▬▬▬ CHAPTER FIFTEEN ▬▬▬

THE GHOSTS DECIDED TO GIVE Esmerelda a spook on Halloween morning in the middle of the girl's bathroom.

She was very unimpressed.

Circling around her were a bunch of gloomy nuns, a knight with an arrow sticking out of his head, Moaning Myrtle, Nearly Headless Nick, Peeves, and the Fat Friar. There were many more, but they were in back of the circle so she couldn't quite see them clearly.

"Seriously? You're gonna gang up on me in a girl's bathroom? If I can touch you, then I can hurt you. Get out of my way, now."

Peeves leaned to the Fat Friar and stage-whispered, "You sure she's a Puff, Fatty?"

"I'm gonna be late to Charms." She deadpanned.

The Fat Friar looked very uncomfortable under her stare. "I apologize, we only wanted to talk..."

She sighed. "About me being able to make physical contact with a ghost?"

"So it's true then?" Moaning Myrtle sniffled. "Just great. Then I suppose you'll bully me like everyone else is?"

Esmerelda stared at her incredulously. "What? No, of course not, I have human decency!"

"She's from my House," the Fat Friar said proudly. "She'd never do something so rude!"

"Hey, hey, little firsty," Peeves floated up to her, grinning wildly. "Do that thing to me again. Where you made me hit the wall."

She furrowed her brows in confusion. "What?"

"Hmm? You don't remember?" He sang. "When you and the other firsties were out breaking curfew—" Cue the scandalized gasp from the Fat Friar. "—you bumped into me! I hit the wall!" He laughed gleefully at the memory.

Moaning Myrtle stared at her with wide eyes. "You can give us a corporeal form...?" Her gaze hardened and she glided up to Esmerelda. "Do it to me. There are some bratty students that I want to get my revenge on...!"

"Yes! Do it again, do it again!" Peeves chanted.

"Peeves," a cold voice sliced through the atmosphere. The ghosts parted ways as the Bloody Baron glided through. "Enough of your singing. All of you, leave the Hufflepuff alone."

The ghosts all nodded fearfully and sped out of the bathroom. Before Myrtle exited the room, she sent Esmerelda a glance and the girl knew she was going to have a visit from her. Once the bathroom was cleared out from all the pesky ghosts, Esmerelda turned to thank the Bloody Baron.

"Your eyes are just like his," he said hollowly.

"Huh?" She asked dumbly.

Instead of explaining, he headed out through the nearest wall. "Your charms lesson begins in three minutes." He said before he was gone completely.

She dashed over to her class, but her mind was still buzzing with the Bloody Baron's last words. Her eyes were just like whose? The only people who had eyes like hers were children of Hecate...

Did the Bloody Baron know Merlin?

She compared the Bloody Baron's clothes to the clothes she remembered Merlin wearing on the day of his execution. They looked like they came from the same time period... Could it be possible that they attended Hogwarts together when they were both still alive?

She had to stop thinking about it though since she had entered her Charms class and Professor Flitwick announced that they were going to start making objects fly. Eager to learn, she waited for him to find her a suitable partner.

It turned out to be Zacharias Smith.

You've gotta be kidding me... She still hadn't forgiven him for telling the entire class about her 'Troll' grade.

"Everyone with their partners now?" Professor Flitwick asked, standing up on his usual pile of books.

Esmerelda and Zacharias grunted.

"Wonderful!" Professor Flitwick squeaked. "The incantation is Wingardium Leviosa! Say it all together now: Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!" The class said in unison.

Professor Flitwick gave a short clap. "Perfect! Now there is a sort of wand movement that you need to do while saying the incantation. It's very simple. Just swish and flick your wrist like this, see?" He held his wand out, and made a swish and flick motion with his wrist. "Then you do it altogether like this... Wingardium Leviosa!" He exclaimed, moving his hand as his wand aimed at a single white feather on his desk. The feather floating upwards, then did a nice sort of dance in the sky, then levitated back down.

