"Um, excuse me sir, would you happen to be Mr. Payne?"
An old, weary Muggle turned around to look the Diggorys in the face with droopy, bloodshot eyes. "Ay," the man said. "And you would be?"
"Oh, uh, we're the Diggorys, Amos and Cedric. We should be in there somewhere, I believe."
Well that's a bit stupid, Cedric thought. Of course, we're going to be in there! Basil, or whoever that was, said so himself, he told us to come to this field didn't he?
"Yeah, you're on here," Payne answered, leaning forwards. He let out a sigh, heavy breath stinging Cedric's nostrils. It was a vulgar scent: a tint of past meals, smoke, and what must have been a touch of alcohol blending to form an unknown toxic fume that made him want to gag.
"You have that one," Payne continued, pointing to a vast forest.
Mr. Diggory leaned in the direction that Payne had indicated, peering intently at the dense woodlands. "What one?" he asked.
"Oh, uh, not over there, my bad," the intoxicated man said, words slurring together. "It's the one right over there, near the woods. And, uh, here's a map of the…the campgrounds." He handed Cedric a small pamphlet, who took it hesitantly. "Says that you've had the spot reserved for, um, two weeks. Is that right?" Mr. Diggory nodded. "And, uh, there's going to be a sign in front of your tent. So now, you, need to pay. Right-o."
Mr. Diggory pulled out a wad of money, holding it unsurely in his hands for a moment. "Ced, you wanna help me with this?" he muttered, leaning in towards his son. Reluctantly, Cedric took the money from his father, pulling several bills free from their bundle. He handed it to Payne, who nodded them off.
"The least they could do is keep the drunken Muggles on duty," Mr. Diggory said as they made their way across the campsite.
"Really?" Cedric looked up at his father, a bit confused. "Why?"
"You have to look at it from the overview, son," he explained. "If all the Muggles are all out of it, then they won't really remember any of the magic that goes on. It could save the Ministry a bit of trouble. And if that can be done, then all of them will be able to give a bit more of their time to setting up at Hogwarts for the Tr---"
There was a bang from somewhere off in the campgrounds. A puff of smoke wafted in the air no more then a quarter mile away. Screams echoed through the grounds for a moment, before Mr. Diggory turned to the commotion, preparing himself to Apparate.
"Wait, Dad, what are you doing?" Cedric called as he began to run after him.
"You just go to our spot," he said over his shoulder. "I'm going to go check on the problem, I'll meet you there in about an hour." With a resounding crack, he disappeared.
"Mm, fun," Cedric muttered under his breath, tucking his hands into his pockets and shuffling his feet along the dirt-strewn campgrounds. I don't see why he has to but into everyone's business, he thought as he began kicking a small pebble along the ground in the direction of his campsite. He watched the pebble, paying no mind to where he was going. His lack of attention came back to bite him, though, when he ran into someone.
"Oh, sorry," Cedric said distractedly, attempting to find the pebble again. He had become quite attached to it, in an odd sort of way, and not having it there to kick bugged him.
"No problem, Diggory," said a boy that Cedric was sure he knew, even if it was only by voice.
The gray-eyed boy looked up from his search. There, standing before him, was Oliver Wood, who had just left Hogwarts that year. He was the old Captain and Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, and always the competitive one. "Hey, Wood," Cedric said, giving the boy a firm handshake.
"How have you been?" Oliver asked. Cedric knew that he didn't really care, and that he was still sore about losing the game last year, just as the Weasley twins had been.
"Mm, all right," he responded nonetheless. "And you? How's, uh, everything outside of school?"
"Pretty good actually," Oliver responded, shoving his hands into his pockets, walking with Cedric as he continued his tread to his encampment. "Don't have any schoolwork to do, thank Merlin for that. Things are kind of quiet around the house; I've been looking for a place for myself, actually. Oh yeah, I've been signed onto the reserve team for Puddlemore United."
Cedric could tell that by the way that Oliver had said it, he had been waiting to burst out and tell him since they had run in to each other. He glanced up at the former Quidditch Captain and smiled. "Good for you, Wood," he said, a mixture of fake cheeriness and gloom in his voice. He wanted to add, I'd never even make it there, but didn't, thinking better of it.
"Yeah, thanks. Hey, where's your tent? Somewhere around here?"
"It should be back there a ways," Cedric replied, vaguely waving a hand in the way they were walking. "What about you? Near here?"
"Oh, no, I'm on a whole different field entirely. The first one, I think. Not sure about that, though. I just felt like, you know," he gestured absentmindedly at the ground, "like walking, I guess."
Cedric nodded, and the two lapsed into quiet. The shorter boy found another stone, and began bumping it along with his toe again. Eventually, if became a game of volleying it back and forth between him and Oliver. They lobbed it to one another for moments, followed by adding special moves, finally trying complex patterns, dodging around other campers as they punted the rock in some strange way.
