Elijah Emberly|2nd Year|Durmstrang

Elijah Emberly, most commonly known as LJ, the typical rebellious boy. However, under his fun and attractive façade lies a broken and shattered world.

Elijah grew up unwanted. His earliest memories were not of laughter or a comfort of a normal family, but empty rooms and suffocating silences of his “parents” who treated attention like a sort of currency that Elijah could never afford.

His father? Cold and distant to sum it all up, he is part of the famous “Cadell Family”, brother of Gabriel and Maël Cadell. Taking from his family, his words were sharp and he was annoyingly short-tempered. It was as if Elijah was an inconvenience, which to his father’s eyes, he was. He treated Elijah like a servant, and that’s the closest their relationship ever got to be.

His mother? Quiter, but not kinder. She moved through the small apartment like a ghost: soulless. Her only expressions were sighs of disappointment directed at Elijah. She never touched him, reassured him, comforted him, hugged him even. He remembers scraping his knee badly enough to see the blood through his trousers, he stood in the doorway, waiting and hoping for her to offer her help. She didn’t. She told him not to stain the carpet.

Altogether, love and comfort and warmth did not exist in this household. He didn’t believe it ever would be. In all honesty, Elijah was the product of a forced life. Raphaël Cadell married Madeleine Emberly simply because she was of a blood as pure as him, only trying to impress his father after years of constant “disappointment”.

Raphaël was only trying to please his father, but in vain as nothing was enough for Charles Cadell, who fully rejected him the second he moved out of the Family Manor, burning his name in the family tree to leave no trace of his shameful existence, as if he was making it “official” that he did not deserve a place with the Cadell.

Soon enough, word came out rapidly and Raphaël lost all reputation in the world of work. No one trusted him enough to hire him, now known as a traitor to his family forcing him to move into another country, far away from Paris, far away from France, far away from his family, where no one would ever find out about his background. However, he fell into gambling and drinking games fast, bringing his wife down a deep hole with him, leaving Elijah isolated at a very young age.

As Elijah grew, the isolation heightened with him. One day, Elijah woke up to an empty apartment, just the faint smell of alcohol lingered in the air. Elijah was used to it however, his parents must’ve slept at a friend’s house after gambling all night.

He was used to it, even at a young age of 6 he was used to it. He sighed as he walked over the obstacles over the narrow corridor filled with dust, broken glass, empty bottles and multiple stained clothes.

Going out, he can finally breath, yet the whole city is filled with a dark smoke-it felt healthier than at home anyway.

He walked the familiar streets of Moscow, thinking how his life would’ve been if his father stayed in France, how he would only have to speak French and not to have learnt Russian, how he would be closer to his cousin Tes, who was the only one still in contact with him from his family, how he wouldn’t need to be in survival mode all the time, how he would’ve had a.. family.

He brushed these thoughts away, it was pointless now. He carried on walking the dangerous streets he was a part of.

Elijah spotted a man in a small shop, pocket open, wallet visible. No need to say more, Elijah moved carefully, no one suspected a 6 years old. He had quick hands, light steps, the benefit of seeming innocent, it was perfect and well, he was bored.

But Elijah misjudged the man, he noticed and grabbed the child’s wrist before he could run.

Elijah struggled, trying to escape and pull away. Before anything could happen, an unfamiliar voice yelled,

“That’s my boy, forgive him, he’s young.” The unfamiliar voice shouted to the man from a distance.

The grip loosed out of annoyance. The man walked away, muttering something under his breath before walking off, closing his pocket.

Elijah turned around to see the stranger behind the voice. An older man stood near, leaning in a street light. He was already watching Elijah amused as he lit a cigarette, seeming unimpressed. His teeth were yellowed, he was barely shaved, dark circles drawn under his eyes, his grey and greasy hair fell to cover his ears

“You’re bad at this kid” he said as if the situation was normal.

“Stick with us, you’ll last longer” he chuckled, walking away, the scent of smoke and dirty clothes leaving a distinct trail behind him.

Elijah, confused, stood in the middle of the streets, not knowing if he was supposed to follow him.

Elijah didn’t realise he was holding his breath as he immediately exhaled deeply when the stranger turned around, signalling the young boy to follow him. He put an arm around Elijah and lead him.

And just like that, without anything official, Elijah found the beginning of something he never truly had before: a friend.

It was there, among the dealers, drinkers, homeless, criminals that Elijah felt comfort. They were rough, loud, but their sense of community was unconditional: they shared whatever they had. Elijah realised he doesn’t have it as bad, I mean, he had a roof over his head. These people didn’t.

When someone stole something and showed the rest of the group, it was usually food, money and clothes or anything else useful. But sometimes, mixed into piles were what they call “boring things”: books, trinkets, pens, empty paper pages wasted from offices’ bins.

These stuff, especially old books, usually ended with Elijah whenever he came to visit them. At first, he just checked them out for curiosity but it became a hobby, his “secret”: reading.

Over time, Elijah became known as LJ, he considered these people part of his family, he would go out until extremely late, sometimes even sleep out without his parents worrying.

There was 4 years of this, until he was 10. Where one day, he received an acceptance letter from Durmstrang…

At first, Elilah’s looks is very similar to an ordinary teenage boy with an effortlessly attractive face and an amused expression, yet there is something that suggests he has seen far more than someone his age should have seen.

