Harry knew a dismissal when he heard one. He turned to leave when he spotted Diggory standing puffing his lungs out wide -eyed in the doorway.
As Harry walked towards him, he said, "You... you... saved my life!"
"Instinct, Cedric," said Harry. The boy started to shake so Harry quickly grabbed onto him and led him over to the bed alongside Crouch.
Sitting him on the bed, Harry asked the medi-witch, "Can Cedric have a calming draught, please, Madam Pomfrey? He's just had one hell of fright. Someone just shot a killing curse at... in his direction."
From where she was working on a now unconscious Crouch, Pomfrey took one look at Cedric, reached into her potions cabinet and handed a corked phial to Harry. Harry uncorked it and firmly placed it in Diggory's hand.
"Here. Drink this, Cedric," he firmly ordered the other boy.
Without a word or even looking at Harry, Diggory brought the phial to his lips and tossed the contents back. A quick swallow, a grimace and the boy gave a little shudder of revulsion.
"Merlin!" he breathed.
Harry waited a few moments before he asked, "Better, Cedric?"
Diggory looked at Harry and said, "Thanks, Harry."
Harry grinned back and said, "You're welcome. Good thing I've got seeker reflexes, huh?"
"Yeah," said Diggory. A moment later he said, "I owe you, Harry. I owe you a life debt."
Harry grinned and said, "Friends don't owe friends life debts, Cedric." Diggory, coming back to himself, gave a snort and said, "Yeah, they do."
"We'll worry about it another time," said Harry. "Thanks for running so hard to get help. If Snape hadn't gotten there as fast as he did..."
"Yeah," he said. "Who knew the gre... Potions Master could run so fast?"
Harry grinned back as Diggory responded in kind.
"If you two are done," said Pomfrey, "You might want to clear out."
Both boys again grinned at one another as Diggory hopped off the bed. Together, they walked out.
They hadn't gone too far when Diggory asked, "Ever seen the inside of the Hufflepuff common room?"
"Nope," said Harry. I haven't seen."
"It's the
only one
With a nod and a smile Diggory said, "Come on, then. I'm about to show you a Hufflepuff secret."
Curious, Harry followed on behind as Diggory led him down in the dungeons.
Walking in through a secret door in a set of barrels, Diggory led Harry down a light ramp into a quite large common room. Though not quite as large as the Slytherin common room, it was easily the second largest of the four Houses.
A
couple
of
other
'Puffs
looked
back curiously as Diggory indicated a sofa and said, "Sit. I'll get us a couple of Butterbeers."
Taking a seat, Harry watched as the older boy went over to what looked like another large barrel, this one standing upright, and tapped his wand on a knot in the wood. A hidden door swung open and Diggory reached within. When he pulled his hand out he was holding a couple of Butterbeer bottles by the neck. With his other hand he then dropped a couple of coins into a box with a slot on top before closing the door.
He walked back over and handed a bottle to Harry before taking seat in an armchair opposite.
With a snort and chuckle, Harry popped his bottle open taking a huge swig. The bottle and its contents were both quite chilled. "The older years bring back sweets and drinks from Hogsmeade each Hogsmeade weekend," the other boy explained, answering the unasked question. "They keep the Hufflepuff Shop, there, well stocked. That way, even the younger years have access to what's available from Hogsmeade."
"Clever," said Harry. "I take it you have a... House fund from which they take funds to purchase it all?"
"Yep. It's looked after by the Prefects. And, the price from here is about ten percent above the prices in Hogsmeade," explained Diggory. "When the kitty gets too large, we use the funds to buy things for those in our House who are... less flush, shall we say."
"No problem with thefts?" asked Harry.
Diggory smiled and said, "This is Hufflepuff, Harry. We look out for each other down here. Stealing means you're stealing from your friends, and yourself. It's very rare for a theft to occur. I won't tell you what we do in those circumstances."
Harry gave a shrug and said, "Understood. I just wish the other Houses, especially Gryffindor, would be able to prove themselves so trustworthy."
"Not everyone is worthy of Hufflepuff," smirked the other boy.
being
a
As they talked, Harry looked around the room. Where he'd expected a lot of black and yellow, instead he saw brown and tans. The floor was almost completely covered in thick brown carpet. The chairs were done in dark brown leather with yellow stitching and black buttons. The tables and chairs were of a dark, almost black wood, with tan padding. The walls were in a pastel yellow with dark yellow and brown curtains in front of the windows that were along one wall.
Seeing Harry looking curiously at the windows, Diggory said, "The windows are actually in the cliff face directly below the castle. They, of course, look out over the Black Lake."
"What about windows for the dorms?" asked Harry.
Pointing, Diggory said, "Boys dorms are that way, one after the other." Then he pointed to the opposite direction and said, "And the girls' dorms are the same that way.
"Each dorm has windows on one wall that are the same as the ones in here. In other words, each dorm has a view out over the Black Lake." "I don't remember seeing any windows in the cliff face when I've been out on the lake," said Harry.
"They're there," smiled Diggory. "You just have to really look for them. Once you see them, they then become obvious to you."
Harry sat and talked with Diggory for a while before Dobby suddenly popped in. "Miss Hermy-knee and Miss Daff-knee are worried about you. They wonder where you are."
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