#yes I admit it I will always love rakepick and carewyn's dynamic

[carewyncromwell]

Diego 🤝 Carewyn

Requested by Anon

Diego Caplan was widely considered a dueling prodigy at school. He easily reigned over all other competition at Hogwarts’ Dueling Club, mastering non-verbal magics well before his peers and easily dodging spells with his graceful, precise footwork. One of the very few people who could give Diego a real challenge on the dueling field was Carewyn “Cursebreaker” Cromwell -- unlike Diego’s friend and dueling pupil Merula Snyde, though, Diego relished that challenge. 

“Why, who wouldn’t love meeting a lady who could both serenade them with song and utterly kick their arse?” he said at one point, waggling his eyebrows mischievously.

The lower, “suave” tone of voice in which he said this proceeded to make Carewyn cover her face, unable to completely stifle the hysterical giggling erupting out of her. 

Carewyn had always found Diego’s “charm” absolutely hilarious, mentally comparing him to Lando Calrissian from Star Wars trying to sweep Princess Leia off her feet. Fortunately Diego didn’t seem at all put-out by how much his behavior amused Carewyn -- the Cursebreaker was such a serious person so much of the time that it was kind of nice, to see her actually smiling and having a good time for a change. Carewyn’s stoicism and dynamic talent for leadership was actually what inspired Diego to nickname her “General,” after the formation of the Circle of Khanna -- though, true to form, Diego couldn’t resist punctuating that nickname with additives like “dear General” or “sweet General” now and again. 

One of these times in particular Diego was discussing the Circle’s combat division’s progress with Carewyn over a friendly duel of their own. 

“Ben has been doing excellently, of course,” said Diego, as he lobbed a silent Stunner at Carewyn that she had to block with a quick “Protego!” “And as much as I wasn’t sure about him enlisting Cedric at first, I must admit...the kid does have potential.”

Considering how jealous Diego had been about Cedric getting so much attention for his dueling talent earlier this year, Carewyn thought that said a lot. 

“Ugh -- that’s good,” she said. “Immobulus -- I’m glad he’s doing well.”

The last thing I want is for Cedric to get hurt, just because he wants so much to help bring R and Rakepick to justice. 

Diego dodged Carewyn’s spell with the grace of a dancer. 

“His sense of honor is impeccable, on the dueling field -- ” He shot a Disarming Charm, which Carewyn ducked. “ -- that may, however, run into problems when his opponent does not share that honor...”

“Protego -- like Rakepick,” agreed Carewyn. 

She silently blasted a Banishment Charm at Diego, which collided with his foot and threw him off-balance -- fortunately Diego managed to sweep through the air and land on his feet with the grace of a cat.

“Woo! Fantastic shot, General,” Diego complimented, before silently shooting off another red Stunner for Carewyn to block. “But yes -- Ben expressed concern that Cedric may need some instruction in how to expect and counteract more underhanded dueling tactics. I believe chucking potion bottles at him would be a good place to start...”

“Cantus -- are you sure you don’t just want to do that for your own sake, Diego?” Carewyn asked very coolly. 

Diego grinned impishly. “Perhaps just a little bit.”

He silently shot three more red spells one after another, all of which bounced off the Shield Charm Carewyn formed in response.

“Your Shield Charms really are marvelous!” Diego praised, as he continued to blast spells at her barriers. “As strong and protective as you!”

Carewyn bit back a giggle. “If I’m a Shield Charm, what does that make you, Diego Caplan?”

“General! To pick just one!” Diego shot back jovially. He continued to blast different-colored flares of light, naming each one as he did so. “Confundo, for when I throw my opponents off-guard -- Bombarda, when I blast through my competition -- Tarentallegra, for my killer dance moves -- Levicorpus, for when I sweep people off their feet -- !”

Carewyn was giggling despite herself -- it was making it hard for her to verbalize her spells, so she tried hard to cast them non-verbally, even if she wasn’t as good at it. Diego’s mouth was spread into a huge, victorious grin seeing Carewyn’s amusement.

“Or perhaps, taking your laughter into account, I am Rictusempra!”

Carewyn wasn’t able to form a Shield fast enough to block his Tickling Charm, which collided square with her chest like a puff of white dust. Now laughing fully, Carewyn struggled to articulate another spell. 

“D-Depulso -- hahaha -- well -- haha -- you certainly have -- ha -- practiced playing dirty!”

Diego grinned more broadly than ever as he dashed forward, ready to make his closing move. Carewyn, however, despite laughing so hard she could hardly breathe, had a strangely triumphant smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. As soon as Diego got close enough, she sideswiped him, dodging his Stunner while also silently aiming another spell right at his chest. In an instant, a flood of water erupted out of Carewyn’s wand, knocking Diego backward.

“Ugh!”

“G-Glacius Duo!” Carewyn cast her next spell through her jinxed laughter. 

Within seconds, Diego felt his wet clothes molting with ice that encapsulated his arms and legs, making him unable to move. 

With her opponent effectively disabled, Carewyn quickly pointed her wand at herself, choked out a weak “F-Finite Incantantum” to stop her laughter, and then bustled over to thaw Diego out.

“Incendio.”

Diego shivered all over once Carewyn had dislodged him from the ice.

“Whew, that was...really quite good...” He grinned more brightly than ever. “Excellent form, General! A brilliant combination of spells.”

Carewyn smiled modestly. “Thanks. Jacob taught me that trick.”

She helped Diego dry off his still sopping wet clothes. Diego even held up his sleeve to make it easier for her.

“Maybe when you’re training with Cedric, you could look into using spells that aren’t as commonly used for dueling,” Carewyn suggested. “Jacob’s best at Transfiguration, so he uses a lot of Switching Spells and such, when he duels. It might help throw off your opponent.”

Diego looked both thoughtful and excited at the prospect. “Mm, yes! Ben has always done incredibly well, whenever he’s been able to employ his advanced Charmwork in battle...he’s used Meteolojinx Recanto beautifully, to blind his opponent before launching a counterattack...”

Once Diego’s clothes were dry, he followed along after Carewyn as they headed back toward the castle.

“I must say,” Diego said with a dashing grin, “I do not envy anyone who has to face off against us, brave General. They would most assuredly have reason to quake in their boots.”

Friendship Drabble Prompt!

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #friendship drabbles #diego caplan #carewyn cromwell #ben copper #cedric diggory #merula snyde #jacob cromwell #my writing