The Death of Cedric

[Dai Evans]

No: HPFGUIDX 11224

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., msl at f... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., harry_potter00 at y... wrote:
> > Another question I had is whether Cedric's death is extraneous to 
> > the plot, or will later become central? Did he HAVE to die? Not 
> > exactly, at least IMO. I mean his death shows the reality of 
evil, 
> > and that Voldemort doesn't care who he kills. It also, as Peg 
once 
> > eloquently pointed out, took Harry's noblest decision and made it 
> > the greatest tragedy (in the canon so far, or will someone go 
> > against this?).
> 
> It shows how one's best intentions can go awry, definitely.  It may
> also provide fodder in the future for people who want to discredit
> Harry in some way.  "Harry blames Cedric's death on V, but I think
> he's involved himself; look at how ambitious he is, sneaking his way
> into the tournament; he should have been in Slytherin, not
> Gryffindor...."

Cedrics death is not extraneous to the plot. It may not have many 
consequences as to how the plot continues to unfold, or if Harry is 
blamed in the future, or any other issues with regards to the good 
guys, but it does establish an important point about the characters 
of and relationship between V and wormtail. The killing is a totally 
callous act, not regarded as an event by Wormtail or V; Voldemort 
tells Wormtail to kill Cedric, Cedric dies. End of Story. Wormtail 
obeys his master with no thought to his victim or the crime he has 
been ordered to commit. Voldemort sees Cedric as a non-entity, a fly 
on the windows sill, and crushes him without a thought.

This goes to show just how evil Voldemort and Wormtail are. The whole 
point of the event is to show the reader that although we have seen 
Cedrics character and have grown to know him (albeit distantly), this 
does not matter to Voldemort. He can just kill anyone with a command 
or an incantation. It's important in establishing this element of Vs 
character to show him just remove a person we know from the story 
without fanfare or speeches.

This also highlights an important character flaw of Voldemorts. The 
reason he does not kill Harry in the graveyard is because he decides 
to play. If he had just murdered Harry while he was still tied to the 
gravestone, that would have been it, the end. The differences between 
the ways V deals with Cedric and Harry expose a big weakness in his 
plans. If he just murders outright with the element of surprise as he 
did with Cedric, then there would be no stopping him. But he doesn't, 
he enjoys toying with victims which mean something to him and this 
will lead to his downfall, as it led to the failure of his plans to 
despose of Harry in the graveyard.




Dai