Cedric Diggory

"Remember, if the time should come, when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

- Albus Dumbledore

Cedric Diggory (September/October, 1977 – 24 June, 1995) was the son of Amos Diggory and his wife. He started attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1989, and was sorted into Hufflepuff. During his time at the school, he was a prefect, and captained the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, playing as Seeker. In his sixth year, Cedric put his name forward to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. He was selected as the Hogwarts Triwizard Champion, and, although overshadowed in the press by the entry of Harry Potter, Cedric enjoyed almost overwhelming support from the student body, and, after the first two tasks, tied with Harry for first place. Cedric and Harry completed the Third Task together, and both took hold of the Triwizard Cup which transported them to the Little Hangleton graveyard. In the graveyard, Cedric was murdered by Peter Pettigrew with the Killing Curse, on the orders of Lord Voldemort. During the following duel between Harry and Voldemort, Cedric's spirit reappeared during Priori Incantatem, and helped the spirits of Harry's parents, Bertha Jorkins, and Frank Bryce hold off Voldemort long enough for him to escape. His only request was for Harry to take his body back to his parents, which Harry honoured.

Education at Hogwarts
"I said to him, I said - Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will ... you beat Harry Potter!"

- Amos Diggory

Cedric was born in September or October, 1977, to Amos Diggory and his wife. He grew up near Ottery St. Catchpole, and started attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 1 September, 1989. He was Sorted into Hufflepuff house, and distinguished himself as both an academic and athletic student, becoming a Prefect in his fifth year, as well as captain and Seeker of the house Quidditch team.

In 1993, Cedric captained his team against Gryffindor in the first match of the school year. Originally, the match should have taken place between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but Draco Malfoy played on the fact that his arm had been injured by the Hippogriff Buckbeak to get out of playing in stormy conditions. During the match, Cedric and Harry Potter contested the Golden Snitch. However, Harry was overcome by the presence of Dementors and fell from his broom. Cedric caught the Golden Snitch, but as soon as he realised what had happened to Harry, he immediately offered to replay the match. The Gryffindor captain, Oliver Wood, declined the offer, knowing that Cedric had won the match fair and square. In 1994, Cedric was one of the first to congratulate Harry on obtaining a Firebolt to replace his old broom.

In the summer of 1994, Cedric attended the Quidditch World Cup with his father, travelling to the game with the Weasleys, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger as he and his father lived close to the Burrow.

Sixth year
Cedric started his sixth year in September 1994, the same year that the Triwizard Tournament was reinstated. Being of age, Cedric submitted his name to the Goblet of Fire for the chance to become the Hogwarts Champion. On October 31st, the Goblet chose the champions to represent the three schools; Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons, Viktor Krum for Durmstrang, and Cedric himself for Hogwarts. Cedric joined the other champions in a small room off the Great Hall, and was surprised to learn that after he had left the Hall, the Goblet had produced a fourth name - Harry Potter. Despite Harry's protestations, Cedric didn't believe Harry at all.

Triwizard Tournament
"Hey, listen... About the badges. I've asked them not to wear them."

- Cedric shows his sympathy for Harry Potter

In the weeks that followed his selection, Cedric was supported by the majority of the school, even the Slytherins. Enchanted badges became popular around the school that read Support CEDRIC DIGGORY - the REAL Hogwarts Champion!, then changed to read POTTER STINKS. Cedric, however, was not fond of the badges and asked his friends not to wear them. As part of the Tournament, Cedric took part in the Wand Weighing ceremony conducted by Garrick Ollivander, who deemed his wand "pleasantly springy", and posed for photos for the Daily Prophet. However, his entry into the Tournament was completely overlooked by Rita Skeeter's article on the event in favour of Harry, a situation his father was most displeased about.
 * -|The 1st Task=


 * -|The Yule Ball/2nd Task=


 * -|The Third Task=


 * -|The Little Hangleton/death=

Post-mortem
"Today we acknowledge a really terrible loss. Cedric Diggory was as you all know, exceptionally hard working, infinitely fair-minded and most importantly a fierce, fierce friend. Now I think therefore you have the right to know exactly how he died. You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this, but not to do so I think would be an insult to his memory."

- Albus Dumbledore speaking highly of the late Cedric Diggory

The Ministry of Magic refused to accept Harry Potter's claims that Lord Voldemort had returned, and tried to hush up Cedric's death, claiming that it was a freak accident during the Tournament that killed him. They also slandered Harry Potter as a liar and questioned Albus Dumbledore's sanity.

In death, Cedric proved to be an inspiration to many students at Hogwarts. His death was heartfelt and was tragic enough to cause even those who disliked Harry Potter to believe his claims of Voldemort's return. During the school year after Cedric's death, Hogwarts was under the watchful eyes of the Ministry of Magic with Dolores Umbridge, a high-ranking Ministry official being employed as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. She constantly told students that Harry Potter lied about Cedric's death and refused to teach any practical magic.

This started a rebellion amongst the students, and they formed Dumbledore's Army, an alliance against Umbridge that taught students how to prepare themselves for the day that Lord Voldemort announced his return. During the D.A's meetings, Cedric was a key point of interest, with students wanting accounts of how he died, and his former girlfriend, Cho, seeking comfort from Harry, by asking whether Cedric would have survived if he had known what they were being taught. Harry, in turn, assured her that Cedric had known what he (Harry) was teaching the other students, but Cedric was simply unable to match Voldemort's experience and evil, and that Harry himself had made it back through good luck, rather than greater talent. Later on that year, only when incontrovertible proof of the Dark Lord's return was presented, did the Ministry believe Voldemort had indeed returned and that Cedric was actually murdered.