At last, the pair reached the Diggorys' grounds. A wooden sign in front of a small clearing read, "Digery," and when Wood saw it, he laughed. "Messed your name up, did they? They've gotten quite a few of us wrong, but we're coming from all over, so you really can't blame them, can you?"
"Uh, I guess not," Cedric agreed, not really understanding why any of the names were messed up to begin with.
"Hey, well, I've got to get back to my tent and all that. I don't think that anyone knows that I even left. So, nice seeing you. Maybe we'll meet up at the game, huh?"
There was a stingy note in his voice, though it was well hidden. It seemed that any time Quidditch came up in their conversations, Oliver got a bit cold, reflecting on the past.
"Yeah, I guess," Cedric replied. "And, um, Wood?" Oliver turned around to face him. "You know that match last year?" Oliver's head tilted back a bit, eyes twitching slightly. "It wasn't a fair game. Nothing to base our skills off of. You had a better team than we did, and you know it. You won the House Cup, after all."
Oliver took a step closer to Cedric, a menacing look on his face. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything, the boy thought bleakly.
Instead of saying anything, however, Oliver held out his hand, waiting for Cedric to take it. "You're all right, Diggory," he said, giving his hand a resolute shake. With that, Oliver Apparated.
Well isn't this fun? Cedric thought glumly as he sat down on a log near the sign. Dad's off butting into everyone else's business, the tent's not here to set up, Wood probably thinks that I'm mental, and the Muggles are all drunk. What fun to be had. "I'm going to go walk around."
He said this last bit out loud to no one in particular as he hoisted himself from his seat on the wood, snickering softly as the pun dawned on him. For some reason, he was happy. Perhaps it was because he had amended things with Oliver, and thought that now, maybe the twins would get over it as well, perhaps allowing them all to form an alliance, even if it was an uneasy one. Or perhaps it was that he was at the World Cup, and less the twelve hours from the greatest moment in his life. Or was it that….
Cedric stopped as a girl came running up to him. "Hi, Cedric, right?" she said, dark hair settling around her shoulders nicely.
"Um, uh, yeah," he stuttered. "Yeah, Cedric. I'm sorry, do I…do I know you?"
"Oh, not personally. I'm Cho. Cho Chang." She stuck out her hand. Cedric took it, believing it to be possibly the hundredth handshake that day. She had a surprisingly strong grip. "We played each other last year. Ravenclaw Seeker and Captain," she concluded.
"Oh, yeah, I remember that!" Cedric beamed. "You tried to pull off a Feint, right?"
"Yeah, that's the game. Oh, I was so angry that you didn't fall for it!"
"Well I saw the Snitch before that. I wasn't going to fall for it that easily!"
"Ooh, we lost that game so badly…."
"Hey, cheer up some. What's done is done. Neither of our Houses won the cup, so why should we dwell on it?"
Cho smiled up at him. "Yeah, I guess you're right. So…how's your summer been?"
The two lapsed into a conversation about how the past month had been spent, though there was nothing particularly fascinating from either end. They made their way slowly around the vicinity of the second campground, talking as though they had always been friends.
In a way, Cedric thought back on it later, it was, strangely enough, someone that he had known for much of his life, without actually knowing her. They had been at Hogwarts together for going on five years, only separated by House and age. They knew each other by distant friendships and twisted class schedules, occasionally passing one another in the Great Hall, but it was no more then that.
Yet here they were, acting the part of best friends.
Ironic, Cedric thought, a distorted grin pasted to his face.
"-Said that there was going to be something going on at Hogwarts this year, but he wouldn't tell me what." Cho's voice snapped Cedric out of his trance.
"Now that you mention it," he said, reflecting on the brief moments before his father left to take care of things on the other side of the campground, "my dad did say something. He was saying that if there are no real problems here, the Ministry wizards will have more time to be concerned with setting up for something. He didn't finish his sentence, though, so I don't know what."
Cho's face depicted a great effort of thought, so Cedric allowed himself to drift into his mind's opinions once more. What could it be that the Ministry has to set up for? Could it be the same thing that Cho is talking about?
Cedric looked down at his watch for the first time since arriving at the site. It's been more then an hour all ready, he realized. I wonder if Dad's back….
He stopped where he was, saying to Cho, "Hey, my dad's probably back at my site about now, so I'm gonna head back. You…um, you wanna come with me? My dad won't mind, I don't think."
"Oh," Cho sighed, "I would love to come back with you." Cedric's face lit up. That's great, he silently beamed; now I won't have to suffer Dad's inane rambling alone! And we can talk a while more, and get to know each other, and maybe even sit at the Cup together! "But I can't," she finished. "My parents are probably worried about me. I told them I wouldn't be gone for long, and that I was just visiting a friend of mine. They'll probably think that I was abducted or something."
