Quick thing before we get onto the one shot: I would highly recommend reading 'A Borrowed Life' before this. There will be a lot that won't make sense otherwise. But if you're happy being confused, go ahead I guess.
Em had been expecting something strange to happen for months. After all, she doubted that she had ended up in a different world for no reason. But apart from that expectation, she had no idea what would happen. For all she knew, she could end up becoming a mentor to someone when she was in her late eighties. She really didn't want to have to wonder if something strange would happen to her for seventy years. So in some ways, Em was incredibly relieved when the highly anticipated event took place only two months after she woke up in the new world. But she was mostly horrified.
Ever since waking up that fateful March morning, Em hadn't been quite sure how to act. Some things came naturally to her, such as her family's morning routine, thanks to her gaining some of the memories held by the girl Em thought of as the 'original' Emerald Johnson. But she didn't have memories of everything. One such thing was primary school. It wasn't as though she was struggling with any of the work. In fact it was remarkably easy, due to Em remembering her lessons from her past life, seemingly in detail. The difficulty of work meant for year 6s didn't match up to the curriculum she had been learning in secondary school.
However, Em was determined to not stand out as a supposed child genius. Not only would this be a sudden change for the teachers who may find it strange, it would add another Mary Sue trait onto her ever growing list, something that Em would prefer to avoid. Thankfully, after the first few days of school, Em had figured out that Emerald was actually seen as a 'gifted' student anyway, being placed on the top table in all of her lessons. But while her work was better than everybody else in her class, Em was never truly happy with it. Em told herself that she would work hard once she reached secondary school to make up for this lack in standards. There the teachers wouldn't be surprised by a sudden increase in intelligence as they didn't know the past Emerald and she would be too old to be seen as a child genius. She would once again be able to achieve her old standards.
It wasn't just her level of intelligence that Em found difficult to deal with. She had absolutely no idea how she was meant to interact with the children around her, especially those who were meant to be her friends. From what Em could tell, Emerald hadn't had a single best friend, but had been pretty popular with everyone in her class. On one hand, this was a good thing as Em didn't have to try and bluff her way through an interaction with a child she was meant to be incredibly familiar with. On the other hand, she was meant to be passingly familiar with at least thirty other children, none of whom she actually knew the name of.
Names were a big problem, Em having to pay particular attention during registers and conversations with other children. But learning more than 30 names in the space of a few days was quite difficult, so Em had taken to never using names at all, apart from the people she got to know well, like the people on her table. She also used the teachers' names, despite being used to calling all of her teachers 'sir' or 'miss' in secondary school. Here that was very much frowned upon and Em had to catch herself on more than one occasion.
Play time was also strange for Em. On the first day, Em had no clue what she was meant to do. Who had Em played with? Did she sit playing clapping games with the group in the corner? Play make believe with the girls who ran around the playground as though they were fairies? Did she play football with the athletic kids? Thankfully, a girl (who Em later found was called Alyssa) tapped her on the shoulder and shyly reminded Em that it was their turn for library duty that day. It was then that Em found her sanctuary in the school library. The librarian, Mrs Roberts, was a very warm presence who let some children in year 6 help her with tasks in the library. Not many people took her up on the offer, but Emerald had. This is when Em saw her chance. She offered to Mrs Roberts that she could help in the library every day. Mrs Roberts gave her a look which suggested she found the offer suspicious, but thankfully chose not to ask any questions, deciding instead to agree to Em's proposal. Em was even taught how to use the system to loan out books to other students.
Em's goal was achieved. She blended in with the other children primary school, both by dumbing down her work and avoiding interaction with them at break and lunch.
Em found it much easier at home than she did at school. It helped that most of Emerald's memories had been to do with her immediate family. She was also signed up for many out of school activities, so she was kept fairly busy, leaving less time for people to realise that something was up with Em. She went to swimming lessons and was a member of an performing acts school, meaning she did many activities with them such as circus skills, acting, ballet and tap. She also went to her mother's orchestra practices, where her mother played the violin. Em particularly enjoyed these sessions, as she could sit and think over her situation. She also liked it when the flute player had a main part, having wanted to play the instrument in her last life.
