Spellbound~ Chapter 1:
"Attention!" Dumbledore said. His voice echoed through the Great Hall. His silvery gray beard shimmered in the candlelight, and his eyes sparkled with what could only be magic.
Harry loved it. He loved dinner. He loved the way the food appeared on the plates with the wave of a hand. He loved the way that all of Hogwarts gathered together to eat. But most of all he loved Dumbledore. Not to say, that he love, loved Dumbledore, but he loved Dumbledore's presence and the safe, comforting feeling his voice gave him.
Dumbledore's voice swept the room once more, " I am pleased, to introduce, a new student!" All eyes (if not yet on Dumbledore) shot to the head table. Standing between Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore stood the new student. "This", Professor McGonagall said in her crooked voice, which often comes with old age, "is Eden Ebony". The room filled with whispers. "She is from Africa, her father has been hired by the Ministry of Magic to do some.er.work", McGonagall continued, " I hope all of you will make her feel at home".
All eyes focused on the African foreigner. Contrary to the connotation that her name gives, she had porcelain skin. Her eyes were a piercing blue and her blonde hair was full of bouncy curls that rested on her shoulders. She wore robes, but robes that no one was accustomed to. The cloak was of a cranberry red, and seemed to be of a diaphanous texture. It had embroidered flowers and vines on parts of the material. And underneath the cloak was a flowing summer dress of sorts, that was of white linen. She had an undeniable beauty. She was almost as beautiful as Fleur de la Cour. Needless to say, the Hogwarts students were entranced by her presence. She was so different from anything they had ever seen; her beauty was so omnipotent: it was almost scary.
Her spell was soon broken by the echoing voice of Dumbledore, "Let us feast!" He said, and the plates and goblets filled with abundant food and sweet pumpkin juice. Fortunately for Malfoy, the incident that had occurred earlier that day had been altogether forgotten, and the hall buzzed with talk of the mysterious Eden Ebony. That is, everyone but Harry had forgot it. Harry's mind was still swimming with thoughts about his hex on Malfoy. As he put his napkin in his lap he noticed tea stains on his robes.
"Bloody hell!" He muttered to himself.
"Harry! Can you believe that Ebony girl?" Ron said between sips of pumpkin juice. "Wow, is she fit!"
"Er-fit right", Harry said distractedly as he tried to get the tea stain out with his wand. I light flashed out of a wand and across the table eliminating the stain from Harry's shirt.
"There!" Hermione said.
"Thanks."
"You really need to learn some basic house cleaning spells Harry. Especially with you being so clumsy and all."
"Thanks a lot, Hermione." Ron and Hermione stifled their giggles as Harry shot them glances with the message "shut-up-it's-not-funny", but Harry couldn't contain himself and he chuckled at Hermione's crack.
"So, what do you think of this new student?" Hermione said. Ron's jaw dropped and he raised his right eyebrow. All three of them cracked up.
"Like you have a chance with her, Ron! You got sick just thinking about asking Elizabeth out." Harry said.
"Ronny, I am your girlfriend, you know. It's a bit rude talking about fit girls in front of me don't you think?" Elizabeth said. She was a cute girl. She had a mess of a curly brown hair that didn't grow in one particular direction. She had become Hermione's closest friend (outside of Harry and Ron of course), and was just as studious as Hermione. Professor Sprout was her grandmother. And she had the same round face and figure as the herbology teacher. She was perfect for Ron in every way, and the two of them were generally inseparable.
" O right, Liz!" Ron joked. He turned to the girl sitting beside him and gave her a squeeze. "Where were you this afternoon love?"
" Well, I promised grandmother that I'd have afternoon tea with her."
" You missed some great fun, Liz. Harry really tricked up Malfoy this time!" Ron was filled with the excitement that he had had earlier that day. " He put this hex on Draco that...O why don't you tell her what you did Harry!" Harry shook his head and Ron continued, " Well, you see, it was lunch and everybody was in here having a jolly old time, and then Malfoy gets up the nerve to come over here and make fun of Hermione and tell her she's a filthy mudblood", Hermione winced and Liz gasped, "Oops, sorry Hermione, I didn't mean anything, I was just-"
" I know. It's fine Ron. Go on." Hermione interrupted.
" So, Harry gets real mad at Malfoy and puts this hex on him that flips him upside down. The whole of the Hall saw his underwear and his knee-high stockings. They had bloody embroidered broomsticks on them, Liz!" Ron seemed to get a real kick out of this. He let out a loud laugh and sprayed Hermione with his pumpkin juice. "Sorry, Hermione", he said as he wiped his mouth, "Can you imagine? Seventh year and embroidered underwear? I'd die!" Liz let out a contagious giggle, and the table began to shake with laughter.
