since it was still quite early in the day the white wyvern was pretty much empty. only a few of it’s regular customers were sat at their tables, half-empty pints in their hands and speaking in hushed voices about merlin knows what. cedric was behind the bar, too busy cleaning up after the previous night’s shift to bother with any of the discussions. it wasn’t any of his business to pry anyway, not when it wasn’t absolutely necessary. or at least interesting.
the people who frequented the wyvern were, for the most part, the same ones every night. or at least they matched a certain pattern which allowed them to blend in with the regulars. but the person seated across from the wolf that day did not match that pattern. they were an unfamiliar presence who stuck out like a sore thumb. part of cedric was intrigued about their reason for being in such a place but not intrigued enough to endure through the torture of small talk.
❝ okay, ❞ he finally addressed the overly talkative customer. ❝ i'm NOT the kind of bartender who listens to people's problems or has conversations about sweet nothings. so, unless you're asking for a refill, do us both a favor and stop talking to me. ❞ thankfully his replacement would be there soon and he would be able to finally head back to bed.
cedric is the second biological child of the infamous fenrir greyback.
dahlia albright, an american muggle travelling through london, was only eighteen at the time she was raped by the much older werewolf. she barely escaped the assault with her life and returned to her home country.
finding out that her attacker had left a much deeper mark than she’d originally believed, dahlia was almost driven to madness. she wanted nothing to do with any of his offspring so it was unanimously decided in her family that the child would be given away.
as soon as the baby was born, mr and mrs albright shoved him into the care of the proper authorities and washed their hands of him for good. or so they thought.
he got his name, cedric, from the first social worker on his case.
cedric was lost in the american foster system for many years. it wasn’t the worst of times but it wasn’t the best either.
social workers attempted to place him with several families but every time they returned him saying the child wasn’t a proper fit for their household.
it was around the age of five that his magical abilities started to manifest and all sorts of weird things were happening in his presence. this obviously made him less and less suitable for adoption and eventually people gave up on trying to find him a permament home.
instead, cedric was moved from foster home to foster home all across the united states, with never really enough time between them to even feel like he belonged somewhere.
it didn’t help that each house was worse than the one before it. the kids were meaner, more prone to violence against the young, and the parents cared less and less about the wellbeing of those they had in their care.
becoming a werewolf & the beginning of all problems.
while cedric was struggling to adjust to the muggle world (the only world he knew at the time), fenrir was hunting him down to get him as far away from it as possible. the werewolf’s search took about nine years but eventually it proved fruitful.
fenrir tracked his son by scent and pure luck. he managed to kidnap young cedric as the boy was returning from school. nobody reported him missing which made the next step so much easier.
without even bothering with introductions, fenrir dragged his son into an abandoned building, bit him and let nature decide his fate: if he was to die, so be it; if he survived, he’d become part of his father’s pack.
luckily, or unluckily - depends on how you look at it - cedric survived the night. and that’s how all his troubles began.
moving from the states & living with his father’s pack.
as soon as cedric was well enough to travel, fenrir made arrangements for the two of them to return to the united kingdom and reunite with the pack.
life with a bunch of much older, unruly wolves was difficult and horrible. as the youngest member, cedric was always the butt of all jokes - he was picked on and kicked around almost constantly.
training basically involved getting the crap kicked out of you by the older pack members - he had to learn fast or literally die trying in process.
for the first couple of years of his werewolf life, cedric was pretty soft, clumsy and had trouble keeping up with the others. his senses failed him more times than they helped. plus, he hated the sight of blood and rarely spilled any.
this made his father furious. as the alpha’s son he was expected to be much stronger and capable than other wolves his age, not an absolute disappointment.
fenrir would often hold one on one training sessions with cedric to help him improve. cedric loathed that ‘bonding time’ more than anything. he always got back to his room bloody, sore and with something broken.
since most of the pack members are wanted criminals they live away from populated areas, usually in improvised or abandoned structures since they tend to move around often (whenever one of them causes too much trouble).
pack life changed him from a sweet, clumsy kid into a bitter, reclusive and downright mean one.
