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Hey, brother!
"Goblet of Fire" is one of those stories
that when you finally find out how it's all tied together,
it's pretty mind-blowing.
Like, Winky in the top box was actually there
with Barty Crouch Jr.
He's the one who took over Mad-Eye's body.
Mad-Eye was such a great teacher to Harry the whole year,
but secretly he was pulling the strings?
In my personal opinion,
it's always just been the story at its best,
what Harry Potter does well.
But so many different things
could have gone ever so slightly wrong along the way.
Like Dobby, for example,
may not have picked up what fake Mad-Eye was throwing down
about the Gillyweed and how Harry needed it
for the second task.
Harry could have just gotten outright scorched
by the Hungarian Horntail,
just lost to the dragon.
Or Cedric could have just won the tournament outright,
on his own.
And quite frankly, that last one almost literally happens.
I mean, he's standing there in front of the cup by himself.
He's staring at the kind of glory
that Hufflepuff House has not known for a long, long time.
But Cedric is just too good.
He is too kind,
which for clarity is the exact perfect amount.
Cedric knows the role that Harry has had
in this entire experience.
He probably even knows deep down
that despite the fact
that he has considerably less schooling,
Harry is still right there next to him.
He's still made it to this exact moment.
And I think Cedric even knows
that he was able to bask in the glory,
bask in what it meant to be the true Hogwarts champion,
while Harry, on the other hand,
had to be subject to ridicule and bullying
for the entire year.
So they share the glory,
if only for a brief moment before.
- Kill the Spare!
- Avada Kedavra! - No!
- This one is always so hard to grapple with
because I genuinely believe
that Cedric is supposed to represent the good in all people.
It's not actually in the books,
but one of my favorite movie lines comes from Dumbledore
at the end of this year when they're remembering Cedric.
- A fierce, fierce friend.
- Being a fierce friend is just something
that I can only encourage every single person
who is watching this video right now
to go out into the world and do.
Because there's absolutely no doubt about it.
We could all use someone like that in our own lives.
But for the purposes of today's video,
we want to ask one of our all-time favorite questions.
What if?
What if Barty Crouch Jr's plan
didn't work out as expected?
What if, despite all of his meddling,
Cedric, fantastic wizard that he is,
simply touched the cup first?
(upbeat music)
- [Both] Hey, brother!
- Hey, everyone.
Exciting news.
This summer, Jay and I will be attending
RTX in Austin, Texas, the weekend of July 7
through the 9th.
We're going to be hosting an in-person trivia
event with a meet and greet to follow.
We would absolutely love to meet you.
Tickets are available now in the description down below.
OK, so what if only Cedric touched the cup?
And it could either be because he just simply
got to the center of the maze first
or because Harry, selfless lad that he is,
kind of does a fake out on him.
Three, two, Cedric?
Where'd you go, bud?
Where'd you go?
Great.
This is great.
This is not going to look good.
It doesn't exactly really matter how
we get there in the first place.
All that really matters is that what would happen
is Cedric would arrive alone in the graveyard
without Harry Potter, which from Voldemort's point of view
would mean that his plan has failed
because he will not be able to take Harry's blood to rebuild
his human body, which if you will recall,
the reason that Voldemort wants Harry's blood specifically
in the first place is because three years prior, Harry
and him had a little face-off, if you will.
Ha. Get it?
Face-off?
(screaming)
You all got it.
In that moment, for some reason, Quirrell
decided to physically assault Harry instead
of using, you know, magic.
The result being that the lingering protection
from Lily's sacrifice immediately
activated and burned Quirrell
to a just little old crispy crisp.
Now, even though Voldemort has absolutely no need
to physically touch Harry in order to kill him,
it is a hill that he has decided to die on, or in this case,
return on, I guess.
Either way, he is dead set on overcoming
this particular obstacle.
And the entire plot of "Goblet of Fire"
pretty much revolves around
this singular mission, which again,
it's just kind of an enormous and ridiculous hoop for him
to jump through, considering the fact that after his return,
his very next step in the plan is just
to murder him, which again, in this case,
he actually could have maybe taken a leaf out
of Quirrell's book, does not involve touching him this time.
So like, seriously, dude, why are you doing this?
Just so you can prove that you can touch him two minutes
before he's gone anyway?
It makes no sense, unless that's not
how the original plan was intended
to play out as the night unfolded.
Let me ask you this question.
Have you ever wondered, like, why does the cup
go back to Hogwarts?
Like, why does the portkey activate again?
Like, we know how portkeys work.
They were explained to us.
- Why are they all standing around that manky old boot?
- That isn't just any manky old boot, mate.
It's a portkey.
- In this very book, why give Harry, like,
a possible escape route?
Every other portkey works in one direction, at one time,
at one specific time.
And for me, I feel like the answer
is actually fairly obvious.
I think that he intended to return to Hogwarts
on that very night.