Esmerelda's eyes narrowed in concentration. Could it be... that this was she had done all those years ago when the car she, Basil, and the Stolls were in was about to fall off a cliff? She had done it without even the use of a wand... or saying the incantation. Was it possible that she could do it again?

"Everyone ready to do it on your own? One person goes first. Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing! Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too—never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest." Professor Flitwick laughed.

Esmerelda was eager to go first, but Zacharias spoke up first. "Wingardium Leviosa." He said, doing the wrist movement and pointing at the feather. It hopped up once, then fell back down. "Wingardium Leviosa!" He said again, then tried once more for another six times until Esmerelda finally grew impatient.

"Hey, can I try it out now?" She asked, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"Not until I'm done." He muttered, concentrating on the feather. The most he had managed to do was making it levitate up an inch or two before it dropped back down.

"You've done it at least ten times. It's my turn." This time, Esmerelda didn't bother to hide her irritation.

He shot her an annoyed look. "You honestly think you can do it better, little miss 'Troll'? You'd probably set it on fire like Finnegan over there." He jutted his chin towards the Irish boy who had somehow managed to burn his feather. He and Harry were covered in soot.

"You're gonna judge my magic skills based on a quiz grade from History class?" Her voice rose.

"If you're so confident then do it!" He roared.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" She snarled at the feather, completely forgetting to grab her wand. It zoomed up to the ceiling, catching everyone's attention. It lacked the vibrant green glow the car had, but it worked anyways. She forced herself to calm down and turned to face a stunned Zacharias. "There." She sneered.

"My oh my!" Professor Flitwick literally jumped desk to desk to reach her. He made it to there's before their feather floated down. He watched it land on her desk before giving her a look of pure awe. "Miss Esmerelda, was that wandless magic you had just performed? Why—I'm so amazed! Simply speechless! Congratulations, Miss Esmerelda, you've made me very impressed!"

"Uh, thanks." She said shyly, her former anger gone and replaced with embarrassment due to all the attention she was gathering.

When Professor Flitwick finally left, she smiled tightly at Zacharias and shoved the feather onto his side of the desk. "I think I've got the Levitation Charm down. Here, it's all yours now."

Grumbling bitterly, he turned away from her and practiced on his own.

Meanwhile, she could hear several whispers about her.

"Did you see that? She used no wand!"

"Wandless magic—her? A Puff?"

"Do you think Harry Potter can do that too?"

She ignored all of them and boredly thought about what to do next. She had given Zacharias the feather so she no longer had anything to practice it. Maybe she could use the Charm on Zacharias and throw him out the window?

"Oh, well done!" Professor Flitwick suddenly cried out. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

She turned to see Hermione smiling shyly at the praise, her own feather levitating in front of her wand. Ron, her partner, looked equally as disgruntled as Zacharias.

She had a break after that class and went straight to the Hufflepuff common room. Due to Professor Quirrell's inability to teach correctly, she figured she'd just have to teach herself. Dyslexia be damned. This was what she had been doing for the past few days now that she realized Quirrell wasn't going to teach them any good defensive or offensive spells—which were spells Esmerelda desperately needed to learn.

Her DADA textbook, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble, had a lot of information on dark creatures, but had a very limited amount of spells for defense and offense. So far, she had mastered the Wand-Lighting Charm (Lumos), and the spells to create green and red sparks. All three were pretty useless since she could see in the dark, and she didn't know what good the spark-lighting spell was.

Now, she was trying out the Knockback Jinx.

"Flipendo," she whispered, aiming her wand at her water bottle, but she mis-aimed and the jinx hit a potted plant behind it. "Oops..."

"Here, let me." A voice said. "Reparo."

The broken pieces of the pot gathered into the air and glued itself back together. Even better, the soil and plant returned to the pot. Back in one piece, it returned back it's original spot on a table.

"Thanks," she said, looking up at older student. "By the way, uh, what was that incantation again?" She'd definitely need to learn that one too.

"It's the Mending Charm: Reparo. Are you practicing spells by yourself?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm Essie, by the way."

He smiled and introduced himself. "Cedric Diggory. I heard about you. You're the American student."

