Hermione’s simple gesture says a lot here. Harry had just come out of a terrible ideal, seeing the Dark Lord rise again and seeing Cedric die. Hermione and Ron had undoubtably talked about it without Harry, and they must be incredibly worried about him.

Hermione isn’t a very “touchy-feely” person. She’s a smart girl, and is good with emotions - but due to her not having any friends until Harry and Ron, she generally doesn’t really know how to express deep fondess or caring for someone.

Here however, Hermione shows how much she cares by giving Harry a small kiss on the cheek before the trio leave each other for the holidays. It’s her way of saying “I know you’re hurting, but please remember that Ron and I love you so much, and are always here for you. Everything will be okay.”

One of my favourite Harry Potter quotes. So relevent to the muggle world.

[There is text in between these two excerpts but they’re irrelevent to this post]

I find it endearing how much Harry cares about fulfilling Cedric’s last request. Even when he can’t reach the portkey, he doesn’t decide to leave Cedric and just grab the portkey - he’s desperate to bring Cedric’s body back to his parents. It’s beautiful.

This is a strange thing for Riddle to say, because it almost seems as though he is sad about his Mother dying. However, Riddle’s very essense means he can’t love. If he could, he would never have become He Who Must Not Be Named.

Is it possible that Riddle does care for his lost Mother? Perhaps this is the one time he cared for someone, and it hurt him so much that he closed his metaphorical heart forevermore. Or do you think his desire for his Mother is simply to do with his hatred for the orphanage he grew up in?

Cedric’s death is a devastating moment in the Harry Potter series. While there were many deaths in the books, Cedric’s is particularly shocking [to me, at least] for a few reasons.

Firstly, Cedric’s death was the first we witness. We didn’t witness the death of James and Lily, nor the death of Quirrell [Harry fainted before Quirrell died in PS] and up until this point the books had been very innocent, and then he we see Cedric murdered for no reason other than that he was just there.

Secondly, Cedric is such a decent person in the books and he’s so young when he dies. - he’s only 17/18 here. Cedric is a wonderful person, he values fair play, he’s loyal, he’s hardworking, he honorable, he’s lovely. In Prisoner of Azkaban when he found out Harry had fainted at the Quidditch match he wanted a rematch to make it fair, and told Harry he was very happy for him when Harry got his Firebolt. Here to, in Goblet of Fire, he always worked hard to make sure that him and Harry were on the same level [telling Harry about egg, helping Harry in the maze]. Cedric was like a knight of the roundtable.

Thirdly is the senseless way in which Cedric was killed. Cedric wasn’t killed during battle or because he did something to anger Riddle - he was killed simply because he was in the way. Cedric was struck down like a fly by someone preparing for a banquet, only in this case the banquet involves some twisted blood magic. The way Riddle ordered Wormtail to kill Cedric shows how corrupted and evil he is - he literally has no remorse, no empathy, no feelings. Other people are nothing to him unless he can use them for his own gain.

When Cedric dies here, Jo is basically saying “Shit’s about to get real, kids. There’s more where this came from.”

Wow Fleur, you should totally ask that guy for “Private English Lessons.” Wink wink, nudge nudge.

This is a very important scene in the Potter books. While it’s not an action scene, and nothing “outside” of Harry’s brain happens, this is a significant change in the way Harry views the world and his role in it.

Before this moment Harry’s view of Riddle was more or less “He murdered by parents and messed up stuff at school, what a jerk”. But here Harry realises the scale of Riddle’s evil: It’s not just his family that was tore apart. It’s so many families, in so many different ways. Whether it was like his family with children being left orphaned, or like Neville people’s families being tortured and driven insane, or like Crouch’s family where relatives being were set against each other. Riddle destroyed so many people in so many different ways. He injects fear into friendships and scratches away at the feeling of safety we may find with our loved ones.

This is where Harry realizes [although he does say it aloud until OotP] that he wants to end Voldemort - not because he’s The Boy Who Lived, but because he can’t sit by and let the horrors of the First Wizarding War happen again. Because he is a person who can’t let such evil exist. This is the moment Harry goes from being a branded boy to a hero.

Not keen, Hermione?

No comment necessary.

Beautiful advice, as always Dumbledore.