Viola nodded. "I recall the winter weather being generally tolerable when I was a student. I am hoping it remains so now, for me. And," she added wryly, "being important is not all it's made out to be." She took the last bite of her scone and let that thought settle for a moment.
"I believe the point of the cut in the article is that sleeves are the fashion now, even for some ballgowns. I wouldn't know; my mother and sister dress me like a doll every season if I'm required to attend any balls at all. They enjoy it, and I do not, so it seems a situation that works out to the best for all of us." That the point of the finery was to improve Viola's increasingly poor odds of finding a suitor was left unsaid, in part because it concerned Viola far less than rasher she was serving from the plate of bacon the house-elves had just put on the table.