By the time she had been in the new world for 2 months, she was certain that no-one had noticed anything different about her. What Em didn't know is that her parents, Ruth and David, had definitely noticed a change. First of all, she had asked to be referred to as Em instead as Emerald, which sparked the initial worry in her parents. David, when playing in the park with Em and Hannah, noticed that Em's football skills had suddenly decreased, but her hand eye coordination had vastly improved. Ruth had noticed that she spent far more time reading than she ever had done before. Both of her parents saw that Em was a lot more reserved than she had once been. In conversations with her, it would take a while to get her to properly participate. Once she was in the flow of things, then she was back to her bubbly self. In fact, in those moments she seemed to be even more outgoing than she was before. But Em would seemingly catch herself in the act and draw back into her shell. It was this that caused the most worry in her parents, recognising that their daughter seemed to be stopping herself from acting as she normally would.
To try and counter this, her parents tried to get her to communicate with as many people as possible. On trips to the supermarket, they would get into conversations with different people and encouraged Em to talk. On the school run, conversations between Em and Hannah were heavily prompted. Hannah was more than happy to comply, becoming more attached to her sister than ever. Perhaps most importantly, Em was given the job of opening the door when someone knocked, under the watchful eye of one of her parents to make sure nothing dodgy happened.
Em had no clue what had prompted her parents to try and get her to open the door all the time. From her point of view it seemed very irresponsible. What if the person knocking on the door wanted to kidnap her or something? But she did what her parents wanted as part of her attempts to be as good of a child as possible, an unconscious reaction to living with people that half of her mind saw as strangers and the other half felt an overwhelming love for.
When the doorbell was rung one Saturday morning in May, Em made her way down the stairs from where she was reading 'Ice Boots' by Noel Streatfeild in her room. Her dad appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, being halfway through making lunch for the family, and gestured for Em to open the front door with a smile. She gave a small nod in reply and turned to do as she was asked, not seeing the smile fall off her dad's face in disappointment of the lack of words.
As Em opened the door, she couldn't help but double take at the woman on the other side. She was dressed very differently from what Em was used to: bright green robes and a witch-like hat and a piece of parchment in hand. Most notably was that she looked very much like a younger version of Maggie Smith, an actress from Em's old world. But it was the woman's words that shocked Em the most.
"Good morning," the woman began with a distinct Scottish accent " My name is Minerva McGonagall and I am a professor at a school called Hogwarts. I have a letter here for Emerald to invite her to become a student. Might I come in to talk to you more about it?"
It was at that point that Em fainted.
Em came to in the lounge, her family and McGonagall crowded around her. In front of her, McGonagall held a long stick, which Em could only presume was her wand. It was the sight of this that truly cemented the idea in Em's mind: she was in the world of Harry Potter.
She barely paid attention as McGonagall began a speech about magic to her parents and Hannah, none of whom seemed as surprised as they probably should have been considering the situation. Em's mind was engaged in other, more pressing thoughts. She was well aware that she had all the traits of a budding Mary Sue. She had pink hair, a stupid name (who names their child Emerald Star of all things?) and from what she could tell she was surprisingly good with animals. This spelt trouble for her, because Em knew what happened if you were a Mary Sue in Harry Potter. You ended up heavily involved in the plot. A plot in which she would end up having to be a child soldier and put her new family in danger. That wasn't something that Em wanted to happen to her.
She was pulled from her thoughts when a cat moved into her direct eye line. Almost instantly she knew that it was Professor McGonagall. Em couldn't help but be amazed as she held McGonagall gaze. Then, before her eyes, the professor turned back into a human. Em looked between McGonagall, her parents' faces of awe and Hannah, who wore a giant smile. She couldn't help but reflect the expression on her younger sisters face.
