After hearing about the mirror, there was some discussion as to what their greatest desires would be. A few, like Ron and Dean, wanted to actually find the mirror and check, but after a great deal of persuasion from the girls, decided against it. The thing that really talked them out of it was Marcy saying, "If you go looking for the mirror, I have a feeling that you'd be caught by Filch or one of the teachers. It doesn't matter that we've just mastered the Disillusionment Charm or that Em would lend us her Cloak. Anyone wandering about after curfew tonight would still get caught. If you really want to know what your greatest desire is, I'll see if I can't use my Gifts to figure it out." As her 'feelings' and glimpses of the future had been accurate so far, unless someone did something to change them, they listened.

When they weren't doing homework or hanging out, Marcy tried to use her Gifts to help with the problem over the Philosopher's Stone. All that happened was being further convinced that Quirrell was completely as evil as his auras showed and a feeling that he was likely person after the Stone. Some with the Gift of seeing the future could control it, but she apparently couldn't and if she did get any visions of future concerning the Stone, it would appear when she wasn't expecting it. The only thing that happened of note was one afternoon in early February when the Hogwarts Gang was in the Founders' Room doing their homework.

Marcy suddenly gave a jerk, making an ink blot appear on the essay she was writing. She dropped her quill and knocked over her inkwell as she gave another jerk and then sat bolt upright in her chair. In a deeper voice than she normally spoke in, she said, "The Dark Lord will attempt to return to power, but will not be successful until his third attempt. The one fated to have the power to defeat him will be present during the incident. Dark times will then fall, but a union of the four houses will conquer evil. With the help of her many friends, the one with the power to fully defeat the Dark Lord will finally do so."

Everyone stared at Marcy in shock as she finished speaking and slumped over the table. Then she blinked, shook herself, and sat up. "I think I blacked out for a bit."

"You just predicted the future!" exclaimed Diana. "A prophecy, like in the ancient Greek and Roman myths about the Oracle of Delphi."

"Di, you must be dreaming," said Marcy, shaking her head. "I think I would know if I told a prophecy. I just blacked out for a moment."

"You did tell a prophecy!" insisted Susan. "We all heard you. You knocked over your bottle of ink when you jerked and then sat upright in your chair and spoke in a deeper voice than you normally talk in. I've heard that some Seers don't know when they make a prophecy and maybe you're like that, Marcy."

"Me, a Seer?" scoffed Marcy. "I'm most definitely not a Seer. I just have a Gift of sometimes being able to see the future, which I can't even control."

"But that's precisely what a Seer is!" exclaimed Tracey. "Someone with the ability of being able to see or predict the future! Not all Seers can control that Gift."

"Okay, maybe I did tell a prophecy," said Marcy, sighing. "But what was it that I said?"

"I can't repeat it word-for-word," said Terry, "but it was along the lines of the Dark Lord trying to return to power and not be successful until his third attempt. The person with the power to defeat him, probably Em since she was the one that defeated him the first time, would witness it. Dark times will fall then, but a union of the four houses would vanquish evil. And the one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord would finally do so with the help of her many friends."

"Interesting," said Marcy, frowning in thought. "So Em is going to defeat Voldemort once and for all sometime in the future with our help. And the whole inter-house unity going on will conquer evil. But that's not going to happen for a few years yet, I hope."

Hermione gasped. "Quirrell's not after the Stone! Or at least, he's not after it for himself. It's for V-Voldemort! He's the one really after the Stone in hopes of using it to come back to full power! After the prophecy Marcy made, it's all clear to me!"

Emily groaned. "That's just wonderful. Thanks to Voldemort, I never knew my parents. I don't need him making life worse for me. I love Aunt Petunia and I'm glad she brought me up so well, but it would have been even better to have my parents and Aunt Petunia just be a regular loving aunt, not mother figure."

"Look on the bright side," said Seamus. "You-Know-Who's not going to succeed in his attempt to go after the Stone and use it to return to power."

"Not unless thisis his third attempt," pointed out Padma. There were groans from the others at this pronouncement, except Blaise.

