Chapter 17 – Sibling Payback

When Emma climbed through the portrait hole, she saw Hermione, Harry and Ron all waiting for her, eagerly, in the corner of the common room. She fell into a seat next to Hermione, leaned on the table and caught her breath, using it to delay the others and collect her thoughts.

'So?' asked Ron impatiently. 'What happened with McGonagall?'

'Everyone's been saying they've never seen her so mad.' added Harry.

There was a pause while Emma looked at Hermione. Thankfully, she looked far more concerned than angry. She knew she'd get a word or two later though. So much for promising to be careful.

'I went into the forest last night.' said Emma, lowering her head in shame. 'She found out.'

'You what?' shouted Ron in surprise, and got a lot of stares from around the room.

Emma flinched a little and Hermione glared at him.

'Why'd you go in the forest?' asked Harry, more reasonably.

'That's not important.' said Emma, trying to avoid more accusations, among other things. 'It's what I found while I was there.'

Emma explained, yet again, what happened in the forest, however, she obviously had to leave a lot out as the boys didn't know about her. It made the explanation seem a bit disjointed to her, but they didn't seem to notice.

'A centaur was going to kill you?-' squeaked Ron.

'Yes, but that doesn't matter either.' said Emma, brushing what he said away with her hand, trying not to get irritated. 'You're missing the point.'

'Go on.' said Hermione, calmly.

'Don't you see? Someone from the castle killed the unicorn and drank it's blood.'

'Did a vampire kill it?' asked Harry.

'No.' said Emma flatly, trying to keep calm. How many times would she have to go through this. 'I think Dumbledore would know if there were any vampires in the castle.'

Hermione coughed beside her, obviously trying to cover a laugh but the boys missed it, too busy thinking.

'Maybe it was Snape?' thought Harry out-loud.

Emma shook her head absent-mindedly at that, but it gave her an idea and she turned to Hermione. Given the other two were hopeless at observing their surroundings, they were unlikely to have noticed what she wanted to know.

'Did you see Quirrell at breakfast this morning?' she asked. 'How did he look?'

'Yes, he was there.' said Hermione, thinking. 'Now that you mention it, he did look better. Much better. What are you thinking?'

Emma quoted what Dumbledore had said to her about drinking unicorn blood verbatim.

'You see? Quirrell's been getting ill for months, and now, the day after a unicorn is found dead, he's all better?'

Hermione's eyes opened wide in realisation.

'He's after the stone!' she said, shocked.

'But we know Snape's after it?' interrupted Harry.

'I really don't think so.' said Emma. 'In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think that Snape has never been after it at all.'

'But you were there in the forest when Snape was trying to get Quirrell to help him.' said Harry, confused.

'Was he, though?' asked Emma. 'He never said he wanted the stone. He only asked if Quirrell had gotten passed Fluffy and if he knew how to get passed the other enchantments.'

Harry shook his head slowly. It was clear that he wasn't able to accept that Snape wasn't involved.

'What about the first Quidditch match, where he tried to kill me?' said Harry, clutching at straws.

'Uhm...' thought Emma, trying to organise her chaotic thoughts. 'Give me a sec.'

She leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to remember that first Quidditch match. She remembered Hermione grabbing the binoculars, to look over the stands. She also remembered noticing that Hermione started looking from left-to-right, which is why Emma looked right-to-left.

She heard one of the boys say something and get shushed by Hermione. Ignoring them, she went over her memories, trying to find Quirrell. She wondered why all her thoughts from back then were so muddy.

She eventually found him, sitting one row of seats down, just to the side of Snape. Her eyes opened immediately.

'Yes, Snape was trying to kill you, but so was Quirrell.' she said urgently, making the others jump. 'He was staring at you, unblinking and had his hands together, like he was praying, but I passed him over because Snape was chanting.'

'So they were both trying to kill me?' asked Harry, worried.

'I guess so.' said Emma. 'I mean, I'm not surprised Snape tried. It's no secret he hates you. I don't know why Quirrell would try, but he definitely was.'

Harry shook his head again. 'I still think Snape is involved with the stone. Maybe he poisoned Quirrell to get him to help as threats weren't working.'

'That's certainly a possibility.' said Hermione, thinking.

'I'm not too sure. I think we've been too eager to jump to conclusions from the start. Snape is so suspicious, I bet Quirrell's been using that to his advantage.' replied Emma, seeing Harry shake his head again. 'But you have a point. We still don't know why Quirrell was getting ill, and Snape is as good a suspect as any, being the potions master and everything.'