"That was incredible." The words slipped out of Em's mouth, almost involuntarily. She was in a state of wonder, seeing the magic that she had fantasised about every time she picked up one of the Harry Potter books performed in front of her. Her mind started imagining how much magic she would be able to perform "Would I be able to do that too?"
"Maybe not that specifically. But in a wee bit of time you could be able to do things like this." McGonagall said. Raising her wand, she clearly stated the incantation 'Wingardium Leviosa' and a coaster that sat on the side table began to float around the room.
Em was captivated by the magic in front of her, all thoughts of being a Mary Sue leaving her head and replaced by thoughts of this new power presented to her. She started to ask question after question, not bothering to stop herself from talking too much for the first time in two months. Everybody was already focused on her and her reaction, so there was no point in trying to prevent gaining too much attention, unlike how she had been acting since she arrived in this new world.
Her parents looked between each other with absolute joy. This woman and magic had made Em the happiest that she had been in months. It suddenly all made sense to them: Em must have found out that she had magic and began panicking about it, causing her to become more reserved in the process. It wasn't too hard for them to believe in magic, Ruth's great grandmother having told her many stories about magic growing up, stories which Ruth had told Em and Hannah when they went to bed. Ruth had always been more inclined to believe her great grandmother than not and David was very open minded by nature. Knowing that Em was related to them through this same relative that spoke of a magical world made Em being a witch even more likely to Ruth.
If magic could make their daughter this happy, then they had no qualms about sending her to a magic school. Although, Ruth decided in her head that she wanted to get in contact with parents of other 'muggleborns' just to make sure that Hogwarts was legitimate before sending her eldest off for the year. She would ask Minerva about it later.
After answering as many of Em's questions as possible, McGonagall mentioned that it would probably be best if they went to get Em's school supplies that day as the closer it got to September, the busier Diagon Alley (the area of London where wizarding shops were) would get. If Em wanted to see the street in all of its glory and get as much attention as possible from the shop owners they would need to go very soon. On top of this, as all professor were all needed at Hogwarts to teach, there was very few occasions that they would be available to take them before the summer.
This is when Em's mood dropped. Her dad had an important meeting with his work that afternoon, and Hannah had a birthday party that her mum needed to take her to. Her lower mood was not missed by anyone in the room, including Hannah who moved over to comfort her sister.
"Would you like a cup of tea and something to eat, Minerva?" David slapped his two hands down on his lap as he stood up from where he had been sitting on the settee, drawing all eyes to him "I was just in the middle of making lunch when you came and it would be no trouble making you some too."
"Tea and biscuits would be lovely, thank you," McGonagall replied, "While you're doing that, I could speak to Ruth about arranging a time for us to go to Diagon Alley."
The three adults moved to the kitchen to talk as Em and Hannah stayed in the lounge.
"There is another matter that I must discuss with the two of you," McGonagall began once Em was out of earshot "It concerns Emerald's birth parents."
As they had been doing throughout the duration of McGonagall's visit, Ruth and David looked to each other to gauge the other's reaction. Neither was too shocked to find out that Minerva knew about Em's birth parents. The only information they knew themselves was that Em was distantly related to them through Ruth's father.
"I take it you knew them then?" Ruth moved to turn the kettle on as David went back to making lunch and getting biscuits for Minerva. McGonagall took a seat at one of the chairs by the kitchen table.
"Her parents attended Hogwarts, just like most wizards and witches in the UK. Her godparents attended as well. It is those connections that will make her experience at Hogwarts different from everybody else's." McGonagall looked between Ruth and David to see how they were taking the news. She was met with two intrigued but calm faces, who were both listening to her and continuing on with their jobs.
"Em is descended from the Shafiq family. In fact, she is the heir – only a splash of milk please – and the last remaining member of the direct line. The Shafiq family is one of the most influential families – two sugars if possible – in the Wizarding world, in terms of both money to give to important projects and political power. Even in the muggle world, she will have a noble title. Her godmother also married into a powerful family. Sadly, her godmother has also passed," at this point, McGonagall gave a small sniff.
