Harry Potter A New Sirius Black

And now, hours later, a haunted Hufflepuff House sat in the common room. The sound of sobs had punctuated the atmosphere all night long, interspersed with raw, frozen silences. The couches and chairs were taken up by students of all years as they tried desperately to understand what had taken place. Susan and Hannah had sat, and were still sitting, with a first year named Elly Beckitt between them. Elly, who was a Muggle-born, was traumatized by what she had seen. She had been very homesick through her first term, and one of the people who had been so important to her integration into the wizarding world had been Cedric. Hours ago, Elly had confessed that she didn't want to be part of the wizarding world anymore.

Suddenly, Susan was pulled out of her thoughts by Zacharias Smith, who abruptly stood up from the couch he was occupying. "We need answers," he said, and Susan could see the fierce light of rage gleaming in his eyes. "Something needs to be done."

"I know, mate," Ernie McMillan said from next to him. "I want to know, too. What are we going to do?"

At this question, the anger in Zack seemed to intensify. "I was right all along," he fumed. "I knew that bastard Potter was bad news. He took Cedric from right under our noses, murdered him, and brought him back here claiming You-Know-Who has returned, and it's a complete crock!" His hands clenched into fists, and he stared into the room, daring anyone to argue with him.

"Now, wait just a minute," Justin Finch-Fletchley said fiercely. "I knew you'd jump to this conclusion, and you just can't."

"Yes, he can," snarled Melissa Parrick, who was one of Cedric's best friends. She stood up too, doing nothing to hide the tears streaming down her face. "Are you blind, Justin? It's completely obvious! I've been telling Cedric this whole year not to trust him, and I was right! Because of him, MY BEST FRIEND IS DEAD!" She slumped back down into her seat, burying her face in her hands.

Melissa's boyfriend, Jacob, wound his arm around her in comfort, but his tone begged her to see reason. "Lissa," he said softly, "listen to me. We've accused Potter of terrible things before, and we couldn't have been more wrong. When he came back last night, did you truly see a murderer when you looked at him? He certainly wasn't acting like one."

"That's the point, Jake," spat Zach, glaring venomously at the older boy. "He was faking it, can't you see that? And the stuff he was spouting about You-Inow-Who ... does he really expect us to believe that crap? He was lying, pure and simple. Cedric trusted him, and look where it got him."

Susan felt sick to her stomach as she gazed around at the students in the room. Many, unfortunately, were nodding in agreement to Zach's outburst. But she did have hope when she looked at some others, who looked severely doubtful.

From beside her, Elly made a frightened noise, terrified by all the talk of murder and death around her. Susan tightened her arms around her, and whispered comforting words in her ear. On the other side of Elly, Hannah Abbott stood. Susan wondered what she was going to say, especially because two years ago, she had been one of the people who mistrusted Harry during the Chamber of Secrets debacle. She and Susan had gone for months without speaking to each other, because Susan was disgusted by her attitude. When the year had ended with Harry as the hero, however, Hannah had reconsidered her conclusions, and had tried to redeem herself. The two girls finally renewed their friendship, but it had taken a long time.

"Listen," Hannah said quietly, but her voice seemed to carry through the whole room. "I know we're all horrified at what happened to one of our own, and we're all going to miss him so much. But blaming Harry isn't the answer. I'm ashamed to say that I was one of those who accused him two years ago." After she said this, she looked down to the floor, and Susan knew her assumptions back then still haunted her. "But I'm not going to accuse him again. I was wrong about him before, and the way I acted still upsets me. Please, don't do this. And it's not ..." She shuddered and let out a sob. "It's not what Cedric would want." Ernie nodded in understanding and agreement. He, too, had been awful to Harry two years ago.

"Fine," Zach snarled, stamping his foot in fury. "If you're not going to avenge Cedric, then I will. In the morning we're going to the hospital wing, and we're getting answers. I don't doubt Potter is staying there. Who's with me?"

The sickness continued to roil through Susan's stomach as she saw many of her housemates raise their hands, signaling that they agreed. "Please don't do this," she said softly, her arm still around a weeping Elly. "It's not going to make anything better. Innocent until proven guilty."

"Fine, but next time someone dies in this school, it'll be partly on your head," sneered Malcolm, who was one of Cedric's roommates.

Susan, whose eyes had been dry for some time now, felt tears enter them again, and they streaked her face even as a firm resolve grew within her. She was not going to let this happen. She could see it all clearly now, especially with how the Ministry ran. She knew how this would go, and her stomach lurched.

Her aunt, Amelia Bones, worked as the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, and Susan knew a lot about the Ministry from her. Many were already scared of Harry and what he could become, and now, they would surround him, and hunt him like a pack of wolves. They would rather believe him a murderer than the fact that Lord Voldemort had returned. And with nothing but vengeance on some of these students' minds, they would be all too happy to help them. Some had parents who worked in the Ministry, as well.

And Susan knew what she was going to do as she mouthed a few words to Hannah. Hannah nodded, and Susan got up to go to the dorm room, leaving Elly in Hannah's care. She was going to write to her aunt right now, and tell her what had happened. Harry would need people in his corner in the days ahead, and Susan knew with a bone-deep certainty that she was going to help him.

The grief for Cedric Diggory was almost unmanageable, and his shocked, frozen, lifeless face flitted before her eyes, but she was not going to let an innocent boy take the blame for it. She thought of Harry, alone, cold, starving, shaking, in an Azkaban cell, and sobs shook her body as her dorm room came into sight. She was not, absolutely was not, going to allow that to happen.

As she began to write to her aunt, her hands shook, but the words she wrote were crystal clear in her mind. Because she knew one thing, and one thing for certain: Harry Potter did not murder Cedric Diggory.