"Yeah..." She trailed off. Was she really the only foreign student in Hogwarts?

"So you're trying do the Knockback Jinx, right? You're supposed to move your wand as if you're writing the letter 'V'. I think it says so right... here." Cedric glanced over at the book and pointed at the information.

She looked down at it but all she could see was: You oomv vour wujd in a 'e' rifmaroin.

Guess that translates to 'you move your wand in a 'v' formation. She realized. She looked up and gave Cedric a grateful smile. "Thanks. I really needed that. I've been trying it for awhile now, but I could never get it down..."

He smiled back. He seemed like a pretty friendly guy. "Happy to help. Keep on practicing and you'll get the hand of it. Oh, but don't stay up here too long. The Halloween Feast's going to start in about an hour from now."

The Halloween Feast. She had completely forgotten about it. It was such a shame she couldn't wear a costume. She had been planning on dressing up as Wednesday Addams.

"Right! Thanks, I will!"

Now that she had the right wand movements down, she was perfectly able to perform the jinx. Unfortunately, she had flipendo-ed her water bottle so hard it broke and spilled all over the floor. It's a good thing she watched Cedric perform the Mending Charm or else she would've left the common room with a mess. After that, she tried out the Smokescreen Spell.

She focused very hard on the instructions and was pretty sure she read the wand movements correctly. And so, drawing her wand around in a circular motion, she exclaimed, "Fumos!" and instantly caused the whole common room to be covered in smoke.

...At least she did the spell right.

Someone had to call Professor Sprout for assistance and she managed to clear out the room with a swish of her wand. She chided Esmerelda before ushering her to get ready for the feast. She scurried out of the room, a little bit embarrassed but feeling very accomplished nonetheless.

The Great Hall was decorated magnificently. There was a bunch of live bats that fluttered from the walls and ceilings while some swooped over the table. She even managed to feed one a strawberry before it flew away.

Esmerelda made sure to stock her plate up with sweet potatoes, beans, spinach and asparagus—all foods that were known to boost your energy. She made absolutely sure to stay away from the tempting sweets. She needed to eat healthy and couldn't afford to slow herself down with sweets.

Tonight, she would be facing the Odontotyrannos.

After gulping down three goblets of water, she left her table and headed off to the girl's bathroom. After some distance, she heard an uproar coming from the Great Hall and dismissed it as 'Happy Halloween' cheers.

When she entered the bathroom, she heard someone crying.

Awkward, but she wasn't about to let it stop her from doing her business.

After she finished washing her hands, she cautiously approached the locked stall. "Hello? You okay in there?"

"Go away," a familiar voice sobbed. "I told you I wanted to be left alone!"

Esmerelda's eyes widened in recognition. "Hold on—Hermione? Is that you?"

"Esmerelda?" Hermione sniffed. "What are you doing here?"

"To pee, duh," she chuckled. "Why are you here?"

"I just... I needed to be alone," Hermione said, absolutely miserable. "In Charms class—well..."

"Was it Ron?" Esmerelda guessed.

"Yes, how did you know?" She asked curiously.

"He doesn't seem to like you much."

"Oh, nobody here likes me, Esmerelda!" Hermione snapped, her voice breaking a little.

"It's Essie..." She corrected weakly. "And I like you!"

"Yet you never hang out with me." She said bitterly.

"If it makes you feel better, I don't really hang out with anybody." She said, and was suddenly struck with a startling realization. She had no close friends in Hogwarts.

Oh gods, I'm a loser! I was so busy with everything else that I didn't bother to make any friends...! She gaped at her own stupidity.

"Really?" Hermione said, sounding very surprised. "But you're quite friendly!"

"Yeah, well—" Esmerelda froze as a terrible smell drifted into her nostrils. It was worse than the port-a-potties she, Basil, and the Stolls sometimes had to use back when they were still on the run.

Suddenly a shadow fell over her.

She turned to the right and looked up.

It was a troll.

