In the aftermath of Cedric's death, other students are left with more questions than answers. We get to see reactions from other people to his death.

HANNAH XI

They were all ordered to head back to their common rooms almost immediately after Harry and Cedric came back. There had been complete and utter confusion from the moment the two of them reappeared at the entrance of the maze. Some people rejoiced, but many others screamed, and definitely not in joy. After a few moments of confusion, the word had spread. Hannah and the other Hufflepuffs of her year were in the very end of the crowd, and so word reached them last, but it became clear that everyone was saying that Cedric was dead. None of them could get a clear view of him, but they knew a body was taken away. Then the professors ordered them back into their common rooms, and they were all escorted back there.

And now here they were, in the common room, sitting in a corner. Hannah, Justin, Ernie, Sally, Wayne, Megan. All of them were silent. On the way back to the cellar of Hufflepuff, other students in their house who were closer to the events told them that Cedric was unmoving when he reappeared. He was dead. They saw and heard his parents rush to him and scream in despair. His girlfriend, Cho Chang, was also crying over his body.

"Where is Susan?" Sally asked, breaking the silence. No one answered.

"I don't know," Hannah said after a while. "She was closer to the entrance of the maze than we were. Maybe… Maybe she's gone to see Harry at the infirmary."

Harry was not dead. They saw him from afar, among the crowd, dragged by his mother outside of the place. Hannah supposed that he headed for the infirmary. He was in a very sorry state. Hannah was glad he wasn't dead. She couldn't start to imagine how Susan would have felt if it happened. Hannah had tried to find her in the crowd as they went back to the common room, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"It's a chance that Harry didn't die as well," Ernie said, discouraged, echoing Hannah's thoughts.

Silence settled once again.

"How could Cedric die?" Wayne muttered after a long moment.

"Susan would probably say that the Tournament killed people before," Sally shyly uttered.

"Yes, but…" Ernie seemed completely aghast. Of all of them, he was probably the closest to Cedric, the one who admired him the most. "They were supposed to have made the Tournament safe!"

Then, without a warning, he kicked the leg of the couch with his heel.

"How could they let that happen?" he silently shouted, expressing his frustration, his anger.

"We should have known," Hannah then whispered. "Cedric got his face half-burned in the first task. And Harry barely made it out of the Black Lake in the second one. We were too focused on who would win to worry about them."

She felt guilty. Susan hadn't stopped to worry. Not only about her boyfriend, but also about Cedric, and even the other champions. She said that she would only be happy when the third task was over and all of them were back alive. In the meantime, Hannah and the others only cared about who would win, and they wanted this person to be Cedric.

"Do you think that Potter may have something to do with that?" Megan asked. All heads turned towards her.

"What do you mean?" Ernie asked.

"Doesn't that seem obvious?" Wayne supported. "Cedric comes back dead, with Harry, who is still very alive."

For a long moment, no one spoke. There was now tension in the air. And Hannah herself couldn't believe what Wayne just suggested.

"Do you mean that Harry would have killed Cedric to win the Tournament?" Ernie asked, and in such a tone that it was plain he found the mere idea totally stupid.

"Well, who else had a reason to…" Wayne began.

"Come on, Wayne? You really believe that Harry would go so far as to commit a murder to win the Triwizard Tournament?"

"Well…" Wayne looked uncertain. "We all thought he cheated to get into it at the beginning of the year…"

"Okay, but there's a huge gap between cheating to enter a competition and becoming an assassin."

"I once thought that Harry had something against me," Justin then said on a dark tone. "And I was wrong."

"Okay," Wayne acknowledged. "But you've got to admit that it's odd. Especially after the article of this morning."

"What, that article?" Hannah asked, unbelieving. "The one that spoke about Harry being a Perseltongue and setting a snake on Justin? Come on, Wayne. We all know this is not what happened. And these were Draco Malfoy's words. Do you really believe them?"

"Well, these were not only Malfoy's words. I mean, they clearly said that there was a possibility that Potter may use dark magic."

"No, this time, Wayne, you've got it entirely wrong. This is totally preposterous," Ernie said. "Harry did not kill Cedric. That's impossible. He was in a very miserable state when he came back. That's not him. Something happened in that maze, but Harry did not kill Cedric. I would bet my next year's results in my O.W.L.s on that."

