Chapter 2 ༄ Cedric’s Secret

Instructions

༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄ C h a p t e r t w o — C e d r i c ’ s S e c r e t Late summer—midday—the Diggory family’s kitchen ༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄ Lara sprinted down the stairs as quietly as she could without being heard by her parents or siblings. She leaned against the wall, for once trying to find out what they were so gleeful about, even though she hated her Legilimency. *I just KNEW she’d get it, why did I doubt it?* she heard her father’s voice in her head say. *I mean, there’s no point in wondering why she wouldn’t….* Lara thought about what he would be so happy about this… //thing//…. He said “she,” so it was probably about her mother or Selena. *Wait— what if it’s about //me//?* Lara thought. *No, he wouldn’t be so excited, unless it was something about me, like, getting expelled or whatever.* Leonora put her head to the wall she that was supporting her. “I’M GOING TO HOGWASH!” Selena shrieked happily. “It’s Hogwarts,” she heard her brother, Cedric, correct her. Lara sighed. Of course, now she has to deal with Selena everywhere she went… even Hogwarts. She listened closer, and noticed footsteps coming towards the door. Lara quietly walked up the staircase, into her room, as quickly and silently as she could. ༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄ Late summer—midday—Leonora’s bedroom ༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄ When she got to her room, she felt like crying. Crying or just digging (*Ha-ha* Lara thought. *Digging. Diggory.*) down to the core of the earth and letting the heat melt her to grime. Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door. “Come in,” she said dully. The person who knocked opened her door. “You okay?” Cedric said, closing it behind him. “Am I?” Lara sulked. He sighed. “I know they don’t— they being our parents and Selena— care if you’re upset, but I do.” “Ced, I know //you// of all people care, I’ll let you think I’m dumb, but that’s an insult,” Lara joked, smiling. He returned it, slightly sadly though. “Dad told me… Dad told me there’s going to be some tournament thing at Hogwarts this year. Only seventeen-year-olds are allowed in and…” He trailed off. “You want to join it?” she asked him. “Well… someone //died// last time, but that was over a century ago, and the Ministry and the participating schools said it would be a whole different level safer, so I was going to ask you if you’d think I’d be okay to join. I haven’t told anyone, though, I thought Mum and Dad would think it was still too dangerous, and Selena would just say yes because she doesn’t think over anything…. I thought you’d be the wisest person here to ask about.” Lara felt flattered. She was only thirteen, but Cedric was in his seventh year, so asking her and not their parents… that was a lot. “Ask Dad when the thing’s starting off, if you haven’t yet?” “I have, he said the only time to enter was the night before Halloween, so September first to October thirtieth, that’s about two months.” She thought on it for a moment. “Maybe ask Dumbledore… wait— you said there’s more than one participating school, what are the other ones?” “Uh— some French one and another from far north, forgot what they were called though.” “I think you should see what the other schools are, but you’re able to do it, but I think you //could// do it, but I don’t know who you’re up against.” “We find that out after we enter, so that’s not going to work.” “Okay… so maybe just wait a bit, because probably most of your year is going to want to do it. And I don’t mean see who you’re going to be competing for the Hogwarts place with, I mean with the other schools.” “Yeah, that’s probably good, but should I try out of it of whatever it is?” Cedric asked. She pondered this for a few seconds before responding. “Let’s see. And within the time you have before this, or now, I think we better get downstairs.” ༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