DISCLAIMER: Don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it. You know
the deal.
"Emmaline O'Reilley?" Professor McGonagall called.
Emma, who had been filling in her nails with an assortment of colored permanent markers, didn't seem to notice she was being called. Ron, who was sitting behind her, poked her with the blunt end of his pen.
"McGonagall's calling you, Emma,"
"Oh, right. Sorry, Professor," Emma sprang up from her chair.
"Today, Ms. O'Reilley, I will let it slip. But I expect you to pay attention in my class from now on. Now, class, Ms. O'Reilley has just joined us, as you all may have noticed. If you don't mind, Emmaline, I'd like to have you come up and introduce yourself,"
Emma strutted up to the front of the class and beamed her lighthouse of a smile out at her potential audience.
"Alright, well I'm Emma O'Reilley. I'm half Irish, one forth English and one forth Polish. However, as you'll all notice, I am accent-less," she spoke as though talking to her best friend. As she talked, her arms moved about, almost pantomiming what she was saying. Harry and Ron's eyes were glued to Emma. They were in a trance, hanging on every word that came out of her mouth, as were all of the other boys in the class.
"This is due to the fact that I've lived in the United States almost all of my life. You see, both my parents were magical-like and attended this school about, oh, a hundred years ago," she grinned and so did almost everyone else in the class, except Hermione. "So, I bet you're all wondering how I could be in this school if I was in the United States. Well, I'll tell you, to save myself from having to explain to a million different people a million different times.
"When I was 10, my parents told me that they were magical and knew how to do magic. I think I'm what you all call a pure blood. They said that normally, once I turned 11, I'd be sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn the tricks of the trade. However, they then said that they wouldn't send me because they were still deathly afraid of You-Know- Who and didn't want me to be in danger if he ever returned. They forbade me from ever learning magic.
"Crushed, I wrote a letter to my grandmother in England, who was also a witch and actually taught here at Hogwarts for twenty years, or so my parents told me. Do you know if she did, Professor? Her name was Shannon MacDonald?"
Professor McGonagall nodded.
"She taught Transfiguration before me. I learned everything I know from her. I had no idea you two were related,"
"Not a lot of people do. Anyways, I wrote to her and she was outraged. As soon as I turned eleven, she began sending me things to read and homework just like I would get in a normal class. I kept it very well hidden from my parents. Just a few months ago, my parents realized that they couldn't continue to live with each other. They filled for divorce and it finally became official last month. Then, since I'm an only child, there was a huge court battle about who would get custody of me. Finally, the judge decided that neither of my parents were fit to take care of me on their own so she let me pick who I wanted to be my legal guardian. Naturally, I picked my grandmother. "Two weeks ago, I came here to England. It was really hard for me to adjust, but my grandma had a surprise for me. By pulling some strings, she'd gotten me into Hogwarts. Nothing illegal, don't worry Professor. The word finally came through last week when classes started and the school determined that one extra person wouldn't hurt. Then, my grandma and I had to go get all my school supplies and go over some last minute study sessions. I'm still not too good with brooms, but I'm working on it. After that, my grandma had to find a way to get me to school. So, that's my story. That's why I was late this morning and that's why I'm here!" As Emma floated down the aisle back to her seat, she was greeted by a round of applause. Wanting to make the most of it, she stood up and began bowing and blowing kisses out into her sea of fans. Every time she bowed, her rose- red hair fell down in front of her face and was flipped back like a crimson wave.
"Thank you! Thank you, all!" She cried, pretending to be a famous actress being congratulated on a performance by her adoring public.
"Thank you, Ms. O'Reilley. That's quite enough," Professor McGonagall said, although everyone could see the smile playing at the corner of her mouth. "Now, it seems as though Ms. O'Reilley has taken up a considerable amount of our time, so we'd better get started on our lesson and expect a fair amount of homework tonight."
"Emmaline O'Reilley?" Professor McGonagall called.
Emma, who had been filling in her nails with an assortment of colored permanent markers, didn't seem to notice she was being called. Ron, who was sitting behind her, poked her with the blunt end of his pen.
"McGonagall's calling you, Emma,"
"Oh, right. Sorry, Professor," Emma sprang up from her chair.
"Today, Ms. O'Reilley, I will let it slip. But I expect you to pay attention in my class from now on. Now, class, Ms. O'Reilley has just joined us, as you all may have noticed. If you don't mind, Emmaline, I'd like to have you come up and introduce yourself,"
Emma strutted up to the front of the class and beamed her lighthouse of a smile out at her potential audience.
"Alright, well I'm Emma O'Reilley. I'm half Irish, one forth English and one forth Polish. However, as you'll all notice, I am accent-less," she spoke as though talking to her best friend. As she talked, her arms moved about, almost pantomiming what she was saying. Harry and Ron's eyes were glued to Emma. They were in a trance, hanging on every word that came out of her mouth, as were all of the other boys in the class.
"This is due to the fact that I've lived in the United States almost all of my life. You see, both my parents were magical-like and attended this school about, oh, a hundred years ago," she grinned and so did almost everyone else in the class, except Hermione. "So, I bet you're all wondering how I could be in this school if I was in the United States. Well, I'll tell you, to save myself from having to explain to a million different people a million different times.
"When I was 10, my parents told me that they were magical and knew how to do magic. I think I'm what you all call a pure blood. They said that normally, once I turned 11, I'd be sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn the tricks of the trade. However, they then said that they wouldn't send me because they were still deathly afraid of You-Know- Who and didn't want me to be in danger if he ever returned. They forbade me from ever learning magic.
"Crushed, I wrote a letter to my grandmother in England, who was also a witch and actually taught here at Hogwarts for twenty years, or so my parents told me. Do you know if she did, Professor? Her name was Shannon MacDonald?"
Professor McGonagall nodded.
"She taught Transfiguration before me. I learned everything I know from her. I had no idea you two were related,"
"Not a lot of people do. Anyways, I wrote to her and she was outraged. As soon as I turned eleven, she began sending me things to read and homework just like I would get in a normal class. I kept it very well hidden from my parents. Just a few months ago, my parents realized that they couldn't continue to live with each other. They filled for divorce and it finally became official last month. Then, since I'm an only child, there was a huge court battle about who would get custody of me. Finally, the judge decided that neither of my parents were fit to take care of me on their own so she let me pick who I wanted to be my legal guardian. Naturally, I picked my grandmother. "Two weeks ago, I came here to England. It was really hard for me to adjust, but my grandma had a surprise for me. By pulling some strings, she'd gotten me into Hogwarts. Nothing illegal, don't worry Professor. The word finally came through last week when classes started and the school determined that one extra person wouldn't hurt. Then, my grandma and I had to go get all my school supplies and go over some last minute study sessions. I'm still not too good with brooms, but I'm working on it. After that, my grandma had to find a way to get me to school. So, that's my story. That's why I was late this morning and that's why I'm here!" As Emma floated down the aisle back to her seat, she was greeted by a round of applause. Wanting to make the most of it, she stood up and began bowing and blowing kisses out into her sea of fans. Every time she bowed, her rose- red hair fell down in front of her face and was flipped back like a crimson wave.
"Thank you! Thank you, all!" She cried, pretending to be a famous actress being congratulated on a performance by her adoring public.
"Thank you, Ms. O'Reilley. That's quite enough," Professor McGonagall said, although everyone could see the smile playing at the corner of her mouth. "Now, it seems as though Ms. O'Reilley has taken up a considerable amount of our time, so we'd better get started on our lesson and expect a fair amount of homework tonight."
