Ember. It means fire. Ember was never safe. Even before she was born she was coverted. Hunted. She's the last of her kind. Once there were many. Once there were four. Four families. One for each element. Air. Water. Earth. Fire. Every other family e...
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Dinner in the Great Hall that night was not a pleasant experience for Harry nor Ember. The news about their shouting match with Umbridge had travelled exceptionally fast even by Hogwarts' standards.
They heard whispers all around them as they sat eating between Ron and Hermione. The funny thing was that none of the whisperers seemed to mind either of them overhearing what they were saying about them. On the contrary, it was as though they were hoping they, mainly Harry, would get angry and start shouting again, so that they could hear the story first - hand.
"He says they saw Cedric Diggory murdered . . . And she didn't deny it."
"He reckons he duelled with You-Know-Who . . ."
"Come off it . . ."
"Who does he think he's kidding?'
"Pur-lease . . ."
"What I don't get,'' said Harry through clenched teeth, laying down his knife and fork (his hands were shaking too much to hold them steady), ''is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them . . ."
"The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did," said Hermione grimly. "Oh, let's get out of here."
She slammed down her own knife and fork; Ron looked longingly at his half-finished apple pie but followed suit. People stared at them all the way out of the Hall.
''What d'you mean, you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?" Harry asked Hermione when they reached the first - floor landing.
"Look, you don't understand what it was like after it happened,'' said Hermione quietly.
'Try living through it.' Ember snipped in her head but held her tongue.
"You both arrived back in the middle of the lawn clutching Cedric's dead body, Ember charred and looked like she just came out a war zone . . . none of us saw what what happened in the maze . . . we just had Dumbledore's word for it that You - Know - Who had come back and killed Cedric and fought you."
"Which is the truth!" said Harry loudly.
"Take it easy." Ember soothed, glancing at Harry.
"I know it is, Harry, so will you please stop biting my head off?" said Hermione wearily. "It's just that before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you're a nutcase and Dumbledore's going senile! And no one cares about Ember's account as they're all still obsessed with getting her organs instead of listening to what she has to say."
"You don't beat around the bush do you, Hermione?" Ember said.
Rain pounded on the windowpanes as they strode along the empty corridors back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry felt as though his first day had lasted a week, but he still had a mountain of homework to do before bed. A dull pounding pain was developing over his right eye. He glanced out of a rain-washed window at the dark grounds as they turned into the Fat Lady's corridor. There was still no light in Hagrid's cabin.
