. Chapter Seven .
Grimful silence follows Cedric's retelling of events. Only trinkets of various origins floating and trickling around Headmaster Dumbledore's office kept his ears ringing.
Everything was happening again .
Again .
Time was repeating itself.
He was going to keep on dying until Harry was safe.
Just when things were beginning to look up, too.
"Tell me once more," Dumbledore steeples long, bony fingers beneath his chin. And Cedric has to take a long breath before doing so.
.
"Observe as much as you can in the day's proceedings, Mr Diggory. Take in every minute speck of detail."
"So," Cedric sighs, heart wrung and hung over a dirty handrail. "We're letting Harry get taken - again . Isn't there any other way you can see what happened for yourself instead of having me relive that ?"
"Tell me what you have in mind, Mr Diggory. You certainly look like you know what to ask."
Cedric bites the inside of his cheek, "I've been reading up on the mind arts. Could not you, like, just look into my mind and see ?"
Dumbledore regards him. Thumb rubbing his upper lip.
Cedric refuses to squirm. These past weeks were spent recalling all sorts of stupid mistakes he had made. One such being the amount of time wasted on sketchy reports when Dumbledore could have seen for himself.
"Do you understand what you are asking, Mr Diggory? To let another into your mind, unguarded and untrained as it is, is dangerous."
"I trust you not to knock my screws loose, Headmaster." For all his doubts circulating around the man before him, Cedric knows well enough by now that Dumbledore would preserve the champion keeping his Chosen One safe. "Just don't go poking where you needn't, sir."
A rare smile tips Dumbledore's mouth, "If you are certain."
" Sir ," Cedric grumbles. "If I can avoid a repeat of Death Eaters, I'll bloody well do anything."
"Very well then," Dumbledore meets his gaze and Cedric faintly senses something important just happened.
"Headmaster?"
Merlin's pointy slippers. Not so much as a spell was uttered, yet Cedric knew from the lack of blinking, Dumbledore was in his mind. Observing through Cedric's eyes.
Sitting in wait, he does his best to sense the man's presence. Nothing. Not a brush or chilling sense of violation. Dumbledore was in his mind and he couldn't feel a thing. Were Cedric not the slightest bit trusting of his Headmaster, he would be currently panicking whether the elderly man was looking into how he spent some warm afternoons with Cho.
At last Dumbledore returned. Shuddering in his seat and regarding Cedric faintly.
"Fate has not treated you kindly, my boy. To recall death so intimately would send any lesser man mad. I am quite frankly, mystified by how you are still functional."
Oi. Hey. What the fuck?
"Cheers," Cedric nodded. "Verdict?"
Dumbledore leans in his chair, hands folded in his lap. Tapping idly.
"The original plan meant to lead spies on both train and Platform into believing Harry was leaving for his home. We do not want to lead Voldemort into thinking his muggle relatives are not under the blood ward protection Lily Potter had set up before her death. This ward, Voldemort knows, won't allow anyone harboring ill will to cross its threshold. He will know launching an attack would be futile."
"However, no one outside of the Order are aware that the ward has a very intrinsic function, this ward works solely in Harry's vicinity. Without Harry, his family is left weak. Were Harry to not be there, there is a risk that some brash Death Eater would figure it out in a moment of agitation . The whole plan was to serve as a protection for Harry's family."
"Couldn't you have just hid Harry's relatives?"
Dumbledore grew grim, "Unfortunately not. They do not accept our kind. Even now they are unaware of the safety Harry's presence guarantees them. They would fight us at every turn were we to offer aid. They would rather death than allow magic into their life."
Harry's family are a bunch of racists , Cedric cooly realizes.
"Yes," Dumbledore sighs, frown popping up into a churlish smile. "I believe, Mr Diggory, I am left with no choice but to simply floo Harry off to his Godfather first thing tomorrow morning. Leave no opening for this aloof spy of ours to rat us off to Voldemort."
"We're leaving the muggles?" Cedric asks. "But, sir, you just -"
"They have a chance of being attacked," Dumbledore reinstates, firm and wry. "There will be an Order member watching the home. Be of no concern, Mr Diggory. Once again I must say you have saved the day."
"Oh," Cedric hesitates. Not at all feeling heroic. "Brilliant."
Sitting, Cedric endeavors putting up a strong front. Involving the repeated contraction of his hands in his lap to not launch himself at the nearest wall and punch it.
He had seen what Death Eaters do when attacked against wizards. Imaging them going off on defenseless, albeit racist muggles was - was -
"My boy," Dumbledore interrupts Cedric's riddled thoughts and looks to know exactly what he was thinking. Maybe he performed Legilimency, after all its been proven Cedric couldn't catch a lick of it were he to perform such a spell. "You must learn to not concern yourself over the lives of those you are not responsible for."
"That's easy to say."
"It is," Dumbledore agrees. "It is all too easy to give free advice, it is another for you to put it into practice. Let me ask you this, would the knowledge that they abused Harry as a child change your view at all?""
Cedric stiffens. Eyebrows rising in complete surprise.
Deep down, Cedric knows he needs this slap in the face of priorities. Racist, abusive muggles were nothing compared to Harry's safety. Or the sake of Wizarding Society.
People have already been sacrificed. Why would it stop now?
"Yes, sir. It does," he says. Words dead in his mouth.
Cedric doesn't say a word after that, and determinedly crosses himself from the room. The act was disrespectful, blatantly so.
Right now Cedric didn't care in the slightest. He's ill with himself, Dumbledore, this fucked up war of priorities and repeatedly dying.
He needs a break.
"Mr Diggory, we are not done for tonight."
"You might not be sir, but I sure am."
"Mr Diggory ," Dumbledore's voice rose, halting Cedric from the large set of doors. "We do not have the privilege of allowing our tempers to rise. Tonight has reminded me of my short-sightedness concerning your studies of defense. I've allowed you to run off without proper training for far too long."
Cedric returns his attention to Dumbledore. Perplexed and highly intrigued where he was going with this.
"Were Voldemort or his cohorts to ever gain access to your mind, they would learn of your cursed time loop."
"Oh," Cedric says. "Shit."
"Language," Dumbledore chides.
"So," he shifts, "you're saying you're going to mentor me in Occlumency?"
"And other areas of defensive magics. Yes," Dumbledore stands, rounding the table to the back of his office hidden behind a winding stairwell.
Lingering near the doorway, the brimming unease of shame at his earlier anger has Cedric itching to apologize. Dumbledore was offering mentorship. To him. A Hufflepuff .
"How -" he clears his throat, "How are you going to teach me without the parentals noticing? It's the holidays, sir."
"I'm sure Bill Weasley will be amiable ferrying you away under the guise of reconnecting. I understand yourself and Mr Weasley were once strong friends, " Dumbledore says easily enough. Returning with two worn leather bound books.
Flustering, Cedric hurries to unload them. Weight of it signifying sleepless nights ahead of him.
"These should do nicely. Far better insight into the mind arts than we keep in our school library."
"Okay," Cedric says, standing awkwardly in place. "Um. Sir -"
"Do not apologize for your anger, dear boy," Dumbledore's easy tone drops. The man slips back into his seat, sighing. "As I have said, it is a miracle you are standing as you are. I will never begrudge you of your emotions. Never feel the need to apologize to me," he pauses. "However, I do warn you to be careful around your peers. Nobody knows the lengths of which you have gone to to protect us all.
This unnatural event you have experienced has bound to have left scars. Watch yourself to not let them be seen by those not myself. They will not be so understanding. People do not look upon those who are different with favoring eyes."
"I understand, Headmaster."
"See that you do," Dumbledore nods, "I will contact Mr Weasley in due course.I believe we have settled enough troubles for tonight. Thank you Mr Diggory, for your ever rewarding assistance."
.
Days used to pass without much thought to it. Cedric goofed around with friends, played card games and argued about the latest Quidditch matches. He hadn't put much thought to what the future held.
Now it was all he ever worried about.
Dying in sudden, horrible manners had grossly invaded any real sense of normalcy he used to toy around with.
Cedric needed to get better at defensive magic. He needed to get stronger and better at not dying. He needed to cross all the 't's and dot all his 'i's in case this time loop decided to stop one day.
Holy Merlin. Cedric needed to man the fuck up.