"Have you heard? Ember Potter's the new Gryffindor Seeker. I always knew she'd do well", Ember overheard Nearly Headless Nick say to another ghost as she passed by with Ron, the boy barely having left her alone since the news broke. At least she had a fluffy buffer by the name of Felix to step in before she throttled her housemate.
Getting back to the matter at hand, she was grateful that McGonagall didn't punish her for what she did but she wasn't exactly happy with her new role. It meant even more attention on her which she didn't really want. "I can't believe you're a Seeker", Ron remarked, though it came out as more of a complaint "First years never make their house teams! You must be the youngest Quidditch player in…"
"A century, according to McGonagall", Ember interrupted.
"Well done Ember, Wood just told us", Fred said as he and his brother came up to them.
"Fred and George are on the team too, Beaters", Ron explained.
"Our job is to make sure that you don't get too bloodied up too much. Can't make any promises. Rough game, Quidditch", George said.
"Brutal but no one's died in years. Some will occasionally vanish…" Fred added.
"But they'll turn up in a month or two!" George called after them as the two first years and Felix started to walk across the courtyard.
"Your brothers really know how to sell the whole Quidditch thing, don't they?" the hybrid remarked "personally I'd much rather McGonagall given me detention", she added with a mumble.
Ron stared at her as if she were insane. "Are you mad?" he exclaimed "Quidditch is the best game there is! And you'll be great too". From a bench, Hermione had noticed them. She closed her book, jumping to her feet and hurrying after them.
"I don't think it's a good idea", the ginger said "I'm already the Girl Who Lived. I don't need to be the Youngest Seeker In A Century as well".
"Why not?" Ron asked "you're a natural!"
"I made one lucky catch", she reminded them "and I've never even played Quidditch. Heck! I hadn't even heard of Quidditch until yesterday. And what if I make a fool of myself?"
"You won't make a fool of yourself. It's in your blood", Hermione piped up.
The hybrid frowned "What do you mean?"
"Come on, I'll show you", the curly haired girl answered. She took her and Ron to the Trophy room and pointed out a plaque of Quidditch players. Of course like a faithful companion that he was, Felix followed them.
"Whoa. Ember, you never told me your father was a Seeker, too", Ron breathed, staring at the name 'James Potter'.
"I-I didn't know", Ember admitted. She lightly touched the glass, sadness filling her hearts as she gazed at the plaque. Felix rubbed his little body against her legs, sensing his mistress' distress. Ember scooped him up, gently hugging him and allowing his purrs to sooth her.
"You know, its spooky how she know more about you than you do", Ron remarked to Ember as they made their way up the stairs.
"Not really. I grew up with the Dursley's who pretty much hated me so they weren't exactly forthcoming with the details about my parents", Ember told him, rubbing Felix's ears as she walked "only told me how they died and even that was a big lie".
"Still…its bloody spooky", the ginger haired boy muttered. Suddenly the staircase shudders and begins to move, forcing all three of them to grab of the railings.
"What's happening?" the hybrid asked, shifting her grasp on Felix to stop him from falling out of her grip.
The staircases change, remember?" Hermione reminded her. The staircase stops, leading to a corridor.
"Let's go this way", Ember said.
"Before the staircase moves again", Ron added. The trio started up the staircase and through the door at the top.
"Does anyone feel like...we shouldn't be here?" Ember questioned as they entered into a spooky, dark and deserted corridor. Felix meowed in agreement.
"We're not supposed to be here. This is the 3rd floor. It's forbidden", Hermione states. A flame lights in the support next to them with a whoosh.
"Let's get out of here", the hybrid said. They turned to go when Mrs Norris appeared.
"It's Filch's cat!" Hermione cried. Felix leapt out of Ember's arms and hissing at Mrs Norris.
"Let's go", Ron said as the little kitten managed to chase the bigger feline off.
"Not without Felix", Ember said firmly.
"He just chased off Mrs Norris! He can take care of himself", Ron grabbed the sleeve of her robe, trying to pull away. She tugged her sleeve out of his grip and reluctantly followed him and Hermione but not before she cast a glance to where Felix and Mrs Norris used to be. She really hoped that her new furry friend was going to be ok.
