The cloud was puffy and comfy. Actually, it was more comfortable than anything on Earth, but that really didn’t make any difference to Cedric Diggory. Heaven was supposed to be this amazing place, where one knows nothing but happiness. That wasn’t the way for Cedric. Not the way, at all. Maybe he wasn’t in heaven, after all. Maybe he was in hell.
There were angels singing and gorgeous surroundings”the typical view of heaven, but there was nothing to make him happy only things to make him sad. He’d been given a small mirror upon his arrival, which he was able to use to watch his loved ones left behind. The mirror was meant to offer comfort, but it did no such thing.
Sometimes Cedric would watch Harry, forever grateful to him for returning his body to Hogwarts. There was nothing comforting to see there. Since Cedric’s death, Harry had been deemed a liar by the world, and was still trying to defeat the Dark Lord. His friend had a hard path to walk and Cedric was not at all envious of him.
Sometimes he would watch Cho, which also offered no comfort. She’d struggled horribly since his death. Becoming involved with Harry, only to feel guilty about it. He often wondered if the sweet girl would ever find happiness. He honestly believed that she deserved it more than most.
Most of his time, though, was dedicated to watching his father. Not only was there no comfort there, but there was grief. His father was hardly the man he’d left. He rarely left the house, usually not even bothering to go to work. He’d been fortunate that the Ministry understood instead of simply sacking him. Most of his days were spent staring at the walls”his nights finding the bottom of a bottle. Cedric ached for him”wanting nothing more than to help.
When he’d first arrived in his cloud-filled hell he’d been told that it would take some adjusting. He was told that he would be sad for awhile. Death was not an easy thing to accept, after all. However, he’d been there for half a year. If anything, he felt worse. There really was no happy ending for Cedric Diggory.
Sighing, he raised the mirror to his face, wishing to see his father. Amos Diggory appeared to him the way he always did, surrounded by a light fog. As always, he was seated in the living room, not moving, hardly breathing.
“How can I help you?” Cedric asked, feeling frustrated. “I can’t move on until you do. I can’t be at peace until you are.”
Briefly, he considered tossing the mirror off the cloud into the nothingness that surrounded him. The idea had occurred to him before, but, like this time, he was unable to go through with it. As much as it pained him to watch the living, he couldn’t sever the only remaining link he had to them. Without that, he would most definitely go insane.
“What do I do?” he yelled at the sky. “How can I make this better? He’s in so much pain. He’s in so much pain and I can’t help him.”
The mirror began to heat up in his hand. Baffled, he raised it to his face once more and gasped. He was no longer looking at Earth. Instead, he was looking at a message scribbled in fancy script.
Mr. Diggory,
You are unhappy here. You refuse to break ties with the past.
This is not an offer that is made often, but your constant melancholy must not continue.
There is a way to contact your father, again. Perhaps, a way to give him and yourself peace.
However, this is not easy. You must first look inside yourself. You must realize why it is you need to do this. If your motivations are clear, you will be taken to a Head Halo. The Head Halo will review your case and decide if you shall be granted access to the living world.
Please note, the only time you may contact the living is on Christmas Eve. You have one day.
Look inside yourself.
Good Luck.
At first, Cedric simply stared at the mirror, feeling dumbfounded. There was a chance he could see his father again”really see him. Maybe his first Christmas in heaven wouldn’t be so bad, after all. Maybe he wouldn’t even be in heaven. He might actually be able to go home for Christmas.
Shaking his head, he tried to focus. He didn’t have time for this. Getting his hopes up was pointless. Thinking about how great it would be wouldn’t get him there. Instead, he had to focus on the task at hand.
Look inside yourself.
What exactly did that mean? He felt like he was in the Tri-Wizard Tournament all over again. Just what he needed, clues that were hard to decipher. The mirror told him he had only one day. Couldn’t it give better instructions?
Sighing, he tried to obey. He rolled over on the cloud so his back was resting against its softness. His eyes stared up into an array of beautiful swirling colors. Colors that he couldn’t even name. Even the beauty of Hogwarts paled in comparison.
The mirror had told him to look inside himself. He was supposed to figure out why he wanted to go home. But that was simple. He wanted to help his father. What more was there to say?
He held the mirror in his hand.
“I want to go home for Christmas to help my father,” he said.
Nothing happened.
Again, he was tempted to throw it away, but knew he was even less likely to do it. That mirror was his only chance to get home. What more could it want?
As he continued to stare into the spinning lights, he realized something else. That wasn’t his only reason for going back. He did want to help his father. Of course, he did, but there was more. He also wanted to help himself, and that was his problem. He wanted to feel better, too. His motivations weren’t clear. They were mired by his own desires.
“What can I do about that?” he muttered aloud. “Of course, I want to feel better, but I want him to feel better too. Isn’t that enough?”
“Of course, it is,” a squeaky voice replied from behind him.