"Cedric!" George exclaimed, giving the Hufflepuff boy a cheery grin as he followed Newt into the Great Hall for dinner. "So glad you could join us, mate!"
"Thanks," Cedric said, furrowing his eyebrows together suspiciously at the large smiles worn by Fred and George as they watched him take the open seat to the left of Newt, as the other boy had seemingly opted to sit next to his sister, which gave no indication that anything was different that evening.
Clary dared a glance down at Cedric's pumpkin juice as the boy sat down, making sure all of the initial fizz of the Belch Powder mixing with the beverage had vanished, and he wouldn't notice that there was anything wrong with it. To her delight, the drink had gone back to normal, without the faintest hint of being tainted.
"I've got some news," Newt said solemnly, looking around at the group.
"Dumbledore bought a new hat." Fred guessed, looking up at where the headmaster was sitting up at the faculty table chatting animatedly with Professor Flitwick, seeing that the headmaster was, in fact, wearing a bright purple hat the group hadn't recalled seeing before.
"That color really suits him," George added. "Really brings out the gray in his hair and beard."
"I've just been to see Hagrid." Newt began. "He just got back from London for Buckbeak's hearing at the Ministry, and I went down to check in and see how everything went. Apparently, Lucius Malfoy used his power to sway the Wizengamot to sentence Buckbeak to death. The execution's scheduled at the end of this term."
Vasantha gasped as a sudden silence fell over the group. "That's horrible!" she exclaimed. "It was just a scratch! And Malfoy's the one who provoked him in the first place! It's just not right that an innocent creature like Buckbeak has to lose his life because Malfoy's a prick."
"Poor Hagrid," Cedric agreed, lifting the goblet full of pumpkin juice to his lips and taking a drink. "There's nothing that can be done?"
"Nothing," Newt confirmed. "It's already scheduled and decided."
The Weasley triplets watched with baited breath as Cedric set the goblet down, still seeming perfectly normal, which Clary regarded as strange. Maybe it hadn't worked right? The only other times they'd tried out Belch Powder were on Ron and one time they'd nearly been murdered by Percy, but both of them seemed to react to it straight away.
Clary's ears picked up when the first belch hit.
It was quiet, nearly impossible to hear unless you were searching for some sort of sound. Cedric's eyes widened slightly, though he tried his hardest to play it off, as the Diggory men were particularly known for their manners. When the second one hit, much louder, it caused the rest of the group to burst into laughter while the boy's ears reddened.
"Whoa there, Diggory!" Fred exclaimed.
"I'm so sorry, I don't know what-" Cedric began to frantically apologize, but was cut off again by another, much louder belch.
By then, students sitting in close vicinity to the group had begun to take notice of Cedric's bright red face, and the belches that emitted every few seconds. Many watched in awe and confusion, while chuckles emitted from a few others. It wasn't every day someone saw Cedric Diggory, the golden boy, displaying bad table manners.
"His compliments to the chef!" George roared with laughter.
"I haven't even eaten anything, just-" Cedric stopped, his eyes falling on the goblet of pumpkin juice, then back up in the direction of the triplets and Vasantha sitting on the other side of the table, all wearing innocent smiles. "Y-" he belched, "-ou four."
"Oh no, it wasn't just us," Clary said, her sickeningly sweet grin never once fading.
"Don't worry, mate." Newt assured him. "It'll wear off in a few minutes. Doesn't last long."
"You were in on this too?" Cedric accused his best friend, jaw dropping in awe. "Five years and you've never once been in on one of their pranks!"
"Took us a hell of a time to convince him to do it, too." Clary reassured him. "But his hands were perfectly clean. All he needed to do was get you to sit in the correct seat where the Belch Powder was waiting for you."
Cedric shook his hand as the belching began to subside, growing quieter and much less often. Eventually, the burps faded into more of a hiccup, which quickly turned into Cedric's laughter. "You got me. You really got me. I wasn't expecting this."
"So that means we got away with it, right?" Vasantha asked, leaning over the table to see Cedric over Newt sitting in between them.
Cedric shook his head, mouthing the word no, which was interrupted by the final belch.
"But it was harmless." Clary pointed out, gesturing around them to see that the onlookers had all gone back to their respective dinner conversations. "And see? It's all over."
"And for that, you'll each only receive one detention." Cedric concluded.
"Wow," Fred said, impressed.
"He really is letting us off easy." George added, reassuring Newt. "Usually it's three or four, even if it is something small."
"Alright..." Newt trailed off. "I guess I can finally see what all the fuss is about."
"It's funny," Cedric said, gesturing over to where Clary's bandaged wrist lay on the table, still recovering from her Quidditch incident. "I almost feel bad giving you detention, seeing as you're still injured and all."
"Oh, that's sweet." Clary said. "I mean, you don't really have to give me detention, Ced."
"Yeah," Cedric said, nodding his head. "I really do."
With that, Clary shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest and looking back at the rest of her friends. "Worth a shot."