"I'm not hungry", Ember mumbled when Felix meowed at her as she poked at her scrambled eggs with her fork. The kitten meowed again. "Yes, I know it's not good to skip breakfast but I'm really not hungry", she insisted.
"You can understand him?" Hermione asked, somewhat fascinated.
"Yeah, I can", the hybrid replied, pushing her plate away.
"That's amazing", the curly haired girl remarked.
"I wish I could understand Einstein", Peter commented, around a piece of fruit. He'd decided to have breakfast at the Gryffindor table to show support for Ember as it was her first Quidditch match. "Then I'll finally get to know what he's saying when he is being a grump".
"Well, next time he's around I can translate for you", Ember offered.
"That would be great", the brunet said "And if Felix is insisting you eat something, then you really should. You're gonna need your strength".
The ginger opened her mouth to argue when Professor Snape appeared. "Good luck today, Miss Potter", he said, surprising her with how genuine he sounded "your mother she…she would be proud of you" and with that, the potions master limped away.
"Huh…I've never seen Snape be nice to anyone", Peter remarked "tolerant, yes. But nice…never".
"Don't look at me, I haven't a clue why he is being nice", Ember said, holding her hands up in defence. Before anyone could say anything else, Hedwig enters the Great Hall, announcing her arrival with a screech. She is carrying a very large, long parcel in her claws which she drops onto the table in front of Ember, subsequently startling Felix in the process. The kitten jumped onto the ginger's lap. "Bit early for mail, isn't it?" Hermione commented.
"But I-I never get mail", Ember stated.
"Open it!" Ron called from further the down the table. Despite not wanting to take suggestions from Weaslebee…the trio's curiosity got the best of them and the hybrid ripped open the package to reveal a broom.
"Oh…that's a Nimbus 2000", Peter breathed, eyeing it with awe.
"Some kids at Diagon Alley said this was the fastest model so far", Ember recalled "but who…" she trailed off when she noticed her owl at the head table where Professor McGonagall was sitting. The head of Gryffindor smiles, stroking Hedwigs's feathers gently.
A little later saw Ember with the other members of the Quidditch team. Her hand twisted on the broom as the nerves set in. "Scared, Ember?" Oliver asked.
"I'd say but no I would be lying", Ember admitted.
"That's all right. I felt the same way before my first game", the teenager confessed.
"What happened?" Ember questioned.
"Er, I don't really remember. I took a bludger to the head 2 minutes in. Woke up in the hospital a week later", Oliver explained. Ember turned her gaze to the double doors, his words not doing anything to settle her. She heard a meowing and turned around to see Felix winding his way through her teammate's legs.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, kneeling down and scratting the kitten behind his ears. Felix meowed again and she chuckled. "Thanks for the pep talk, now go find Hermione". She watched him wander off before standing up and turning to face the doors. The moment it opened, she and the team mounted their brooms and zoom out onto the enormous pitch. The stands were filled with students, cheering. Ember spotted Hagrid sitting with her friends. Even Peter was present too! The hybrid smiled, elated to see them all together.
Lee Jordan, the Quidditch commentator is announcing from a tower. "Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season! Today's game Slytherin versus Gryffindor!"
The players take their positions in the air in a circle. All except Ember who opted to take a position higher in the sky. A few moments later the game kicked off. From her vantage point, Ember could see why people were pretty excited about it. It was awesome!
Suddenly, the ginger sees the Snitch. She starts to head off after it and when her broom starts bucking and turning. She screamed as she's thrown off of it, barely managing grab hold of the broom with one hand. The hybrid tried to take hold of it with her other hand but the broom was still bucking about too much. "Come on!" she gritted out, swinging her free hand up and this time being successful in closing her fingers around the wood.
There she dangled, high above the pitch, the broom still moving around on the spot rather erratically. Then just like that, the broom calmed down, allowing her to climb back on. Ember takes off after the Slytherin Seeker who was hot on the trail for the snitch. She had a slight scuffle with the older boy until the snitch dropped into a dive. 11 year old and the Slytherin Seeker dove after it.
The ginger wasn't too fussed about how quickly they were approaching the ground but her opponent back out. Ember yanked her broom upward mere inches from ploughing into the pitch herself. Slowly she stood up on her broom and inching forward with her hand out stretched. The ginger yelped as she took a step too far and toppled off of her broom.
Ember got to her feet, hand over her stomach. The girl lurched and coughed up the snitch. She blinked at the small ball in her hands. Well, she hadn't been expecting that for her first Quidditch game. It was lucky that she didn't swallow it.
"She's got the Snitch! Ember Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch!" Lee shouted.
"Gryffindor win!" Madame Hooch declared. Ember held the snitch up to the cheers of the students.
After the game the three of them walk with Hagrid to his cabin. Ron wisely decided not to tag along this time. "Why would Snape put a curse on Ember's broom?" the half giant asked after Hermione filled him in about what happened at the game.
"That doesn't seem like something he would do", Peter remarked "I mean...he was nice to her earlier".
"Plus he's been pleasant in class too", Ember added. Even though something about Snape still put her on edge, she couldn't quite see the teacher trying to KILL her! "Although there is the matter of his injury at Halloween", she murmured mostly to herself "He might've been trying to get past that three headed dog…"
"Who told you about Fluffy?" Hagrid questioned, shooting her a surprised look. Ember and Hermione exchanged glances.
"Fluffy?" the girls chorused.
"That thing has name?" Hermione gaped.
"Wait…three headed dog?" Peter repeated "am I missing something?"
"Fluffy is hiding out on the third floor which Ron, Hermione and I accidently discovered", Ember hastily told him "But that doesn't explain how or even WHY you know its name", she added, turning to Hagrid.
"That's easy, he's mine. Brought him in to guard the…" the Games-keeper broke off knowing he'd said too much. "Shouldn'ta said that. Don't ask any more questions. That's top secret that is", Hagrid added wanting them to drop the subject. But of course that made the trio even more curious.
"But, Hagrid, if Professor Snape did get hurt trying to get past Fluffy then maybe he was attempting to steal whatever that large canine is guarding", the ginger pointed out.
Hagrid scoffed "Codswallop. Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher".
"Hogwarts teacher or not, I know a spell when I see one. I've read all about them. You've got to keep eye contact and Snape wasn't blinking", Hermione argued.
"Hermione, he may have been trying to stop the jinx on my broom rather actually casting one", Ember countered "I'm guessing you'd still have to maintain focus for both, right?"
The curly haired witch reluctantly nods "yeah, it does".
"Which just leaves him trying to steal the thing that's hidden away, beneath Fluffy", the ginger finished.
"Listen to me, you need to forget about what that dog is guarding", Hagrid said firmly "that's gonna stay between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel".
Ember blinked "Nicholas Flamel?" she queried, the name sounding familiar to her.
"I shouldn't said that. I should not have said that", the half giant mumbled and walked off "I should have not said that".
"Nicholas Flamel", the hybrid repeated "why do I know that name?"
"Maybe you read it somewhere?" Peter suggested.
"Yeah, I must've", Ember muttered "Nicholas Flamel", she murmured.