C H A P T E R 29
Cedric Diggory closed his History of Magic book and put it in his bag as he then took out his unfinished Potions essay. All he needed was the conclusion which wouldn't take long. He dipped his quill into the ink cartridge and started to conclude his ideas comparing two antidotes.
He was just about to finish his last sentence when a noise caught his attention. It was the library so even the slightest movement would be heard. Cedric looked up and saw one of his best friends, Luke Hatcher, rush towards him. He looked to be out of breath as his chest was moving in uneasy movements.
The raven haired boy sloppily sat down next to Cedric and faced him.
"What's going on, Luke?" he asked eyeing his best friend's odd behavior.
"Did you hear? It's all over Hogwarts,"
Cedric looked confused. He was never the one to pay attention to the Hogwarts gossip, found it quite pathetic and sad. The silly rumors usually went right through his ears because they were generally ridiculous. Some, not a lot, but some mentioned him and the name of a girl he was supposedly "linked" to. Cedric knew those girls started them themselves to try and make an excuse to talk to him. He saw right through their silly games and made it a point to stay at a safe distance from those types of girls.
His mother's sister, Ronalda, has always told him to test the water with them but Cedric thought it was unfair to approach a girl that way if he didn't have any genuine feelings for her. No girl or guy deserved to be led on and set up for a potential heart break. If he didn't want it to happen to him, why go from girl to girl and do it to them?
"It's not about me, is it?" Cedric questioned, his eyebrow raising.
Luke shook his head. "Not this time. I just heard from Henry who heard from his brother in Slytherin who heard from Montague that there was an attack earlier today,"
Cedric almost dropped his inky quill all over his essay. Catching his almost movement, he slowly put down his essay and put back the quill on the ink stand. "Attack?" he spoke, his voice slightly raising. "What are you talking about?"
He was genuinely confused. An attack would have surely alerted the teachers who would have alerted them. And they would probably be evacuated from the school. He remembers his father telling him about what happened at the end of the Wizarding War and how there weren't any of those threats anymore so the thought of them was eliminated.
Luke saw his shocked expression and realized that he didn't elaborate on the attack and must have gave him the wrong impression. "No Ced, not that kind of attack," he said reassuringly.
Cedric let out a sigh of relief and sat back in his chair, thankful that it wasn't like what he thought and that everyone would be safe. A part of him wondered why he was never put in Gryffindor since he always seemed to be the more courageous one in his group of friends but then he remembered that he would do anything for his friends, even give up his life.
"Then what happened Luke?"
"Well you know how the Gryffindors crushed the Slytherins last year for the Cup?"
Cedric narrowed his eyes for a bit, thinking back to how disappointed he was when he let Higgs get the Snitch right out his grasp to move on to the Finals. "I'm well aware,"
Luke blushed for a moment, realizing he just said that to Cedric. He coughed and then continued. "Well it seems that Marcus Flint still hasn't let it go and attacked someone on their Quidditch team when they went out for practice this morning,"
Cedric raised an eyebrow. Marcus Flint? He didn't seem like he would attack someone like that. Being in the same year, he had the privilege to get to know them and he thought he was rather quiet and unlike the other Slytherins such as David Montague and Aaron Bletchley. Then he thought about who he probably attacked. His first thought went to their captain Oliver Wood. He was the head of the team and maybe he thought taking out their leader would create chaos among the team. Cedric spoke to Oliver a few times and thought he was a cool guy so he started to become sad when he thought he might be in the Hospital Wing.
"Was it Wood?" he asked looking back at Luke who was sneakily looking at Cedric's Potions essay. He gave him an amused look and cleared his throat, grabbing his friend's attention. Luke snapped out of his gaze at the essay and looked at Cedric sheepishly.
Cedric wasn't the one who liked his friends cheating off of him but he always offered to help them out if they were to ask. His friends never asked and would "mischievously" try to copy his work once he fell asleep. What Luke, Henry, Dan, and Nate didn't realize that they were as loud as giants and Cedric had sharp hearing and figured this out at the end of their First Year when they were given exam study guides.
"No it wasn't Oliver. It was Samantha,"
Now Cedric's eyebrows were far beyond his hairline. Not Samantha Potter. He couldn't believe that Marcus Flint would ever attack her. Yeah they seemed like enemies but his observing quality thought that he liked her.
