Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Hello friend! I have brought you a new blog post today. Happy reading!

[WARNING: This contains MAJOR spoilers]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the Harry Potter series [it’s my second favourite book; it used to be my absolute favourite initially, but Half-blood Prince made me forget all about it.] It’s a beautifully wrought book, and introduces Voldemort’s fanatical followers, the Death Eaters. Also, Hogwarts isn’t the only wizarding institution [I knew it couldn’t be]. There are two more schools we find out about: the elegant Beauxbatons Academy, and the Scandinavian Durmstang Institute [famous Bulgarian Quidditch player Viktor Krum belongs to this school.]  Harry Potter has always had dark undertones, but it becomes even darker, starting NOW. *Creepy music in the background*

Frank Bryce, an old Muggle man who was Voldemort’s Muggle father’s gardener, accidentally overhears a conversation between Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew [ traitorous rat] about “wizards”, a boy called “Harry Potter”, something that sounds like “Kwidditch” [Quidditch], and “Muggles”. The poor man can’t understand a word, but Voldemort still kills him; Harry wakes up at the Dursleys’ home thousands of miles away with his scar on fire. Soon after, he is contacted by the Weasleys, who take him and Hermione to the Quidditch World Cup, using a Portkey [a random object that can teleport its user/s anywhere].  There, Harry meets the Hufflepuff seeker, Cedric Diggory [a sixth-year], and his overly enthusiastic father, Amos Diggory. The final match is Ireland vs Bulgaria, with Ireland narrowly emerging victorious.  After the match, Voldemort’s hooded followers attack the camp site, wreaking havoc. The Dark Mark [a skull with a serpent for a tongue, only worn by Death Eaters] is fired into the sky; it hasn’t been seen for the last 13 years. An esteemed, influential Ministry employee, Barty Crouch Sr, accuses his house-elf, Winky, of casting the Mark, as she is holding Harry’s forgotten wand, which is indeed the wand which was used.  Hermione, angry at this injustice, forms a society known as S.P.E.W [Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare.]

At school, Dumbledore presents a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher: gruff, taciturn Alastor “Mad-eye” Moody, a famous Auror [ someone who fights the likes of Voldemort and his bunch of creeps.] The Triwizard Tournament, a friendly competition among wizards, will be held at Hogwarts, with a prize of one thousand gold Galleons [currency.] However, only those over 17 will be allowed to compete. Students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will also be competing [they will be staying at Hogwarts.] At Halloween, the titular Goblet of Fire [which picks the worthiest students], chooses Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, Viktor Krum from Durmstrang, and Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts; however, it spews out a fourth name—Harry Potter—leading to suspicion and indignation among students and teachers alike, and magically binding him to compete. Ron refuses to speak to him out of jealousy and resentment.  Hagrid reveals to him that the first task involves dragons; Fleur and Krum’s headmasters are aware of this as well and warn their students in advance. Harry informs Cedric. Harry finishes this task tied first with Krum [well, the cheeky kid had some unobtrusive help from Moody]. Feeling remorseful, Ron apologises to Harry, and they reconcile. When Harry opens the egg he retrieved from his dragon [a Hungarian Horntail], it lets out an ear-splitting shriek. It is soon revealed that Winky has been sacked and is now working at Hogwarts, alongside a very happy Dobby.

Meanwhile, gossipy reporter Rita Skeeter begins writing scandalous half-truths and outrageous fabrications in the Daily Prophet [wizarding newspaper] about Harry, Hermione, Hagrid, Krum, and Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons.  At the Yule Ball, Ron is shocked to see Hermione dancing with Krum, while Harry is irritable because he’s stuck with a girl called Parvati Patil [he’d tried asking his fifth-year crush, Cho Chang, but Cedric beat him to it]. After the ball, Cedric tries to give him a hint about the egg, but Harry refuses to act on it till a week before the second task. He holds it underwater; the task is to retrieve something he will “sorely miss.”  A night before the task, Dobby rushes to him in great consternation, informing him that Ron has been taken underwater. Harry safely retrieves him, as well as Fleur’s younger sister [she was unable to complete the task]. He ties with Cedric for the lead.  A month before the third and final task, Harry and Krum are talking when they encounter Crouch, who appears to have lost his mind; Harry rushes to get Dumbledore, but Crouch incapacitates Krum [who was guarding him] and escapes. The final task is revealed to be a hedge maze which houses the trophy. Inside the maze, Harry is forced to incapacitate Krum, who is torturing Cedric [ poor Krum’s brains are addled. He’s been bewitched.]  Harry and Cedric [who is injured but able to walk; he’s got guts] reach the cup together and decide to take it for Hogwarts’ victory. As soon as they touch it, they discover that the cup is a Portkey, which teleports them to an old graveyard.  There, Pettigrew kills Cedric and uses his own hand, along with Harry’s blood and Voldemort’s late father’s bone, to resurrect Voldemort.

Every Death Eater’s Dark Mark begins to burn when Voldemort touches Pettigrew’s Mark with his wand. When the Death Eaters arrive in droves, Voldemort berates them for thinking he was dead, before revealing that he has a single “faithful servant” concealed at Hogwarts, who has been working to ensure that Harry would make it to the graveyard, and challenges the boy to a duel. Harry cancels out his Killing Curse [Avada Kedavra] with a Disarming spell [Expelliarmus]; Voldemort’s wand begins to release the last spells it performed, resulting in imprints of his last victims appearing [including Harry’s parents.] They provide a distraction, so Harry can escape back to Hogwarts using the Portkey, taking Cedric’s body with him. When he returns, deeply traumatized and distraught, Moody takes him to his office, and reveals himself to be the aforementioned “faithful servant”; he was the one who bewitched the Goblet and made it spew Harry’s name, and has been guiding him through the Tournament [I did mention Moody’s help, after all]. Before he can kill Harry, Dumbledore, Mcgonagall, and Snape interfere and force a truth serum down Moody’s throat. They learn that Moody is, in fact, Barty Crouch Jr, Crouch’s son [he imprisoned the real Moody, and used Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him.] Even by Death Eater standards, he’s fanatically loyal. His father had sentenced him to life imprisonment in Azkaban, but his mother took his place, allowing him to escape. He also admits to bewitching Krum and killing his father. He is sentenced to receive the Dementor’s Kiss. [The real Moody is found in Crouch Jr’s trunk.] Most people, including Cornelius Fudge, do not believe Harry’s hysterical story about Voldemort’s return. Harry is declared the winner of the Tournament, but as he does not want his earnings, he gives them to the Weasley twins [who wanted to start a joke shop]. So…that’s that. Such a horrible ending. Cedric’s future would have been so bright if he’d survived.  See you next time…

Thank you! I hoped you enjoyed my article!