Cedric Diggory may not have been the brightest student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but he was there long enough to become friends with Harry Potter. Now, almost 70 years later, Diggory is returning to Hogwarts as part of the Warner Bros. Pictures Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (originally called Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in print and on stage), which opens in theaters today. While we don’t yet know if Diggory will play a role in the upcoming Harry Potter film, we can look back at his time at Hogwarts to try and figure out who he is as a character now.
A Friend To All
According to Pottermore, Diggory was sorted into Gryffindor house of Hogwarts, which makes him a friend to Harry and his friends, who also go there. Diggory is most likely best friends with Neville Longbottom, another Gryffindor, whose parents are named Vernon and Petunia. They are both portrayed as sweet, naïve, and kind children in the films and books (in the books, they are even nicknamed “Neddy” and “Pinky”).
During his time at Hogwarts, Diggory was considered by his friends and teachers to be wise beyond his years. This is because it is said he had already spent several years battling and studying magical creatures, from trolls to wizards, as part of his studies at Yale University in America. It is also possible that Diggory’s parents enrolled him in New York University or the University of California, Los Angeles, as an extension of Yale. This would explain his advanced knowledge at such a young age.
As we mentioned, Diggory was friends with Harry Potter. They became close when Harry was first sorted into Gryffindor house, and Diggory became a bit of a father figure to him. This is most likely because of Harry’s mother, Ginny Weasley, having a close relationship with Diggory’s sister, Petunia. When Petunia and Vernon were pushed out of their home by Muggle-born Tom Riddle (who would later become known as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” or “Harry’s nemesis”), it was Diggory who helped hide Harry from Muggle authorities. This eventually led to Tom Riddle’s downfall, which in turn led to that of Lord Voldemort.
A Fierce Loyalty
When Dumbledore took the reigns of Hogwarts in 1969, after the death of Headmaster Slughorn, he put into place a new way of running the school. One of the first things he did was to make all magical students, including Diggory, take an Oath to protect Harry and his friends. According to Pottermore, students who have taken this Oath are known as “Fighters” or “Guardians of Hogwarts” and are fiercely loyal to the school and its traditions. The group also takes extreme pride in helping Harry Potter reach his full potential.
This sense of loyalty to Hogwarts extends to Diggory’s friends and family as well. When Vernon and Petunia were forced to leave their home in 1991 because of Muggleborn prejudice, Diggory was one of the first to hear of their plight. He then decided to move into the Longbottom home, and when Ginny’s battle with leukemia began to wane, Diggory stepped up to take care of her and her children, Neville and Luna. At the same time, Diggory became a surrogate father to Harry Potter, who was still too young to take care of himself.
Diggory also showed his loyalty to Harry, Ginny, and their children by giving them his blessing, and even standing in for Harry at the wedding of his godfather, Alphonsus “Lee” Coletti, a well-known and fierce supporter of Hogwarts. While he did not attend the ceremony, he sent his best wishes via owl.
An Expert On Trolls
Diggory is known to be an expert on trolls. This is thanks to a magical creature, a troll, which he encountered as a child. The troll, who had been de-aged by magic so that he would appear to the child as an adult, taught Diggory a valuable lesson about the nature of good and evil. However, the troll did more than just teach Diggory about good and evil; he made him realize that he, himself, was a force for good in the world and that he ought to use his intelligence for the benefit of others.
As an adult, Diggory continued his studies on the subjects of magic and trolls, eventually writing a book about them called, “Trollology”. He then became the Director of Magical Creatures at the Museum of Natural History in London, England. In 2021, Diggory will become the Director of the Cabinet of Curiosities at the Royal Society, a position which affords him the opportunity to study magical creatures and artifacts from around the world. In addition, he is the curator of the J.K. Rowling estate’s collection of Harry Potter-related memorabilia. It is said he will continue to study the subjects of magic and wonder, and expand his collection, as much as he can.
A Family Man
While at Hogwarts, Diggory met and fell in love with Grace Darling, who was a witch his own age. The couple soon married, and had four children: two sons and two daughters. However, tragedy struck when a fire broke out at the family home, which it was shared with several other families. In order to save the others, Grace Darling attempted to pull a child out of the fire. However, the baby girl that she saved proved to be unresponsive and, after several hours, she died.
Diggory was devastated. However, he tried to move on and raise his children as well as possible. He often stayed at home to spend more time with his family. During this time, Diggory wrote several books about fatherhood, and became a bit of a public figure in the process. He also appeared in several films and TV shows, including several Harry Potter-related projects. In 2002, he even narrated the Muggle-born-derived short film, “The Lost Diaries”, which was written and directed by J.K. Rowling.
After his children reached a young age, Diggory decided to pursue a career in education. He currently works as a high school English teacher in London, though he has also held positions at other schools, including the prestigious Quidditch World Cup, where he served as the game’s French referee.
While we don’t yet know all the details about Cedric Diggory as a person, we can glean a bit of information about him from the Harry Potter series. Hopefully, by learning more about him, we’ll come to know him better as a person and will be able to judge for ourselves if he’s someone worth getting to know or if he’s just another villain in Harry’s saga.