2018 has been the year in which I have cast aside all expectations of me committing to an actual resolution, like losing weight or learning guitar or whatever, and settled for something far more attainable: reading books. I’ve always loved reading, but have found myself struggling to sit down and actually do it in recent years. After being gifted a brand new Harry Potter box set to replaced my old one, which was tragically misplaced (along with all of my fucking Percy Jackson books but that’s another story entirely), I decided that was a good place to start. Knock 7 books out of my 20 book goal, whatever whatever.
I embarked on my reread on January 1st, in which I sat down and read all of Sorcerer’s Stone in four hours. I figured I could read Chamber of Secrets the next day in the same amount of time and be on my merry way toward victory, but it didn’t happen because school started up again, throwing me right into exam week, and also because I am a gremlin with no drive to do anything, ever. I had intended to make this blog post after I finished my reread of Goblet of Fire, but at this pace, I’ll get to it in 2020. So, I found a searchable PDF of the book online because it’s 2018 and technology is amazing and got to work constructing my argument on why Harry and Cedric are not only the best ship in the entire series, but also why I would literally probably die for them. Here we go!
Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen. He was Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff House Quidditch team at Hogwarts. (pg. 71)
The Harry Potter books are written in the third person limited point of view, meaning that the reader sees everything but only Harry’s thoughts and feelings are revealed to us. This quote is compelling because Cedric is described as extremely handsome the very first time he and Harry interact in the book, which we can only interpret as Harry’s personal feelings toward Cedric’s appearance. This wouldn’t be the first time Harry describes a boy as handsome, and it comes up again later on in the book.
“Ced’s talked about you, of course,” said Amos Diggory. “Told us all about playing against you last year. . . . I said to him, I said — Ced, that’ll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will. . . . You beat Harry Potter!”
Harry couldn’t think of any reply to this, so he remained silent. Fred and George were both scowling again. Cedric looked slightly embarrassed.
“Harry fell off his broom, Dad,” he muttered. “I told you . . . it was an accident. . . .” (pg. 72)
Here we have Cedric, defending Harry’s honor to his dad after knowing him off the Quidditch pitch for, what, 10 minutes? Cute. This proves to be a recurring theme in the book.
“How this situation arose, we do not know,” said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. “It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do. . . .” (pg. 280)
I want to take this opportunity to talk about a particular trope: the star-crossed lovers. Popularized by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers trope refers to two lovers — frequently teenagers — two are destined to be kept apart by a force greater than themselves, be it destiny, or heaven, or whatever. One of the key aspects of this trope is the cruelty of fate, especially considering how the stars (or whatever other force involved) wrote the characters’ love into existence, but also doomed it in the same stroke.
This trope also refers to destiny and the inevitability of two characters’ paths crossing, which is what stood out to me about this quote. Harry and Cedric were destined to compete in the tournament together by a force greater than themselves, but are ultimately crossed and driven apart by that very same force. (The force being Voldemort in this case, with Harry’s name being put in the Goblet by Voldemort’s will and Cedric being, well, killed by Voldemort’s will as well.) It’s cruel. It’s heartbreaking. It’s all a part of a greater plan constructed by a greater force. Harry and Cedric were star-crossed lovers.
“Harry, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed,” said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. “I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise.”
Harry glanced at Cedric, who nodded, and they left together. (pg. 282)
They’re literally communicating with each other through nonverbal communication. They just had a whole ass conversation with just looks and gestures.
“So,” said Cedric, with a slight smile. “We’re playing against each other again!”
“I s’pose,” said Harry. He really couldn’t think of anything to say. The inside of his head seemed to be in complete disarray, as though his brain had been ransacked. (pg. 282)
This quote makes me smile a little because Cedric smiles at Harry and Harry’s brain just blanks. We’ve all been there. We’ve all had that kind of crush that turns your brain into nothing more than mush whenever they speak to you. Harry Potter is no exception to this.
“I didn’t,” said Harry, staring up at him. “I didn’t put it in. I was telling the truth.” (pg. 282)
This isn’t relevant to my argument at all, I just think their height difference is really cute.
Instead of going up the marble staircase, Cedric headed for a door to its right. Harry stood listening to him going down the stone steps beyond it, then, slowly, he started to climb the marble ones. (pg. 283)
You know when people are like, “I hate it when you go but damn, I love watching you leave?” I think that’s basically what’s happening here. Harry walks Cedric to his door and then just stands there, listening to him go down the steps. Given the type of person Harry is, I think it’s a safe assumption to say he was listening to make sure Cedric made it there alright. What a gentleman. Love that guy.
