Chapter 7 – Temperamental
The train ride to Hogwarts was blissfully peaceful, for the most part, especially when compared with the previous year. The only time they were distracted was when the old lady with the refreshments trolley came by, but both of them declined and she moved on.
Hermione spent most of her time reading her Wanderings with Werewolves book, for what must have been the third time, while Emma, who was feeling restless, kept flicking between reading the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 and chatting with Nephthys.
At first, when Emma had gotten Nephthys home, she would talk to her, and Hermione just thought Emma was being a bit strange, however, she quickly noticed that Nephthys would caw back. She had no idea how much the little bird was actually understanding, but it was certainly more than Hermione had first given her credit for. Now, when she watched their discussions, it was with mild fascination.
At one point, the eager bird started pecking the window and cawing, like she wanted to go outside, but Emma was very reluctant.
'Sorry, Nephthys, and I know Hermione's probably going to call me a hypocrite, but I just think you're still a bit too young. You might not be able to keep up with the train and I wouldn't want you to get lost.'
Nephthys didn't like that very much and, just like a human toddler, went into a strop and flew over to Hermione's side of the carriage and started making a lot of noise.
'Tell you what, Nephy, I'm starting to feel really cooped up in here too, how about we go explore the rest of the train?'
Nephthys squawked and turned away, still in a tantrum. Emma couldn't help giggle at the bird's petulance.
'Well, I'm going, so you can come with me, or stay with Hermione.' said Emma, offering her arm for Nephthys to perch on.
The bird seemed to decide for a second and then flew up to Emma. She probably realised it was the best offer she'd get. Emma lifted her arm to let Nephthys hop onto her shoulder and the two of them left to explore the train.
'See you in a bit.' waved Emma.
'Have fun.' smirked Hermione.
Emma didn't know many people on the train, and she didn't like to intrude, so she never went into any of the compartments, even if they were nearly empty. Simply walking down the train was soothing enough for her restlessness.
She passed quite a few people in the corridors that looked at her and Nephthys with curiosity. It seemed virtually nobody, even among the Gryffindors, knew who she was, but when they saw Nephthys on her shoulder, they came to say hello and give the little raven some attention. It seemed that having a raven as a pet was really unusual, and Nephthys was loving the attention, acting quite smug. Emma, however, was very uncomfortable with this popularity.
It was after she had left two older Ravenclaw girls when she realised how few people knew her.
'Do you think she'll be sorted into Ravenclaw?' asked one of them when they thought she was far enough away.
'Definitely.' replied the other. 'Have never known anyone with a raven not be.'
For the second time that day, Emma felt her emotions overwhelm her. On the one hand, she was happy that she was so unknown, it kept her secret safe, but on the other, they thought she was a first year. Yet again, she was upset that she might have stopped ageing and began to cry.
She was really beginning to wonder what was wrong with herself. Recently, the littlest thing would set her off and throw her emotions into chaos. Emma knew she'd always been one to blow things out of proportion, something else that Hermione helped her with occasionally, but it really felt that this started getting worse shortly after the visions her mother showed her.
Nephthys tried to comfort her by nipping at her ear, and leaning her head against Emma's and it helped, earning her a cuddle. The emotions passed almost as quickly as they arrived, and Emma felt confused. No longer interested in exploring, she returned to her carriage and Hermione.
'What's wrong?' asked Hermione, noticing the red marks around Emma's eyes at once.
Emma explained what happened and Hermione sighed a little.
'I told you, Emma, you're still growing. Maybe not as fast as some, but you definitely are.' she said, calmly. 'And your mother was very short as well, wasn't she?'
Emma nodded, forlornly. Hermione's logical arguments always helped when she started to get carried away.
After a few minutes of quiet, Hermione changed the subject.
'Are you going to come to the sorting with me, or are you going to avoid it this year?' she asked.
'I think I'll go, though I'll have to hide during the feast. I don't want a repeat of last year where everyone asks me if I'm alright, and why I'm not eating.' frowned Emma.
Hermione grinned. She had been one of the main culprits for that, constantly asking Emma if she'd eaten. In her defence, Emma did look like she was starving herself, and it was only right to be concerned.
It wasn't long after that that they got the warning that the train would be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes, so the two of them got changed into their school robes and packed their things away. Emma put Nephthys back on her shoulder and followed Hermione out onto the platform after the train had stopped.
