Spoilers for New Mutants #13 by Ed Brisson, Rod Reis, VC's Travis Lanham, and Tom Muller
As Marvel's sprawling X-Men event, X of Swords, continues to set up the nine mutant champions that must compete in a cross-dimensional tournament to protect the universe, the most unlikely champion of all - Douglas Ramsey, aka Cypher - is revealed to have quite a lot in common with a certain chosen one from another fantasy-based story. With his sword (which is actually the alien being known as Warlock) already obtained and bonded with him, Cypher is left to ruminate over a destiny he has no choice in. He's been thrust into a high-stakes tournament without the skill or experience of his fellow mutant champions - not unlike in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, where Harry finds himself elected to compete in the Triwizard Tournament of which he has no qualifications for.
Just as in Goblet of Fire, where Harry's betters scramble to find a loophole to have the young wizard removed from the deadly tournament, the X-Men desperately search for any alternative to save Cypher. The stakes are higher than ever as it turns out any mutant who dies in this tournament can no longer be returned to life by the X-Men's Resurrection Protocols. And Cypher is one of the most essential living mutants thanks to the ability only he has to communicate with Krakoa - the sentient island that is largely responsible for mutantkind's modern prosperity.
In Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore is among the few that know Harry is prophesized to destroy Voldemort, thus making Harry's potential death in the Triwizard Tournament a high risk to the fate of all wizards. In the latest issue of New Mutants, Charles Xavier is put in a similar position. He knows the tournament rules are set, but he's already searching for a failsafe so that no mutant, especially one as essential as Cypher, has to compete in the lethal contest. Meanwhile, though he faces certain death, Cypher begins to display one of Harry's most valuable characteristics - stoicism.
As every surrounding character, including Krakoa itself, indulges the idea of somehow sending another mutant into the tournament to replace him, Cypher refuses to let anyone else enter the battlefield in his stead. Cypher's embracing of his responsibility is not unlike the weight Harry has to bear in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows after learning of his own prophesized death. A scene in the Krakoan forest where Cypher tells the living island that he is terrified but still must accept his fate is reminiscent of the moment when Harry bravely walks into the Forbidden Forest to sacrifice himself to Voldemort.
Fortunately for Harry Potter, he endured his adversity and earned his happily ever after, but Cypher's fate is still undetermined. Will the X-Men find a way to somehow end the tournament before it even begins? Or will Cypher be forced to heroically embrace his chosen destiny? One thing's for sure if Magik's final words to Cypher in this issue are any indication, his chances in battle aren't looking so hot. "Believe me when I tell you this… If you raise that sword to fight someone on Otherworld… It'll be the last thing you ever do. And there is not a damn thing you can do to stop it."