Little Black Sheep

Chapter Five:
“Harry!” I heard a woman scream. I couldn’t see her, but I somehow knew it was important for me to find out.
“Who are you?!” I yelled into the black void I was in.
She just continued to scream when a sudden green light enveloped the whole room and blinded me.
Fully startled, I flung up in my bed. I could feel my arms tremble a little. Although, I had almost no clue to what I was frightened about. The only thing that I remembered was a green flash which could have been anything. Breathing hard, I let my head fall back onto my pillow. What was all that about anyways? Suddenly, Hermione came out of the bathroom we all shared.
“Emily! Are you awake? You’re not dressed yet?! Professor McGonagall is going to skin us alive if you don’t get moving- of course- So c’mon, you need to get ready, you’re late!” Hermione rushed to tell me and started to run down the stairs.
I jumped up, my sheets flying onto Rosemarie’s cage and she squawked, abruptly awoken, “Sorry, Rosemarie, I gotta go!”
I ran into the bathroom and started to get ready. This was going to be quite a day.
After I was dressed, I walked to the Great Hall. As I stood in front of the massive doors I fleetingly remembered the first night I was here and how I was so nervous to get sorted. I pushed heavily on the doors, slipped in, and quickly spotted Harry and Ron. A knot suddenly formed in my stomach. Could I sit with them after what happened yesterday? “Don’t be stupid, Emily,” I scolded myself, “Of course I can. They are my friends.”
Not fully assured, I shuffled to where they were sitting and hurriedly sat down. I shyly looked over at Harry and Ron to see them looking back at me. I snapped my head back to my plate and let my hair fall and act as a curtain between me and the boys. I glanced at the delicious looking heaps of food in front of me, but didn’t really feel hungry.
“Ron, you need to say something.” I heard Harry’s low whisper.
“Why? She was on Hermione’s side. She should be the one saying sorry.” Ron grumbled.
“Oh, come on, Ron. They were right, Malfoy did trick us. Say you’re sorry.”
“Why don’t you? And besides, if we didn’t go we wouldn’t have found out something is being hidden under the trap door.”
“Hermione is the reason why we got into the room and why we know there was a trapdoor, now apologize.” Harry sharply whispered.
I heard Ron sigh, “I guess you’re right.”
I was fiddling with my hands the whole time. If Ron was so reluctant to apologize, would it be genuine? Should I accept it if he does say he’s sorry?
I heard a cough next to me and I looked over, “Um, Emily, about last night, I just wanted to say…I’m sorry for getting mad at you. I should have listened to both you and Hermione. Will you forgive us?”
Ron ended with a sheepish look on his face and his ears were tinted red. They should have listened to me. I wonder why they didn’t. They were so mean when I didn’t agree, why should I be friends with such one-sided people. They should be begging me for forgiveness for what they said to me! I started to get angry, but then Dumbledore’s words echoed in my mind, “Control your emotions, don’t let them control you.” I took a deep breathe and looked at Harry’s pleading eyes. Did I want to be friends with them? Yes.
“Ok, I’ll forgive you guys. But if ever treat me like that again, I’m kicking you to the curb.” I smiled towards the end and I saw Ron relax, obviously relieved.
“Do you guys know what the dog was hiding?” I asked, curious now, and spooned some eggs onto my plate.
“Well, sort of, when Hagrid and I went to Gringotts he picked up a tiny package in vault which was then searched through the same day. I’m thinking whatever Hagrid picked up, is what the dog is guarding.” Harry explained.
“How could something so small need so much protection?” I asked,
“Whatever is down there is either really valuable or really dangerous.” Ron concluded.
“Or both.” Harry added.
“Do you know anything more about it?” I inquired.
“No.” Harry shook his head, “That’s why we should go back down there, to find out what it’s guarding.”
“Harry, they have a three-headed dog guarding it! They obviously don’t want anyone to get it. How are we ever going to get pass it if a dark wizard or something can’t?” I tried to reason with them, but my need to know what it held was growing.
“C’mon, Emily. We could do it! They aren’t expecting students to try to get in, so the tests may be easy for us and harder for them.” Ron explained his side and I was somewhat amazed at his reasons.
“How do you know there are even tests? We could be just killed once we got pass the dog!” I started to get anxious, how would we do this?
“They would have a way to get to it, so that they can see if it’s safe.” Harry explained, “Do you think Hermione or Neville would want to go back down?”
I shook my head, “Probably not, Hermione is still mad with you guys and Neville…well, he doesn’t seem like the type who would want to go back for more.”
“Thank god! If she’s mad at us, she won’t talk with us!” Ron exclaimed with a smile on his face.
I scowled at him, “She’s not as bad as you think. She may be a know-it-all-“
“She sure is!” Harry interrupted me, an unbelieving look on his face.
“But she was right. She was only trying to help our house and you guys. Think about it, she’s a muggle born wizard and tried to overly prepare for this school, but she obviously had no clue how to make friends. She’s probably a better person than this.” I finished, a thoughtful look on my face and my eyes pleading.
“If she was so smart, she would know by the way she’s acting she won’t have any friends!” Ron said, annoyed and irritated.