Harry's mind driften and he began to think about this year, being his last at Hogwarts. The last year of adventures, of Potions, of tests and homework, of living at the one place he ever called home. But this was also the first year at Hogwarts that Ron and he both had girlfriends. He had Ginny, and Ron had Liz. But never had Hermione had a boyfriend. Or at least a boyfriend that went to Hogwarts. There was that whole Viktor Krum thing, but that had ended last year. He began to feel sorry for Hermione. He looked up from his plate to her and saw a tall, lean boy behind her.
"O, hi there love!" Hermione said to the boy.
"Where were you this afternoon, Hermione? I thought we were going to the library together?" He said.
"O I'm sorry darling, my friends and I had tea with Hagrid today. I'm awful sorry." Hermione giggled and gave him a peck on the cheek. She wasn't acting herself. She was being. well flirty, and it made Harry and Ron sick to their stomachs. Liz just smiled at Hermione and stifled a giggle.
"Hermione", she said, "would you like to introduce us to your.er.friend?"
"O, of course! Liz, Ron, Harry", she said as she pointed to each of them, "this is my boyfriend, Avery." Hermione beamed as she looked up at Avery. He was tall and well built. He had a head of curly brown hair and wore black-rimmed glasses.
"And how did you two meet?" Liz pried.
"Liz, shouldn't you be at the Hufflepuff table?" Hermione said through gritted teeth. Hermione quickly put on a smile and turned her head so she was looking up at Avery. "O, Avery's Head Boy. I met him at the meeting with Dumbledore at the beginning of the year. Being Head Girl and all, we spend lots of time together!"
"I think I'm going to get sick!" Ron muttered under his breath. The two of them burst into laughter, as Hermione's cheeks flushed a vibrant red. I guess I have no reason to feel sorry for her after all Harry thought to himself.
"Harry!!" someone shouted across the hall. It was Ginny. She came running towards him. Right alongside her was the African beauty Eden Ebony, "Harry, you'll never guess what happened! This is Eden Ebony, Eden this is Harry Potter." Eden clapped her hand over her mouth.
"You are Harry Potter?" She said in perfect English, with just the slightest touch of a foreign accent (much to their surprise), "but the, the", Harry lifted his mess of hair to reveal the lightening bolt scar. He was used to having people react this way, it was an automatic response. "It's so nice to meet you, in South Africa you are idolized. Your name is most sacred. I am honored."
"Likewise", Harry said. Ginny sat in his lap. The crowd in the Hall had diminished. A Victoria sponge cake was sitting on their plates. None of them had noticed until now, when Ginny grabbed Harry's and took a nibble.
"Sorry, love", Ginny said, " I've been in the library all day, big Potions test tomorrow you know, I'm absolutely famished. Anyway, Dumbledore has put me in charge of helping Eden get used to Hogwarts. You know, taking her to her classes, stuff like that. She's really wonderful. Aren't her clothes beautiful?" Eden blushed. "Well, I thought it quite exciting, and I wanted to introduce you to her first! She's a Gryffindor too just like us!" Avery flinched, he was a Ravenclaw. Ginny immediately realized this, "I'm sorry, don't believe we've met I'm Ginny Weasley."
"Avery, nice to meet you."
"Well, Eden and I must go. We're going to get her all settled into the Girls Dormitory. Good night everybody!"
"Good night", they all chimed.
"Good night", echoed Eden. Ron was spellbound once more. His mouth was open, and he had a glazed look on his face. Liz kicked him under the table, and Eden giggled. "Good night, red headed boy." Eden said to Ron. He tried to say good night back but could only manage a weak smile.
"Good night, darling", Ginny said to Harry and she gave him a squeeze good- bye as she jumped off his lap, and then grabbed Eden's hand leading her out of the Great Hall doors.
Now, the Great Hall was completely empty except for the five of them. "Well I suppose we better go too", Hermione said, "I still have to study for Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm convinced that there will be a pop quiz tomorrow!" And with that she and Avery darted out of the Hall. It was just Harry, Ron, and Liz now, and Harry figured that they'd like to be left alone, so he said his good nights and headed up to the Common Room, it had been a long day, tomorrow was Monday, and he had Potions first thing in the morning.
He crept his way up to his room, as the clock struck ten. He still hadn't studied for his Potions quiz the next day, so he went up to his room got his books and went back down to the commons room to study by the fire. He hoped that Ron would get back soon so they could study together. He began to go over his notes: ½ cup of frog livers ¼ tsp. of mustard seed ¾ tbs. of newt eyes he read. But it was hard to keep his eyes open. The heat from the fire felt nice, and Eden Ebony's summer dress, and fresh bouncy hair kept coming to mind.
The clock struck midnight as Ron crept through the portrait hole. Harry was fast asleep, and they both were thinking of Eden Ebony's white linen summer dress.
