Emma Howard-Shelley was finally back at Hogwarts after two years away.
Heads were turning all around Platform 9 ¾, focused on the stylish Howard-Shelley family, newly returned from Paris. They were a large brood, three daughters and three sons, but only 4 were returning to Hogwarts this year. The oldest two, a pair of twin girls, had graduated and been married years before.
Alistair Howard-Shelley was a high ranking official in the Ministry of Magic. He had just finished a two-year service as ambassador to the French Magical Government, and was returning to stand for election as Deputy Minister. His wife, Vera, was arguably the greater politician of the two, as a senior society hostess in the Wizarding community. While Alistair had an illustrious ancestry, being a distant cousin to the Blacks and Malfoys, his was marked by the occasional half-blood in his family tree, while Vera was a total pureblood, she was a born and bred member of the prestigious Potter family.
While the Howard-Shelleys had been in France, their children had attended the prestigious Beauxbatons Academy. The older two, Emma and Lewis had started their education at Hogwarts, but the younger two had only been educated in French. They had yet to be sorted into Hogwarts houses, and Vera would not brook another failure. She, her husband, the twins and Lewis had all been in Slytherin house, and Emma was the first to be sorted elsewhere: Ravenclaw. Vera was not publicly prejudiced, but privately she certainly wanted her children to be surrounded by purebloods. Purebloods were in every house, to be sure. But she didn't want to run the risk of Emma being corrupted, and she was her last daughter to be married off.
Emma surveyed the platform around her. She knew her family was being watched, and she did not mind. Her whole life, her parents had made sure that their clan had been visible. She turned abruptly behind her when she heard a familiar laugh, her cobalt blue cape twirling as she did. She looked up from under the brim of her French-style witches cap and saw her cousin James, and his crew of friends. She nodded at James but was jerked back to speak with her mother.
Vera's sharp nails dug into her daughter's elbow as she pulled her away from the rest of the family.
"Remember, Emma, the family expects much of you these last three years. Your father is eager to bring you to work in the ministry with him soon. He's lost hope for Lewis." Vera whispered conspiratorially. Lewis only had one thing on his mind: moving to America to try to play in their national Quidditch league.
"Yes, I know how concerned you are about my ministry career." Emma slyly remarked to her mother.
"Oh, I know. I can't cover my motives well: let me say it plainly. You need to be thinking of your marriage. I've written to my Potter cousins and James has been turning into quite the catch it seems. And those two Black sons are at Hogwarts too, you would remember them from your first few years here?"
"Mother, of course I know of James and the Black boys. Give me a chance to re-learn the lay of the land here. At the Black family Christmas party we can regroup and see what the prospects are like." Emma replied.
"Right you are, dear. But don't wait too long, remember your cousin Lucius? He waited too long to start courting Andromeda Black and had to settle for her younger sister."
"Andromeda married a muggleborn, I doubt she would have paid Lucius any heed even if he had declared his interest. And besides, Narcissa is a sweet girl and newly engaged. I doubt she'd care to hear this on the train to her last year at Hogwarts." Emma whispered.
Vera pursed her Ruby lips and scanned the platform again.
"Most of the students are on the train. Best you find a place to settle for the trip, Father has already taken care of your luggage. Keep an eye on the boys. Farewell, daughter."
Vera and Emma pecked one another on each cheek and Emma curtseyed to her mother. She did the same for her father. Emma ushered her three brothers onto the train and turned back to face her parents and press two fingers to her heart: it was their way of saying they loved and pledged loyalty to one another. As the train began to pull away, she picked up her small valise and made her way down the corridor to an empty compartment. She didn't quite feel like socializing with any Ravenclaws just yet, there would be plenty of time at the feast and in the dormitories later tonight.
Eventually she found a compartment and slid the door shut behind her. As the suburbia of London faded away into the countryside, she felt safe to open her valise. She knew her mother had probably left political pamphlets and literature within it, and couldn't risk some nosy Gryffindor prefect catching her with pro-pureblood materials. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to read it herself.
Emma faced a quandary at this point in her life: she was both immensely proud of her blood status and beginning to feel the inklings of shame attached to her family name. It was a good family, an ancient family. The Howard surname came from a magical branch of medieval nobility, and the Shelley from a secretly magical couple and noted authors Mary and Percy Shelley. Few in Britain could claim older roots than hers, save for perhaps the Blacks and Lestranges. She'd been raised with a proud pureblood identity, and while her father avoided partisan societies so as not to hurt his political career, her mother was certainly an activist, and rumored to be a close financial supporter of Lord Voldemort.
When our story begins in September 1975, Emma knew of the systemic changes that Voldemort and his supporters wanted, she'd overheard enough ladies' socials and political speeches at her family's home of Howard Hall, but believed their actions amounted to nothing. It was a fad, in her opinion. Blood status wouldn't remain in vogue for much longer, she thought. It would always matter, she knew. But not enough to cause a revolution or, heaven forbid, an overthrow of the government.
How wrong she was.
