-1Chapter 4: Ron's Secret
"………Cedric?" Harry asked, shocked as all hell that Cedric was the one that Hagrid had been talking to. " Oh hi Harry. I just remembered there was something I had to say to you earlier and I was going to look for you but it looks like I don't have to do that now." Cedric said. The three friends followed Cedric in the house and said hi to Hagrid. " Wotcher, Harry, Ron, and my favorite, Hermione!" Hagrid said happily. " Oi! Why does SHE have to be the favorite Hagrid?" Ron asked Hagrid in a mock angry tone. " Because she's the only girl out of you three, that's why! Besides, I'm not fond of redheads anyway." Hagrid answered with a smile. "What do you have against redheads! And so what if Hermione is the only girl?! I find that SEXIST." Ron said in mock outrage and folded his arms. " Aw.. I'm only pulling yer leg, Ronald! A joke's a joke!" "But seriously-" he added in a businesslike tone, " Hermione IS the only girl" He served him some of his cooking and surprisingly enough, it was edible. " Oh wow, Hagrid your food is actually edible today!" Harry said with a grin. "Oi Harry, is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" Hagrid said and threatened to give Harry one of his infamous rock cakes. " No thanks, I'm good!" Harry replied quickly, thinking to himself how he wanted to keep all of his teeth intact and not worry about breaking his jaw on one of his cakes. " Actually, Cedric here was helping me with my cooking. That's why, according to Harry, it's EDIBLE" Hagrid said. Cedric sat down quietly eating his food and not really paying attention to anyone in the room. Harry stole a glance at him and saw that Cedric was staring in space, as if he was in deep thought.
" So…Cedric….what are on yer teaching agendas today?" Hagrid asked in an attempt to make conversation. The truth was, Harry, Ron, and Hermione felt Cedric's presence to be slightly intimidating since not only was he considerably older than them, he was also a teacher now. Therefore they went pretty quiet around him. " Well, I dunno, I'm not sure whether or not I'm actually ALLOWED to disclose that type of information with other students. But since I know you three I can make an exception. We're working on the Ducklifors spell today. It's a spell that-" " Turns the head of your foe into a duck!" Hermione finished for him, hand raised and everything. " Right, Hermione but you DO know we're not in a classroom right? You don't have to raise your hand." He said kindly, making Hermione blush. " I'm sorry, it's a reflex. It always happens whenever I know the answer to a question or something-" " -Which would be ALL the TIME!" Both Harry and Ron finished for her. " So I assume you've already practiced the charm by yourself already, Hermione?" Cedric asked her. " A little, in 3rd year." Cedric smiled at her and said " Wow, that's impressive." " I don't mean to interrupt but what are we, chopped liver!?" Ron asked. "Sorry…." Cedric finished and was silent again. Hagrid excused himself to check his bowtruckles for his first class assignment of the year and left the three kids with Cedric. " So do we have to refer to you now as Mr. Diggory now?" Harry asked him. " Well only in the classroom environment but in other places you can still call me Cedric." Hermione was about to open her mouth to say " But," but Cedric added " Not another word Hermione, it's perfectly ok for me to refer to students by their last name in class and anywhere outside of the classroom I can return to a first name basis with the students I know." " Ok….I'm sorry" Hermione said. " It's ok I know you just want to make sure I don't lose my job but I've already talked to the teachers about this. It's no big deal, really. Anyway, there's some bad news I have to tell you all..."
"The Ministry believes that I may need some extra help with my classes so they're sending a permanent teacher in my place and while I'm still going to teach, I'll be demoted to a position of a student teacher." " No way." Ron said. "That's horrible…" Hermione added. " That doesn't make sense at all." Harry finished. " It's just like I thought, this must be some way for the Ministry to interfere at Hogwarts and they're using you as a scapegoat." Hermione said angrily. " Yeah I mean, didn't you have to pass Ministry protocols to get the teaching position?" Ron asked. " Your dad works at the Ministry right?" Cedric asked Ron, impressed that Ron knew anything involving the Ministry. " Yeah he does…he told me last summer that he found out you got the job. I also found out something else too. Do any of you know who Umbridge is?" Harry froze at the name. She was at his trial over the summer when he was threatened with expulsion over the summer for use of a Patronus against two dementors. She looked like a big toad and she had quite an evil demeanor. What could the Ministry want to interfere with Hogwarts for? Could this be something related to Voldemort's return? "I do." Hermione answered " She's one of the higher ups at the Ministry and she's quite a cold person. Pretty ruthless. What could Dumbledore possibly be thinking letting that madwoman teach here?!" Hermione grew red with anger and the three other boys in the room were surprised by her sudden change of behavior. Harry eventually decided to change the subject to that of this year's Inter-House Quidditch Tournament and Hermione calmed down. After about 15 minutes if talking, Harry, Ron, and Hermione left Hagrid's hut and went around to say goodbye to him and they headed towards the lake.
They seemed to be in good spirits until the Dreaded trio, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle came by. "Well look here, if it isn't Pothead, Weasel, and Mudblood Granger! Come to hang out on the edge of the lake I see? Aren't you afraid of the squid grabbing one of you? That really does happen you know, it's not just rumors. Ask Neville. It happened to him yesterday." His two favorite cronies just stood on either side of him and guffawed stupidly. " You better leave Malfoy or I'll hex you into next week." Harry retorted. Ron immediately got up and was about to attack but Hermione rose up and restrained him. " Oh look, if it isn't Weasel trying to save his BOYFRIEND.!" "He's not my boyfriend!" Ron replied angrily and before anyone could react, he took his wand and shot a Leg Locker Curse at Draco. Draco dodged it and shot a Stunning Curse at him. Ron leaped out of the way and Crabbe and Goyle immediately sprang into action. Goyle aimed a Body Bind curse at Harry but Hermione deflected the spell with a well aimed Shield Charm. It was so powerful it shot the spell right back at Goyle, which him right in the chest. He fell to the grass like a statue and didn't move. Harry and Ron both shot a Stunning spell at Draco but he was too quick. He was ready to take on both of them if he had to. " I got a surprise for you Weasley!" Draco shouted and shot a spell at a rock. It transformed into a 5 foot spider and all thoughts of battling Draco was swept from his mind, replaced by terrible fear. Harry was outraged and shot a Bat Bogey Hex at Draco's head while he was watching Ron being chased by the creepy spider. Hermione on the other hand, had taken on Crabbe and was doing quite well. She cast a spell on the grass and two vines sprang up out of nowhere and pinned Crabbe to the ground. Hermione saw the spider and Ron and shouted, " Ron, remember third year! Think of something funny!" Ron remembered his lessons with Lupin and thought of something funny quite easily. He thought of Snape in a wedding dress and transformed the spider into his mental image. Even though the spider wasn't a boggart ( and he didn't use the Riddikulus Charm either, he just waved his wand) it transformed into an unconscious form of Snape in a wedding gown and it transformed back into a rock. With all three attackers subdued, ( Draco fled already, a trail of bats following him along the way) Harry, Ron and Hermione decided to go back to the other side of the lake to enjoy the rest of their weekend.