Chapter 12
I was careful not to think of any place other then where I was at that exact moment. All day, I was afraid I would make a portal accidentally and be considered even more of a freak. 'Poor Harry.' I thought to myself after another first year girl backed away from me as if I were a werewolf or something scary. Now I knew how he had felt in his second year at Hogwarts. By the end of the day I had had it!
"Leave me alone, you jerks!" I shouted at a bunch of Slytherin 3rd years that had cornered me, asking 'how the heck I had done that crazy magic inside Hogwarts.' I pushed past them and ran up to Gryffindor tower, determined to skip the rest of my classes.
On my mad rush up the stairs I saw Emma slowly coming down. By then it was too late to stop running. I crashed into her and we went tumbling down the stairs, rolling over and over. We ended up tangled under a giant tapestry at the foot of the stairs.
"Sorry." I mumbled.
Emma gave me a strict look. "You shouldn't be up there. You're supposed to be in class."
I looked away, feeling ashamed. "I just wanted to get away from everyone."
Emma sighed. "Getting away from everyone is one thing but running away from your problems is another. Listen, I know everyone's teasing you, but you've got to get over it! Learn to control your portals and everyone will forget about it by next week. If you keep making portals by accident though, you will be considered freaky and there'll be nothing you can do about that."
I wiped a tear from my eye. "Sorry." I mumbled, staring at my feet
She put her arm over my shoulder. "It's okay, Ashley."
"Sorry, I'm just not used to this…world. I was normal and then that, that THING happened!" I sobbed.
Emma patted me supportingly on the back. "Relax. If you work hard on your special lessons, then you'll be fine. Okay?"
I nodded, crying less then I was before. "Sorry."
She squeezed my shoulder. "It's fine. You'd better get to class now."
I picked up my books and went down to History of Magic. When I sat down in my seat (Binns never noticed that I was missing), Sorina patted me on the back. I smiled, weakly. It was good at least to have friends. I knew that Sorina and Emma would always be there for me.