knowledge is power, and i'm damn powerful

“You don’t need to do that” Lily shook her head with a weak smile. “I’m sure the days they left us will be enough to put myself at ease again… I appreciate the offer though. You’re really a nice person Emmeline” she said, smiling gently at the girl next to her.

Emmeline blinked, not used to compliments of that nature. “Thank you,” she said after a moment, wondering if Lily truly meant that. “You are too,” she offered after a moment, feeling like she needed to return the compliment but not very good at things like this.

“what a hostile tone.”    james jests,   but he still grins and then shakes his head.   “oh,   i mean.    i can help,   definitely.   but i think moony’s more apt to being like,   the teacher   ??   he’s a genius,   honestly.   i wouldn’t be surprised if he was a professor or headmaster or something one day.   but i’ll be there to help.    definitely.”

Emmeline nodded. “I’ll take that under advisement,” she said, making a mental note to talk to Remus later about teaching. “I can see him as a professor,” she admitted. “But you have leadership qualities, too. You have charisma, and I know you’re smarter than you pretend you are. Students like you and will follow your lead.” She studied him. “Maybe I’ll have you be in charge of recruitment.”

“oh,   yeah   ??”   james cracks a smile and even laughs for what must be the first time in days     –    he’s not had much time to do anything,    especially not laugh and have fun,    since sirius was hurt and the school seemed to fall into chaos.    “sure i won’t be stealing your spotlight    ??    i’m somewhat of a celebrity.”

Emmeline rolled her eyes, but she was honestly glad for the new levity in the conversation. “Unlike some people, I don’t need to be in the spotlight all the time. So long as you provide helpful tips and demonstrate good teaching skills, you’re welcome to have as many admirers flock to you as you want.”

Quirinus swallowed hard, he had never considered the possibility of taking another life. The idea haunted him. Taking lives split the soul and he was fairly certain that he wanted his soul to stay intact. “I-I think that if I ever did that… I’d try to forget about the whole thing. A memory potion perhaps o-o-or Oblivate myself but that is definitely a risky one.” He laughed awkwardly as he intertwined his fingers back and forth nervously.

Emmeline nodded sympathetically. “I can understand that. If that would help, I’d say do it. A memory potion would probably be the best way to go, unless you trust someone enough to use the Oblivation spell.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “But, hey, you don’t have to worry about that right now, okay? Just come to the training club and learn how to defend yourself and take it from there. Hopefully it won’t ever come to that.”

“actually,     i’d been meaning to talk to you about that.”     james says,   turning some so he can face her.   “marlene told us about it       –    the club,   i mean.    and moony knows that spell to ward off dementors.   he knows everything there is to know about it,    really.    i feel like we should teach it to everyone,    just in case this ever happens again.    and of course i’ll join and help out however i can.    i wanna make sure we’re ready.”

Emmeline raised her eyebrows at that. “Oh really? That’s good to know. Especially now.” She glanced around at the students in the hall before turning back to James. “I’ll definitely talk to him about it. Thanks for the tip.” She wasn’t entirely sure what else to say. She reached up to pat his shoulder lightly. “And of course you’re welcome to come join us whenever.”

Lily sighed at her words, passing a hand through her hair. “I do hope so” she muttered, closing her book and turning to Emmeline. “Yeah, I’m… I guess I’m okay… just a bit overwhelmed by everything, you know…” she smiled, weakly, trying to take an hold onto herself. “I just… I hope the hurt students will get better soon”. She also hoped to not see more students hurt or worse, but she knew her wish was just an impossible dream.

“They will,” Emmeline assured her gently. “We have good mediwitches here. Everyone will be okay. But, you know, if you need a break or anything I’m sure the professors will be lenient. They’ve already cancelled exams and classes for the week, but if you need more time to recover, I’m sure they’ll give it to you. I can even advocate for you.”

“it’s    …    it’s hard.     i can’t just rest,   i mean,    it’s not fair.”   james says,   but even as the words leave his mouth he realizes he’s being foolish.    he sighs heavily,    taking a seat and running his hands over his face.    “i mean,   fuck.    sirius is in there.    i know it’s not my fault,   but i feel like i should’ve stopped it somehow.”

“It’s not your fault, that’s true,” Emmeline said, hesitating before sitting down next to him. “It wasn’t your job to stop it or take care of it.” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “But I understand your frustration. This is why I wanted to make the training club. So students will be prepared when things like this happen. I’m still planning on organizing it . . . if you want to join.” She glanced over at him. “It might help the feeling of helplessness.”

Lily turned her head towards the voice who was alling her. Recognising Emmeline, she tried to smile, even though she felt so helpless and useless. “Emmeline. It’s been a while…” Lily said, as the girl sat next to her. “Sad we see after this…” her voice broke, as her eyes got more and more wet.

Lily rubbed her eyes, wiping tears that didn’t had the time to pour, while she listened to Emmeline. “I’m sure you will…” she whispered, with a shaky breath. She knew Emmeline enough to know that she was faithful to her words. “But it might be dangerous…” she added, fixing her eyes in Emmeline’s.

