✔️ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 → ℎ. 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

34 | M A Z E

from the second I was born
it seems I had a loaded gun.

   Ember had been taught that an hour had sixty minutes, and said minute took sixty seconds. This was absolute bullshit. An hour actually took five hours, and seconds or minutes didn't even exist. Because it definitely couldn't be that it was not more than an hour ago that she had told Cedric and Harry good look and watched them vanish into the depths of the maze.

   Ember shifted from her left to her right feet, stretching her neck in an useless attempt to see what was going on between those thick hedges, but of course it was pointless. To her right sat Fred and George, to her left Ron and Hermione, all of them waiting for something, anything to happen, but the time moved on, creeping like a snail, and the sky was getting darker.

   "It's too long", Ember muttered more to herself than anyone else. "They should be back, they —"

   The rest of the sentence got stuck in her lung; red sparks enlightened the deep purple sky, and Ember jumped up, leaning against the ballustrade in front of her to grant herself a better view.

   It was Fleur. The air in Ember's lungs escaped in a hitch, and she leaned back.

   "You don't forget to breathe, do you?", Fred asked in a whisper, his ellbows nudging her ribs. Ember shook her head, to tensed to speak. "You know, I'm pretty sure Harry will make this. Like win this I mean. He's fine, Emmie, you'll see."

   Short after Fleur left the tournament, Krum was out as well. The victory for Hogwarts was saved. Did it really matter if it was Harry or Cedric? She just wanted it to stop. Now.

   But it didn't, and the terrible feeling that something was just not right grew in Ember's guts. She was unable to sit still; her feet twitching, her fingers fumbling on the edges of her sleeves, until her whole body was shook by nervous movements. Every second she was hoping, with every blink she was begging that it was over as soon as her eyes would flutter back open, but it didn't. She could hear Fred next to her talking to George; Hermione whispering to Ron. She could feel them all throwing concerned looks at her from time to time.

   Two rows in front of them were sitting Bill and Mrs Weasley, and absentmindedly Ember watched Ron's mother shifting in her seat. The waiting was murderous.

   "Emmie, you alright?", Ron to her left suddenly asked, his voice sounding to Ember like being spoken into an empty can. She looked at Ron, opening her mouth, but no words came out.

   A flash of green light exploded in her head, startling her. There was a shiver running up her spine, invading her brain, leaving her lightheaded. Faces appeared in front of her eyes, Fred kneeling in front of her, his lips moving, George right behind him, pale faced. There was a movement in the stands; Bill and Mrs Weasley coming closer. The sensation of a touch appeared on her back, boiling hot against her ice cold skin ...

   And all of a sudden her back seemed to be ripped open along her spine, all up her body, her head torn into two; white glowing heath overwhelmed her, the faces in front of her blurred. Ember felt like being thrown into boiling water, like her spin was cracking open under the massive heat of a thousand suns —

   It was over as quick as it had started; she hadn't screamed, her body high on adrenaline, heart close to exploding.

   "Ember!"

   More faces appeared around her in a blur, saying her name, calling it, screaming it, screaming ...

   Ember's lips parted without her knowing, a cry errupted from her throat like no one of all those present had ever heard before, and now even the last person in the stands had noticed that there was something more than wrong. The second Dumbledore arrived, Ember was sliding from her seat, her body cramping, and Fred had difficulty to catch her before she did hit the floor.

   "What's wrong with her?", Susan Bones asked, sounding scared as no one had ever heard it from the toughest Hufflepuff girl. "Do something!"

   "What happened?", Dumbledore asked, his voice demanding, booming through the stands to top the girl's screams.

   "Dunno", Fred pressed through gritted teeth, fighting to hold Ember's spasming body pressed tight to his. "First I thought it was a panic attack, but — but this isn't —"

   "Stupor!", Moody's voice barked and a red flash of light enveloped Ember's body, the screaming stopped with a last gasp and her limbs lolled down her body.

   "What was that for?", George snapped at the teacher, his face an angry mask.

   "I stopped her from hurting herself or anyone of you", Moody growled. "Albus, I'll bring her to the castle, we don't want to scare the students —"

   "What is going on here?" Cornelius Fudge was now hurdling by, nobody, neither judges, nor teachers, nor students seemed to care for the maze any longer. "What's wrong with her?"

   "She will stay here", Dumbledore told Moody, completely ignoring Fudge. "Bring her to the tent. I'll get Harry and Cedric out of the maze. The task is cancelled."

   "Cancelled?", Fudge echoed, voice drenched in disbelief. "You can't cancel a Triwizard task! You can't cancel this tournament! It's a binding magical —"

   "Cornelius, there are things going on we can no longer steer", the headmaster replied in a sharp voice. With the flick of his wand he conjured a stretcher for Ember. "The control slipped through our fingers long ago, I already told you the night Barty vanished."

   "The task is as soon as over, we shouldn't jump the gun just because this girl —"

   But an uncommon sound had caught their attention, cutting Fudge off. Eyes wandered down to the maze in slow motion, and there were gasps and screams gushing from the stands, growing louder, more intense ...

   Dumbledore and Fudge stormed down the stairs, almost flying over the lawn to the point where two bodies had appeared out of nothingness; crimson red burrying sunny yellow underneath it, and somewhere a whisper had started, spreading through the crowd like wildfire.

   "Cedric Diggory is dead."

—