Emily Granger, older sister of Hermione, had a firm set friendship with the Weasley Twins and Lee Jordan since first year and was notorious throughout the school for their pranks.
Once their fifth year comes around the corner, Emily decides she can...
In the month before the exams, I had managed to force the twins to study. Mostly through coaxing and slight manipulation (mostly flirting with Fred and making bets with George - meaning I was quite a few galleons down) I got them to do at least 2 hours a day. Lee and I were working day and night; even though we might enjoy creating a ruckus and playing pranks, Lee and I did take our educations semi-seriously. Reality seemed to have only dawned on the students of Hogwarts within the last week. Everyone seemed to have their head's buried in books wherever you looked, and silence seemed mandatory after 8pm every night.
The week of the exams had come and gone - as stressfully as i imagined - however I felt confident that I had passed all 11 of my subjects (I took muggle studies without going to the lessons - I saw it as a free qualification) and was not worrying too much. The same could not be said for my sister. Ever since her DADA exam (where she saw a boggart turn in to McGonagall and tell her she failed everything) she was very on edge, unable to relax at all. "If you're so worried go and see one of your professors - Flitwick likes you - ask him if he could reassure you. I'm sure he'll give you good news" I reasoned, plaiting her bushy hair into a french braid. "Okay" she exclaimed, slapping her book shut "I'll go see Flitwick". She stormed off, with the half-finished braid unravelling as she marched. "Georgie? What day is it?" "Thursday" "Damn! I was meant to - " the twins looked at me suspiciously "- work on the bet. I have - what - 2 months left to work it out?" Fred nodded slowly, kissing my cheek awkwardly as I stood up. A dark blush crept up my neck as I grabbed my bag, containing a few related books, and sent him a small smile before rushing out of the common room. On the way past the hall, I grabbed a small pouch of food that I had stashed behind a statue a few hours beforehand, and started walking back to the edge of the forbidden forest.
"Paddy" I called quietly, waiting for the dog to emerge. I had the book I was sent at Christmas open on my lap, idly flipping through it for anything interesting. I heard a small bark, and looked up to see the dog. I grinned, emptying my the pouch. "There you go boy. Shit ton of food just for you" After gobbling down it's food, the dog lay next to me, chin resting on the edge of my book. "Oh, this? I'm trying to win a bet remember? George bet me 5 galleons that I couldn't remake the marauders map. It's been months and I'm still trying to find the charm for it" The dog barked excitedly, running around my other side and nudging the pages of the book. Curious, I kept flipping the page, stopping when Paddy's paw slapped down on a page. I let out a massive gasp. "No. Way. You're such a clever dog! Oh I could kiss you! I won't though cos that's weird" I said excitedly, opting to scratch behind his ears instead. "Homonculous charm. This has to be it!" The dog barked in agreement, making me laugh again. I grabbed a spare piece of parchment and quickly scribbled the page number down, just to make sure I wouldn't forget it.
Finally being finished with the bet was a massive relief, and I lay down on the grass contented. My mind was running wild with ideas.
How would I implement the charm? The wand incantation looks complicated. How did you put the secret keeping charm on it? How does the password keep everybody else out?
Hurling away the useless books, I decided to carry on reading another titled 'rare and difficult magic across the world' to try and calm down. I flipped through the pages, none being of interest, until I caught sight of an intriguing title. 'The secret world of the animagus' I had heard of this before, McGonagall was one herself. She could turn into a cat - she showed it to us in our first year. 'Permanent features are transferred from the wizard to the animal, for example a scar or missing limb. This does not include tattoos.... can show characteristics ... must be registered by the ministry ... one case in 1874 showed Ms Hufflink caught in animagus form as she fled the authorities. Her captor spotted her after he saw her laughing at a joke a nearby muggle had told ... act rather unlike a normal animal ... human like traits ...' And just like that it clicked.
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I slowly started to pack away my bag, acting normal, before I put it over my shoulder and looked the dog straight in the eye. "You're not a dog are you" In just those few words, the dog's nature completely changed from one of a nice kind creature, to one instantly on guard. "I hate myself for being so observant"
The dog started to growl menacingly, and I slowly backed off. "Look - Sirius I'm guessing right? Yep well I'm going to go. I won't tell anyone you're here because you could've easily killed me these past few months and obviously didn't" Sirius ignored me, and began to wrestle me towards the forbidden forest. Once we were in far enough, he morphed back into himself. "You shouldnt have figured it out" He croaked, voice weak with misuse "I don't want to hurt you but they can't know. I must save Harry" "Excuse me what? Harry?" "He's not safe. Not safe. Pettigrew. Must save" he rambled, walking back and forth, tugging at his hair. "Why aren't you killing me?" "You're not the one that needs to die - Harry -" "Harry is my friend! If you even try to touch a hair on his head-!" I shouted, pulling my wand out and pointing it at him. "You won't - Emily Granger - too smart for this" "What do you mean?" I faltered, wand slightly lowering. "You had the marauders map - did you ever notice anything - anything you thought was weird?" He wheezed, leaning against the tree for support "Umm, sometimes we thought we saw - faults yes" "Would that fault be related to names - names that could be there?" "Peter Pettigrew. He showed up on the map a couple of times throughout the years - but it's just from where the map is old - the charm fading, right?" "No. No. The map never lies, never fades. He escaped me and I must kill him before - Harry" If I had a headache from questions before, my head was now pounding. Squinting in confusion, I lowered my wand but maintaining my grip. "You killed him. They found his finger" "Exactly - Ron's rat - missing a toe - lasted 12 years - too old for a common rat" "But that doesn't explain how you knew he was here?" "Fudge visited me at Azkaban, gave me his newspaper -" "The Weasley's trip to Egypt" I breathed, finally piecing everything together. After a brief pause, I sprang upright. "Okay what you're going to do - take my wand and knock me out, or a full body bind or something. You'll need it in case you come across Peter" I planned, pacing back and forth, tapping my wand in concentration. Sirius looked shocked, nodding slowly, holding his palm out to hold my wand. "I'm trusting you - I believe you want to help Harry" I said slowly, passing over my only means of defence. "Won't this make me look more guilty?" He asked, tilting his head. "I'll describe Peter Pettigrew, try and sow some doubt - I don't know. I won't say it was you" He nodded, lifting my wand up. "Okay I'm going to run, try hit me in the back, I've got to make it look like I'm escaping" I said, taking a deep breath and sprinting through the tree cover.
