Chapter 3: Sr y Sra Diggory
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- United Kingdom, England
-November 1, 1981
On the night of October 31, 1981, at the Ministry of Magic headquarters, Whitehall, London, England, Amos and Barbara Diggory were very excited and happy, just like the entire British magical community.
After returning from Greece to Great Britain, Mr. Diggory and Mrs. Diggory headed to the Ministry of Magic, and upon entering, they smiled and quickly greeted everyone, whether they knew them or not.
Their colleagues also greeted them enthusiastically and with smiles of happiness because everyone at the Ministry was celebrating...
Yes, they were all celebrating the news of the possible death of "He Who Must Not Be Named."
In fact, this event was something the magical community would be happy about for many months and years to come.
But despite the happy news, Amos and Barbara wasted no time in getting to work quickly and helping with everything the Minister had asked of them.
In recent years, only Amos Diggory had been working constantly at the Ministry of Magic, while his wife, Barbara Diggory, and their son, Cedric, had taken refuge in the house of Amos's mother, Madam Diggory, in Greece during the time of "He Who Must Not Be Named."
Greece was far removed from the conflict in the United Kingdom, so Amos decided that the whole family should stay at his mother's house.
His wife had left her job at the Ministry to take care of little Cedric. Yes, even though Amos wanted to be there more, he also knew that the Ministry of Magic needed him more than ever, so she had taken care of their son full-time for the first two years while he worked.
She had decided to stay in Greece to look after little Cedric while Amos would go to Greece every weekend to visit them, but even on those days, he only arrived in time for dinner and then sleep.
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Once Cedric turned 2 years old, given the difficult situation in the magical community, Barbara Diggory had to occupy her time with the family's business, finances, and other Diggory family duties that could not be neglected any longer.
So, Amos's mother took care of little Cedric.
And since Amos still spent all his time at the Ministry without even enough time to eat or sleep properly, he couldn't take care of them. Besides, he wasn't the right person to handle these things, and Barbara had always been the one for this kind of thing.
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In these tense, dark, and terrifying years, as strange as it may sound, Mr. Diggory had many good memories in his memory. His wife became pregnant, and their son was finally born on October 30, 1977. Yes, Amos was proud of little Cedric; his heir was perfect and an excellent member of the Diggory family.
Just by looking at him, Amos Diggory knew that he would be the pride of his family.
Little Cedric had bright gray eyes, and anyone could tell that he would be very handsome when he grew up.
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Yesterday, October 31, had been one of the tensest days in the magical community, with a large number of Death Eaters wreaking havoc everywhere. They had attacked different houses and wizards; everything was chaos.
It was that same Halloween night that a miracle happened...
The Dark Lord who had been tormenting the magical world recently had died...
The Ministry quickly spread the celebrated news to the entire magical community.
Even Amos and Barbara Diggory had been summoned late in the day by the Minister himself to help control the situation that the British magical community was going through.
Upon hearing the news, without hesitation, they both immediately responded to the Minister's request. This was a day that would go down in the annals of magical history.
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-Diggory Manor, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, England
-November 1, 1981
Mr. Diggory and Mrs. Diggory did not return to Amos's mother's house in Greece because when they left the Ministry, it was already very late, and they had also been asked to return.
Of course, it wasn't mandatory, but both of them wanted to help because they knew that tomorrow would be another equally hectic day.
Even if they had thought about returning to see their son, given how late it was, they concluded that it made no sense because they assumed that both Madam Diggory and Cedric must be asleep.
But if they had seen little Cedric's room that day, both of them would have been in for a big surprise.
Because little Cedric was not only awake at that hour, but he was also meditating and occasionally chatting with what they would think was a strange kind of ghost.
...
Once Amos and Barbara Diggory woke up the next day, both of them were very happy, and like everyone else, they wanted to celebrate this day. But the Ministry of Magic was still swamped with work, so they had to return quickly.
Yesterday, after the news of the possible death of the Dark Lord, the Minister of Magic had requested the help of all willing wizards at the Ministry, and today was no different.
With the news of the Dark Lord's death quickly spreading throughout the magical community, thousands of owls were coming and going from the Ministry.
All the wizards in Great Britain were celebrating the death of the Dark Lord to the point where they risked the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.
Of course, due to the situation, Minister Millicent Bagnold did not punish the wizards and witches who endangered the statute, arguing that there was an inalienable right to celebrate the end of the war:
"I assert our inalienable right to party."
