Character Analysis
Romantic Rival
Yes: before he was vamping it up, glittery-style in Twilight, Robert Pattinson was Harry Potter's fellow Triwizard Champion.
We first meet Cedric when Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys go to the Quidditch World Cup together. Our first hint that Cedric is a nice guy? He helps Harry up when the Portkey plops him out on the grass.
Sadly, Harry spends a fair amount of the movie hating Cedric because he's dating Cho (Harry's crush). So, when Cedric tries to catch up with him to give him a clue to the tournament's second challenge, Harry is super icy:
CEDRIC: Hey, Potter! Potter!
POTTER: Cedric.
CEDRIC: How—how are you?
POTTER: Spectacular.
Brr, we can feel the chill from here. Cedric keeps pressing, though—after all, he wants to return the favor Harry did him (pre-Cho) in letting him know the first challenge involved dragons:
CEDRIC: Look, I realize I never really thanked you properly for tipping me off about those dragons.
HARRY: Forget about it. I'm sure you would've done the same for me.
CEDRIC: Exactly. You know the prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor? It's not a bad place for a bath. Just take your egg and mull things over in the hot water.
Lots of the other pro-Cedric students treat Harry like garbage (since they think he cheated to get himself into the tournament), but Cedric doesn't agree or approve of that behavior. When some of the students start wearing "Potter Stinks" badges, Cedric makes a point of trying to apologize to Harry:
CEDRIC: Hey, listen. About the badges: I've asked them not to wear them…
HARRY: Don't worry about it.
Nice Guys Finish Last
See? He's so nice. (And handsome, as Moaning Myrtle points out—just saying.) We see that quality come out yet again toward the very end of the movie, when he and Harry are both thisclose to winning the tournament. Instead of letting Krum attack Harry, which would leave the path to victory wide open for Cedric, he intervenes—super selfless, no? What a guy.
Then, when Cedric is trapped, Harry helps him. Cedric and Harry make it to the cup at the same time, and Cedric tries to let Harry have the victory alone since he helped him out earlier (seriously, what a guy). Harry insists that they do it together. Aww, that would be such a nice heartwarming moment, except…
…the cup turns out to be a Portkey that takes them straight to Voldemort. Voldemort's first order of business? Killing Cedric.
As you'll see when you get further into the series, Cedric's death is a huge moment for Harry. You think you've experienced guilt? It's probably nothing compared to trying to do something nice for a fellow student, and instead getting him killed because a sociopathic dark wizard is after you. (We know, probably not something you'll ever have to deal with. Hopefully.)