Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Just putting that out there.

It took me two months to realise that I was in the world of Harry Potter. But it took me all of two minutes to realise that I was in a self-insert fanfiction. It was quite an easy discovery really: I woke up in a room I didn't recognise, heard voices I didn't know, and looked in the mirror and saw a ten year old staring back at me. However, the biggest giveaways were my pink hair and the name the voices were shouting.

Emerald.

At first I thought that they were talking to someone else, but then a woman barged into the room I woke up in and asked "Emerald Star Johnson, why on earth didn't you come downstairs when I called you?". Now, either there was another person in the room who I couldn't see, or she thought that my name was Emerald.

The pink hair combined with the jewel inspired name led me to the revelation that I not only was in a self-insert fanfic, but I was also a Mary Sue.

It was slightly awkward when I just stared at the woman I later found out was my mother, but she seemed to think that I was daydreaming, so it was fine in the end.

A day later a bunch of vague memories about my life as Emerald Star Johnson randomly popped into my head, and two months later McGonagall turned up at my door with a Hogwarts letter in hand.

I'm unashamed to say that I fainted.

Obviously, I can't tell people about what has happened to me, because they would either think I'm crazy or somehow get my new family (who I've come to care about) in danger. I can't change the plot either. Who knows how many more people could die if I get involved! But I still want to rant about my situation somewhere. So, while sat here on the Hogwarts Express, I decided to write in this journal. This will be a place where I can talk about all the reasons as to why I am now a Mary Sue.

Reason 1: My name

Okay, so what parents think that calling their child 'Emerald' is normal? Mine apparently. But, for some reason, they and my sister have normal names. My father is called David, my mother is called Ruth and my sister is called Hannah. Yet I am stuck with the name Emerald!

I've told everyone that I've met on the Hogwarts Express (a whole two people, but we'll get to them in a minute) that my name is Em, but everyone will know my name as soon as it's read out at the sorting. I just can't believe that I'm stuck with such a stereotypical Mary-Sue name as Emerald…

Reason 2: My Hair

Yes, my hair is pink. No, nobody seems to think that this is unusual. If I'm being honest, the pink hair was the main reason as to why I didn't figure out that I was in the world of Harry Potter in the first place. I actually thought that I was in an anime.

But, wait a minute, not only is my hair pink, but it's far longer that my waist in length, which is really impractical. I tried to cut it once, much to my mother's dismay, but it only grew back a few minutes later. My mother was relieved that I had 'come to my senses' and that 'cutting such lovely hair would have been a crime', but I wasn't as happy as she was. I also tried to dye it brown, but the dye just wouldn't take to my hair. I suppose that I'm going to have to wait to change it until I need character growth or something like that. I just hope that that comes sometime soon.

Reason 3: My family's reaction to finding out about magic

Apart from the fact that I fainted when I saw McGonagall on my doorstep (who, I am pleased to say, looks remarkably like Maggie Smith), nothing major happened when she first visited. My parents believed in magic straight away without McGonagall even having to perform any spells, my sister was in no way jealous that I had magical powers, and they were perfectly okay with McGonagall taking me to Diagon Alley by herself, there and then, without either of my parents.

They were okay with a STRANGER taking their child to an unknown location after having a twenty minute conversation with them.

I tried to bring this up, but they took it as me not wanting to leave them yet, and just reassured me that I wouldn't leave for Hogwarts for another four months and I would still have time with them as a family.

Thank goodness that I'm not actually a ten year old and that McGonagall is actually a good person, otherwise something dodgy could have happened.

Reason 4: My trip to Diagon Alley

This was when I found out that the world was actively trying to push me into the plot of Harry Potter. Not only did I nearly get drawn into a conversation with Hermione Granger in Flourish and Blotts, but I almost bumped into the Weasleys on three separate occasions, and managed to dodge an encounter with the Malfoys.

Everywhere I went, it was as though some hidden power was trying to force me to interact with all the main characters, apart from Harry himself. However, from my close call with Molly and Ginny Weasley, I did figure out that I was the same age as the Golden Trio, which didn't surprise me all that much.

