Cedric Diggory

Hello! I'm Cedric Diggory and this is my in-box. Leave a message here and I'll respond as soon as I can. Thanks!

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» PLAYER INFORMATION
Player NAME: Zoki
Current AGE: 22
Player TIME ZONE: EST
Personal JOURNAL: azora_mysta
IM & SERVICE: AIM: zokium
Player PLURK: zokiblue
Current CHARACTERS: Billy Cranston

» CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character NAME: Cedric Diggory
Canon & MEDIUM: Harry Potter (book)
Canon PULL-POINT: Post-death in Goblet of Fire
Character AGE: 17
Character ABILITIES: Magic! He's a wizard who's completed six out of seven years of magical education, so he has a decent range of spell knowledge. The spells require a wand, can be cast using a spoken incantation or nonverbally (though nonverbal magic is more difficult and requires greater concentration), and the effects are typically instant. There is no mana or magical energy depletion shown in canon---battles typically involve volleys of spells being slung everywhere.

These are some examples of the categories of spells Cedric typically uses, though there are more:

Transfiguration, the act of transforming one object into another. First year students start with the simplest spells, such as turning matches into needles, but more complex transfigurations are done by older students. Cedric transfigures a rock into a dog in the first task of the big tournament he participates in.

Charms, miscellaneous spells with various effects. There are many charms---for opening doors, levitating objects, and enabling a swimmer to breathe underwater for an extended period, among other things.

Defence against the Dark Arts: Many combat spells exist. They're primarily used to disarm and temporarily stun opponents, and these are the ones Cedric would know.

A full list of spells is found here, but Cedric would only know the ones taught to students at Hogwarts. He wouldn't know or use any spells classified under the Dark Arts (making zombies, torture, mind control...none of that stuff.)

And there are several things spells absolutely cannot do:
-Create food from nothing (but existing food can be expanded to make more or teleported)
-Alter time (an in-world device called a Time Turner could do that, but he doesn't have one and time travel is impossible for Exsilium characters outside of Initiative-sanctioned missions anyway)
-Raise the dead

Character HISTORY: Here!
Character PERSONALITY: As the most important character from Hogwarts' Hufflepuff House in the story, Cedric exemplifies most of the traits that Helga Hufflepuff valued in young wizards and witches. Justice, loyalty, hard work, and kindness are his greatest strengths, but there's a fair streak of stubbornness in there too. Cedric isn't easily swayed from his positions, and that can land him in trouble sometimes.

Cedric is particularly prone to denying his own desires for the sake of fairness. When Cedric wins a school sporting event on the technicality of the other team's star player being taken out by outside interference, he immediately offers to replay the match. When that same star player, Harry, later saves Cedric during a competition they're rivals in, Cedric insists that Harry cross the finish line first and take the glory. It's not easy, and glory is definitely something he wants to bring to his friends, but fairness is the most important thing. The pain shows in Cedric's face when his sense of justice tells him to turn down the prize, but he stubbornly refuses to take it until he believes he's earned it.

Thanks in part to the influence of his ever-proud father, Cedric is also quite motivated to achieve. It's very important to him to do well at whatever tasks lie before him. He's happy to compete and achieve for the sake of doing it, whether he wins or loses, but there's another underlying motivation. Using his talents and bringing glory to his family and to Hufflepuff will make his parents and his classmates happy, and that's what Cedric's really after: seeing people happy. Should they approve, he's succeeded. His people-pleasing tendencies, talent, and attractiveness have made him quite popular at school, but he seems embarrassed by the attention at times. In the end, though, he wants it: he's tempted by greatness and all the approval that will bring.

Cedric has very few relationships with other wizards fully expanded on in the story. He's generally polite to most people he meets: even when he believes Harry cheated to enter the Triwizard Tournament, he doesn't do much worse than give Harry a look of disbelief. He's social enough to have a wide group of followers at school and his interactions with his girlfriend seem to go well. He adores his family as well: despite being annoyed with his father's boasting, Cedric is quite close to his parents whenever they appear and his last thoughts in death are of reassuring them, as seen when his spirit asks Harry to give his parents a body to bury. Cedric only shows a harder edge at one point in the story: after being tortured by another competitor, Viktor Krum, he remarks to Harry that the culprit would deserve being eaten by the monsters in the maze. Despite this, he still sends up sparks to have Krum rescued.

