Seraphina Montgomery and the Enchanted Friendship : A Harry Potter fanfiction

Chapter 01: Diagon Alley

"Seraphina, hold still," Adeline Montgomery scolded. Her daughter rolled her violet eyes as she stood on the stool. Seraphina was being measured for her black robes at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions for her first year of wizardry school. Adeline had already been measured for a couple of dress robes she needed for a gathering of potion masters in October and a Ministry event with her husband in November. Her current attire consisted of a midnight blue robe that had long giant bell sleeves she only wore when she was going shopping. The material was so light that it fluttered gently in the air with each step she took.

"Don't roll your eyes at me. If your measurements are off, you'll look ridiculous in your robes," Adeline said and watched her daughter's reflection stare at her with the same violet-colored eyes she had. Seraphina held her mother's gaze in a way that reminded Adeline of her own mother for a moment. She watched as her daughter slowly rolled her eyes at her again. Adeline smiled and shook her head, giving up.

"I know that the list says three of the plain robes and one of the winter cloaks but I'd like five of the plain robes and two winter cloaks," Adeline instructed the witch that was fitting her daughter for the fourth time. She nodded along to Adeline's words. She wasn't the first mother in her shop today with concerns and certainly wouldn't be the last. "My daughter is quite clumsy. I don't want her to be wearing ruined robes," she added.

"Mother!" Seraphina complained as she tried to remain steady on the stool. Ms. Talbot, the seamstress, smiled but suppressed her giggle. "Yes, Ms. Montgomery," Ms. Talbot replied. "Lift your arm dearie," she requested. Seraphina lifted her arm as the measuring tape whipped around her and pins flew through the air. With each stab of the needle to fabric, Ms. Talbot's quill wrote the measurements in a little book.

The young witch was quite still compared to her usual customers. She knew Mrs. Montgomery when she bought her first robes. Adeline had been about her daughter's height but not as stocky. "These should fit you wonderfully," Ms. Talbot confirmed as she double-checked each pin. She moved a few pins along the sleeves. If Seraphina was anything like her mother and grandmother, she would grow in her limbs first. Adding an inch over the standard would give the robes more life.

"How is your grandmother, Seraphina," Ms. Talbot asked. "She is doing well. She is sending out one of her hippogriffs to Hogwarts and two to Beauxbatons," Seraphina replied evenly. "That's nice, lift your hair please," Ms. Talbot said.

Before Seraphina could do anything, Adeline was at her side. She gathered Seraphina's long softly curled brown hair, lifting them carefully. "I see she inherited Mr. Montgomery's hair color, she is almost a spitting image of you, Ms. Montgomery, when you were her age," Ms. Talbot said as she finished modifying the last pin. Adeline laughed lightly. "I'm certain I was not as beautiful as my daughter or half so clever."

Seraphina turned her head and looked at the silk blue robes for Beauxbatons Academy of Magic students. She sighed as she remembered her rejection letter a couple of weeks earlier. It was the school she had longed to go to since she was seven years old. She hadn't passed the French proficiency exam despite thinking she had done exceedingly well. She had studied the language for three years at her boarding school and received high marks in her classes. Seraphina had a sneaking suspicion her father had changed her answers but had no proof of his deception. He had wanted her to go to Durmstrang Institute of Magic instead of either Hogwarts or Beauxbatons.

"She needs to learn to be with her own kind. They don't allow the other type of students at Durmstrang," her father argued. Seraphina had pretended to go to bed but was listening quietly from the hallway. Her parents often argued about her, but it had rarely gotten as loud as it had that night. "It's a good school. My mother and grandmother both attended," Adeline snapped. "My family has been going there for well over a century! Hogwarts does not have the same curriculum as Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, even more so," Aaron growled out. "If she goes to Hogwarts, she'll always be deficient," Aaron said loudly. He never yelled at either Adeline or Seraphina but Seraphina felt like he had at the statement. She had gone to bed after that.