"Susan is probably seeing him right now. Maybe we could ask her what happened when she comes back," Hannah suggested. "And calm down, everyone. Cedric just died. It's not the time to argue with each other."

On this, everyone seemed to agree, for they all fell into silence once again.

"How do you think his parents are doing?" Sally asked.

"I don't know," Ernie said. "I can't even imagine what they're going through right now. Cedric had no brother or sister. And the team…"

He looked towards another corner of their common room. There, indeed, the Hufflepuff Quidditch team had gathered, silent, annihilated. None of them said a word. This was the general atmosphere in the room.

Sally stood up. "I'm going to bed. I… I can't do it anymore."

She left. One by one, they left, going to their respective dormitory. Hannah was among the last ones to go to the girls' dormitory. The reason was that she didn't feel like sleeping. She didn't think she would manage to sleep once inside her bed. She couldn't get the image of Cedric's lifeless body out of her mind. She only saw it from afar, but the image in her mind was as crystal clear as if she stood right next to his body. She couldn't believe that a few hours ago, Cedric was still breathing, eating at their table, along with his parents and friends. Hannah had stood up to wish him good luck when he walked out of the Great Hall, like everyone else. She watched him walk into the maze and disappear. She never would have thought at this moment that they would never see him alive again.

In the end, only she and Ernie remained. It wasn't only their group who went to bed. Most of the Hufflepuffs as a whole left. They were probably half a dozen students to remain behind, none of them saying a word.

"Cedric would probably tell us that it's time to go to bed," Ernie muttered.

Heavy, tense silence again.

"But he is dead," Hannah completed.

They remained there again. She didn't know for how long. She kept staring into the fire, her mind still trying to process that Cedric was gone.

And then, the entrance to the common room opened. Hannah looked, foolishly hoping that it would be Cedric. That he would walk back into the common room of Hufflepuff, smiling, saying he was only gravely injured, but now fine, and that Madam Pomfrey got him back on his feet in no time.

Hannah almost felt guilty for feeling disappointed when Susan walked in.

"Susan," she called her.

Her best friend had almost walked past Hannah without looking at her. She stopped, then slowly looked at her. Hannah expected to see sadness on her best friend's face. Instead, she met fear. For an instant, she thought about her instead of Cedric.

"What…"

"Not tonight, Hannah."

And Susan rushed to the dormitory on those words. Hannah was left alone. She was truly alone in the common room. It seemed that Ernie and everyone else had finally gone to bed without her realizing. After a while, she decided it was best to go to bed as well. She would get nothing by staying here the whole night. In their dormitory, Susan was already at bed. She hadn't changed her clothes before getting into it, and she had her back turned on Hannah when she walked in. For a brief moment, Hannah thought about sitting next to her and sharing some of their common sadness and grief. However, Hannah had known Susan for a very long time. They almost grew up together, and she knew instinctively when Susan needed some space. And she felt that tonight was such a moment. So Hannah changed and slipped under the covers of her bed.

Hannah spent what remained of the night turning and rolling in her bed. She couldn't manage to sleep. No matter how hard she closed her eyes, she couldn't find sleep.

She must have drifted into a state of half-sleep somehow, for when she looked again at Susan's bed, she found it empty. Outside, the sun was starting to show up. This looked like a beautiful day. A day that one of them would never see. Cedric would never see the sun rising today.

It was hard to describe the atmosphere in the Great Hall for breakfast this morning. The words despair, desolation, and emptiness were those that seemed the most accurate for Hannah. Although the Great Hall was full, everyone looked alone, especially at the table of the Hufflepuffs. Hannah herself felt isolated like she never felt before, disconnected from everyone around her. It was as if all life had been drained from the castle. As they were struggling to get something down in their stomach, the headmaster stood up.

Hannah was always impressed by Albus Dumbledore. His mere presence inspired respect. Today, however, he looked as defeated as they all were. Now that Hannah thought about it, it was probably very hard for the old man. He probably considered himself responsible for each and every student at Hogwarts. Perhaps he even saw them as his grandchildren of some sort. To Hannah's knowledge, Dumbledore never had children.