“Ok, let’s just drop this, you guys.” Harry struggled to get in between us to end the argument, “We still have to find out what to do about Draco.”
Ron started to laugh uncontrollably, “Did you see his face this morning? He was surprised that we were still here! The little git! We should come up with something brutal!”
I instantly sat up at the words, “He was here this morning? I can’t believe I missed it! We do have to get him back, that rat-faced weasel!”
Suddenly, many students hurriedly left the room and I checked the time, “Oh my gosh! We’re going to be late for Potions! Snape’s going to skin us alive!”
We all scrambled to get up and rushed out of the room. Our planning for revenge on Draco was talked about in between classes and before going to bed, but a week later, the perfect plan had came and it was completely accidental.
It was about a week since the boys have apologized to me and we were sitting at the table, just having breakfast when all the owls appeared. I looked up to see mine and Harry’s, but unlike all the other times, there was six screech owls carrying a rather large and long package and they were coming towards us. I could feel everyone’s eyes on it and whispers spread across the hall. The package was dropped onto Harry’s plate and when he went to reach for it, a letter fluttered onto it from another owl. I read from over his shoulder:
DO NOT OPEN PARCEL AT THE TABLE.
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don’t want everybody knowing you’ve got a broomstick or they’ll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o’ clock for your first training session.
Professor McGonagall
I looked over at Harry to see he was trying to hide his joy.
“A Nimbus Two Thousand!” Ron groaned next to Harry, “I’ve never even touched one.”
I glanced at the two boys with an idea in my mind and saw they had the same thought. We rushed to get out of the Great Hall and out into the corridor, our excitement hardly concealed. Not half way through the entrance hall we ran into Draco and his goons on the stairs. Malfoy snatched the package and carefully felt it. I immediately casted a harsh glare at Draco, suspicious, but just as quick as he grabbed it, he threw it over.
“That’s a broomstick,” Malfoy said, envy and malice contorted his already distorted features, “You’ll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren’t allowed to have them,” He snarled, a smirk rising onto his face.
I could feel Ron’s excitement radiating off of his and he finally exploded, “It’s not any old broomstick,” Ron explained, smug, “it’s a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you’ve got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?” Ron looked over at Harry and grinned at him, “Comets look flashy, but they’re not in the same league as the Nimbus.”
“What would you know about it, Weasely, you couldn’t afford half the handle,” Malfoy sneered, covering his ego, “I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig.”
Ron looked like he was going to kill Malfoy when Professor Flitwick suddenly stood by Malfoy’s arm.
“Not arguing, I hope, boys?” He said, his voice a lot higher than I thought it would be.
“Potter’s been sent a broomstick, Professor,” Malfoy said, trying to get us into trouble, if only he knew…
“Yes, yes, that right,” Professor Flitwick looked over at Harry, pride flowing out of him, “Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?”
“A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir.” Harry said, laughter evident in his voice. I even had a stifle a giggle behind my palm when I looked over at Draco. He looked absolutely horrified and insulted. “And it’s really thanks to Malfoy here that I’ve got it.”
I totally covered my mouth at Malfoy’s expression and started to run up the stairs and let my laughter flow when we reached the top.
“Well, it’s true,” Harry chuckled, “If he hadn’t stolen Neville’s Remebrall I wouldn’t be on the team…”
“So I suppose you think that’s a reward for breaking rules?” I heard Hermione’s stiff voice behind us.
She was obviously furious and stomped up the stairs, glaring at Harry’s package.
“I thought you weren’t speaking to us?” Harry said and I nudged him in the gut and gave him the look.
“Yes, don’t stop now, it’s doing us so much good.” Ron added and I punched him on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry for the boys’ behavior Hermione. They’re just not over the fact you were right from last night.” I apologized and glared at Harry and Ron.
“It’s understandable.” She answered, gave a small smile at me and then stomped away, her nose up in the air.
When she was out of ear shot I scowled at Harry and Ron, “You two should be nicer to her!”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything insulting, I just asked!” Harry put his arms in the air, a sign of surrender.
“Hey! Thanks for leaving me to the dogs!” Ron said, glaring at Harry.
I started to laugh, “Come on, you two, we have our classes to get to! Put the broomstick on your bed and let’s go.” I told Harry.
The rest of the day was uneventful and I could see that Harry was not really in our world. He seemed to spend most of our classes daydreaming. Whenever I looked over at Ron, he had the same glazed look. Boys will be boys. Although, how would I know what real boys were suppose to be like? The ones at home obviously had some sort of disease or disfiguration that made them act the way they did. Harry was the famous Boy-Who-Lived and hardly made his just a boy and Ron… he seemed too unique to be categorized as just a boy. Maybe I was lucky enough to not know a normal boy. I smiled at the thought as I sat at dinner. I then looked at Harry who was shoveling his food into his mouth.
“Wow, Harry, a little hungry, are we?” I laughed, “Can I come with you to practice tonight?”
Harry looked up with his cheeks filled and nodded, “Mhm.” And then he swallowed, “You want to come too, Ron?”