family - or what’s left of it.
cedric’s first kill was his mother. his father mentioned her a few times but never had a good word about her.
sometimes cedric wandered what it would have been like if he had a mother. but he quickly realized he was only kidding himself and there was no point in focusing on the woman. until her father took him to meet her.
he didn’t plan on killing her, he just wanted to talk. but her reaction to seeing him was so infuriating he couldn’t help it.
she should have wanted him...she should have accepted him back home.
it was the first time fenrir told his son that he was proud of him.
his maternal grandparents followed very soon after. it was their fault mother didn’t want him, they had put all those ideas into her head. poor mother... they deserved it.
ced has an older half-sibling somewhere in the wizarding world that he’s never met. from what he’s heard they’re having better luck at staying safe from their father’s reach and don’t have to live with the burden of being a werewolf. he’s very jealous of that aspect.
school years.
cedric started his magical education at ilvermorny where he was sorted into wampus. fenrir thought it would be best to keep his son away from all things going on in the british wizarding world until his involvement was absolutely necessary.
only a select few people at the school knew about his condition and precautions were set in place to protect other students from him.
he lasted at ilvermorny for about four years before he was expelled for improper behavior - he assaulted a kid and left him half dead, all because the kid bumped into him in the hallway. it was before his time of the month.
during his time at ilvermorny cedric didn’t make a very good impression. many were already weary of his last name and his aggressively defensive behavior didn’t help with making him likeable either.
needless to say, he didn’t manage to make any friends (not that he actually tried in the first place).
those four years as a wampus were quite lonely, only serving to deepen his disdain for humankind and defensive attitude.
following his expulsion, ced was transferred to durmstrang institute where he was told he would have to repeat his fourth year and be on his best behavior.
the same arrangements, only harsher, were made to accommodate his condition and ensure the safety of the other students.
his father forced him to agree to all the terms since it had taken a lot to pull the necessary strings and get him into the institute to begin with.
durmstrang was a much better fit for the greyback.
he completed his education at durmstrang.
leaving his father’s pack & reluctantly starting his own.
a couple years after graduation cedric decided didn’t want his father’s boot on his neck anymore. their plans were no longer aligned and he didn’t need the pack protection either, he’d become a capable wolf on his own.
since his father wasn’t going to let him off that easy, cedric lied and told the man that he was planning on going out into the world and to get more werewolves to join their cause, more specifically the knights. luckily fenrir bough the lie.
for some time he managed to get away with just aimlessly travelling on his own, pretending to be recruiting. but the jest caught up with him and fenrir sent another member of his pack to keep an eye on his son, make sure he was doing what he said. at that point ced had no choice but to start recruiting.
now he’s stuck with a pack he doesn’t want but has to manage nonetheless.
occupation.
cedric got his first job as a bartender at the white wyvern. that’s where he met the first client who hired him to carry out a murder. since he’s no stranger to killing, quite enjoys it actually, he accepted the offer. after that people kept contacting him for jobs.
he still keeps his bartender job as a front (plus, free drinks) but mostly makes money out of kills.
personality.
as time passed, cedric became increasingly angrier and more cynical. actual poster boy for the expression sour wolf.
uses sarcasm as a way of interacting with the world. he doesn’t even realize it anymore.
absolutely terrible at controlling his emotions since he’s only ever known four of them: anger, hatred, fear and loneliness.
sometimes he acts like an 80 year old man, sometimes like a 4 year old. moods vary depending on how much sugar he’s had.
show him any kind of kindness and watch him get confused and suspicious.
he’s actually very loyal if he likes someone but will still try to keep them at arm’s length anyway.
horrible, dark sense of humor.
don’t believe him, he’s a liar who will sell you out for a potato chip.
he’s only out for himself and a select few people in his pack.
other facts & stuff i didn’t know where to put.
he’s very organized and absolutely hates it when people mess up his belongings.
he’s covered in scars, either from training or self-inflicted, and doesn’t put up much effort in hiding them.
he doesn’t really mind being asked questions about being a werewolf unless they get too personal. also, don’t ask about his father.