Since they had been at the back of the train, most of the school had already filed out towards the carriages that would take them the rest of the way from Hogsmeade station to Hogwarts. Emma had heard that they pulled themselves with magic. The two of them stayed to talk with Hagrid for a few minutes while he gathered all the first-years. He asked about Harry and Ron, but when they said that the boys never made it through the barrier, he shrugged, saying they'd be fine.
When they finally got to the road leading to Hogwarts, they found that they were the last two waiting for a carriage, and they were incredibly surprised when one started coming toward them.
'What's that?' asked Emma, curious, to a dumbstruck Hermione. 'I thought they were meant to pull themselves?'
Hermione shook her head, looking at the animal pulling the carriage sideways. 'No idea, and so did I.'
'It's not an Abraxan is it?' asked Emma, doubtful.
'No, they're bigger and have feathered wings.'
The two of them continued looking at the animal, forgetting themselves and the carriage for a moment. It looked like a horse, but it was almost completely black, very thin, skeletal even, and had large bat-like wings. The two of them found it a bit unsettling to look at, particularly it's ghostly white eyes, and quickly remembered they should be getting on the carriage.
As soon as they were inside, the strange horse walked forward without command, and they found themselves heading toward Hogwarts.
'I wonder why people said these carriages pull themselves.' thought Hermione, out loud.
'So, we're going to the library after sorting?' asked Emma with a wide grin.
Hermione laughed. 'Definitely.'
Once they had gotten out of the carriage, Emma started walking toward the school with Hermione beside her.
'Probably shouldn't take Nephy into the sorting ceremony.' said Hermione as they neared the front gates.
Emma looked confused for a second, she'd almost forgotten Nephthys was there, being so used to the weight on her shoulder.
'Alright, Nephthys, Hermione and I are going to have to spend a few hours in that big hall over there, and then we're going to go to the library for a bit. After that, we'll be going up there.' said Emma, pointing toward the Gryffindor Tower. 'That's where we'll be staying. You can fly that high, can't you?'
Nephthys squawked at her as if the answer should be obvious.
'Okay, so, in about four or five hours, if you fly up there, I'll let you in. Until then, you can go wherever you want. Except the forest, please don't go in the forest.'
'Hypocrite.' whispered Hermione, giggling.
Nephthys cawed, happy to finally be allowed to fly around, and nipped Emma's ear before she flew off.
'I swear, you treat her better than you treat most humans.' said Hermione, smiling.
'Well, she is better than most humans.' said Emma, simply.
They kept walking until they got to the doors of the Great Hall, and Emma stopped dead, looking through them at the teacher's table.
'What is he doing here?' she asked, terrified, and stepping away.
'Who?' asked Hermione, looking inside, confused.
'Lockhart!'
'What? You don't know? Sorry, I thought you did. He's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.'
Emma's face fell, and she stepped back another step.
'Look, Emma, it'll be fine. I told you, he's nice, if a bit full of himself, and I'm sure he won't even recognise you.'
'He has personal experience with vampires, Hermione. He'll know what I am immediately.'
Yet again, her emotions felt wildly out of control, and she was starting to drown in fear.
Hermione grabbed Emma's hand and spoke to her calmly for over a minute. Eventually explaining that he would never do anything with Dumbledore in the same room, Emma began to relax and relented into following behind Hermione toward their seats.
They ended up sitting next to Neville, Percy, Lavender and Parvati, near where the first years would sit after being sorted, right next to the teachers table. Emma watched him furtively from behind Hermione, and it was odd. The other teachers sitting next to him seemed to be treating him with contempt, but he was completely oblivious, smiling widely, showing off almost every single one of his pristine white teeth. When he finally saw Emma, he winked at her and then continued looking around the room.
Confused, Emma turned to Hermione who had a smug smile on her face. 'Told you so.'
The rest of the sorting went by very slowly for Emma. She listened when the Sorting Hat sung another song describing the four houses. It was a different one than the year before, and Emma wondered if it made up a new one every year, or cycled over seven of them so nobody heard the same song twice.
After that was the sorting itself, and it seemed to take longer than she remembered it taking last year. The first to get sorted into Gryffindor was a very eager boy called Colin Creevy, who couldn't seem to sit still, and the last was Ron's little sister, Ginny.
After that was the feast in which Emma tried incredibly hard not to be sick from the smell of the food, and the sound of everyone chewing, and concentrated very hard on not being noticed. It was torture. She was paying enough attention, however, to notice when Dumbledore and McGonagall left shortly after the food appeared, and returned again, joined by Snape, just before it was removed.
