Harry still couldn't quite believe it. He wasn't sure whether he actually wanted to know that he'll be facing a massive, fire-breathing beast or not – sure, now he has time to prepare for the task (hypothetically), but it also meant that Harry has to give up sleeping peacefully until the very day of the task. I mean who would simply go on with their life of attending classes, doing homework and doing nothing, all while knowing that his life was going to put in danger as part of a stupid, ancient competition?

He was cursing his life and his luck while walking in the corridors, looking only at his shoes when he heard a group of guys laughing and fooling around somewhere in front of him. He looked up and saw that it was Cedric, surrounded by his ever-present admirers and wannabes, clearly trying their hardest to impress Cedric with their jokes. Although Harry could only see the group from behind, he knew that all Cedric did in these situations was smile politely. Harry knew that Cedric was actually annoyed by all this attention but was too kind to actually tell his „fan-club" to give him some space. That was one of the (many) things Harry admired about him; he was so considerate with others, he always made sure never to upset anyone even the slightest.

Harry's daydreaming was interrupted when he suddenly remembered that Cedric was the only one who hasn't known about the dragons yet, since Krum and Fleur were probably told about it by their headmasters already. Harry suddenly felt bad as a picture of an unprepared, scared Cedric appeared in front of him, as he has no idea what to do about the dragon… He might get ridiculed, or even worse, actually get hurt… No, that can't happen. Harry decided he needed to tell Cedric, so they would be on even footing. But how? Is there even one moment in Cedric Diggory's life when he is not ambushed by at least 10 obsessed weirdos?

Harry decided to follow him (or actually, them) under his Invisibility Cloak. He didn't want other people to find out he's tipping Cedric off, and he was also sure that Cedric's minions wouldn't pass up the opportunity to insult him if they noticed him. He quickly hid behind a statue, draped the cloak over him and followed the not so little group. Harry couldn't help but think that the way the guys were fighting for Cedric's admiration was quite pathetic. They failed to realise that Cedric would be happy to simply be their friend, he didn't want followers, he wasn't like Draco Malfoy who needed pawns around him. This was the darker side of Cedric's gift of natural charisma, people always wanted a part of him, either be with him, or actually be him. Harry had his fair share of attention, but he couldn't imagine how Cedric was dealing with all his wannabes. And he couldn't actually blame them: Cedric was a true leader, but not in the arrogant, bossy way. He didn't need to try and people were still listening to every word coming out of his mouth, since they knew it was both true and clever.

As Harry was following the group, deep in his thoughts under the cloak, he suddenly noticed Colin Creevey in a side chamber, surrounded by Slytheryn bullies.

-„You want your little crush, Potter to win, eh? You want a fucking cheater to represent Hogwarts in the competition, don't you?"

-„Harry is not a cheater! He's a very brave guy, much braver than any of you!" Colin desperately squealed. Although there was determination on his face, he also sounded very scared. Harry's heart fell. He was touched by how Colin was defending him in his absence. Sure, his fanatism was a bit annoying at times, but Colin was one of the most honest and good-intentioned guy Harry has ever known. He felt anger in his vains, and was about to hex the bullies from under his cloak, when he noticed Cedric's group made way for Cedric to exit their circle and approach the bullies, who didn't notice him coming.

-„What's going on here?" Cedric asked sternly.

The bullies released Colin's collar and turned around.

-„We were actually defending your honour, Pretty Boy… But now I see you're no better than Potter at all. Should we really put up with a fucking Hufflepuff representing us all in the Trwizard Tournament?" The other bullies laughed stupidly.

-„You weren't defending anyone's honour" – Cedric said in a cold, calm voice – „you were just looking for an excuse to feel some power, cornering a child, like the cowards you are"

The leader of the bullies suddenly got red, and pointed at Cedric with his wand, but Cedric was quicker, twisted his arm and forced his wand out of his hand. The bully yelled loudly in pain.

„50 points from Slytheryn for being coward little losers" Cedric said sternly. „Now go back to your common room and don't let me see anything like this happen ever again. Oh, and about these" – he pulled the Potter Stinks badges off from their robes – „you better stop wearing them. Harry Potter is an official Triwizard Champion, show a bit of sportsmanship."

