Harry Potter A New Sirius Black

In a part of Hogwarts that was near the kitchens lay a room where many devastated, sleepless students were sitting. This room was the Hufflepuff common room, and many of these students had stayed awake all night, stricken with grief and heartache. It was the early hours of the morning now, and they knew rest would be elusive for the rest of the night.

The feeling of excitement and anticipation that had filled this room just twelve hours ago had been completely obliterated, and in its place was an atmosphere of complete anguish, sorrow, and rage. Their shining star, their leader, someone they had all looked up to, who they considered to be the best of them all, was gone, never to return to them.

Susan Bones would never forget the ice-cold shock that had gripped her heart when she had witnessed both Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory disappear from the spot where the Triwizard Cup sat. The crowd had not been able to see what had gone on in the maze, not until the last few minutes when they had reached the cup. Dumbledore had explained that there was a charm on that part of the maze so they could see who won.

They had heard Harry and Cedric speaking to each other, arguing over who would take the cup. Susan had known how good-hearted Cedric was, that he had offered to let Harry take it by himself, but Harry had refused. He had compromised with Cedric that they would take it together, and still earn a Hogwarts victory. In that moment, Susan's respect for both boys had risen.

But then, it had all gone wrong. As the boys each grabbed a handle, they and the cup had disappeared, leaving a stunned silence in their wake, followed by a confused, deafening jumble of sound as everyone tried to make sense of what had just happened.

The Hufflepuffs, sitting huddled together, all shared the same fear as the minutes passed. Albus Dumbledore had tried to calm the crowd down, but it was to no avail. As time stretched on and the two Hogwarts champions still didn't return, the crowd noise got louder and louder until it became a roar. Hannah Abbott,sitting next to Susan, had clutched her hand, terror in her eyes, but they couldn't speak their fears out loud. But Susan knew they were both thinking the same thing: something terrible had befallen both boys.

Susan had thought back over the mysterious and unexplained events of the year. She thought about the Death Eaters marching at the Quidditch World Cup, the fact that a Ministry worker, Bertha Jorkins, had gone missing, and Barty Crouch, Senior's strange absences. She thought about Harry's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire, and how most of the school had turned against him. She had thought with disgust of the members of her own house who had participated in the jibes and taunts to him in the corridors.

Hufflepuffs were supposed to be hard-working and loyal, but where was the loyalty in turning against someone who had done nothing to them? There had even been a time when she had been furious with Cedric himself, because she thought he was among them. She had pulled him aside soon after the champion selection, and had yelled at him. She could vividly remember Cedric going pale, and putting his face in his hands as he confessed that his ill will towards Harry was because of nothing he had done; it was because he was upset with his father for always comparing the two.

All Cedric had ever wanted was to make Mr. Diggory proud, and Harry's entry into the tournament was yet another obstacle. But once Harry had told him about the dragons, which he had explained to Susan, the resentment towrds Harry vanished, and he had tried his hardest to support the younger boy and to stop those in the house from disparaging him, especially when the "Potter Stinks" badges were prevalent. Throughout the rest of the year, he hated hearing anything said against Harry, and Susan was ecstatic when it looked like both boys would be the true Triwizard champions last night..

So, as she had sat in the Quidditch stands, the agonizing minutes had continued to tick by, and then, with an almighty thump, Harry and Cedric had materialized at the edge of the maze. For the rest of her life, she would never forget the sight that greeted her then: Harry, shaking, sobbing, white as a sheet, clutching the Triwizard Cup in one hand, and in the other, Cedric. Cedric, pale and still and lifeless, eyes staring up to the sky, a look of profound shock and fear upon his handsome face. Cedric, who just wouldn't wake up. Cedric, who was dead, gone forever.

The commotion that followed was burned into Susan's memory. She remembered the screams, the sobs, the howls of grief from Mr. Diggory, who Susan now knew loved his son beyond anything in the world. Mrs. Diggory looked like she was about to throw up as she stroked Cedric's face lovingly. Teachers were panic-stricken, trying to herd the students back into the school. Cedric's girlfriend, Cho Chang, bent over him, continuously screaming for him to wake up, wake up, wake up, clutching him to her like a lifeline.

It had been pure chaos, and through it all, Susan would never forget the words Harry Potter spoke. "He's back! He's back! Voldemort's back! Cedric ... I couldn't leave him, not there!"