Gratitude Lies In Guessing Harry Potter's Grandfather's Name
The king of all wizards, Harry Potter, has a grandpa in every generation. The most important one for the main protagonist is his grandfather, Amos Diggory. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of J.K. Rowling's first book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. According to Rowling, this book is the first in a series of seven volumes. Amos Diggory was introduced on page three and then appears again on page 54. He, unfortunately, passes away before Harry Potter has a chance to meet him on his trip to Privet Drive (1). When we first meet him he is described as "a short man" (30) with an "everyday" appearance (3). By the time he dies at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, he is said to be a "corpse." Harry arrives at St. Mungo's with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and Dudley on the day of Amos's funeral. He is told: "He died in the night." (54) Harry grows up believing that his grandfather is a "Muggle," as the Potter books' hero is raised to be a pure-blood wizard. However, this isn't accurate. In an interview with Leaky, Joyce Lewis Harrison explains that Amos personifies the compassion of humanity (2).
Amos Diggory was born in 1926, which makes him one year older than J.K. Rowling was when she wrote her first book series (3). Rowling's grandfather, Peter James Rowling, also lived to see his grandson's first book published. Rowling was introduced to her husband in 1990 by her father after they had both attended a memorial service for their mutual friend (4). In a bit of excellent detective work (and scouring the internet) the Twitter user named @obvious_moose found Amos Diggory and Peter James Rowling in the same cemetery.
The tweet above shows a picture of Amos Diggory and Peter James Rowling's tombstones. The tweet below shows where Amos Diggory had been born and died. The article from 1997 also talks about Harry Potter and is titled: "Rowling Hopes Wizard Books Will Help Son Grow Up.
James Rowling had been named after Peter James Rowling and is perhaps even seated in the stroller at the time the article was taken. Likewise, Amos Diggory had been named after Rowling's grandfather (Alfred Potter). The author's first book had been published by her publishing company: Bloomsbury, which she later sold to a larger publisher and began writing under J.K. Rowling (5).
J.K. Rowling's own father also passed away before she could meet him (6). In fact, a lot of Harry Potter's life parallels aspects of J.K.'s life and would seem to be an autobiography in disguise (7). Harry's father was a muggle who passed away before he could meet his first grandson. This is similar to Rowling's father passing away before he could meet his grandson, James (8). Amos Diggory dies in the same year that J.K. Rowling's first book was published, which is said to be the catalyst for her heroine growing up (9).
Amos Diggory passed away in 1995 and yet he keeps living on in the Harry Potter books as a gentle ghost that had loved his son and daughter-in-law. Not only that, but he was also more than willing to sacrifice himself for Harry and send him to Hogwarts. He loved his new granddaughter so much he wanted her to have a normal childhood, which is exactly what she has at the Dursleys by the time she meets Harry on Platform 9¾. In Deathly Hallows (1), Rowling writes:
"His father…had died in Azkaban prison when [Harry] was eight, leaving him an orphan; Mrs Diggle had been a loving but rather strict nanny."
On page six of the same book, we learn about Amos's brother and his wife who had "raised them as their own children" (10-11). Rowling's middle name is Joanne and her parents had also named their next daughter: Jessica.
When describing Amos, Rowling writes:
"The Diggorys' son, who was in Harry's year at Hogwarts. He was a good-natured boy and a very talented Keeper." (12)
This description of Cedric was written in the same book that Harry Potter goes to meet Amos Diggory for the first time. Amos explains his family's history to Harry, which makes him feel like he can "understand the weight of [his] father's life" (13). The fact that they are both named after Rowling's grandfathers gives them both a sense of brotherhood throughout their friendship and memories together. Even though Cedric is introduced a year before the first novel ends, he never makes it into Rowling's books again. Instead, Rowling writes a letter from Amos to Harry that explains: "Our son, your father, was taken from us during the war against Voldemort. He was a good and decent man…" (10).
Amos Diggory also gets to see his own granddaughter as she enters Hogwarts. At this point in time she is known as Hermione Granger, but Rowling writes about how Amos Diggory calls her "Granger" and how his wife had hoped for her to be rescued from her Muggle family (14). At the time Amos sends Cedric off to Hogwarts, Rowling had already been working on the Harry Potter series for five years (15).
Cedric Diggory goes on to survive the Triwizard Tournament and be killed by Peter Pettigrew as Voldemort returns in Goblet of Fire. Rowling writes about Amos Diggory's death in Deathly Hallows as she explains:
"Amos died last year. A few weeks after you started at Hogwarts." (10)
Amos passes away due to a heart attack, which seems similar to Rowling's experience visiting her grandfather at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Rowling's mother had said to her: "He died in the night. He was very old and very ill, Jo. Nothing could have saved him." (8)
Wizards live much longer than Muggles and Rowling is known to have based the book series around Harry's death after he is killed by an off-screen character at the age of seventeen (16). This means that both Amos Diggory, who passed away at the age of eighty-eight, and his grandfather are fictionalized representations of Rowling's deceased grandfather.
Conclusion
Ultimately, Amos had brought Rowling to her mother's home, which was where they both lived. Rowling's mother had not wanted her to meet Peter James Rowling, but he had died before she arrived (8). However, Rowling has said that she still believes that he is a part of her in some way (6). By living on in the books as a ghostly grandfather and father figure for Harry and Hermione, Rowling is able to keep his memory alive in a way that Muggles can understand.
Amos Diggory helps Harry out of his depression and gives him strength in the early years at Hogwarts. Along with this, Harry's parents had been killed during Voldemort's first reign of terror when he was an infant.