PHANTOM FIGURES | harry potter

64. the beginning

     When she looked back, even a month later, Aspen found she only had scattered memories of the next few days. It was as though she had been through too much to take in any more. The recollections she did have were very painful. The worst, perhaps, was the meeting with the Diggorys that took place the following morning.

     They did not blame her or Harry for what had happened; on the contrary, both thanked them for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview. Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears.

     "He suffered very little then,' she said, when Harry had told her how Cedric had died. "And after all, Amos... he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy."

     When they got to their feet, she looked down at Aspen and Harry and said, "You two look after yourselves, now."

     Harry seized the sack of gold on the bedside table.

     "You take this," he muttered to her. "It should've been Cedric's, he got there first, you take it-"

     But she backed away from him.

     "Oh no, it's yours dear, I couldn't... you keep it."

     Aspen returned to Ravenclaw Tower the following evening. From what Jasmine, Ron, and Hermione told her, Dumbledore had spoken to the school at breakfast that morning. He had merely requested that they leave Aspen and Harry alone, that nobody ask them questions or badger them to tell the story of what had happened in the maze. Most people, she noticed, were skirting them in the corridors, avoiding their eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as they passed. Aspen guessed many of them had believed Rita Skeeter's article about how disturbed and possibly dangerous Harry was. Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Cedric had died. Aspen took to distract herself from the general population of Hogwarts by talking about other things with Harry, Jasmine, Ron, and Hermione, drinking Madam Pomfrey's potions to get rid of her constant headaches, or else sitting in the Room of Requirement silently reading. She felt as though the five of them had reached an understanding they didn't need to put into words; that each was waiting for some sign, some word, of what was going on outside Hogwarts - and that it was useless to speculate about what might be coming until they knew anything for certain. The only time they touched upon the subject was when Ron told Aspen and Harry about a meeting Mrs. Weasley had had with Dumbledore before going home.

     "She went to ask him if you could come straight to us this summer," he said. "But he wants you to go back to the Dursleys, at least at first. And he said they'll pick you up from Windsor eventually, Aspen."

    Eventually? How many days was eventually? Who is they? And what did Dumbledore mean by 'pick up?' Aspen just wanted to lay in her bed all summer.

     "Why?" said Harry.

     "She said Dumbledore's got his reasons," said Ron, shaking his head darkly. "I suppose we've got to trust him, don't we?"

     The only person apart from Harry, Jasmine, Ron, and Hermione that Aspen felt able to talk to was Hagrid. As there was no longer a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, they had those lessons free. They used the one on Thursday afternoon to go down and visit Hagrid in his cabin. It was a bright and sunny day; Fang bounded out of the open door as they approached, barking and wagging his tail madly.

     "Who's that?" called Hagrid, coming to the door. "Harry! Aspen!"

     He strode out to meet them, pulled Aspen and Harry into a hug, ruffled their hair, and said, "Good ter see yeh, mate. Good ter see yeh."