Ron looked over-joyed, but then sorrow shadowed his face, “I’ve got extra Potions homework from Snape today, remember? I won’t be able to get it done and I REALLY don’t want a detention.”
“It’s ok, Ron. Maybe you can go to the next one.” Harry said.
“Come on! Let’s go check out his broom!” I squealed and we all jumped out of our seats.
We rushed over to the Fat Lady painting and I yelled the password, “Weasel Paw!” and we ran over to the boys’ dormitory stairs. I paused at the stairs as the others ran up, but they soon stopped when they noticed I wasn’t with them.
“What you waiting for, Emily?” Ron asked.
“Well, it’s just, girls aren’t allowed in the boys’ dormitories.” I said, stating the obvious.
“It’s not we’re going to do anything.” Ron rolled his eyes and I blushed madly.
“Ok.” I started to walk to the stairs, but when I tried to step on the first stair I was pushed slightly backward. Puzzled I tried to punch through it, but I just hurt my arm instead, “Are you serious?” I looked up to the ceiling, asking nobody the question and I looked back to the guys, “Sorry, I can’t come up.”
“Wow, that’s really strange. They have a force field keeping girls from coming up here.” Harry mused
“Can you just bring the broom down here and open it?” I asked, getting a little anxious.
“Sure, we’ll be back down in a second.” And they rushed up the stairs.
I took a seat in front of the roaring Gryffindor fire and stared into the flames. They danced the golds, reds, and oranges flickering every which way. The roaring and fizzling slowly started to block out all other noise as I stared intently into the fire, the heat warming my face. Suddenly, I heard a male voice, “Emily.”
I gasped and pulled back away from the fire, looking around the room. No one was to be seen, but I was sure that I heard someone say my name. The voice was vaguely familiar, but seemed new at the same time.
“Hey, Emily, we got the broom.” Harry and Ron came down the stairs and came over by my side.
“You ok? You look a little freaked out.” Harry asked, concern coloring his voice.
“Ya, I’m fine. Come on, open it.” I pushed the thought away and smiled.
Harry then hurriedly pulled the wrapping away and we stared in awe at what laid in his hands.
“Wow,” I heard Ron breath in astonishment.
“What a beauty…” I quietly remarked as we all stared at it.
I was never a big broom person, considering I’ve never rode one really, but I looked over this one and couldn’t help, but be astonished. It was so much different from the worn out brooms we used during our flying lessons. The handle was a dark mahogany, thoroughly polished and smooth as glass. The tail had all orderly bristles, all dark and polished too, but what topped it all off was the ‘Nimbus Two Thousand’ that was carved in the handle in pure gold. I let my breath out and whistled a little.
“You’re so lucky, Harry.” Ron told him.
“I know.” Harry said and the guys left to their rooms. Harry told me to meet him in the common room at seven O’clock to leave for practice and I agreed.
I sat in my room and suddenly realized I was going to watch Harry, alone. No Ron to make any stress relieving remarks and I was going to meet Oliver Wood, the captain of them team. What was I going to wear? I jumped up and opened the top of my trunk. Wait, did it really matter that much? I mean, I shouldn’t dress like a slob, but it wasn’t like they were the Prime Minister or anything. I tried to convince myself it wasn’t a big deal, but a little tugging in my gut told me “you know you want to look good.” I pushed the thought aside and began rummaging through my things.
After much contemplation I pulled out a dark red button up shirt and dark blue jeans. It was normal enough, right? I mean, the red is just to show a little Gryffindor pride. I slipped them on and looked over at the clock: 6:30 p.m. I sighed as I looked in the mirror and started to try to push my hair in the right position. It was all curly and crazy, but I knew I couldn’t do much to it. I finally decided to roll up my shirts sleeves and the saw my wrist was bare. I quickly strapped a watch onto it to cover my scar. I then nodded in satisfaction. This was perfectly fine; it wasn’t like I was going to be doing anything other than sitting, anyways. I slipped on my converse that I wore everyday and walked down the stairs.
I looked around to see Harry was down yet, so I sat in the red velvet chair in front of the fire. I gave a sigh, a nervous knot in my stomach. What if he walked down in his robes and asked why I was wearing this? What if he teased me about my converses which were usually covered up? Emily, he didn’t do it on the train, stop worrying so much! I scolded at myself for worrying about my appearance so much. It reminded me of the first day of school I had ever year. I would always fuss over my hair and clothes, hoping to finally make a good impression, which always failed. Suddenly, a hand covered my mouth and I tried to scream.
I then looked up and heard laughing. It was Harry. And I let him scare me. I started blushing at my embarrassing display, but he just continued to laugh.
“Come on, Emily, we have to get to the field, Wood’s waiting.” Harry reminded me and started walking towards the door. I jumped out of the chair and followed him out of the common room entrance.
I hurried up to walk by his side and looked over at what he was wearing. I let a sigh of relief out. He was just wearing a red sweater and black trousers, not his robes or anything elaborate. He was also gripping his Nimbus Two thousand in his left hand. I tried to break the silence.
“So, have you ever played Quidditch?” I asked, curious.
“No, before flying lessons, I’ve never rode a broomstick in my life.” Harry explained.
“Oh, duh, you lived with Muggles. Sorry, I forgot.” I apologized at my stupidity.
“It’s ok. Have you ever played Quidditch?” He asked, looking over at me as we reached the entrance of Hogwarts.
“No, I didn’t really live in the area for flying around. My house is in a muggle neighborhood and isn’t really…visible to everyone.” I confessed.
“What do you mean?” Harry asked, confused.
“Well, there have always been a bunch of charms put onto my house to keep it hidden from muggles. So, I guess it was good that I didn’t have any friends at my old school.” I covered my mouth after I finished.
“No friends? Sounds just like me when I went to school.” Harry sighed, “I lived with my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin Dudley. He was a vile person and that didn’t help when I went to school.” A look of anger filled his face, “I’m glad that I got out of there.” He kicked a rock that was on the ground we were walking on.
“I’m sorry, Harry. I wish you didn’t have to live with them.” I said to him, sad at what he had to deal with.
“You shouldn’t be sorry. It’s not your fault, it’s Voldemort’s.” Harry sneered.
I flinched at the name, always hearing it in the tale of The-Boy-Who-Lived. Sometimes I thought he was just a figment of someone’s imagination, but every time I stood with Harry, I knew it was true.
“Why do you say his name?” I asked, my voice small.
“It’s just a name.” Harry looked over at me, confused.
“But it’s his name.” I countered, not understanding.
“He’s just a person. There’s no need to fear his name.” Harry explained and I watched him in awe at his bravery, “Go, on, you say it.”
“Really? I don’t know if I should.” I said, fear creeping into my voice.
“It’s just a name.” Harry assured me and I stopped walking.
I took a deep breath and Harry patted my shoulder, “It’s not a big deal. It’s just a name.”
I let the name roll off my tongue, “Voldemort,” and I suddenly looked around, not knowing what I was looking for.
“Don’t worry. It’s not like he’s going to pop up if you say his name. See, that wasn’t so hard.” He said, a smile on his face and started walking again.
“Do you miss your parents?” I asked suddenly.
“Ya, but I didn’t know them really. I was only one when Voldemort killed them.” Harry sighed.
“My dad disappeared the same night. I wish he was here.” I said, my lip wobbling.
“I’m sure he’ll turn up one day.” Harry comforted me.
“I’m sorry, I’m getting all cry baby like about my dad when he could still come back one day. Your parents…can’t. Let’s talk about something else.” I said the last part with some cheeriness to get us out of this gloom.
“What do you think Ron is doing right now?” Harry asked.
I giggled a little at the thought, “Doing mountains of Potions homework.”
Harry chuckled with me, “Ya, he’s probably writing a thirty page essay.”
“On Erumpent horns.” I added, now laughing harder.
“And how they can be used to blow up Snape.” Harry said and we walked the rest of the way, laughing at the image of Ron hunched over his desk, drawing a picture of Snape blowing up.
When we reached the stadium I looked up in awe and so did Harry at the size of the stadium. There must have been a million seats that were raised at least forty feet in the air. On either side of the stadium there were giant sticks with a giant loop on the top, almost like a bubble wand. As we entered I said good luck to Harry and started to climb up into the stands. When I reached the top of the stairs, I sat in the front row of the stands, right in the middle and looked up to see Harry already riding around on his broom.
It looked effortless as he rose and dived and swerved. The Nimbus Two Thousand was truly a great, graceful broom and Harry looked ecstatic. I watched him zoom through the goal posts and dip down so close to the ground, he could probably have his fingers skim it.
“Hey, Potter, come down!” I heard an unfamiliar voice shout and turned to see a fifth year boy walking into the stadium, struggling with a rather large box.
Harry swooped down and landed right next to what I thought was Oliver Wood.
“Very nice.” Wood’s voice echoed throughout the air and I could hear him. It was deathly quiet, so I could hear every word they exchanged, “I see what McGonagall meant… you really are a natural. I’m just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you’ll be joining team practice three times a week.
I could barely see Harry nod his head and Wood opened the crate he carried in.
“Right,” Wood started, “Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it’s not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers.”
“Three Chasers.” I heard Harry repeat and I smiled a little. He was going to be a Quidditch star.
Wood then reached into the box and pulled out something round and bright red, “This ball’s called the Quaffle. The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops, follow me?”
“The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score,” Harry recited Oliver’s words, “So- that’s sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn’t it?”
“What’s basketball?” Wood asked, confused.
I started to laugh. Of course Wood wouldn’t know a Muggle game. I saw Wood turn his head over to me and looked back at Harry.
“Never mind.” Harry rushed out to say.
“Now, there’s another player on each side who’s called the Keeper- I’m Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team form scoring.” Wood explained.
“Three Chasers, One Keeper,” Harry said, “And they play with a Quaffle. Okay, I got that. So what are they for?” Harry extended his arm at something in the box.
“I’ll show you know. Take this.” Wood handed Harry some stick type thing.
“I’m going to show you what Bludgers do. There are two Bludgers.” Wood told Harry and pointed to two dark balls in the box, “Stand back,” Wood warned and then leaned over the box.
Suddenly, a black ball started whizzing through the air, going everywhere. It even went straight for my head and I ducked. It then turned around and started to dive towards Harry. Probably out of reflex, Harry hit the ball with the stick, or bat, and Wood dove for the ball, struggling to put it back.
“See?” I could hear Wood’s hard breathing, “The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That’s why you have two Beaters on each team- the Weasely twins are ours- it’s their job to protect their side form the Bludgers and try and them toward the other team. So-think you’ve got all that?”
“Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team,” Harry listed off and Wood smiled.
“Very good.” Wood complimented.
“Er- have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?” I heard Harry ask lightly, but I could hear the worry in his tone.
“Never at Hogwarts. We’ve had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That’s you. And you don’t have to worry about the Quaffle or Bludgers-“
“Unless they crack my head open.” I heard Harry interrupt and I stifled a laugh.
“Don’t worry, the Weaselys are more than a match for the Bludgers- I mean, they’re like a pair of human Bludgers themselves.” Wood tried to reassure Harry and I saw him bend and reach into the crate again.
I could see Wood was holding something, but I couldn’t really tell what it looked like, only that it was small, “This,” Wood began, “is the Golden Snitch, and it’s the most important ball of the lot. It’s very hard to catch because it’s so fast and difficult to see. It’s the Seeker’s job to catch it. You’ve got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team’s Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch win his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That’s why Seeker’s get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages- I think the record is three months, they had to keep brining on substitutes so the players could get some sleep.
“Well, that’s it- any questions?” Wood finally finished and Harry shook his head.
“We won’t practice with the Snitch yet,” Wood placed the almost invisible ball into the crate, “It’s too dark, we might lose it. Let’s try you out with a few of these.” I saw him reach into his pocket and pull out bright white balls, golf balls.
They both got on their brooms and Wood threw the balls as far as he could and Harry chased after them. Harry always dove so smooth and so fast, catching the ball every time. I watched every throw, and started to yawn. The sun was almost gone now and I was getting a little tired.
The boys finally landed and I started walking down the stairs, and was still able to hear Wood’s voice, “That Quidditch cup’ll have our name on this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasely, and he could have played for England if he hadn’t gone chasing dragons.”
I finally caught up with them and walked by Harry’s side.
“That was absolutely amazing, Harry! I can’t believe anyone could ride so fast.” I praised him, excited.
“Oh, and who may this be, Harry?” Wood asked, looking at me.
“This is Emily Blarsh. She’s my friend and a first year like me. Emily, this is Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain.” Harry introduced us.
“Nice to meet you.” I said to Wood.
“So you’re Harry’s friend, nice to meet you too.” Wood smiled and then we continued to talk about Quidditch, although before tonight, I almost knew nothing about it.
As I walked over to my dormitory stairs I turned and looked back at Harry, “Good night, Harry.”
“Good night, Emily.” He said back and disappeared up the stairs, as did I.
I continued to go to Harry’s practices, laughing at the Weasely’s jokes and watching at awe when they got down to work. Ron also came down for a lot of Harry’s practices, but I went every time. Sure, I would have to stay up an hour later to finish my homework, but watching everyone was worth it. At the end of practice I would walk back with Harry and the others, laughing at what happened earlier that day. George even joked that I was Harry’s girlfriend and I blushed madly and looked away. With classes, homework, and Harry’s practices, life seemed to be cramped and flying by. Soon, I was waking up to the smell of pumpkin pie, Halloween morning.
I got ready in a cheery mood. What made today even better besides it being a holiday was that I had Charms today and Professor Flitwick said we would be levitating objects, which he had done a few days earlier with Neville’s toad. I still giggle at the memory. When I walked down for breakfast it seemed as if Ron and Harry were excited too.
“Can you believe we’re going to be levitating stuff in Charms today?!” Ron exclaimed, excited.
“I know! This is going to be awesome!” I joined in.
“I hope it doesn’t end up like Transfiguration when we had to change that match into a needle.” Harry said with his face scrunched up.
“Ya, that’d be pretty boring,” I agreed.
“If Hermione is the only one to levitate something, I think I’ll scream.” Ron said bitterly.
“Don’t worry about it Ron. We should get going, class is going to start soon.” Harry said, standing up. I followed the two boys out into the entrance hall.
When Charms class began Flitwick announced we would indeed be doing levitation. Problem was, he chose our partners. Harry was put with Seamus, which was probably ok with him, but I got stuck with Neville. Don’t get me wrong, Neville was a nice boy…but he tended to have trouble follow him wherever he went. When I heard who Ron got partnered with I had to stifle a laugh. He was put with Hermione Granger. The look on both of their faces was priceless! I couldn’t tell who was more upset with the way things turned out, Hermione or Ron…
Professor Flitwick demonstrated from his pile of books, “Now, don’t forget that nice wrist movement we’ve been practicing!” said in his infamous high-pitched voice, “Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too-never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said ‘s’ instead of ‘f’ and he found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.”
