The Hell of Fourth Year.
Flitwick watched Charlotte out of the corner of his eye for the moment with concern for a moment before he turned to the lesson. The tiny professor was only just getting into his stride when someone called out. "Professor, Potter's not paying attention."
Flitwick turned to study the young witch and he saw now she was pale in the face and her eyes kept blinking rapidly as if she was trying desperately to remain awake. "Miss Potter, is everything alright?" he asked with concern.
She looked at him as if realising he was speaking to her. "Yes, sir?" she asked in a whisper, getting the two words out with difficulty.
"May I ask why you're not paying attention?" Flitwick asked, trying hard to appear friendly to this girl who was going through so much although he was concerned by how pale she was.
Charlotte breathed in a raspy breath and keeled over on the desk. It made many of the class roll their eyes, and the jeers started.
"How pathetic are you, Potter?"
"What's the matter, didn't you get your nap, you big baby?"
Any further jeers were drowned out when a small bang went off from Flitwick's wand, and all of the jeers were silenced instantly.
The little charms master was furious. "That is enough! I will not tolerate this type of behaviour in my classroom; some of the other teachers may tolerate it, but you are in this school to learn how to become fully-fledged adult witches and wizards, and this behaviour will not be tolerated in this room. Now be silent!"
He made his way over to Charlotte, and he gasped when he saw she had a terrible slash wound on her back. "Miss Potter, how did this happen?" he squeaked.
"Slashed in the back," she muttered.
Flitwick gaped with horror at the injury. The back of Charlotte's school robe was slashed, and he could see the uniform jumper and shirt underneath were just as slashed, bloodied with red. He quickly waved his wand over the injury, and his horror grew as the scan picked up signs of other injuries the girl had sustained. Some of the injuries were not too serious, and many of the curses had been dispelled before they could do any lasting damage, but the latest injury had done damage to some of Charlotte's organs.
"You shouldn't be in here with this type of injury, Miss Potter," Flitwick tried hard to keep himself calm, furious not just with himself for meekly going along with Dumbledore's stupid ban which brought back awful memories of Miranda Pond, and all the others whom the so-called headmaster had obsessed with during their times at Hogwarts before they either left or became monsters, or simply bowed their heads and became puppets for the old fool, but he was also furious with the other teachers as well. "You should be in the Hospital Wing-."
"No!" Charlotte somehow managed to find the reserves of strength needed to spit the refusal out of her mouth, and the malice contained in her voice took the tiny professor by surprise. "I am not going anywhere near that bitch who calls herself a healer; I went to her the other day when I got an injury which broke my right arm. She turned me away without a thought. The moment she saw me, she just told me to get out and to stop faking. If you think I'm going near that fucking bitch, you have another thing coming."
Flitwick couldn't believe it, no. Poppy would never do such a thing…. He didn't want to believe it, but almost as though his thoughts were broadcasted to the young witch, she turned her head and he saw, to his horror, she was telling the truth, but what made the look even more horrifying was the almost dead look in her eyes. There was only a small fraction of life in them to tell Flitwick the girl was still alive.
What the hell was going on with Hogwarts?
Flitwick was becoming frightened by everything that was happening.
"Just get on with the class, Professor," the girl whispered.
"But I can't leave you like this-!" Flitwick protested.
"Yes, you can," Charlotte spat before she glared at him, and Flitwick found himself taking a step back at the dead look there which was mixed with anger and bitterness. "None of you has cared about your students before, why start now?"
Why start now?
The words reverberated around his mind, and Flitwick was reminded again of Miranda Pond, and how she had just become so tired of what had happened each and every year, and how he had not helped matters much despite his best attempts to mitigate the worst of the attacks on her person. Not for the first time, he cursed himself for once more helping Dumbledore do more harm to the students of Hogwarts with his stupid games.
"At least let me try, Miss Potter," he said quietly while he tried hard to stop himself from recoiling at the sight of those two emerald green eyes which looked so much like Lily's, only there was little life there.
"Try what?" the girl reared back.
Filius did his best to hide how worried he was now, although he was becoming terrified now. Charlotte reminded him of a wounded animal trying to protect herself, and he couldn't blame her.