It would be a mistake to assume that Cedric will behave entirely as a pushover: in an unfamiliar environment with moral conflicts, his stubborn streak will tend to lead to heated confrontations with those who disagree with his values He'll particularly resent cheaters and those who would allow innocent people to get hurt. He was confident enough in his magical ability to believe that he could be the best of the witches and wizards in the Tournament, and he has the academic achievement behind him to prove it---though he'll be evasive about his magic at first, as mandated by the wizarding world's laws. All of this melds into a streak of self-righteousness and overconfidence that could be deadly, though Cedric's knowledge of his own death will undermine his confidence for the first little while.

In general, Cedric's style is like that of the famous Hufflepuff mascot, the badger: he's generally non-confrontational, laying low and out of the way, but threaten anything he holds dear and he will rise up to fight. He believes he owes the Initiative at least that much---if he does this, his world will still have a fighting chance. Once Cedric figures out that this isn't exclusively an afterlife, he'll know he's being given new life in exchange for his service, and he'll readily comply.

» EXSILIUM INFORMATION
Chosen WEAPON: Magic. Perhaps he'll slowly learn wandless magic, though any magic learned would still be within the limits of canon outlined above.
Character INVENTORY:
-Yellow and black Hogwarts sporting uniform worn at the time of his death
-Wand (12 1/4 inches, ash wood, unicorn hair core)
-
» PREVIOUS GAME INFORMATION ( IF APPLICABLE )
Not applicable.

» SAMPLES
First PERSON:
[The video turns out to be the simplest option for communication. Cedric flicks it on and waves.

Hello! It'd probably be useful to introduce myself, wouldn't it? I'm sorry if I'm late to all of this, I've just had to adjust to this strange technology. I...well, you see, I came from a village where we didn't really have electricity, so this is all still new to me.

[He looks down, a telltale sign that he's hiding something---he'd always earned decent marks in Muggle Studies, but did that sound right? Anyway. Moving on.]

My name's Cedric Diggory. I've read up on all that's happened to the world, and I know I'm going to be sent on missions to start making things right. But until then, would anyone be interested in playing a game of football? Does anyone have one? I'd like to keep in shape, and it's simple enough for a quick match.

Do I have any takers?

Third PERSON:
What had the promise of the Triwizard Tournament been? Cedric searched back through his memory, thinking on those fateful words Professor Dumbledore had shared with the students of Hogwarts. Eternal glory to the witch or wizard who emerged victorious, right? How many times had Cedric dreamed of that over this past year? Holding the Cup aloft, laughing and twirling Cho around, smiling for a round of photographs with his parents. The Diggorys weren't exactly struggling for money, but that thousand-Galleon prize would've done wonders for his mother's garden or paid for a great vacation for the family.

How far had winning the Tournament gotten him? Cedric stared at his hands, remembering that awful chill when the Cup had swept him away with Harry Potter. He'd argued that it was only fair that Harry take the prize, Harry had argued that Cedric should take the prize, and they split it. That seemed fair! They would emerge victorious for Hogwarts, share the prize, and the whole school could be happy and proud.

But that hadn't happened at all. A voice had said 'Kill the spare', and the same awful green light that Professor Moody had shown his classes at the beginning of the year had rushed at Cedric. The Killing Curse, the instant kiss of death that no one except Harry had ever survived. And that meant Cedric was...dead. It was an awful thought, one he was still struggling to accept. And what had become of Harry, then? All alone in the graveyard with a murderer closing in on him?

Some reward this was. Cedric had been so preoccupied with those thoughts that he'd hardly spared a second for the person who'd given him a basic introduction to this place. It didn't feel like a next life should. All that had sunk in was that he was going to be serving some organisation to change history. Was that what people did after they died?

Well, he supposed that was all right, as far as activities for dead people went. A nice and relaxing heaven was bound to bore him sooner or later. At least this afterlife had a chance of being interesting.

