Harry’s nightmares had been getting worse since the Triwizard tournament, but lately they were not so much scary, well they were still scary, but they were also getting weird, as if someone was casting Riddikulus the moment the dream was getting too real.
Harry had been having a recurring nightmare every day for months since the events in the graveyard, reliving every minute from the moment Cedric and he grabbed the Triwizard cup together. Each night he would wake up bathing in sweat, his silent scream still hanging in the air, but a week ago the dreams changed.
The first time, instead of arriving in the graveyard, Harry and Cedric were transported to a pumpkin patch. The place was completely deserted. As in all his nightmares Cedric was the first to overcome their confusion that the Triwizard Cup turned out to be a Portkey. He suggested that they take their wands out in case there were still more tasks to complete.
‘Wands out, Harry’ , was a phrase Harry would never tire of, no matter how many times he dreamed about this event.
It would be difficult to fathom what task they could possibly complete in a pumpkin patch.
Carving them?
Transfiguring them into carriages to take them back to Hogwarts?
That last one did actually sound like fun and Harry could imagine Cedric and himself arriving back to the castle in a beautiful carriage pulled by unicorns or even thestrals, holding hands and waving the Triwizard Cup triumphantly.
No sooner had that thought entered his head, or the pumpkins were beginning to look more menacingly. They had started to grow and scary expressions were beginning to form on their now enormous orange shapes. They were casting eery shadows over Harry and Cedric and just when Harry felt that they were going to be crushed by a bunch of oversized scary pumpkins, he woke up.
The next time, instead of arriving in the graveyard, Harry and Cedric ended up in the Hogwarts kitchens. The elves were busy readying a feast for the end of the tournament. There was a hive of activity and initially no-one seemed to be taking any notice of them.
Neither Harry nor Cedric felt the need to take out their wands. These kitchens were familiar territory for them. There was nothing to fear here. This was their happy place.
Harry was about to show Dobby the Triwizard Cup, when a voice from behind him said:
‘Ah, there you are, the final ingredients for the Triwizard Pie.’
And before they knew it, they were grabbed by lots of little hands and shoved into the enormous Hogwarts’ ovens. Before Harry could find out how long they were meant to bake for, he woke up in a sweat.
As if those nightmares hadn’t been weird enough, the third night Cedric and Harry were transported to Knockturn Alley. Harry did not need to be told ‘Wands Out’ this time. This place always gave him the creeps, even when he wasn’t dreaming.
There were lots of masked people milling about and they appeared to be shopping.
What on earth would Death Eaters be shopping for and why were Cedric and he here?
They overheard one Death Eater say: ‘We better get the best decorations money can buy. It isn’t every day we get to celebrate the return of the Dark Lord.’
At those words Harry’s scar started to hurt like never before and before he could warn Cedric a blinding green light shot out from behind them. Cedric was no more and Harry sat up straight in his bed, shaking like a leaf.
The next night Harry was nearly afraid to close his eyes. His old nightmares had been bad, but he had always known what was happening, as he had lived through it before. The new nightmares were toying with his emotions and he did not like them one bit.
The dream started as all his dreams had started with a smiling Cedric offering to take the cup together. Merlin, Harry loved that smile and he would give anything to see that smile again. If only he could turn back time and change the outcome of that last task.
The cup transported them to an orchard. Cedric was admiring the beautiful apples that were hanging from the trees. They were having their wands out, just in case, but the orchard seemed deserted and looked actually very peaceful in the sunshine. Cedric picked a lovely shiny red apple and as soon as he took a bite, he dropped to the ground. The apple, that he had still been holding, rolled away from his now limp hand.
Harry, who like most kids his age, knew very little about first aid, could only think of one thing to do. Like the prince in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he gently kissed Cedric on his gorgeous lips, but nothing happened. Maybe he had to use his tongue to perform CPR, but this was also to no avail.
‘Ten points for ingenuity,’ a voice behind him said menacingly, as an arm grabbed him from behind and held him so tightly that Harry passed out, before waking up in his own bed, the memory of Cedric’s lips still vividly in his mind.
