Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, either the series or the character. I don't own Cedric Diggory or You-Know-You. I don't own the any of this, not even the un-named Hufflepuff.
Sequel to a Hufflepuff's Lament.
Decisions
Cedric Diggory was to be the best of us all. When his name came out of the goblet, all of Hufflepuff cheered. He was our hope, our chance to prove we were at least as good as the other houses. He was going to win the tournament and bring us honor.
And then Harry Potter's name was called.
At that moment, I hated him. How dare he try to take this chance from us! How dare he try to cast our house further into the shadows when we finally, finally, had a chance to get out?
I never really had a problem with him. He was a good kid, a little quiet, maybe, but he didn't seem to bother anyone but Malfoy and his goods. But at that moment… and I know I wasn't alone in my hatred of him either. All of Hufflepuff was united in the feeling.
They say Hufflepuff can't hate, that we're too simple, but I'd say any one of us would have killed him at that moment.
Still, Cedric did well. He would have been first if it wasn't for Potter. And at the Third Task, all of us were cheering for him, praying fiercely for his win.
But he never came back.
Potter did, of course, spinning some ridiculous story about You-Know-Who coming back to life. You-Know-Who, a man who has been dead for more than a decade. Who did he think he was kidding?
So Potter won, and the whole thing was hushed up. No one wanted to remember, and in the face of a death of one of our own, we again fell away from the world. This time, though, the shadows around us were of our own making. We wanted nothing to do with Potter-The-Murderer, as we called him.
And no one seemed to care.
So Cedric was forgotten. School ended, summer past, and school began again. There was no mention of him ever being there, no offer of counseling for his friends. Hufflepuff was, as usual, ignored.
We found out later that You-Know-Who was back, and the he did kill Cedric. Still… he was trying to kill Potter. Yeah, it's all Potter's fault. If it hadn't been for him, Cedric wouldn't have been dead.
Potter should have died with his parents. A good kid? Yeah, right. Always in trouble, always too loud, always seeking attention… worthless.
Yes. Potter should die. What was it that the one muggle born was talking about a while ago? An eye for an eye? In any case, a death for a death sounds reasonable.
The say Hufflepuffs are loyal. They just never say who we're loyal to. We're supposed to be loyal to the Gryffindors, I suppose. The fighters of the school. To the Ravenclaws, who may need us to fetch books and such for them.
But, you know, I think most of us are only loyal to our house. And ourselves, of course. Still, I think there's one more person I could be loyal to. Someone who will see to it that Potter dies like he ought to.
Yes, tomorrow, I shall do it. Tomorrow, I shall become a Death Eater.