Eva at Hogwarts: Everyone Needs Therapy

My head felt clearer than I thought it would when I woke up the next morning. I was in my room, which is peculiar since last I remember I was in the library with my friends. I sit and stretch, rubbing at my eyes as I finish waking up. Akira was sitting by my door and I pause when I notice the feline. 

“Mamaidh wants to see me doesn’t she?” I ask, slipping out of bed to gather clothes. I was surprised to see that it was past noon.

“Pokey,” I call as I set my things in the bathroom.

“Misses called?” Pokey pops into the hallway and I accept her offered hug.

“Would you mind bringing me something to eat? You can leave it on the table in the living room when I get out of the shower.” I asked and she nodded her head with a big grin on her face.

“Of course! Anything for Misses Eva,” Pokey gave me one last hug and popped back out. I stand and take a quick shower. I finger my hair when I remove the steam from the mirror and think about how much it has lightened since Minnie adopted me. I comb through my hair and get dressed before snagging the sandwich from the plate on the table and putting the apple in my bag. I gave a piece of my sandwich to Akira, who was waiting for me by the portrait and let her lead me to Minnie’s classroom. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first-years were writing theory when I slipped into the room. I wave to Hannah and the girl next to her, a redhead, and poke Padma’s shoulder as I pass her. 

“Good afternoon, glad to see you are still living,” Minnie kissed the top of my head. 

“I don’t really know what happened last night,” I think back, “Did they explain it to you?”

“Miss Parkinson’s ability had a greater effect on you than it does others. She apologized before they left,” Minnie informed me and I nodded. I stayed in Minnie’s class for the day, finishing my last assignments from the other professors. I made the rounds and turned everything in before going to the library where I set up at a table in the middle of the front so I could help anyone who had questions. 

“What are you sitting here for?” Pansy asked as she and Draco plopped at the table with me. Before I could answer, a Gryffindor fifth-year hurried over to the table with a panicked look. 

“Can you come and help me and my friends with our transfiguration revision? We can’t remember the theory and our spell work isn’t the best.” They plead and I nod as I get up to follow her to their table. I look around the table and recall how I explained things to them last year before going over the theory with them. The group was singing my praises by the time I had finished and I waved them away as I got flagged down by another table. 

I jump from table to table, helping where I can. I finally get flagged down by the table where Pansy and Draco had been joined by other Slytherins and Hufflepuffs. I flop onto Cedric’s head with a sigh.

“Having fun?” Cedric asked as he reached up to pat my arm.

“Your busiest time of the year,” Cassius chuckled.

“Do you want my help?” I raise my brow at the Slytherin boy and he smiles at me. 

“You help everyone here?” The redheaded Hufflepuff looked shocked and I give her a shy smile in return.

“Do you need help with something?” 

“I’m rubbish at charms,” She deflates and I round the table to look at what she was working on. 

“I’m Eva, by the way. Don’t think we have been introduced yet,” I crouch down so that I wasn’t towering over her to look at her paper. 

“Susan,” She introduced herself. I spend the next bit helping the table with their revisions before having to leave to help other tables. I was dead on my feet by the end of the day, arriving at dinner and sitting at the closest table which happened to be the Gryffindor table. 

I wedge myself between Harry and Neville, my head falling on the timid boy’s shoulder. They greet me and I ignore Ron’s look as they continue to talk, avoiding looking at his awful table manners. The twins slide the soup down the table into my reach and I sign thank you as I start to fill my bowl. 

“I don’t know why you always do this to yourself. Gin worries you’re going to burn out at this rate,” Neville mentions when there was a lull in the conversation. 

“I can help. It’s just exhausting.” I mutter.

“Go spend some time with your plants, I can let the others know you won’t be there tonight.” Neville offers and I grant him a smile, finishing my dinner only to snag some food to bring with me for the carnivorous plants. I pat Harry and the twins on their heads as I leave the table, waving to Hermione who was on the opposite side. Akira meets me outside the doors and I turn to give Minnie a smile that she acknowledges with a slightly raised goblet. I pause in between the front doors and my plant room, tilting my head as a thought popped up. I shake the idea away and turn to enter my room. 

I end up falling asleep in the chair, being woken up the next morning by Akira nosing my hand. I get up and start the day, going to help Professors Sprout and Kettleburn with their charges. It was relaxing, grooming the different creatures and taking care of the greenhouses. 

