Unbelievable!

Unbelievable!

Notes: Having written the Krum-angle on this story, I thought I would try and write a Cedric Diggory one. I´m really starting to adore the not-entirely-major-but-not-quite-minor characters.

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"Cedric Diggory."

Me?

Bloody hell...

Me! That´s my name!

The goblet picked me?

Merlin with a cherry on top!

This is unbelievable!

Right, Ced, c´mon. On your feet and walk out of the hall! Yeah, stand up! Thatta boy! You can still manage to walk, right? You´re not going to fall flat on your face and make an idiot of yourself, are you?

Dear Merlin!

I´m a Tri-Wizard competitor!

Me!

Unbelievable!

Unbe-freaking-lievable!

Mum and dad´re going to be thrilled!

Dad especially.

He loves it when I get a chance to compete against other people.

Kind of embarrassing really. I like to compete for fun, but dad always is determined to see me win. I just wish he wouldn´t make such a fuss about it.

It´s really weird, actually. Everyone´s clapping and cheering and saying stuff to me, but I can´t hear a bloody thing and I´m pretty sure my face is about to crack if I don´t stop grinning like a twit.

Oh Merlin!

Professor Sprout...she´s bawling like a baby.

No, Ced, don´t look or she´ll set you off as well. Bloody hell...I don´t think I´ve ever seen her looking prouder. It´s...it´s great to know I´m not the only one chuffed to bits about this.

Right...get passed the High Table, turn and walk through side door without falling on arse, making tit of self or bursting into tears...

Good stuff. Good stuff.

Now...

Big fat Merlin with sugar on top!

Krum!

I´m in the Tri-wizard tournament against Viktor Krum!

Unbelievable!

This is just crazy!

Him and the French girl.

She´s looks sensational, but still...Viktor freaking Krum! I´m in the same room as he is and there´s no gaggle of his fan-girl army to prevent a decent conversation between me and him.

Yeah. I can talk to the guy.

After all, we´re in the same boat here. We´re both competitors and he´s probably as nervous as I am.

Right.

Nervous.

This is Krum you´re talking about, Ced. Of course he´s not going to be bloody nervous! He just played in the Quidditch World Cup! How could he be nervous about anything at all?

Okay, Ced, mate, play it cool. Be nice, be polite, be civilised and whatever you do, don´t go charging over there and act like a complete nitwit.

Introductions...good...

Remember what mum taught you: Always be polite and treat people like you would want to be treated yourself.

Shake the girl´s hand. It´s always ladies first, y´see. Mum was always very specific about the old-fashioned malarky. You have to be polite to ladies.

She really is very pretty in a...I dunno what it is about her, but it´s not right. It´s kind of creepy. Silvery hair, silvery eyes, a body that would make any normal seventeen year old girl jealous, but there´s something not quite...normal about her.

She´s still doing that staring thing that a lot of girls like doing to me. Weird. Can´t figure that one out. It´s kind of difficult to hood a conversation with a girl when they start giggling and act shy.

Especially when all you´ve done is introduce yourself.

How else are you meant to take it when they giggle at your name?

But, anyway...

Okay...now, talk to Krum.

I can´t believe I´m about to talk to Krum...

"I´m Cedric Diggory! It´s brilliant to meet you!"

And, dear sweet Merlin with a candy cane up his arse, could I possible have sounded like more of a blithering idiot?

When did meeting someone reduce me to the mental age of a hyperactive eleven-year old? This is bloody ridiculous! He´s still just a bloke, a bloke the same age as me, so why am I acting like an idiot?

Okay, when that particular bloke is Viktor Krum, the world famous Quidditch player, I suppose some blithering-idiot tendencies will slip out.

Still, he´s shaking my hand, which is progress, and he...well, his expression hasn´t changed at all, but he doesn´t look like he´s glaring at me, like he did when silver-girl laughed at something I said.

Something tells me he´s not too keen on our resident Ice Queen.

Not that I blame him.

There is something...creepy about her.

And what would people say, I wonder, if I told them I thought someone was creepy just because she was far too good-looking for her age.

All right...

This is the thing I hate.

The waiting.

Maybe I could try and talk to him.

I mean, we both like Quidditch and we are both in this competition.

But what am I meant to say to him? Do I just walk up to him and say `Hello. I like to play Quidditch and you like to play Quidditch. Will you talk to me?´? What is this? Playschool?

I´m nearly an adult, for goodness´ sake. I should be able to talk to him.

Mind you, he does look kind of...intimidating and gloomy.

He´s almost like a miniature Snape, looking at him.

Although he´s not exactly tall, he has dark eyes, dark hair, a pale face, hooked nose and he´s glaring into the fire. Or looking into the fire. I´m not sure which expression is his glare and which is his normal look.

"So..." I start to say and then the door opens.

Isn´t that just typical?

You finally get the nerve up to talk to a bloke and you´re interrupted by...

Harry?

What on earth...?

Okay, staff gathering...now, what the heck is going on around here?

Kind of a relief to see I´m not the only one who looks totally confused.

Harry Potter is...in the tournament?

All right, something is rotten in the state of Hogwarts.

For one, he´s too young and would never have got across the age line. I believe old Dumbledore about that. Decent bloke is Dumbledore. For another, the Goblet of Fire is magically set to only have the tournament between three schools, so why would it pick four?

How on earth did he do it?

I mean, he´s a kid, isn´t he?

He can´t have that much magic in him.

Although...

Although, he did kill You-Know-Who...

I´ll have to ask him about it, when he´s not being mobbed by the teachers.

This is just weird.

So there are going to be four competitors in the tournament: the French girl, Viktor freaking Krum!, Harry Potter and yours truly.

And I thought that having the tournament was crazy enough.

This is just unbelievable!