ALOHOMORA | CEDRIC DIGGORY

26〝twenty-six〞

"YOU'RE TELLING ME," SAID THE Baron slowly once Ellis had related the whole compartment incident to him, "that you've already met Caesar on the train?"

Her memory fast forwarded to the first day of the holidays: her vision had been clouded with tears, but those sneakers—with their unmistakable checkered pattern—they were one and the same. And even if anyone did share his taste for footwear, there was no one else who could have had the faintest idea that she "didn't" collect Chocolate Frog cards.

"I believe so."

"Well," said the Baron, "that certainly clears things up, doesn't it?"

"How d'you mean?"

The Baron groaned.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart!" he quipped. "You said he was sorry for getting off on the wrong foot, right?"

Likewise, she had recounted to him about their encounter after her little Quidditch therapy. She had come across the ghost in the dungeon corridors shortly after abandoning the Hufflepuff on the grounds, and their discussion—during which she conveniently omitted how amusing she found his definition of interesting things—had prolonged in her dormitory such that she nearly missed dinner. Ellis nodded tentatively, unsure where the conversation was leading.

"And you assumed he was just apologizing because he does it for every little thing," mimicked the Baron. Granted, it was an accurate impression, but Ellis rolled her eyes all the same. "Now you know it wasn't uncalled for. He wasn't talking about the locker rooms—he was talking about the Hogwarts Express."

Suddenly, absurdly, Ellis felt flustered. And it rendered her rather incoherent.

"Well...just proves...not the point...still sorry for everything..."

"You are determined to hate him." The Baron sniggered.

"He's hateful," retorted Ellis.

"I wasn't finished," said the Baron curtly. "You are determined to hate him"—he cleared his throat—"because you think it'll make it easier not to care about him."

"What?! I do not care about him—"

"Oh, Missy," he said, guffawing, "you hoodwink the common student but you do not fool me. You care—it's in your heart to. You care so much more than you'd ever admit but at the end of the day, you care.

"If you didn't, he couldn't have gotten under your skin no matter what he did or what he said. If you didn't, you wouldn't have saved him—yes, saved him," emphasized the Baron, for Ellis had given him a look of utmost disbelief, "and don't say it's because you were looking out for the horse; you know better than I do that's not the only reason! And yes"—he raised his voice as Ellis opened her mouth to argue—"you would have done it for anyone else: all the more proof THAT YOU CARE!"

Ellis felt incensed and betrayed; the Baron was siding with him—then again, he always had been. More than that, however, she felt wounded: his words had hit too close to home.

"I understand why you do it, of course," said the Baron, with more dignity now. "I, too, was guilty of it in my youth." This confession softened Ellis's gaze into a curious look, to which he addressed her appeal, continuing, "When Helena first rebuffed my advances, I hated her. I told myself she was a witless brat; an unworthy heiress to her mother's glory and prominence. Needless to say, none of that was true: Helena was a bright witch, rather like yourself. Perhaps that made her entitled and proud as a girl, but few youngsters sharing her background ever succeeded in evading this sin. By and by, she earned right to her status, and would have been a respected leader of this school if she hadn't run away...