Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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This article is about the book. See Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) or Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game) for other formats.
| Harry Potter Books | |
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| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | |
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| Author | J.K. Rowling |
| Illustrator | Giles Greenfield (UK), Mary GrandPré (US) |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury (UK), Scholastic (US), Manjul Publications (India) |
| Release date | 2000 |
| Number in series | Four |
| Sales | 12.3 Million (US) |
| Dedicated to | "Peter Rowling, in memory of Mr Ridley and to Susan Sladden, who helped Harry out of his cupboard" |
| Story timeline | 1994-1995 |
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Published on July 8, 2000, the release of this book was surrounded by more hype than any other book in recent times — outdone only by its successors, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. At 636 pages (hardback British edition) it was fairly large for a children's book. The book attracted a lot of attention owing to a pre-publication warning from J.K. Rowling that one of the characters would be murdered in the book. This started a stream of rumour and speculation as to who the murdered character would be. The publication of Goblet of Fire caused unprecedented heights of Pottermania to be reached internationally.
This novel won a Hugo Award in 2001.
Contents |
[edit] Editions
- Bloomsbury (United Kingdom, Australia, Canada etc.)
- ISBN 0-7475-4624-X Hardcover
- ISBN 0-7475-5099-9 Paperback
- ISBN 0-7475-6940-1 Hardcover (adult edition)
- ISBN 0-7475-7073-6 Paperback (adult edition)
- Scholastic (United States etc.)
- ISBN 0-439-13959-7 Hardcover
- ISBN 0-439-13960-0 Paperback
See Harry Potter in translation for foreign editions
[edit] Prior to release
For a short while, the fourth book was titled Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament by numerous bookstores. J.K. Rowling expressed her indecision about the title in an Entertainment Weekly interview. "I changed my mind twice on what [the title] was. The working title had got out — 'Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament.' Then I changed 'Doomspell' to 'Triwizard Tournament.' Then I was teetering between 'Goblet of Fire' and 'Triwizard Tournament.' In the end, I preferred 'Goblet of Fire' because it's got that kind of 'cup of destiny' feel about it, which is the theme of the book."
[edit] Plot overview
Harry spends his remaining summer holiday with the Weasley family and Hermione Granger before attending the Quidditch World Cup. One night, Harry has a nightmare that the Riddle manor's caretaker (Frank Bryce) is investigating a suspicious light in the deserted house's window. Inside, he overhears Lord Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew discussing how to capture Harry Potter. Voldemort intends for Barty Crouch Jr. to somehow get to Harry. Just then, Voldemort's giant snake, Nagini, slithers past the caretaker, and it tells Voldemort the muggle is standing outside. Voldemort kills Frank with the Avada Kedavra curse, causing Harry to suddenly awake with his scar throbbing in pain.
Setting off for the Quidditch World Cup, Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley family first meet up with Amos Diggory and his son, Cedric. Climbing to the top of a hill, they find an old boot that is actually a magical portkey. Grabbing on, they are instatnly teleported to the World Cup, arriving amid thousands of tents and fans from around the world. The Diggorys and the Weasleys part company and head for their respective lodgings. The Weasley party stay in two magical tents that appear small and ordinary from the outside, but upon entering, open into large comfortable abodes. At the stadium, they encounter Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge and the Malfoys just before the match begins. That evening, a loud commotion causes Arthur Weasley to rush outside the tent to investigate. Returning, he tells everyone to leave immediately; Death Eaters are attacking Muggle bystanders. Harry, Ron, and Hermione run into the woods to hide and find Draco Malfoy casually leaning against a tree enjoying the ensuing pandemonium. The Dark Mark suddenly appears in the night sky, causing more terror and panic. Harry discovers his wand is missing, only to have it implicated in conjuring the Mark. (It is later revealed to have been stolen by Barty Crouch, Jr., who was hidden under an invisibility cloak in the top box.)
Back at school, Dumbledore introduces the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, retired Auror "Mad-Eye" Moody. Dumbledore also announces that the wizarding world's Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts. Students enter by placing their names into the legendary Goblet of Fire, which will shoot out one name from each competing school (Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang). Barty Crouch Sr. issues an announcement that students under age 17 are ineligible to compete. The Goblet selects Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, and Viktor Krum, as the respective champions. Mysteriously, the Goblet also chooses Harry Potter, and he is forced to compete, even though he realises he has been deliberately put in grave danger. However, Ron, along with the majority of the school, believes he cheated to enter. Ron also becomes jealous over the constant attention Harry receives and stops speaking to him.
Hagrid reveals to Harry and Madame Maxime, Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy that the first event involves battling a dragon to retrieve a golden egg. Igor Karkaroff, Headmaster of the Durmstrang Institute, also knows about the dragons. Only Cedric Diggory is unaware, but Harry tips him off. Harry jointly wins the first task with Viktor Krum. After seeing just how dangerous the first task was, Ron realizes Harry did not cheat to get into the Tournement, and they reconcile.
