"Across the Pond"
Chapter Four
Ah, the thrill of flight! It is a marvelous feeling, to transcend humble Earth, and embark upon a journey into the Wild Blue Yonder! Harry was exhilarated, as he zoomed between the parapets, turrets, arches, colonnades, and pillared halls that comprised the exterior of Hogwarts School.
As he was dive-bombing around the Dark Tower, he saw a figure touch down from his broom near Hagrid's hut. This was perplexing, since staff members were the only people allowed out of Hogwarts at this time of year, and they almost never flew to Hogsmeade. As he considered this, Harry's mind drifted off. As such, he did not realize that he was beginning to drift farther and farther down and move faster and faster. By the time he realized what was going on, it was too late. He was in the front courtyard of the school, approaching the doorway. Realizing he would be dashed on the wall, he bailed off the broom just in time. The end of the broom shaft smacked the vertex of the arch and was sent somersaulting through the causeway. The figure who had landed at Hogwarts (and who had just reached the middle of the stone circle out front) was whacked, smack-dab in the center of his forehead, by one of the broom's steel strirrups, and was knocked out cold.
Uriel woke up several hours later in a daze. "Where am I?" he asked. His glasses were on an end-table next to his bed, and he couldn't see more than two inches past his nose without them.
"In the hospital wing at Hogwarts," responded a nearby blur. Uriel put his glasses on and found the blur to be a lanky young man about his own age, with round eyeglasses and tousled, ebony hair.
"I understand you will be staying with us this term," said an old man to his right. Uriel knew him, immediately, to be Albus Dumbledore.
"Yes, sir," he responded. "And it's an honor to meet you."
"Likewise, I'm sure," responded Dumbledore. "I know your headmaster, Professor Mercury, very well—he helped me defeat Grindelwald, you know. Now, for the duration of your visit, you will be a guest of Gryffindor House. And since you seem to be on the mend, I had better have Mr. Potter take you there now."
And so it was. When they arrived, Uriel was astounded at the magnificence of the common room. St. Malefecent's was a very grand building, but it was little more than a large mansion—it paled when compared to Hogwarts. But the grandeur of the ancient tapestries, the priceless statues, and the moving portraits that inhabited Gryffindor Tower were eclipsed by the radiance that echoed from Her. Uriel did not know who She was, but does the creature that possesses such elegance, such grace, such classical beauty need a name? Need it be befouled by the simplicity of stumbling human words? No, but she was given a name anyway, regardless of what it was…everyone has a name. The wondrous goddess turned and faced Uriel.
"Hi, Harry!" she greeted. "Is this the exchange student?" She cast Uriel a smile that nearly stopped his heart: her even, dazzling teeth, encased in that rose-like mouth, framed beneath those amber eyes, were like something out of mythology. The young man who had accompanied Uriel answered yes. "Hermione Granger," she continued, putting out her hand. "I'm pleased to meet you." Uriel shook her hand. Oh, what warmth ran through his body upon making contact with Hermione; it was as if one of the Seraphim had reached down from the domain of God, and embraced him. "Uriel Inkwell," he said. "Likewise, I'm sure."
Uriel did not know what to think of his luck. He would be spending the next eight months in the most prestigious school of magic in the world, being taught by the most knowledgeable professors anywhere, and sharing a house with the most beautiful witch he had ever seen in his life.
Fate is sweet.