trans_9 | Spared [Open]

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Spared [Open]

"Reducto!"

Cedric had found a spot in the grass of this strange city's park from which to work on his spellcasting, starting with some target practice. He'd pushed back the sleeves of his plantsuit as far as was possible and made long movements with his wand, alternating between creating fast streams of bubbles and shooting them down. The almost childish game of bubble-popping was a simple diversion from the stream of thoughts that was flowng just as fast, one that hadn't stopped since the moment he realized he was alive: I'm about to die. It was hard to comprehend, when it seemed like his life had been going so well just hours ago.

Yet these Ohm had thrown everything off balance. Cedric had gone straight to Stacy to ask for his memories restored, as he'd never rest until he knew the truth of what happened. It had been just as hard to remember as that unicorn princess had predicted. Sure, the curse that was meant to kill him had been thrown off by another attack, but he'd heard awful yells. Harry's. When the sedation had worn off and he'd opened his eyes, he'd had to struggle not to scream.

That was what had happened to disrupt the course of history. For now, he had been given days, weeks, maybe months or a year or two to live, that long until he left this crew behind and met his fate. People had talked about their worlds being restored after the war. The Ohm were supposed had something that would fix things as they were meant to be, and 'meant to be' was his death. If he didn't die during the war, he'd be meeting his end immediately afterward. Time couldn't be changed, not even with a Time Turner. It had to happen.

Cedric was living on borrowed time. No one knew how long it would be until they won. They were going to win, he was sure. A small selfish part of him hoped that it would last a while, that he would have time to finish his unfinished business and learn more, but that was unfair. He couldn't allow the needless deaths to hang over his conscience any longer than necessary. The countless innocents killed during the Ohm's attack needed to live, not him. Billions of lives resurrected in exchange for his death, that was fair. He was the spare, not them. No matter what his father said or the Goblet decided, he wasn't special in the eyes of the universe, was he? He was just...

The spare who had been temporarily spared. A bubble waiting to be popped. Pop, pop, pop went the bubbles as his wand moved more precisely. If this was all the life he had left, he might as well do it right.

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"You're improved from what I remember," his former professor said as he approached.

Cedric might have expected Lupin to occupy himself solely with Sirius, but the truth was that he thought of himself as something of a caretaker for all the wizards on this ship. As the one most used to this situation, he had a duty and a privilege to guide and aid the others here.

Professor Lupin's voice. Cedric stowed his wand away out of habit and looked up, definitely surprised. It was just that kind of day, wasn't it?

"I had to get better, sir," he started to explain. "I wasn't going to survive the tournament without some more practice. Harry and I just barely made it."

And the rest, as they knew, had all been horrible. "Anyway, I have to keep it up for the fights ahead. Once I'm done, I'll try to figure out which spells might work on the Ohm.

"Ah yes, you had mentioned the tournament, I'd forgotten. Amazing to think they had brought it back." James would have been selected for Hogwarts, he couldn't help but think. Sirius would have tried, and certainly he himself would have put his name in simply to make them happy, but it would have been James who took the honors.

"There is no Hogwarts here and we're sort on classrooms, but I enjoyed teaching enough that I wouldn't mind taking it up again, if you'd like that."

"For what it was, it was exciting. There was a lot of tension between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. My housemates thought---and I did, at first, and I'm sorry---that Harry was using his fame to take away from Hufflepuff's first chance for glory in centuries. A lot of them teamed up with the Slytherins and Ravenclaws to taunt him. But it wasn't his fault. He was kind to me all through, and he didn't like the attention."

Cedric didn't think he would have either. That Rita Skeeter was such a pest!

"But yeah, I don't mind studying again. If you have time, that is, you must be busy."

"That's a shame." Lupin sighed. "Harry had no business being in that, though don't think I'm faulting him, he simply has entirely too much else to deal with. Someday I will need to worm the entire story out of him."

But enough about thinking of the past, or rather, his future. "I certainly have time. Most of what I am about now is trying to research a potion that will enable a gargoyle who turns to stone during the day to not do so, should he so choose. Which again is quite slow going, as, again, Potions. I meant to ask your help, as well as Harry and Sirius, though you can see how that slipped my mind at the time I saw you all again."

It sounded like a daunting task, but perhaps he'd have a clearer mind away from the Hogwarts dungeons. "It's all right, Professor. Of course you've worried about other things, but I'll help. Do we know how the stone effect happened in the first place?"

That would be the first step.

"From what I understand, it is part of their nature, the way they sleep. That is why it must be a potion, we cannot take it away permanently, and we don't want him relying on wizards to be able to enter the state or deny it as he chooses."

Lupin had done little more than think on this project for most of the weeks prior; the only thing stopping him from achieving it was not knowing how to achieve what he intended.

Cedric took note of all this, trying to think on every potion ingredient he knew. It'd be so much easier if he still had his book of herbs! Professor Sprout had definitely taught him quite a bit about Herbology, so maybe he could think of something...stone sleep...stone...paralyzed...wait!

"Professor, is the effect similar at all to petrification? Like what the basilisk did in fourth year? We used mandrakes to cure that, so they could be an ingredient...if we could find and grow them."

Lupin nodded. "That had occurred to me, but if there are any mandrakes in the Hydroponics area, I haven't been able to find them, so I've been forced to seek out other substitutes. So far that has not gone well, though I have the help of a friend or two who are better with Herbology than I am."

"It's true," Cedric couldn't help but laugh. "Almost every Hufflepuff's best marks are in Herbology. Our common room's full of plants---there was one I watered every morning, it liked to curl around our fingers."

Realizing that he was off on a tangent, he pulled himself back to the subject at hand and grinned. "We've learned some of the common properties of plants with certain effects. I should be able to figure out some of what the plants we have here are capable of."

He wasn't an expert, by any means, but he was ready to try.

"Then I shall need to introduce you to one of my friends in question," he said. "She maintains a garden in the Hydroponics area and is helping me look after a few plants of my own. Aconite, primarily, just in case."

Cedric grinned easily. Oh yes, he'd love to talk to someone who owned a garden! "I'll talk to her as soon as I can. What's her name?"

"Alastirra," he said, "and you'll find her quite easy to recognize, as she is a a foot or two taller than I am and purple-skinned, though a quite lovely person for all that." Better to warn Cedric now than have him taken by surprise when he first met her.

"Oh! Well that's all right, then." Cedric shrugged. "I don't have a problem with differences, I've already talked to two unicorns. There isn't much further to go, is there?"

He was going to be just fine. Somehow. Eventually. "But honestly, thank you. I think I'm going to be all right."

Well, if Cedric wished to believe that talking unicorns were on the far end of the strangeness spectrum, Lupin would allow the ship life to gently disabuse him of the notion. "I'm glad to hear it, and I'm at your disposal if you need anything."

He considered for a moment, then added, "By the way, have you learned to Apparate?"

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