Merlin, what the hell have you been through? he thought with pity and terror for the daughter of one of his favourite student, and his anger and contempt for Dumbledore returned.
"Let me try to heal you now," he said, "I might not be great with some healing spells, but I do have some experience."
The look Charlotte sent him made Flitwick feel even worse than before. It was clear the girl didn't believe him and his offer for help. She stared at him unblinkingly with those dead-looking emerald green eyes of hers, clearly trying to see for herself whether she could trust him or not.
Damn you, Dumbledore, and your plans…How many more children are you going to torture simply because you are so taken in by your own legend and delusions of Godhood? Flitwick fought to keep his temper under control, but it was virtually impossible. He was relieved when Charlotte seemed to accept his offer of help, but he could see how guarded she was.
"Go ahead," she whispered so quietly he almost missed it.
Flitwick raised his wand, knowing he would need to call upon all of his training in the magical healing arts just to get this right. He flicked his wand, and the injury was sealed up. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the injury was healed, but he had no expertise on how to deal with the blood loss.
"There, I've sealed the injury up, but you should think about how you're going to deal with the blood loss, Miss Potter," he said.
"Thank you," Charlotte said after a minute, looking like she couldn't believe she was even saying such words to a Hogwarts professor.
Flitwick tried to smile back at the young witch even though he was truly worried for her, although as he looked at it, he wasn't too surprised the young witch clearly still didn't trust the Hogwarts staff, and why should she after everything she had been through?
"You're welcome, Miss Potter," he said, and he walked back to the front of the classroom to resume the lesson.
As he continued with the lesson after needing a few moments to remember what he was going to say since the horror he had felt towards the young witch's pain and her lack of trust in the staff of the school, which wasn't too shocking since none of the teachers had really bothered to help the girl once ever since she had stepped in through the door.
So many of the teachers had their own ideas of what the girl should be like. Severus was the worst with his vitriolic rants of how Charlotte was arrogant like her father, but no-one was interested in helping her.
Charlotte had been hurt so badly over the years she refused to trust anyone, but what really frightened and worried Flitwick the most was the fact Poppy refused to help the girl, which went against her oath as a healer. What was she playing at? Surely she knew what would happen if she refused to help a patient?
Flitwick didn't know, but he knew he was not going to look forward to the staff meeting. When the bell rang, at last, Charlotte was the first person to leave the room.
XXX
"Filius, is everything alright?" Poppy asked as he walked into the hospital wing office and found she wasn't in the ward itself, realising it was the most logical place to look.
The tiny charms master shook his head while he flicked his wand to erect a few silencing wards around the room. "No, it's not. I have just had to heal a student who was turned away by you."
Poppy looked at him with surprise although she was surprised by Flitwick putting up the wards even if she said nothing about it, knowing this must be an intense conversation in the making if Flitwick would go that far to ensure privacy. "What? Who was the student? What happened?"
"You heard me correctly, Poppy. The student is Charlotte Potter," Flitwick paused so he could gauge the school healer's reaction, surprised he even needed to tell her whom she'd pushed away. He saw her look down at her feet. She seemed genuinely regretful, but Filius could not find it within himself to reassure her. "She received a terrible injury to her back which caused her to lose a lot of blood. I managed to stop it, but when I told her she needed to see you, she was vehemently opposed to it; she said, and I quote 'I am not going anywhere near that bitch who calls herself a healer; I went to her the other day, when I got an injury which broke my right arm. She turned me away without a thought. The moment she saw me, she just told me to get out and to stop faking. If you think I'm going near that fucking bitch, you have another thing coming.'"
Flitwick paused so he could see what Poppy was thinking. The nurse looked shaken and horrified that anyone, particularly someone who had been in her ward frequently would say that about her, but she looked down. "It was Dumbledore. He used his power as Headmaster," she spat the word with disgust and shame, "to stop me from checking on her."
"But why?" Flitwick demanded, horrified. What made it worse was he wasn't really surprised.
