"And I defy you to prove it. If I were a boy I'd make a bet on it," said Hermione. "But there I never mind; don't let us talk on the subject any longer. Come and show me your room, and afterwards you can tell me about yourself." I had to crush down my gathering wrath, and we went upstairs. Hermione was restless; I tried to talk in a matter-of-fact and yet haughty sort of way, but she hardly replied. "It is so amusing," she said. "What is the matter with you?" "Oh, to be in the house with _them_, you know." "The house with whom?" "Why, the Professor and Miss Grace Donnithorne." "I don't see that it is the least remarkable," I answered. "But it is--very. And dear old Grace, too--dear old Grace--whom I have known ever since I was a baby. I suppose I am glad, but perhaps I am sorry too; I am really not sure. You see, I have hardly looked at your Professor, but I'll study him tremendously when tea is ready. Now do come downstairs, Dumps, and don't look so bewildered. You would be quite nice-looking if your hair was properly arranged. Here, let me arrange it for you. Why should it sag in that hideous way over your forehead? Give me your comb." Hermione could be very masterful. She folded back my hair in some marvellous fashion, which made my forehead look much broader, and then she plaited it in two thick plaits which hung down my back. Those plaits kept the front quite tidy and in complete order; and then she brought a little hand-glass and made me look at my reflection behind. "You look quite a nice girl," she said. "I grant that you have not the most perfect features in the world, but a great many girls who have better features would give up everything for your hair." Yes, my hair was very thick, and it was very bright, and somewhat tawny in shade, and the two plaits were massive and very long, for they hung far below my waist. "I have such a little screw of hair," said Hermione, "that I shall be delighted when I am allowed to put it up; but mother won't hear of it until I am seventeen. She says that, as my hair is so rat's-taily, I may as well put it up when I am seventeen, but that won't be for a whole year and three months." "Then you are not sixteen yet?" "No." "I am three months younger than you," I replied, "and I am not a bit anxious to be grown-up; I want to remain a child." "Perhaps so; with your sort of figure and your thick hair--it won't look nearly so well when it is coiled round your head--I am not surprised. Oh, delightful sound! There's the tinkle of dear Grace's tea-bell. Now come along down; I do want to store at the Professor."