Yes, those were the exact words of Minister Millicent Bagnold to everyone.
And that was the statement the Minister gave to the entire magical world.
But the sad truth was that, despite what she said, the British Ministry of Magic had to act to solve all the problems caused by the celebrations to prevent things from getting worse.
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Amos Diggory agreed with what the Minister said, but that didn't change the fact that she had given everyone at the Ministry more work than they could handle.
The Ministry received countless reports from all over, and there was a lot of work to be done in all the Departments, Offices, and Divisions of the Ministry.
There was so much work to be done at the Ministry that Minister Millicent Bagnold personally asked Amos's wife to continue helping maintain order in Britain for a few more days.
This was because before resigning from her job, Barbara Diggory was the advisor and right hand of the former Minister Harold Minchum, who left office in 1980.
Plus, Millicent Bagnold knew Amos's wife and knew that she not only had a lot of experience but was also very capable. So, Mrs. Diggory was someone that Minister Bagnold needed more than ever to control the situation that seemed to be getting out of control.
For these reasons, yesterday and today, both Mr. Diggory and Mrs. Diggory were present, working and helping at the Ministry.
There were too many things to do, and many magical creatures that he had to deal with as the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
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It was so much work that Minister Millicent Bagnold personally asked Amos Diggory's wife to continue helping maintain order in Britain for a few more days. This was because before resigning from her job, Barbara Diggory was the advisor and right-hand woman of the former Minister Harold Minchum, who left office in 1980.
Moreover, Millicent Bagnold knew Amos's wife and knew that she not only had a lot of experience but was also very capable. So, Mrs. Diggory was someone that Minister Bagnold needed now more than ever to control the situation that seemed to be spiraling out of control.
For these reasons, yesterday and today, both Mr. Diggory and Mrs. Diggory were present, working and helping at the Ministry.
There were too many things to do, and many magical creatures with which he had to deal as the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
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Chapter 4: Ninjato
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-Diggory Manor, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, England
-October 31, 1983
-Pov Cedric/Anakin
I blinked to open my tired gray eyes.
I woke up just as I always did since my two souls merged, with some rather strange nightmares.
It had been almost two years since my parents and I moved back to live at Diggory Manor in a small village called Ottery St. Catchpole in the county of Devon, England.
And I still had some frequent nightmares... My Master Qui-Gon told me that they were side effects of the union of my two souls and that these nightmares would gradually disappear.
Yes, apparently my subconscious still needed to process and assimilate my two lives.
But it wasn't that bad, at least Qui-Gon Jinn made sure to be there for me at all times; otherwise, things would have become chaotic in every way you can imagine.
Today, upon opening my eyes after yet another annoying nightmare, the first thing I saw was the dark brown ceiling of my bedroom. Then, I glanced slightly at my window; the sun had not yet fully risen.
I took that as my cue to go back to sleep happily, but the other person in my room had no intention of letting me fulfill that beautiful goal.
"Cedric, I know you're already awake. Come on, it's time to meditate," said Qui-Gon Jinn in his translucent form.
"...Just a few more minutes..." I pleaded hopefully with my head buried in the pillow.
"Hmm... maybe we should use today's sword practice time for meditation..." he added, and I hated him for always using that against me. He certainly knew how much I enjoyed his lightsaber lessons and didn't hesitate to use it against me.
"All right, all right, I'm getting up, okay?" I said grudgingly and grumbling as I made an almost superhuman effort to remove some of the warm sheets from my body.
Sitting on my small bed, I rubbed my hair, then rubbed my eyes as I sat up slowly, yawning and stretching my arms exaggeratedly above my head before getting out of bed after removing the sheets entirely.
"Okay, in a few minutes, we'll start, so don't waste time, Cedric," Qui-Gon said in his typical calm and reflective tone.
"Yes, yes, I know," I rolled my eyes at my master's words. Yes, he would never let me sleep for even a single minute longer.
It had been two years since my soul as Anakin merged with my soul as Cedric.
And if I'm honest, Cedric or Anakin, I still couldn't decide which name I felt more comfortable with.
But since this whole merging of my two souls happened, I understood that I should keep the name of this body... Cedric Diggory.
Although clearly, I also felt very attached to Anakin Skywalker, but well... for now, I would leave it like that and using the name Cedric, or Qui-Gon would probably make me meditate for hours again.
I shudder just thinking about it.