"I don't think so," he said. "We'd have heard if V-V-Vol-You-Know-Who made other attempts to return to power before and was stopped."

"Are you sure?" asked Daphne. "Everyone in the wizarding world except us, Dumbledore, Hagrid, and a few others think that You-Know-Who's gone for good. The Ministry wouldn't believe that he was still alive if there were such attempts, and even if they did, they wouldn't broadcast the news. They won't want to start a panic."

"But there still would be news of some madman wanting power," argued Blaise. "Ever since You-Know-Who's defeat, the only things of note that's happened are what happened to Neville's parents and Cornelius Fudge taking over as Minister of Magic from Millicent Bagnold. And you might count the break-in at Gringotts."

"What I want to know is how I've suddenly started making prophcies," said Marcy, a frown on her face. "Why haven't I made any before if I have the Gift?"

"Maybe you have made prophecies before, but there was nobody around to witness it and tell you about it," suggested Justin.

"Well, you guys are staying out of this," said Emily firmly. "I may be the one that can fully defeat Voldemort, but I don't want the rest of you involved and getting yourselves killed on my account like my parents were."

"Didn't you even hear the prophecy, Em?" demanded Alex angrily. "It said that you would be able to finally defeat Voldemort with the help of your many friends! If you honestly that I would abandon you and not have any part in this, you're mistaken. And the same would go for Di and Mia."

The others quickly voiced their support and made it very clear that no matter what Emily said, they would be a part of this and would willingly help her defeat Voldemort, even if it did end in their deaths. She sincerely thanked her friends for their support and then helped Marcy clean up the spilled ink on her half-finished essay.

When February drew to a close, Quidditch practice resumed again. The next match for Hufflepuff was against Gryffindor. If Cormac McClaggen continued to act the way he did in the Gryffindor-Slytherin match, there was little doubt that Hufflepuff would win. A week before the match, Johanna Kraler announced that for some reason, Professor Snape was going to be refereeing the match. The entire team found it odd, as Snape never refereed at Quidditch matches. In fact, it was usually only Madam Hooch who was referee. It wasn't until one of the chasers pointed out that it would only be good for them, since Snape would probably favor Hufflepuff considering that he hated Gryffindors and this match would take them out of the running for the Quidditch Cup if they lost, that they dismissed the matter.

Emily could care less about it all, for she was confident that she could beat McClaggen to the Snitch, but hoped that Gryffindor wouldn't do too badly for the sake of her Gryffindor friends. She did work up her courage and went to see Professor Snape after Potions class that week. While he clearly favored Slytherins, he had never been mean to her, and at the end of each class, usually said that the potion she had made was 'acceptable' or 'would do'. Coming from him, that was a compliment and the equivalent of 'excellent work', as he normally praised only the Slytherin's work.

"Professor Snape?" she asked tenatively. "My aunt told me that you used to be friends with my mother. I've been meaning to ask you about it earlier, but I never got around to it."

Snape gazed at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Then he nodded curtly and led her to his office. "So what do you want to know, Miss Potter?" he asked.

"Aunt Petunia said that you lived in the same town as she did and was the one that told Mum about magic and Hogwarts. You and Mum were friends until after your fifth year. Since Aunt Petunia wasn't speaking to Mum at the time, she only knows that the two of you had a falling out, but none of the details."

Snape sighed, staring at the girl who looked so much like Lily. It was this and the fact that Emily showed very little of James other than inheriting his eyesight and Quidditch skill that made him not treat her the way he did with students that weren't Slytherin. "I made a mistake, Miss Potter. Your father and I did not get along in school. There was an incident when James Potter hung me upside down with magic. Your mother came to my rescue, but as I was angry, as well as embarrassed that I was rescued by a girl, I was not grateful at all. In fact, I made the mistake of calling your mother the derogatory term for Muggleborns. I instantly regretted it and tried to apologize to your mother afterwards, but she refused to accept it and from then on our friendship was over. I have never forgiven myself for what I did and if it had never happened, perhaps I would not have made some of the choices I did."