So if you consider the fact that there's no real need
for him to physically be able to touch him,
again, considering the fact that he can just use his wand,
and that he also has a return trip to Hogwarts
already set up as part of the equation in the first place,
I think we can start to deduce what his plan is,
especially when you consider how Barty Crouch Jr.
was concealing himself as Moody for an entire year.
The real plan was for Voldemort
to ultimately get Harry to the graveyard
and use his blood to return his body and then kill him.
But the plan doesn't end there.
At that point, he would use Harry's hair
or something else to create Polyjuice potion
to return to the school as Harry.
And by all accounts, a Triwizard champion.
Woo-hoo.
(upbeat music) (crowd applauds)
Because that's the other, like, really big question
about the cup being in the dead center of the maze.
Like, how was this event supposed to end
under the most ideal circumstances?
- [Both] Three.
- And then they're in the middle of a maze.
There's no roaring crowd or loud music
or announcement of a winner.
Unless, of course, it was always intended to be a portkey
in the first place by design.
And what it would do is transport the champion
from the center of the maze to the opening
where everybody could see them crowned victor.
In a way, Voldemort's plan is actually quite elegant
in this regard.
Like, nobody can see inside of the maze
and nobody knows how long it's supposed to take.
So once he knows that Harry has successfully made it
to the center and therefore the graveyard,
he can pretty much take as much time as he needs.
Plus, if he arrives back as Harry,
then nobody will know that Harry is actually dead
or that Voldemort has returned
and he'll have a prime shot at Dumbledore.
All in one night.
Which basically sums up his plan
for the next three books anyway.
Book five, people assume he's not actually back.
Book six, kill Dumbledore.
Book seven, kill Harry.
Beyond all that though,
I think this also gives even more reason
to understand why he specifically needed Harry's blood.
Because if he's going to need to use a piece of Harry
in order to make the apologies potion,
then he would need to be able to physically touch him.
This would go so far beyond just simply
even coming in physical contact with him.
It would be becoming him entirely,
which I think would immediately incinerate
his brand new body.
The irony of the entire situation is of course the fact
that when he does in fact take Harry's own blood
into himself, he also basically seals his own fate
because Harry is now anchored to life
via Lily's sacrifice in Voldemort's blood.
It's essentially what we like to call a love crux.
"He took my blood," said Harry.
"Precisely," said Dumbledore.
"He took your blood and rebuilt his living body with it.
Your blood in his veins, Harry.
Lily's protection inside both of you.
He tethered you to life while he lives."
"I live while he lives?
But I thought, I thought it was the other way around.
I thought we both had to die.
Or is it the same thing?"
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But, so of course it brings us back
to the question for today's video.
What happens if only Cedric touches the cup?
Does Voldemort just simply kill him
for being there in the first place,
then curse the skies and bide his time
for another opportunity to gain access to Harry's blood?
It's certainly possible, but in that case
he does have a brand new problem,
which is that the cup is now missing
from the center of the maze
and there is no Triwizard champion.
And it's not that Voldemort particularly cares
about the results of the Triwizard tournament,
but if nobody returns after long enough,
for sure they're going to want to check in on the champions
and see what's going on and ultimately discover
that both Cedric and the cup are missing.
Barney Crouch Jr, who was undercover as Mad-Eye Moody
is also the one who set up the portkey in the first place.
So I think he would be under immediate investigation.
And from there, I think the entire plot
could start to unravel and Dumbledore would just know
that Voldemort is in fact back,
which would be even worse for Voldemort
under these particular circumstances,
because under these circumstances,
Voldemort wouldn't actually even really be back.
He would just sort of still be in that weird
kind of gross baby form
that gets dumped into the cauldron.
So I think that just killing Cedric
really isn't an option for him.
And he would see that immediately.
He would actually have to replace the plan
and use Cedric instead of Harry,
which in Voldemort's mind is not exactly ideal,
but Voldemort's wrong.
Of course he would never know that.
But he doesn't have much of a choice in this situation
and replacing Harry with Cedric
would still allow the plan to work.
After all, the only caveat for the person's blood
that's being used for the potion
is that it is forcibly taken from the enemy.
"Blood of the enemy forcibly taken,
you will resurrect your foe."
Which this will be no issue
as far as the potion is concerned
because Cedric is innately good
and Voldemort is innately bad.
Even if Cedric himself has no standing quarrel
with Voldemort, he would surely stand opposed to him.
Really, if you want to look at it realistically,
the main issue is that I could see a scenario
where Cedric is just okay with sharing his blood.
In which case, it would not be forcibly taken.
And you know what?
Let's just pull on that thread for a second
because I think it's fun.
"Blood forcibly taken."
"No need, I'll happily share.
What you need?
I'm O negative, universal donor."
"You surely don't wish me to take your blood."
"Yeah, I'll share.
Happy to help in any way I can."
"Wormtail, who is this kid?"
"He's a Hufflepuff, my lord."
"Hufflepuffs are winning tournaments.
