O, CURSED CHILD. ﹙ harry potter ﹚

XLV ; how it all ever ends

            "the end," said dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."

            he paused, and his eyes fell upon the hufflepuff table. theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the hall.

            "there is much that i would like to say to you all tonight," said dumbledore, "but i must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. i would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to cedric diggory."

            they did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "cedric diggory."

            "cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish hufflepuff house," dumbledore continued. "he was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. his death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. i think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."

            elara slipped her hand into harry's and clutched it tightly as she knew she was going to hear the words she refused to speak.

            "cedric diggory was murdered by lord voldemort."

             a panicked whisper swept the great hall. people were staring at dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. he looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.

            "the ministry of magic," dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. it is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that i have done so — either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think i should not tell you so, young as you are. it is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."

            stunned and frightened, every face in the hall was turned toward dumbledore now.

            "there is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with cedric's death," dumbledore went on. "i am talking, of course, about harry potter."

            elara stifled a huge sigh of relief. her secret was safe. a kind of ripple crossed the great hall as a few heads turned in harry's direction before flicking back to face dumbledore.

            "harry potter managed to escape lord voldemort," said dumbledore. "he risked his own life to return cedric's body to hogwarts. he showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing lord voldemort, and for this, i honor him."

            dumbledore turned gravely to harry and raised his goblet once more. nearly everyone in the great hall followed suit. they murmured his name, as they had murmured cedric's, and drank to him. harry squeezed elara's hand.

            when everyone had once again resumed their seats, dumbledore continued, "the triwizard tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. in the light of what has happened — of lord voldemort's return — such ties are more important than ever before."

            dumbledore looked from madame maxime and hagrid, to fleur delacour and her fellow beauxbatons students, to viktor krum and the durmstrangs at the slytherin table.

            "every guest in this hall," said dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. i say to you all, once again — in the light of lord voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. lord voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. we can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.