Flames are lit up on the stone supports, one by one, as they run past them. "Lets hide through that door", Ember suggested as they drew closer to the end of the corridor. She grabbed the handle and tried to opened it. "Damn it! It's locked!"
"That's it, we're done for!" Ron exclaimed, panicking.
"Oh for goodness sake!" Hermione griped, pushing past him, pulling out her wand "Alohomora" the door's lock lifts up magically and it opens "Get in". She, Ron and Ember entered the room, shoving the door shut behind them.
"Alohomora?" Ron questioned.
"Standard book of spells, Chapter 7", Hermione explained "I read ahead".
"Good thinking", the hybrid praised, glad that her friend had gotten enthused enough to do that. Definitely helped them out in this instance. She suddenly stiffened when she heard something behind them. "Uh guys…", she said, slowly turning around, eyes widening "there's a giant three headed dog behind you". That had Ron and Hermione look around, their eyes going big at the sight of the massive canine. They all screamed as the creature growled at them. Out of instinct, Ember grabbed Hermione's hand and bolted through the door.
"How did you do that?!" the brunette exclaimed, openly gaping at her.
"I…I don't know", the hybrid. She'd never done that before.
"Well, I hope you can do it again cos we've left Ron behind", Hermione remarked.
"I don't suppose we could leave him…" Ember started but was cut off when the curly haired witch gave her a look "worth a try", she mumbled, stepping up to the door. Personally she wouldn't shed a tear for the annoying boy but she supposed that his family will miss him if he were to be eaten by the large canine. "Ok, Em. Let's see if you can do it again", she murmured to herself. The 11 year old took a deep breath and darted through the door, grabbed the terrified boy and yanked him back out.
"That. Was. Awesome!" Ron breathed, his freak out turning into excitement.
"What do they think they're doing keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron asked breathless as they made their way up to the dorms.
"You don't use your eyes do you? Didn't you see what was standing on?" Hermione countered.
"I was more preoccupied by their heads which if you didn't notice…there were 3!" Ron replied "not to mention Ember's little trick she pulled, moving through that door like a ghost!"
"Keep your voice down!" the ginger hissed "I don't exactly want the whole of Gryffindor to know". It was bad enough that everyone knew that she survived Voldemort and became their new Seeker, she didn't want what she'd done to get out.
"That dog was standing on a trapdoor", Hermione said, bringing the conversation back around to the 3 headed dog "so it wasn't there by accident, it's guarding something".
"What do you think its guarding?" Ember enquired, slightly curious about what secrets could be laying beneath the huge animal's feet. Perhaps it was the mystery package from vault 713? After all, why would someone want to break into that particular vault if the thing Hagrid removed wasn't valuable?
"Don't know and I really don't care", the curly haired girl replied, breaking through her thoughts "now I'm going to head to bed before anything else crazy happens" and with that she headed into to the girl's dorms.
"So how did you do that…?" Ron waved his hand at the door.
Ember shrugged "I don't know", she confessed "I've never done anything like that before".
"Well, whatever it is, it's so cool", the boy told her.
"Thanks…I guess", the hybrid said. She wasn't sure whether this new 'power' of herself was as cool as Ron claimed. It had definitely come in handy in saving their lives. "Hey boy!" she said happily as Felix bounded up the stairs and into her arms "good job with Mrs Norris" she looked at Ron "now if you'll excuse me, I need to head to bed too". She turned to the wooden door, hesitating. Just because she managed to do it once, didn't mean she was able to do it again. "Oh, what the hell", she muttered and closed her eyes before she stepped through the door. Ember opened her eyes and let out a relieved breath when she saw that she was inside the girl's dorm. She was really glad that worked otherwise she'd be rather embarrassed at walking into the door.
"I don't know how you do that but I'm going to find out", Hermione stated, having watched her enter the room via the non-traditional way.
"Let me know what you learn", Ember said, going over to her bed and depositing Felix onto the duvet "because I'm interested to know that myself".
"Then we can figure it out together", the curly haired girl declared.
"Sounds good", the ginger agreed.