✔️ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 → ℎ. 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

31 | F O R E S T

   Harry didn't get out anything useful from Moody, but as predicted, he made an even bigger fuzz out of Ember's little adventure to the owlery that nighy than Ron had done. Ron, on the other hand, now had turned about one hundred and eighty degree and was now utterly on Ember's side.

   "It's no big deal, she just wrote ol' Moony", Ron said, after Harry's monologue about how irresponsible Ember's actions had been, that she could have been injured or murdered.  

   "In the dead of the night?", Harry snapped, furrowing his eyebrows. "She could have sent the letter in the morning! She didn't need to wander the castle at night all alone."

   "Fred was with me, if that will make you feel better", Ember dryly replied, deadpanned looking at Harry.

   "Fred was with you? You didn't say —"

   "Yes, Ronald, Fred was with me", Ember groaned, slamming her flat hand onto the table. "Can we go back to the main topic now? Moody —"

   "Moody doesn't know anything new", Harry said. "And as I couldn't ask him straight for what he had done in the forest, I don't know what he had done in the forest." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I just wish I still had the Marauder's Map!"

   "What if's won't lead to anything", said Ember, her fingers impatiently tapping on the table plate. She let out a groan. "Okay, I hate to say this, but there's nothing we can do. So how about Exploding Snap?"

   An unspectacular April passed by in a rush, stepping aside for the first summerly days of May, and in the blink of an eye, Ember found herself on the way to the Quidditch pitch together with Harry and Cedric, where her boys would finally get the last information for the third and last task.

   Harry didn't speak that much on their way across the grounds, and Ember knew that he was still mad with Cedric because of Cho Chang. Cedric on the other hand was babbling relentlessly without a break, being all excited what was expecting him as — how Ember called it — the end boss.

   "... and then thousand Galleons!", Cedric exclaimed, his voice shaking from excitement. "I wouldn't even know what to do with it!"

   "You know you need to win that thing first, do you?", Ember scoffed, nudging his shoulder.

   "Well, Harry and I have the best chances, so — by Merlin's beard! What have they done?!"

   The Quidditch field had come in sight — but there wasn't much left from Harry's and Cedric's favourite place.  Hedges trice the size of Madame Maxine stretched high into the sky, and Harry next to her let out a strange noise; something between a gasp and a surpressed sob — or it was just the sound of his breaking heart, Ember wasn't quite sure about this.

   "Breathe, boys", Ember said, her voice vibrating with surpressed laughter. "I'll leave you alone now, I'm sure I'm not allowed to accompany you. I see you later. Don't murder whoever has done this, okay?"

   Ember didn't return to the castle. It was a warm pre-summer night and the sun had not vanished behind the Forbidden Forest's treetops. Many students were still hanging out by the lake, laying by the shore or some of them were even crazy enough to not only step a toe into the cold water, but take a full swim. Shivering, Ember passed the scene. Since the second task she had enough of this lake for a lifetime. Her feet instead carried her to the much calmer area of the forest, where the noises from the lake had faded out and the only thing she heard was the chirping of some birds and the rustling of the leaves, as the sun slowly sunk, setting the mountain tops on fire in the evening glow.

   It was kind of sad, Ember thought, that ever she arrived at Hogwarts for her first year, she never got the chance to fully appreciate Hogwarts' measureless beauty. Every year there was something terrible going on behind those thick castle walls — possessed teachers, a giant murderous snake, Dementors and a mass murderer on the run ... And now the tournament. Ember couldn't wait for it to finally end, but already feared what was coming for them — mainly for Harry — the upcoming year. Because under no circumstances they would ever have a peaceful year at Hogwarts and be nothing more than just students.

   Suddenly she stopped. Turning her head directed to the castle, she could see the owlery's silhouette against the darker growing sky, and with a sudden realisation Ember exactly knew this spot she was standing right now. It was the point where she'd watched Moody stepping out of the forest.

   And a strange feeling overwhelmed her; it was like someone had turned of the volume. The birds' chirping had stopped, equal had the rustling of leaves. Ember even felt the muscles in her ear tense, as if she was a cat, fixating her senses onto only this spot. She knew it was a bad idea, but nevertheless her feet moved the girl closer to the trees, trying to see anything in this darkness.

    A twig cracked, and Ember jumped, her heart rate increasing to a uneven hammering against her ribs, feeling it in her throat, hearing it in her ears. A rustling, a cough — Ember quickly stepped back, as another branch broke, and not a second to late, as something big broke out of the forest, and she yelped, staring at the dark creature.

   But it wasn't a creature.

   "M—Mr. Crouch?"

   It was Mr. Crouch, even though he didn't look like Mr. Crouch. His bowler was gone, so his sandy blonde hair was all messed up, looking like he'd just escaped a hurricane. So did his clothes, hanging from his body with several holes, his face covered in small scratches.

   "... and when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of Durmstrang students who will be attending the tournament, Karkaroff has just sent word there will be twelve." 

   "Mr. Crouch?", Ember repeated, cautiously stepping closer. Obviously he was fantasizing. His eyes staring dully at a tree in front of him. "Mr. Crouch, are you alright?"

   She touched his shoulder and a jolt shook his body, his head jerking around, eyes fixing the small girl in front of him. "Dumbledore!", he gasped, "I need Dumbledore!" As Ember was opening her mouth to tell him to come with her up to the castle, his eyes grew large.

   "You!"

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