Finally, to top it all off, when I visited Ollivanders, he went off on a spiel about how I'm very powerful, more so than my parents were at my age, and they were some of the leading members of the Order of the Phoenix. That confused me, because from all I knew of my parents they were muggles, teachers at the local secondary school.

Reason 5: Turns out I'm an orphan

Yep, after all the shopping McGonagall sat me down in the Leaky Cauldron and explained that David and Ruth weren't actually my parents, but Julius and Sapphire Shafiq were. Julius and Sapphire were best friends with James and Lily Potter, Julius even being the fifth Marauder. They died at Voldemort's hand after refusing to tell him where James and Lily were.

As they were dead, I was now the only remaining Shafiq alive, heiress to a massive fortune and the power that came with being the last remaining member or a Sacred 28 family.

As much as it would be nice to have the extra money, how was I supposed to stay out of the plot if my father would become well known to Harry in his third year?

Of course, I haven't been able to avoid becoming part of the plot, even before we get to Hogwarts, but as I said before, we'll get to my current experience on the Hogwarts Express later.

One good thing came from finding out that I am an orphan though. When I got back from Diagon Alley I had a long conversation with my new parents about being adopted. All three of us cried and it was then that I realised that I actually loved them. It was a strange feeling, as I had only known them for a couple of months, but they were good people and they cared about me and Hannah so much. I acted more like myself around them after that conversation, much to their joy as I had apparently not been myself for the last two months (well duh). Now I can't imagine my life in this world without them, as soppy as that may seem.

Reason 6: My whole experience of September 1st

Okay, so now we get to today and what has happened so far now that I have the ability to actually impact the plot.

The day started off okay. I said a tearful goodbye to my mum and Hannah at home as only my dad was taking me to Platform 9 ¾. Hannah refused to let go of my waist for a good ten minutes, making dad and I later than we wanted to be, but we still got to Kings Cross with plenty of time.

We found the platform fairly easily because McGonagall had given us detailed instructions, something that Hagrid really should have given Harry, now that I think of it. I walked straight past the Weasley family and came to a stop near the train, turning around to say goodbye to my dad. There were no tears this time, only a hug, encouraging words and a reminder to write lots.

The problems started once I was on the train, because the first compartment that I walked into was the one that Harry Potter was sat in. I knew that he would know that I was a first year as my robes didn't have any colour on them, and I couldn't think of an excuse to say that I wanted to sit somewhere else. I must have looked like a deer in headlights as Harry sent me a comforting smile, almost as if to say that he knew how I felt, and asked if I wanted to sit down. I only nodded in return.

We made light conversation before Ron came in and the plot continued as normal, only with three of us in the compartment instead of two. I've joined in with the conversation, trying hard not to say anything that could impact the plot in anyway and have gorged myself on the sweets that Harry bought, after offering to pay for them of course. But, annoyingly, I've found myself enjoying the conversation and I have unwillingly began picturing myself being close friends with the two boys. Now that I've sat with them on the Hogwarts Express, I feel as though it may become even harder to stay out of the main plot without hurting their feelings too much. Hopefully I'll be sorted into Hufflepuff so that I wont have to spend too much time with them.

Ron just asked me what I was writing, and I've had to tell him that this was my diary. He seems put off by such a girly thing by now, but I'm sure that his curiosity wont be put off for long. So, I'll write again after the sorting where I'll hopefully use my Mary-Sue powers to convince the Sorting Hat to put me in Hufflepuff.

Hey guys, Lizzie here! Welcome to my new story! I just wanted to say that I don't dislike self insert fanfictions (or the name Emerald) in the slightest, in fact most of my favourite fanfictions are OC driven! I just have a habit of writing far too much and was thinking that a diary/journal format would be a great way to cut down the amount that I would write, so I came up with this story idea! Because of this fact, don't expect future chapters to be as long as this one is, as this whole story will be my attempt to cut down on how much I write.

I would love any feedback you could give me, as long as its either nice or constructive! I will see you all in the next chapter then!