Burning Bright

Chapter 2: The Portkey

They had lost themselves in the clouds before George spoke again.

'Glad I caught you before you left for Scotland!' he said.

'Just barely,' said Professor Fig, smiling.

George chuckled, then turned to regard Meli once again, who was hunched slightly over to prevent her head from hitting the ceiling.

'And who is your travelling companion?' he asked.

Professor Fig looked at her with a smile. 'A new student,' he said.

George's eyebrows raised in considerable surprise. 'New?'

'Yes sir,' Meli said. 'I'm startin' school as a fifth-year.'

'How extraordinary!'

'It is indeed,' said Professor Fig. 'None of the faculty has ever heard of anyone being admitted to Hogwarts so late.'

'Nor have I,' said George, extending his hand. 'Mr George Osric, at your service, Miss...?'

'Asimi,' Meli answered, shaking Mr Osric's hand. 'Melpomeni Asimi. It's nice to meet ye, sir.'

'Of course,' said Professor Fig, 'as the other fifth-years will have been honing their magical skills for four years now, the Headmaster asked if I could get Miss Asimi here up to speed a bit before the term begins.'

'Well, you couldn't have asked for a better mentor!' Mr Osric told Meli. 'Professor Fig is not only an exceptional teacher, he is also a remarkably intuitive and gifted wizard.'

Professor Fig waved away the compliment, smiling. 'Mr Osric is prone to flattery,' he explained. 'I daresay it's one of the reasons he's risen so far at the Ministry.'

Mr Osric's smile faded. He withdrew a copy of the Daily Prophet, showing it to Professor Fig. 'Have you seen this?' he asked.

The newspaper bore the headline 'RANROK'S GOBLIN REBELLION—TRUTH? OR "GOBBLEDEGOOK"?' alongside an illustration of a goblin glaring at the reader.

'I have,' Professor Fig said pensively. 'Opinions differ as to how great a threat Ranrok really is.'

Meli's attention was caught by something outside the window; a dark shadow just beneath the cloud cover. Looking more closely, it was something massive and winged—a dragon. Meli wasn't terribly concerned; dragons liked to keep to themselves and typically hunted on the ground, so unless this particular dragon was starving, there wasn't any risk of it mistaking their carriage for a meal. But then, she thought, if this dragon was starving, it probably wouldn't have the energy to fly anyways.

'...a significant threat,' said Mr Osric as Meli returned her attention to the conversation. 'And...it was your wife, Eleazar, who alerted me to his activities in the first place.'

'Miriam? How?' Professor Fig asked, his expression one of considerable confusion and concern.

Mr Osric sighed. 'She wrote to me about Ranrok before she died,' he said. 'Wondering what the Ministry knew about his activities. Before I could respond, I received this—' Mr Osric withdrew a small metal object; a container of some sort with intricate decoration. '...It was the last thing she sent me, Eleazar. It came to me via her owl...but with no correspondence. I can only assume—'

'—that she had to get rid of it quickly, to keep it safe,' Professor Fig said gravely, taking the container from Mr Osric.

'Presumably from Ranrok,' said Mr Osric. 'I cannot open it; whatever magic protects this is powerful indeed.'

Professor Fig held the container up, examining it carefully. Meli leaned forward to get a closer look.

'...It looks like goblin metal,' said Professor Fig, pointing to the symbol in the middle joining the doors; a symbol resembling a twisting, silver flame. 'That symbol—'