15 Times We Cried While Watching the Harry Potter Movies
By Buckie Wells
5. The Death of Cedric Diggory
While Prisoner of Azkaban earned the least amount of money for the Harry Potter franchise, it was praised for taking a much more sophisticated tone. After the third movie, the Harry Potter movies continued to grow darker and more adult-themed.
At the beginning of Goblet of Fire, we’re introduced to Cedric Diggory, an older student in Hufflepuff. Along with Harry Potter, Cedric earns a spot in the Triwizard Tournament. Throughout the movie, Cedric is presented as a competitive but altogether nice student. Prior to his time as the glittery vampire Edward Whatever-His-Name-Is, Robert Pattison played a lovable, nice guy who met his fate way too soon.
During the final leg of the tournament, Harry Potter saves Cedric from an attack. Together, they escape the maze and find the Portkey to transport them to the beginning of the maze. Cedric accepts that he only survived because of Harry. So, he urges him to take the Cup and win. Harry decides they’ll win together and they grab the Portkey, expecting to be done. Instead, the Portkey takes them to a graveyard. At Little Hangleton, Peter Pettigrew waits to resurrect Lord Voldemort.
But first, Voldemort tells Peter to “kill the spare.” Peter curses Cedric with the killing spell. After Voldemort’s resurrection, a confrontation occurs between Harry Potter and Voldemort. When their wands connect, Cedric’s “soul” reverberates from the wands and asks Harry to bring his body back to the school grounds.
When Harry does so, he clings desperately to the body. Once the crowd realizes what’s happened, Cedric’s father flies down from the stands, sobbing and begging to be let through.
While Cedric’s death was the first of many to come in the Harry Potter series, we were unprepared for how hard it would hit us. In fact, all of Hogwarts was unprepared. The final feast commemorated his memory, but to this day, I can still hear Amos Diggory screaming out for his son.
Movie: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire