Emaline Goode: The Raven Of Ilvermorny: A Secrets Of The Gordian Knot prequel

Chapter 7 - I Shall Either Find A Way Or Make One

Emaline was elated after a fantastic first week at her school. In the second week, first-years had already begun taking flying lessons and Quidditch trials for the four houses were just around the corner and Ravenclaw's tryouts were on Saturday morning. She had already impressed her new teachers, including Professor Snape, the meanest of them all and she had already put her new house in first place in the race for the House Cup, with Slytherin not too far behind, of course. Professor Flitwick was delighted with her. Before the big day, she carved the words "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam." meaning "I shall either find a way or make one." onto the handle of her new Nimbus 2000, which she christened "Starwatcher". It was the Goode family motto. At the end of a long day, Emaline was sitting with her friends in the Great Hall at the Ravenclaw table eating dinner. Newton flew in and brought a letter from home in Oregon and some letters from her friends at Ilvermorny. The first one was from her mother:

She read them while she was eating breakfast and taking pleasure in a cup of coffee. And then, Cho and her friend Marietta sprinted to where her friends were sitting.

"Guys! Guys!" said Cho, who was out of breath. "Did you hear?"

"Okay, Cho," said Roger. "Just calm down, breathe, focus, and keep it simple."

"Okay," said Cho. She took a deep breath. "Harry Potter just became the new Gryffindor Seeker!"
"WHAT?!" Emaline said loudly. Everyone in the Great Hall was looking straight at the Ravenclaw table. "How?"

"We heard it from Terry, Mandy, Lisa, Sue, and Amanda, who were at Flying Class with Harry and they said that Neville Longbottom broke his wrist flying his broom, and then Draco Malfoy took his Remembrall. So, Harry goes after him and Malfoy throws it into the air and he catches it in mid-air! Right in front of Professor McGonagall! And his classmates were cheering for him then she came outside and asked Harry to come with her. And that was about it. I can't remember what happened next."

"I was in Professor Quirrell's class and she came over ta us," said a girl. She had short brown hair with blue tips, green eyes wearing a jacket with many patches and badges on it, a blue Quidditch uniform, and a Scottish accent. "She asked for Oliver Wood. I walked over to the doorway and I overheard her. She said 'Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood, I have found you a Seeker!' and that was it." She sat back down.

"Who is that?" said Emaline to Tulip.

"Oh, her?" she said, "That's Skye Parkin. She's the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain. She is a legend around here."

"Wait," Emaline said, "Did you say 'Parkin'?" Tulip nodded, "As in the Parkin family? One of the most famous Quidditch-playing families in the world? The founders of the Wigtown Wanderers? The Parkin family?"

"Yes,' said Tulip. "Her father is a Quidditch legend."

Then Skye got back up again. "Well, of course, he is, Tulip," she said as she began walking towards Emaline, "You must be Emaline Goode, the famous American Quidditch player, and scientist. I've read all about you playing at Ilvermorny and captaining the Thunderbird Quidditch team. You're really good." She shook Emaline's hand.

"Thank you, Skye. Big fan of the Wanderers. They're my English team" 

"That's good to hear. I'm a big fan of yours, too," said Skye. She inspected Emaline from top to bottom. "So...you want to play Quidditch for Ravenclaw. Don't you, Emaline?"

"That's right. Why do you think I'm here?"

"What position do you play?" said Skye.

"I'm a Chaser," said Emaline

"I'm a Chaser too. The best game I ever saw you play was when Thunderbird played Pukwudgie last year in the Ilvermorny Quidditch Cup final. You scored 32 goals, which broke the record for most single-season goals scored by a Thunderbird, set by Verity Wetherell in 1908. That's very impressive."