like the popular, powerful kids right? How do they decide who gets in? Is it all about who you know, or based on school stuff?

You get your own private suites back at Durmstrang?! They let you room boys with girls? Lucky!

No worries about the short letter. I've gotta run too! I look forward to hearing from you, Tyr Brunn![1]

~Abby!

1.	A doodle of a winking smiley face

Tyr Brunn
Durmstrang Dormitories
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scotland, UK

Abigail Reid
London, UK

Dear Abigail,

As far as I understand, yes, the yetis are real. They brought a pelt back last year and the headmaster had his chair in the Dining Hall built out of it, I've heard. I am not allowed in the Obertiel's Dining Hall, but from what they say it stands out somewhat, especially because he left the head on it.

I see. Your sister seems a very competent teacher, though her glaring is not having the effect she hoped for, I assume. Teachers often glare at me, you see, so I am used to it.

Your friend Sasha is in many of my classes, I believe. The others from Durmstrang seem not to think much of him, though he seems a competent student and unlikely to punch anyone, which makes him an odd combination for most of us. Durmstrang encourages a competitive spirit, you see - to be on top it takes both academic prowess (or rather, the ability to impress teachers) and the ability to play the political game. He does not seem the type to excell at the second part, at least by our standards, so they find it odd that he is considered a top student.

Miss Magdelena is an Obertiel and is Headmaster Eisenberg's granddaughter. I do not know if you'd call us friends, so perhaps I should try to explain the strata system first, as I realize - especially since coming here - that the relationship makes sense only in that context, appearently.

Durmstrang has 3 stratas of students - the Dregs, who are the worst students and are treated accordingly, the Zufrieden who are the normal students, and the Obertiels who are the top students and leaders of the school. To become an Obertiel one must impress the other Obertiels, since teachers cannot effect if one is one or not. This makes the Obertiels very powerful in the school socially since they have the best dorms, the best uniforms and the most privilages. They are left mostly to their own devices and the teachers only punish them in the case of serious breaches of the rules. They will ignore minor ones such as hexings of other students.

Because Obertiels can also demote their own ranks the Obertiels also compete against each other. Many Obertiels have friends or retainers aoung the lower strata who help them in this social competition, you see, because they sometimes have to do things that they would rather not be caught doing themselves.

I am sorry if that is not very clear as my English is not very good yet. But, I am Miss Magdelena's retainer and aid her in whatever way she likes. Because of my strata and myself I am a frequent target of other students, but her influence aids in stopping that. I am afraid to admit that I am not a very competitive person and prefer to work on my own projects, which at Durmstrang does not work well and does not impress teachers. I have been a Dreg several times, and much prefer being a Zufrieden. We do not have our own dorms but they are at least passable - about on par with the ones Hogwarts provides. The Dreg dorms are very cold and usually crowded and uncomfortable.

I am sorry for boring you with academic details.

Must go - have to head to class and do not know my way here yet.

Abby Reid
London, UK

Tyr Brunn
Durmstrang Dormitories
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scotland, UK

Dear Tyr,

You and your academic details don't bore me! I asked you a bunch of questions, didn't I? (Which is another question, ha!) Plus your English is probably better than mine!

The strata system sounds unfair to me but I guess that is just how things are! If Miss Magdalena isn't exactly your friend, what are your friends like? Other Zufrieden students? Me, I'm closest to Raine, Neely, Sasha, and a fourth year named Naomi (who I always got into trouble with in Egypt). But all of that happened over the past year or so.

I'm not very competitive either! I don't know who I'd even compete with. The squib slacker club? Where everyone sleeps in late and hides from tutors!

I'd write more, but I'll be in the stands tomorrow. Maybe I can meet you? I don't even know what you look like. Are you cute? You sound cute! I'll just wave at every Durmstrang boy I see tomorrow! Kidding .

I basically look a little bit like my sis - blonde, similar eyes, but much shorter than she is. I smile more than she does! And I don't glare. Much. Really!

~Abby!