Leave Out All The Rest

The Luckiest Witch of All

Chapter Six: The Luckiest Witch of All

POV: Emily

Once I had cousins who dreamt of touching foot in England. Their voices rose in excited levels when adults asked them where they planned to go for their gap year after their time in Ilvermorny was done; the adventure tended to vary depending on what risky, adrenaline rush they were on, but the scenery stayed them same. London. They had asked me once where I wanted to go (at least I think they had) and I had said Tokyo. An awkward silence had fallen before one of them said I just had to travel Europe someday. We all knew I lied when I said I would. 

I don't know if they ever made it here, but I did.

The legend of Harry Potter and Voldemort was one the entire Wizardying World knew, but to me, it had been a bedtime story that seemed all too impossible to be true. Yet, it was true. Hogwarts lived and breathed this tale of heroic tragedy that I still could not wrap my head around entirely. Like I needed something else to make me feel out of place.  

The days passed on and I tried my best to adjust to the castle, the lessons, the people, and our evolving magic. Still, nothing was ever dull here and I often found myself out of breath as I tried to keep up with everything happening all at once. 

Which, currently, explains me gasping for air as I climbed on top of my desk.

"Liam!" I shouted, "Liam, put him down!"

Amidst the commotion drowning the Charms classroom, Liam lost all color to his face with every passing second as he held with all his might on to his wand. 

"I don't know how!" he cried. "Help me!"

Professor Horton crashed against another wall as he zoomed up to the ceiling in a swift, sharp yank. At least he was already unconscious. 

How did this happen? 

Well, today was the day we were finally allowed to practice the levitation spell. After a few tries (one try if you were Rose Weasley), everyone seemed to have gotten the hang of the wrist movement and pronunciation of the incantation. All except Liam. After being publicly admonished for his slow pace by Professor Horton, Liam's embarrassment mixed with a surge of anger that ultimately led to an involuntary (or, perhaps, it was voluntary) spurt of magic that sent the professor across the room. 

Scorpius climbed onto my desk, raising his own wand. "I have to fix this."

"Don't!" I pulled his arm down. "You can't get a clear shot. You might end up sending Horton out the window."

"I'll take his wand, then!"

"Are you insane?" Rose hissed at Scorpius, turning from the center of the gawking crowd (some students were especially concerned while the other ones were practically rolling on the floor from laughing too hard). "If you take his wand he'll drop Horton and give him a concussion!"

Al laughed loudly and distinctively from his side of the classroom with the other Slytherins. "The poor bloke already has a concussion, Rosie. Or did you miss when he banged his head on the back wall?"

Liam blinked his terrified eyes from his victim to glare at us. "Can someone just please help me? I don't want to go to Azkaban for murder!"

I almost lost my footing when a cold shiver raced up my spine. I heard an echo in my head that only appeared in nightmares. I grabbed a hold of Scorpius' forearm before I tumbled down. He steadied me without sparing me a look; he was too focused on sparing his cousin from further humiliation (and possible expulsion).