Chapter 7.
Emeree could see that she had bothered Professor Snape slightly with her questioning. He was very good in keeping his emotions and thoughts to himself, but he had closed his eyes a bit longer than his typical blink. One of her parents' interns had done the same thing when she had asked him question after question that he couldn't really answer. She had assumed that since he was older and in university he would know the answers to some of the questions she had, but he was learning as much as she had been. Thinking back on it, she hoped that summer hadn't deterred him from pursuing archeology.
Professor Snape had been kind enough to entertain her questions and offering an extra credit project was more than what she anticipated on getting. They had set up another time to meet and she suggested that perhaps they get a sampling of students and faculty of different magical backgrounds to create the same potion using the same ingredients and instructions to compare each sample. Everyone seemed to be overly concerned about blood status but showing results in this area that contradicted the popular thought that Pureblooded wizards and witches were superior would go a long way in advancing the entire culture forward. She would have to inquire about how places around the world dealt with magical and nonmagical interactions and if they subscribed to the same thinking regarding blood.
"Miss Reyes, do you require an escort to the Great Hall?" Emeree was startled slightly but smiled shyly. She may have finished her meeting with the professor but had not made it past the closed door before her thinking took over. She hadn't realized how long she must have been standing there, especially if it was time for him to head up towards dinner. Gods, he must think she was an idiot still standing in front of his door. How awkward. She could see him furrow his brow, she was taking too long to answer.
"I'm sorry Professor, I was just thinking over some things. I don't want to take up any more of your time if you are in a rush." Professor Snape looked at her face for a moment, as if trying to decipher the sincerity of her words before relaxing his brow.
"Considering you have been standing outside my door for the past thirty minutes, perhaps I should make sure you reach our mutual destination. Come." He started walking and Emeree fell in step next to him. He seemed to find that somewhat curious if his side glance was anything to go by, but he said nothing. Emeree wondered if there were any students that even bothered to walk within the same ten feet of Professor Snape considering his reputation. The two of them walking side by side must look so strange to anyone passing by. After a few minutes, she placed her left hand on the stone wall and let her fingers drag along the surface as they continued. The stone was smoother than she had originally thought, most likely due to the amount of students pressing up against them over the years. Some parts were rough, some were slightly damp, and some were growing an interesting type of moss that she had never seen before. Eventually, the stones grew warmer with the change in elevation and she could hear the noise of the Great Hall and students chatting away. Suddenly, she didn't feel like going into the room full of noise and children and people who only worried about their studying. She didn't really want to be around people period. She must have stopped again because Professor Snape was staring at her, blatantly enough that others in the hallway were whispering quietly to themselves as they passed them.
"Is there a problem, Miss Reyes?" Professor Snape's voice was quiet, but she could hear him just fine as if he was right in front of her. Her eyes snapped to his and she could feel something. It was similar to the feeling that she had when the journal had been in the same room as her. There was something she couldn't quite grasp with her senses, but this time it was starting to become all encompassing. She stepped back towards the wall and placed her hand on it. Something about the stone was comforting, like a ripple of energy that she could barely sense just underneath the warmth. Or perhaps it was the warmth. Could people feel magic? Was it a tangible thing outside of colored spells? Her breathing had turned a bit erratic without her notice and the feeling that something was here surrounding her was growing. She closed her eyes and clamped hands over her ears to block out the sound. It was like silence, like white noise, but getting louder but muffled at the same time. It was like she was in a void that wanted to both cradle her and swallow her whole. Hands on her own pulled her back just in time to hear a scream from down the corridor.
…
…
…
…
…
Severus had not expected the girl to stand outside his door once their meeting was over. He was actually somewhat concerned when thirty minutes had passed, and his ward indicated that she had not moved from her spot. He had finished his grading but had waited a few minutes longer in the event that she decided to knock again. When he decided that he could wait no longer, especially since tonight was the blasted Halloween Feast, he opened the door and spoke.
