For a long time, Hermione doesn't quite react. She just stares at Mia, unsure that she's really understanding, unwilling to believe what she's hearing unless words like murder or slaughter are tossed in. But there's not much room for doubt, not at this point, not without her being flat-out naive.

"What of the children?"

Her voice is low in her horror, remembering that she'd been told that magic manifests during childhood and that young mages are taken away from their families to join a Circle. Surely, that means each Circle had its fair share of children, doesn't it? And Cullen-....

"When your brother had been a templar, he'd... he'd do these things? Even if there had been no proof that a specific mage within a Circle posed any real threat?"