Reborn - A Harry Potter Fanfiction

i.ix chapter nine

Autumn, 1991; First Day of School

Ember awoke early the next morning in her respectable bed. The golden sun crept in through the window, bathing the four girls in a heavenly light. Hermione was up first, and of course hurried the other three along. Lavender was gone to the world so no amount of nagging woke her from her slumber, whilst Pavati shut herself in the bathroom for so long that both Ember and Hermione were forced to leave the other two, in fear of being late for breakfast.

If one thing was for certain, Ember couldn't wait to see Ron and Harry. She desperately wanted to tell them about the phoenix and the dreams of the beautiful bird that filled her mind instead of her usual, nightly terrors. Nightmares of the green door and Mr Hammond's cruel hand often plagued her mind, and since that night when she was rescued, her former guardian's bloodied face after she'd done whatever she did with her magic. But last night was different, instead, she was filled with dreams of the breathtaking scarlet bird.

However, upon reaching the great hall. Though it was filled with an abundance of students, Harry and Ron could not be seen in sight. No matter, Ember instead busied herself in a large cooked breakfast. Fried bread, scrambled eggs, fat sausages, black pudding, beans, mushrooms and of course a large glass of orange juice and mug of steaming tea to wash it all down. Hermione stuck to good old' fashioned butter on toast and a hot cup of coffee. Ember didn't know how the girl drank the stuff. It was too bitter for her liking.

She was actually really starting to like Hermione. She was a good sport and delighted in plenty of interesting conversations. They spoke of books, muggle and wizard; Cyndi Lauper and the movie Dirty Dancing that Ember had declared to be her all time favourite. After a while though, Hermione busied herself in the latest copy of the Daily Prophet, she made a serious point about the need to be caught up in the latest news and promised to let Ember take a peek once she was finished. In the meantime, Ember sat patiently and finished off her ginormous breakfast, waiting eagerly for Harry and Ron.

Yet, as the time went by, they still did not arrive. They must've got lost. Ember decided and made a mental note to let the boys borrow her map. The sun had fully risen at this point and Ember looked sleepily towards the large, window at the end of the great hall. Sun rays poked through and Ember delighted in it as she bathed in the golden light. At the teacher's table, sat Snape. Ember eyed him curiously. He still had made no move to say hello to her, apart from the nod from last night. She didn't expect anything different, if she'd learnt anything at all over the summer it was that Severus Snape was no the most warming of people. She supposed it be good to not have him as a guardian for much longer.

"Ready to go?" Hermione asked as she folded the paper up under her arm. "You're welcome to borrow it later if you like, I lost track of time."

"Thanks and yes" Ember mumbled, jumping to her feet, hardly focusing on whether she will or will not get to read the paper. To be honest, she couldn't care less. As the two girls headed out of the great hall, Ember had the unfortunate pleasure of catching Malfoy in the corner of her eye. He and his newly found minions were all sat around their respective table, pulling faces as the two girls departed. How pleasant...

"Ignore them" Hermione huffed, linking arms with Ember. The girl smiled back, doing her best. Ember found it strange that there could be such foul people in the world, she just didn't understand their mindset whatsoever. Pushing thoughts of Malfoy and his goonies out of her mind, she instead allowed herself to feel excitement for her first lesson at Hogwarts. Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall.

It was everything and more to what Ember imagined it to be. Professor McGonagall, firstly, could transform into a lovely, grey cat and their lesson today involved turning a small animal into an object. Ember found herself in utter awe and constantly scribbled down notes onto parchment for future reference. The only disturbance seemed to be that Harry and Ron had still not shown.