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Professor Kettelburn claps as I was gathering my bag to go to lunch. He pulls a letter from his vest pocket and hands it over to me. I give him a confused look as he motions for me to open it. I break the seal, almost dropping the letter once I see who it was from.

Dear Miss McGonagall,

It has been brought to my attention that you are interested in the magical creatures of this world. I would like to offer an invitation for you to come and visit my farm a few times this summer so you can experience the life of a magizoologist.

Please let us know what you decide by April.

Best wishes,

Newt & Tina Scamander

“How…” I trail off, not believing my eyes.

“Knew him from when I was merely an apprentice. Told him about our rising prodigy who loved all creatures,” Kettleburn shrugs and I tackle him in a hug.

“I need to go tell Mamaidh!” I squeal in his mangled ear before leaving him with a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Uncle Silvanus!”

I sprint up to the top of the hill, dodging students who were wandering outside after their exams. The trio of Gryffindors was leaving her classroom when I got there, with dejected looks on their faces. I was too focused on my news that I filed a thought away to check in with them later.

"Mamaidh! Guess what?!" I trip on the edge of a table in my rush to the front of the room. Pain travels up my shin only for me to ignore it and plop myself on her desk. Her expression was tired but it lit up with amusement at my vibrating body.

"Pomona gave you a new plant?" She guessed with a hand on her chin, "Or Silvanus gave you a Niffler. I told him that the wee beast would give Pokey and Grotel a panic attack from the missing silverware." I giggle at her guess and pass her the letter from my pocket. I bite my lip as I watch her eyes scan the parchment. A laugh spills out when I get swooped up in her arms.

"So, I'm going to take this as permission to go?" I mumble from where my face is pressed against her shoulder.

"Of course, you can go! I'm excited to hear all about it," Minnie sets me back down. I talk with her for a bit longer before remembering another person who would be thrilled to learn about my summer plans. I leave Minnie with her essays to grade and start on my way to Hagrid’s hut, only to stop and remember the cookies I had baked for the great hall. If I don’t go get them now I will forget. I groan in disappointment before turning on my heel and crashing right into someone. A flare of pain springs in my chest as the person cushions my fall and I was quick to roll off of Pansy.

“I’m so sorry!” I gush out, helping the girl back up to her feet. I look over at the sound of a smack to see Draco holding the back of his head as he tried to suppress a smirk and Hannah fondly rolling her eyes. 

“Be nice,” Hannah warned her Slytherin who gives an unconvincing apology. 

“I’m fine, just a bit bruised. Where are you going in such a hurry?” Pansy dusts off her robes, her untied tie almost falling from her around her neck. I automatically fix the tie to be hanging evenly before remembering her question.

“Oh, I was going to get the cookies I baked yesterday. I forgot to put them out in the Great Hall today for people to snack on between exams.” I wave as I was back on my mission. I hear footsteps behind me and look over my shoulder to see Pansy following me. I slow down a bit to let her catch up.

“Something’s not right,” Her voice was hushed and she took a step closer to me.

“What do you mean? Did you feel something?” I pull her over into a hidden passageway to get to my chambers faster. 

“I’ve been feeling something off with Professor Quirrell all year, but it has started getting stronger recently. It feels gross and wrong.” Pansy shivered as her eyes unfocused as if she was reliving the experience. 

“Wrong how?” I usher her in the lion portrait and have her sit on the couch as I give her my full attention. 

“I wasn’t sure at first, but it was just a slight difference in a normal magical aura. I thought it was just because of his interaction with the vampire. But it got slightly stronger throughout the year, there were times it jumped in strength.” Pansy looked a bit out of it so I offer my hand. She plays with my fingers, her eyes slowly refocusing as I wait for her to continue.

“Did something happen? Why are you now saying something?” I gently ask when I think she was present enough to hear me. 

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” She took a shaky breath, fear clouding her eyes when they locked on mine. “It felt dangerous when we took our exam.” I sit on the coffee table in front of the couch as I try to think of a parasite or something that could have been picked up over his summer. 

“We should tell Aunt Poppy, she might know something,” I suggest, clapping my hands as I stand. I gather my cookies and hand one to Pansy as we walk to the Great Hall. Pomfrey couldn’t think of anything and she would not be able to be sure without seeing Quirrell. Pansy had to go interact with fellow Slytherins and left me to take care of the plants in my plant room, getting them ready to be self-sufficient over the summer. I took some breaks to talk to Flower and it wasn’t long before Pansy was soon joining the conversation. 