"I have no idea. I don't even know what is going through that manipulative bastard's mind," Poppy walked over to the window, clearly agitated, so it took a moment for her calm herself and assemble her thoughts. "This is not the first time Dumbledore has made me do this to a student, and like you with his hold over you as the headmaster of Hogwarts, I can't do anything about it. But it's worse for me because I have to just look into the eyes of the students, and then say no."
Flitwick licked his lips. He hadn't known about this. "Who were the students?"
Poppy sighed. "There have been so many it's hard to keep track, but you should know one of the names."
It was Flitwick's turn to sigh. "Miranda Pond."
"Yes."
"I was thinking about her the other day," Flitwick whispered sadly. "I never felt more ashamed of my profession until I saw her body swinging from that noose."
"I know. Miranda is just one of a small number of people who've been pushed by Albus for reasons I will never understand," Poppy said. "What's Dumbledore's current stance, its been weeks since the Goblet chucked out the names of the champions."
Flitwick sighed. "No change, there's still a ban. I don't understand him. I remember teaching him when he was a student, back then he had been a genius with a thoughtful intellect, always three steps ahead. Now? He seems so sure of himself it isn't funny. He is convinced Charlotte will just forgive the Gryffindors, and all will be well even though Ron Weasley tried to break her cat's neck."
"Nightstar? That will never happen; Charlotte loves cats, and she absolutely hates it whenever someone hurts them, especially her own. Last year, she brought Nightstar to me after Weasley cursed the cat."
"What for?"
"I don't know, but I can tell you one thing; Charlotte was dangerously close to doing something nasty to him, and truthfully it would have been a lesson Weasley could have done learning about."
Flitwick wondered how that had gone. "Dumbledore is convinced Charlotte will forgive the Gryffindors, even if they wanted to cast her out."
Poppy scoffed. "That will never happen. Filius, I know Charlotte Potter." She closed her eyes. "Contrary to Severus, I know the girl since I spend more time with her, even more than Minerva. And she is not the forgiving type; if you push her the wrong way, she will just lash out back again. She is tough. She might share some of James and Lily's traits, but what Snape and Dumbledore and even Minerva fail to understand is she's her own person. Hermione Granger once came in here after Charlotte was injured in her first year, and gave her a load of potions homework. Severus had written some really nasty comments, comparing her to James. I saw them, but Charlotte was apathetic. She truly does not care about Snape or his feelings towards James. Nor does she really care about their history. I asked her about it, and she said if Snape wants to argue with her father, she can arrange it. She said it so darkly and I saw a dark glint in her eye which Lily never had before, and then it was gone."
"What happened then?" Flitwick asked.
Poppy looked turned to him. "Filius, I was there on the battlefield during the Grindelwald war. I saw the murderous look in some of that man's followers. I saw the same look in Charlotte's eyes, although it was more calculating; she quickly remembered where she was, and it went away, but it was there. I have never told anyone, not even Albus. I knew if I did he might try something with her, but I don't think she's dark or evil. I think she's someone who has been forced to do terrible things in order to survive. We know she grew up on the streets of London after her relatives died, who knows what she had to deal with?"
Flitwick didn't know how to respond to the influx of information he'd just received so he moved on. "I remember being so happy she was coming, but she was always in the background….," he said.
"Don't be fooled. I think Gryffindor had a Slytherin in their midst," Poppy interrupted.
This was news to Flitwick, and the little professor frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Just that. Charlotte has so many characteristics of that house I have no doubt Salazar Slytherin himself would have given his lungs just to have her there. She's not the bigoted moronic type that inhabits that House, she's cunning and she is dangerous. You can see glimmers of it from time to time. I'm worried, not just about her, but for the champions and anyone else who gets in her way."
"Do you think she's dangerous to the school?"
Poppy Pomfrey had spent more time with Charlotte than anyone else so she had a greater insight into the fourth year girl's personality. "She can be, and considering what's going on, can you blame her?"
"No," Flitwick suddenly chuckled as a thought popped into her mind. "I would like to have seen Severus' face if she had been sorted into his house."
