For Ikrona's Nightmare Competition. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Note: All belongs to JKR, and besides my little plot, all is absolutely canon-factual.
XXX
Standing back from his toy broomstick, Cedric listened through the rain falling on the roof of the porch to determine the source of the high-pitched noise he had heard only moments ago. It was a dark and dreary day just south of Ottery St. Catchpole and the small boy was making the most of it by playing with his toys on the porch, watching the rain and listening to the symphony it made for him while his mother kept an eye on him from the kitchen window.
Cedric had lunch with his mum and dad at noon: soup and sandwiches, Cedric's favorite. After, he played with his dragon figures with his dad until he had to return to work, when Cedric had gone out onto the porch, happy his lessons with Mum every morning were over for today.
And what luck Cedric had—it was Friday! No lessons for another two days, just playing with his toys, reading his books, helping Mum cook and giving Daddy a hand in the shed and yard. Cedric was the best five-year-old wizard around, his parents told him, and he was confident that was right.
Weekends were Cedric's favorite. He got to stay up half an hour later than he did during the week, time that he spent showing Mum and Daddy how good he was getting at reading. After he put his books and toys away for the night, he would change into his pajamas and brush his teeth all by himself and say goodnight to Daddy and Mum when they tucked him in. He would drift to sleep while listening to his parent's murmured voices under the tunes of the wireless on the other side of his opened door.
Even though Cedric was a Big Boy (and a brave boy, at that!) he insisted he sleep with his door open. He wanted no business with monsters in the closet or creeper-crawlers under the bed. Mum had told Ced that if he kept his door open then it would let in enough light to make him feel alright, but he had told her he would absolutely not leave his door open! "I'm a Big Boy," Cedric said at the dinner table. "Big Boys don't need night-lights, or teddy bears, and they don't keep their doors open at night!" Cedric had, in fact, given up his night-light (which was a little stick fixed up by his mother to look like a wand, and enchanted to float and glow rainbow colors) just under a year ago, at his birthday, and his teddy mere months after that! He was afraid that if he left his door open at night, it would make him feel like a baby again—and he had just so recently become a Big Boy!
His daddy had agreed with Mum: if Cedric kept his door open, just a crack of light would make its way in, no more than the light he already got from his window, and Cedric would be safe: no monsters would escape his closet and no creeper-crawlers would slither out from under his bed. So Ced kept his door open from that day forward, and he slept peacefully. But, of course Daddy was right, that was his job at the Ministry; he worked with magical beasts and beings all day long!
Cedric thought of his door while his stood in the cool April afternoon, trying to locate the sound. If his door is open, he'll remain safe. Looking back at the kitchen door to the porch, Ced let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. The door was open. He was safe. If anything went awry, Mum was mere meters away. Yes, Cedric assured himself, safety is in the kitchen, with Mum. It will be safe out here as long as the door is open.
Returning his gaze to the screen that separated the porch from the outside rainy world, Cedric let his eyes wander: where was that fascinating sound coming from? It sounded even better than the music of the rain. Cedric thought whatever was making the noise had to be nice-looking.
Laughter. The sound was laughter, Cedric decided. But where in the wide world was the laughter coming from? Ced didn't see anyone, just the few trees surrounding the house, the pond past those, and the hills beyond. He didn't think the laughter was coming from the kitchen—no, Mum was alone in the kitchen, and even if she had read something funny in her book, that was not her laugh.
No, it was not the laugh of an adult at all. The laughter was high pitched, like bells or chimes. The sound was almost like a child's laugh . . . almost.
"Hullo?" Cedric called out, sounding mighty brave, though to be honest (and he wouldn't have been had he been asked; Big Boys are always brave so he would never say otherwise) he was feeling a little nervous. "Is anyone there?"
The laughter continued, and a word came to Cedric that he had never heard before, but he knew what it meant: cackle. He would call it a cackle, yes. The cackle grew a tad louder, and Cedric's eyes darted from the kitchen door to the world beyond the porch: should he flee to safety with Mum, or should he stay to see who was cackling out there?
Cedric shook his head to himself and said quietly, "I'm brave. I'm the best five-year-old wizard there's ever been; I can handle anything. I can be brave against a cackle." He held his hands, balled up in fists, straight down at his side.
"Hullo?" Cedric shouted again. He was answered by a very shrill peal of laughter; almost an answer.
"Cedric," The voice cackled his name as if it were hysterical. Cedric's eyes widened. What in the world was making that noise, and how in the world did it know his name?
"Who—who are you?" Cedric stuttered, clenching his fists, holding onto his Big Boy bravery.
"I'm your friend, Cedric," The voice told him. Cedric held his breath for a moment. He had friends, yes, but none of them lived anywhere near him, and none of their voices were anywhere near that.
"I don't believe you. Show me who you are!" Cedric looked out through the rain, looking to see if the voice would reveal itself. His eyes zeroed in on a tree just to the side of the porch: the lower branches and leaves were shaking quite violently.
"I'm coming out Cedric, and we're going to play," The voice said, and Cedric's right foot lifted for just a second, ready to run to safety. But he was a Big Boy. Cedric was not afraid of this voice. He stood his ground.
Cedric's eyes widened another smidge when he saw the being crawling down the side of the tree. It looked somewhere between a small person and a large gnome. It looked to be about a foot (and a half, perhaps) shorter than Ced. He watched it advance down the tree, and when it hit the ground, it turned straight toward the porch and made quick progress. Cedric saw its face clearly and noticed it was very pointy, and its mouth seemed to be stuck in a permanent grin. It continued to cackle.
Stopping at the steps outside the porch door, the thing spoke in its laughing voice. "Come and play, Cedric. I came out to you, now you come out to me." Cedric felt drawn to the troll-like being, almost compelled to obey.
Cedric stood rooted to the spot, half of him demanding to go to the being and play, the other half screaming for Mum. Torn, Cedric stood, terrified.
"Come here, Cedric. I won't bite…"
"I know what you are!" Cedric yelled suddenly, and remembered that he should most definitely not go to the creature.
"What am I, Cedric, but a friend? Come, Cedric, tell me what I am, say it out loud; let me know . . ." The thing cackled.
"You're an—"
XXX
"Erkling!" Cedric shrieked, his eyes shooting open. His first impulse was to run to Mum and Daddy's room, jump in between them in their bed and cry until they comforted him to safety, but he realized how horrified he truly was when he shifted and felt a small electric current run down his spine.
Cedric stayed stock-still in bed, too terrified to move; afraid an Erkling would jump from any vantage point.
His daddy had told him about such creatures: they have a high-pitched cackle, pointy faces, and try to lure children away from their parents to eat them.
Thinking of Daddy telling Ced of creatures he knew about from work, he felt himself loosen a little. Coming out of his state of terror, Cedric noticed he could move without feeling the volt of electricity.
He bolted out of his bed and down the hall to his parents' room. Cedric slept with his nightlight and teddy from then on, with the door open too, just in case.