How has your course work been mon amours? It is near the end of year for you, yes?

It is yeah, I finished my exams today

Très bien! That is wonderful Dove, do you know how Kitten has faired with her exams?

I haven’t had the chance to talk to her today, sorry

It’s fine Dove, we can just wait for Kitten to answer for herself.

Flower! You are a fourth year correct?

Oui

Do you know of any parasites that could be contracted in Albania?

Albania? Non, I can not think of any

Why are you asking? I try to fish for some more information in case Hermione needs to see it for any reason.

I can feel something off with my professor, he went there over the summer

I can ask Mamie if she knows anything, I go home today so I can ask her tomorrow

That would be great Darling, thank you

But would a parasite only now be making itself known? Were there signs throughout the year? I question, something about this wasn’t sitting right with me.

Something had been itching my mind about it all year, but today it was the strongest it has ever been. It’s dangerous.

I feel like I’m missing something here Flower says and I almost smack my forehead when I remember that Cub doesn’t know about Pansy’s ability.

What do you mean felt? I hope that covers my mishap.

Dove can feel magical auras. Why didn’t you mention any of this earlier Love? Hermione finally joins in. 

I didn’t think it was anything bad. I’ve never felt something like this before so I didn’t know it would turn this dangerous.

Is the parasite dangerous to our professor, or is it dangerous to those around him?

I don’t know

I pull my sleeve down and finish up with the plants before leaving the room, activating the stasis rune. It was dark, I didn’t realize how long I had been in there. I stroll over to the Great Hall to find it empty. 

“I missed dinner,” I mutter to myself. I go to the kitchen where I ask Grotel to go tell Minnie I would be up soon as Pokey got me a plate of dinner. It wasn’t until I was on my way back to my chambers with a full belly and heard Hagrid’s flute from an open window that I remembered that I wanted to talk to him. I change course and skip the last few meters to his hut with a big grin on my face.

“Ello Hagrid!” He starts at my approach, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“What’er you doing here so late? You should be in bed,” Hagrid admonishes as he accepts my hug.

“I lost track of time while preparing my plants for summer, I was just on my way up for bed when I heard you playing. Guess what Uncle Silvanus gave me!” I bounce from foot to foot as Hagrid scrunched up his face in exaggerated thought.

“A Niffler? I know you’ve been askin for one for a while now,” I giggle at his answer, shaking my head.

“It’s better than a Niffler!” I clap my hands, eager for him to give up so I can tell him.

“Hmm, what would you think is better than a Niffler?” Hagrid drag out his thinking to the point I was vibrating with excitement.

“I get to go to Newt Scamander’s farm!” I blurt out, doing a victory dance. Hagrid cheers with me for a bit before he made me promise to tell him everything and sent me to bed. I quietly hum to myself as I avoid places where Miss Noris or Mr. Filch could be. A croak has me pausing and looking around for the source. I sigh with fond exasperation when I find Trevor in the middle of the corridor, hopping toward me.

“You need to stop hopping out on Nev, he’s scared of losing you,” I pick up the toad and tuck him safely in my pocket as I reorient my course with the Gryffindor common room as my destination. A croak from Trevor had me speeding up a bit, he was worried about Neville. Familiars are quite in tune with their wizards, so his concern was a red flag in my mind. I was sprinting the last corridor, gasping the password out to the Fat Lady. The fire was low, dimly lighting the common room. Trevor wiggles out of my pocket and I follow him to where Neville was laying under the body-binding jinx.

“Nev!” I slam to my knees beside the boy, searching for his wand. My knees throb a bit from hitting the stone floor but I ignore it as I turn to Trevor.

“Does he have his wand or is it by his bed?” I question the toad. He hops a few paces toward the stairs and I scoop the amphibian up as I stand. I sneak up the stairs and into his bedroom, making sure to not wake any of the sleeping boys. I snatch the wand off of his nightstand only to freeze when I see that Harry and Ron’s beds were empty. My mind whirled and I forget about Neville for a moment as I race over to the girl’s dorms. Sneaking into Hermione’s room I find her bed empty as well.

“They must have been the ones to jinx Neville, but why?” I talk to the toad in my pocket as I rush back to the boy laying on the ground. I try to cast the counter-jinx but the wand resisted my use. I groan in frustration when I remember that even Neville had trouble using his father's wand, and he was a blood relative.