His face is defined by bold features, with a sharp jawline that gives him a confident nature despite his quite youthful attitude. His complexion is slightly tanned- almost.. dull, from the countless hours spent walking the streets rather than sleeping.

Faint freckles are scattered on his face unevenly and occasional scratches and scars and bruises from his lifestyle only add to the charm he somehow carries so naturally. LJ's dark brown hair is extremely messy, usually falling over his forehead. It was as if he was allergic to using a comb. His hair rarely stays in place for long, especially after spending hours running around with Jack and the crew in the streets.

But maybe his most noticeable feature is his eyes. They are dark and constantly filled with mischief. It is often difficult to tell whether LJ is about to crack a joke, or start a fight with someone.

His overall physique is lean rather than muscular, it is shaped more by his walking, climbing fences and surviving the streets of Moscow than any other forms of exercise. He moves with surprising agility on his feet- and incredibly quietly.

In terms of cloths and style, LJ takes little to no care in looking presentable or nice. He usually wears oversized hoodies, worn jackets, loose trousers and used trainers that have clearly seen better days.

The colours tend to be dark, easy to blend into the streets, with pockets almost always containing random objects from stolen pens to paper or a book he quietly took from someone's bin. Despite his rough appearance, there remains an undeniable charisma about him.

Elijah Emberly, better known as LJ, is the kind of boy to have trouble following him.

Loud, rebellious and endlessly confident, he has a natural talent for turning even the most ordinary situation into an opportunity for mischief He is quick with a joke, quicker with an insult, and rarely thinks twice before doing something he knows he probably shouldn't.- which probably includes a small punch.

Rules mean very little to him, especially when he sees no reason to respect the people who created them.

His rebellious nature is both genuine and a façade. LJ has learnt from a young age that being vulnerable gets you nowhere, so he hides almost everything behind humour, sarcasm and an almost irritating level of confidence. He would much rather laugh at a situation than admit that it scares him, and would rather start an argument than confess that someone's words hurt him. He can be stubborn, short-tempered and impulsive, often acting before considering the consequences, particularly when someone challenges his pride and abnormally high ego.

Despite this, LJ is loyal to the people he considers his own. Having grown up without much affection from his parents, he values friendship and community instead. Once someone earns his trust, he will defend them without hesitation, even if doing so gets him into trouble. He has a particular soft spot for people who are struggling.

LJ is also far more intelligent and curious than his behaviour suggests. His love for reading became one of the few things he kept entirely to himself, and he secretly enjoys learning despite pretending that he finds most things boring.

His biggest flaw is perhaps that he does not know when to stop. LJ enjoys the thrill of doing things he isn't supposed to, whether that means sneaking out, smoking, getting involved in petty crimes. To him, consequences are usually a problem for future LJ.

Ultimately, Elijah is a boy who desperately wants to belong while simultaneously making it difficult for anyone to get close to him. Beneath the rebellious façade, there is a lonely child who found the closest thing he had to a family among people society had already denied. His personality act as an armour to face life.

When Elijah was still in the climax of his much unique lifestyle, spending time with Jack and his crew that pretty much adopted the boy as one of their own, he had a habit of taking part in some minor criminal offenses notably smoking and throwing bottles around in the middle of the night.

However, instead of hearing glass shattering, the band heard a faint siren, which got louder, and louder until some bicolour lights reflected on the broken concrete, letting appear a large shadow.

That sound Jack and his crew knew very well; it was the police. Quickly, they hid what they could, trying to appear like a ‘normal’ homeless group. LJ never had to face the police at his young age- fear consumed him entirely. Was he going to end up in jail? But he was only 8! He gripped Jack’s leg in trial to hide himself and in all honesty, it was more in search of some comfort in this chaotic moment. But Jack had places to be, things to hide, stuff to arrange, lies to make.

LJ was alone, his head spinning trying to make sense of the situation, but a sudden rage came rushing over him. A new feeling, he could not explain it, but it was very much present

Suddenly, this new feeling to LJ took over his body, making any fear left in him disappear, making him strong enough to shout ‘STOP’ where his voice was heard around the whole base.

For s moment, everything went quiete, the police opened the car door and gripped their belts as they walked towards them.

Jack took a step forward, ‘Hello officers’ he stated.

But the police officers didn’t even look at their direction, as if they didn’t hear Jack.

One of them stopped walking, ‘you heard something too, right?” he said to the other officer, who looked equally confused, “Yeah, maybe they had time to go” he finished.

Jack looked at the rest of the crew confused, ‘Umm, well we can explain’ Jack stated but it was like his voice had no impact at all; in fact, it was as if his words didn’t even leave his mouth as the officers seemed to not have heard him

“Let’s go” an officer said before walking back in the car.

The other followed, still looking around the area with suspicion. Jack watched them leave, completely confused. He turned towards his crew.

“What just happened?”

Nobody answered.

LJ was just as confused, his anger slowly fading away as he looked at his hands. He felt something strange, almost like a sudden rush of energy, but he couldn't explain it.

None of them noticed that, for a brief instant, the entire group had become completely invisible from the officers' perspective.

It lasted barely a second, but it had been enough.

The police had seen an empty base, heard a voice with nobody around, and assumed the group had already fled.

Then, Elijah came to realise the magic that had just happened, which did elevate his confusement.