Welcome, esteemed readers, to the next chapter of HP: Path of Trials! Well, there always seems to be one chapter in which I always end up having to go back and finish because I found myself being stumped when I was originally working on it. For this book (so far), that was this chapter. But, as you can see, it is complete and ready to be read! But, before that...
Disclaimer: No ownership, you all know the drill...
Now, here's...
Chapter 3: Newfound Respect
Enjoy, one and all!
Just as Marcus surmised, much of the inside of the house was full of wizarding objects, such as a cauldron, ingredients for most known potions, and lots of other objects, some of which seemed like they had a mind of their own, an all too common practice in most wizarding homes. In fact, he went as far as to surmise that the Diggory's and his own house shared a striking amount of similarities.
But, then there was Cedric Diggory.
Marcus could see Cedric doing his best to be a good host, but there was just too much animosity on Marcus's end to be comfortable with the idea. He wanted nothing more than to just get the two weeks over with.
The first day at the Diggory's was awkward, to say the least. Marcus still had to get some of his summer schoolwork done, and he knew that Cedric felt that he shouldn't bother him, so he decided to tend to the garden they had going alongside the back of their house while Marcus focused on his homework.
After he completed his homework, Marcus then decided to do his physical training, which today included practicing his swordmanship.
He was only halfway finished with his upper body workouts when he saw Cedric coming out into the front yard.
"Yes?" Marcus asked as he was doing push-ups.
"Um, my father wanted me to let you know that dinner's almost ready," said Cedric, who looked pretty awkward. "I suppose you'll be joining us after you're finished and showered up?"
"I'm only about halfway finished," he told Cedric in a rather stiff tone. "If it's all right with you, you guys can go ahead without me."
"Ah," said Cedric, who sounded a bit worried. "I'll let my father know."
As he stepped inside the house, Marcus thought that something must've been on Cedric's mind, but he immediately push that thought into the furthest part of his mind and concentrated on his physical training.
Eventually, he finished the last of his exercises. Grabbing his practice sword and a towel, he made his way to the door when he overheard Cedric saying, "I just don't understand, Father. Does he not like me?"
Marcus froze, knowing that he was talking about him.
"Cedric, I really don't think that's it," he heard Mr. Diggory saying. "He just doesn't know you well enough. Mr. Williams told me that it may take a bit of time to open up to people he's not familiar with, and knowing what happened to him when he was younger - well, it hardly seems out of the ordinary to act that way, am I right?"
"Of course, Father," said Cedric. "I just - I wish there was something I could do to make him feel - I don't know...right at home, I suppose..."
Marcus felt a slight twinge of guilt for a brief second, but then steeled himself, opened the door, and walked through.
"Ah, Marcus," Mr. Diggory said, catching himself. "Was your training productive today?"
"Time will tell, I suppose," said Marcus stiffly, who draped his towel in a way that did not show his torso and his horrendous crown scar. "I'll be taking a shower before I join the table, if that's okay."
"Not at all," said Mr. Diggory. "We'll be waiting."
Marcus took a glance at Cedric, who wasn't meeting his gaze. He didn't pay it any mind as he head upstairs and took his shower.
Dinner that night was stiff. Mr. Diggory kept trying to make small talk with Marcus, hoping to perhaps bring up something that would make the white haired boy more comfortable, but Marcus kept the conversations short and precise. Shortly after dinner was finished, he excused himself to the guest room, where he finished off his Transfiguration essay before going to bed.
His second day at the Diggory's would prove to be just as awkward as the first. Marcus started his morning workout early as usual, around 4 in the morning. Try as he might not to make too much noise, he still found Cedric walking in on his training session.
"Can I ask you something, Marcus?"
"Sure," he replied to Cedric while he was doing squats.
"Why is it that you do physical training? It would seem rather redundant when we can use magic, after all."