“Please, I need you to help him,” I whisper to the wand and try the spell again, grinning widely when it worked. He gasped a breath as he pushed himself up.

“They’re going after it,” He looked at me with fear in his eyes, “Whatever the cerberus is guarding, they are going after it. You Know Who was the thing killing the unicorn in the forest, Harry saw him. I heard them mention that they think he is going after the Philosopher’s Stone.” 

“Calm down Nev, You need to breathe!” I place my hands on his shoulders, Trevor hopping out of my pocket to sit in his lap. “I need you to go get Mamaidh and Dumbledore, I’m going to see if they need any help.” I help him to his feet and let him pull me into a crushing hug before we go our separate ways. I sprint to the third floor and curse when I see Fluffy staring at a hole in the ground while growling, a destroyed trapdoor laying all over the room.

“Hey boys,” I coo, getting their attention on me. Two of the heads instantly start panting and give me doggy grins while the right head remains focused on the hole. I carefully approach the giant beast and start scratching the chins of the two heads, causing him to flop on the ground much to the left head's displeasure. I placate him with a scratch behind the ear and jump down the hole while they were mostly distracted. I crash to the ground with a grunt, coughing a bit at the smoke coming up from the burning foliage around me. The rest of the plant was getting as far from the flames as possible.

“Devil Snare, Pomona was in charge of this. There will probably be protection from each of the teachers then,” I muse out loud. I push myself to my feet, flapping my hand a bit after it got too close to the flames. I pause at the entrance to the next room, examining it. High ceilings and what looks like metal birds flying around. Three brooms in the center of the room, possibly for catching one of the birds. 

I slowly step into the room as I keep my eye on the birds to see if they were going to attack. When they stay up at the top of the room, I quicken my pace and try the door, only to find it locked. I examine the lock and then turn to scan the room for a key. A glint of light reflecting off something metallic made me turn back to the birds. I notice one fly further down from the group and gasped. It was a key! I run over to the brooms and notice that they were the older ones I had learned to fly on.

I summon a broom to my hand and was quick to rocket up to fly in the middle of the group of keys. They all looked the same, in perfect condition, and newer models that wouldn’t fit in the door. Then a slight disturbance in the pattern of flight had me notice an older key with mangled wings. I approach the key and gently grab it when it tries to fly away from me.

“You have been through a rough time,” I muse to the key and it stops struggling in my grip. I land the broom and use the key to unlock the door before letting it go with a quick kiss and a muttered thank you. The light in the next chamber had me squinting a bit as I took in the graveyard of giant chess pieces. A muttering voice and had me creeping closer to the chessboard. Hermione was crouched over an unconscious redhead and I was sprinting over to the two of them.

“Mia! What happened? Where’s Harry?” I fall to my knees and feel for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when I find it. 

“Ron sacrificed himself so that Harry and I could go on but then Harry sent me back to go get Ron help.” Hermione dropped her head on my shoulder and I wrap my arms around her tightly.

“Were you or Harry hurt?” I asked, nuzzling her hair. 

“No, the Devil’s Snare cushioned our fall and the keys didn’t attack us like we had first thought.” 

“I found Neville and sent him to go get Mamaidh and Dumbledore, you should go back to the Devil Snare room and wait for them there. The fire you set will keep the plant away from you two,” I gently separate myself from the Gryffindor and kiss the top of her head. Her hand on my wrist stops me and I turn back to see her wide eyes looking at me.

“Where are you going?” 

“I need to help Harry, he shouldn’t have to face the man who killed his parents by himself.” I gently pry her fingers off of my wrist and give her hand a reassuring squeeze before jogging to the other side of the room, ignoring her calls behind me. Snape’s logic game held me up for a few more minutes than I liked and when I entered the final room only to see a being made of smoke fly through Harry. I sprint over to the fallen boy, jumping through the flames that circled the stairs. I tumble a bit on the landing, pushing myself up to get to the boy in a rush. 

“Harry!” I gasp. He was unresponsive to my shaking his shoulder and I frantically feel for his pulse. I crumple to the ground beside him when I feel the fluttering under my fingers. Emotions were wreaking through my body and I could feel my mind shutting down when I notice the shattered form of what had to be a person. I curl up to keep vigil over the boy, resting my chin on my knees as I wait for someone to eventually come get us.

