Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire

Ron Weasley is Harry’s best friend and a fellow fourth-year Gryffindor student at Hogwarts. Ever since Ron and Harry met on the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of their first year, they have been inseparable, and Ron brought Harry into his family as an honorary Weasley. During their third year, when Ron and Hermione were in the middle of a big argument, Harry aligned himself with Ron. The two have always supported one another. However, like Harry, Ron changes during his fourth year, and deep-seated insecurities begin to surface.

When news breaks that Harry’s name has come out of the Goblet of Fire, Ron starts behaving strangely. For the first time, Ron accuses Harry of going out of his way to get attention, and he even tells Harry that he’d better get his beauty rest so he’ll be ready for photographs the next day. Harry doesn’t understand the change that has come over Ron, but Hermione explains that Ron has always been jealous of Harry. After all, “it’s always [Harry] who gets all the attention,” and with “all those brothers to compete against” in the Weasley home, Ron is always “shunted to one side” (116). Ron never gets a fair chance at attention, and the weight of this has finally started to get to him. Similarly, Ron’s jealousy extends to Viktor Krum when Hermione starts dating him, and Rowling uses this detail to suggest that Ron might have feelings for Hermione that even he doesn’t understand. Ron is also deeply sensitive about his family’s state of poverty, and in The Goblet of Fire, Ron becomes increasingly vocal about his lack of money. He tells Harry that everything he owns is “rubbish” and that he “hate[s] being poor” (220) because he constantly feels indebted to other people.

Despite Ron’s ill temper in The Goblet of Fire, Harry still loves his friend. When Harry learns that Ron is angry with him and thinks he put his name in the goblet, Harry is hurt because Ron is “one of the few people [Harry] had been sure would believe him” (116). This is the first significant fight in Harry and Ron’s friendship, and Harry goes to bed feeling angry and alone. For the second task, the “thing” Harry will miss the most is Ron. Ron is taken into the lake because he isn’t just Harry’s best friend, but the closest thing to family Harry has. Ron may not be happy with himself, but Harry loves Ron and the Weasleys just the way they are.

Hermione Granger is Harry’s other best friend and a fellow fourth-year Gryffindor student at Hogwarts. Hermione is clever, compassionate, and has a strong sense of familial affection for Harry. Much like Ron and Harry, Hermione’s fourth year at Hogwarts is marked by change and a growing sense of self-worth. Hermione also discovers a heart for activism during The Goblet of Fire, and she begins to apply her love of knowledge to the world beyond academics and schoolwork.

Since her introduction in the series, Hermione has been characterized as having a deep love of books, learning, and acquiring knowledge. She is the top student in her class at Hogwarts, and she is known for taking academics and the rules very seriously. When Harry awakes with his scar burning at the novel's beginning, he knows what Hermione would tell him to do: “Go straight to the headmaster of Hogwarts, and in the meantime, consult a book” (8). However, the end of The Prisoner of Azkaban shows Hermione breaking the rules more freely, and after an incredibly rigorous academic year, Hermione seems to have relaxed her fixation on academics. Hermione begins to see that she can apply herself elsewhere, and her decision to form S.P.E.W. and attempt to liberate the house-elves becomes her newest project. Harry and Ron try to reign Hermione in, but they cannot “curb Hermione’s determination to pursue justice for house-elves” (96). When Hermione sets her mind to a project, she will not stop until she has accomplished her goal, and while Hermione’s activism is somewhat misguided and lacking context, her determination to help others is admirable, nonetheless.

While Harry and Ron have always known that Hermione is a girl, they have never seen her as a young woman or placed her in the same category as the other girls at their school. As Ron and Harry scramble to find dates to the Yule Ball, neither thinks to ask Hermione until it’s too late, and Viktor Krum has already asked her. Hermione is hurt that Harry and Ron never considered her to be a “real girl” until the Yule Ball, and when Ron insists that she is lying about having a date, Hermione is offended at the implication that someone might have found her attractive or interesting enough to ask out. She even tells Ron to “ask [her] before someone else does, and not as a last resort” (174). Hermione’s relationship with Krum imbues her with even more confidence and makes her realize that she is desirable, beautiful, and worthy of being someone’s first choice in a dance partner.

Cedric Diggory is “an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen” (28) who previously appeared in The Prisoner of Azkaban as the Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Cedric is very popular at Hogwarts, where he is also a prefect and the golden boy of the often-forgotten Hufflepuff House. His father claims that Cedric is “always modest” and “always the gentleman” (29), and Cedric doesn’t like to brag about his talents or achievements. As the novel progresses, Cedric becomes Harry’s biggest competition in the Triwizard Tournament and the court of public opinion.

The boys have a strange relationship that toes the line between friends and rivals. When the champions are announced, Harry is disliked, while Cedric is widely supported by the other Hogwarts students. Harry realizes that Cedric even “look[s] the part of a champion” (119) more than he does. While Harry finds himself warming up to Cedric throughout the Triwizard Tournament, Harry becomes ferociously jealous when Cedric starts dating Harry’s crush, Cho Chang. Suddenly, Harry’s feelings shift, and for a while, he thinks Cedric is just “a useless pretty boy who didn’t have enough brains to fill an eggcup” (160). Still, Cedric has a good heart and a strong sense of decency, so he tells Harry about the secret of the golden egg in return for Harry helping him in the first task.

According to Barty Crouch Junior, Cedric's nobility is what made him “easy to manipulate” (273). After his death, Dumbledore tells the students that Cedric was “a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff House” (291). Although Hufflepuffs rarely get the same level of glory and honor as Gryffindor House, Dumbledore uses this moment to expound upon the admirable features in Cedric Diggory that aligned him with Hufflepuff: “He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker,” and he “valued fair play” (291). Cedric’s death becomes one of the most significant moments for Harry in the fight against Voldemort, and Cedric Diggory’s death serves as a warning to all of his classmates of what can happen to the best and brightest among them if they let their guard down.