The Unsolved Riddle.

Crack at Christmas.

Christmas decorations smothered the halls, Peeves was filling the air with carols that he had altered. The swearwords he uttered earnt a tut from any passing professors but students found a reluctant smile on their faces while others mouthed along with him. By the time Christmas break had arrived, Eliana was forced to watch her friends leave as snow fell and she wrapped herself up in the warmest clothes she had. "I'm off to Spain!" Su had announced one morning as breakfast was eaten. Eliana was left to recall her time in Turkey and in Korea as well as a few visits to see mainland Europe, sitting in the boats of Venice and listening to the soft hum of the locals around her. For the first time since Eliana had moved into the Abaza household, she wouldn't be with her parents at Christmas. A promise was made that if any teacher tried to misbehave she would report it but Eliana couldn't believe the ludicrous idea, she had put it down to her parents just being hyper-aware of the issue. When Christmas finally arrived, Eliana awoke with a start to a large pile sat at the end of her bed. 

Blue shades were drawn around her as was normal but the heap at the end of the bed had been the least expected. Wrapping paper was carefully folded and although her mother wrote her name on top, Eliana knew that only her father could wrap presents as carefully as those that sat before her. The curtain was not drawn back as she didn't dare to watch the empty room around her and so in the small space of her bed, the presents were sized and her friends' were the first to be unwrapped. Padma and Parvati had bought her a whole bag of owl treats accompanied by Peppermint Toads. Pretty sunflower earrings, packs and packs of Bertie Botts Beans had been purchased by Su and with it, came every product made of chocolate, from wands to cauldrons but chocolate skeletons had always been the best according to Eliana. Morag had gifted Eliana a book titled 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'. Students of all years had mentioned the stories within the book before and yet she never knew what they had spoken about. With the book also came a hoard of chocolate from Honeydukes. By the time the presents had been opened, the fabric around Eliana's bed became suffocating and so she drew them back. Sun ran through the closed window but the snow had begun to pile up on the small stone below.

Glancing over the cold room, Eliana chose to stay under the blankets as her hands sought out the presents from her parents. The sight of her Boggart would regularly run through her mind as she recalled her parents, the ones who had dared to raise her and love her when ten families before them had stopped and given her back. Just as the thoughts left her head, she found that the first present was practically unwrapped and her brown eyes glistened at the sight. A hamper of self-care had been given and the smell of tropical fruits filled her nose, the sight of bath bombs and body scrubs made her smile and take in an even deeper breath to take in the pretty scent. Black shoes were unwrapped and the final gift had finally been located, three large books had been placed together in a new school bag and the books were the complete works of Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare and Beatrix Potter. Words carved the page and a few pages were flicked through as the new books were smelt and then carefully placed out of the way. A comfortable jumper and loose dungarees were pulled on with little thought as socks and shoes were scooped out and placed on her feet. A hat that matched her jumper had been pulled on as well as the earrings Su had bought her and the yellow centre matched her jumper that was baggy around her.

Ravenclaw Common Room was empty but the fire raged on, books had been pushed back into the cases and the sun was easily blinding as Eliana had to narrow her eyes as she passed through. Her black hair had been freed from the hat as Eliana carefully balanced it in her dungarees as her hands ran into her hair and began to plait it carefully. Once Eliana had found herself outside the Great Hall, the hat was pulled back on as the hairband was wrapped around the ends of her hair. Voices could be heard on the other side of the door but the second Eliana had walked in, she noticed that the Great Hall had changed, Heads of House, Professor Dumbledore and Filch had remained from the staff. A startled first-year from Hufflepuff called Derek had been left back at Hogwarts as well as a fifth-year from Slytherin. Four seats were empty and Eliana had the choice of sitting beside the first-year or the fifth-year student and the Slytherin seemed to be the best choice seeing as the poor Hufflepuff had always scurried away from her whenever she crossed their path.