She was the Quidditch star and probably the most popular person in school even though he could easily tell that she didn't like the attention and just wanted to have a normal adolescent experience. He has never spoken to her before but they shared a few classes and he's encountered her while playing Quidditch but secretly he's been wanting to talk to her to see what she's truly like. Everyone knows she doesn't have a knack for rules and likes to have fun paired with an intellect that matched his. They always tied for top marks of their year and maybe they could do some serious damage if they were ever paired up for a project.
She was also a skilled dueler and a smile appeared on his face when he thought what might happen if they ever went against each other. This also brought a sickening feeling inside of him because she has never been attacked and who knows what she might do to Marcus once she faces him again. This could be going on right now for all he knows. Luke hasn't told him the severeness of the attack and now he was starting to get impatient.
"It can't be, tell me exactly what happened," Cedric pressed and now gave him his full and undivided attention.
"All Henry told me that Samantha said a few things to make Marcus mad and then he cursed her. It must have been some dark magic because she's still in the Hospital Wing and rumor has it she might go to St. Mungo's," Luke explained giving him a grim smile. His caring nature never liked when anyone was hurt and didn't like the thought of a nice person like Samantha possibly going there.
This couldn't be true. St. Mungo's? What did Marcus do to her? People didn't go there unless something very serious happened. Cedric remembered a few years back when his mother, Cordelia, was sent there after she got bit by a poisonous plant at work. She was treated immediately and healed a few days later but the aura of that place was not pleasant and just like Luke was irked at the thought of Samantha possibly going there.
"That's horrible," Cedric said, finally speaking after a few minutes of processing what Luke had told him.
"I know. Barry didn't believe it when Montague told him. I was in complete disbelief when Henry relayed the information,"
Cedric just shook his head incredulously. The thought of finishing his Potions essay completely escaped him as well as the thought of what Professor Snape might say or do which usually motivated him to finish his homework.
Luke still had a ton of Herbology and Transfiguration homework to finish so he stayed in the library while Cedric packed up his things and decided to go check the Owlry to see if his grey owl Cypress returned with a letter from his father. He knew it was a bit of a journey from where he lived so Cypress would sometimes stop by the Owlry first to get a few treats. Cedric sent the letter three days ago and the was the usual amount of time it took for his father to give him a respond. Yes his job at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures could get a bit hectic at times but he always found time for his son, who was an only child.
Walking up the stone steps of the Owlry he turned the corner and was met with the hooting owls. In the sea of the usual brown barn owls, he caught the sight of striking grey and smiled when Cedric realized it was indeed Cypress who was next to a beautiful snowy white owl.
Cedric saw a small note tied to his leg and stopped when he reached him. Cypress instantly dropped a piece of food and flew to his left shoulder, nudging affectionately against his head. Cedric smiled at his actions; After almost four years behind together, he would be rather shocked if his owl didn't know it was him.
The Hufflepuff took the parchment from the owl's leg and started to unravel it.
Cedric read the letter multiple times before looking up and processing what it said.
Ok so his family was well and that was all he cared about.
He walked out of the Owlry after bidding Cypress goodbye who actually flew off his shoulder quickly to return to the snowy white owl.
Heading out of the Owlry, he bumped into someone. Cedric dropped his quill and picking it back up he saw that he bumped into Fred and George Weasley.
The two looked very grim and Cedric could only imagine that it must be from their best friend being in the Hospital Wing.
"Sorry," Fred grumbled and moved past Cedric walking down the steps over to the section of brown barn owls.
"Wait," Cedric spoke catching their attention.
Both turned and gave him a blank expression.
"I-I'm sorry about Samantha," he said trying to sound sympathetic but knew he was just sounding awkward. Cedric was always a bit uncomfortable in these kind of situations and he scratched his neck and gave the twins a small smile.
The two of them took a breath and George started to clutch the letter he was holding in his hand.
"Thanks," Fred muttered returning the small smile. He was a bit taken a back since they have never spoken to Cedric before but always thought he was a nice guy.
"How do you know about that?" George asked curiously.
"Uhm well my friend Luke told me," Cedric replied. "Someone from Slytherin told him,"
George bit his lip and nodded slowly. "Of course," he spat. "Of course they're already spreading it around the school, probably boasting about it too,"
Cedric immediately felt sorry for them, especially about the rivalry between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors. The Slytherins didn't really like them but the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws didn't have a problem with any house.
George looked back at Cedric while Fred took the letter and went over towards the medium sized brown owl with bright green eyes. "Thank you though, Cedric. I appreciate it,"
Cedric nodded at him. "Anytime," he responded. "Well see you around,"
He gave a small wave to George and turned around, leaving the Owlry. He hated seeing the usually funny and upbeat twins all sad and feeling like their best friend could be really hurt.