"Dear students. Dear professors and staff of the school. Dear guests," Dumbledore began, the voice heavier than usual. "There are many rumours that ran across the school since last night, and although certainly all of you already know, I will not show you the disrespect of ignoring it. I have the regret to announce that yesterday, during the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament, one of your comrades, one of your friends, Cedric Diggory, died."

At this announcement, which was no news to anybody but a confirmation of what they previously saw or heard, some people, especially girls, burst into tears. Hannah noticed Fleur Delacour and many of her friends at the Ravenclaw table reacting in such a way. Cho Chang, among her group of friends who were all there to support her, had hidden her face within her hands.

"I will not share with you the details of his death. Just know that he died the way he lived. Standing to defend the honor, the principles and the values of his family, his friends, his house, and his school. And although I know that his death is affecting you all, I demand that you complete your last week of school. This is what your friend Cedric would have wanted, and I believe this is what he would be telling you right now if he was still with us. I also demand from everyone that you leave alone the other champions. Viktor Krum. Fleur Delacour. Harry Potter. I completely understand that many of you have questions and that you may think they could answer them, but for now, for everything that concerns the events that took place in the maze, I ask everyone to not harass this. These three students knew Cedric Diggory very well. They were his opponents during the Tournament, it is true, but they were also his friends. I ask you to not make the pain they feel worse, after what they went through, by asking to live again and again what happened last night. Please try to enjoy the day, and try to spend it the way Cedric would have wanted you to spend it."

Despite Dumbledore's words, very few people seemed to want to enjoy the sunny weather of this late day of June. Hannah and a few other Hufflepuffs went outside all the same. They wandered aimlessly through the grounds. On Justin's suggestion, they went to the pitch. The tall hedges of the maze were still clearly visible from afar. As they approached, they noticed that many other students were already present. Some kind of barrier had been installed, and several adults were gathered around the maze, including a few of their professors. Some were taking photos. Hannah noticed a woman with a missing eye who seemed to be in charge, giving orders to the others. Officials from the Ministry were keeping away the students who were curious to see the scene of the crime. Some were shouting questions, but none were answered. After a while, Hannah walked away and followed the shore of the Black Lake. There were some groups of students that gathered there, sitting in the grass. Usually, at this time of the year, there would be laughs and joyful conversations, to which Hannah would participate after their final exams and as the summer holidays were approaching. Some people would even swim in the lake. Today, however, people remained tightly clustered, and although there were conversations to be heard, they lacked all the joy they would normally hear.

Hannah kept walking along the lake, alone. Some people waved at her, but she didn't go to sit with any of them. It was only close to a tree that she spotted a lone figure staring right in front of him. Many looked somewhere between life and death today, but Neville Longbottom looked even worse than most Hufflepuffs. Hannah had always liked Neville, and also pitied him for his clumsiness. He was also more sensible than most Gryffindors, and most boys. She walked to him.

"Hey, Neville," she said, standing next to him, but he didn't seem to have heard her. "Neville?" Still no reaction. He kept staring in front of him. He was pale.

She finally shook his shoulder slightly. "Neville."

He almost jumped at the contact, then finally seemed to realize she was there. "Oh. Hi, Hannah."

"Hi. Do you mind?" She made a gesture to a place right next to him.

"No. Not at all," he replied.

Hannah sat next to him. Neville was back to staring at the surface of the lake. Hannah didn't mind that much. For once in her life, she wasn't looking for much conversation. She remained there with Neville, staring at the lake, but also shooting glances in his direction from time to time to make sure he was fine. Not a single time did Neville look in her direction.

The water was shining under the sunlight. What a waste of a day it was. It could have been so wonderful. They could have been celebrating the victory of Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament. Instead, they were mourning one of their own.

"I can't believe that a few months ago, Cedric got out of this lake with Cho Chang," Hannah said, more to herself than to anybody.

She didn't see the Seeker of Ravenclaw in the park. Hannah wouldn't be surprised if she was hiding somewhere, crying. If Susan was missing breakfast to visit Harry at the infirmary, like Hannah suspected, Cho was probably in an even worse state for the death of her boyfriend.

