Please sit down, mum and dad. This is important, really important.
I'm not really sure how to tell you this. I'm not going back to school next year. I'm not sure there will be a school next year.
I'm leaving to make sure that there will be one someday.
Do you remember, when I was little, and you used to tell me stories? About brave knights who rode horses to save princesses? The faery-tale stories of chivalry and honour.
Now it's time for me to be the knight. I don't have shining armour, and the princess isn't a girl, the princess is an ideal. A virtue. A way of life. Freedom.
I guess I should tell you the story too. The whole story. Once upon a time, there was a boy, a little child, an infant. His parents were good people. They were killed by a maniac.
The little prince saved the world one night, because his mother loved him so much that she gave him the power to live. The evil man was vanquished.
Now the little prince is a man, my best friend, and the villain is back. Only this isn't a faery-tale, mum and dad. His name is Voldemort, and he's real. His servant gave me this scar. He gave Harry that scar on his head.
He wants to destroy us, mum and dad. What I represent. Equality between all, the freedom to learn and to choose. He hates what I am, what Harry is, what Ron is. Life. Now he's back.
Please don't cry, mum. You'll make me cry too.
I have to go. Don't look at me like that. I'm fighting for lots of reasons. I could stay at home and do nothing- but what kind of person would I be? He wants to kill Harry, dad. What kind of friend would I be if I let him face that alone? He needs me, mum and dad. I need him. I love him. I love Ron. I love Hogwarts. I love magic. I love being able to learn.
I'm fighting because he's hurt my friends. What he stands for is wrong, and it kills people. If I had time, I could tell you so many stories. People die because of him. I could tell you about Benjy Fenwick, Caradoc Dearheart, the Prewett brothers- they were Ron's uncles, dad, and he never got a chance to know them! Harry's never known his parents because of his egocentric madness. We have to stop him before it gets worse.
You always taught me to do the right thing. You always told me that sometimes, doing the right thing hurts. Sometimes it's hard. And it requires sacrifice. What kind of daughter would I be if I lay down and let him destroy what you fought so hard to teach me? To do what is right, regardless of the price. I know I could die- but I'm not going down without a fight. Believe me, dad, if I do go down, I'm going down swinging. Not just for me. For Ron. For Harry. For Hogwarts. For justice, and peace.
For you, and everything you've taught me to be.
There's no easy way to go around this. I'm scared, mum. I'm terrified out of my mind. But I have the power to change this, or to at least help facilitate the change. What good are my brains, my cleverness, if I sit idle and let everything fall to dust around me? I can't sit here and watch everything I love and cherish disappear. You've taught me better than that. You taught me to be strong. You taught me to follow the law when it was just, and to raise my voice when it was wrong. Now it's my chance to voice myself. Perhaps through blood and tears, but no-one ever promised us that righteousness comes cheaply. The price of freedom is steep, I know, but it's worth paying, even if I pay with my life.
Please, please stop crying. This is hard enough as it is.
Oh, bugger. Sorry, mum, usually I don't like that kind of language either, but I think the situation merits it, you know?
I don't know what else to tell you. I don't know what else I can say. Sorry, mum and dad, I'm off to fight a war I might not come back from? I know I'm your only child, but what else can I do? There's always more questions to be asked, but right now, I don't have time for them. We don't have time for them.
I'm going to go now, mum, dad. Ron's older brother is about to get married. I know, it's great, isn't it? I can't say I'm wild about the bride, but she makes Bill happy, and right now, we need all the happiness we can get, I say. After that? Who knows. I'm not going to tell you where I'm going, you'll only worry more. Yes, I'll write, when I can, but it might be tough. I'll try, though, I promise you.
It's going to be okay, mum, it really is. I know it's hard, but I'm doing this for the right reasons. And because of you, I know what the right reasons are. Try not to be scared, dad. I'll try my best to come back, alive and in one piece. And you know me; I'm too stubborn to die.
I'll see you, mum, dad.
And I hope you're proud of me.
Because I'm proud to be your daughter.
I love you.
Fin.