"Hermione," Esmerelda said in a careful and quiet tone. "There's a troll in the bathroom. I need you to keep your head low and carefully step out of the stall." She'd be stuck in a very vulnerable position if she were to stay inside the stall.

"A what?" Hermione asked incredulously, then walked out. She saw the troll and let out a shrill scream.

The troll swung its club at them. Esmerelda grabbed the top of Hermione's head and pushed it down while also dragging the girl away. The club smashed onto the stalls, destroying almost all of them completely.

A troll?! Did I bring it in here? But that isn't even a Greek monster! Esmerelda thought. She ran to the door with Hermione clutching her hand desperately.

"What the Styx?!" She cursed as the doorknob refused to move. They were locked in!

She turned to Hermione, about to ask her to do that 'aloha' spell again but caught sight of the troll approaching. Cursing wildly in her head, she gripped onto Hermione's hand tighter as they dove under its legs before it could swing.

They ran to the other side of the bathroom and Hermione practically threw herself against the wall, frozen stiff with fright. The poor thing had closed her eyes in fear as the troll knocked the sinks off the wall, slowly approaching them. Esmerelda's hand slipped out of Hermione's as she inched for her brooch.

Suddenly the door opened.

Them again? She thought as Harry and Ron burst inside.

"Confuse it!" Harry said to Ron. He seized a fallen tap and lobbed it against the wall. The troll stopped it's advancements and turned to face them. It saw Harry, then came after him with his club raised.

"Oi, pea-brain!" Ron yelled from the other side. He threw a metal pipe at it's head. The troll didn't seem phased, but he turned to Ron and headed for him instead.

Noticing that Ron had no escape, Harry jumped at the troll from behind and wrapped his arms around it's fatty neck. He stuck his wand up it's nose. It gave a great yell then grabbed him, dangling him upside down.

Ron pulled out his wand and cried out: "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club flew out of the troll's hand and rose high. Seeing the perfect chance to attack, Esmerelda used one of the remaining sinks as a diving board and sprung up in the air. She grabbed the floating club and in the next second, slammed it hard against the troll's head.

She landed gracefully on her feet and turned to watch as the troll swayed, then fell flat on it's face with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Everyone stared.

"Is it—dead?" Hermione asked in a small voice.

Harry, who was the closest to the troll, approached it. "I don't think so. I think it's just been knocked out." He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in a lumpy grey substance that made Esmerelda gag.

He made a face of disgust and wiped it on the troll's trousers. "Ugh, troll boogers." He turned to Esmerelda and complimented. "Nice hit."

She shrugged. "Thanks." She turned to Ron. "Thanks for getting rid of the weapon."

"No problem." He said, in a daze. He still had his wand raised.

Suddenly, Professor McGonagall burst into the room with Snape and Quirrell. The turban-wearing man took one look at the troll, whimpered, then sat down on a toilet. He looked several seconds away from a heart attack.

Snape checked out the troll to see if it was truly unconscious. Meanwhile, Professor McGongall was looking at the four of them with a very fierce glare. She looked madder than when a young camper pointed out Mr. D's watery eyes and mistook him for crying (they was turned into an animal after that).

Esmerelda gulped and quickly dropped the club. She tried to look as innocent as possible.

It probably wasn't working because Professor McGonagall's terrifying expression didn't fade away. "What on earth were you thinking?" She demanded. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

There was a tense silence as the kids tried to think of what to say. And then, Hermione spoke up.

"Please, Professor McGonagall—they were looking for me." She said.

Professor McGonagall stared at her in shock, and so was everyone else (except Snape). "Miss Granger!" She gasped.

Hermione stumbled to her feet and continued to lie. "I went looking for the troll because I—I thought I could deal with it on my own—you know, because I've read all about them. Esmerelda had nothing to do with this either. She just wanted to use the bathroom, but then the troll attacked... If Harry and Ron hadn't found us, we'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron disarmed it. Then Esmerelda knocked it out with its own club."

Esmerelda, Ron, and Harry nearly dropped their jaws.

"Well—in that case..." Professor McGonagall surveyed them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione shamefully hung her head.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses."

