Chapter 13: The Goblet of Fire
Ginny coldly watched as everyone looked at her in horror as she entered the Great Hall for the end-of-year banquet. Ever since Cedric Diggry's death was made public, everyone saw her as a viper who at the slightest offense, could spit out deadly venom.
Everything happened as it was supposed to, the magical Christmas ball was the last big moment she would have from now on. The second test, with her being saved by Harry from the bottom of the lake, was the easiest to manipulate.
On the third test, she went blind, trusting that Harry would do what his noble heart dictated was right. She didn't bother to warn him what would happen if he and Cedric won the cup together. He had spent days crying into her chest, with her comforting him as best she could, feeling no remorse for what she had done.
At that moment she was holding hands with a pale Harry, who had not yet recovered from everything that had happened, and who did not even ask him anything. He had known all along that the champion of Hogwarts would die, and it was overwhelming to realize that nothing he had done to save him kept him alive.
Ginny made sure he died, if not, if Cedric hadn't died the chain of events would have changed and Harry would have died when Tom had his resurrection.
And she hadn't allowed it.
Harry must live and Tom must be reborn.
o-o-o-o
Harry saw that his friends had saved seats for them and headed towards them. They immediately saw that the usual decoration was missing: for the end-of-year banquet, he used to wear the colors of the winning house.
That night, however, there were black hangings on the wall behind the teachers' desk. It didn't take long for Harry to understand that they were a sign of respect for Cedric.
The real Mad-Eye Moody was sitting there, with his magic eye and peg leg in place. He seemed extremely nervous, and every time someone spoke to him he would wince. Harry couldn't hold it against him: it was logical that Moody's fear of being the victim of an attack had increased after ten months of being sequestered in his trunk.
Professor Karkarov's chair was empty. Harry wondered, as he sat down with his fellow Gryffindor members, where he was at that moment, and if Voldemort had caught him. Madame Maxime was still there. She had sat down next to Hagrid. They spoke in low voices.
Farther away, next to Professor McGonagall, stood Snape. His eyes lingered for a moment on Harry as he looked at him. It was hard to interpret his expression, but he seemed as unfriendly and moody as ever. Harry continued to watch him long after he had looked away.
What had Snape done, on Dumbledore's orders, on the night of Voldemort's return? And why... Why was Dumbledore so convinced that Snape was really on his side?
He had been his spy, so Dumbledore had said in the pensieve. And he had gone over to her side, `taking grave personal risks'. Was that the job he'd had to do? Had he come into contact with the Death Eaters, perhaps? Had he pretended that he had never really gone over to Dumbledore's side, that he had been biding his time, like Voldemort himself?
Harry's thoughts were interrupted by Professor Dumbledore, who rose from his chair at the staff table. The Great Hall, which had no doubt been much less lively than usual at an end-of-year banquet, fell completely silent.
"The end of another course," said Dumbledore, looking at them all.
He paused and laid his eyes on the Hufflepuff table. That had been the quietest table before he had risen, and they still had the palest, saddest faces in the Great Hall.
"There are many things I would like to say to you tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I want first of all to mourn the loss of a great person who should be sitting there," he gestured to the Hufflepuffers, "enjoying this banquet with us. Now I want to ask you, please, all of you, to get up and raise your glasses to toast Cedric Diggory. "
They did so, but Harry noticed that Ginny twitched her hitherto cold expression and gripped her glass tighter than necessary, and for the first time since the third test had begun, he took enough time to comfort someone else. He passed his cup to his left hand, and took her hand, interlaced his fingers, and gave her a squeeze, which turned her gaze to him and gave him a brief smile.
There was a din of benches being dragged on the floor as they stood up, raised their glasses, and repeated, in a powerful, low, muffled voice, "By Cedric Diggory."
They kept looking into each other's eyes, and he felt horrified at how tears wanted to come out of his eyes, so he looked away and when they sat down again, he looked down at the table. He didn't want to cry there, in front of everyone, he had already brought enough tears to his eyes that night, being comforted by Ginny.
"Cedric Diggory was as you all know, exceptionally hard-working, intricately fair-minded, Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff House," Dumbledore continued. "And most importantly a fierce fierce friend. I think therefore you have the right to know exactly how he died."
Harry raised his head, surprised, even his tears had stopped before he left and looked at Dumbledore.
"You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."
A murmur of terror swept through the Great Hall. The students looked at Dumbledore in horror, not daring to believe him. He was calm, watching them mumble under their breath.
"The ministry of magic does not wish me to tell you this," Dumbledore continued, " But not to do so I think would be an insult to his memory. Now the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me, reminds us that while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of recent events, the bonds of friendship we made this year will be more important than ever. Remember that and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain. You remember that, and we'll celebrate a boy who was kind and honest and brave and true right to the very end."
At that moment, all faces, dazed and frightened, were turned towards Dumbledore... or almost all of them. Harry saw that, at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy was whispering to Crabbe and Goyle. He felt a vehement fit of rage.
He forced himself to look at Dumbledore.