Poppy chuckled as well. "Especially since he's fixated on her, telling everyone she's a female version of James. That's not fair - she might physically look like a blend between her parents, but Charlotte is someone unique. I just wish she had gone into Slytherin; it might mean we wouldn't have to keep hearing how "arrogant like her father" she is from Severus all the time."
Flitwick closed his eyes. "I wish he would grow up and be a man for a change," he grumbled. "He keeps comparing her to James, saying she needs to humble, and yet in his own little world he was nothing but an innocent victim."
"That's far from the truth, and everyone who taught the two knows that," Poppy agreed as she remembered the curses Snape and his Junior Death Eater buddies cast on other students, especially muggle-borns. "James never picked on those who didn't have a hope of being able to fight back. But Snape has become a miserable bully, I can't help but hope he gets it back in spades."
Although she agreed with him since Severus needed to be brought down to Earth by a few broomsticks, Poppy closed her eyes and turned to Flitwick. "Do you know who cast that curse on her?"
"No, but I do know this… from what you've told me, we might have a ticking time-bomb on our hands. I just wish I understood what Dumbledore was doing. It's almost like he's trying to drive people to the dark. He's done it with Tom Riddle, who became You-Know-Who, and we know what that one tried to do in the seventies and eighties. But what frightens me the most is Dumbledore isn't learning anything from his mistakes and is now trying to destroy the life of another young orphaned student. It's almost as if he wants to create dark lords."
"I wouldn't be surprised if she does snap," Poppy warned. "But Charlotte isn't like You-Know-Who; she doesn't care about the Ministry of Magic, and she definitely doesn't give a damn about ruling anyone. She has said more than once she just wants to be left alone. Did you hear how Draco Malfoy and Charlotte got into a fight two years ago?"
Flitwick looked up sharply. "I do remember. Severus wanted to kick her out, he clamoured for it before Charlotte showed us a memory of what young Mr Malfoy had actually done. He threatened to rape her, going into great detail about it, when they neared graduation. Albus had no choice but to overturn it, especially since she sent the memory off to the ICW, after that there was nothing the Malfoys or Fudge could do about it."
Poppy chuckled a little before her expression tightened. "Filius, I spoke to Charlotte after the incident; she'd been given a detention for something unrelated. Malfoy was still here, still injured since he had been hit with a nasty curse which made it hazardous just to move him. She took one look at him and sneered. I asked her if she felt sorry for him. She said no, she said if anyone tried to touch her, she would make them watch as she went after their family before snapping their necks. Charlotte Potter is dangerous if you push her the wrong way, otherwise she's as gentle as a kitten. I am worried about the tournament, Filius. This might be the time where Charlotte really becomes dangerous, and Dumbledore will have to watch as another student he's poked and prodded and manipulated so many times becomes unstable."
Oh, Lily, I wish you were here to protect your daughter, Flitwick thought as he listened to what the school healer had to say with horror that grew within him.
XXX
"This has gone on long enough, Albus!" Flitwick yelled as soon as he went through the staffroom and saw the elderly wizard sitting serenely in his chair.
"Has something occurred, Filius?" Dumbledore asked as the Charms master approached his chair.
"Yes, I just had to treat Miss Potter after she had been slashed in the back with an overpowered cutting spell. The curse even damaged some of her vital organs. And thanks to your ban preventing Poppy from doing anything and even turning her away when the worst of this insanity injures her, she refused to go anywhere near the Hospital Wing. She could have bled to death."
"That would never have happened," Dumbledore didn't even sound concerned, but Flitwick had known the Headmaster long enough to know when the old fool was really interested and he was now.
Knowing Dumbledore was playing this off although he was calculating how bad the injury was, Flitwick sighed. "Albus, please…stop this madness before it is too late. Lift the ban. Allow us to help her, or do you want a repeat of Miranda Pond? What about Stephen Thorn? Tom Riddle?"
Dumbledore's eyes blazed. "I have everything under control, Filius."
"Do you? You are encouraging the entire school, including two foreign schools to abuse a girl who should be protected, not pushed into one mess of your own making after another. How much longer will it be before she snaps?" Flitwick asked while he mentally kept watch on every word he uttered in case he said something he would regret; some of the things Poppy had told him had frightened him, and he didn't want the healer to be interrogated by Dumbledore if he put two and two together.
Flitwick grumbled when he saw Dumbledore looking supremely unconcerned, and so he walked away. But Dumbledore was anything but unconcerned.
Dumbledore sighed, mentally drawing back the anger he felt towards the charms master for bringing up some of his failures. He had wanted the students to toughen the targets for some of his long term plans before he swooped in to recover them, and give them the aid they needed. But it still wasn't time for him to help Charlotte. He needed a bit more time to wait until her morale was down to a minimum.
The plan he had drawn up for the Girl-Who-Lived was still on track. While he had lost sight of her when she had been a child and the Dursleys were killed, and there was nothing he could have done to find the child then, he had been unconcerned when he had found out she was actually alive since it meant his plans could proceed.
Part of the plan had been to ensure she would become friendly with the Weasley family, who would keep watch over her while making sure she didn't have much contact with other students, specifically those children whose families were long-time allies of the Potters. The alliance between the families - Potter, McMillan, Bones, Longbottom, and Greengrass - had been one of the biggest power blocs in magical history, and for centuries it had existed and it had done so much for their world, progressing and growing the magical world as it went.
Dumbledore had hated the alliance because its agenda was opposite what he wanted. He believed the magical world should never change, and he had long since given up trying to make them see his philosophy. The deaths of Lily and James Potter had given him an opportunity he had not expected, and he wrote in his plan to find a way of using Charlotte Potter to break the alliance once and for all. It only came into fruition in the girl's first year, and it worked perfectly.
It was so simple.
The children of the alliance would have been told by their parents to become friends with other members of the alliance, and they couldn't do so with Charlotte Potter, the heiress of the Potter family and the last member of that family still alive, if the girl refused to see them thanks to messages from Ron Weasley who would have been told to turn them away.
The Hufflepuffs would just accept it, seeing as the members of that house were beyond gullible it was stupid, and Daphne Greengrass would have been told Charlotte thought she was evil since she had a snake badge on her chest, and Neville Longbottom was a coward by nature.
Getting rid of them was not so difficult.
The black mark against the family would be considerable, although not for long, and then he would reap the rewards when the girl died during her last confrontation with Voldemort, and then he would step in and finish the Dark Lord off.
For the whole of Charlotte's first year, some of the children had tried approaching Charlotte to speak with her, only for Ronald and then later Hermione Granger, whom he had persuaded to do the same, telling her those children were bad influences, but it wasn't until the next year with the release of the basilisk, the first cracks had appeared in the alliance. It was only a matter of time before it collapsed, and Dumbledore's own political agenda would have little opposition. With the Tri-wizard tournament on, the cracks were deepening into fissures. It was only a matter of time before the real results came.
But what amazed him the most was that Charlotte had not come to him for help. Surely she knew he could be trusted?
Dumbledore decided to wait for a few more days before he made his move. The more time he put this off the more malleable the girl was going to be, and this time there would be no mistake. He knew he would need to call off the ban soon as well, especially so he could get some peace away from the arguments he was fielding from Minerva and Filius, although Severus was enjoying this a great deal. Not for the first time, Albus wished the potions master would grow up and stop thinking the girl was her father, but if it helped then he wouldn't say a word.
XXX
Charlotte wasn't expecting to bump into Cedric Diggory. It was as much of a surprise to her as it was for him, although in Cedric's case it was a good surprise since he had been trying desperately to get his house to stop what they were doing. Charlotte was merely coming out of the library after bunking off several of the classes she had, although she was still in DADA and Charms after she had practically withdrawn from all the others.
Herbology had become the battleground between her and the Hufflepuffs and their bitch of a Head of House, and they were aided by her former house who had access to plant weapons. Potions had become unbearable since Snape had gone out of his way to torment her, and even her tolerance had made worn thin. History was useless, and Astronomy was the perfect opportunity for someone to kill her since it was late at night, and Transfiguration because she was simply tired of her incompetent head of house who refused to act simply because she was a weakling.