Dear Sirius,
You told me to keep you posted on what’s happening at Hogwarts, so here goes — I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Triwizard Tournament’s happening this year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth champion. I don’t know who put my name in the Goblet of Fire, because I didn’t. The other Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff. (pg. 292)
I want to examine the context of this one. Harry is writing to Sirius, his godfather and one of the adults he trusts the most in his life, to tell him about the great deal of personal turmoil he’s facing. He’s scared. He doesn’t quite understand what’s happening. He’s seeking guidance. He… also randomly brings up Cedric at the end? Like when you have a crush and you just gotta talk about how great your crush is at every chance you get. That’s essentially what this is.
Then there was the fact that Cedric looked the part of a champion so much more than he did. Exceptionally handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair, and gray eyes, it was hard to say who was receiving more admiration these days, Cedric or Viktor Krum. Harry actually saw the same sixth-year girls who had been so keen to get Krum’s autograph begging Cedric to sign their school bags one lunchtime. (pg. 296)
I’ve got two things to say about this quote. Firstly, it’s the return of Harry describing Cedric as handsome. Except this time, it’s not just a passing statement. He goes on to describe, in detail, what specific features Cedric possesses that cause Harry to deem him not just handsome, but exceptionally handsome. That’s a step up from “extremely handsome,” just 200 pages earlier.
Secondly, I want to call your attention to the fact Harry has been watching Cedric enough to know sixth-year girls had been asking for his signature at lunchtime. Just casual friend things, right? Obsessing over their appearance and watching them closely enough across the lunchroom to pick up on one specific thing that happened one day? Just guys being dudes, I guess.
“It’s really not that difficult, Harry,” Hermione tried to reassure him as they left Flitwick’s class — she had been making objects zoom across the room to her all lesson, as though she were some sort of weird magnet for board dusters, wastepaper baskets, and lunascopes. “You just weren’t concentrating properly —”
“Wonder why that was,” said Harry darkly as Cedric Diggory walked past, surrounded by a large group of simpering girls, all of whom looked at Harry as though he were a particularly large BlastEnded Skrewt. “Still — never mind, eh? Double Potions to look forward to this afternoon. . . .” (pg. 297)
I get this one. I, too, wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly as Cedric Diggory walked past me, surrounded by a large group of girls.
Very glad to get away from Rita Skeeter, Harry hurried back into the room. The other champions were now sitting in chairs near the door, and he sat down quickly next to Cedric, looking up at the velvet-covered table, where four of the five judges were now sitting — Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr. Crouch, and Ludo Bagman. (pg. 307)
I want to emphasize here that Harry was anxious over his encounter with Rita Skeeter and over the Weighing of Wands and he chose to sit next to Cedric. He could have sat next to Fleur, or he could have sat next to Viktor, but he chose Cedric. Perhaps it was because Cedric was the other Hogwarts champion, but maybe he just felt comforted by Cedric’s presence.
He’d have been really looking forward to it, watching them do whatever it was . . . cheering on Cedric with everyone else, safe in a seat at the back of the stands. . . . (pg. 321)
At this point in the book, Harry is fantasizing about what his life would be like if he hadn’t been picked to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Immediately, he decides he would be looking forward to sitting in the stands, cheering on Cedric. Hm.
“Cedric,” said Harry, “the first task is dragons.”
“What?” said Cedric, looking up.
“Dragons,” said Harry, speaking quickly, in case Professor Flitwick came out to see where Cedric had got to. “They’ve got four, one for each of us, and we’ve got to get past them.”
Cedric stared at him. Harry saw some of the panic he’d been feeling since Saturday night flickering in Cedric’s gray eyes. (pg. 342)
This point could be chalked up to Harry just having basic human decency and wanting to make sure Cedric wasn’t the only one who didn’t know about the dragons and while that’s a valid standpoint to take, the gravity of the situation at hand should be considered. Harry risked his own neck (and, really, Hagrid’s too, considering Hagrid breaking the rules is how Harry himself even found out about the dragons) to tell Cedric about the task he specifically wasn’t supposed to know about or tell anyone else about, because he couldn’t stand the idea of Cedric going in unprepared. It shows that Harry has genuine feelings toward Cedric and whether or not these feelings are platonic is entirely up to interpretation, but it’s undeniable that Harry does care about Cedric far more than a typical friend would.