Turning the corner of the fifth floor, he stopped short once he realized where he was and that he was hearing voices.
"So she doesn't need to go to St. Mungo's after all?" Professor McGonagall asked the two more advanced Healers once again.
Healer William nodded. "We've stopped the penetration of the spell and it seems now that it's just the scar that's going to be giving her grief,"
"It wasn't easy but we managed," Healer John added giving a small smile.
It was almost dinner at Hogwarts and they've been Apparating back and forth from St. Mungo's trying to find the cure. Of course the Apparation barriers were lifted by Dumbledore.
"But we were for sure-" she started, weary that Samantha wasn't going to go the hospital after all. From the information she was given, this was some pretty serious dark magic but she was nonetheless thankful that both healers found the cure in just a few hours.
William cut her off. "We were too, Minerva, but we researched and it seems we found the right spell. A few of our other advanced colleagues helped and we found the counter curse,"
"So how long does she have to stay?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
John looked at a nearby manila folder that kept the records of Samantha's health. "I'd say up to a week. She's still not awake and could be feeling some internal pain so there's that to watch out for,"
"The scar should heal painlessly but that as well should have a close eye kept on it," William then spoke glancing at Samantha who was still lying motionless on the bed.
Her skin was no longer sickly pale but it still held a ghostly aura. The breaths escaping her were back to normal and that seemed to put everyone at a bit of ease.
Madam Pomfrey gave them an assuring nod and thanked them for all of their help. Both were two of the top Healers at St. Mungo's and were able to bring Samantha back to normal. Scars were of course hard to heal so there was that only left.
They both explained to her the proper spells and potions to brew to ensure that Samantha's internal health would continue to heal and not be overcome by the spell that is still lingering from the scar.
Cedric was listening intently to the conversation and it took every ounce of him not to cry out in relief. Samantha didn't have to go to St. Mungo's and was healing. He loved this caring nature about him, felt it was one of his more better attributes.
He was currently hearing the two healers explain what the spell was. It caused Samantha to go unconscious while the spell slowly attacks your inner organs.
Their voices got muffled and Cedric couldn't hear if they mentioned the name of what it was. He instantly and quietly turned on his heel and decided to head back to the library. His curiosity was getting the better of him and he needed to know the name of it and find the answers. Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders. The thought of becoming a healer has passed through his mind since he does enjoy Potions and helping people.
He entered the library again and smiled at Madam Pince who grinned. He was one of her favorite students since he was very studious and treated the books with care.
Waking along the charms section his grey eyes scanned the names of the books about curses but there were very few.
Of course.
Why would Hogwarts display dark magical curses for the whole school to find? They were most likely in the Restricted section. Once more his curiosity took over and he strode over to Madam Pince who was checking back in returned books. She noticed a presence and looked up, only to grin happily when she saw Cedric.
"Hello again Mr. Diggory. Did you finish your homework?" she asked kindly, continuing to mark off books.
"Almost," he replied. "I need one last piece for my Potions essay," Cedric tried to sound as forward as possible that he needed help but also trying to maintain his charm that he was deemed to having.
"And what's that?"
"I need the name of a powerful Potion but it's in the Restricted section...," Cedric trailed off giving her a sheepish smile, as though he didn't want to be a burden by asking her permission to go in there.
Madam Pince looked at him at then at the Restricted section which was currently empty. Cedric was one of her favorite students, along with Hermione Granger, since they were both very studious and nice. She took a piece of parchment and started to scribble on it and then she signed her name at the bottom.
"Here's a note signed by me. Check out or just look through the book you need," Pince said kindly.
Cedric thanked her genuinely and headed off to the back of the library and over to where the curses were located. He found a book that described numerous curses and his scanned over it, looking for one that would put someone unconscious.
About three pages in, he had no luck and was starting to close it but then he found the word he was looking for at the bottom of the page.
"This spell causes the victim to go unconscious. Created by Ulysses Windsor, the Conscentium spell is very powerful and very dark. It is unfortunately easy to master and once hit, will cause the victim's internals to start to deteriorate. There is a cure but it's a very rare spell that only the most advanced healers know and can accomplish. The overall amount of time it would take for someone to eventually die untreated from the spell is anywhere from a day up to a week..."
Cedric copied down a few notes on the excerpt and closed, satisfied that he found out the answer to what he was looking for.
• • • • •
So new perspective chapter! What do you all think about bringing in Cedric? And about the unresolved issue of the last chapter? Don't worry, it shall be continued!
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