"Barty Crouch killed him."

Hannah turned her head to look at Neville. It was he who just spoke. "What?"

"Ron told us. He surprised a discussion between Dumbledore and Fudge last night. Crouch murdered Cedric. He lured him and Harry out of Hogwarts, and he killed Cedric."

Hannah was lost. Crouch? Bartemius Crouch? One of the judges of the Tournament? How was that possible?

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"That's what Ron told us."

She didn't ask him any further questions. In normal circumstances, she would have. She always wanted to know more about everybody and everything that happened in Hogwarts. But not today. She remained there, sitting next to Neville, neither of them saying anything, until lunch.

At lunch, Hannah shared with them what Neville told near the Lake.

"Crouch? You're sure about that?" Ernie asked. He looked totally taken aback when Hannah told them.

"Ron claims that he heard Dumbledore and the Minister discuss about it," she explained.

"Crouch. How is that possible?"

Their small group discussed it at length during lunch, but there was something that bothered Hannah.

"Where is Susan?" she asked all her friends.

"I don't know," Justin answered. "Perhaps she's still with Harry."

Unlike the many times he mentioned Harry since Christmas, this time, he didn't sound bitter or angry. Hannah was beginning to be worried about her best friend. She went to the hospital wing, only to be told by Madam Pomfrey that visits were not permitted at the moment. Susan had left the infirmary earlier this morning. Hannah found it strange that she didn't come to the Great Hall for lunch. So she went to their common room, where she didn't find her either. Finally, she went to the dormitory, where she finally found her.

"Susan! Where have you been? We haven't seen you of the whole day. Not even for lunch."

"I wasn't hungry," her best friend replied, not looking back at her.

Susan was sitting on her bed, her head dropped, staring at a large book on her thighs. That wasn't the first time Hannah found her friend reading in her bed, but something was really wrong about her. Her head was dropped even more than usual. And her hair… Susan always brushed her hair until it was completely smooth. But today, it was a total and utter mess, which almost hid all of her face. And her voice… It was hoarse.

Hannah came to sit next to her on the same bed. "What's going on? Is Harry okay?"

She noticed that what Susan was holding in her hands was no book, but the large photo album she usually kept in her personal things. It was open at a page that showed a large group of people, among which Hannah recognized Susan's parents and her aunt, but also many other people, including a tall man with brown hair and beard. Susan was not on the photo.

"He watched Cedric being killed," Susan answered, speaking of Harry. "No one here is okay, Hannah, and we didn't even see him die. How do you think Harry feels?"

Susan's voice had turned harsher. She wasn't wrong though. This was indeed a stupid question in some way.

"He thinks it's because of him that Cedric died," she added. "Cedric wanted Harry to take the Cup and win the Tournament, but Harry offered him to take the Cup together. And so they were both carried together to the graveyard."

Hannah didn't understand. What was Susan telling her? What did she mean that Cedric wanted Harry to win? And that Harry wanted them both to win? That didn't make any sense. And what graveyard was she talking about.

"Susan, I don't understand. What do you mean?"

Her best friend finally looked back at her. There was the same fear in her eyes than yesterday.

"He's back."

Hannah frowned. "Who's back?"

"You-Know-Who," Susan replied in a weak, barely understandable whisper.

Hannah was stunned. At first, she didn't understand. But then Susan told her everything that happened last night and this morning. Everything she heard from the conversation between Dumbledore and Fudge, everything Harry and his mother told her this morning. Hannah got the full details on how Cedric died. And she now understood what Neville meant when he said that Crouch killed Cedric, and why it affected him so much. This man had tortured his parents until they turned mad. She and Susan discussed it earlier this year, after Professor Moody showed them the Unforgivable Curses. She learned that for entire months, maybe the whole year, their Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts was an impostor, a Death Eater who impersonated the former Auror by frequently drinking Polyjuice.

Susan also told her how the Diggorys looked devastated when they met Harry. Susan was present when they arrived. And still according to Susan, the Minister of Magic refused to acknowledge that You-Know-Who was back. He refused to believe Dumbledore or Harry, despite Cedric's death, despite the fact the Minister himself had known for almost a year now that Barty Crouch Junior was still alive and searched for him, without telling the population about it.

Hannah was under shock. She listened to Susan for a very long time, and then spent a much longer time asking her questions.

"How is that possible? You-Know-Who… is gone."

"He was never gone, Hannah. He's always been there. He just had no body. Professor Quirrell tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone to bring him back in our first year. He opened the Chamber of Secrets two years ago. His supporters… They were still out there. You saw what happened at the Quidditch World Cup."

"But that doesn't make any sense. He was destroyed when Harry defeated him years ago."

"He was never totally destroyed, Hannah. He was only weakened, but still alive. And now he's back, and powerful again."

"But… how? How is that possible? How can someone… get back a new body?"

"I don't know. He used some kind of potion I don't know anything about. But he needed Harry's blood to come back to life. That is why Pettigrew tried to reach Harry all the time last year. That is why Bartemius Crouch Junior tampered with the Goblet of Fire and made Harry participate in the Tournament. That's why he also tampered the Triwizard Cup last night to bring Harry to You-Know-Who."

"Why would he need Harry's blood?"

"Harry has some kind of protection. I don't understand exactly how it works, but it prevented You-Know-Who from harming him. He needed Harry's blood so he could kill him. Harry is lucky to be still alive."

"But why kill Cedric?"

"You think that You-Know-Who ever needed a reason to kill someone? Cedric just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was never supposed to reach that graveyard. So Crouch killed him the moment he saw him. He didn't need him, unlike Harry."

Hannah wasn't sure for how long it was like that. Her brain was burning. Her mind panicked at the idea that the most evil wizard of all time may be back. When later, at dinner, she shared this information with her friends, their reactions were just as extreme as her own. Some didn't believe her. They said it was impossible. Susan, who joined them unlike for earlier meals today, left quickly when the conversation grew too agitated and people, after discovering that she was the source of information for Hannah, began asking her all kinds of questions. Hannah couldn't blame Susan when some began to say that it was more likely that Harry got Cedric killed and invented a nonsense story to hide what he did. Hannah herself was outraged when Wayne pushed in the possibility, and she wasn't alone. Ernie, and even Justin, were furious at people for even suggesting it. Harry wasn't perfect, but no one would ever convince Hannah that he murdered Cedric. Things almost went out of hands, and a brawl nearly erupted, in which both Justin and Ernie were involved. The professors quickly broke it off though, and after lecturing on how ashamed they should feel, and how their friend Cedric would feel at seeing them behave in such a way, they sent everyone back to their common room.

Hannah joined Susan who left for the dormitory even earlier than the others. She was looking at her photo album again. Her hair was as messy as before.

"You did well to leave," Hannah told her. "There was a fight not long after you left."

"I hope someone broke Malfoy's nose," Susan retorted harshly without looking away from the photo she was staring at.

In other circumstances, Hannah may have laughed, but her actual mood didn't allow her to. Instead, she was worried about her friend. Susan was never prone to violence, instead always arguing against it, saying there were always better means than violence to accomplish anything, and that violence seldom gave people what they wanted. Once, she quoted a science fiction author. Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. More than anything, she never took pleasure in any act of violence, even against people she despised. So to hear her utter those words so flatly, it caused Hannah to worry.

"No, it was…"

She didn't finish. She didn't know what to say. Hannah didn't need to look at the photo Susan was staring at to know what it was. Hannah was terrified by the news that You-Know-Who had returned. For Susan, however, it was far worse. A large part of her family was slaughtered by this man and his disciples. No wonder her mood was even worse than Hannah's.

"Susan… I'm sure that things are going to be fine," she tried to reassure her. "We are at Hogwarts… Dumbledore will protect us…"

"He couldn't protect Cedric," Susan retorted. Hannah couldn't argue against the fact. "He cannot protect our families either, Hannah." She then looked straight into Hannah's eyes. "No one is safe now that he's returned."

Hannah knew. Despite not remembering the last war, she grew up with enough horror stories about You-Know-Who to fear him more than anything. Again, she couldn't argue against the fact. If You-Know-Who was back, they were all in danger.

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Next chapter: Lily