"I feel as though it would be incredibly important to make her aware of her inheritance before she arrives at Hogwarts to make sure she isn't shocked when she receives more attention than she usually would. This is another reason why she should go to Diagon Alley as soon as possible; I want to reduce the amount of contact she will have with people who may overwhelm her."
Ruth took a deep breath as McGonagall finished her explanation. They still hadn't explained to Em that she was adopted. They were hoping to do so at the end of this school year, so pushing it up a couple of months wouldn't be too bad. It was just that it was seeming more and more likely that Minerva was going to have to be the one to tell Em she was adopted. Especially if they would have to go to Diagon Alley that afternoon.
"Would you be able to give David and I a few minutes to talk this over?" She asked, handing McGonagall her cup of tea and a selection of biscuits.
"Of course. I'll go back into the lounge and let you two have a moment." McGonagall rose from her chair and moved towards the doorway and out of the kitchen. Ruth turned towards her husband.
"I think Em needs to go to that Diagon Alley place today." Ruth said as David took a hold of her hand.
"I agree, but which of us should go? My meeting is very important and we can't stop Hannah from going to Caleb's birthday party… What that look for?"
"I think that, hear me out before you protest, McGonagall should take her without us," David looked up alarmed and moved to say something but Ruth held up her hand to stop him, "Think about it. We both have important things to do. McGonagall is a teacher and has probably done this hundreds of times before – she can be trusted. She also knew Emerald's birth parents. If we… if we weren't there Em would be able to ask as many questions about them as she likes without worrying about hurting us. We both know she would be scared of that but I want her to know as much about them as possible."
"I understand. I'm just not too happy with letting her go alone without one of us."
"How different is it than when we let her go to the zoo with Lucy's parent's that one time. We barely knew them either, only a few conversations with them in the playground. McGonagall is a teacher, she can be trusted. And by the sounds of it, everyone goes to this Hogwarts school. She probably has taught many of them, so she knows who wouldn't be safe for Em to be around."
"And… and we'd just let her tell Em that she was adopted?"
"We can have a conversation with her afterwards. As long as we ask Minerva to let her know that we were going to tell her in a few months but had to push it up so Minerva could talk to her."
"Okay then. Lets go tell them then."
David moved to pick up his and Em's lunch, while Ruth picked up her and Hannah's. They moved back into the lounge and placed the plates in front of their children. To the questioning eyes that met their own, Ruth told them that it was a special occasion so they could eat in the lounge.
After Em had almost finished her food, David broached the topic "Em, would you feel comfortable going to Diagon Alley with Professor McGonagall without either of us there?" To her credit, if McGonagall was surprised, she didn't show it. Em was a different story.
"Yes, I'd be comfortable but… are you sure?" She looked up at her parents, confused as to why they would let her go to London with a stranger.
"We're okay with it, as long as you feel comfortable."
"Okay then." Em replied, not wanting to go against her parents' wishes. Both Ruth and David could sense that Em had slight hesitations, but she wasn't willing to voice them. It made David pause for a second, but he knew that now Em had said yes she wouldn't be willing to go back on her word. She was going and that was that.
"Is that suitable for you, Minerva?" He voiced, wanting to make sure the decision was okay with the professor.
"It's slightly unusual, but I'm sure that it will work out completely fine."
"Okay then, how about you go and put your plate and drink by the sink, Em, and go to your room to collect anything that you want to take with you. Be ready to go in fifteen minutes." Ruth looked to McGonagall to see if she was okay with that time and got a nod of approval.
Fifteen minutes later saw McGonagall and Em apparate away to London while the Johnsons moved to get ready to go to their individual activities for the afternoon, both the adults mentally thinking over what they would say to their eldest daughter when she came home that evening.
One thing that they both knew: they were going to let her know that she was very much loved and shouldn't have to be afraid to tell them about anything, even if it was about something as crazy as having magic.