The Library.
It was the quietest sanctuary at Hogwarts.
But to Cedric at that moment, it was hell.
He hid in a corner deep among the bookshelves, trying to build himself a physical sound barrier with an Advanced Transfiguration Guide thick enough to knock a troll unconscious.
It was useless.
He closed his eyes and tried hard to recite the Clear-Mind Charm silently.
But that cool spring water never appeared again.
Without Douglas's rock-steady guidance, he simply could not grasp the core of the spell.
He felt like a clumsy apprentice who had learned only to swing an axe, without knowing how to chop wood.
Fifty feet away, a Ravenclaw student gently turned a page.
To Cedric, that rustling sounded like a rusty saw scraping back and forth across his eardrums.
The flames in the fireplace spat out a tiny spark.
Boom!
A tremendous noise exploded inside his head.
In the distance, a Hufflepuff couple huddled together, whispering.
Those tender, affectionate voices burrowed into his ears and became a greasy, sticky noise filled with malice.
He clamped both hands over his ears, but the sounds seemed to grow legs, crawling straight through the gaps between his fingers and into his brain.
Just as he teetered on the brink of collapse, someone sat down in the chair opposite him.
Footsteps, a heartbeat, breathing...
A new source of noise joined the symphony tormenting him.
It was Harry Potter.
"Hey, Cedric."
Harry's voice sounded a little strained and unnatural.
Cedric slowly raised his head, his gray eyes bloodshot.
Fighting the buzzing in his head, he forced a twisted smile through clenched teeth.
"Good afternoon, Harry."
"Um... I was reading in the Library and came across a really interesting account."
Pretending to be casual, Harry flipped through the copy of Hogwarts, A History in