Hermione left and now it was just three of them.

Professor McGonagall turned to them. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. And Esmerelda, Hufflepuff gets five. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You boys may go. Esmerelda... we must speak to you."

Ron and Harry looked over at Esmerelda, who wore a panicking face. The two boys hesitantly left, leaving her alone with two very scary teachers.

"Miss Esmerelda," Snape finally spoke in usually monotone yet silky voice. "Follow us. We are taking you to Professor Dumbledore's office."

Isn't that the headmaster? She thought as she followed them out. Her eyes widened with realization. Oh no, am I gonna get expelled again?! I don't want to leave Hogwarts! I'm learning a lot in here and the beds are so comfy!

They walked up to the third floor where they were met a gargoyle statue.

"Chocolate frog." Professor McGonagall said, and it moved to showcase a circular, moving staircase. Esmerelda followed her teachers through it and after a while, reached the headmaster's office.

It was unlike all the principal's offices she had ever stepped foot in (and she had been in a lot). It was a large circular room with many windows and moving portraits. She even saw the familiar raggedy Sorting Hat perched on a shelf and a cage that contained what looked to be a Phoenix!

Dumbledore sat at his desk, and gave her a warm smile that almost reminded her of Chiron's. "Hello Esmerelda, what brings you to my office? Not in trouble I hope?"

"The troll's been found, professor," Snape said curtly. "By her, this one, Granger, Weasley and... Potter." He said the last name with clear distaste.

"Hermione Granger recklessly followed it into the girls bathroom while Potter and Weasley went after to save her. Esmerelda was an unfortunate witness to this who stumbled upon the scene. I've given Gryffindor and Hufflepuff five points." Professor McGonagall explained. "But that is not why I brought her here."

He nodded in understanding and turned to Esmerelda. "Esmerelda, have you ever stepped foot in the United Kingdom?"

"No... sir." She carefully added. "I've lived in America my whole life." At least she was pretty sure she did.

"Were you aware that you were a witch?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I found out a few months ago when I got my letter."

"The letter—do you have it with you?"

"Yes, it's in my dorm."

Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall. "Professor McGonagall, can you fetch it for me? And bring her House Head too."

"Of course," she nodded shortly then left.

"Am I in trouble?" Esmerelda blurted out.

Dumbledore just chuckled. "No, dear, definitely not. The staff and I were very curious of why you came here. You see, there is a school in America just like ours. It's called the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most wizarding schools don't accept students from a different country and Hogwarts, unfortunately, is one of them, so we were very surprised when you came here and spoke in an American accent."

Her eyes widened. "W-wait, are you kicking me out...?" What if Ilvermorny didn't have nice beds?!

To her relief, he shook his head. "No. But we do want to know how you received a letter from us when you shouldn't have."

As if on cue, Professor McGonagall returned with Professor Sprout. In the Transfiguration teacher's hand was the envelope Esmerelda had stuffed with the letter, the note, and the translated versions.

"Here it is, Professor." She said, setting it on his desk.

"Thank you." He replied. He took out the contents, rose a brow at the Ancient Greek, and silently read the (English) letter. The other teachers looked over his shoulder and read as well.

"It looks just like the official letters." Snape muttered.

"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed. "Esmerelda, how did you receive this?"

"Well, one of the teachers—Professor Diakos," she had completely forgotten about her. "Came to my... uh, place and gave it to me. She told me I was a witch and everything. She even left me instructions on how to get to this portkey to get to London. It's in that other note over there. She told me about Diagon Alley and King's Cross Station too."

The teachers looked at her in alarm.

"Esmerelda," Professor Sprout said, looking spooked. "There is no Professor Diakos in this school."

She stared blankly back. "What?"

"What did she look like?" Snape asked immediately.

Esmerelda started to describe her and talked about how insistent she was when it came to Esmerelda accepting to attend Hogwarts. By the time she finished, the teachers were rendered speechless.

"This is very concerning," Professor McGonagall murmured. "Who is she? And why did she want her to attend our school so badly?"

