Work of Karma || Cedric Diggory [2]

Chapter 12: Respite

A/N: Happy September 1st (late)! Hope this long chapter makes up for my slow updates haha. I'm quite excited for the next few chapters since Cedric will be back really soon <3

Ron Weasley getting poisoned was not on Analeigh's list of predictions for the year, or for her whole time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, for that matter. Strangely enough, becoming a Triwizard Champion, forming an underground rebellion, and nearly dying at the hands of Death Eaters several times were less shocking than this.

It was bright and early the morning following Valentine's Day when Analeigh and her friends were finally able to visit Ron at the hospital wing. Hermione and Ginny were seated on wooden chairs on either side of his bed, while Analeigh and Harry stood on either side of them. Ron was still unconscious, but according to Madam Pomfrey, he was in stable condition and would recover smoothly. In spite of her reassurances, this did little to soothe their worries.

"Ron's been through a hell of a night," Analeigh commented, scanning his sleeping figure. Harry had just finished explaining what went down the night before: how he'd taken the redhead to Slughorn for an antidote to Romilda Vane's love potion, how Slughorn cured him and offered to celebrate with them by drinking, and how only one sip sent Ron into a seizure that might have ended his life if not for Harry's actions.

"That Romilda Vane will pay," Ginny mumbled. "Ron may have gotten poisoned, which is terrible, but it's her love potion that started this mess!"

"I see where you're coming from. Besides, giving a love potion to someone in the first place already seems wrong."

"And it was meant for Harry. Can you believe the nerve? As if Harry would ever fancy someone like Romilda."

"I mean, she is sort of pretty..." Hermione admitted.

Ginny sent her a glare, saying, "With questionable morals!"

At that response, Analeigh couldn't help but exchange knowing grins with Hermione, the two of them having picked up on Ginny's defensiveness.

"Why did Slughorn even have that poison, anyway?" Analeigh said thoughtfully. "I know he's a Potions Master, but you said the poison was in the drink, Harry?"

"That's right," Harry replied. "It was an alcoholic one — mead, I think. Looked like a present as well."

"A present? So, I suppose it wasn't made by Slughorn, then."

"Are you suggesting someone gave him poison?" Hermione realized. "With the intention to —"

The sound of several footsteps clacking across the stone floor alerted the presence of more people coming to visit. Halting their conversation, Analeigh looked over her shoulder and watched as Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, and Slughorn walked in.

"Quick thinking on your part, Harry, using a Bezoar," were Dumbledore's first words. Then, he faced Slughorn and said, "You must be very proud of your student, eh, Horace?"

The Potions Master, visibly still shaken up about last night's fiasco, jumped with a start.

"Hm?" he said. "Oh, yes, very proud."

"I think we all agree that Mr. Potter's actions were heroic," McGonagall started. "The question is: why were they necessary?"

"Why, indeed," said Dumbledore. It was only when he approached Slughorn that Analeigh noticed the latter holding a bottle in his hand, which she deduced was the alcoholic beverage Harry mentioned earlier.

Dumbledore took the half-empty bottle of mead, still partially in its gift wrap, and said, "This appears to be a gift, Horace. You don't, by chance, remember who gave you this bottle, do you — which, by the way, possesses remarkably subtle hints of licorice and cherry when not polluted with poison."