A fair few of the Hufflepuffs were now giving the eight friends the cold shoulder. This shocked the non-Hufflepuffs of the friend group. Rhianna, Ella and Jocelyn however were not shocked or hurt by this behaviour. In fact, they rather admired the Hufflepuffs for it. This showed a great sense of loyalty. Unfortunately, because of this, the friends were no longer welcome at the Hufflepuff table. The friends had decided to always sit with the Gryfindors this year.
"So, why are the Hufflepuffs mad?" Hermione asked.
"The Hufflepuffs are mad?" Harry asked. There was only one person who hadn't noticed the dirty looks the Hufflepuffs were sending and that was Harry because he's literally the most oblivious person to set foot on planet Earth.
Ella broke into a grin, "Because they were hoping that Cedric would be chosen."
"We're really proud of them though," Rhianna said.
"It shows great Hufflepuff loyalty," Jocelyn finished. Hermione smiled at the friends.
"Evan?" Harry suddenly asked. "I know what the first task is."
"Me too," Evan admitted.
"How...? Oh," Harry breathed in realisation. Suddenly, the owls came in. There was a red letter in the claws of an eagle owl. A howler. Who was it for? That question was answered rather quickly. The howler landed in front of the friends.
"EVAN, HOW DARE YOU ENTER! THAT WAS CEDRIC'S PLACE, HE WAS GOING TO GET IN! BUT NO, MR EVAN DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THAT, DID HE? I AM VERY DISGUSTED THAT YOU WANTED TO STEAL CEDRIC'S THUNDER! ESPECIALLY AS YOU WEREN'T EVEN A STUDENT BEFORE THIS YEAR!" the howler cried. Then it turned on the Hufflepuffs. "AND YOU! YOU TRAITORS! DOES HOUSE PRIDE MEAN NOTHING TO YOU? YOU LET YOUR FRIEND ENTER RATHER THAN LET HUFFLEPUFF HAVE A BIT OF SPOTLIGHT. AND YOU STAY FRIENDS WITH HIM! I THOUGHT YOU WERE TRUE HUFFLEPUFFS! HOPE YOU LIKE OUR BADGES. I SPEAK ON BEHALF OF ALL OF THE TRUE HUFFLEPUFFS. YOURS SINCERELY, ZACHARIAS SMITH!" the howler tore itself up, leaving the whole hall in a state of subdue. Evan rolled his eyes.
"Now, that's enough, that's just insulting," Ella said. She made to stand up. Evan's eyes widened as he realised what his friend was about to do.
"No Ella!" he said.
"Too late," she sung. She stormed over to the Hufflepuff table. She noticed their badges and smiled wryly to herself. The badges said 'We should have a real champion. Both of ours stink!'. As she clambered onto the table, she cast a muffliato so that only the Hufflepuffs and her friends could hear what she was about to say.
"Listen up you lot!" she said loudly. The Hufflepuffs turned and stared at her. "I don't care what you say about me, or your complaints about the champion outcome. However, insulting my friends is something I WILL NOT stand for. How dare you say my friends aren't loyal? How dare you suggest that Evan only entered so that Cedric couldn't? Clearly, the goblet decided that Evan was the best candidate! Also, leave Harry alone. Him being chosen wasn't his fault. Jocelyn, Rhianna and I are true Hufflepuffs. I'm glad you are too, but this is taking it too far. So stop being idiots, otherwise you'll see what I'm capable of."
She smirked to herself as she remembered that irritating boy at camp who she'd sorted out by attacking him with a spade. She shot Smith a dirty look.
Dramatically, she jumped off of the table and rejoined her friends, taking off the spell as she did so.
"Ella, Evan, all of you actually," a voice said. "Just so you know, I don't blame you. They're taking it too far, I'm sorry. I tried to stop them..."
Ella cut him off.
"Thank you," she said.
"It means a lot," Evan said. Harry nodded his agreement. Cedric smiled and walked away.

AUTHOR'S NOTE- I FORGOT TO SAY IN MY LAST A.N THAT RON IS FINE WITH HARRY IN MY STORY (I JUST COULDN'T WRITE HIM AS A BAD FRIEND)