Marcus finished off the last of his exercise before looking to Cedric and stating, rather harshly, "It may not seem important to someone who takes magic for granted, but for someone who may find themselves in a position where magic isn't going to save them, their physical condition is what'll separate life from death."
"Oh," said Cedric, looking sorry that he asked in the first place. "I'll just...um...be inside."
Cedric went back into the house very quickly and Marcus heavily sighed. He had no right to talk to Cedric the way he did and he knew it. Upon further reflection, the only things he knew about Cedric was what his friends said about him, which were not very nice or friendly. He also knew that, even if he didn't care what other people thought about him, that didn't mean that everyone else thought along the same lines.
Throughout the rest of the day, Marcus couldn't bear to make eye contact with Cedric and vice-versa. He felt too ashamed of his actions and, though he wanted to apologize, he had no idea how to go about it. He wasn't very good about that sort of thing.
It wasn't until that night, while he was working on his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework where things started to turn around.
Having his textbook opened to the Shield Charm page for extra credit, Marcus felt a little stumped.
"Explain the theory of the Shield Charm and what applications it yields."
"Now what in the world could they possibly mean by this?" Marcus thought as he kept rereading the section on Shield Charms. He got to reading it again for the third time when he heard the knock on the door.
He saw Cedric opening the door and looking as if he was going to say something else when he saw Marcus' schoolwork strewn across the bed.
"Say, what are you working on?" Cedric asked.
"Just extra credit for my Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Marcus. "I can't make heads or tails of it, though. I just rereading the text over and over again, and it's not making any sense."
"Would you like me to look at it, see if I can help you?" said Cedric.
Normally, Marcus would've let his pride get in the way and refused his help. However, due to his guilt building up and the fact that he really wanted to do well on this extra credit assignment, he mentally sighed and said, "Sure. I could really use the help."
Marcus made room for him to sit on the bed as Cedric took his place and started to read over the material, nodding his head every so often.
Finally, he said, "Well, it's no wonder you're not to make headway with this. This spell isn't even taught until sixth year. Who gave you this for extra credit?"
"My Uncle Remus, the last professor," said Marcus. "Shortly before the end of the year, he gave this for me to do, because he knows I like a good challenge."
"Oh, he's amazing!" Cedric said with great enthusiam. "He taught my class a lot of great stuff, including this spell. Let's see here..."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand, then proceeded to stand up, pointed his wand forward, and spoke.
"The Shield Charm is designed to weaken or prevent spells from taking any effect on the caster or the designated target," he stated. "Now, as the Shield Charm is a defensive spell, hence the name, it is very much ideal for the caster to be instinctually defensive, as well."
He then said in a very commanding voice, "Protego!"
Marcus looked closely, but didn't notice anything.
"I - I don't get it," he said, very much confused.
"The Shield Charm is not a spell that'll visually manifest, at least not usually" he told him. "Another reason why the spell's hard to master. Most magic folk rely on sight for a spell's success. This spell relies on a person's faith, self-trust, and mental strength for results. In other words, the stronger your belief and will to block a spell, the better the spell will work.
"Now, the applications behind this spell is straightforward, but the strength can vary, depending on the situation. There's a Shield Charm designed to block Dark Magic spells, one that does the bare minimum and can act as a sort of reflector, and there's even one that's strong enough to take on a physical manifestation of a barrier, but that one requires a great deal of mental strength and willpower to cast."
Marcus was furiously writing all of this down, blown away by Cedric's apparent knowledge on the subject.
"Wow, this really helped me out," said Marcus when he finished. "Thanks for the info, Cedric!"
Cedric smiled and said, "Well, it's the least I could do. I suppose it's time for me to go to bed."
He took two steps towards the door when Marcus said, "Wait a moment, Cedric."
Cedric looked back at him and Marcus then said, "I'm - I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. It's just that - well, not a lot of my friends in Gryffindor think highly of you and I was foolish to think like them without giving you a chance. Again, I'm - I'm sorry."
