If there was already so much gossip surrounding my family and the Cursed Vaults, I could only imagine just how much gossip would circulate the moment Harry Potter steps into Hogwarts. Anyone would want to flock around The Boy Who Lived, after all--it was hard to imagine that he survived an Unforgivable Curse that anyone else in his position would immediately succumb to. Could anyone really consider themselves to be popular after such misfortune that struck them, though? Surely they'd consider themselves just to be lucky--and by lucky, I did mean lucky enough to have escaped the misfortune almost completely unscathed. There wasn't anything special about the hell they went through.
Honestly, I'd just be lucky if I could escape the gossip about me almost completely unscathed.
But with Cedric, things were different. Somehow, he had gained the favour of almost everyone in the school, including many of Clara's friends. No one was fawning over him because he suffered some sort of similar hell we went through--in fact, they doted on him for his handsomeness and his humbleness and talent. At least, that was what I could gather from just seeing Cedric every day in class. He was in my year and in my house, after all--and I supported that. I supported him. After all the adventures Clara told me about, where his father was involved, I knew he was a good kid just trying to uphold a good reputation.
That was all, was it? And yet somehow everyone seemed to find it amusing and cool.
So it wasn't a surprise when I arrived at the courtyard about a day after the search for Jacob Lin to find Clara immersed in the throng of students crowded around Cedric. Maybe Merula was right after all--Cedric had indeed become the new talk of Hogwarts. Yet I didn't consider myself to be popular. I never had anyone's favour with me, save for a couple people who actually believed in me. Other times, people just bullied the hell out of me in hopes that they'd get rid of me.
Considering that I was still alive and intact and as well as I could be after just a few weeks, I'd say my time at Hogwarts so far wasn't a complete disaster. But alas, not everything could retain its supposed normalcy.
"Well, well, look who it is. Baby Cursed Vaults Kid and the serpentine traitor," I heard Eunice drawl from behind me, and I whirled around to see her smirking knowingly at me and Hillary, an evil glint in her eye.
"Can you please leave us alone? We just want a peaceful talk," Hillary hissed at her.
"Shut it, Redstone. It's embarrassing enough to see you hanging around with one of their lot. Besides, what happened to that Haywood girl, Lin? Can't find it in you to convert her back to the good side?" Eunice asked mockingly.
"She made it very clear she did not want to be converted. So what? You can't stand Hillary being with me, yet you're okay with Beatrice being with people like you?" I shot back, trying my hardest to keep myself levelheaded. "Why don't you convince Hillary to rejoin your nest of vipers? Oh, that's right. You can't."
"Don't make it all about me, Lin. Heard you found and lost your brother again just yesterday, huh? You can't seem to hold onto anyone without them slipping through your fingers like slippery soap," Eunice retorted with a shrug.
"Worked all night for that line, didn't you? That's seriously lame," Hillary snapped, drawing out her wand. "Just give up already, Eunice. If you're looking to join the snide Snyde crew, you're failing."
"Snyde? I give no shit about Snyde, whoever she is."
"You don't even know about the one who declares herself the most powerful witch at Hog--"
"Flipendo!"
The force of the Knockback Jinx, delivered so harshly and suddenly by the enemy, had me topple over with an "oomph!" to the ground, my elbow letting out a loud crack as it hit the asphalt. Agonizing pain sprung through my entire being, my nerves completely shot with numbness, my conscience barely swimming. I couldn't even push myself to my feet. It was too much for me to bear.
Somehow, I heard footsteps running by, and Cedric stepped between me and Eunice, his wand raised, his normally cheery disposition replaced with an angry glare.
"Eunice Ahn. This has to stop," Cedric said pointedly. "You cause anymore trouble to our fellow peers, you'll be talking to Professor Dumbledore before you know it. I will not tolerate this behaviour."
For a split second, I thought I saw tears brimming in Eunice's eyes, her breathing heavy as she glared down at me. Then she fixed her gaze toward Cedric, her wand pointed at him.
"I won't hesitate to hex you, Mr. Perfect," Eunice growled, teeth set in a grit like a mangy dog about to tear into a piece of meat.
At this point, everyone's wands were out, no one knowing who to hex first. As I lifted my head, I could see Diego kneeling down beside me, an arm around my back in an effort to pull me up, and I saw Clara and Penny as well with worried expressions cast in my direction. The tension that rose among everyone seemed to intensify with every second that passed, and just as Eunice opened her mouth to jinx them all, she suddenly toppled over and fell to the ground with a shriek.
Just in time, too, because Diego had lifted me up, bridal style, away from the sudden phenomenon that was a Niffler carrying a white quill in its mouth. It shot right through Eunice's legs, running round and round them in figure-eights, and just as she hit the ground it ran up her arm and shook the feather in its mouth, causing the poor Slytherin bully to sneeze.
"Immobulus!" I heard Hillary cry out, waving her wand at the Niffler--her jinx missed, however, as he shot away through the crowd, and the sparks hit Eunice instead. I couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the expression her frozen face bore, and for a split second I almost forgot about my fractured elbow until Diego set me back on my feet.
"Ferula," he murmured, bandaging my elbow with a spell and a gentle incantation. The cast immobilized my arm fairly well, and I was careful not to move my arm too much in the makeshift cast as I smiled at him in gratitude.
Cedric's eyes were ablaze as he ran over to me, Clara and Hillary following suit. "You alright, Em?" he asked me.
"Just peachy--except my elbow," I responded, wincing as pain shot through my arm. "Ow."
"I swear I'll get her one day," Hillary vowed, slamming her fist into her open palm with a cross glint in her eyes. "I don't understand how it is that she doesn't know who Merula Snyde is and yet taunt you with her old signature spell."
"Bet you five Sickles she and Travis would get together by the end of the year?" I asked.
This seemed to put a small smile on Hillary's face. "Oh, I'm sure they'll love that idea. Everyone would be avoiding the most toxic couple of the year by year's end."
Clara, in the meanwhile, kept looking at the place where the Niffler was just last seen, and her frown deepened, brows creased. "Did any of you guys see that Niffler?" she inquired the group quietly.
"Looks like Sickleworth," Charlie agreed from beside her--I had no idea he, Andre, Penny, and Barnaby were there at all until I saw them approach her. "What was that in his mouth? A white feather?"
"I don't know. As suspicious as the item he's carrying seems, we have to know what he's doing here--and why he'd try to terrorize that Slytherin bully," Clara said slowly.
"I wouldn't say that's a bad thing. The bully label suits Eunice well," Hillary chipped in. "Besides, she was the one who hexed Em's broom in her first flying lesson. It takes a genius to put two and two together when intent is indirectly delivered."
"Clara's right, though. Why is Sickleworth here? Didn't Rakepick and Ben abandon him?" I asked her, turning to my sister with a raised eyebrow. "You told me he was an innocent agent in the story, Clara."
"So we thought," Clara agreed with a nod. "But if he's been meeting with Rakepick, then following him has to lead me to her!" she decided, folding her arms.
Of course Clara would think to ambush Rakepick without a second thought. After all, we were all lead to believe that Rakepick meant no harm. She had been so scared, all summer, because of that lost sense of security she thought she could retain with Rakepick. Such a devious woman deserved to be punished--but what was Clara's plan this time around to stop her? Did she even have one to begin with?
Even if she did, I wasn't going to let her do this alone--I never would want to, anyway.
"Then I'm coming with you," I said firmly. "This is my fight as much as it is yours."
"Em--but your arm--"
"It'll be fine. I've survived a broken nose, how much worse could this get?"
"I'll come too," Diego added, though his words seemed to be directed more toward me than Clara. "I've heard enough about Diggory for one day."
"You sure you don't want the Hospital Wing, Em?" Hillary asked me. "At least you'll get the treatment you need--"
"Hillary, I'll be fine. We'll work out the details on the project later," I reassured her--or at least tried to despite the quaver in my voice.
"He must have gone that way. Let's catch up to him before the trail goes cold," Clara finally decided, sprinting away after the Niffler before either of us could say a word.
Amidst a frozen bully, two worried friends, and everyone else departing quietly from the scene, I knew I didn't want to stay any longer in this scene. Without another word, I tore after Clara, Diego hot on my heels, and just as I reached the corridors I heard Eunice's enraged scream.
"THIS IS NOT THE END, LIN!"