Also, he’s staring at Cedric’s eyes intensely enough to notice how he starts to look panicked. And specifically comments that his eyes are gray.
Cedric was pacing up and down. When Harry entered, Cedric gave him a small smile, which Harry returned, feeling the muscles in his face working rather hard, as though they had forgotten how to do it. (pg. 349)
This is another installation of the ‘Cedric Smiles at Harry and Harry Forgets How to Do a Basic Task” saga. All Cedric does is smile at him and Harry seemingly forgets how to smile back for a second. No sweat. We’ve all been there.
It was worse than Harry could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed . . . yelled . . . gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric’s steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman’s commentary made everything much, much worse. . . . Horrible pictures formed in Harry’s mind as he heard: “Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow” . . . “He’s taking risks, this one!” . . . “Clever move — pity it didn’t work!” (pg. 351)
This quote isn’t as inherently damning as the other ones, but I’m going to include it anyway. Cedric goes into the enclosure first to face his dragon, a Swedish Short-Snout, and Harry is nearly physically ill because of it, to the point where his mind begins to conjure up visions of Cedric’s horrible death by dragons. (Oof, foreshadowing.) While Harry most likely would have felt uneasy listening to any of his other friends do the same takes, and maybe his nerves about having to face his own dragon had something to do with it, but the extreme concern he feels toward Cedric in this moment is telling about the feelings he holds for him.
“Dragons!” she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric’s shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn’t seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least.
At this point, all of the champions have defeated their dragons. Harry’s shoulder injury is being examined by Madam Pomfrey and while he could be thinking about how he just defied all odds, defeated the toughest dragon, and got his golden egg, he’s busy thinking about how Cedric is doing rather than his own well-being. Interesting.
Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric’s face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He grinned at Harry when he saw him.
“Good one, Harry.”
“And you,” said Harry, grinning back. (pg. 361)
Cedric, despite burning half of his face, still can’t help but smile whenever he sees Harry. Harry, apparently, has gained some kind of grasp on his own actions and grins back at him.
He wasn’t attracting nearly as much unpleasantness in the corridors anymore, which he suspected had a lot to do with Cedric — he had an idea Cedric might have told the Hufflepuffs to leave Harry alone, in gratitude for Harry’s tip-off about the dragons. (pg. 390)
When I said Cedric defending Harry’s honor is a recurring theme in this book, I wasn’t messing around. Students had been wearing buttons with derogatory messages directed toward Harry and Cedric, being the kind and good soul he is, asked them to stop. Probably with some kind of speech about how Harry is an admirable boy and how he expected better from his own house, because Cedric’s dreamy like that.
“Who’re you going with?”
“Oh — Cedric,” she said.
“Cedric Diggory.”
“Oh right,” said Harry.
His insides had come back again. It felt as though they had been filled with lead in their absence. (pg. 397)
This is the part of the book where Harry’s feelings toward Cedric begin to get complicated. As I launch into my analysis of the next few quotes, I ask you to set aside your own ideas about how these next couple scenes are read and consider the angle I have decided to approach it from.
I don’t think it’s too far outside of the realm of possibility to claim that maybe Harry wasn’t upset about Cho going with Cedric because he just liked Cho that much, but rather because he didn’t understand why he felt so much jealousy over the two of them going together.
I, for one, fully support the idea of a bisexual Harry Potter. It’s practically canon, given the amount of times Harry describes other boys in very, very flattering terms. I think it’s very possible that Harry did have feelings for Cho and Cedric, and that his anger over the two of them going together wasn’t over Cedric swooping in on his lady, but rather that his two crushes were going to the Yule Ball together, meaning he couldn’t go with either of them.
Cho’s voice echoing in his ears with every step he took. “Cedric — Cedric Diggory.” He had been starting to quite like Cedric — prepared to overlook the fact that he had once beaten him at Quidditch, and was handsome, and popular, and nearly everyone’s favorite champion. Now he suddenly realized that Cedric was in fact a useless pretty boy who didn’t have enough brains to fill an eggcup. (pg. 398)
First of all, hahahaha, yeah, you sure have started to quite like Cedric.
