Emerson Wilmore was an exemplary Ravenclaw student, known for her unwavering dedication to academics and an unyielding moral compass. However, things took a twisted and deviated turn in her life after her boyfriend, Cedric Diggory, was murdered by L...
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The days after the Quidditch match passed in a blur, the excitement from Gryffindor's victory over Ravenclaw slowly fading away as a heavier, more daunting atmosphere settled across the castle.
The O.W.L.s loomed ominously on the horizon, their shadow darkening the moods of nearly every Fifth Year student. Even the Seventh Year students were impacted by their upcoming N.E.W.T. exams as well. The Gryffindors' euphoria quickly turned to anxiety as they realised just how little time they had left to prepare for their exams. The results of these examinations would impact their entire future by determining their career path.
There was no room for failure for some.
Emerson felt the weight of that stress more acutely than she expected. She had always been diligent, prepared, and responsible for assignments, tests and essays, but this... This was different. The timetable for their exams was posted on the blackboard in the Transfiguration classroom that morning, and ever since she saw the neat rows of subjects and dates, her mind was in overdrive.
Theory of Charms. Monday morning.
Practical Charms. Monday afternoon.
It was only a few days away, and Emerson could already feel her heart racing at the thought of it. Her mind kept flicking through everything she needed to review: the incantations, wand movements, the theoretical underpinnings of charm casting... It all piled up in her head like an insurmountable mountain.
Every spare moment between classes was spent hunched over her textbooks or scribbling notes, her hand cramping from writing furiously. But no matter how much she studied, the panic gnawed at her. It whispered in a haunting voice that it wasn't enough. It was never enough.
She was exhausted from overworking herself, and every spare second was filled with cramming as much information into her brain as possible. She knew she had to be ready, but the more she studied, the less prepared she felt.
Her friends noticed her stress, of course. Olivia would pat her on the shoulder or offer a smile of encouragement when they studied together, and even Theo and Enzo threw her occasional words of reassurance. But none of them really seemed to see just how deep the pressure was beginning to weigh her down.
Mattheo, though, noticed. He always did.
She wasn't doing anything insane or crazy like some others. Hermione was muttering quietly to herself in the library. Ernie Macmillan interrogated others about their revision practices while Harry and Ron were tempted by the black market trade. However, there were some small things that Mattheo noticed above all with Emerson.
He noticed the way Emerson would gnaw at the corner of her lip when she thought no one was watching or the way her eyes darted across the pages of her book like she was trying to absorb all the information at once. He saw the way she rubbed her temples during meals, lost in thought with her food practically untouched. Enzo, Theo and Mattheo now spent nearly every meal at the Ravenclaw table and Mattheo hadn't seen Emerson eat a full plate of food since the Quidditch match.
