The Exchange Student - Cedric Diggory⁴

➣ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝟖 "𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨"

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Third year; second term; January - June 1992

The second term of the year flew away, in between readings and writings. Nicolás wrote everything that could have been written about Apparition. How it works, why it works the way it does, how to manage it, the priorities in it, the intricacies in it, and the consequences of its bad use.

All of his exams were passed with flawless grades, and finally, two weeks before the year ended, the Apparition course finally got to its end, where they could try and do it.

Maybe it was first-time luck, or maybe the fact that he had been doing magic ever since he was nine, but it didn't come as a difficulty to him.

On his first try, he actually did it. It wasn't really that complicated if you were a control freak like Nicolás, who was also an obsessive overthinker, so it wasn't difficult to keep a destination in mind.

With purpose, he Disapparated his body. It was a curious sensation, it felt as if his body completely shattered into a million pieces, before being sucked and forced through a very tight rubber tube. And it was a success.

He did it ten more times before the instructor deemed it worthy of being licensed.

In retrospect... okay, perhaps Nicolás had needed to have been more clever with Harry. It was very suspicious of him to ask about his namesake, Nicolas Flamel.

He had told Harry everything about Flamel because he was searching for him in recent history books when Flamel had been recently like six centuries ago.

Of course, he hadn't expected Harry to actually be involved in any shape or form in anything related to Flamel's Philosoper's Stone. Because it turns out, it was not only hidden in Hogwarts itself but also attempted to be stolen!

And somehow, it was Harry and his two friends, Ron and Hermione, who stopped the robbery.

Or at least, that's what Nicolás could grasp from the frantic letter Caelum sent. But that was until his attention was claimed back by his mother's letter, leaving him with a sour taste.

Dear Nico,

Honey, I wanted to tell you that I probably won't be at home for the summer break. I'll be in England discussing very important things. This is really a once-in-a-lifetime chance, but I don't want to get your hopes high to a possible disappointment, so I won't get into many details.

I was offered a very high position within the British Ministry of Magic. That is why I will be traveling there for some weeks. There are many things that need to be discussed, things that need to be settled before I even consider accepting.

I'll be leaving in a few days before you arrive back. I'm really sorry I won't get to see you. Aunt María and Caelum promised they would go for a few days to keep you company.

I hope I'll get to see you before the summer ends.

With love,

Mom

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Summer Holidays 1992

The summer began with less excitement than Nicolás had anticipated. His mom's absence, being away in England for most of the season, left their typically lively home feeling empty. Nicolás' eagerness to hear from Harry, normally filled with the comfort of their regular letters, was met with an unsettling silence.