Cedric Diggory was a fair and honest man who believed in justice, the greater good and all that moralistic stuff.
He also liked to think himself a good judge of character, which was what he was then trying to use as he stared pensively at the criminals before him.
'Criminals' may be an exaggerated term referring to who they were directed to. After all, the supposed 'criminals' didn't even surpass the age of seven and their crime was absolutely not Azkaban worthy, people would probably laugh about it instead of be horrified.
Cedric inwardly let out a weary sigh as he stared down the troublemakers. "So…" he began, clandestinely wincing at how dramatic he sounded.
He glanced at his wife for a moment, noticing the austere expression that reminded him eerily of their late Transfiguration professor. He made a mental note to mention that to her later.
Right, back to business.
"Alright, we all know why you are all here. And that is for themisdeed you have all been actively involved in or had been a party to. And what is thisfelony? Well dear children, it is that of implanting meat in the pocket of Neville Longbottom resulting in the mauling of him by the dog Monster." The mental image of Neville screaming like a girl as his trousers were ripped of him flashed through his mind and with much effort he fought down a smile. "I hope you all know the severity in what you all have done."
He continued. "You should all know that there was nothing funny at all with what you did." He shot stern looks at the giggling Weasley girls, Rose and Lily.
"What you did was unkind and bad-mannered and since it happened in my house, all your parents have given me consent to issue all of you a suitable sentence."
They looked at him in nervousness and fear, dreading what punishment he would come up with.
"You're all grounded for one week."
A collective groan rang in the living room.
He held up his hand to silence them. "One week of grounding, unless…"
They stared at him hopefully.
"Unless you tell me who orchestrated the prank."
Immediately, several pairs of eyes avoided his and lips glued shut.
So that was how it was going to be, then? He'll have to try a different tactic.
He walked over to behind where the children stood, observing how tense they were.
Slowly, he raised a hand and placed it a few inches above Albus Potter's head. "Beep."
The second child of the infamous war hero almost jumped up in the air in surprise.
He moved his hand over Rose Weasley's head. "Beep."
He moved it over Lily Potter's head. "Beep."
Over James Potter's head. "Beep."
Hugo Weasley. "Beep."
Lorcan and Lysander Scamander. "Beep." "Beep."
Edward Diggory. "Beep."
Kat Diggory. "Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!Bee-"
Robert Diggory. "Beep."
Kat Diggory. "BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!"
He gently turned his daughter around to face him, lowering himself to level his head with hers. Looking straight in her grey eyes, he said seriously, "Katharina Diggory, you have a very dark gift."
She smiled guiltily at him, a smile not uncommon for him to see at the least.
He looked back at the other children. "All right kids, you're all grounded for one week."
Outraged protests were made and sounded before he asked if they wanted to make it two weeks instead and they wisely shut up.
Later on that night as Cedric and his wife climbed into bed, he could not help but remark. "Isn't it odd that we of all people would end up giving life to an evil genius? "
Hermione merely rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me; she gets it from your side of the family!"
And somehow, he couldn't disagree.
