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There were no owls. No little boats. No sorting hat.

It was just this strange feeling of vertigo I had, as I was sworn in to the Senate of Canada. This sense that I’d somehow walked into a Harry Potter novel.

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The Senate chamber, with its faux-Gothic gargoyles, its high gilt ceiling, was like a medieval castle. No wonder I felt like Hermione Granger, a Muggle among wizards, as I took my oath. I felt for all the world as if I’d entered the Hogwarts Great Hall, and been “sorted” into my house.

It was truly magical. Until I realized that my seat, right near the big front doors, was incredibly draughty. I’d worn nylons and heels for my big day. So had the other newbies, Patti LaBoucane-Benson and Josée Forest-Niesing. No one had warned us about the cold gusts of wind that were soon whipping around our ankles.

(That was the last time I wore nylons to sit in the old Senate. I donned fleece-lined leggings instead. Patti, more practically, brought a lap-blanket to stow in her Senate desk.)