ALOHOMORA | CEDRIC DIGGORY

27〝twenty-seven〞

CEDRIC WAS IN A FINE mood on Christmas morning. Beaming as though she had just popped a very satisfying bubotuber boil, Professor Sprout had pulled him aside the night before and pronounced that Professor Snape had officially dropped charges against his alleged act of misdemeanor: he wouldn't be getting detention—he had been vindicated. Although the Potions masters was adamant not to reinstate the points he'd taken from Hufflepuff, Cedric didn't really seem to mind.

"Miss Grindelwald's account has cleared you," Professor Sprout had told him proudly, and it was all he could think about.

Having discovered a better friend—a brother from another mother, a second self—in Barnabas Stinson meant that Roger Davies ditched Cedric for breakfast. This earned him rather disapproving looks from his sister, who kindly invited Cedric to join her, the Head Boy, and a Ravenclaw prefect called Penelope Clearwater. Cedric didn't mind either of these arrangements too; at least he could eat in peace (as long as he paid little attention to their N.E.W.T. talk, which unnerved him a great deal, and concentrated on the happier bouts of their conversation revolving around presents they had received).

To top it all off, a fluffy, brightly white, owl, looking rather like it had stolen Allister the unicorn's coat, came swooping down on him near the end of the meal, delivering a small envelope.

"Who'd give you a Chocolate Frog card for Christmas?" said Roger, who was stretching his neck unabashedly to get a better look from several seats away.

It was evident he considered it an unimpressive gift, though was in equal measure keen on ascertaining the identity of the sender.

"Mind your own business," Ruth Davies called to him, then apologized quietly to Cedric for her sibling's rudeness. Roger and Stinson departed the table, the former quite huffily. Cedric didn't care about any of that...

For winter, the weather reflected Cedric's spirits well: it was clear, with the occasional gentle breeze, and the sun shone like it was spring already, the snow-covered grounds sparkling under its radiance. His homework caught up on and completed, Cedric grabbed his broom and climbed out of the barrel hole. As he approached the still life of the gigantic fruit bowl, it swung open: Ellis stepped through into the stone corridor. Noticing him, she stopped dead.

Gladly, Cedric smiled. To say that the note, which he'd learnt by heart, accompanying her Chocolate Frog card had uplifted and emboldened him was a modest statement.

Thank you for not letting me take a whiskey bath. It's not Ptolemy, but you can have it anyway.

Merry Christmas.

-A witch.

"Hey, you," he said.

It sounded better when intended and with confidence. She gave him a look as if to say, "Really?" but did not leave. Cedric took it as a green light.

"I'm going for a spin," he added, indicating his Comet Two Sixty. "Would you like to join me?"

There was a short pause, in which her eyes suddenly glinted with comprehension.

"Is that why you want to be my friend? So that I'll teach you my tricks?"

"Why do you always have to be so negative?" said Cedric, not unkindly. "I know you like to fly; I just thought you'd be interested."

"Don't pretend you know the first thing about me," she snapped. "You know nothing, Cedric Diggory."

Antagonized, she stalked off. Drinking in the first time she had said his name, Cedric roused with a slight delay.