» ADDITIONAL NOTES
An additional sample in Exsilium's setting with some canonmates is available here, though actionspam tags didn't seem to fit into first or third person.

There's no doubt about it, Cedric thinks, pulling his finger out of the water with a disapproving frown. The bathwater is definitely cold. Maybe it helps Howard forget, to have another uncomfortable sensation pressing in on him.

But this can't possibly be healthy. As irrational as it is, Cedric worries Howard might catch a cold. It's time to take care of him.

Howard opens his eyes then. It had been a quiet, calm session of ignoring the worst. After all this time, all his practice at it, he was more than prepared to file the incident away and keep on going. No one lasted long in the FAYZ without that skill. It was his failsafe: whatever happened, it could be overcome by ignoring. Pure willpower could push the bad away.

That was the idea, at least.

But he knows that look in Cedric's eye. The taller boy is staring down at Howard lovingly, worriedly, and 'I'm going to play caretaker tonight regardless of what you think'-ly. And as overbearing as that can get sometimes, there isn't much harm in letting Cedric do it at times like this. It means someone else is doing the heavy lifting.

In this case, Cedric is going to literally lift some heavy weight. He rolls up his sleeves, plunges his arms into the bath, and pulls a dripping Howard up against his chest. Of course, Cedric realizes his mistake soon enough: he's forgotten a towel. Once Howard's arms are secure around Cedric's neck, Cedric wanders over to the wall cabinet, standing on his toes to reach the towels. He has to pull it down with his teeth, but luckily for them it falls across Howard's lap. Perfect.

They walk into the bedroom where Cedric lays Howard on the bed, handling him more gently than glass at this point. By the way Cedric's arms shake, Howard can see that he's still affected and will be for a while. Another child losing their dad---it's all too familiar to both of them.

That's why they have to overcome it and lock it away.

Cedric's first instinct is protective. He lies close to Howard, reaching over to rub warmth into his arms. His fingers circle again and again, tracing lines on the skin while his palms press. Cedric locks his gaze with Howard's, silently willing him to go along with it. Relax. Close his eyes.

By some miracle, Howard does---though in his opinion, it's really not a miracle at all. Cedric provides warmth through touch, oxytocin becomes active, stress goes down. Howard will concede the point that it's miraculous that he's reached a stage where touch like this can be welcome, though.

When Howard's arms are warm enough, Cedric shifts his focus to easing the pain in them. What Howard did today---trying to save a life---is some arm stress, something Cedric's seen before, especially from Beaters. It's almost as if Cedric's back in the locker room, caring for another player after a hard defeat on the field.

If only things could be that simple again. If only it was just the silly old Quidditch Cup at stake when they lost.

As he reflects on this, Cedric's touches become firmer. He's working deeper down, doing his very best to heal what he can. And yet he hasn't looked at Howard's face since starting, for fear that he might cry. Nothing will bring that father back, and it tears Cedric up that he can't, but...he can try to protect what he has now.

Even though he's failed at that several times as well.

Howard appreciates the help. As long as Cedric's handling this, Howard doesn't have to think, just feel. It's welcome relief that would be even more welcome if Cedric wasn't already ruining it.

It's all a lie. Howard's known Cedric long enough to feel out his boyfriend's distress, and it's right there---his hands shake, he makes small noises, and there's a meltdown imminent. Howard should run. Earlier, he might have.

"You're an idiot sometimes," Howard whispers. That gets Cedric's attention. His hands stop and his eyes drift up to Howard's face.

"You heard me. You're falling apart. Just get it over with already."

Cedric stutters. It stings because he knows it's true. There's just no way to keep himself glued together when that father and daughter are there every time he closes his eyes. "Not until I help you."

“Five minutes.”

“Got it.”

And they understand each other by now. Cedric knows full well that Howard’s right, that he’s breaking. But he’s also more stubborn than a cat in pursuit of some particularly tasty tuna sometimes. Cedric can keep going, keep fixing until he falls apart himself.

Sure enough, Howard sees the signs. He can almost set his watch to them. Cedric’s biting his lip, looking down at Howard with that worried expression he saves for their worst nights---when they’re not sure if they’ll make it out alive. They’ve been much rarer since arriving here, thankfully, and yet here it is.