She had continued to use her Time-Turner to secretly attend Runes and Arithmancy, and she had been taking copious notes so she could find out the best ways of dealing with the Tournament. She had no way of knowing what the First Task was going to be, but the more she thought about it, the more determined she was to be ready for it.
Her mind was on other things when she bumped into Cedric, and when she looked into his eyes she backed away.
"No, its okay," the older Hufflepuff said, thinking he had scared her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I won't."
"I'm not scared," Charlotte retorted, trying to find the right time to flee. But she could see he seemed so sincere. "What do you want?" she asked him, hoping this was quick before she was found here talking to him; the Hufflepuffs had gone out of their way to keep them apart, and they had boldly threatened her with serious harm if she tried to even say "hello" to Cedric. If one of them found her here with him, she didn't know what they'd do.
"I just want to talk," Cedric replied, wishing his House had just left him alone so he could speak to her, but they hadn't; they had followed him everywhere, surrounding him like bodyguards, telling him how great he was, and how Charlotte Potter should die, things like that. It had made him sick, and it had also made him wonder if this was the true spirit of Hufflepuff, the house of the loyal. "I wanted to see you, and believe it or not, I believe you when you said you didn't enter. I saw the fear and worry during that night, even though she were angry with Dumbledore and Fleur."
"Those are nice words, but they're still words," Charlotte pointed out, "how do I know you're telling me the truth?"
Cedric took out his wand, noting her sudden tenseness at the sight of it. "I, Cedric Diggory, do hereby swear on my life, I believe Charlotte Lillian Potter when she says she did not enter the Tri-wizard tournament. So mote it be."
Cedric glowed with magic as the oath took hold. He was still alive.
Charlotte looked at him with shock. "You….really believe me?" she whispered.
Cedric nodded. "I do. I've also been trying to stop my House from causing you harm, but it hasn't worked. They're crazy, they are obsessed with me being the champion, and they are not happy you are one. Hufflepuff has been pushed to the side for so long by the other houses, and now that we've got the chance in the tournament, they are angry."
"I can understand that," Charlotte replied, "but that doesn't justify what they're doing. There's a difference between being angry and being threatening, after all. No offence, but that doesn't set a good precedent."
"None taken, and you're right. But I can help," he said.
"How?" she asked wearily.
"I have a Truth Spell."
"They exist?"
"Yeah, didn't you know?" he asked in surprise.
"Er no, I didn't."
"Hold on, I thought, well everyone does, you were raised in the magical world. How could you not know about something like that?" Cedric asked in confusion and more than a little concern someone as famous as Charlotte Potter, the last heiress of an old family, had so little knowledge about the magical world.
"No, I was raised in the muggle world," Charlotte clarified, trying not to think about her early years in that world. "I didn't find out about my magic until I was eleven."
She was telling the truth. She hadn't known about magic even though she'd often been suspicious about some of the things that had happened around her, which had only made the Dursleys lash out at her before she killed them.
"What?" Cedric whispered in horror. "Now it makes sense."
"What does?"
"Susan and Ernie often complained about you whenever they tried to speak to you during your first two years. The Boneses and the McMillians are members of an old family alliance with your own family; when you didn't respond to them, and your friends, Weasley and Granger, pushed them away, they thought you were breaking the alliance," Cedric explained, looking at her desperately; if he could show the Truth Spell results to the rest of the House, he could speak to Ernie and Susan and the others…
But he saw Charlotte look down at her toes.
"You knew?" he asked in surprise.
Charlotte nodded. "Yeah. I've known about the Alliance since last year. I had plenty of time in Diagon Alley, and I found out about the Alliance then. But when I saw the names, I thought it wasn't worth it. Take Neville Longbottom; he was closer to me than Susan and Ernie, and yet he never tried to speak to me, not even when those two were out. When I heard about the alliance, I was furious; these people could have tried to find me in the muggle world, but they didn't even try. See it from my perspective; I am alone, in the muggle world. I have no family who would guide me, I had to grow up by myself, alone and in a muggle orphanage. No-one from the alliance tried to help."
