A/N: While I know this story isn't long, and doesn't have much in the way of plot, that isn't the point of it. This was written to show Cedric Diggory at his best: showing his loyalty, determination and overruling sense of fairness. Anyway, I hope you like it.
Cedric Diggory: Quidditch Captain
When Cedric Diggory was made Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, he wasn't sure he'd ever been happier. The day he received the news, he begged his father to take him down to Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley, and by lunch time, his father relented. Armed with his new leather gauntlets and four books on tactics, he spent the final days of his summer holiday pouring over the tomes and devising strategies for the year.
He arrived at Hogwarts to be swiftly greeted by the news of the Quidditch Captains of the other houses, and not a single name surprised him. Marcus Flint didn't always play strictly by the rules, but he was unflinchingly competitive, which often gave his team an edge. Oliver Wood had captained the Gryffindor Team for so long, Cedric wondered how they would cope next year without him.
By the time the day for Hufflepuff tryouts arrived, Cedric had a plan so meticulously worked out, he didn't envision anything going wrong. While as Captain, he knew his position as Seeker was secure, he wanted to offer a fair opportunity to everyone else who wanted a place. He'd devised a points-based scoring system for how well every individual performed, meaning his friends and old teammates were no more or less likely to earn their places than any other members of the team.
It had been working well, so far. His old friend Herbert Fleet had vastly outshone the other would-be Keepers, securing his old position. Tamsin Applebee had fared the same as Chaser, and was joined by the two new recruits, Heidi MacAvoy and Malcom Preece. With just the two Beater positions left to fill, Cedric was feeling quite smug.
The test he'd created for the six hopeful Beaters was fairly simple: it involved magically floating targets that danced around the pitch, mimicking the movements of Chasers and three Bludgers. For ten minutes, the six players would be given free range over the pitch as they attempted to hit the Bludgers at the targets. The two players who hit the most Bludgers with the most accuracy would win the positions.
As soon as the ten minutes were up, Cedric's problem became apparent. Three of the six had scored fairly poorly, but the other three had somehow managed to score exactly the same. Cursing his metric for failing him, he gently let the first three go and stood staring at the hopeful faces of the three left waiting. He swallowed as he thought, unsure how to deal with the situation. Maxine O'Flaherty, Anthony Rickett and Michael McManus all looked at him, eagerly, and tension began to ride high.
When the idea struck him, he smiled a little, and cleared his throat to speak.
"The three of you, somehow, all managed to score exactly the same, at 43. That means that as far as you've performed today, you're equally matched, and I wouldn't feel comfortable sending any one of you home. Now, we play three matches a year, which means over the course of the year, there are six opportunities for a Beater to play. So I would like to offer the chance to play on our team, sharing the load evenly and playing two matches each. How does that sound to you?"
As smiles surrounded him and the three players nodded in agreement, Cedric knew he'd played fair.