When Hermione Fights

Ministry of Magic and the Ball

Ministry of Magic and the Ball

On the next morning, the twenty-second of December, I welcomed the day with a long run, which I enjoyed heartily, through the Wiltshire countryside, despite the freezing cold, after which I set out to get the groceries.

Shopping could wear one out pretty easily was my summary when I carefully, so as not to burn myself, slid into the old, filigree bathtub. I had oils and herbs in the water as bath additives, which would help to make my skin especially soft and fragrant. Tonight I wanted to look perfect, and the dolling up would take the rest of the day. I coated myself in a seductively scented body lotion using Ambra I had specially purchased from a very expensive shop. Afterward, I painted my finger and toenails with a light rose colour and smoothed out my hair magically. I had turned it into a shimmering mass after several rinses and cures.

Then, I started beautifying my face. Primer, make-up, eyeshadow of a delicate grey-silver tone, black eyeliner which emphasized my eyes, mascara to accent my thick eyelashes even more, a little rouge, all in all very beautiful. The face I saw in my compact mirror had softly drawn contours and looked very delicate and dainty, I liked it. Now, all I wanted to do was tame my hair into a set hairstyle, and thanks to magic, I had succeeded and smoothed it down cumbersomely. Using my wand, my long hair now fell over my shoulders, and shone in a soft, light chocolate brown and was draped in a teased knot around my head. But it wasn't tightly combed back, no, rather it was loosely hanging around my head, and I pulled out some long strands that played around my face and neck. I curled these strands, so that they gently fell down in playfull corkscrew-curls and underlined my romantic appearance.

Now things looked even better, and downright beautiful... I didn't know I could look that way. This was better and different by far when compared to the Yule Ball in my fourth year; now I was looking at a very beautiful young woman, whereas before I had been merely a pretty girl. Glancing at the clock, I noted that I had one more hour to prepare, so I started to put on the dress. I carefully took it out of the garment bag. It was overwhelmingly beautiful, and would look good on me. When I was finished dressing, and stood in front of the floor-length mirror to admire it, I concluded that I liked it a lot, and found myself continuing to turn around myself, looking at every angle. I was curious as to how the men would react to it tonight.

Lastly, I put the lip gloss onto my lips, which had a light, rose shade which made them shine seductively. Grabbing my chiffon stole and purse, I left. I quickly walked down the stairs, took my dark winter cloak from the hook, threw it around my shoulders and left the house and apparated to the central apparition point of the Ministry of Magic. Once I arrived, I looked around with interest, for I had never been here before. I had read brochures about the Ministry, but seeing it myself was exciting. I went over to the built-in wardrobe desks to give them my cloak, straightened my stole, draping it around my shoulders, and headed for the designated meeting place. Once there, I walked over the polished, dark parquet floor, the clack of my silver stilettos loud in my ears and my long dress playfully stroking my ankles. I absorbed my surroundings and stored in every detail, there were countless golden ornaments and lattices decorating the corridor. There was gold everywhere, on the peacock-blue ceiling, in the door frames, and covering the many open fireplaces that lined either side of the black stone wall. The gold and the black created a nice contrast of color.

It was bustling with people, despite this late hour and from the fireplaces many noble and sophisticatedly dressed wizards and witches emerged, who joined the stream of arriving guests. When I saw the magnificent, grand hall of the Ministry directly in front of me, which was many stories high, due to the Ministry being underground, I was amazed at its sheer size. In the middle of the impressive hall stood a round fountain. This must have been the "Fountain of Magical Brethren", which as I knew was a sign of the incredible arrogance of the magical society. It portrayed golden, life-size figures, and in the middle of the whole monstrous decoration stood a pretty pair of magicians, surrounded by various magical beings. A centaur, a goblin, and a house elf, who all, to my grief, were looking up at the couple of humans, admiring and adoring them. How populist, I thought to myself.