Imperio ⇢ D.M

Chapter Twenty Three

Brotherly Love

~Arden Diggory~

Cedric led me out of the hall and into the corridors outside. He looked furious, I've never ever seen him like this before. 

"So, I guess you read the Daily Prophet..." I mumbled. Cedric scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I did. You know what else I read? A letter from dad." His angered expression softened, and he put his ands on my shoulders like he were trying to console me. "Arden, please tell me this is a farce." He begged. 

"It's not..." I muttered. Cedric looked his grey eyes into mine and sighed.

"Arden, you know he's not a good person." Cedric sounded like he was choking back tears. I couldn't believe he was getting so worked up over this! "Dad has been sending me letters and sometimes in those letters he'll tell me-"

"Dads been sending you letters?" I interrupted. Since the start of the year, I haven't gotten a single letter from my mum or my dad. The only letters I've gotten were for sending me my own money, and for telling me how disappointed he is in me. 

Cedric looked at me like I was crazy. "Yes, of course he has, dad always sends us letters. Why do you ask?" 

"Dad hasn't sent me anything..." I mumbled. Cedric kept the same expression. He shook his head.

"No, that can't be right. He sends me one at least once a week, why isn't he sending to you?" Cedric asked.

I sighed. "Maybe because I'm not a Hogwarts champion." I rolled my eyes. 

"Oh come on Arden, this hasn't bothered you until now." 

"Yeah because I've realised dad obviously favours you more just because of this tournament. Whereas I'm the family disappointment. Has a supposedly 'evil' boyfriend and gets sorted into Slytherin." I said sarcastically. 

"Well, you becoming a Slytherin was a shock..."

"Well it's dad's fault you know. He always tells us to do great things, aim for the stars, don't let anyone stop us from achieving greatness." I sighed. "It's not really a shocker when  you think about it like that." 

Cedric sighed. "I suppose it isn't... But Slytherin isn't a good house-" 

"Oh my goodness you sound like dad right now! Just because all the bad guys are in Slytherin doesn't mean all Slytherins are bad guys!" I argued. 

"Well, we're getting off topic here anyway. Why are you hanging around with that Malfoy jerk? I never even knew you two were close in that way! He's teased you for so long!" Cedric argued.

"Oh come on Cedric, it may have been a bit hurtful for him to call me Pretty Diggory sometimes but seriously, after it stopped you can't help but realise how stupid of an 'insult' it was." 

"Do you not remember 3rd year? How you ran to me crying because of what he did?" 

-

It was our first Care of Magical Creatures class, with Hagrid as our teacher. Hermione and I were carefully stroking the spines of our monster book so that we weren't attacked by the book. From the unfortunate 'blessing' of having a cold, I sneezed. The book fell out of my hand and onto the floor, which made it angry. The book started scattering about, trying to chomp nearby students' feet. I rubbed my irritated nose as I frantically tried to pick it up. The book kept scurrying away from me and ended up chewing on the back of someone's shoes.