At Christmas, students attend the Yule Ball. As a Tri-Wizard champions, a terrified Harry learns he needs a partner for the opening dance. He musters enough courage to invite pretty Ravenclaw student, Cho Chang, but she is already Cedric Diggory's date. Whatever friendliness Harry felt towards Cedric vanishes, and he instead asks his classmate Parvati Patil. Ron impulsively invites Fleur Delacour, although he screams instead of asking, and runs away before she can answer. Ron is left a bumbling mess, much to his sister Ginny's amusement. Eventually, Ron goes with Parvati's twin, Padma. At the dance, both boys, along with the rest of the school, are stunned to see a beautiful Hermione on Viktor Krum's arm. The first signs of Ron's feelings for Hermione become evident, and he is jealous of Krum. Fleur's partner is Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, Roger Davies.
To repay Harry for helping him with the dragons, Cedric Diggory gives him a clue about how to solve the Golden Egg's riddle; it is needed for completing the second task. Each champion must rescue a friend who has been placed underwater in the Black Lake by the merpeople. Harry must rescue Ron, Hermione by Krum, and Cedric is to save Cho Chang. When Fleur Delacour is unable to reach her younger sister, Harry remains behind to also rescue her, earning Fleur's respect, but causing him to finish second. He is now tied for first place with Cedric Diggory.
The final event is a grueling maze within which the Triwizard Cup is hidden. Whoever retrieves the trophy first is the victor. Harry and Cedric reach the Triwizard Cup together. Because they have helped each other and neither could have won without the other, they agree to grab the cup simultaneously. However, the cup is actually a Portkey that transports them to a graveyard. Awaiting are Peter Pettigrew and Lord Voldemort. On Voldemort's command, Pettigrew kills Cedric and then uses Harry's blood in a macabre ritual to restore Voldemort’s full body. Voldemort summons the Death Eaters and then engages Harry in a duel. But unknown to Voldemort, their wands are "brothers"—each contains a tail feather from Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes—and they will not work properly against one another. Voldemort has also underestimated Harry's growing power as a wizard. Harry forces the wands' locked streams backwards into Voldemort's wand, forcing "echoes" of his victims to spill out, including Cedric and James and Lily Potter. The images shield Harrry, allowing him to get to the portkey and return to Hogwarts with Cedric's body.
Back at the castle, Professor Moody is revealed to be Barty Crouch Jr., who imprisoned the real Moody in a magical trunk and used polyjuice potion to impersonate him. Moody was only kept alive because his hair was needed as an ingredient for the polyjuice potion. It was Crouch Jr. who entered Harry’s name in the goblet and ensured that he reached the Triwizard Cup. He is captured before he can harm Harry, and with veritaserum, forced to confess to Dumbledore, McGonnagal, and Snape, but a dementor sucks out his soul before he can repeat his story to Cornelius Fudge, who refuses to believe Voldemort has returned.
[edit] Detailed Plot
[edit] The Quidditch World Cup
After his usual unpleasant stay at the Dursleys, Harry Potter spends the rest of his summer holiday with the Weasleys before attending the Quidditch World Cup them and Hermione. During the meet, Death Eaters attack Muggle bystanders, but they flee when the Dark Mark - Voldemort's sign - mysteriously appears above them. The sign is determined to have been conjured by Winky, though it was actually Barty Crouch Jr., a former Death Eater, who cast the spell using Harry's stolen wand. Winky is a house elf that serves Barty Crouch, a respected official at the Ministry of Magic who immediately fires Winky. Crouch's cruel treatment of Winky prompts Hermione to start campaigning for elves' rights.
[edit] The Triwizard Tournament
A surprise is in store for Hogwarts students at the start of the new school year. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is famed Auror (a wizard trained to fight the Dark Arts) Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, an eccentric who manages to simultaneously terrify, awe and amuse the students with his combined paranoia and astonishing knowledge and intelligence. Also, the Triwizard Tournament, a centuries-old interschool competition that was banned due to its increasingly dangerous "tasks", is to be revived and held at Hogwarts. The prize is 1000 galleons. Students hoping to compete, place their names into a large cup - known as the Goblet of Fire - that will shoot out one name from each of the three competing wizarding schools (Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang). After choosing famous international Quidditch player and Durmstrang student Viktor Krum, eerily beautiful Beauxbatons student Fleur Delacour, and Hogwarts Hufflepuff student Cedric Diggory, the Goblet spits out Harry Potter's name - even though he is too young to enter and a Hogwarts champion has already been selected. Harry is magically bound to participate, although he suspects he has been deliberately put in grave danger. Many students are outraged and believed he cheated to enter. To Harry's dismay, his best friend Ron Weasley becomes jealous and resentful. Harry's attempts to deflect his new unpopularity are foiled by Rita Skeeter, a revolting and unethical journalist who writes false stories about Harry.