I turned over to my partner to see Neville very nervous. I sighed, “Neville, you’ll do fine. Just remember what he told you. Swish and flick.”
“Ok. Swish and flick.” Neville nodded and we faced our feather.
I raised my wand and repeated the phrase Flitwick drilled into our head over these pass few weeks, “Wingardium Leviosa!”
It just fluttered a little bit when I brought my arm down. I raised my wand again and said the phrase again. The feather remained on the table. I huffed impatiently and looked over at Harry’s table. It didn’t seem like things were any better. In fact, Seamus poked the feather with his wand and it bursted into flames. Harry hurriedly put it out with his hat. I caught his eye and gave him a small smile and he gave one back that seemed to say “Ya, I know.”
“Wingardium Leviosa!” Ron’s familiar voice yelled across the room, obviously frustrated. I looked over to see his long arms swinging and once again had to stifle a laugh.
“You’re saying it wrong,” Hermione snapped at Ron, “It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.”
“You do it then if you’re so clever,” Ron sneered at her.
She stiffly rolled up her sleeves as a silent ‘yes’ and raised her wand, flicked it and said, “Wingardium Leviosa!”
I watched, thoroughly astonished, as the white feather rose above our head and continued to rise.
“Oh, well done!” I heard Professor Flitwick and he clapped his small hands, “Everyone see here, Miss Granger’s done it!”
I saw Ron slump with a scowl on his face and drop his wand as if to say “why do I even bother?”
I gave Ron a sympathetic smile and raised my hand in a thumbs-up for Hermione and she smiled at me. Ron just looked away. His mood didn’t improve any by the end of the class.
“No wonder no one can stand her.” Ron snapped on our way out, “she’s a nightmare, honestly.”
I watched as Hermione rushed by, banging into Harry’s shoulder. I was sure she was going to cry.
“Look what you’ve done! Ron! If you just stopped being so blind you’d see she isn’t as bad as you think!” I finally yelled at him.
“Maybe you’re the one who’s so blind! She’s such a goody-two-shoes, just like you!” He shouted at me and I stopped in the middle of the hall thoroughly astonished as pain leaked into my eyes, fueling the tears that started to fill them.
“You know what Ron, I’ve had it with you!” I screamed and shoved my way through the crowd.
“Emily!” Harry’s voice called after me.
“Go away!” I cried at him and continued to run.
I sprinted out the entrance doors and outside through the field of grass that lead to the Quidditch Stadium. I slowed down at I reached the archway the led to the way inside. I stumbled, the tears blurring my vision. My breath got shorter and sobs soon escaped my mouth. I slowly sunk to my knees and curled into a ball, just bawling. I didn’t care that snot was probably getting all over my face or that my eyes would be all red and puffy when I finally stopped. Right then I just wanted to cry it all out. Was it worth it to have friends? I mean, they could be fun, but was it worth getting hurt by them over and over again?
Stupid Ron! Why did he have to be so mean to Hermione? Sure, she wasn’t the most pleasant person I’ve ever met, but she didn’t deserve what he said. Did I deserve what he said? Was I really such a goody-goody? Was it really so bad to be one? At that moment I just wanted my dad.
“Why did you have to go?” I sobbed, my head in between my knees, “What did you do?! Why did you leave me?!”
I started to pound the ground in anger. I was furious at Ron for being such a git, I was mad at the people who took my dad, I was mad at my dad for letting them take him. I got up and started to kick at the ground, my rage burning in the pit of my stomach. I clenched my teeth, tears still slipping down. Why was I so alone? Why did everyone leave? A voice popped into my head, “Harry didn’t leave, you ran away from him.”
“Emily?” I heard a familiar voice echo around the stadium.
“Oliver?” I whispered and sniffled, wiping my cheek onto my sleeve, “What are you going here?”
“I was just coming out to see if it was cold enough to have on the long sleeved uniforms for today’s practice.” Oliver rubbed the back of his head, obviously feeling awkward to find me crying here, “You ok?” He asked.
“Ya, I’m fine.” I croaked.
“Do you want to go back to the castle?” He asked, slowly, as if his words would shatter me.
I wiped my nose and giggled a little at his cautiousness, “Sure, Wood.”
He waited for me to be by his side before he started walking. When we got out of the stadium a silence fell over us. I looked over to his expression to see it seemed like he was thinking about saying something. I smiled and waited patiently for him to settle out what he wanted to say.
As we walked back I felt the dew that collected on the grass brush against my ankles and I shivered against the cold breeze. How long was I out here for? I looked up to see the sky was a dark black, but the sun went down about 4:30 everyday now, so it could have been 6’o clock for all I knew.
“Emily,” Oliver spoke, “What were you crying about?”
“Oh, nothing important.” I answered, feeling a little silly at my reason now.
“You wouldn’t be crying about it if it wasn’t important.” Oliver pressed.
I sighed, “Well, as you probably know, Ron and Hermione aren’t exactly best friends. He said something in the hallway and made her cry. I yelled at him and he called me a goody-two-shoes.” I blushed at the end, “Pretty stupid, huh?”I looked over at him.