Although I knew that it was only through meditation that I managed to control my mind and the many erratic thoughts I had...
Yes, I assure you that no one can imagine the hell it is to have something like two different voices in your head constantly asking different questions or thinking different things about their lives, friendships, and loved ones.
It's terrifying... I assure you, you could go insane.
Qui-Gon explained that it would take my body some time to fully adapt to both souls along with the memories, emotions, and feelings.
So, I was still adjusting to all of this.
After brushing my teeth and changing, I sat down as I did every morning to meditate with my master.
By now, I found it quite boring, but he insisted that I should do it at least once a day.
Luckily, after a while of just meditating constantly, Qui-Gon Jinn took pity on me and finally taught me to harness the Force to strengthen myself and increase both my stamina and perception...
After finally finishing meditation, I took a look at the calendar and realized what day it was...
Today, October 31, 1983, one day after my birthday, exactly 24 months had passed since the sudden fall of the Dark Lord that had shocked the entire British magical community.
The funny and utterly nonsensical thing about all of this was that this powerful and feared Dark Wizard had been defeated by a baby.
Ha...
Yes, nothing more and nothing less than a damn baby.
And believe it or not, everyone was absolutely convinced that this baby, the Potter's baby, without even having any knowledge of anything other than nursing, had defeated the most powerful and feared wizard in all of Europe.
It was absurd, and I clearly didn't buy into that farce, but denying it seemed to be a total nonsense to everyone else...
It had become an absolute truth that the Potter's baby had defeated the Dark Lord, and no one could deny, say, or even suppose otherwise because it would be completely ignored.
Anyway, I started to feel quite hungry, so after what felt like hours of meditation, when in reality it had only been a few minutes, I put on my little black wizard robe and left my room to have some breakfast. I was starving.
-Pov Cedric/Anakin End
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-Diggory Manor, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, England
-December 7, 1984
"I finally finished," Cedric sighed deeply, sitting in a chair as he closed a thick book.
During this time, and after much insistence, Cedric received a wooden ninjato as a gift from his beloved grandmother who lived in Greece. He used it to practice Qui-Gon's lessons on various sword techniques used by the Jedi.
Usually, the best option to start practicing would be training sabers that the Jedi give to younglings, but due to the lack of those, the wooden ninjato had been a perfect substitute. It had a straight blade and was the perfect length for Cedric to use.
He learned incredibly fast, thanks to Qui-Gon Jinn's daily lessons. Cedric demonstrated a remarkable innate talent for swordplay and the Force.
"Thinking that I'm already 7 years old..." Cedric murmured as he looked in the standing mirror in his study, observing his light brown hair and his small body. He still felt a surreal sensation due to the fusion of his two souls.
Although he had finally managed to fully assimilate everything he had been through, along with the thoughts, feelings, and information from his two lives.
Gradually, he had developed a more natural relationship with his parents, Amos and Barbara Diggory, and he had become familiar and comfortable with his identity as Cedric Diggory.
Thanks to this and with the help of his master, Cedric began to venture out of his house more and socialize with other people...
Cedric especially enjoyed accompanying his parents to Diagon Alley or going to the Ministry of Magic.
In fact, Amos introduced his son to two acquaintances from work, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Fawcett.
On the other hand, through his mother, he met Mrs. Lovegood, who apparently had a good relationship with Barbara. Although Mrs. Lovegood didn't work at the Ministry, her family lived very close to the Diggorys.
That's how Cedric met members of the three other magical families living in the village.
The magical families in Ottery St. Catchpole included the Weasleys, the Fawcetts, and the Lovegoods.
Cedric's mother, however, taught him all sorts of formalities related to magical culture and the customs of noble families, which was extremely boring for Cedric. But she was very strict about him learning all this; after all, he was the sole heir of the Diggorys, and not respecting the formalities and customs would only lead a noble family to be degraded and ostracized by most, as was the case with the Weasleys in the magical community.
At least Cedric's mother didn't go so far as to impose the most orthodox customs of pure-blood families. She might have been a Slytherin, but not everyone was like the Malfoys and other noble houses that strongly believed in blood purity.
Now, his father, Amos Diggory, despite being the head of the Diggory family, had no interest in teaching Cedric about the customs of noble houses. Amos was much more open in this regard and only followed the customs because of his status and the education he received from a young age.
Naturally, that was one of the reasons why his wife took care of almost everything related to the noble and ancient house of the Diggorys.