The Dust of the Ground: 4 Elements in 3 Tasks

Then the LORD God formed the man (adam) of the dust of the ground (adamah), And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. -Genesis 2:7 This post fits into the context of the big post I have been promising on the centrality of Goblet of Fire to the 7 book series but it is a separate post. I only mention that connection to emphasize the importance I see in the content of this present post. In the 3 tasks of the Tri-wizard tournament each of the 4 champions faces the four elements. 1. In the dragon you have both wind/air and fire. Only Harry engages the dragon on these terms and thus only he really fully confronts it. He chooses to deal not only with the danger of the fire, but does so by utilizing his prowess in the air and getting the dragon to breach its own protection of the eggs with fire by appealing to its affinity for riding the air to try to catch Harry. 2. In the 2nd task you have the water element. Notice the anti-thesis with the air element in that it is Fleur (Beauxbatons arriving by air and their immediate connection with house Ravenclaw) who has trouble with the water demons. 3. The final task is the earth in the form of the maze of hedges and it is this that I wish to focus on. Given the centrality of book 4 (which I'll establish in the forever fabled forth-coming post LOL) I think that this provides an interpretive/predictive key to the nature of things in the final chapter of the series. As Aristotle said, "what is last in execution is first in intention." The Last task will have something big to do with the earth element. Cedric Diggory's death, as a member of Hufflepuff, will take on new meaning/symbolism in how, in book 7, Harry answers the final and larger riddle of the earth element the way he answered the Sphynx's riddle in the maze. And this is one of the reasons I think Neville will play a key role in book 7. What was the earth-bound maze made of? Hedges ... plants (and very deadly ones at that). And who deals with the magical uses of magical plants? An Herbology Wizard. And who do we know who excels in Herbology (and little else)? None other than the "other candidate" for the prophecy unveiled in book 5 - Neville Longbottom. Think about it, given the connections between the water element and Slytherin and the cunning of the serpent ... what is Neville's pet that we have discussed at length recently? A Toad, an Amphibian ... A dweller of both Water and Land.