I tense as a figure approaches the flames, not relaxing when the fire is put out to reveal Dumbledore. He doesn’t say anything as he walks over to us, bending down to pick up a stone. He pockets the rock and motions for me to follow him as he levitates Harry up off the ground. I grip Harry’s hand and follow the headmaster back through the chambers, my mind looping the sight of the broken man and the smoke flying through my friend. 

“Good Merlin! What happened to the boy?” Pomfrey’s voice had me looking up from the ground to see Hermione and Ron on hospital beds while Minnie stood there. Dumbledore was directed to set Harry on a bed and I move to stand beside Minnie. She offers her hand and I thought about taking it before getting lost in my mind again. I instantly lock on to Hermione getting off of her bed, taking a small step forward as Pomfrey dismisses the witch.

“Why don’t you go with Miss Granger to Gryffindor Tower? I will be out late tonight and I don’t want you to be alone,” Minnie offered and I give a small nod in acceptance. I take the offered hand from the bookworm and allow her to lead me through the corridors. 

“Are you okay?” Hermione’s soft voice broke the silence surrounding us and I shrug in response. 

“Pansy wants to meet with me before I go up to the tower, do you mind if we use your plant room?” She questioned and I guide her into a shortcut that would get us there faster. I drop her hand as soon as we get to the portrait, letting her go in first. I was glad I did because as soon as we reached the top of the stairs I had to brace Hermione from behind to stop her from toppling down the stairs as she catches Pansy.

“What were you thinking!?” Pansy almost sobs and I slip around the duo to curl into a chair.

“We couldn’t let Voldemort get the stone,” Hermione sighs, causing Pansy to flinch.

“He was here? How is he alive?!” Pansy starts to panic and I watch as the Gryffindor was able to calm her down.

“I don’t know, but Harry was able to stop him,” 

“Are you okay, Darling?” I blink to refocus my gaze and find the other two kneeling in front of my chair. 

“Someone died down there,” I whisper, the image of the black crumbling person flashing across my mind again. Another thing sticks out to me as I furrow my brow. “I think it was Professor Quirrell, his turban was on the ground by the mirror.”

“That can’t be right,” Hermione frowned, “Professor Snape was the one trying to get the stone. “We were so sure that he was trying to get information from Professor Quirrell.” 

“Why didn’t you mention any of this throughout the year? You know we would have helped you,” Pansy tucks her soulmate under her arm, placing kisses on her hair. We sit there for a while longer before Hermione reluctantly separates herself from the Slytherin.

“We should get to bed, I’m exhausted,” She presses her forehead against Pansy’s and they sit there for a few seconds before Hermione pulls the other witch to her feet. Pansy holds her hands out to me and I accept them only to be pulled up and into a loose hug. I relax against her and her hold tightens, applying grounding pressure.

“We need to go,” Hermione whispered, even as she joins the hug from behind me. 

I should tell them, now is the perfect time to tell them I’m their soulmate. I open my mouth to say it but something holds me back. Summer was about to happen and there is very little chance of me seeing them over break with my job and going to the Scamander farm. I’ll tell them next year when we have more time to spend together.

I let Hermione lead me through the common room and up the stairs to her room. She gives me a pair of clothes to change into and then I join her in her bed. Hermione wraps me in her arms and I snuggle into the crook of her neck. 

“You shouldn’t have come,” Hermione whispered after a while of just laying there.

“And let you do something stupid without me? Not a chance,” I hug her closer to me, not wanting to think of losing her this soon after getting her back. “You could have gotten hurt, like Ron or Harry.”

“But I didn’t,” She reassures me with a kiss on my forehead. 

“Why didn’t you tell Dumbledore? Why did you think you had to do it yourselves?” I pull back to look at her face. 

“I - “ Hermione goes to say only to pause with a furrowed brow. “We tried to warn them, but no one listened to us. Professor McGonagall told us not to worry about it and that the stone was safe but then Quirrell got in.” 

“Harry wouldn’t have cared if Dumbledore had Hagrid get the stone without him there,” I sigh, my mind putting the pieces together from throughout the year. The stone, leaving Harry on the platform to fend for himself, the mirror during Christmas, and the detention in the forest. Dumbledore was setting Harry up for this the entire year! I go to tell Hermione my realization but the bookworm had fallen asleep. I sigh and snuggle in for the night, wanting the danger to be over with.