"Oh, that's all right," said Cedric, who looked a bit relieved. "Truthfully, I'm all too aware that other people don't think too greatly about me. I suppose that's my fault. I act a certain way so that I don't draw too much attention to myself. Well, looks like that doesn't really work all that well."
Marcus was floored to hear this.
"Well, I don't like to draw too much attention to myself, either," said Marcus. "That's why I'm always training in secret and mostly keep to myself."
"Say, Marcus, do you mind if I join you in your workout tomorrow morning?" asked Cedric. "I would like to give it a try."
Marcus couldn't help but smirk as he replied, "Yeah, I think that'd be good."
"Great," said Cedric. "Well, good night."
As Cedric left the room and Marcus put away his finished extra credit assignment, he layed on the bed and wondered just where his new friendship with Cedric was going to take him...
Around 4:30 the next morning, Marcus got up and went to the back yard to conduct his physical training and, just when he was about to get started on his stretching, he saw Cedric walking out into the backyard.
"Morning, Cedric," said Marcus.
Cedric stifled a yawn before saying, "Morning, Marcus. So, what is it that we'll be doing?"
"For the first hour, you'll be repeating the same workouts that I do," said Marcus, who was currently stretching his arms. "They won't be anything too crazy, but you should find it a challenge. Afterwards, we'll be doing practical combat practice."
"All right," said Cedric. "Let's do it."
Marcus made sure to keep an eye on Cedric for the hour they spent doing the workout, but he found himself relatively surprised. Being Hufflepuff's star seeker, he knew that Cedric must've had some athletic ability, but Cedric only struggled a little bit with the workouts.
After the hour expired, he said to Cedric, "All right, time for practical combat training."
"What will we be doing?"
"You'll be casting combative spells at me," stated Marcus. "While you're doing that, I'll be trying to get closer to you however I can. If I get within striking distance, we start from the top. Are we ready?"
"Wait a second," said Cedric as he got his wand out.
Not wanting to miss anything, Marcus enhanced his vision and was astounded.
Without saying anything, waves of magic was encompassing the area, eventually forming into what he knew for sure was a multi-layered barrier.
"There," said Cedric. "I've made it so no one can hear or see us. We can train to our heart's content."
"Awesome!" said Marcus, who then thought, "I've got to be careful. If he can do all of that flawlessly, then he must possess great magical abilities."
"Let's go!" said Marcus.
Cedric started to relentlessly casting spells at him, most of which Marcus recognized.
"Stunning Spell, Time Slow Jinx, Tickling Charm," rattled Marcus in his mind as he was dodging them by a hair's breath.
Suddenly, Cedric cast what Marcus recognized to be the Knockback Spell.
Instinctively, he raised his right armguard and reduced the effect of the spell by half before deciding to go on the offensive.
He ran to Cedric, who was sticking to casting the Stunning Spell. It took everything he had, but he was able to dodge flawlessly and put a right fist just short of his face.
"How - How did you do that?!" said Cedric, clearly shocked.
"This is what it means to be physically fit," said Marcus, slightly panting. "It allowed me to put you in a bind because of one of magic's few flaws: Magic cannot be effective if it does not hit the target. Now, shall we go again?"
As Marcus lowered his fist, Cedric took on a look of fierce determination as he said, "Of course. I won't be outdone."
"Then let's go again," said Marcus with a smirk.
Eventually, Mr. Diggory came out into the yard and said, "Boys, it's time for breakfast."
"Wait, how long have we been at this?" asked Cedric.
"If I recall, an hour and a half," said Marcus, greatly smirking.
"I think we haven't made enough progress this time around," said Cedric with a smile of his own. "Shall we continue this during tonight's training session?"
"Absolutely," said Marcus.
"Well, as delighted as I am with this development, you boys are filthy and need to take a shower," said Mr. Diggory with a smirk of his own. "Clean up and breakfast will be ready when you two are done."
