Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Harry Potter Books | |
 |
|
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | |
|---|---|
| Author | J.K. Rowling |
| Illustrator | Giles Greenfield (UK), Mary GrandPré (US) |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury (UK), Scholastic (US) |
| Release date | July 8, 2000 |
| Number in series | Four |
| Sales | 12.7 Million (US)(as of December 2006) |
| Dedicated to | "Peter Rowling, in memory of Mr Ridley and to Susan Sladden, who helped Harry out of his cupboard" |
| Story timeline | 1994-1995 |
| Preceded by | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
| Followed by | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix |
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. It was fairly large for a children's book -- at 636 and 734 pages (hardback British and American editions respectively). 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] 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 Lord Voldemort and Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew are discussing how Voldemort's "faithful servant" can somehow get to him. Voldemort's snake, Nagini, informs him that Frank Bryce, the Riddle Manor caretaker, is standing outside. Voldemort kills Bryce with the Avada Kedavra curse and Harry awakens with his scar throbbing in pain.
Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys meet up with Amos Diggory and his son, Cedric, and they set off for the Quidditch World Cup. Atop a hill is a Portkey that transports the group to the event. The Weasley party stays in tents that appear small from the outside, but upon entering, magically open into large comfortable abodes. At the stadium they encounter Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge and the Malfoy family. That evening there is a loud commotion. Arthur Weasley investigates then orders everyone to leave immediately because Death Eaters were attacking nearby Muggles. Harry, Ron, and Hermione hid in the woods. The Dark Mark suddenly appeared in the night sky which caused more terror and panic. Harry discovered his wand to be missing. Once found it was implicated in conjuring the Dark Mark, although Harry was deemed innocent. The house elf Winky was found with the wand and held responsible. (It is later revealed that someone else conjured the Dark Mark.)
At Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore introduced retired Auror "Mad-Eye" Moody as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He also announced that the interschool competition, the Triwizard Tournament, will be held at Hogwarts. One student from each competing school, (Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang), will be selected as champions. Barty Crouch of the Ministry of Magic stated that students under age 17 are ineligible to compete. The Goblet selected Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, and Viktor Krum, as the respective champions. Mysteriously, the Goblet chose Harry Potter as the fourth champion. Even though he was underage and claimed to not have entered, he was forced to. Many students believed that he cheated including Ron who became jealous over the constant attention Harry receives.
Hagrid revealed to Harry and Madame Maxime, Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy, that the first event involved battling a dragon to retrieve a golden egg. Harry tipped off Cedric Diggory. Harry jointly won the first task with Viktor Krum. After seeing how dangerous the first challenge was, Ron realized that Harry did not cheat to enter the Tournement and they reconcile.
At Christmas students attended the Yule Ball. As a Triwizard champion, Harry was required to have a partner for the opening dance. He invited Ravenclaw student, Cho Chang, but she was already Cedric Diggory's date. He eventually asked his classmate, Parvati Patil, and Ron goes with Parvati's twin, Padma. At the dance, both boys, and the rest of the school, were stunned to see a beautiful Hermione on Viktor Krum's arm, which leads to an unpleasant fight between Hermione and a jealous Ron. Fleur's partner was Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, Roger Davies.
Cedric Diggory gave Harry a clue to solve the riddle needed for the second challenge: each champion must rescue a friend who has been hidden in the Black Lake by the merpeople. Harry must retrieve Ron, Krum must rescue Hermione, and Cedric is to save Cho Chang. Harry reached the target first but stayed behind to rescue the other champion's "friends" as well causing him to finish second. He is now tied for first place with Cedric Diggory.
The final event is a maze, within which the Triwizard Cup is hidden. Whoever retrieved the cup first would be the victor. Harry and Cedric reached the cup together but, because they helped one another, they agree to grab the cup simultaneously. As it turned out, the cup was a portkey that transpored them to a graveyard where Wormtail and Voldemort await. On Voldemort's command, Pettigrew killed Cedric then conducted a ritual using Harry's blood which restored Voldemort's body. Voldemort summoned the Death Eaters before engaging Harry in a duel. Unknown to Voldemort their wands were "brothers" (each core contained a tail feather from the phoenix, Fawkes). The wands work improperly against one another and a Priori Incantatem results. Voldemort's wand spills out echoes of the last five people it killed. The images momentarily shielded Harry so that he could escape through the portkey with Cedric's body.