"Miss Reyes, do you require an escort to the Great Hall?" The girl had startled, oblivious to his presence or anything around her. He had decided to monitor her a bit in the event some type of medical issue would occur. It wouldn't be the first time that Hogwarts had a student who suddenly had seizures due to the proximity to magic. After having her follow him to the Great Hall he noticed that she fell in step by his side, seemingly unworried at her position there. Most students would reluctantly follow at least five paces away. He observed her fingers on the wall but made no judgement from that. He had watched many children run their hands along the chain link fences in Cokeworth and enough students follow the bushes on the grounds with their palms to know that sometimes tactile feel just kept the mind satiated. It wasn't until he felt her stop in the corridor leading to the Great Hall that he turned. He watched her for a moment before speaking. His voice caught her attention enough for them to lock eyes and he was concerned when her pupils suddenly dilated and her breathing became shorter, breaths more shallow. He did a passive scan with legilimency but couldn't make sense of the confusion, panic, and slight fear. He stepped forward as she stepped back, uncaring that they had somewhat of an audience now. The girl had slipped down the wall, eyes shut, hands clamped over her ears as if there was something she was hiding from. The behavior was worrying, but as soon as he put a hand on her own to try and bring her back to the current moment, her eyes snapped open and the both of them turned to their right where a scream was echoing through the walls.
He quickly stood, pulling Emeree up with him. A large crowd was already forming down the hallway and he could see Minerva and Filius pushing their way through the students gathered. He narrowed his eyes. It could have been a coincidence, but his instincts were telling him that the two events were related. Of course, he didn't think the girl beside him was responsible for whatever was happening down the hall, but the fact that she had a mild panic attack before the event happened was curious. He thought back to how Emeree would seem to stare at the ingredients in class, holding them in her hand as if perplexed and wondered if the reason she did so was because she was more in tune to magic than most of her peers. Could she feel it, almost as if it had a physical presence? There had been a few cases of students in the past that had been slightly more empathetic than others when it came to feeling magic, though most of them had ended up either as curse breakers, like Bill Weasley, wardsmiths, or focused their talents in wandmaking. But, he was sure that their sensitivity was short range, versus Emeree who seemed to be able to feel something happening from at least a corridor length away. He mentally shook his head. He was getting ahead of himself now. If that was the case, just standing within Hogwarts should set her off considering the accumulation of years of ambient magical energy. There was something going on here. Yes, she may be somewhat sensitive to magic, but that did not mean she was sensing whatever it was that was happening. That brought him back to the thought that he still had no idea what was happening down the hall. He tightened his hold on Emeree's hand.
"Miss Reyes, I do not think it wise to leave you at this moment, but I also cannot ignore my duties. Please follow me while I clarify the situation down the hall, and then we will proceed to the hospital wing." Emeree merely nodded before dutifully following the Potions professor towards the crowd of people. The closer she got, the more anxious she felt. There was something over there that was making her acutely aware of something. However, with Professor Snape leading them through the crowd with a hand lightly resting on her shoulder she couldn't stop or pull away. Being led through the crowd of students who were murmuring about some type of attack didn't help focus her attention. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the pressure on her shoulder, the warmth from Professor Snape's hand, and the slight tightening that would direct her which way to go. But then she could feel something else. It was like a second, faint feeling that wasn't coming from his hand, but from higher up. Unable to stop herself, she found her focus shifting and followed it to the source. It was originating from the middle of his forearm and while it wasn't affecting her like whatever happened in the corridor a few minutes ago, she thought it felt somewhat familiar despite the strange feeling also surrounding whatever it was. Following it had also calmed her and she opened her eyes to see that everything seemed to have happened in a few heartbeats. The crowd was still around and Professor Snape was still leading her towards the front. Students were caught between talking about what was happening and spreading how she was being pushed forward by Snape. Once they were in the front, the silent command to stay put was conveyed by the brief squeeze she felt before he released her shoulder. From what she could see there were three Gryffindor students being questioned by Professor McGonagall and a cat was hanging by its tail from a light sconce.
