Hogwarts Houses Competition. Super excited to be posting consistent short stories again!
House: Hufflepuff Fourth Year
Category: Drabble
Prompt: Wand. Ash, Unicorn hair, 12 1/4 inches
Word Count: 472
To many wizards, a wand was just a tool. A vessel to harness magic. But for Cedric Diggory it was an extension of himself. An extra twelve-and-one-quarter inches added to his left hand. His wand was as resilient and stubborn as he was. It worked for him and only for him. From the minute he waved it in the air at Diagon Alley six years ago he felt the bond. Ollivander himself said there was rarely a better pair. Some wands were only happy to be used no matter who they served. Some could only resonate with a specific wizard's magic. Perhaps, their children might be able to make use for it if needed. But anyone else might as well be holding a twig plucked off the ground in the woods.
With this knowledge, Cedric cared for it, always keeping it in a holster under his sleeve rather than in his pocket where it could have gotten bent, or worse, snapped. He would polish it once a week to keep the Ash glossy. At night, he kept it in an open case on the shelf carved into his stone headboard.
His wand was strong and never faltered.
Except once.
Granted, had he expected to be attacked once he grabbed the Tri-Wizard Cup he could've fought valiantly and run back to the Cup with Harry Potter. He had expected to arrive at the front of the maze and admit defeat with dignity and grace. Instead, he found himself in a graveyard. His hand tightened around his wand and the panic and exhaustion ran his mind blank of any spells. The air here was cold for summer and his gut held a bad feeling.
"We need to get back to the Portkey," said Harry, urgently.
"What? Why?" Cedric had asked. He knew the answer. They were in danger here. Even so, his tired feet failed to move. A spell refused to pass through his lips.
The last words he heard were an unnaturally high voice hissing "Kill the Spare."
Cedric waved his wand to the cloaked intruder, forcing his mind to project 'Expelliarmus'.
"Avada Kedavra"
As his body hit the ground and his last breath left him, the wand in his hand would have cried in anguish if it could. If it had been listening, then it could have cast the spell on the intruder. Its beloved master who had cared for it greatly was gone and it might as well have been the wand's fault. The pride and loyalty in its unicorn-hair core shriveled up. If this wand could not be with its Master, then it would serve no other. Just moments after Cedric Diggory had died, his wand died with him.
He would be buried with it close to his heart. Close in death as in life.
Never to be used again.