"Attention!" Dumbledore said. His voice echoed through the Great Hall. His silvery gray beard shimmered in the candlelight, and his eyes sparkled with what could only be magic.
Harry loved it. He loved dinner. He loved the way the food appeared on the plates with the wave of a hand. He loved the way that all of Hogwarts gathered together to eat. But most of all he loved Dumbledore. Not to say, that he love, loved Dumbledore, but he loved Dumbledore's presence and the safe, comforting feeling his voice gave him.
Dumbledore's voice swept the room once more, " I am pleased, to introduce, a new student!" All eyes (if not yet on Dumbledore) shot to the head table. Standing between Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore stood the new student. "This", Professor McGonagall said in her crooked voice, which often comes with old age, "is Eden Ebony". The room filled with whispers. "She is from Africa, her father has been hired by the Ministry of Magic to do some.er.work", McGonagall continued, " I hope all of you will make her feel at home".
All eyes focused on the African foreigner. Contrary to the connotation that her name gives, she had porcelain skin. Her eyes were a piercing blue and her blonde hair was full of bouncy curls that rested on her shoulders. She wore robes, but robes that no one was accustomed to. The cloak was of a cranberry red, and seemed to be of a diaphanous texture. It had embroidered flowers and vines on parts of the material. And underneath the cloak was a flowing summer dress of sorts, that was of white linen. She had an undeniable beauty. She was almost as beautiful as Fleur de la Cour. Needless to say, the Hogwarts students were entranced by her presence. She was so different from anything they had ever seen; her beauty was so omnipotent: it was almost scary.
Her spell was soon broken by the echoing voice of Dumbledore, "Let us feast!" He said, and the plates and goblets filled with abundant food and sweet pumpkin juice. Fortunately for Malfoy, the incident that had occurred earlier that day had been altogether forgotten, and the hall buzzed with talk of the mysterious Eden Ebony. That is, everyone but Harry had forgot it. Harry's mind was still swimming with thoughts about his hex on Malfoy. As he put his napkin in his lap he noticed tea stains on his robes.
"Bloody hell!" He muttered to himself.
"Harry! Can you believe that Ebony girl?" Ron said between sips of pumpkin juice. "Wow, is she fit!"
"Er-fit right", Harry said distractedly as he tried to get the tea stain out with his wand. I light flashed out of a wand and across the table eliminating the stain from Harry's shirt.
"There!" Hermione said.
"Thanks."
"You really need to learn some basic house cleaning spells Harry. Especially with you being so clumsy and all."
"Thanks a lot, Hermione." Ron and Hermione stifled their giggles as Harry shot them glances with the message "shut-up-it's-not-funny", but Harry couldn't contain himself and he chuckled at Hermione's crack.
"So, what do you think of this new student?" Hermione said. Ron's jaw dropped and he raised his right eyebrow. All three of them cracked up.
"Like you have a chance with her, Ron! You got sick just thinking about asking Elizabeth out." Harry said.
"Ronny, I am your girlfriend, you know. It's a bit rude talking about fit girls in front of me don't you think?" Elizabeth said. She was a cute girl. She had a mess of a curly brown hair that didn't grow in one particular direction. She had become Hermione's closest friend (outside of Harry and Ron of course), and was just as studious as Hermione. Professor Sprout was her grandmother. And she had the same round face and figure as the herbology teacher. She was perfect for Ron in every way, and the two of them were generally inseparable.
" O right, Liz!" Ron joked. He turned to the girl sitting beside him and gave her a squeeze. "Where were you this afternoon love?"
" Well, I promised grandmother that I'd have afternoon tea with her."
" You missed some great fun, Liz. Harry really tricked up Malfoy this time!" Ron was filled with the excitement that he had had earlier that day. " He put this hex on Draco that...O why don't you tell her what you did Harry!" Harry shook his head and Ron continued, " Well, you see, it was lunch and everybody was in here having a jolly old time, and then Malfoy gets up the nerve to come over here and make fun of Hermione and tell her she's a filthy mudblood", Hermione winced and Liz gasped, "Oops, sorry Hermione, I didn't mean anything, I was just-"
" I know. It's fine Ron. Go on." Hermione interrupted.
" So, Harry gets real mad at Malfoy and puts this hex on him that flips him upside down. The whole of the Hall saw his underwear and his knee-high stockings. They had bloody embroidered broomsticks on them, Liz!" Ron seemed to get a real kick out of this. He let out a loud laugh and sprayed Hermione with his pumpkin juice. "Sorry, Hermione", he said as he wiped his mouth, "Can you imagine? Seventh year and embroidered underwear? I'd die!" Liz let out a contagious giggle, and the table began to shake with laughter.