"Potter, why am I not surprised to find you involved with whatever mess this is?" She blinked at the Professor's voice. He did not seem to like Harry Potter.
"A petrification is much too advanced for second years." McGonagall stated before facing the wall that the cat was hanging from. "And I very much doubt that Mr. Potter and his friends are responsible for this." Emeree looked at the wall and read the message "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware." Snape had left her side and was discussing with the other professors, the Headmaster, and the caretaker so didn't hear a blonde Slytherin boy comment about how mudbloods would be next. Despite wanting to hear more of what the student was saying, her attention was once again taken by something in the crowd. This was the familiar feeling of being watched, the feeling of that journal that Ginny Weasley now had. The girl was by the corridor wall furthest from the hanging cat and was hugging her arms. Perhaps the girl loved cats and was rather distraught to see one dead. Emeree watched Ginny for a few moments before the girl seemed to sense her eyes and looked back at her. They held gazes for a few seconds before the girl fled. It wasn't long after that the professors were ushering the students back to their dorms, stating that the prefects would be in charge of making sure that everyone was accounted for, and that food would be brought to the common rooms. She saw Professor Snape speak briefly with Professor Flitwick, both glancing at her at the same time when she still hadn't moved from her spot. They seemed to agree on whatever it was before both headed towards her direction.
"Miss Reyes, Professor Snape tells me that he has made plans to accompany you to the hospital wing. Would you rather I walk you down?" Emeree looked at Professor Flitwick who wasn't very much taller than she was before looking at Professor Snape.
"Professor Snape's escort is fine." Emeree stated.
"Very well. I will see you back in the dorms then." Flitwick nodded, looked back at Snape, nodded again, and continued down the hall towards Ravenclaw Tower. Emeree wondered if the professor was slightly disappointed in the fact that his student had chosen someone else over him. It wasn't anything personal, Professor Snape had just been there. Soon enough it was only the two of them and she looked at her professor for a moment more before realizing that the lack of people was making her awareness sharper.
Something was here, something that didn't feel exactly friendly. Her arms were breaking out into gooseflesh, but she hadn't realized she was shivering until a blanket was spread around her shoulders. Not fully comprehending where it was coming from, she grasped it tightly and tried to hide from the feeling. She didn't understand, she didn't know why suddenly her body was reacting like this. It was like something was moving around her, teasing at her senses and she couldn't see it. Humans were so used to their ability to process information visually, that this idea of something just out of her vision, of her ability to comprehend was setting her more and more on edge, especially after the entire journal situation. Ginny must have interacted with the journal as well and she had left, did that mean she could feel it to? Her thoughts were stopped abruptly when a hand went to her shoulder. That focus she had a few minutes ago was back and it was helping her calm down.
'Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale." She could faintly recognize Professor Snape's voice, but just following the commands to regulate her breathing took up most of her attention. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inha—
Pop. She jerked badly.
The bubble of pressure that had been mounting around her suddenly released. The air wasn't as heavy. The faded roaring in her ears was gone. She felt normal now. She hadn't realized she was laughing until she was already doubled over, tears down her cheeks.
"It's gone. It's gone. It's gone." The words kept spilling out of her mouth much like a child trying to convince herself that monsters under the bed weren't real. She had been scared, so scared, but now it was okay. It was okay.
…
…
…
…
…
Severus had thought whatever held the girl in such a state had passed. She had replied to Flitwick easily enough, and now he realized that it had been an idiotic mistake. He should have insisted the three of them go down to the hospital wing together immediately. The girl was still crying, the laughing fit over, but didn't seem to respond to outside stimulus. He had noticed her shivering and conjured a blanket, assuming she was dealing with some form of delayed reaction. It wouldn't have been a stretch to think she was going into shock. However, she had tried to bury herself in the blanket, as if hiding from something. It was very reminiscent of his youth; hiding under the covers, trying to block out the noises of flesh hitting flesh and glass breaking. He had tried to steer her towards the infirmary with a hand on her shoulder, which seemed to help for a moment along with instructions to breath. It had been going well until she had jerked from his grasp unexpectedly. Then he had been at an almost complete loss when she started crying and laughing simultaneously. He had been hesitant to approach especially since she kept repeating the words "It's gone" over and over. However, she was now staring through him, instead of at him, pupils still blown wide to the point where he could barely see a ring of brown around the black.