She let out a faltering laugh, and Cedric's face fell. Thankfully, she didn't notice it, or just didn't make comment of it. "Yeah, well, hope to see you at the Cup tonight," he said, trying to force himself to sound happier then he felt.
"I guess," she agreed. "If not, we'll see each other in a month. Right?"
"Right."
Cho turned to walk away. Cedric concealed his hands in the depths of his jean pockets, watching her walk away. She didn't get far, though, before she turned around, calling, "Goodbye, Cedric! I'll owl you sometime!"
He smiled. "Bye, Cho! I promise to write back when you do!"
The couple smiled brightly once, then turned to go back to their respective locations.
Only as he reached what would become his overnight home did he truly understand the magnitude of the event. Seas of green and red flooded the field, cheering wizards and witches, and even a few gamblers, dotting it in waves. There were huddles of Irish supporters that sat discussing Lynch's latest victory for Ireland. Packs of Bulgarian fans catcalled and jeered, exclaiming the brilliance that was Viktor Krum.
Cedric smiled. This is the most perfect place on Earth, he thought as he passed a small child waving around a green Ireland flag. It set him to thinking, Whom am I going to support?
He pushed through a mob of bidders and gamblers, finding himself back at his campgrounds, where his father stood, magicking their tent into place.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Cedric asked as he rushed forwards to stop him.
"Putting the tent up," he replied, giving a final flick of his wrist. "Why?"
"We're supposed to set up like Muggles. It's bad enough that the inside is about as Wizard as it gets, but we could at least act like it's not."
"What's done is done, son, no use in fighting it. Now did you get us water?"
Cedric glowered at his father for sheer lack of understanding. "What did you want me to get it in? You ran off, remember? So I had to walk around for the last hour. Alone." Of course, this was a lie, as he was with both Oliver and Cho, but still, if he could kick up the guilty act, it may earn him a few explanations.
More then anything – except maybe the World Cup – Cedric wanted to know what was going to happen at Hogwarts. If he couldn't get that, then he'd go crazy.
His father picked up a rusted and dirtied old in pail. "Here's a bucket, now go on, get us water."
"There's a sink inside. Why can't you use that?"
"Trying to make it difficult, are you?"
"I'm trying to make it difficult? What about you? Running off and minding what everyone else is doing, who knows where." He paused for a moment. "What were you doing?"
Mr. Diggory looked up at his son from his newfound seat on the log. "You mean, back with that cracking noise?" Cedric nodded his head forwards. "A little kid got his hands on a wand and started setting things on fire. Set a few tents aflame and caused a sapling to fall over, but no extensive damage. We were able to convince the Muggles that it was just a wild campfire."
Cedric shuffled a few stray sticks into a pile while listening to his dad, then a few more, adding leaves and mosses this time, and then some more, until a small pile was formed. He sighed in defeat as he took his wand, gave it a flick, muttering, "Incendio," and watching as the wood lit itself on fire.
"Muggles, huh?" His father quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Well, I guess that…" Cedric stuttered. "You know…um…."
"Never mind."
There was a short moment of quiet between the two, but the thought kept resurfacing in Cedric's mind: What was going to happen at Hogwarts this year?
He tried to preoccupy himself from asking, using all sorts of odd methods. He kicked at stones on the ground, he wrote words in the dirt using the toe of his shoe, he counted the times that the fire cracked or popped, causing spurts of ash or smoke, but he couldn't hold it in. He needed to know what was going to happen. That, or he would die of curiosity.
"Dad," he burst out after spelling 'Surprise at Hogwarts' in the ground and scratching it out, "is there something that's going to happen this year at school that…I should know about?"
Mr. Diggory straightened on his log. "Why would you ask something like that?" he asked, feigning stupidity.
"You were saying before you left that the Ministry would do well to go without any problems here so they could have more time to set up for something. And while you were gone, I was talking with a school friend of mine. Her dad also said something like that; only he told her that something was happening at the school this year for sure. What is it?"
Mr. Diggory stood up, stretching his back. "There's nothing all that important happening this year. Don't worry. It's going to be a…safe…school year."
Could there be dementors coming back? No, that would be stupid, especially after last year. Then what is it?
Cedric gave his father a patronizing look. "I don't think that you're being entirely honest with me, Dad," he said, letting his face drop in disappointment. "But if you don't want to tell me…I guess I'll wait." Ooh, smart, Ced. Now he'll never tell you.
"Why…don't we wait until after we've eaten to further discuss this, eh, son?" He pushed back the flap that served as a door to the tent and walked inside.
So I guess that I will have to wait to find out then, Cedric thought glumly as he followed his father. That's okay. I can wait. I can be patient when I need to be.
And I will.