She has lived her whole life in the darkest dungeon Hogwarts has to offer, until shortly after her thirteenth birthday, she is released from her prison. Placed in the world for the first time she can remember, she must adjust, and learn to live and...
What in the name of all that tastes good just happened? Why were the headmistress and our Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher carrying a student through the corridors? Was she even a student? I've never seen her before if she was. I didn't notice any house colors on her in any case. Just some really small and moldy-looking robes. She was awake, but she was just blinking and breathing really, really slowly and not saying anything, and then they took her past a window and she blacked out. OK, yes, I may have been following them, but it was justified, alright? She looked like an interesting person! Focus, Emma. You're wandering off onto strange tangents again. Was it something to do with the window? Worth a try in any case. I hurry over to the suspicious window (It's got a window seat. I should make note of that, it looks comfortable) and start poking around. The view is pretty nice, looking over the Black Lake and a bit of the Forbidden Forest as well. The giant squid is nowhere in sight, so it couldn't have scared her. And it's not a half-moon tonight, so the trees are behaving like normal trees. The only thing slightly out of place is a crack in the glass, and the cold air coming from it. But I don't think it's cold enough to make someone pass out.
I move my attentions over to the frame. No moss or mushrooms, just regular stones. Hmm. So maybe it wasn't the window. Hang on a minute... that bump looks kind of unusual. I'm just leaning over to touch it when the bossy voice of Casper Parke, the most annoying prefect in the school, who I unfortunately know all too well from the many times he's caught me skipping boring classes, startles me.
"Emma Dunnell! You are supposed to be in Potions right now! Why are you loitering in the corridors?!"
Ugh. Potions. I guess the bump in the window frame will have to wait- until Casper's gone at least.
Under Bossy McWhinyface's watchful eye I hurry down the stairs to find somewhere where I can conceal myself until he's gone back to wherever prefects lurk between scaring people and ruining their fun. Unfortunately, in my rush to evade detention and get back to investigating the window, I forget about the most evil trick step in the castle. Unlike most of the steps, which just trap your feet, this one disappears just before you stand on it, causing you to trip and fall down the stairs. Which I do. Just like... what are those Muggle toys again? Slankies? No, slinkies. I always used to like pushing them down the stairs. Somehow I don't think I'll enjoy that quite as much now.
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Screaming and cursing whoever made that step, I tumble down three flights of stairs into a basket of rainbow-colored walking sticks. As I land, I hear an unpleasant snapping noise. I appear to have broken something. However, due to my accidental drinking of an entire bottle of numbing potion as a small child (long story,) unless I'm actually on fire or something similar to that, I don't feel pain, only slight discomfort. So I can't be sure of what I've broken until I get up the courage to look, which probably won't happen for a while. So I just lie there on the ground, yelling for Casper to fetch a professor so that I don't have to lie here until classes end, but he's already gone, to yell at somebody else probably. Stupid prefects. Always there when you don't want them to be, (Like in the middle of the night, when you've just spotted the giant squid and you want to go say hi) but as soon as you actually need one (for example, when you've fallen down the stairs) they're nowhere to be seen.
Eventually, Professor Longbottom stumbles across me and levitates me to the hospital wing, where it's revealed that I have indeed broken my ankle and will need to stay here for the night to recover. Meaning I get out of Potions, History Of Magic and Astronomy, my three least favorite subjects. Also, this bed is way comfier than the ones in the Hufflepuff dorms. Score: 2-1 to Emma. Take that, stupid trick step. I wonder... while I'm here, maybe I could see if the mystery girl from earlier is here? That bed's empty, that one contains a first-year Gryffindor boy (I can tell because a: he's tiny and b: he's wearing a house scarf) who looks like he got attacked by something, possibly the Giant Squid if the suction marks on his arms are anything to judge by. And the last one... that must be it. It's curtained off for all of the sides but one, and a bunch of teachers are crowded around it. If it wasn't for my foot I would try to sneak over and take a look, but even I know that's not a good idea.
"Miss Dunnell, you need to rest now." Madam Pomfrey taps me on the shoulder and hands me a goblet full of grayish lumpy sleeping potion, then stands there with her arms folded until I reluctantly drink it. I pull a face as I swallow. Ew. Would it really kill her to put some sugar in that stuff, or at the very least find an alternate recipe? I'm sure she could get someone to help her with that instead of nearly murdering me every time this happens. (Too often.)
"Go. To. Sleep."
She pushes my head back onto the pillow and leaves to check on the first-year. As much as I try to fight the potion, a nap is looking very tempting right now, so I pull my covers up higher and shut my eyes. Sleep comes quickly, but not before I hear whispers from the professors on the other side of the hospital room.