Harry's mind driften and he began to think about this year, being his last at Hogwarts. The last year of adventures, of Potions, of tests and homework, of living at the one place he ever called home. But this was also the first year at Hogwarts that Ron and he both had girlfriends. He had Ginny, and Ron had Liz. But never had Hermione had a boyfriend. Or at least a boyfriend that went to Hogwarts. There was that whole Viktor Krum thing, but that had ended last year. He began to feel sorry for Hermione. He looked up from his plate to her and saw a tall, lean boy behind her.
"O, hi there love!" Hermione said to the boy.
"Where were you this afternoon, Hermione? I thought we were going to the library together?" He said.
"O I'm sorry darling, my friends and I had tea with Hagrid today. I'm awful sorry." Hermione giggled and gave him a peck on the cheek. She wasn't acting herself. She was being. well flirty, and it made Harry and Ron sick to their stomachs. Liz just smiled at Hermione and stifled a giggle.
"Hermione", she said, "would you like to introduce us to your.er.friend?"
"O, of course! Liz, Ron, Harry", she said as she pointed to each of them, "this is my boyfriend, Avery." Hermione beamed as she looked up at Avery. He was tall and well built. He had a head of curly brown hair and wore black-rimmed glasses.
"And how did you two meet?" Liz pried.
"Liz, shouldn't you be at the Hufflepuff table?" Hermione said through gritted teeth. Hermione quickly put on a smile and turned her head so she was looking up at Avery. "O, Avery's Head Boy. I met him at the meeting with Dumbledore at the beginning of the year. Being Head Girl and all, we spend lots of time together!"
"I think I'm going to get sick!" Ron muttered under his breath. The two of them burst into laughter, as Hermione's cheeks flushed a vibrant red. I guess I have no reason to feel sorry for her after all Harry thought to himself.
"Harry!!" someone shouted across the hall. It was Ginny. She came running towards him. Right alongside her was the African beauty Eden Ebony, "Harry, you'll never guess what happened! This is Eden Ebony, Eden this is Harry Potter." Eden clapped her hand over her mouth.
"You are Harry Potter?" She said in perfect English, with just the slightest touch of a foreign accent (much to their surprise), "but the, the", Harry lifted his mess of hair to reveal the lightening bolt scar. He was used to having people react this way, it was an automatic response. "It's so nice to meet you, in South Africa you are idolized. Your name is most sacred. I am honored."
"Likewise", Harry said. Ginny sat in his lap. The crowd in the Hall had diminished. A Victoria sponge cake was sitting on their plates. None of them had noticed until now, when Ginny grabbed Harry's and took a nibble.
"Sorry, love", Ginny said, " I've been in the library all day, big Potions test tomorrow you know, I'm absolutely famished. Anyway, Dumbledore has put me in charge of helping Eden get used to Hogwarts. You know, taking her to her classes, stuff like that. She's really wonderful. Aren't her clothes beautiful?" Eden blushed. "Well, I thought it quite exciting, and I wanted to introduce you to her first! She's a Gryffindor too just like us!" Avery flinched, he was a Ravenclaw. Ginny immediately realized this, "I'm sorry, don't believe we've met I'm Ginny Weasley."
"Avery, nice to meet you."
"Well, Eden and I must go. We're going to get her all settled into the Girls Dormitory. Good night everybody!"
"Good night", they all chimed.
"Good night", echoed Eden. Ron was spellbound once more. His mouth was open, and he had a glazed look on his face. Liz kicked him under the table, and Eden giggled. "Good night, red headed boy." Eden said to Ron. He tried to say good night back but could only manage a weak smile.
"Good night, darling", Ginny said to Harry and she gave him a squeeze good- bye as she jumped off his lap, and then grabbed Eden's hand leading her out of the Great Hall doors.
Now, the Great Hall was completely empty except for the five of them. "Well I suppose we better go too", Hermione said, "I still have to study for Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm convinced that there will be a pop quiz tomorrow!" And with that she and Avery darted out of the Hall. It was just Harry, Ron, and Liz now, and Harry figured that they'd like to be left alone, so he said his good nights and headed up to the Common Room, it had been a long day, tomorrow was Monday, and he had Potions first thing in the morning.
He crept his way up to his room, as the clock struck ten. He still hadn't studied for his Potions quiz the next day, so he went up to his room got his books and went back down to the commons room to study by the fire. He hoped that Ron would get back soon so they could study together. He began to go over his notes: ½ cup of frog livers ¼ tsp. of mustard seed ¾ tbs. of newt eyes he read. But it was hard to keep his eyes open. The heat from the fire felt nice, and Eden Ebony's summer dress, and fresh bouncy hair kept coming to mind.
The clock struck midnight as Ron crept through the portrait hole. Harry was fast asleep, and they both were thinking of Eden Ebony's white linen summer dress.