A Change in Fate || Cedric Diggory [1]

Chapter 48: A Giant Surprise

As the days passed by excruciatingly slowly, there were only a few things that kept Analeigh's mind off of Cedric. One of them was Fred and George's pranks; ever since Dumbledore left, the twins had made it their mission to wreak even more havoc in the castle. They filled an entire corridor with a sticky swamp, released water balloons in random places, and apparently even snuck in nifflers inside Umbridge's office. The other thing was that Analeigh dove deep into her studies; it was a good way to keep herself distracted while being productive at the same time. These worked to an extent, but she found herself being snappier towards her friends while she was at it.

It was a busy day as the students of Hogwarts bustled in an out of the library and Great Hall to balance their studies and eating their meals. Analeigh, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were included in that demographic — the four of them had just finished an attempt at a group study session in the library, but they found themselves losing energy and decided to have dinner instead.

"Why do I have to know about the Goblin Rebellion of 1216?" Ron complained as they went down the stairs.

"1612," Hermione corrected.

"What's the point? I'd rather be learning how to do real magic than reading about some goblin stuff."

"That stuff is important in knowing how the relationship between us and goblins work, you know."

"Why don't we just ask Fred and George what came up in their O.W.L.s for that?" Harry suggested before the two of them could bicker any further.

"Er, didn't they both get P's there?" Analeigh said hesitantly.

"It was either that or Troll, so I highly doubt that they'd be reliable sources," Ron scoffed. His face then brightened up as if he got a new idea. "Hey, I know what to do! Why don't you ask Cedric, Leigh? I'm sure he probably got a —"

Ron stopped short at the sight of Harry aggressively shaking his head with warning eyes, while Hermione crossed her hands as if to say "stop." He pursed his lips, having momentarily forgotten that Analeigh and Cedric fought and weren't on good terms. Analeigh had come clean to them and spilled all her problems on the day after Cedric suggested they go on a break — still, Ron ended up forgetting that.

"I mean..." he started again.

"Oh, sure, splendid idea," Analeigh said sarcastically. "Why don't we go talk to my supposed boyfriend who refuses to even look me in the eye?"

Harry patted Ron sympathetically, knowing that his best mate had just dug himself into a hole. They could all tell that Analeigh had really been on edge ever since her relationship with Cedric became rocky, but they couldn't do much to help her out aside from being understanding of her situation.

"Women are truly scary," Ron whispered when Analeigh was a short distance away from them. Hermione sent him a scolding glare, only causing him to shrink back even more and turn to Harry. "See? Absolutely frightening, I tell you."

Before Analeigh (or Hermione) could snap at the boys again, they came across a certain half-giant in the middle of the hallway, and he looked even more bruised and battered than when they last saw him.

"Hagrid?" they chorused.

"You four doing alright?" he said, looking fidgety.

"Yeah, just studying for our O.W.L.s," said Hermione slowly. "Is something wrong?"

"Er, you got some free time right now?" The fifth years shared curious looks with one another before nodding at him. "Okay, great. Um, follow me."

As suspicious as Hagrid sounded, they obeyed and followed him anyway. At first, they thought he was bringing them to his hut at the grounds, but he ended up not walking up to his door; rather, he just kept going straight past it.