Cedric looked down at the smaller girl with horror. His family had never been a part of the Alliance, but they had always been on good terms with the different members. To hear this….It would certainly send shockwaves in the wrong places, and since she had told him to see things from her perspective, Cedric could honestly understand her mindset even if he was worried that she had no idea what this would do politically, but he saw she didn't care.
"I have spent the last year wondering what to do with the Alliance, but with everything that's happened since, I haven't really had time to speak to any of the members," Charlotte went on, speaking with her "couldn't care less" voice about the potential consequences. "Anyway, what's this spell?"
"Oh, that's easy," Cedric said, thankful they were moving on away from the worrying topic they'd been discussing. "You just have to say you didn't enter the tournament, and I will cast the spell. If you glow white, it means you are speaking the truth."
"What happens if it detects a lie?"
"It will turn red."
She nodded. "Okay," she said in agreement; she had little faith in this since the whole mess had pointed out just how many enemies she actually had in Hogwarts. "Let's do it now, hmm?" she waited until Cedric had his wand pointed at her, the tip already glowing with a yellow light. "I didn't enter the Tri-wizard tournament. I never wanted anything to do with it. I just wanted to be left alone, and I truly don't care about Hogwarts glory. I also hate being the Girl-Who-Lived; all it has done is tear my life to bits, even if it has shaped my life."
Cedric cast the spell, doing his best to hide the worrying last sentence of her statement. It made him start to see there was a lot more to Charlotte Potter. As he had expected, the girl's body glowed white.
Once he cancelled the spell, he smiled. "Charlotte, I am so sorry for everything that's happened to you. I know I can't speak for them, but they have gone too far, and I'm also sorry I didn't say or do anything during your second year. I know it's cheeky and you might refuse, but do you think you could forgive me."
Charlotte gaped at him in surprise, seeing at once he wasn't pretending, and for the first time ever she let the dam fall, and all the pain and loneliness she had endured for years, spilt out. She started crying at one of the sweetest things she had ever heard.
Cedric looked at her in horror. He had just apologised to her…. then he realised the truth which had been nagging away at his senses for the last few minutes. He felt sick, sickened with not just himself. He was sickened by the whole magical world; Hogwarts and its students, the Ministry, everyone in the magical public, the so-called alliance of which the Potters were long and honoured members of, he was sickened by all of it.
This girl was a victim, not a monster. She wasn't a superhero, and it made him physically ill that everyone had hoisted her onto a pedestal, constantly deriding her for not doing anything they considered to be Light and righteous, and hating her whenever she appeared to be doing something dark.
She was just a girl, a kid who had grown up alone without anyone in her life. She had been betrayed by her godfather, and even her Hogwarts experience was hellish with the teachers either turning a blind eye or even taking part in the bullying themselves.
Everyone expected her to be a hero, someone to look up to, and someone to turn against, and that was a mistake because she was not a superhero.
Charlotte might have been a criminal, but she wasn't heartless. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek after standing on her toes. "That's the sweetest thing I've heard for a long time," she said truthfully, although she knew Dobby and Winky were both sweet, but ever since Sirius and Remus had both betrayed her, she hadn't really spoken to a member of her own species in this manner.
Cedric blushed. He might have a girlfriend already in Cho, but Charlotte wasn't like her. She wasn't clingy, constantly hanging off of his arms, simpering away, and crying whenever he didn't pay her any attention. Charlotte Potter was different, but he didn't know just how different she was. "I just wish I could help, some champion I am," he said, hoping to poke fun at himself would make her feel better, although it was a poor attempt.
She kissed him on the cheek again. "At least you have said and done something nice to me; Krum looks at me unblinkingly, its creepy but I can see he feels sorry for me, although the bastard won't do anything to stop it from happening in the first place. Delacour is the opposite; every time she sees me, she mocks me, asks if I've gotten enough attention."
Cedric pulled the girl into his arms and hugged her. He placed a Notice-Me-Not charm around them both so they would have some privacy, but he wouldn't know until later someone had seen them together, although they had been too far away to actually hear what was being said, having caught the last few minutes, and seen Charlotte kiss Cedric on the cheek, something which angered the onlooker.