Man, that school has really gone downhill.
Was there even a Slytherin involved?"
"I'm afraid not.
Just this boy and the Potter kid."
"You guys know Harry.
He just let me win.
Great, like, great lad told me about the dragons.
I'll probably share the gold with him."
"Wormtail, this is a complete failure.
"Can I have my hand back, please?"
"No!"
I'm not gonna lie.
Now I just want to write an entire stage production
about Cedric being unfailingly nice.
(upbeat music)
Anyway though, as nice as Cedric absolutely is,
I do not think that he would be willing
to offer up his blood under these particular circumstances.
And therefore, I do think his blood could be used
to bring Voldemort's body back.
At which point, yeah,
I think he would unfortunately kill Cedric
and then return to Hogwarts as Cedric.
Which from his point of view would not be the perfect way
the night could have gone
because Harry would still be alive,
but at least nobody would know about his return,
which is a very big deal.
Lupin and Bill eventually explain this to Harry
when he arrives at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters
at Grimmauld Place.
"Nobody apart from his Death Eaters
was supposed to know he'd come back,
but you survived to bear witness.
And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return
the moment he got back was Dumbledore," said Lupin.
"And you made sure Dumbledore knew at once."
"How has that helped?" Harry asked.
"Are you kidding?" said Bill incredulously.
"Dumbledore was the only one you know
who was ever scared of."
But this go round, there is a very real chance
that Vol de Cedric would be able to get close
to Dumbledore very, very quickly.
It's possible that Voldemort's very first action
upon reappearing would be taking down
the only person he ever feared.
Which, true, would then announce his return-
- He's back.
- Basically right away,
but it would also be at the hands
of destroying his one true opposition.
Well, almost.
Obviously, there's still Harry,
who is probably standing in the middle of the maze
still wondering like, where'd Cedric go?
And you might think like, well, yeah,
that's still gonna be kind of an issue for Voldemort
because as soon as Harry does show up,
if he tries to attack, their wands are gonna do
the whole twin core thing in priori incantatum.
However, if he is disguised as Cedric
and decided to go full bore with it
and use Cedric's wand,
then the twin core protection isn't there.
This is usually what allows Expelliarmus
to actually block Avada Kedavra.
However, without the additional protection,
it would just sail right through Harry's defenses.
And because Voldemort did not use Harry's blood,
Harry wouldn't be love cruxed to Voldemort
via Lily's sacrifice.
And you might be wondering about like the golden flames
that we see during the Battle of the Seven Potters,
but that would also not happen
because the only reason Harry's wand
is charged with Voldemort's power
is because of the duel in the graveyard in the first place.
And that didn't happen.
And there would be no falsely loyal Elder Wand to Voldemort
that could potentially backfire in this go round.
In fact, if he's already killed Dumbledore,
then he might just quite literally be the master
of the Elder Wand.
All I'm really trying to say here though,
is that Harry would just die.
And worst of all, if Voldemort is doing all of this
under the cover of Cedric's physical form,
then I think that there's still
this really unfortunate chance,
namely due to Fudge,
that the Wizarding World doesn't actually believe
that Voldemort is even back.
"Clearly this tournament was too much for Diggory
and he cracked under the pressure."
Which sadly leads me to believe
that Voldemort would be back at full power
and just knocked out two of his biggest obstacles,
Harry and Dumbledore.
Possibly still maintained a certain amount of cover.
The Order of the Phoenix would have no chance whatsoever
to be formed in the first place.
And absolutely worst of all,
I could still see Fudge appointing Umbridge in year five.
"We saw the damaging effects of the tournament last year.
It's clear that these students
can't handle the stresses of competition.
Supreme leader Umbridge will be our eyes and ears
in the castle to ensure that not a single student
is having fun while the darkest wizard ever who lived
rises to power unopposed."
Isn't it frustrating
that that doesn't even seem unreasonable at all?
Really on the whole,
if Cedric takes the cup on his own,
then it's simply game over.
Which I know could be kind of sad to think about,
but not to worry because I don't ever think
this situation would have been on the table
in the first place.
Tom Riddle was completely incapable
of feeling either love or remorse.
These are the characteristics
that allowed him to become Voldemort in the first place.
And for me, I personally think the same is true for Cedric.
After all, he does get there first.
He could have won.
This entire situation was nothing but a bare arms reach away
from actually happening.
But it never would have
because of who Cedric is at his core.
He is loving and fair and above all else.
- A fierce, fierce friend.
- Cedric would always be fair to Harry
because Harry would have always been fair to him.
And Harry is exactly who he is
because Voldemort made him that way.
So as always, Voldemort is his own ultimate undoing.
(upbeat music)
♪ Hey brother ♪
- Guys, as always, thank you so much for watching.
Be sure to like this video
and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already.
If you'd like to find out what would have happened
if Draco had actually killed Dumbledore
on the lightning struck tower,
you can check out this video right over here.
But otherwise, until next time, bye.