Emily couldn't help feeling a small surge of anger at her mother. Yes, Snape shouldn't have called her a Mudblood, but he didn't mean it! After all, he was angry over what James had done to him, and what male doesn't feel embarrassed at being rescued by a female? Alex had certainly been embarrassed that time Di had rescued him when he had been about to fall off the tree they'd been climbing. Yes, he'd thanked her for saving him, but he had still been embarrassed about it. Lily Potter should have forgiven Snape and continued their friendship. Emily had no idea what bad choices Snape did, and wasn't about to pry, but preventing them from happening would have ben great.

"Mum shouldn't have done that," said Emily indignantly. "I know that guys are normally embarrassed when they're saved by a girl. And you were angry at Dad, also. If it had been me, I would have accepted your apology for using the 'm' word and continued the friendship."

Snape shook his head. "No wonder you're in Hufflepuff, Miss Potter. You're extremely loyal to your friends."

"Of course I am," said Emily, slightly taken aback. "Though if I hadn't asked to be placed in Hufflepuff, the Sorting Hat would have put me in Gryffindor based on what it said about me."

Snape couldn't help looking surprised at that. "You actually wanted to be in Hufflepuff? But why, Miss Potter?"

"My friends at the time had unexpected Sortings, except maybe Hermione, because she is as smart as she is brave, and Alex was only unxpected to the ones that didn't know him well, Professor. I decided that I wanted to have an unexpected Sorting as well, and Hufflepuff was the first house that came to mind. I didn't want to fit the mold expected of the Girl-Who-Lived by going to Gryffindor."

"Good reasoning." He actually looked amused. "Well, do you have anything else that you want to ask me about?"

"Why are you refereeing the match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor? I don't care about it, but my teammates are very curious."

Snape sighed. "I'm refereeing in hopes of preventing what happened to you during your first match from happening again."

"Oh," said Emily. "So Quirrell was jinxing my broom. My friends saw you and him staring at me and muttering and the figured out that one was cursing my broom and the other was doing the countercurse. They thought it was most likely Quirrell, based on the fact that Marcy Horowtiz can tell that he's evil and you're, well, if not always nice, at least on the side of good. Thank you, Professor. Mum really shouldn't have broken off her friendship with you. I don't have anything more to ask of you now, but can we talk again in the future? I want to learn more about my mother, since Aunt Petunia can't tell me anything flattering about her after she went to Hogwarts. Jealously over magic, you know."

"We may, but please be discreet about it, Miss Potter," said Snape. "It would look odd if you and I were shown to be on friendly terms, as you're not in Slytherin."

"I will, Professor Snape. Thank you again." Emily smiled, making her look even more like her mother, and left the office.

The day before the Quidditch match, one of the Chasers came down with a nasty case of the cold and was told by Madam Pomfrey that she wasn't to play tomorrow. So Cedric Diggory would play in her place.

The match, to everyone's utter surprise, was extremely short. Dumbledore was in the audience and Emily vaguely thought that Snape didn't have to referee after all, as Quirrell wasn't going to do anything with the headmaster there. Snape awarded Hufflepuff two penalties, once when one of the Weasley twins hit a Bludger at him and once for no apparent reason at all. It was after the second penalty that Emily spotted the Snitch and went streaking after it. The rest of the Hogwarts Gang cheered her on.

Snape turned aside as a yellow and black streak shot past him and a few seconds later, Emily pulled out of the dive, her arm raised triumphantly, clutching the Snitch. The stands were in an uproar, for nobody could remember the Snitch being caught so quickly. It had to be a record since the game had barely alsted five minutes. Lee Jordan shouted out the results, that Hufflepuff had won one hundred sixty points to ten, in a disappointed tone of voice.

The Hufflepuffs and the Hogwarts Gang ran down to the field to congratulate Emily. Johanna Kraler hugged her and then told Cedric he'd done a good job as Chaser, as he was the one that had scored the only goal. After showering, changing, and putting her broom away, Emily was whisked away to the celebratory party the Hufflepuffs were having.