Secondly, the anger Harry feels in this scene is not something unfamiliar to those of us who have ever been closeted or coming to terms with our sexualities. All he knows is that two people he likes and cares about deeply are going to the Yule Ball together and he chooses to (wrongfully) direct that anger at Cedric, because that’s what feels right. In the moment, he isn’t going to step back and realize what he’s feeling is a result of jealousy. He isn’t going to analyze his feelings and see that maybe he’s not just upset Cho’s going with Cedric. He’s going to lash out and become callous toward Cedric because that’s what’s safest and that’s what he can most easily justify to himself, with Cedric beating him at Quidditch and the school favoring him as a champion. This is the first time in the novel where Harry lets the tide of backlash from the school get to him and it gets to him in a major way, turning him against Cedric for the entirety of the second task.
Parvati sat down on Harry’s other side, crossed her arms and legs too, and within minutes was asked to dance by a boy from Beauxbatons.
“You don’t mind, do you, Harry?” Parvati said.
“What?” said Harry, who was now watching Cho and Cedric. (pg. 421)
Harry tried not to watch Cho and Cedric too much; it gave him a strong desire to kick something. (pg. 430)
Harry literally ignores his date at the Yule Ball to sit and brood as he watches Cedric dance with Cho.
“Listen . . .” Cedric lowered his voice as Ron disappeared. “I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?”
“Yeah,” said Harry.
“Well . . . take a bath, okay?”
“What?”
“Take a bath, and — er — take the egg with you, and — er — just mull things over n the hot water. It’ll help you think. . . . Trust me.
Harry stared at him.
“Tell you what,” Cedric said, “use the prefects’ bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password’s ‘pine fresh.’ Gotta go . . . want to say good night —” (pg. 431)
So, at this point, Cedric’s picked up on the fact Harry’s mad at him. He also wants to repay the favor for Harry telling him about the dragons. What does he do to solve it? Make some weirdly suggestive comments about baths and then invite Harry to use his fancy bathroom to take one. Just normal pal things.
“Well . . . well, yes,” said Bagman impatiently, “but — come on, Harry — we all want a Hogwarts victory, don’t we?”
“Have you offered Cedric help?” Harry said.
The smallest of frowns creased Bagman’s smooth face. “No, I haven’t,” he said. “I — well, like I say, I’ve taken a liking to you. Just thought I’d offer . . .”
“Well, thanks,” said Harry, “but I think I’m nearly there with the egg . . . couple more days should crack it.” (pg. 447)
Here we have Harry turning down help that could easily win the next task for him, a decision that should have came easily to him especially after being told by Moody earlier that cheating has always been a fundamental part of the Tournament, because help wasn’t offered to Cedric as well. I’d like to reiterate that while this doesn’t necessarily prove romantic feelings, it does show that Harry cares about Cedric on a deep level and doesn’t want him to be cast aside and left without the resources the rest of the champions have.
“Ignore him,” said Cedric in a low voice to Harry, frowning after his father. “He’s been angry ever since Rita Skeeter’s article about the Triwizard Tournament — you know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion.” (pg. 617)
Ring a ding ding, we have the 3rd time Cedric has defended Harry’s honor in 600 pages. The second time it’s been to his own family, as well.
“So . . . on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!” said Bagman. “Three — two — one —” (pg. 621)
Guys, I literally don’t know what to tell you at this point. Harry and Cedric, since they were equal in points after the second task, were able to enter the maze together for the third and final task. It’s a throwback to the star-crossed lovers trope because they were put in this situation by fate and then driven apart, first superficially by the fact they go separate directions upon entering the maze, and later permanently by Cedric’s death in the graveyard.
“What are you doing?” yelled Cedric’s voice. “What the hell d’you think you’re doing?”
And then Harry heard Krum’s voice.
“Crucio!”
The air was suddenly full of Cedric’s yells. Horrified, Harry began sprinting up his path, trying to find a way into Cedric’s. (pg. 626)
By this point in the task, Harry has gained a pretty good idea of where the cup is and is on his way there. However, he’s stopped in his tracks by the sound of Viktor Krum performing an Unforgivable Curse on Cedric nearby. He disregards his plan to find the cup to go help Cedric, knowing full well that Viktor could easily do the same thing to him. Because he cares about him. A lot.
Harry and Cedric stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them. Then Cedric said, “Well . . . I s’pose we’d better go on . . . .”
“What?” said Harry. “Oh . . . yeah . . . right . . .”
It was an odd moment. He and Cedric had been briefly united against Krum — now the fact that they were opponents came back to Harry. (pg. 628)
After Harry casts a stunning spell on Viktor and knocks him out, Cedric and Harry are left standing alone with his unconscious body. They get super quiet and just stand there. I found this quote really interesting as I was reading because it’s evident that the two of them just feel so comfortable in each other’s presence that they’re able to forget they’re in the middle of Dumbledore’s Wizard Death Extravaganza Tournament™.
