Why Are Harry and Cedric Like Knights of the Round
Table?
THE GOBLET OF FIRE IS A “ROUGHLY HEWN wooden cup”
that would be “entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the
brim with dancing blue-white flames,” writes Rowling in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. By magic, it
calls on certain wizards to test their skills in the Triwizard
Tournament. That challenge and its mysterious source link the
competitors, including Harry and Cedric Diggory, to the legends of
King Arthur and the Round Table.
The Goblet of Fire is more than a little similar
to another powerful goblet that has launched tournaments and
battles: the Holy Grail. This is the cup from which Jesus Christ
drank at the Last Supper. Though sometimes depicted as a shining
silver goblet, the Holy Grail, being the cup of a poor carpenter,
would probably have been made of wood—like the Goblet of Fire. The
Grail is also a magical object. To drink from it is to be
miraculously healed. And like the Goblet, it can sense whether or
not a person is worthy.
One of Dumbledore’s middle names, “Percival,” connects him to the Grail. Most of the
legends focus on a young peasant named Perceval who proves his
virtue and becomes a great Knight of the Round Table.
See also: Mazes Potter, Harry
According to legend, King Arthur, praying for a
sign from heaven during a barren period in his reign, sees the
Grail. (In the earliest stories the Grail was a large platter; over
time it became a cup.) He and his knights then undertook quests to
either capture it or at least understand its significance.
In Harry’s world the final task of the Triwizard
Tournament is also to literally find a Grail, in this case the
Triwizard Cup, and to win it for Hogwarts. And just as the Grail in
Arthurian legend is found by Galahad, son of Lancelot, because his
soul is completely pure, Harry and Cedric Diggory succeed in
reaching the Cup through strength of character as much as wizarding
skill.