"Miss Reyes, can you hear me?" He was about to send off some patronuses before her hand squeezed around his wrist. The girl closed her eyes and seemed to compose herself before looking up, this time recognizing that he was there.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I don't know what happened." He furrowed his brow.
"Are you prone to panic attacks Miss Reyes?" He slowly put a hand on her shoulder and started guiding her towards the hospital wing. The girl shook her head in the negative.
"No, this is the first time this has happened. It was like I was being bombarded with noise while at the same time being separated from it. Something was present just beyond my ability to see or feel. As if I was suddenly above an ocean and monsters were lurking just beneath the depths." The Potions Master took a moment to think about this. It was not uncommon for children to suddenly find themselves overwhelmed, especially when transitioning to a place where magic was swirling constantly, however, it was uncommon to describe the sensation in such a negative way. Previous students had mentioned feelings of warmth when touching the castle walls or random moments of giddiness, but none so far had mentioned the sensations accompanied by any auditory triggers. And none had made it seem as if it were frightening.
"Have you felt anything similar before?" The girl scrunched up her brows in thought before speaking.
"There was a time my parents had an archaeological dig in Syria. I was much younger, so I can't recall much of it except for the feeling. There was something about the site that really scared me and I was sure that there were creatures in the ruins that would eat me if I strayed too far from the tent. It wasn't as all-encompassing as today, but more of a lingering in the back of my mind."
"Do you remember what your parents were working on?" The hospital wing doors were just down the hall now.
"It was the Ain Dara Temple in 1985. It was the only site in Syria my parents have visited. We keep a world map of pins with places and dates hanging in the study wall." Severus almost whipped his head at her at that declaration but forced his head to stay straight. Ain Dara Temple was one of the places that was steeped in ritualistic dark magic. History said that a group of hedge mages had been experimenting and created a creature that they hid within the temple and treated like their god. Of course, the local village had been used as human sacrifices to keep the beast fed. Eventually, the group was killed by the being they had worshiped and the creature for some reason could not maintain its form without the magical energy from the mages. Ain Dara had been an interest to the Dark Lord due to the supposed creation of this mysterious beast and Severus had been tasked with uncovering information about it. It had been one of his last assignments before the Dark Lord's defeat.
Due to its dark magical history, Muggles were unaware that this temple was not in fact created to honor some fertility goddess or that the stone lions and sphinxes were meant to animate and catch unsuspecting prey to feed to the creature within its depths. He was surprised that Emeree was able to sense something malevolent about the space without having gone inside the entrance. Most magical reports talked about curse breakers feeling uneasy after entering but not before.
"Ah Professor Snape how may I assist you?" Madam Pomfrey greeted them at the entrance of the infirmary.
"This is Miss Reyes. If you could run a diagnostic check it would put both Professor Flitwick and myself at ease. She had some sort of anxiety attack today." The hospital matron clucked her tongue.
"With what happened, I'm not surprised." Neither Snape nor Emeree corrected her as to when it happened. "Come on dear, let's get you seated in a bed while I run some tests." It wasn't long until Emeree was answering questions about her medical history between anecdotes of school safety. Severus leaned against the bed across from them and watched the diagnostic spells run their course. Nothing out of the ordinary besides still slightly elevated blood pressure and heart rate. Poppy had given the girl a mild calming draught and declared her fit to leave. It was on the way to Ravenclaw Tower that he concluded that Emeree Reyes was someone that was going to be a huge pain in the arse.