Dumbledore then gave out the start of term announcements, though there was nothing particularly interesting. He introduced Gilderoy Lockhart as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and then added that the forest was still forbidden and that magic was not allowed in the corridors. At least there weren't any out-of-bounds-death-corridors this year, that was something.
When they were finally released, after being given the password to the common room, Emma and Hermione slowly made their way out of the hall, and through the crowd. While they were moving, Emma couldn't help overhear Draco and some other Slytherins talking excitedly, and loudly, about Harry and Ron.
'Yes, expelled!' said Draco, smiling as if it were Christmas. 'For crashing a flying car into the Whomping Willow. Good riddance, I say.'
Emma recounted to Hermione what she'd heard Draco say as the two of them ran toward the library on the fourth floor, using, as always, some of the secret passageways Emma had found in her first year, though they paused outside to catch their breath before going in. Madam Pince, the librarian, was really very strict.
'He must be lying. It is Draco after all.' said Hermione as they walked inside.
'Hello Miss Granger, Miss Pearson.' she said, stiffly, looking at the clock on the wall. 'Shouldn't you two be going to your dormitories now.'
'Yes, Madam Pince, we will, we just wanted to see if there were any books on those horse creatures that pull...'
'That pull the carriages into Hogwarts?' interrupted the librarian.
'Yes,' said Hermione, questioningly. 'how did you know?'
'This happens every year,' she sighed, subdued. 'students coming in to ask about the creatures, not knowing why they are able to see them when none of their peers can.'
'But, we can both see them.' said Emma. 'You mean others can't?'
'Here,' said Madam Pince, taking a book off her desk and handing it to the two of them. 'You will find what you are looking for on page 478.'
She sighed again and busied herself around the library while the two of them found a table and started reading a page titled Thestrals.
'A Thestral is an XXXX classification Beast and, as a species, are considerably dangerous. Therefore, the breeding and ownership of these beasts are strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic.' quoted Hermione, reading out loud.
'They didn't seem dangerous to me. In fact, the one pulling our carriage was really very peaceful.' said Emma, and Hermione nodded, before continuing.
'The Thestrals are considered by many in the wizarding world to be unlucky and an omen of misfortune for those who can see them as they are only visible to those who have witnessed, and accepted, death.'
The two of them looked at each other, eyes wide.
'That's not very nice.' said Emma, angry. 'So, they're treated badly because you have to see someone die before you can see them.'
'Superstitious nonsense.' muttered Hermione.
'But who have you witnessed die?' asked Emma to Hermione, who looked back, exasperated.
'You... you daft girl.' glared Hermione. 'Three times!'
'Ooh... yeah. Sorry.' said Emma, awkwardly.
'Come on, let's get back to the dormitories before it's too late.' said Hermione, rolling her eyes.
After leaving the library, the two of them ran up to the Gryffindor common room, and just as they rounded the last corner, they saw Harry and Ron, standing outside the secret entrance to the tower.
'There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumours, someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car.'
'Well, we haven't been expelled.' replied Harry, sheepishly.
'You're not telling me you did fly here?' said Hermione, severely.
'Skip the lecture,' said Ron, impatiently. 'and tell us the new password.'
Emma began to lose control of her emotions again, and she saw red.
'Don't you dare speak to her like that!' yelled Emma as she instantly closed the distance between her and Ron and slapped him.
The slap sent a shock-wave over the four of them. They were all stunned at the outburst, most of all Ron, who had not expected her ferocity, her speed, or that she would use her left hand.
Emma huffed indignantly, and turned away to pace up and down the corridor. She'd never hurt anyone before, not on purpose, and the feeling terrified her. She'd only ever felt this level of anger once, and it hadn't been hers, it had been her mother's, staring at the vampire hunter. Ron didn't deserve that.
'Emma?' asked Hermione, concerned.
'I'm sorry, Ron,' said Emma, turning to him, before resuming her pacing, to calm down. 'but you shouldn't have spoken to Hermione like that. She's just looking out for you, and you treat her like dirt. I don't like it! It's not her fault you did something stupid.'
She sighed again, and collapsed to the floor, tears in her eyes.
'I'm sorry. The password is "Wattlebird".'
Anything the others were about to say was cut short as the portrait of the fat lady swung open, and there was a sudden storm of clapping. Nearly every single Gryffindor, including the first-years, were still awake and packed into the common room, waiting for the two boys to return to the dormitory.
Arms reached through the portrait hole, pulling Harry and Ron inside and the congratulations began, leaving Emma and Hermione outside, scowling, for different reasons.