Hogwarts gamekeeper Hagrid reveals to Harry and Madame Maxime, the enormous, elegant Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy, that the first task involves battling a dragon and retrieving a golden egg from its nest. Igor Karkaroff, Headmaster of the Durmstrang Institute also spies the dragons. Only Cedric Diggory is unaware, and feeling this is unfair, Harry informs him. As Diggory walks away, Professor Moody calls Harry into his study and not only praises him for tipping off Diggory but also gives him a hint on how to retrieve the egg. At the first challenge, the champions randomly draw numbered miniature dragons from a silk bag, indicating which species they will face. Harry will be last, having drawn the Hungarian Horntail, the most dangerous dragon. With the aid of his broomstick, Harry outmaneuvers the dragon and steals the golden egg. After seeing how terrifying the challenge was, Ron realises just how perilous the tournament really is and now believes Harry did not cheat to enter.
The golden egg provides the clue to the Second Task, which takes place in February.
At Christmas, students attend the Yule Ball. As a champion, Harry is required to attend and participate in the opening dance, but both he and Ron have difficulty finding dates. Harry asks Cho Chang, but she is going with Cedric Diggory. After Ron makes a fool of himself by asking out Fleur, he finally realises Hermione is a "girl", and asks her to come with either him or Harry. She refuses because she is already going with someone else, but won't say who. Harry eventually arranges for himself and Ron to take the beautiful Patil twins, Parvati and Padma.
On the night of the Ball, Hermione arrives as Viktor Krum's date, stunning everyone with both her unexpected attachment and her suddenly beautiful appearance. Seeing Hermione with Krum provokes jealousy in Ron, and he, along with Harry, spends the night ignoring his own date while glaring daggers at Hermione and Krum. When an elated Hermione comes over to talk to Ron and Harry, Ron lashes out, accusing her of "fraternising with the enemy". Shocked and appalled, Hermione gets into a heated argument with Ron, telling him that the next time there's a ball to ask her "before someone else does and not as a last resort!" She storms off to the girl's dorms, leaving behind a stunned Ron.
Despondent, Harry and Ron take a break from the ball to hang out outside where they overhear Hagrid talking to Madam Maxime, and learn that she and Hagrid are half-giants, which Ron finds unusual as giants are not exactly "nice".
The second challenge is fast approasching, but Harry is unable to solve the egg's riddle. After Cedric gives him a hint, he learns he must retrieve something stolen by the merpeople, who live in the Black Lake. Dobby gives Harry gillyweed which allows him to breathe underwater. At the task the champions are told that something valuable has been stolen from them. These are: Ron (for Harry), Hermione (for Viktor), Cho Chang (for Cedric), and Fleur Delacour’s younger sister, Gabrielle. Although Fleur is eliminated, Harry, Cedric and Victor reach the hostages easily. When Harry attempts to rescue both Fleur Delacour’s sister and Ron, merpeople try to prevent him, but Harry threatens them with his wand. He surfaces with both and is awarded extra points for "moral fiber".
For the final event, the four competitors must navigate a maze filled with dangerous creatures and spells, within which the Tri-Wizard cup is hidden. Harry and Cedric reach the cup together, and because they helped each other during the Tournament, agree to grab the trophy simultaneously, ensuring a Hogwarts win.
[edit] Little Hangleton's Graveyard
The trophy is actually a Portkey, a magical object that transports Harry and Cedric to a graveyard - there they find Peter Pettigrew and Lord Voldemort. Voldemort orders Wormtail (Pettigrew) to kill Cedric ("Kill the spare!") using the Avada Kedavra curse. Harry's blood is then used as part of a macabre ritual to restore Voldemort and grant him protection from the charm that has shielded Harry since he was a baby. Voldemort then summons the Death Eaters and attempts to kill Harry in a duel to prove that "the Boy who Lived" will not be his undoing again.
However, because Harry's and Voldemort's wands are formed from the same core - a feather from Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes - a freak phenomenon known as Priori Incantatem occurs, in which the wands connect by a golden light. Harry uses all his power to force the stream backwards into Voldemort's wand which spills out ghostly echoes of its past victims - including Cedric, Frank Bryce, Bertha Jorkins, and Harry's parents. The echoes protect Harry as he escapes to the portkey which transports him and Cedric's body back to Hogwarts.