'Maybe they've been working together all this time, and what happened in the forest was just for show?' said Harry.

'So let's just keep an eye on both of them.' said Ron chiming in finally, essentially ending the discussion.

Emma was right about getting a few words from Hermione. As she thought, it was more out of concern than anger.

'You're going to have to earn those fifty points back.' she said, pointedly.

'How di-' asked Emma before being interrupted.

'We were by the hourglass when they were taken away.'

Emma hung her head again. Getting caught at Hogwarts was far worse than at the orphanage. There she'd basically just get shouted at, which was far easier to deal with than all the disappointment she'd been shown here, not least from Hermione.

'You're going to make it up to me.' said Hermione smiling conspiratorially.

'To you?'

'You lost all the points I've earned over the past two weeks.'

Realisation hit Emma then and Hermione knew it.

'You're not going to make me put my hand up in class, are you?' said Emma sulking.

'I am.' said Hermione, smirking. 'I know full well that points and detentions aren't going to affect you in the slightest.'

'But this will...' said Emma quietly, and Hermione nodded.

'Maybe you'll be more careful if you have to do this every time you get caught.'

'What?' said Emma, confused and hopeful. 'You're not going to stop me going out?'

'Of course not. I wouldn't be able to, even if I wanted to. You're tenacious when you put your mind to something, and I know it must get really dull in here by yourself every day. Just don't get caught again.'

'Thank you, Hermione, I'll try.' said Emma, nodding thoughtfully. 'I guess this must be what it feels like to have a big sister that actually cares.'

'So, is this what it feels like to have an impulsive little sister that's constantly causing trouble?' laughed Hermione.

'Constantly?' pouted Emma, trying not to giggle and failing.

The next week was pure torture for Emma. Hermione had stopped putting her hand up to answer questions and would instead poke Emma until she did. The attention itself would have been bad enough, but the teachers made a point of mentioning their surprise that she was finally joining in, making it so much worse. It didn't help that Hermione smiled gleefully every time Emma ducked her head, trying to hide in embarrassment, when she was given praise and house points. Her only consolation was that she didn't have to do it in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

As for Quirrell, Hermione was right. He looked a lot better than he did before, though as the week went by, his condition seemed to deteriorate again, much faster this time. A cursed life must be as bad as Emma thought it would.

As the week drew to a close, Emma had another worry plaguing her that she could no longer keep to herself. Transfiguration, a subject she had been struggling with since day one, was finally getting to her.

Deciding that it was about time to speak to Professor McGonagall about it, Emma went over to her office after potions on the Friday and knocked on the door.

'Come in.' said the professor. 'Ah, Miss Pearson, take a seat. What can I do for you?'

'I was wondering, Professor,' stammered Emma, sitting. 'if you might know why I'm so rubbish at Transfiguration spells. I mean... I still can't even turn a match silver.'

'Yes, that is something I've been meaning to discuss with you for some time.' said McGonagall, showing her rarely seen, motherly, head-of-house expression again. 'My colleagues and I have been following your progress this year with great interest.'

Emma looked up, curious, but let McGonagall continue.

'It is most unusual for the best academic achievers to be from a house other than Ravenclaw, and yet, you have been getting some of the best marks out of all the first-years, rivalled only by Miss Granger. I must say, I'm very proud of the both of you.'

'But...' continued Emma, knowing the professor wasn't finished, and wanting to avoid the praise.

McGonagall nodded, apprehensively.

'While you have no doubt shown an affinity towards magical theory, Professors Flitwick, Quirrell, Snape and myself have some worries about your practical ability.' she said, delicately. 'Professor Quirrell has told me that you have yet to cast a single spell successfully in his class, and I too have noticed this. Professor Flitwick said that you have only been able to cast the most basic of spells, and you often take longer than most to perform them.'

She looked a little weary, but kept talking.

'Professor Snape too, while usually very reticent about the progress of Gryffindor students, gave the impression that your performance in Potions left a lot to be desired. Though very recently he has told me that you are improving. He even seemed mildly impressed.' said McGonagall, looking curious, before continuing. 'My worry is that, Potions aside, your practical ability is not improving.'

Professor McGonagall finally stopped. It seemed to Emma like that had been rehearsed a little, and she finally understood the point her teacher was trying to make, without explicitly stating it.

