𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 | Draco Malfoy

21: Cedric Diggory

CHAPTER 21: Cedric Diggory

A few hours after the end of the Third Task, in the early hours of the morning, Madeline unfortunately found herself in Dumbledore's office.

She was numb. Fred had dragged her to the Slytherin Dungeons with Daphne and Theo, the two friends taking her into her dorm and allowing her to grieve in privacy. But she didn't cry, she simply stared at the ceiling numbly, letting the world go by around her.

Cedric Diggory is dead.

Although the Slytherins weren't particularly known for their empathy, no one slept that night. The girls in Madeline's dorm had taken to the common room, sitting with the younger students with warm drinks and blankets Theo had found in a chest. Draco and his goons had gone back to their dorm room, none uttering a word to each other. An eerie sense of finality was in the air; there was no excitement for the end of the Tournament. No one would dare.

At about midnight, Snape had come to the common room, asking for someone to fetch Madeline and bring her to Dumbledore's office.

Soon after arriving to Dumbledore's office, she found out that she had been right; the Moody she'd known had been none other than Bartemius Crouch Junior, an escaped Death Eater who's sole goal was to ensure Harry made it to the end of the maze. The real Alastor Moody was safe and sound in the Hospital Wing, found by Dumbledore not long before.

Madeline could almost feel Hogwarts grieving. Not the students, but the castle itself. Everything felt cold and sad, as if a little piece of the life that Hogwarts once breathed had vanished. Cedric had touched more hearts than he'd ever known.

"If I thought I could help you," Dumbledore said gently, shaking Madeline out of her daze, "By putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it."

"He's dead," Madeline muttered, "I could have figured it out sooner-"

"You saved Harry's life by figuring it out in the first place," Dumbledore interrupted her gently, "Had it not been for you telling Snape about your suspicions, we may not have found Harry in time. You showed incredible-"

"Someone still ended up dying," Madeline interrupted lowly, her eyes downcast to the floor, "I should've never let Cedric compete."

"Madeline, please look at me," Dumbledore asked. Madeline found herself lifting her head, looking at the old man through his half-moon spectacles.

"It has never been a secret that you were brought here for your safety, and it seems that the very thing we all fear the most has come to find us," Dumbledore began. He crossed his arms on the desk, "Hogwarts will do all it can to keep you safe, and you've already saved someone yourself, wether you intended to or not. Now, we cannot let Cedric's death be in vain. You are not responsible for his death, Madeline."

Madeline sat in silence for a few moments, eventually nodding.

"I need you to tell me how you figured it out," Dumbledore finished.

Madeline found her hand reaching for the Bisset necklace. She wanted nothing more than rip it off her neck, but she didn't. Instead, she held the pendant tightly in her hand.

"The necklace my mother gave me," Madeline began lowly, "The one my father made her; I don't know how Luna figured it out, but she called it something; Spectrespecs. An item like that allows you to see invisible magic. I kind of just... Put it to my eye. I don't know why."