[edit] Barty Crouch, Jr. Revealed
Harry returns to Hogwarts in a swirl of confusion and grief caused by his disappearance and Cedric's death. To protect Harry from the intense situation, Professor Moody escorts him to the castle. But back in his office, Moody reveals himself to be a Death Eater and tells Harry he entered his name into the Goblet and ensured that he succeeded throughout the tournament to be delivered to Voldemort. As Moody is about to kill Harry, Dumbledore fires a powerful stunning spell through the locked door and bursts in, followed by Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall. With Snape's Veritaserum, it is revealed that "Moody" is actually Barty Crouch Jr. and has been using polyjuice potion to impersonate the real Moody, who has been imprisoned in a magical trunk for the entire year.
Learning Voldemort has arisen, Dumbledore revives the Order of the Phoenix. Snape and the Durmstrang Headmaster are revealed to be ex-Death Eaters, although Dumbledore trusts Snape, who becomes an Order member. Before Barty Crouch Jr. can repeat his confession to Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, his soul sucked out by a Dementor. The Minister's refusal to believe Voldemort has returned results in Dumbledore being removed from several important posts within the wizard community, and his reputation and Harry Potter's is maliciously maligned in the next book.
[edit] Points of interest
This book contains what might be considered only the second instance of narrative not delivered through Harry's point of view - the first chapter, in which the murder of Frank Bryce by Voldemort is described. However, Harry is in fact aware of the events in the chapter to some degree, as they appear to him in a dream. [The first book of the series (Philosopher's Stone) described Uncle Vernon's encounter with various wizards while the sixth book (Half-Blood Prince), published in 2005, contained the next instance of narrative outside Harry's point of view throughout the chapters entitled The Other Minister and Spinner's End].
In this book, Harry's world expands both physically and figuratively. He goes to places he has never been before (the moor where the World Cup is held, the graveyard). In Goblet of Fire, Harry once again exemplifies his valiant bravery. From his battle with the Horntail dragon, to his bold undertakings in the frigid waters of the 2nd task, and to his extraordinary duel with Lord Voldemort in the graveyard, these acts prove the main character’s courage. Harry also meets a vast number of people of various nationalities and all types. He learns some profound lessons about good and evil, and the difficulty in distinguishing between the two. This is particularly exemplified in the fake Moody, but other characters like Bagman, Crouch and Karkaroff are all examples of various degrees of evil, or evil and good mixed in strange and unpredictable ways.
In many ways, this book can be seen as the turning point of Harry's transition into adulthood (which is in fact the topic of this whole series). Harry has certainly left childhood behind – for example, he "discovers" girls in this book. But he also encounters far more unpleasant aspects of adulthood, from unwanted and malicious publicity to the death of a schoolmate.
The magical world takes on an international aspect in this book, with the introduction of the World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament, including the two other large European schools of Magic, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The crisis caused by Voldemort's return in the end also, in a way, helps to bring the world together.
J.K. Rowling promised the Goblet of Fire would be the longest book in the Harry Potter series, but broke this promise when Order of the Phoenix was released. However, Order of the Phoenix has now been said to be the longest book Rowling will write, but this was not confirmed by Rowling.
This book mentions the name of a real person, Natalie McDonald, who was a terminally ill child who wrote to Rowling asking her to divulge the plot of "Goblet of Fire". With the exception of people of ancient times, such as Nicolas Flamel, this is the only book to do so.
There is a moment during the final chapter (when the horseless carriages pull up) that has been considered by some as a rare moment of inconsistency of known facts between books. As Harry has by this time witnessed a death, it is expected that should have been able to see the thestrals pulling the carriages. However as J.K. Rowling pointed out later, to see the thestrals means to have seen and accepted death. As Harry had not quite fully accepted the death of his classmate yet, the thestrals would have remained invisible to him until the following year. There has been another inconsistency noticed:on page 450,US Edition(Scholastic) Dumbledore stetes that"If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle ... a very rare effect will take place. One of the wands will force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed - in reverse. The most recent first. . . and then those which preceded it. . . .".However,it is stated in the book that James Potter was first to emerge from Voldemort's wand than Lily Potter,when it is written so many times in the other books that James Potter was Murdered before Lily Potter was. Actually in the book, Lily Potter does come out first, and says "hold on, your father is coming and wants to see you" (not exact words, but similar). This movie ranked number 36 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.
[edit] External links
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire extended information
- Book Summary: Goblet of Fire
- Errors & Mistakes: Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
| J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philosopher's Stone | book | -diff- | film | game | soundtrack |
| Chamber of Secrets | book | -diff- | film | game | soundtrack |
| Prisoner of Azkaban | book | -diff- | film | game | soundtrack |
| Goblet of Fire | book | -diff- | film | game | soundtrack |
| Order of the Phoenix | book | (-diff-) | (film) | (game) | |
| Half-Blood Prince | book | (film) | |||
| Unnamed 7th book | (book) | ||||
| Other books | Other games | ||||
| Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup | ||||
| Quidditch Through the Ages | |||||
|
Plot – Characters – Places – Spells – Translations – Fandom – Related articles - Quidditch |
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