Esmerelda's stomach twisted painfully. So Professor Diakos wasn't a real professor from Hogwarts? Her name was most likely fake too. Just who was she?

"What are these for?" Snape suddenly asked, plucking up the translated pages.

Oh shit. "Those are, um, translations..." She answered meekly.

"Translations?"

"Of the letter and note, sir." She clarified.

"And why would you need them to be translated? What language is this?"

"It's... Ancient Greek..." Cue all the raised brows. "And I needed it translated because that's the only language I can read... I'm um, sort of... dyslexic, you can say? I can't read or write in any language that isn't Ancient Greek. I'm just hardwired for it. I ordered these Translator Specs from Respectable Spectacles, but I'm still waiting for it to arrive."

"...That explains a lot." Snape muttered, obviously referring to her poor writing work. He couldn't believe the amount of misspellings she had.

"Is that why—why you have so much trouble when it comes to textbook work and—and writing assignments?" Professor McGonagall spluttered, suddenly feeling guilty for all the scolding she had given her.

She nodded, looking down.

Professor Sprout's jaw just dropped.

"Ancient Greek..." Dumbledore murmured. "Is a very, well, ancient language, Miss Esmerelda. And you understand it?"

She nodded in confirmation. "I can speak it too."

"Amazing," he commended. "But quite odd."

She smiled nervously before directing her gaze back to the letter. "So, um, about the letters...?"

They all frowned again.

"Yes..." Dumbledore said softly, looking back down at them. "This 'Professor Diakos' person you met is very suspicious. Did she speak to your parents or just you alone?"

"I don't have any." She said, before correcting herself. "I mean... I, um, well I was given up to the foster care system ever since I was baby. The woman who left me—I think she might've been my mom?—only gave the people there my first name and date of birth—which is why I don't have a last name. Anyways, um, I, uh, ran away? Sort of? And I met some friends and we drove off to New York and decided to live at this, uh, camp-place-thing. I told the directors about it and they were okay with letting me go."

She finished saying all of this in one breath. She stared at the teachers nervously and she had never seen them so stunned before.

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth first. "You ran away—?!"

"—You're living in a camp—?" Professor Sprout looked terribly lost and concerned.

"—The woman didn't give them any other information about you?" Snape asked.

"Esmerelda," Dumbledore spoke, silencing the rest. "The foster care, do you remember the name of the building?"

She frowned. "I don't, sorry, sir. But I remember that it was in Gastonia, North Carolina."

"North Carolina?" Professor McGonagall sucked in a sharp breath. "That's miles away from New York!"

She gulped. "Yeah, we decided to have a fun little road trip." She inwardly snorted at that.

"This camp, is it treating you alright, dear?" Professor Sprout asked.

"Oh yeah!" She nodded, beaming. "It's the best place ever. It's my home."

"Camp Half Blood, correct?" Dumbledore read the address. "What an odd name."

"Er, yeah..."

"'The Underground Kitchen Full of Lava'?" Professor McGonagall read, frowning deeply.

"Not real lava," she lied.

Dumbledore tucked all the letters and notes back in the envelope and handed them to her. "You can have them back, Miss Esmerelda. I believe I have everything I need to know for now. You may return to your common room. I believe everyone is still celebrating."

"Okay, but, um... sir? Will I still be able to come back the next year?" She asked, mentally crossing her fingers for luck.

He smiled. "The next year and the many more to come."

She sighed in relief. "Thank you, professor. I guess I'll see you all tomorrow."

She walked out of the room.

Professor McGonagall turned to the headmaster. "Is there any reason you needed to know the name of her foster care office?"

His expression turned grim. "Do any of you remember an 'Esmerelda' going missing about a decade ago?"

Professor Sprout gasped. "You don't think—she's his daughter?"

Dumbledore didn't nod, but he didn't shake his head either. "I won't know until I have the description of the woman who dropped her off... If it matches with what Remus Lupin said, then I believe we found the identity of her father... And where Esmerelda had disappeared to all these years."

