Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Characters/Cedric Diggory

Overview
Cedric Diggory is Seeker and Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.

Prisoner of Azkaban
Cedric Diggory, here described as a fifth-year student, is the new captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team that is competing against Gryffindor in the Hogwarts Quidditch championship first match. Cedric caught the Snitch, winning the match, after Dementors illegally glided onto the pitch during the game, causing Harry to faint and fall off his broom. Believing that Hufflepuff won by an unfair advantage, Cedric wanted to replay the game, but he was overruled by Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, and also Hogwarts faculty.

When Harry brings his new Firebolt down to breakfast, before the Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw game, Cedric comes over to congratulate Harry on getting a superb replacement for his destroyed Nimbus 2000.

Goblet of Fire
Cedric and his father briefly appear as they journey to the Quidditch World championship with Harry Potter, the Weasleys, and Hermione Granger. They then head for another campsite, and we do not see Cedric again until the school year starts.

At Hogwarts, both Cedric and Harry are chosen as contestants in the inter-school Triwizard Tournament that is being held at the castle. Though Harry is under-aged, he is forced to compete in the dangerous event after an unknown person entered his name into the Goblet of Fire. Much of the plot involves Harry and Cedric's ongoing rivalry while competing in the Tournament, and also for Cho Chang's affections, though she is already dating Cedric.

During the Tournament's final task, Cedric and Harry, who have helped each other throughout the contest, agree to grab the Triwizard trophy together. But the cup is actually a portkey crafted by Lord Voldemort's servants. Cedric and Harry are transported to a graveyard, where Cedric is immediately murdered by Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail), a Death Eater. As Harry duels Voldemort in the cemetery, Cedric's "shade," along with the shades of the Dark Lord's other recent victims, helps distract the re-animated Voldemort long enough for Harry to escape to the portkey, returning to Hogwarts with Cedric's body. Later, Harry offers his prize money to Cedric's parents, believing Cedric won it, but they refuse, saying it rightfully belongs to Harry.

Order of the Phoenix
While Cedric is physically no longer present, he is mentioned several times during the book, chiefly due to Cho Chang crying about his death. Part of the impetus for the relationship between Cho and Harry is Cho's questions about Cedric's death; and Cho's lingering grief contributes to the relationship ending.

Strengths
An athletic, intelligent, and handsome young man, Cedric is what many boys Harry's age aspire to be. He easily makes friends, and has many, and appears to have no enemies. He is considered honourable, fair-minded, and trustworthy.

Although sorted into Hufflepuff, a house that traditionally garners students with more average abilities, Cedric clearly shows talents and skills far above the usual standard. He quickly becomes a leader within his own house, is the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and is selected over all other Hogwarts students to compete in the grueling and dangerous Triwizard Tournament. Although Harry Potter was also selected, his bogus entry into the Tournament was orchestrated by Lord Voldemort's agent, who "confunded" the Goblet of Fire into sensing that Harry was a student from another school. Despite Harry's suspicious entry, Diggory supports him throughout the Tournament, as Harry does for him.

Weaknesses
Although Cedric is honest and hardworking, he occasionally demonstrates a certain lack of ingenuity, initiative, and drive, though this changes as he competes in the Tournament. Prior to the first Triwizard event, the other contestants, aided by their mentors, utilize whatever means they can to discover what the task might entail. Cedric, however, apparently does nothing to try and give himself a competitive edge, and merely waits for instructions. If not for Harry tipping him off about the Dragons, Cedric, woefully unprepared, might have fared disastrously in that event.

Relationships with Other Characters
Cedric always acts fairly with Harry, even when they are directly in competition with each other in the Tri-Wizard Tournament; Harry believes it is only fair to provide Cedric the same information that the other champions have learned regarding the first task; in return, Cedric later gives Harry a hint for solving a riddle related to the second task. As mentioned above, when Cedric feels that Hufflepuff unfairly won the Quidditch match against Gryffindor, he demands a rematch.

Because Harry is rather slow to act, Cedric beats him in inviting Cho Chang to the Yule Ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; this seems to be the start to Cedric and Cho's serious romance, much to Harry's dismay. Their relationship lasts until Cedric's death during the Tournament. It is unknown if they would have lasted as a couple, but Cho is deeply affected by her loss.

Cedric, apparently an only child, is close to his parents, particularly his father, Amos, though the modest Cedric always seems mildly perturbed by Amos' constantly touting his son's accomplishments. Cedric's parents are devastated by their son's death.

Analysis
Cedric's father, Amos Diggory, appears to be creating a competitive atmosphere where none exists – casting Cedric's Quidditch win over Gryffindor as a great victory when Cedric would rather attribute it entirely to luck, and by making the rivalry between Harry and Cedric during the Triwizard Tournament into more than either boy is comfortable with. This is an all-too-common tendency of a father trying to live through his child's accomplishments.

Another editor has pointed out that Cedric somehow becomes a seventh-year student in book 4, after being a fifth-year student in book 3. While this has not yet been verified by reference to the fourth book it is certainly possible; Cedric was a Champion in the Tournament and so must have been over 17 years old on 31 October. We will, however, point out that while Harry did not turn 17 until just before what would have been his seventh year, Hermione was 17 for a significant part of her sixth year at Hogwarts; if Cedric's birthday falls between 1 September and 31 October, he would have turned 17 in his sixth year. If in fact Cedric missed a year as described, this would be referred to as a Flint, named for another character whose schooling was mistakenly prolonged.

Questions

 * 1) If Cedric had not been murdered, what do you think would have happened between Cedric and Cho, and what impact would that have on the books?