“No, it’s not. Well, Ron is pretty stupid for saying that. If anything, you’re not a goody-two-shoes, you go to the Quidditch practices instead of doing your homework.” He smiled.
I grinned back, my tears fully gone, “Is Hermione okay?” I asked.
The smile faded from his face, “The last I heard of her was that she was crying in the girls’ bathroom.”
I sighed, “I don’t know why Ron hates her so much.”
“He doesn’t, not actually. He likes her.” Wood said with a smug smile.
“How would you know that?” I asked, puzzled.
“It’s ‘cause he’s mean to her.” Oliver said, like it was obvious, “Don’t you know that’s what boys do when they like a girl?”
“All the boys at my old school were mean to me and I highly doubt any of them liked me!” I retorted, skepticism filling my voice.
“Believe what you want, but mark my words.” Mirth coated his tone and he opened the door to the Great Hall and I looked to see everyone in chaos and Professor Quirrel laying face down on the floor.
“A troll?! How did it get in?” I heard someone ask.
“Could it even fit in the dungeons?” Another voice reached my ears.
“Is Professor Quirrel dead?” someone else asked.
A troll in the dungeons? What is it doing there?
Dumbledore suddenly sent purple sparks into the air, “Prefects! Lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately.” His voice boomed across the room and I walked over to the Gryffindor table.
“Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I’m a prefect.” I heard Percy order, obviously enjoying his position. Suddenly, a thought came to me. Hermione had no clue there was a troll. What if it stomped on her or something?! Worry started to fill me and I noticed we were mixing in a group of Hufflepuffs. The perfect escape. I slipped in with them and then jumped out into an empty corridor, or…I thought it was empty.
“Emily!” Ron whispered, surprised.
“Ron.” I glared at him, “What are you doing here?”
“We’re getting Hermione.” Harry said.
“That’s what I’m-“ I suddenly stopped talking as I heard footsteps come from behind us.
“Percy!” whispered/yelled and pulled both of us behind a statue of a Griffin.
I looked over the front leg of the Griffin to see it wasn’t the red-haired Percy, but Snape. He crossed the corridor and vanished.
“What’s he doing?” Harry breathed, “Why isn’t he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?”
“I don’t know. Let’s go after him.” I said and we started creeping along the cool stone walls.
“He’s heading for the third floor,” Harry said as Snape’s footsteps disappeared.
Ron then held up his hand, “Can you smell something?”
I took in a deep breathe through my nose and then immediately felt like puking. It was a mixture of spoiled milk and sewage on a hot summer day. I scrunched up my face. Suddenly, a low grunting noise could be heard and a shuffling sound of feet. Ron then pointed a shaking finger at a large hulking mass that was coming towards us. I stifled a screamed and stood frozen. It was twice the size of a human, had dull stormy gray skin, had a large torso, and a small pineapple shaped like head. The floor shook every time it lifted its short stubby legs and dropped its spiky feet. In one of its meaty hands it dragged a rather large wooden club. This was the source of the foul stench.
The creature suddenly stopped in front of a doorway, its expression the same as the stupidest kid in anyone’s class, and it wiggled its ears in wonder. It soon sulked into the room.
“The key’s in the lock,” Harry lowly whispered, “We could lock it in.”
“Good idea.” Ron whispered back.
I saw Ron nod and so did I. We crept closer and closer to the door until Harry jumped out and hurriedly slammed the door, locking it. We all smiled at each other at our achievement.
“Yes!” We all loudly whispered and then continued to walk down the corridor.
The victory was ruined when a noise rang through the hall. It was a scream. A girl’s scream.
“Oh, no.” Ron instantly paled.
“It’s the girls’ bathroom!” Harry realized.
“Hermione!” We all yelled at the same time and I bolted for the door.
The boys followed and I tried to turn the key. In my panic it took longer than I wanted. Finally, the door swung open and I jumped inside. I saw her huddled in the corner of the room and the troll stomped towards her, slamming sinks off the wall.
“Ron! Do something!” I yelled at him.
“Confuse it!” Harry told both of us as he picked up a piece of junk from the ground.
As the debris hit the walls and the mirrors, it stopped and turned around. Wondering where the noise was coming from. The stare of the troll landed on Harry and it smiled, coming towards him with it’s club raised.
“Hey stupid! Come on! You know you want me!” I started yelling and running around, “Ron, Harry! Get Hermione!” I turned over and looked over at Harry, but in that instant I felt the trolls giant hand grab my body.
“Oy! Pea brain!” I heard Ron’s voice from the other side of the room and watched as he chucked a pipe at its shoulder.
It jerked me around and looked over at Ron. It then raised its arm and flung me into the air. I screamed in fear and heard a crack when I hit the wall. I slid down and looked down at my leg to see it was in a funny position.
I saw the trolls get a look of a mental patient’s on its face and it started to run towards Ron. Harry was over by Hermione. Then he suddenly did something at the time I thought was very brave, but later on in my life thought was very stupid. He ran for the troll and jumped, wrapping his arms around its thick, short neck. I cringed as Harry’s wand flew up its nose. I heard it scream in pain and it started to fling Harry around. I looked over at Hermione to see her frozen in fear on the floor. I used the wall for support to get up and I hopped over to her, adrenaline numbing my leg slightly.