Professor McGonagall looked uneasy. "'Deep green eyes that looked almost illuminating', was what Lupin had said... Esmerelda's eyes match that description too."

"Her eyes are very unique..." Snape muttered. They almost reminded him of Lily's, but Esmerelda's were deeper in color and more mystical.

"If she really is his daughter, then we must keep it a secret." Dumbledore said firmly. "If word goes out, imagine how terribly the public would treat her."

Snape stayed motionless while the rest of the teachers nodded.

The child didn't have to be punished for the father's crimes. Unbeknownst to them, she was already being punished for her mother's crimes.

"But she looks like someone else though..." Professor McGonagall murmured.

"Who do you mean?" Professor Sprout inquired.

The Gryffindor Head pursed her lips in thought, the skin between her brows crinkled as an uncertain expression fell over her face. "It's nothing. Just a passing thought."

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

When everybody fell asleep, Esmerelda hurried off to the forest to defeat the Odontotyrannus. She would receive no help from the centaurs, which was understandable because the monster was terrifying, but Esmerelda wished she had somebody out there to help her.

Like all children of Hecate, her powers were increased during the night, but Esmerelda had never felt so weak before.

She knew what the Odontotyrannus was. Alexander the Great's army had run into it (seriously, that poor army needed a break) while traveling through India. It had managed to kill at least twenty-six Macedonians and incapacitated fifty-two. It was immune to fire and was taken down by hundreds of hunting spears impaling it.

Esmerelda did not have a hundred hunting spears.

She ventured deep into the forest in hopes to find it. She pushed back the questions rising about 'Professor Diakos' and focused more on creating a strategy. So far all she could think of was: Don't use fire. None of the spells she learned so far could help her out with this, but she doubted the limited amount of weapons she had would help her out either.

I'm so screwed. She moped.

The runes on her labrys glowed faintly when she directed it to the right. She followed after it, feeling more and more dreadful with each step.

I need a plan, but I don't know what to do... Sometimes I wish I was the daughter of Athena... Sometimes. She sighed to herself. Maybe I can use Fumos to blind it? Oh, but what if it can sniff me out...?

She heard a loud roar and froze. How in the Hades did the people back in the castle not hear that?!

Lucky them, they're probably too far from it! She thought as she dashed towards the sound, the runes on her labrys glowing brighter and brighter.

She followed it to a creek, where the Odontotyrannus was. It must've roared like that because it slipped and got it's feet wet. She ducked behind a tree and slinked off to the side. The closer she was to it, the more scared she was. The Odontotyrannus was a dark beast with three horns protruding from it's forehead and it was larger than an elephant. Even worse, it resembled a demonic version of the tyrannosaurus rex, and she had just watched a scary movie about dinosaurs before coming to Hogwarts.

Darting out from her hiding spot, she sprinted for the monster and leaped high with her labrys raised. She was going to try and cut the back of it's neck.

Only that didn't work. It caught sight of her from the corner of its beady black eyes. With a loud screech, it slammed her away with its head. Its three horns cut into her side. Not too deep, but still painful. She made a mental note to find a spell that could wash blood out from clothes.

She landed on the ground with a loud splash, wincing as her back collided with the rocks underwater.

"Owwww..." She moaned.

The Odontotyrannus made an angry sound and began storming towards her, creating powerful waves with it's heavy feet. She forced herself to crawl out of the creek but didn't make it out in time. The Odontotyrannus' jaws clamped on the leg of her pajama pants and yanked her back down. She yelped before her head was submerged in water. Closing her mouth, she ripped her leg away from the monster's jaws. Her pajama pant-leg was ripped off from the knee but she didn't care.

She looked around wildly for her labrys and found it at least twenty feet away from where she stood. It was under the water. She ran for it, her legs being dragged down by the water, and the Odontotyrannus chasing right after her.

Out of panic, she yanked out one of her charms and threw a knife straight at it's eye. It was half-blind now but she made it even angrier. She could almost feel the earth tremble as it roared (seriously how could nobody hear it? Did the Mist affect them too? But Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville had definitely seen Cerberus).