The Slytheryns got going with a defeated, evil look, taking one last glance at Colin, who was shaking. Cedric got on his knees and put his hand on his shoulder.

„Hey, you're Colin, right?"

Colin slowly nodded.

„What you've just done was amazingly brave! You can be proud of yourself for standing up to these cowards like this! You're a real man, little guy!"

Cedric ruffled Colin's hair, who smiled proudly.

„Do you collect Wizard Cards?" Cedric asked him, wich Colin slowly nodded to.

„Here, would you like to have this?" Cedric pulled a card from his bag and gave it to Colin. „It's a really rare, Gold-level card! Only 5 of these have ever been printed!" – he explained to Colin who was looking at the card with awe in his eyes.

-„THANK YOU SO MUCH! THIS IS WAY COOL!" He exclaimed and hugged Cedric's waist. Cedric chuckled.

„Now please go to class, little hero! See you around!" Colin nodded, waved at Cedric and ran off in the direction of the Transfiguration classroom.

Cedric's followers quickly erupted in applause and whistling, and were giving high fives and friendly shoulder bumps to Cedric.

„Way to go Ced!"

Harry himself was amazed by what he's just seen. He always knew Cedric was a good guy, but seems like he's also pretty bad-ass. Harry felt a strange, tingling sensation in his spine, when a girl in the group quickly exclaimed:

„Oh, we only have 5 more minutes before Charms begins!"

This made Harry panic, he can't let Cedric get into the classroom, because he needs to speak with him as soon as possible. As an act of impulse, he pointed his wand at Cedric's bag and whispered:

-„Diffindo!"

Cedric's bag instantly got ripped ripped apart in the middle, makin gall his books, notes and ink fall to the floor.

„Damn that was my new bag from Mom…" Cedric crouched down annoyedly to gather his things. Harry felt stupid for what he'd done, but at least it seemed to do the trick, because Cedric told the others to just go on without him and tell Flitwick he'll be some minutes late. Harry knew this was his moment, as everyone except Cedric disappeared. He pulled his cloak down and approached Cedric.

-„Hi!" he tried innocently.

-„Oh, hello…" Cedric looked up at him, then down on his bag and Harry saw on his facet hat something in his brain just clicked.

-„You've done this, haven't you?"

Shit. So much the cover act.

Cedric stood up and looked into Harry's eyes. It was hard to tell, but it seemed like he was slightly… amused by the situation?

-„I… um… well… okay, damn, yes, it was me, but please don't be angry, I just needed to talk to you alone, and…"

Cedric's face softened and he grinned widely.

„I recognise the work of a good Diffindo when I see one."

Harry felt relieved and laughed shyly.

„Next time it's okay to just pat my back, or you know, actually say my name, promise, I'll listen" – Cedric was laughing now. „Anyway, what is is that you'd like to talk about?"

Harry just remembered that it wasn't actually for nothing that he ripped Cedric's bag and made a fool of himself.

„Dragons… the first task is dragons." – he muttered.

Cedric's face got serious.

„What?! How… How do you know?"

-„That doesn't matter… I… I just know."

-„Are you sure?"

„Yes."

Cedric studied Harry's face for a while, probably thinking about whether he should believe him or not, but it seemed like he was convinced when he asked:

„Why are you telling me this?"

-„Krum and Fleur already know, I thought it'd be just fair to let you know as well, so you won't be the only one with no clue…"

Cedric had thankful warmth in his eyes now.

„Thank you, Harry. It's unbelievably decent of you to come and tell me this. You're a real champion."

Cedric was looking down at Harry's lips, then into Harry's eyes again, and smirked.

„See you later then, Harry" He turned on his heels, leaving Harry dizzy. When Harry sort of got to his senses, he yelled after Cedric.

„Hey!" Cedric turned back around.

-„Yeah?"

-„What you've done for Colin was… you know… pretty cool…"

Cedric just smiled knowingly and walked away.