How much more could he take? Harry was beginning to wish for his old nightmares to haunt him again. Some aspects of the new nightmares were of course quite nice, but they still always ended up with Cedric being dead. Cedric, that most wonderful specimen of wizard-kind, taken for no reason at all. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, all because he had been too nice, too wonderful, too caring, too… too everything Harry would have liked to have in a soulmate. With these thoughts Harry fell asleep and it wasn’t long before he and Cedric The Brave grabbed the Triwizard Cup and were transported to another maze. It wasn’t anything like the maze they had just left. It was airier and brighter. They were surrounded by large corn stalks and small paths between the rows of corn seemed to be leading in different directions. ‘Wands Out, Harry,’ Cedric said. Harry agreed. After the test they had just survived, a new maze was the last thing they were looking forward to entering.
‘Can we not just send up sparks and end this ridiculous tournament?’ Harry suggested. He was tired of this nonsense. Didn’t they have the cup. What more were they expected to do.
He grabbed Cedric’s hand and pulled the boy back towards him.
Cedric turned to took at him and for a moment their eyes met and it was as if they were seeing each other for the first time. The older boy pulled Harry towards him in a tight embrace. They had been through a lot this past year. Harry felt completely safe in Cedric’s arms. He relaxed completely. This was nice. He was just about to lean further into the embrace, when Cedric’s body stiffened. The eyes that just minutes ago had looked into his lovingly, were now devoid of any life. ‘Take my body back to my father,’ the ghost of Cedric Diggory whispered, as it left the now dead host body.
Harry felt the tears running down his cheeks, as he sat up in his small bed in his bedroom in Privet Drive. That night no more sleep would come, as Harry lay in his bed softly crying for the loss of more than just his fellow Hogwarts student, but the loss of a shared future no longer feasible for either of them.
If these dreams continue, I will have to seek help, Harry thought to himself. He had heard of the Draught of Peace and would give anything to be put into a dreamless state of sleep for the next few weeks.
Maybe when he returned to Hogwarts after the Summer, he could ask Madame Pomfrey. He surely wasn’t going to ask Professor Snape. The very thought of having any conversation with his potion master set his teeth on edge. I’d rather have nightmares than ask that man for help, he thought, before drifting off to sleep.
‘Look Harry, a bonfire!’ Cedric shouted excitedly.
Harry barely had time to realise that the cup had transported them to a clearing in a forest, the Forbidden Forest most likely.
‘Wands Out, Cedric!,’ Harry shouted after the boy, who was running towards the big bonfire, holding the Triwizard Cup in one hand and his wand in the other.
There were lots of people in the clearing. From afar Harry could see that most of them were wearing Hogwarts robes, but there were also some sky blue capes and fur-lined coats. He stopped abruptly when he saw Cedric embracing a short person with black hair, who he moments later realised was no other than Cho, and felt a stab of jealousy, as he watched them share a passionate kiss. Then people started to congregate around Cedric and began to congratulate him.
‘No, it wasn’t just me, we grabbed it together,’ he heard Cedric say and then the older boy waved him over. ‘Come here Harry, I was just telling everyone that we both won the cup. It was Hogwarts teamwork at its best.’
Before Harry could move, Hermione and Ron ran up to him and hugged him tightly.
Now people were congratulating Harry too and his friends and house mates kept hugging him and punching his shoulder.
Before he knew what was happening he and Cedric were hoisted onto their friends’ shoulders and, holding the cup between them, they were carried around the bonfire.
‘Behold your Hogwarts champions,’ their friends proclaimed and everyone cheered, even the Slytherin students. This was a Hogwarts win, and all houses were united in celebrating their win over the other two wizarding schools. Hogwarts were the best and house rivalry could be suspended for a night at least.
There was food and drink and the merriment lasted until the last embers of the bonfire had died down. As he made his way back to the common room with his friends, he gave Cedric a final wave.
‘Good night, Cedric, and thanks for everything,’ Harry shouted.
‘You too, Harry, it was great to have you at my side, but at the next quidditch match it will be every man for himself.’
Harry laughed and was still laughing when he opened his eyes in the morning to a beautiful bright Summer’s day. He knew this had been just a dream, but at least it had not been a nightmare.