She grabbed her labrys but the Odontotyrannus had reached her by then. With the flick of its head, it sent her flying. She felt it's three horns cut into her other side right before she crashed into a tree. She dropped down, her face covered with little scratches from the splinters and bark.

She gingerly touched her face. It was bleeding in several different areas.

She blinked the stars out of her eyes and staggered up to her feet. The Odontotyrannus ran up to her and slammed her against the tree with it's head. It's horns pierced her right shoulder. There was a loud crack! as the tree finally gave up and broke apart from all the pressure forced against it.

Don't black out now, don't black out now... She thought desperately. It was beating her around like a rag doll. At this point, it was going to kill her.

Looming above her, it opened it's mouth and went down. Esmerelda swung desperately, not exactly having a particular target in mind. She just wanted to land another hit.

SHICK!

Esmerelda grunted. Her labrys managed to cut through the bottom jaw of the Odontotyrannus, but not completely. The blade got stuck when it reached the tongue. The Odontotyrannus tried to pull away from her, screeching in pain. Now that it was no longer on top of her, she was able to sit up. Quickly, she shot forward and tried to yank her blade out. She made the stupid mistake of blinding grabbing onto it's jaws. She felt it's sharp teeth sink through the skin of her palm but ignored it.

There was a sickening crunch, then a squelch sound as the Odontotyrannus' bottom jaw was completely severed from the rest of it's mouth. She dropped it on the ground, her hand bleeding profusely.

It screeched and smacked her to the side with it's head.

She landed on a bunch of thick tree roots. Moaning in pain, she sat up and took her wand out from the waistband of her pajama pants. Miraculously, it had yet to break.

"Fumos," she whispered hoarsely. Black smoke oozed out from the tip of her wand. While the Odontotyrannus was left confused for her whereabouts, she managed to crawl away to create more distance. Her battered body felt more sensitive to every sensation. Her shoulder burned with pain, as did her sides, and she could feel dirt seep into her cut-up palm. She still had a squished up baggie of ambrosia in her pocket, but she decided not to take any of them yet.

Alexander the Great's army defeated it by piercing it with a bunch of spears. She only had eleven throwing knives (the twelfth was still embedded in the monster's eye socket) and a labrys—

—Wait.

She suddenly had an idea.

Hastily, she yanked out her remaining charms and laid them all out on the ground in front of her along with her labrys. She winced every time she heard the Odontotyrannus growl or snarl and tensed up whenever it sounded too close. She listened with strained ears for it's direction and located it somewhere on the left. She squinted and managed to catch sight of it's shape through the smoke. Hopefully it wouldn't notice her soon...

She aimed her wand at her weapons and swished and flicked. "Wingardium Leviosa," she whispered. The Odontotyrannus heard her. She shot her wand out towards it's body and her weapons zoomed forward. Strangely enough, she could see a faint green glow around them.

She heard multiple sharp shicks! and a poof sound.

"Lumos," she croaked. Her wand lit up through the smoke. She allowed it to guide her as she carefully walked towards the direction of the Odontotyrannus. She had one hand placed over her bleeding shoulder.

She approached the spot it once stood. There was only a layer of golden dust left. Her weapons were laying scattered over it.

She grinned, her face hurting from the pain. "Hah. I killed it."

She picked up the severed bottom jaw from the ground and dragged herself back to the Hufflepuff dormitory. When she got back, she went ate a whole square of ambrosia and took a large gulp of nectar. The pain on her face, hands, and sides healed, but her shoulder was still bleeding a little. She wrapped it up tenderly and changed her pajamas.

Then, she went to sleep.

— author's note —

I love the ghosts y'all so expect to see them more :D

You guys are probably sick of these monster fights, but I put them here to show Essie's progress with her magic and physical capabilities. I don't like glossing over fights because I tend to get annoyed if a character suddenly seems overpowered without showing any proof of how they came to that point. Like, I want to show how my character's progress and how they improved.

ANY GUESSES ON WHO ESSIE'S DADDY IS???!!