Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Chapter Notes

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Chapter 17: The Four Champions

• “‘Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?’ Dumbledore asked calmly.” – You know everyone always blames Michael Gambon for playing this scene wrong, but honestly the complete adaption of book 4 was a mess, from start to finish, which makes me wonder if anyone has actually read the book. Strangely enough I think they did though, because the movie only makes sense if you know the book. It’s a wild ride, really.

• I just realized that McGonagall refers to Harry as… well Harry, which is weird, because I think she always addresses him as Mr. Potter. Which come to think of it, all teachers address the students with their last names. Is this common in Great Britain? In my school (in good old Germany) we were addressed with our first names up until the last two years, where most of us were off age, and teachers started to address us with our last names (which was a strange thing to hear from someone who knew you that long).

• I wonder if at this point Barty Crouch Sen. was already under the Imperius Curse. They ask him, as an objective judge, what to do, and his answer is to follow the rules, that state that everyone whose name the Goblet offers has to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Which is obviously a very Mr. Crouch thing to say, as he loves rules, but also very much the answer someone would give who wants Harry to compete.

• “He’s got to compete. They’ve all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh? […]Maybe someone’s hoping Potter is going to die for it […]It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the boy’s name in that Goblet […] Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object![…] It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that Goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the Tournament … I’m guessing they submitted Potter’s name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category  […]There are those who’ll turn innocent occasions to their advantage.” – All of these sentences are said by Moody, and they are basically the villain giving his great monologue how he did it, we just don’t know it yet. He describes exactly what he did and why – to kill Harry. And yet nobody in the room takes him serious, they all think it is just his paranoia speaking again, except for maybe Dumbledore. And much later when Dumbledore realizes who Moody is he might remembers this scene. He knew exactly what happened not because he pretended to think like a Dark Wizard but because he was the Dark Wizard all along.

• Both Karkaroff and Madame Maxime are enraged because Hogwarts has two champions now, therefore double the chance to win this tournament. None of them voices any concern that a 14-year-old wizard might not be skilled enough to compete. And neither does Dumbledore actually. It all comes down to the magical binding contract, which makes me wonder what exactly would have happened if Harry simply wouldn’t have participated? He wasn’t allowed to and he didn’t want to. What are the consequences of breaking such a contract? Are they worse than endangering a child? And if Dumbledore, as Sirius suggested, has read the signs, if he indeed hired Moody because he though Harry might be in danger how could he let this happen? He wants to protect Harry and yet he does nothing to prevent him from taking part in the tournament.

• “Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the Tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests.” – Wait, what? They are all in the final year, with the exception of Harry, meaning they would leave school without any sort of degree. (I wonder if O.W.L.’s and N.E.W.T.’s are international standard or only taken at Hogwarts? And if they have other silly names in foreign languages?) And without that they couldn’t apply to any job. Or maybe being the Triwizard Champion was enough? I mean Harry never finished his education and still became an Auror, because apparently defeating Voldemort was enough experience.

• And Mr. Crouch still doesn’t know Percy’s name, which is supposed to be funny, but also quite telling. They have worked together for months by now, his father is a respected member of the Ministry, the Weasleys are among the oldest wizard families and yet he can’t bother to learn his name, which is really disrespectful.

• Oh Ron.