"There is someone else I must mention in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. "I'm referring, of course, to Harry Potter."
A murmur swept through the Great Hall as some turned their heads in Harry's direction before looking back at Dumbledore.
"Harry Potter managed to escape Voldemort," Dumbledore said. "He risked his life to bring Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the kind of courage that very few wizards have shown in dealing with Lord Voldemort, and that is why I want to raise my glass for him."
Dumbledore turned to Harry solemnly and raised his glass again. Almost all present followed his example, murmuring his name as they had muttered Cedric's, and drank to his health. But, through a gap between the companions who had risen to their feet, Harry saw that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and many others from Slytherin remained defiantly seated, not touching the glasses. Dumbledore, who nevertheless lacked a magic eye, did not notice.
When they all sat down again, he continued, "The purpose of the Triwizard Tournament was to promote good understanding among the wizarding community. Given what has happened, of Lord Voldemort's return, such ties now seem more important than ever. "
Dumbledore passed the sight of Hagrid and Madame Maxime to Fleur Delacour and her companions of the Beauxbatons, and from these to Viktor Krum and the pupils of Durmstrang, who were seated at the Slytherin table. Krum, as Harry saw, looked wary, almost frightened, as if expecting Dumbledore to say something against him.
"All our guests," he continued, and his eyes lingered on the students in Durmstrang, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again – in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."
"It is my belief – and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken – that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst. "
"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to choose between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, kind, and brave because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."
o-o-o-o
The weeks following Tom's resurrection were dizzying for Ginny. Her parents, when they arrived at the Burrow, had cried, threatened, and bribed their daughter to tell them everything that would happen, but she kept her mouth shut.
She didn't speak when Dumbledore came to see her with the most seriousness she'd ever seen, he could only extract from her the confession that she had known for a long time what would happen to Harry and that Tom would be resurrected by his minions.
Her brothers only complained to her once (except Ron, who never ceased to murmur bitter words whenever he saw her). Percy... She had convinced him to run away, told him that he should stay at work no matter what their parents and siblings thought, and encouraged him to abandon the family, and he had followed her advice.
That was another blow to his parents, especially his mother, who almost went mad with grief at experiencing her beloved son's betrayal, even trying to convince her daughter to talk to him to come back, to make him see that the Ministry was wrong, that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had returned. And she refused to do so, much to everyone's dismay and anger. But it was all tolerable.
Only the nights were a martyrdom, her mother every night put silencer incantations on her bed, since the first night, her screams woke up the whole house. And every time someone heard her screaming in her sleep, the spirits of the Order of the Phoenix dropped lower and lower.
Later, even, (despite her parents' opposition) by Dumbledore's express order, she was forced to attend Order of the Phoenix meetings (by this time they had all moved into the Black house).
Of course, it was not well received. Everyone knew that she, knowing what would happen, had refused to help avert disaster. Every person around the long table during the meetings was suspicious of her.
Mad-Eye Moody was the first of all, who could not forgive her for allowing him to be imprisoned for months without intervening. And Sirius Black, who looked at her with disdainful eyes, but didn't dare verbally attack her for being his godson's girlfriend.
She and Sirius hadn't spoken before, Ginny had avoided the encounter as much as possible, unwilling to deal with this nasty man. And now, despite perfectly noticing his contempt for her, Sirius wasn't even brave enough to express his disgust to her openly.
At each meeting, she sat at the foot of the long table, directly opposite Dumbledore, who was at the head. She had never consciously made an effort to conceal her emotions, yet in a few days she learned to do it magnificently, the old man never losing sight of her throughout the meeting, attentive to her expressions every time a plan was formulated, trying to read her to know the best way to proceed in the raids.
The first time Sirius shows his dislike for her openly was when, upon receiving the news that a dementor had attacked Harry, he is enraged to see her indifferent. Everyone knew that she hadn't even tried to contact him and that she most likely knew that would happen.
"You're an ice statue, aren't you worried? For my godson?" Ginny at that moment realized that he was addressing her, she hadn't paid attention to the meeting, and she didn't care what they had been told, she knew Harry would be fine. "I can't believe you're a Weasley and my godson loves you so much. "
Ginny just stared blankly, then looked away, as if she'd only seen a nasty slug. That was too much for Sirius who began a full-scale verbal attack to which everyone was too shocked to respond, eventually, to the man's embarrassment, he calmed down due to Snape's intervention.
"And you're an embarrassment to wizards, Black, it's unacceptable for you to put yourself on the level of a little girl, and it's shameful that even she can keep her composure better than you a grown man." Professor Snape said with a wicked grin, all too pleased to see his former bully losing control over a brat.
Eventually, Dumbledore's intervention calmed things down, fortunately for Sirius, as Molly Weasley was more than ready to wring the neck of the man who had dared to shout such horrible things at her baby girl.
Ginny remained indifferent, waiting.
A Hermione no le agrada Ginny porque sabe que a Ginny no le agrada ella, Ginny no es amistosa con Hermione, en todas sus interactions he intentado dejar eso claro.
:D
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