ALOHOMORA | CEDRIC DIGGORY

13〝thirteen〞

IN FRONT OF THEM WAS a picture of a humongous bowl of fruit. Cedric began to the tickle the pear; it wiggled under his finger, giggling, almost like it was enjoying it. In a blink, it became a fat, green door knob. Cedric grabbed it and pulled.

Ellis stared, her sense of amazement quadrupling. Behind the concealed door hid a massive, lofty room; four elongated wooden tables stood under the towering ceiling, arranged just like the four House tables. With a shock, it occurred to Ellis how much the large chamber resembled the Great Hall. If only the Great Hall was bedecked by heaps of gleaming rose gold cookware and utensils on every wall, flaunted a brilliant brick fireplace at one end where the top table would otherwise be, and sheltered a hundred or so bustling house-elves, one of whom had scurried up to them.

"How can Bishop help Cedric Diggory, sir, miss, and sir?" squeaked the elf, happily bowing to each pupil as he addressed them.

"What would you guys like?" Cedric asked Ellis and Rolf, but his eyes lingered on the Slytherin.

Still reflecting on the fact that the elf knew Cedric (but, evidently, she reminded herself, it couldn't be his first visit; he'd known the way and how to get in), and that she must have been foolish not to realize earlier that there had to be somewhere just as magnificent as the Great Hall to provide for all the wondrous meals it served, Ellis felt herself being watched. She gazed at him—his words recollected themselves—then to the elf.

"Some pudding would be nice," said Ellis.

But for all the good it did, she might as well have not answered. No sooner had she spoken than about a dozen elves came trooping over, incredibly shouldering a circular salver twice their size apiece, every one of them loaded up with a different dessert. Under the giant polished trays, she saw that they were dressed identically in what could only be a sorry excuse for a toga. (They were made of Hogwarts tea towels.)

Honestly, Ellis couldn't grasp how she was still surprised. Valrey always made extras whenever she ordered anything to eat, and never wore anything besides a raggedy poncho-like garment sewn from fabric that once belonged to a couch throw. It wasn't necessarily a sight for sore eyes but Ellis knew better than to give him real clothes.

Without further ado, she grabbed a goblet of milk and a palm-sized apple strudel, wolfing down the latter in a matter of moments, and helped herself to a dish of custard layered with transparent caramel sauce. This, she sat down to enjoy as Bishop the elf had snapped his bony fingers and three stools came zooming to their feet between them and the nearest table (the one that supplied Ravenclaw).

Cedric looked a little awkward when all the elves zealously offered him treats from their own platters, as if vying to see who could give out the most food, but accepted a chocolate eclair. And for the first time in a long while, Ellis had taken notice of Rolf, whose reason for having been very quiet until now still hung upon his thunderstruck face. Either he had never before seen a house-elf, or an army of them. Howbeit, he seemed delighted that he had. Grinning ecstatically, he nicked a cup of cranberry Jell-O, by which time Ellis was reaching towards the ice cream boat.

Half a scoop later, an elaborately-folded paper crane came floating into the kitchen, wings flapping as if flying on its own accord. Brushing his hands on his trousers, Cedric seized it from the air and opened it. As Ellis extracted her spoon from her butterscotch-ice-cream-filled mouth, she spotted him pocket the remains of the bird and sneak a glimpse at his watch. His face was troubled throughout.

"What is it, Cedric?" enquired Rolf, his casual tone suggesting he hadn't seen Cedric's expression, as he deposited his empty Jell-O cup into the hands of a waiting elf. "Is everyone back?"

"Yeah," replied Cedric after some hesitation, and the strain in his voice persisted even as he quickly added, "but there's still some time before bed so you can have a few more bites if you're still hungry."

Immediately, he seemed to have realized he hadn't addressed both first-years collectively, and hurried to switch his gaze towards his fellow Hufflepuff. But Rolf merely shrugged. Meanwhile, Ellis, who had pulled out her pocket watch to find that "some time" was literally ten minutes, shoved her unfinished ice cream aside, inhaled the rest of her pumpkin juice (the milk had long been gone), and declared she was done—albeit also having crammed two mini cream pies under her robes.

Leaving turned out to be pandemonium in itself. The elves converged upon them so fervently, and only after they managed to force a whole plate of treacle tart into Cedric's hand ("For Cedric Diggory and his friends, sir!"), Rolf conceded to another cup of Jell-O (this round, it was lemon-flavored), and Ellis snuck herself a couple of jam turnovers—though quite willingly, earning herself a deep curtsy from the pastry-bearing elf—did they line up to bid their farewells and allow the three students to depart.

"Wow," said Rolf, as they returned along the broad incandescent passage, "that's my first time meeting house-elves. Really interesting, aren't they?" But the question proved rhetorical as, without so much as a breath, he rambled on, "Very generous too. Strange-looking creatures, though. Are they some sort of mixed breed? Their ears kinda look like bats..."

But Ellis was zoning out. Now that her belly had relinquished reign back to her brain, her mind became haunted again by a particular heinous image—and what it alluded to.

Only once in her life had she ever yearned to be more wrong, and that had not worked out in her favor at all. A sliver of her knew, full well and sickeningly, that to believe she was highly mistaken was wishful thinking; that Professor Snape would change out his black-only wardrobe and Professor McGonagall would let down her hair before that could be true; that this time would simply be the same. But what wouldn't she give to be wrong?

Nothing.

And yet, she knew, too, that she could surrender everything and still be—wrong.

She gave a start; she had walked into someone. If only she had such luck with other things in life... Cedric had let slip yet another unwarranted apology just as Ellis moaned her very justified one. Although, too mortified and mentally cursing, she did not peer up to meet his smileless and somewhat worried face. Instead, she surveyed the three-way junction at which they halted: to their backs, the kitchens; on the left, the stone staircase to the Entrance Hall; and ahead, a corridor that went straight for several feet before curving right. Surely, she thought, the third path led to the Hufflepuff common room, whose whereabouts couldn't be revealed to an outsider and so brought about their current impasse.

"Ellis, you all right?" said Rolf tentatively.

"Do you need help finding your way back?" asked Cedric before she could respond.

"No," Ellis blurted out, her tone much too harsh for comfort. Both Hufflepuffs looked slightly taken aback by this, but she refused their gazes as she continued more calmly, "I know my way."

A clock chimed somewhere: it was curfew.

"Well"—she stepped back from the boys—"we don't all need to get caught out of bed."

"I'll see you in class, then," said Rolf, "good night!"

Rolf waved; Cedric smiled; Ellis nodded. She pivoted towards the stairs and heard them setting off behind her.

Before she could stop herself, she called back, "Wait," and both of them turned around. Rolf looked puzzled. Cedric's eyes were curious, tainted by a shred of concern that grew more pronounced as her silence endured. It didn't suit him, and only distracted her further. Ellis focused on Rolf, her mouth dry and heart racing, but after a pregnant pause, all that left her was a general "Thank you" before she swept out of the basement.

Try as she might, Ellis failed to find the words of warning she hankered to convey to Justin Finch-Fletchley.

AN: In lieu of Thanksgiving weekend, though I don't celebrate, here's another chapter. I hope I'll be able to post again before Christmas. Happy Holidays! 🦃