Mr. Diggory watched the two of them go back into the house before he entered it himself and was about to make his way to the kitchen when he saw green flames erupt from his living room's fireplace.
"Amos," he heard a voice call out.
As soon as he saw Michael Williams' head poke through the flames, he said, "Ah, good morning, Michael. Made any progress with your search?"
"We have a lead that the Dark Prince has been sited in New York City over in the U.S.," stated Michael. "Brynn and I will be following that lead for a while, so I wanted to check in to see how Marcus is doing before we head out."
"Well, not to worry, Michael," said Mr. Diggory in a reassuring manner. "I'm not going to lie, Marcus had some trouble adjusting, but all is well. He even has Cedric partaking in his training session just this morning. Does the boy really put that upon himself?"
"Yes, for better or worse," said Michael, looking troubled. "Considering what his future holds, I can only try to support him. Anything else would just hold him back."
"Well, it's doing more than all right by Cedric, so no complaints here," said Amos.
"Regardless, I'm glad to see that Marcus is doing well," said Michael. "In that case, I'll take my leave. See you later, Amos."
"See you later, Michael," said Mr. Diggory as Michael's head disappeared and the green flames dissipated.
As Marcus was showering himself, he was really glad that he got to work past his prejudice of Cedric and gotten to know him, even if it was only a little bit. He thought to himself that, just maybe, there could be something there he wouldn't believe to be possible...
The Dark Prince was perusing through his diet plan, ensuring that he didn't miss anything important. He was relieved to find that the kitchen was usable enough for what he needed and, even if that were not to be the case later on, he knew places in which to prepare his meals...
He saw that Wormtail was making his way back into the decrepit mansion with all of his groceries, groceries in which were obtained by using the Imperius Curse on a Muggle and dropped on the front door.
"Make sure to be careful putting the food away, scum," said the Dark Prince. "I would hate to have to make an unnecessary appearance amongst people because of your clumsiness."
"The Dark Lord will not be pleased that I am being pulled from his duties, my Prince," said Wormtail as he was putting away the food.
"Do not act as if you have any real importance, peon," the Dark Prince responded angrily.
"I am faithful to The Dark Lord alone, you -"
Wormtail then made the foolish mistake of blinking.
When he stopped blinking, he found the Dark Prince standing behind him, wand up against his throat and a dark presence that Wormtail had only just realized was there. He found himself trembling in fear of this new presence, but that was nothing compared to when he spoke.
"You listen here, peon," said the Dark Prince in a quiet, but terrifying tone of voice. "The only reason you're here is because no one else is available. If it was up to me, you'd have long been dead and don't think that the sorry form of a dark wizard wheezing away in the chair upstairs will save you from me. Now, you do exactly what I say, when I say, and how I say if you wish to keep your life, understood?"
Wormtail could do nothing except for nodding his head in understanding.
The Dark Prince then put his wand away and proceeded to make his way to the kitchen, though Wormtail still kept himself frozen in place. Up to this point, he had only heard stories of the Dark Prince's capabilites, but when he sensed that presence standing behind him, threatening every fiber of his being, even his feeble mind knew that the Dark Prince was capable of much more than the stories from the First Wizarding War would lead people to believe.
"Now, go to the Dark Lord, scum," he told Wormtail. "He needs to be cared for, after all."
Wormtail took off up the stairs as fast as he could, not wanting to be around the Dark Prince anymore than he had to.
The Dark Prince then sat at the dining room table, looking at The Daily Prophet and its main article about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup.
"The first step in a long path to success," he muttered to himself. "There's work that needs to be done."
He then put down the newspaper and left the mansion...
And that concludes this chapter of HP: Path of Trials! Feel free to leave a review, as this always helps me be a better writer. Also, if you have any questions you may like to ask me, leave me a PM and I promise I will answer your questions to the best of my abilities. Until then, keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter of HP: Path of Trials!
