Time seemed to stand still.
Harry saw an incredibly radiant smile bloom on Cho Chang's face, brighter than the sunlight streaming through the windows.
"I'd love to!"
She answered without hesitation, her voice full of delight.
Harry stood rooted to the spot, feeling as though an invisible, icy hand had seized his heart and crushed it to pieces.
He had become part of the backdrop, an awkward, unnecessary shadow no one noticed.
Yet fate seemed to think this torture was not thorough enough.
An even deadlier blow came.
After receiving her agreement, Cedric spotted Harry standing frozen a few steps away.
Rather than ignoring him, he took Cho Chang's hand and walked over to Harry.
Every step seemed to tread on Harry's shattered heart.
"Harry!"
Cedric's face was filled with sincere, heartfelt gratitude.
"I was just looking for you. Thank you, really. Your reminder... was very important."
Harry's mind went blank.
A reminder? What reminder? Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon?
"Yes, Harry."
Cho Chang smiled too, looking at Harry with her clear eyes, her gaze full of goodwill.
"Thank you for helping Cedric. You're such a good person."
A good person.
Those words pierced Harry's heart as precisely as a Basilisk Fang.
He had become a clown.
A complete fool who had spent so long carefully planning, imagining himself unfathomably clever, only to pave the way for his romantic rival with his own hands.
Professor Douglas's face flashed through his mind, wearing that mischievous smile.
"Destroying someone by striking at their heart."
So this was what it felt like to have someone strike at your heart.
It was not anger or resentment, but a cold helplessness that seeped from his very marrow.
Harry stood there, feeling that the muscles in his face were completely beyond his control.
He tried hard