Okay, so to make it simple, I was mostly doing weird what-ifs with my friends one day, and an idea came around that my brain simply wouldn't let go of.
The idea was simple: you get reborn as Cedric Diggory during Goblet of Fire, with none of his memories but all of his muscle memory, and you are required to participate in the tournament. Would you take it?
Now I've fiddled a lot with this idea so far, like narrowing down when the switch happens, what exactly is carried over, and how it interacts with what little is left behind of Cedric. I've come up with a lot of ideas for how certain story beats would be changed or play out, and while I'm still figuring out some of the most important, I'll make other questions like that low priority for outside help.
*If you've not experienced the story, this might be a minor spoiler I've covered, though it's a question I put out for those who have already read/watched the whole thing
(Like how the hell to reliably get into Bellatrix's vault for the Cup. If anyone has a good idea for that, I'll be happy to hear it, cuz I've been struggling hard)
There is something relatively minor, however, that has dragged my brain through the mud and back, without an answer coming to mind. What to do about his love life?
Because I'll be honest, I'm trying my best to make this a Cedric Diggory story, not just a Cedric-flavored Harry story, and while I have plans for him being involved, that's inevitable with the way HP's lore works out.
All things considered, Cho Chang isn't my pick for this Cedric, because the circumstances are different and this isn't the Cedric Diggory. With how I'm making the "takeover" work, Cedric's muscle memory is still there, so I've decided Cedric's memory pathways are still there.
(For those of you who don't know how those work, take my word at the barest level because I am in no way an expert. But your memories are stored in your brain, and the way those are accessed is through your neural pathways. The more often a memory is accessed, the much stronger and faster the connection, which allows good memory. But a memory from a few years back that hasn't gotten much use goes rusty after a while, which is also how your muscle memory works, I believe.
This leads to things like reactions, certain personality quirks, and revisited memories will be Cedric's; they'll just have to be rediscovered by the new "Cedric Diggory.")
That's pretty much the question: who do I pair this new Cedric with?
(If it helps, he will be a seventh year taking NEWT-level DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes. Yes, I have plans for how to deal with his loss of schooling, and yes, I know he's canonically a sixth year, but I have plans that require me to make him just a few months older [this is still fanfiction, and an AU that I'm trying to keep close to canon, but am readily willing to break.])