Ember Black?
Orion Black had always been a man of pureblood pride, but he was also a man of vices. One evening, away from the ever-watchful eyes of his wife Walburga and the rigid expectations of his noble lineage, he found himself in a dingy Muggle bar on the outskirts of London. The whiskey was cheap, and the company even cheaper—until he met Fenora Reyes.
She was a young Mexican woman, new to England, making her way with sharp wit and a warm, unapologetic laugh. Orion had always found Muggles beneath him, but that night, he let himself fall into the fantasy that none of it mattered. The drinks flowed, the laughter grew, and before long, he was leading her upstairs. By morning, he was gone, slipping back into his world as if she had never existed.
Nine months later, Ember Reyes was born, the daughter of a man who would never acknowledge her, raised by a mother who had no idea her child was special in more ways than one.
Fenora did her best. She worked long hours, ensuring her daughter never went without, even as strange occurrences began to mark Ember as something different. Lights flickered when she was angry. Plates would slide across the table when she gestured too hard. The neighborhood kids whispered about the Reyes girl, saying she was haunted, cursed, or blessed by spirits. But Fenora, ever practical, brushed it off as mere coincidences. She had no idea that the magic running through her daughter’s veins was a birthright stolen from a world she had never known.
Then, on Ember’s eleventh birthday, an owl arrived at their small home in a quiet London town, carrying a letter that would change everything.
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Fenora sat at the small kitchen table, the yellowed light of the overhead lamp casting long shadows on the walls. The letter trembled in her hands as she read the words again, her dark eyes scanning the parchment with growing disbelief.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
She exhaled sharply, glancing up from the letter to where Ember sat on the floor, absentmindedly flipping through an old book. Her daughter—her brilliant, fiery daughter—looked so ordinary in that moment, but Fenora knew better now. The little oddities, the impossible coincidences, the way the earth itself seemed to respond to Ember’s moods—it all made sense.
Her fingers tightened around the parchment as a realization settled heavily in her chest. Her daughter was not just different. She was something else entirely.
"Ember," she called softly.
Ember looked up, her dark eyes filled with curiosity. "Yeah, Mami?"
Fenora studied her for a long moment, as if seeing her for the first time. Then, with a slow, careful breath, she placed the letter on the table and gestured for her daughter to come closer.
"We need to talk."
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Ember stood on the platform, pressing her hand against the glass of the train window, waving furiously at her mother. Fenora beamed back, shouting last-minute advice in rapid Spanish, her dark eyes shining with pride and barely hidden fear.
"Escribe pronto! No olvides ponerte una bufanda si hace frío!" she called.
"Sí, Mamá!" Ember grinned, though her heart ached. She had never been away from her mother for more than a day, let alone an entire school year.
As the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the station, Ember turned, exhaling sharply. She adjusted the second-hand robes they had managed to purchase, a mix of excitement and nerves bubbling inside her. She wandered through the corridors until she spotted a compartment where two other first-years sat—a red-haired girl and a boy with lank black hair.
"Mind if I sit here?" she asked, her accent a blend of London and Spanish.
The red-haired girl smiled. "Of course! I’m Lily. This is Severus."
"Ember," she introduced herself, plopping down across from them. "Ember Reyes."
The ride to Hogwarts passed in a blur of conversation and laughter. She quickly learned that Lily and Severus were already close friends, but they welcomed her easily. She listened as they spoke about magic with wide-eyed fascination, realizing that for the first time, she was surrounded by people like her.
When the train arrived, the first-years were led to the boats that would take them across the Black Lake. The towering silhouette of the castle loomed in the distance, and Ember felt a thrill run down her spine. This was her new home.
Inside the Great Hall, she marveled at the floating candles, the enchanted ceiling, the sheer grandeur of it all. One by one, students were called forward to be sorted. Her heart pounded as "Black, Sirius" was called, and the hall fell silent.
The hat barely touched his head before it shouted, "Gryffindor!"
Gasps and whispers spread through the room as Sirius swaggered off to his new house, grinning proudly as he took his seat. Ember frowned. The reaction to his sorting was...odd. But before she could dwell on it, her own name was called.
"Reyes, Ember."
She stepped forward, her hands clenched into fists to keep them from shaking. The hall was expectant, but when she sat, the Sorting Hat let out a small chuckle in her mind.
"Ahh, another Black...though you don’t bear the name. No, no, you are something...different, aren’t you? A survivor. A fighter. You carry a great burden, child, but also great potential. Where to put you, I wonder?"
Ember swallowed hard. "Not Gryffindor," she thought firmly. "I’m not like him."
The hat chuckled again. "No, not Gryffindor. But cunning, determination, a thirst to prove yourself—yes, Slytherin suits you well."
She squeezed her eyes shut as the hat gave its final decree.
"SLYTHERIN!"
The Slytherin table erupted in cheers, while the Gryffindors scowled. Ember lifted her head high, walking to her new house with determination. If they thought she wasn’t worthy of the Black name, she’d just have to prove them wrong.