Cedric Diggory
1. Quiddich.
Quiddich, quiddich, quiddich. Quiddich was the best thing to happen to wizard-kind since the invention of the wand. Cedric loved quiddich with all of his being. He hoped it would be his future; "Cedric Diggory, famous seeker." He watched the games at young age in awe, for by the age of four, he could fly and catch the snitch with one hand tied behind his back. His head zoomed back and forth with the players, eyes filled with stars and dreams.
2. He wasn't always an only child.
For a while, he had a younger sister. Alana Diggory was blessed with eight beautiful years, but when those were up, as was her life. At the time, Cedric had been eleven and preparing to go off to school for the first time. Alana wanted to go with her big brother more than she had ever wanted anything, and somehow, the very magically talented eight-year-old sent up "sparks of happiness!" Unfortunately, the "sparks" turned into flames and rained down upon her. The tragic death struck the hearts of the Diggory's so much that the questioned whether or not to let Cedric go.
3. Cho was beautiful.
She was always beautiful. Even though she was awkward and stick-like, she was beautiful her first day at Hogwarts. Cedric scorned the Sorting Hat for not placing them in the same house, and he scorned his parents for not having him a year sooner so that they could be in the same year. He even contemplated failing a class so that he would be put into a class lower and maybe, just maybe, that class could be Cho's.
4. He really liked Professor Lupin.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was an interesting class to begin with, but Professor Lupin was, without a doubt, the best teacher he had been fortunate enough to share a classroom with. When Lupin's secret of lycanthropy had been revealed, the first thought to cross Cedric's mind was, So what?
5. He knew.
He knew he could die in the tournament, and he knew it before he even wrote his name down and slipped it into the goblet. He knew it was risky, and he didn't tell his parents for that reason, but he had to do it for him and for trouble-making Alana. He just didn't know that he would die the way he did.
6. The first task wasn't that bad.
His dragon, unlike Harry's, was well-enough behaved that he could practically just walk up to it and take its egg. He didn't, however, let it look so simple. He shot a little shock at the dragon to get it angry enough for some good action. With a laugh, he and the dragon took battle.
7. The egg made absolutely no sense.
He poked, prodded, nudged, scratched, and peeled at his egg with no success. The darn thing just would not open. Confused, he scratched his head and tried stabbing the egg with a quill; no success. It seemed very fortunate that Professor Moody happen to come by.
8. The maze felt odd.
It felt, somehow, like it was the last place he would ever see. As he ran through it, battling the beasts inside, he took no breaths for grant-it. He breathed deeply through his nose to get the full affect of the surrounding area which, though had momentarily replaced the quiddich pitch, was quite beautiful. He had a bad feeling about grabbing the goblet in the center, but he did it anyway because, with Harry, what could go wrong?
9. Death worked slowly.
As instantaneous as it is claimed the Killing Curse is, it took Cedric a while to actually die. The spell sent him flying through the air, oh yes, but he lived until the second before he hit the ground. When he hit, however, he was stone dead.
10. "Take my body back, Harry."
Usually, a last request is made before the person died, but not with Cedric. He was dead, and it was simply his soul, come back by a spell locked between Lord Voldemort and Harry. Also back for the moment were Harry's parents and another victim of the "Dark Lord." Cedric deeply regretted being killed; now who did his parents have? No one. They were left with nothing, forced to be content with meager memories of what was and what will never be.