Howard knows Cedric’s still woefully naïve at times. It’s part of his appeal, but also a stumbling block between them. How can Cedric fathom the worst of the world’s cruelties? Maybe he doesn’t have to, most of the time, but they can’t even escape the jaws of death here.

Five minutes pass. Time’s up.

Howard reaches for Cedric’s back, pulling him down onto the bed. Cedric does nothing to resist. All the fight is gone. He allows Howard to pull his damp shirt over his head. It winds up in a corner, forgotten until one of the cats comes to investigate. It will be a perfect place to nestle when it’s dry, but they leave it alone for now.

Back on the bed, Cedric lands on his side in Howard’s arms, Howard’s leg tossed between his. Cedric scoots even closer, his hands spread over Howard’s back. He flips them then, lying on his back and dragging Howard onto his chest. It’s the security blanket position. Howard remembers it well. It’s perfect for warmth, closeness, and for Cedric to keep his tears from soaking Howard’s shoulder. They glide over his temples instead, leaving two lines leading from Cedric’s head to the pillow.

It’s an unspoken agreement between them that they let the tears flow. Considering all they’ve been through, it’s perfectly justified every now and then. Howard reacts by kissing the base of Cedric’s neck, then tucking his head into the spot. His hands part ways: one drifts up to Cedric’s hair, and the other plucks up a purring bundle of fur. It’s Emergency Rations, of course, looking for some warm humans to burrow under.

She sits at their side, tail flicking across the humans’ ribcages. That manages to draw a muffled laugh from Cedric.

“This is hardly the time, Spot.”

“Emergency Rations. And it’s always time for cats. They didn’t teach you that yet?”

“I’m learning. All right, she can stay.”

Emergency Rations purrs, vibrating in that pleased cat way---perhaps in response, but more likely because both humans are giving her attention. Howard and Cedric’s hands meet over her back, where they link.

As long as they’re holding each other, they’re not going anywhere. Their hearts beat, pulsing in their pressed-together chests. If they close their eyes, they can feel it---proof enough that they’re all right. Or they will be.

What the hell does this mean?

Cedric is sprawled on the couch in their little flat, head in his hands. He's been grappling with uncomfortable thoughts for quite a while, and here they are coming to a head. The convenient excuses he's used to squash any possibility of trying a relationship with another person no longer apply.

The war is over, there's no going back to wizarding England, and there's no more Lord Voldemort to kill him. He's seemingly permanently settled in a quaint seaside town on some planet with Howard, the unlikeliest of friends. The two of them grated on each other so much when they first met, yet here they are sharing a condo overlooking the bay. Those compensation credits from the war were a godsend.

But that's not all he's thought about sharing lately. One of the problems with living in a seaside town is that love seems to be in the air. Partnering up left and right, walking on the beach, playing the silly carnival games. Most of their time is spent with work, but those little escapes being so nearby are fun.

The strange thing is that lately, he's had momentary visions of that closeness. With Howard. Cedric sees them holding hands on the beach and watching rocks skip out to the ocean. He hears the laughter in their flat. He imagines saying good night, their voices just a little closer than before.

But there are a few things wrong with this scenario. One, Cedric's missed his chance. Howard had a crush on him back during the war, and he'd asked him out. Cedric had refused, citing concerns about Cho, the war, and...though he didn't say it, he wondered about dating a guy. It had never been his thing, right? He's no longer so sure. He's grown to love Howard's laugh, live for the times he can extract a smile, and he's become attached.

Two, going back to the first issue. Howard's male. And Cedric's always been interested in women. He remembers Cho, the long-term girlfriend he'll never see again, the many girls he'd smiled at at Hogwarts, and nights with the guys at the dorm discussing girls. Surely he's never been interested in one of the guys. If he was, he would've known before now.

Then why can't he get Howard's smile out of his head? Why can't he stop dreaming about nighttime walks and homemade meals? Not that Cedric doesn't cook now, but it'd be different for a boyfriend. He'd give Howard his absolute best and be proud of it. Howard won't have to worry about food again.

He burrows in the couch and lets out a muffled scream, pillow pulled tightly behind his head.