The Exchange Student - Cedric Diggory⁴

➣ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝟒 "𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙙"

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"Good morning, ladies," Nicolás greeted, as he and Cedric—arm in arm—approached Aurora and Amara, near Hagrid's hut. They were all earlier than everyone else for their first Care of Magical Creatures class of the year.

The morning was surprisingly sunny considering how quickly the fall had arrived. Thankfully, it was the kind of sun that didn't carry much of its usual hotness, leaving a cool ambiance for their enjoyment.

"Any particular reason you summoned us at this ungodly hour?" said Aurora, covering her yawning mouth, beside her, Amara seemed to be spacing out in her spot.

"Well, I thought you'd appreciate the heads-up before Care of Magical Creatures," Nicolás shrugged.

"What do you mean?" asked Amara, now more aware of her surroundings.

With a wicked grin, Nicolás whistled. And they heard it, the sound of strong paws against the floor, running very fast. And in a second, Ember's furry orange head appeared from between the trees. Nicolás walked up to Ember under the girls' scared eyes.

"Hagrid was all too eager to give a lesson about Wampus Cats. Hello there, Dearie" Nicolás said, crouching down to scratch Ember's head.

"It has six legs," Amara said, her eyes glued on Ember's fluffy paws.

"He has," Nicolás corrected her.

"You didn't invite the twins?" Amara decided to ask. "I thought they took Care too?"

"They do," said Nicolás standing up. "But they already know Ember."

"And Cedric?" Aurora asked with a teasing grin.

Nicolás grinned too. "Well, Ced was more than eager to greet Ember," he said, looking down at the Wampus Cat. "Why don't you greet him, boy?"

And Ember didn't waste a single second before padding and jumping, tackling Cedric to the floor, licking and nuzzling the boy's face. Cedric could only laugh at the feeling of Ember's wet and rough tongue and cold nose, scratching the cat's fur.

"That's enough, boy," Nicolás said firmly. A moment later, Ember jumped off him, padding to cover Nicolás from behind, his tail wrapping around the boy's leg.

The girls still eyed the Wampus Cat with caution, and perhaps respect, because let's be honest, Ember always looked regal, like some kind of Cat King or something, probably still trying to emulate Mufasa's majesty—nobody needed to be aware of Ember's crush ever since watching The Lion King.

For the next thirty minutes, Nicolás went over every piece of important information concerning Wampus Cats, from their unique physiology—including their six legs, their club-like tail, and their eyes —to their unique abilities like their capacity to exert Legilimency with their eyes, how they could run faster than an arrow and how their hair could be used as wand cores.

All of this was said with Ember parading the ground in front of them as if he were some kind of work of art in a gallery. Even after almost ten years of being together, Ember never lost his sense of regality.

Which was funny, considering Nicolás rescued him after he was left to die by his pack at merely days old.

"What do you mean they can use Legilimency with their eyes?" Aurora asked, wide-mouthed.

With a wide smirk, Nicolás looked back at her. "I mean just that," under the confused eyes of the girls, he gestured, "Come here."

Amara and Aurora looked at each other, confused and unsure, but they'd known Nicolás for a full year, and he had something going on with Cedric Diggory. That had to speak of his character a bit. So, naturally, they followed, approaching the Wampus Cat.