A Taste of Magic

Chapter 67: 67th Course - Having a Ball

Harry sighed softly, looking at himself in the mirror. He looked at the person staring back at him. The person in the mirror looked good enough. The dress robes were made well and fitted very well: black pants and an off-white shirt with a black tie. His overrobes were dark green, almost black, depending on the light. His hair was a mess, but it always was, and his glasses were neat and straight. The person in the mirror looked terribly awkward though, and very insecure.

"You look nice," the mirror said. "Chin up, there you go."

Harry still remembered fondly the first time the mirror talked to him. Each dorm in Gryffindor had one, and they were enchanted to offer advice or tips or in the case of Seamus and Ron, harangue them as needed. The first time it spoke to Harry, it had been very kind and Harry had secretly liked it when the mirror cared about his appearance and did its best to help him. The Dursleys had only cared when Harry was seen on party nights and their comments put him down as opposed to the mirror's uplifting ones.

"I feel like I'm pretending or something," Harry confessed. "Or compensating for something? I don't know."

"Nothing wrong with a bit of pretend," the mirror said comfortably. "If you pretend long enough, sometimes it becomes real."

"I guess so," Harry said with a small smile.

"There's the smile. Go on! Be a gentleman, pretend to have some fun, and then don't be surprised when you actually have some."

"Thank you," Harry said gratefully and left the dorm room, leaving the other boys still getting ready. He walked down the staircase and into the common room. It was very strange. The last three years, he had been the only person to stay for the holidays, so he had the run of the room. This time, essentially everyone from fourth year and up stayed. That and all the different colored dress robes and clothing made it look even busier than normal, making it look even more full.

"Hi Harry!" Parvati appeared and she looked him up and down. "Wow, you clean up good!"

"Thanks!" Harry smiled and blushed a little. "You look very nice. I really like your robes."

Parvati flushed a little but smiled too and twirled. Her dress robes were bright red but warm instead of shocking. A long piece of fabric wound around her waist and went over her shoulder and it was a warmer red edged in gold. "Thanks! I love being able to dress up in fancier clothes here and there." Her eyes widened when Harry handed her a slim case. "Oh what's this?"

"Sirius and Auntie Andi said it's traditional for a Ball," Harry said.

She opened it eagerly and smiled at the slim gold bracelet within. "It's so pretty! Thank you, I really like it." She wound it around her wrist and admired it. "And it matches my other things and my dress."

"I know you like gold and Padma likes silver," Harry said, happy that she was pleased.

"You're such a sweetie," Parvati said. "We're meeting Padma and Terry in the foyer. Just waiting on Hermione now. Lavender already left to meet Tomas."

"Sounds good," Harry said, trying to ignore a slight twinge in his stomach. It went away when Hermione walked down the steps and he smiled at her. "You look great, Hermione."

Hermione smiled brightly. "Thank you! I was nervous but I really do like the dress robes."

"I told you," Parvati said. "You're going to knock Tracey's robes off. Now come on, let's go!" She tucked her arm into Harry's comfortably and they left, alongside a few others coming and leaving the common room and joining the flow of students walking towards the foyer and the Great Hall. The array of different colored and styled dress robes made the foyer seem even more fanciful compared to the regular day to day, enhancing the beautiful decorations.