“I don’t care if it’s dangerous. It’s unacceptable that the Ministry let this happen,” Emmeline said flatly, shaking her head. “There has to be some kind of explanation . . .” She paused, glancing over at Lily. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?” she asked softly, not wanting to go on a tangent without making sure the girl beside her was okay.

“me too.    i’m not just letting this shit go.”    james says thoughtfully,   casting a glance into the hospital wing at the beds,   filled with students who were harmed   –   not counting the ones scared for the future,   holed up in their dorms.   “what  ??   yeah,   yeah.  it doesn’t matter.   i just gotta    –    i gotta help.   there’ll be time to worry about myself later.”

“I think it does matter. None of us can help effectively if we ourselves aren’t doing well,” Emmeline pointed out gently. “Have you eaten? Had something to drink? You should take a seat,” she gestured to the windowsill beside them. “At least give your feet a rest before you start rushing around anymore.”

Lily was sitting in the library, trying to read, trying not to think at the horrible things that happened in the span of a few hours… people she knew were badly hurt, still unconscious in the nursery, and panic had flown all over the other students. Even in there, between old books and dust, she heard whispering and rumors…

Her head was full of questions which couldn’t be answered and that made her feel so useless… she wanted to help, somehow! If only she knew how… her eyes were starting getting wet…

“Could you please keep your mouth shut?!” she then snapped at a couple of students sat in front of her. As she realized what she did Lily muttered her apologies and moved her gaze again on the book, even though she couldn’t read a single word…

“Lily,” Emmeline approached her slowly, not wanting to startle the girl. She took a seat beside her, folding and unfolding her hands as she thought of what to say. She wasn’t good at comforting people, but she liked Lily, respected her, and so she didn’t like seeing her in this way.

“I’m going to get to the bottom of this, find out what happened, how it happened . . .”

Quirrell’s frown was full of worry and concern. He wasn’t sure he wanted to harm someone like that, even if it was life or death. All he could imagine was someone delivering the remains of a person victim to that curse to their family. It made him queasy. “Perhaps…” He worried. “Could you k-k-kill someone?” He stuttered challengingly.

“I don’t know,” Emmeline replied honestly. “I’ve never been confronted with that option before. I’d like to think that I could if I needed to. I’ve . . . prepared myself for that outcome, were it to happen.” At least, if it came down to saving someone by killing another, she hoped she’d be able to make the right choice.

“it makes no sense.”   james rants,   hands curled tightly into fists,   his knuckles white.    he’s not left the hospital wing area,  still hovering near the door.   “how did they even get that close ??”    /     ( @newagestarters​ )

“I have no idea, but I intend to investigate,” Emmeline said tightly. This was exactly the type of thing she’d wanted to prepare the students for, but she hadn’t even had time to have her first training club session. The irony of the fact that she’d been in the middle of recruiting a student when the dementors appeared wasn’t lost on her. She paused before continuing, studying him. “Are you okay?” she asked, her expression softening slightly.

“right,    cool.   but i’m waiting for my brother,   and i’m allowed to complain if i want to.”    roxanne replies,   smirking some as she settles back in her seat.   “and if i’m correct,   and i think i am,   i don’t think complaining is against the school rules.”

“It’s not against the school rules, it’s simply irritating to hear,” Emmeline said. “You’re free to have any kind of attitude you want, but in that same vein people are free to comment on it.”

“so,    looking like a skank is a bad thing then   ??   because you’re certainly using it in a negative context.”   leila counters,   curling her jacket further around herself like a shield.   “really,   i wouldn’t have expected you to be so judgmental  …”

Emmeline just shook her head, deciding not to argue it anymore, seeing as Leila had covered up. “Just try to take other people into consideration. Nobody here has consented to see your ass or your tits, so just keep them covered.”

                     ❝  doesn’t it hurt to have that stick so far up your ass,  vance  ?  ❞            sirius deadpans,      shrugging as they lean back in their chair.              ❝  my house won,   so i’m gonna celebrate just the way i want to,  thanks.  though,  i didn’t know you were head of the decorating committee.   how exciting for you.  ❞          

Emmeline sighed. She’d heard that phrase many times before. It was basically in her social media bios by now. She didn’t think adhering to the rules and being a respectable human being was too much to ask of people, but apparently it was.

“I’m not,” she said flatly. “I just thought you had more respect for yourself, that’s all.”

After returning from the match against Ravenclaw. The Gryffindor players head back to their changing rooms. Nogah follows her team mates with her head down. She takes a seat thinking on what she could had done best. As competitive she comes, she did take quidditch seriously since she wants to make a career out of it. Whilst others slowly leave, she was then left alone. She goes over to the water machine to grab a cup of water to drink. As clumsy as she is, she drops her cup with water splattered everywhere. Her anger took the best of her and throws the water machine to one side and yet slips on mess she caused before.

@newagestarters​

“Whoa, hey, what’s going on over here?” Emmeline came hurrying over when she heard the commotion, ready to deduct points. She wasn’t surprised to see Nogah was at the center of it, but when she saw her slip and fall, she grimaced. Sighing softly, she stepped over to help the other girl up.

“Did you do that?” she asked, pointing to the water cooler that was now on its side, spilling water everywhere.