Entry 6: What the Grave Gave Back

Thunder rolled over the Little Hangleton graveyard as Albus peered at the last resting place of Tom Riddle Snr. Around him, the Aurors were conducting a search by the book. He recognized the spells they used, had a hand at making devices they poked the wet ground with, and was certain both would amount to nothing.

It would take darker medicine to pin down the work of Lord Voldemort, but Albus had no need for it; he had Harry’s word on it.

The rain was becoming stronger and Albus decided not to shield himself. Dozens of wet, cold needles prickling his skin was as good a distraction from other feelings as any, not that he would manage to fool himself, but it was pleasant to feel something honest.

He gave the grave another look. Last resting place, but no peace. Young Cedric would have neither. Helga’s pride to most of Hogwarts, but just a spare to Voldemort.

In his long life, there were many ups and downs, but the look of despair and pain on Harry’s face when he had appeared clutching the cup had stabbed Albus anew. He had hoped to give the boy a couple more years, but like many others, they were swiftly killed by Voldemort. Many more hopes would perish, now.

Alastor was already gathering the Order of the Phoenix, and Cornelius was already gathering ministry against Albus. Both, Albus thought wearily, were preparing for the wrong battle. Such was the cost of his lies and secrets.

Around him, the Aurors were finishing their sweep, wands lowered, shoulders sagged. Nothing. Nothing to give Amos respite, but plenty for Cornelius to cling on.

Kingsley made his way over. “Nothing.”

Albus inclined his head. “No,” he agreed softly.

For a moment they stood in the rain, measuring the graveyard that had seen some of the most potent magic the world had seen in the decades past and nothing to show for it.

“We’ll need to move carefully,” Kingsley said. “If You-Know-Who’s truly back—”

“He is,” Albus said.

Kingsley took a deep breath in, his eyes shifting through emotions faster than Albus could follow. Shock, fear, panic, but then acceptance and grim resolution.

“Potter’s word?” he asked at last.

A dozen memories rose unbidden. Small boy looking in wonder at Great Hall’s ceiling, with anguish at the mirror, in defiance at Lord Voldemort.

“Yes,” Albus said, and Kingsley gave him a sharp nod, already moving back to his colleagues, jaw set.

Albus turned his gaze once more to the empty, rain-beaten grave. Somewhere, Amos Diggory was still waiting for his son to be brought home.

He straightened, drawing his damp robes closer about himself, though he did not dry them.

Aurors would break the news to Amos, and Albus to Harry. For a fleeting moment, he wished it was the reverse, or to delay, make the boy find out with everyone else in the Great Hall at the next meal.

But Albus had made his decisions long ago, and Harry deserved better.

In the end, in the hospital wing, Harry’s shoulders simply sagged. “What about Mr. Diggory?”

Of course he had thought of others first.

Harry’s green eyes were dry, and so Albus kept his own the same. “He will have to wait for justice instead. Just like the rest of us.”

Harry gave a sharp nod.

Albus’ eyes flickered up to his scar. There was little doubt now. One day, perhaps, he will have to break similar news to Harry’s friends and family, to the world that put so much in the boy who himself never realized the strength he so easily gave to others.

The fire suddenly lit in Albus’ stomach. Not if he had anything to say about it, not again. He took a deep breath in. It meant giving up on secrets he held on for so long, it meant no more lies, but the more he thought about it, the less his heart weighed.

Harry was waiting on him, he realized, to say something, and for once Albus thought it may be the right decision.

“Do not despair, Harry,” he said. “We shall face him together, you and I. You are not alone.”

“For Cedric.”

For the world. For James and Lily, and many others.

 

Spoiler: spoiler

Albus is always hard one to tackle, and you didn't go too hard into it which is the safe choice if not correct one. Cedric's body not being there is not really influencing this too hard, but it does give a lot of to work with if you choose to make this into the main comp entry, and as a flash story it still mostly works with the resolution.

The cut from graveyard to hospital wing is bit awkward but I understand the words constraint. I think there was more to be done by aurors at the graveyard, make missing body more than just the device for this piece. Guess nothing to do but wait and see, plenty ways this can go on.

 

Spoiler

A few days ago I heard about this characteristic of LLM writing. Human writers, you see, can vary how much stress they put on each sentence, how much of their chest they want to put into evoking a specific feeling. Or "vibe", if you're so inclined. LLMs don't do that. Each sentence has to be "impactful", "intense", like it's an ending line that the story turns around.

I'm not gonna say that you used an LLM to write this. I don't know that you did for certain, and I'd hope that people wouldn't pump out ChatGPT trash for the hallowed halls of the DLP competitions. I think you have that same problem, though. Each other line has a particular stress to it that makes it extremely overwrought.

There's too many examples to point out here. The entire piece is utterly rife with them, though. "darker medicine"? What even is that?

In general I don't think there's much to be said about this beyond that. Not a lot happens, there's no particular hook or anything else to draw us in. It would be really interesting to see what spells Aurors use for forensics, but that's just tossed aside.

 

Spoiler

I like the setting and Albus as MC and Kingsley S being in the scene. He would be a great character to explore a bit more in a canon divergence thingy. I like the foreboding tone but I think when you add that to the way Albus thinks about Harry it becomes bit much, or maybe it’s a balance thing. Comes off as slightly pompous to me. Adding an instance of whimsy or similar would put it right. (Might just be me though). Love the phrase “Last resting place, but no peace”

 

Spoiler

This is an interesting divergence point. Harry being unable to bring Cedric's body home. But I wonder how that would actually change things though. The Ministry still doesn't believe Voldemort returned even with Cedric's body. I struggle to see what major divergences this would bring to canon... unless Voldemort uses Cedric's body in some way. I also agree with the others, using Albus as the POV character is a risk. He is a hard character to write.