Cedric took a deep, unsteady breath, his fingers curling around the edge of the table as he looked away, caught in memories. The time traveler’s question lingered, a painful prompt that stirred the echoes of a night that had never fully faded.
“I remember… I remember thinking he was lying. About putting his name in, I mean,” Cedric began, his voice thick with regret. “I was sure he’d cheated somehow, and it bothered me, made me angry even. But I think I started to believe him at the wand weighing ceremony. Rita Skeeter, or ‘Seekta,’ whatever her name was, she’d taken him off to interview him, made this big fuss like he was some kind of celebrity. I thought he’d be thrilled, the only one to get an interview, you know?” Cedric gave a hollow chuckle. “But when he came out, Dumbledore was escorting him, and he looked… peeved. More than that, actually. He was frustrated, maybe embarrassed. He wasn’t enjoying any of it.”
Cedric’s gaze dropped to his hands as he spoke, as if he could see his seventeen-year-old self beside Harry that day. “I was seventeen then,” he continued, “and he was only fourteen. He looked so small, sitting there next to me and the other champions. Like he didn’t quite belong, and it bothered me at first. I thought he’d be eager to show off or prove something, but he just seemed… scared, I guess. Like he was counting the minutes until it was over.”
Cedric swallowed, his voice softening. “Throughout the tournament, I noticed he kept close to me instead of Viktor or Fleur. Part of me thought he’d want to get as far away from me as possible, but no. I think he was scared, maybe scared of dying… And I realized he hadn’t chosen this. Fleur, Viktor, me- we’d all chosen our fates. We wanted the honor, the challenge, we knew the risks. But Harry? He was forced into it. Thrown into another mess he couldn’t control.” Cedric paused, his eyes shadowed with a guilt that hadn’t lessened with time. “I don’t know how I would’ve felt in his position. And I was so grateful, too grateful, that I wasn’t him.”
The silence grew thick as Cedric clenched his jaw, clearly fighting the lingering shame. “I was young, but I regret the way I treated him. I wish… If I had a Time-Turner, like you,” he said, his voice breaking a little, “I’d go back and tell him. I’d tell him I believed him, that I knew he hadn’t put his name in that cup. I think… I think Harry would have appreciated it. Would’ve liked knowing someone was on his side.”
Cedric’s face softened, but the sadness in his eyes deepened. “If I could tell him anything now… I’d tell him that he was braver than I ever understood, that I saw it too late. He was just a kid, thrust into things no one should face. And he still did it. He still showed up.”
He looked away, his voice fading to a whisper. “It should’ve been me, not him. I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling that way.”