'You think that, maybe, I'm a squib?' asked Emma, quietly.

'If I were not aware that you are a vampire, it would certainly be something to consider, however, you are, and I believe that that is the problem.'

'What?' asked Emma, wide-eyed and confused.

'You see, Miss Pearson, while vampires are certainly magical beings, and are therefore inherently resistant to it, the vast majority are unable to use magic themselves. Even those that can, aren't able to cast more than the most basic of spells.'

'I didn't know that.' said Emma, thinking.

'Yes, I'm not surprised. We don't normally cover vampires until the third year, and most books don't mention it because it's considered common knowledge.'

Emma nodded, realising the worry Professor McGonagall was having. She needed to show that she could do advanced magic, and that meant showing off a little, even though she never liked doing that, this week especially. It also meant revealing something that could get her in more trouble.

'Okay, Professor. I think I know what you're getting at.' said Emma, talking quickly, trying to get it over with. 'The reason I've been improving in Potions is because Professor Snape caught me making my potions wrong, on purpose, and he said he'd kick me out if I did it again.'

'I should think so!' said McGonagall sternly. 'Why in Merlin's name would you do such a thing?'

'Because I want to be invisible. The better I am, the more I'm noticed, the more likely someone will find out what I am.' said Emma defiantly. 'I've been doing the same in Charms, you know, doing the wand movements wrong.'

At that, Professor McGonagall shook her head, exasperated and disbelieving. 'But you've been very attentive this week?'

'I didn't want to. Hermione made me. To earn back the points I lost.' grumbled Emma. 'She thought it would do me more good than detentions.'

'I see.' said McGonagall, barely concealing a smirk, before recovering her composure. 'What about Defence Against the Dark Arts?'

'Garlic.' groaned Emma, trying to stop the throbbing in her temples whenever she thought about it.

'Yes, of course, you mentioned that before.' said McGonagall sympathetically. 'And Transfiguration? I do hope you've not been deliberately messing around in my class.'

'No, Professor, I haven't. I really haven't been able to cast any Transfiguration spells.'

'But you can perform Charms?'

'Yes, Professor.' said Emma, looking around the room. 'Accio Book'

Professor McGonagall looked incredulously at Emma as a book that was sitting on a shelf at the back of the office flew into Emma's open right hand.

'That-' she said loudly, struggling to form words. 'is a fourth year spell! Merlin, how did you learn that.'

'I was doing my homework about a month ago when I noticed someone had left their books in the common room. When I checked them and saw one of them was the fourth-year charms book, I tried to learn as many spells as I could. I only managed to cast three of them successfully before others started going down to breakfast though, and I had to stop.'

Professor McGonagall lowered her head slightly and put her fingers on the bridge of her nose. This conversation had gone nothing like she had thought it would.

'So, you were able to learn three highly advanced charms in one night and you still have yet to cast a single transfiguration spell after nearly a whole year?'

'Yes, Professor.' sulked Emma.

'Have you been able to perform any Defence Against the Dark Arts spells?'

'Yes, Professor. I've learned all the spells from our textbook. I found the defensive and counter-curses easiest to learn, like charms. Most of the hexes were really difficult, though I got them in the end.'

McGonagall thought about everything that Emma had said and considered it.

'Now I see what you meant about not being a normal vampire.' said McGonagall. 'It is abundantly clear that you are capable of complex magic. I still believe, however, that it may be the reason why you are incapable of Transfiguration magic. Of course, I can't be certain.'

Emma nodded her head and sulked.

'Does that mean I'm not going to be able to get into the second year?' asked Emma. 'If I can't pass Transfiguration?'

'Normally, were a student to do poorly on all exams, and fail one, then they would be at risk of not returning, however, I am certain that with your academic ability, you won't have to worry about that. If you don't pass Transfiguration, we will certainly take your circumstances into consideration.'

'I was going to be aiming to get Acceptable on all my exams though, would that make a difference?'

'Miss Pearson, the exam results are private.' said McGonagall, irately. 'The only people who will know them, are the teachers and those you tell. There would be no reason to deliberately do worse than you are able.'

'Okay.' said Emma, feeling better. 'Thank you, Professor.'

'You're very welcome. Ten points to Gryffindor for your honesty,' said McGonagall, her stern look returning. 'however, I will be having a word with Professor Flitwick regarding your conduct in Charms, and don't forget you still have a detention to sit.'

Emma nodded her head, with conflicting emotions, before leaving the office.