Physical appearance
Cedric was a tall and extremely handsome young man with chiselled features, dark hair, and bright grey eyes. Although he was a Seeker, a position usually taken by small and light players, he was well-built and burly. Cedric had attention from a few of the girls at Hogwarts, Angelina Johnson commenting he was tall and good-looking and Katie Bell stated he was "strong and silent". However, Fred remarked dryly to Katie's comment that Cedric was only silent because he was "too thick to string two words together".

Personality and traits
"We'll celebrate a boy who was, kind and honest, and brave, and true right to the very end."

- Dumbledore on Cedric Diggory

Cedric was said to embody the qualities of Hufflepuff House within himself. He had a sense of fair play, and showed it when, following his capture of the Golden Snitch during the 1993 Gryffindor/Hufflepuff match, he immediately offered to replay the match once he found out that Harry Potter had fallen from his broom under the influence of Dementors. He showed it again when he passed on information to Harry regarding how to decipher the Golden egg clue for the Second Task, and by realising that Harry had saved him in the maze and deserved to take the Triwizard Cup more than he did. Cedric was considered to be a very talented wizard, and more than capable of participating in the Tournament, even by Barty Crouch, Jr, who was posing as Alastor Moody at the time.

Cedric was also courteously polite to foreigners: he was nice to Viktor Krum who was from Bulgaria, even though he supported Ireland during the 1994 Quidditch World Cup final. He was also modest, telling his father that his victory in the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff match was not exactly a fair one. The Gryffindor Chasers (all the girls) described him as being strong and silent, suggesting that he was sensible enough to speak only when it was absolutely necessary, on the other hand the Beaters (Fred and George Weasley) said that he was quite dumb. The twins, however, were not given to many highly nuanced descriptions, and generally viewed an opponent as the enemy.

Magical abilities and skills
"By the time he was your age, he could turn a whistle into a watch and have it sing you the time."

- Bartemius Crouch Jr., disguised as Alastor Moody, telling Harry Potter about Cedric's skills.


 * Quidditch: Cedric was a skilled flyer and Quidditch player, even beating Harry Potter when the latter fell off his broom, although this had been due to the presence of Dementors. He was skilled enough to play as Seeker for his team, a position that was generally considered to be the hardest position to play. In particular, he was noted to have a very fast swerve.
 * Transfiguration: Cedric was skilled in the art of Transfiguration, transformed a rock into a dog during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, and apparently took the subject at NEWT-level.
 * Charms: Cedric took N.E.W.T.-level Charms classes and used a successful Bubble-head charm during the second task.
 * Defence Against the Dark Arts: Cedric was skilled in spells taught in Defence against the Dark Arts.

Relationships

 * -|Amos Diggory=


 * -|Cho Chang=


 * -|Harry Potter=


 * -|Pomona Sprout=

Etymology

 * The name Cedric was unintentionally created by Sir Walter Scott in his Ivanhoe character Cedric the Saxon when he misspelt the name Cerdic. Cerdic was a sixth-century Saxon leader and the first king of Wessex.
 * It is commonly believed that J. K. Rowling borrowed Cedric's last name from Digory Kirke in C.S. Lewis's Narnia series, as he is said to be one of her favourite authors.

Behind the scenes

 * Cedric was portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It is unknown on who portrayed him in the film adaption of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
 * Cedric's death is the first death Harry witnesses in the book series. Harry was in his cot when his mother died, but he would not remember this due to his age at the time, and he passed out before he sees Quirrell die. It could be that Harry did not see any Thestrals because he didn't care about Quirrell being dead. Yet, Harry is unable to see the Thestrals until Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, because the reality of Cedric's death has not fully sunk in. Technically, however, Harry did not witness the event at all in the books, as he was described to have his eyes closed with agony during Cedric's actual death.
 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Hufflepuff Seeker is struck by lightning during the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match just as he is about to catch the Snitch, causing him to fall back. The player is not named in the film's dialogue, but "Diggory" is embroidered above the Hufflepuff logo on his Quidditch robes, and the costume is identified as "Cedric Diggory's Quidditch robes" in Harry Potter: The Exhibition.
 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry, along with Fred and George Weasley, do not show signs of knowing Cedric previously, as the film implies that they are first introduced to him on the way to the Quidditch World Cup. In the novel, they already knew him from the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff in the previous school year, in which Cedric does appear in the film version as well.
 * Cedric once borrowed Quidditch Through the Ages from the Hogwarts Library, and was due to return the book on 3 July.
 * Although Harry and Dumbledore have always said it was Voldemort who killed Cedric, it was actually Peter Pettigrew, under Voldemort's orders, who killed him. It could be that they meant that Voldemort ordered Pettigrew to kill Cedric.
 * In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Cedric does die in the graveyard, but his father gets instructions on how to rebuild him from Dumbledore. However, in the sequel, it is implied that Cedric is still dead, most likely to avoid creating a plothole surrounding the aftermath of his death and the Ministry's denial of Voldemort's return.
 * Robert Pattinson has openly stated that he would rather want to play Cedric Diggory than playing Edward Cullen from the Twilight series.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
 * Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
 * Quidditch Through the Ages (real)

Notes and references
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