“Harry!” he heard Cedric shouting. “You all right? Did it fall on you?”
“No,” Harry called back, panting. (pg. 632)
I want to emphasize this quote. At this point, Cedric has literally just been attacked by a giant spider. Once they defeat it, his first instinct is to call out to Harry, asking if he was alright. Not to take care of himself first, but to make sure Harry was okay.
“Both of us,” Harry said.
“What?”
“We’ll take it at the same time. It’s still a Hogwarts victory. We’ll tie for it.”
Cedric stared at Harry. He unfolded his arms. “You — you sure?”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “Yeah . . . we’ve helped each other out, haven’t we? We both got here. Let’s just take it together.”
For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn’t believe his ears; then his face split in a grin.
“You’re on,” he said. “Come here.”
He grabbed Harry’s arm below the shoulder and helped Harry limp toward the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup’s gleaming handles. (pg. 634)
This part is, in my opinion, one of the most damning pieces of evidence in my whole argument. Harry loves and cares about Cedric so much that he would be willing to share ETERNAL GLORY!!! with him. It would have been so much easier to merely run ahead and grab the cup himself, especially at Cedric’s insistence, seeing as Cedric thought he owed it to Harry since Harry saved him two separate times in the third task. However, he doesn’t. He offers to share it. He offers to share ETERNAL GLORY!!! with Cedric. But again, just guys being dudes, right?
It was a head . . . now a chest and arms . . . the torso of Cedric Diggory.
If ever Harry might have released his wand from shock, it would have been then, but instinct kept him clutching his wand tightly, so that the thread of golden light remained unbroken, even though the thick gray ghost of Cedric Diggory (was it a ghost? it looked so emerged in its entirety from the end of Voldemort’s wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunnel . . . and this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke.
“Hold on, Harry,” it said. (pg. 666) (sidenote: oooooh, spooky)
Listen, I understand that Cedric came back as an echo because of the Reverse Spell Effect, but. Cedric’s ghost literally came back to tell Harry not to give in to Voldemort during the duel in the graveyard.
“Harry . . .” whispered the figure of Cedric, “take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents. . . .”
“I will,” said Harry, his face screwed up with the effort of holding the wand. (pg. 668)
This quote is a classic example pulled up when people talk about Hedric in canon. It’s one of those quotes I’ve included not because it necessarily gives evidence for a romantic relationship, but because it gives an insight into how fully these two boys trusted each other. Cedric’s final request to Harry was for him to bring his body back to his parents. He asked because he knew Harry would do it. He knew Harry would do anything in his power to not leave Cedric there, to ensure he could have a proper burial, to ensure his memory wouldn’t be lost forever in the graveyard. And Harry did it. Because he cares about Cedric. And because he couldn’t bear to see his body stay there. Because he loves him.
Harry let go of the cup, but he clutched Cedric to him even more tightly. He raised his free hand and seized Dumbledore’s wrist, while Dumbledore’s face swam in and out of focus. (pg. 671)
Cedric’s death is a really interesting point in the canon Harry Potter universe because it marks Voldemort’s return, but also because Cedric is the first person Harry ever watched die. He was too young to remember his parents being killed. He didn’t see Quirrell die. He didn’t see Barty Crouch Sr. either. Cedric was the first person Harry watched die in canon. Someone he loved. Someone he cared about. Someone he bonded with on such an incredibly deep level after being thrust into the Wizard equivalent of the Hunger Games together. After they’re transported back to Hogwarts from the graveyard, Harry drops the cup — the same cup he worked so incredibly hard to get in the first place — because Cedric’s body meant more to him. He holds on tighter to Cedric than he does the ticket to eternal glory.
“You have a good long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while . . . think about what you’re going to buy with your winnings!”
“I don’t want that gold,” said Harry in an expressionless voice. “You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn’t have won it. It should’ve been Cedric’s.” (pg. 713)
Harry is, naturally, very deeply affected by Cedric’s death. He would have been regardless as to whether or not he had romantic feelings for him. That much is indisputable. He becomes hysterical, struggling to even recount the story to Dumbledore in a coherent manner. He refuses to even touch the gold he won, since he doesn’t believe it belongs to him at all. The stars have crossed them. Cedric is dead and Harry has to build a home in the fallout.
The Salt Squad 