“Hermione, get out of here! Now!” I shouted, but she remained there, stock-still, “Hermione!”
“Wingardium Leviosa!” I heard Ron yell and I looked over to see the troll’s club in the air. It floated up, up and then drop down, knocking the troll’s thick skull with a deafening thump. The troll leaned every which way, trying to regain its balance and finally fell to the ground, leaving Harry unscathed.
I breathed a sigh of relief as Harry got up and stared, astonished, at the large hulk. Hermione was the first to recover.
“Is it-dead?”
“I don’t think so,” Harry answered, “I think it’s just been knocked out.”
I shuddered as he bent down and pulled his wand from the creature’s nose. It was coated in gooey, gray snot.
“Urg- troll boogers.” He wrinkled his nose as he wiped it on his pants.
“You all right, Hermione?” I asked.
“Yes,” she answered and looked at my leg, “You’re hurt! We need to get you to the hospital wing immediately.”
Suddenly, all we could hear were footsteps thundering down the corridor to our location. It seemed obvious right then someone would notice the racket we were making and with the troll’s roars in pain, how could someone not notice? At the time, all I wanted to do was save Hermione and get out alive. A second later, Professor McGonagall bursted into the room. Snape soon followed and Quirrel came in last. Quirrel glanced at the troll and whimpered, immediately sitting on one of the toilets.
I glanced over as Snape examined the knocked-out troll, but quickly looked back at Professor McGonagall. I’ve seen her angry, even really angry, but I’ve never seen her like this. Color was vacant from her face, her lips were pursed, and her eyes were harshly glaring at us.
“What on earth were you thinking of?” She started to lecture us, her voice sharp, “You’re lucky you weren’t killed. Why aren’t you in your dormitory?”
We stayed silent in shame and Snape’s cold black eyes glared at both Harry and me. Suddenly a voice came from behind us.
“Please, Professor McGonagall-they were looking for me.” I heard Hermione’s voice come confidently form behind us.
“Miss Granger!” Professor McGonagall said in disbelief.
I looked over at her to see she was finally off the ground, “I went looking for the troll because I- I thought I could deal with it on my own- you know, because I’ve read all about them.”
I heard Ron’s wand clatter onto the ground. Did I just hear Hermione…lie to a teacher’s face?
“If they hadn’t found me, I’d be dead now. Emily distracted it so Harry could disable it and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn’t have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived.” Hermione explained and I tried to keep astonishment off my face.
“Well-in that case…” Professor McGonagall turned back to all four of us, “Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?”
I saw Hermione’s head fall in fake shame. I was shocked into silence. It seemed impossible for Hermione to lie to a teacher, but the she admitted to breaking a school rule to save our butts. What has this world gone do? What was going to happen next? Snape saying sorry to both Harry and I?
“Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this,” Professor McGonagall said, “I’m very disappointed in you. If you’re not hurt at all, you’d better go to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing with the feast in their houses.”
I started to walk toward Hermione when I felt an excruciating pain in my leg and I fell. Hermione rushed to my side.
“Emily!” she cried and looked at my leg. I whimpered as I saw it bent to the left.
“Miss Blarsh! Mr. Weasely, Mr. Potter, help Miss Blarsh to the hospital wing. Miss Granger, go straight to the Gryffindor common room.” Professor McGonagall ordered, “Before you go, I will inform you not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll on their own. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go.”
Harry and Ron grabbed one of my arms and put them around their shoulders and dragged me to the hospital wing.
“We should have gotten more than fifteen points.” Ron grumbled when we were out of ear shot.
“Ten you mean, once she’s taken off Hermione’s.” Harry said.
“Good of her to get us out of trouble like that,” I heard Ron reluctantly admit, “Mind you, we did save her.”
“Well, if we didn’t lock the troll in the bathrooms with her, she would have been fine.” I reminded the boys.
We reached the hospital wing and Madam Promfrey hurried over to us, “Oh, a broken leg. Poor dear. Set her on a bed.” She commanded them.
A minute later she came with her wand and said a few words. Suddenly, my leg went straight and the pain vanished, “You should be perfectly fine now.”
I stared in astonishment at my leg and hopped off the bed. It stayed solid and no pain emitted from it. We walked back to our common room and stopped at the Fat Lady.
“Pig snout,” Harry said and we entered.
Hermione stood shyly by the door, obviously waiting for us to come in. It was a very awkward moment for all of us and I kept my glance away from everyone, realizing that I did indeed run out of the hall earlier that day because of Ron. Without any of us looking up we all said, “Thank you.” And went off our separate ways.
I walked over to the chair in front of the fire that I now silently claimed as mine and stared into the flames, the noise of everyone celebrating behind me. A hand suddenly dropped onto my shoulder, “You okay, Emily?” It was Wood.
“Better than ever.” I answered, smiling.
From then on, I realized that was the point when Ron and Harry finally pushed their differences aside and let Hermione into the group. Many adventures were on the way for us.