After Voldemort's plan failed, Alastor Moody attempted to kill Harry but was prevented by Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall. It is then found that Moody was actually Barty Crouch Jr, who had imprisoned the real Alastor Moody in a magical trunk and used Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him. It was Crouch who had entered Harry’s name into the Goblet of Fire and had ensured that he reached the Triwizard Cup. Snape administered Veritaserum to force Crouch's confession, but before it could be repeated to the authorities Cornelius Fudge's gaurd, a dementor proceeded to suck out his soul.
[edit] Detailed plot
[edit] The Quidditch World Cup
After an unpleasant stay at the Dursleys, during which he has had disturbing dreams of Lord Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail) killing a muggle and plotting how to get to him, Harry Potter is invited by Ron Weasley to attend the Quidditch World Cup with his family. He also stays at The Burrow for the remainder of the holiday.
Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys travel to the World Cup using a Portkey, a seemingly ordinary object that is a magical transportation device. Accompanying them are Amos Diggory and his son, Cedric.
As crowds of wizards celebrate the game's outcome, Death Eaters attack Muggle bystanders. However, they flee when the Dark Mark - Voldemort's sign - mysteriously appears in the night sky. The mark is determined by the on-the-spot investigation team to have been cast by Bartemius Crouch's house elf, Winky, who used Harry's wand, although it is later revealed that someone else cast the spell.
Crouch is a respected official at the Ministry of Magic, and he immediately fires Winky. Crouch's cruel treatment of Winky prompts Hermione to campaign for elves' rights.
[edit] The Triwizard Tournament
Several surprises are in store for Hogwarts students as the new school year starts. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is famous retired Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, an eccentric who manages to simultaneously terrify, awe, and amuse students with his combination of paranoia and astonishing experience fighting the Dark Arts. Also, Headmaster Dumbledore announces that Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament, the recently revived interschool competition that was banned because it was too dangerous. The prize for the winner is 1000 galleons.
When students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrive, it is announced that those wishing to compete must place their name into the Goblet of Fire. Students must be 17 years old or older. The cup will select one champion from each competing school. The cup chooses Quidditch player Viktor Krum for Durmstrang, the eerily beautiful Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons, and Hufflepuff sixth year student, Cedric Diggory for Hogwarts. The Goblet unexpectedly selects another contestant - Harry Potter.
Harry is deemed magically bound to participate, even though he is underage and never entered his name. He suspects he is deliberately being put in danger, but many outraged students believe he cheated to enter, as does Ron Weasley, who becomes jealous over the constant attention heaped on Harry. Rita Skeeter, a revolting and unethical journalist, makes matters worse by writing sensationalised stories about him.
Hagrid reveals to Harry and Madame Maxime, the giant, elegant Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy, that the first task involves battling a dragon and retrieving an egg. Because Durmstang Headmaster Igor Karkaroff and Viktor Krum also know, Harry tips off Cedric Diggory, the only Champion who is unaware. Professor Moody praises him for this and also gives him a hint on how to retrieve the egg.
From a bag of miniature dragons, Harry draws the Hungarian Horntail, the most dangerous species. During the challenge, he summons his Firebolt and outmaneuvers the dragon and steals the golden egg. After seeing how dangerous the challenge actually was, Ron realizes Harry would never have cheated to enter. The golden egg provides the clue to the Second Task, which is scheduled for February.
At Christmas, students attend the Yule Ball. As a champion, Harry is required to participate in the opening dance with a partner, but both he and Ron have difficulty finding dates. Harry invites Cho Chang, but she is already going with Cedric Diggory. Harry eventually arranges for himself and Ron to take the beautiful Patil twins, Parvati and Padma.
At the Ball, Hermione arrives as Viktor Krum's date, stunning everyone with both her unexpected attachment and beauty. Seeing Hermione with Krum provokes jealousy in Ron. He and Harry spend the night ignoring their own dates, and Ron glares at Hermione and Krum. When an elated Hermione goes over to Ron and Harry, Ron lashes out, accusing her of "fraternising with the enemy". Shocked and appalled, Hermione storms off. Later, in the Gryffindor common room, she chastises him for his behaviour and tells him to, "ask me before someone else does and not as a last resort!"
During the Ball, Harry and Ron wander outside where they overhear Hagrid and Madam Maxime talking. They learn that she and Hagrid are both half-giants. Ron understands why they would keep that suppressed, as giants are not considered "nice" by the wizarding world.
With the second challenge fast approaching, Harry has given little thought to solving the egg's riddle. To repay Harry for tipping him off about the dragons, Cedric gives him a hint. After hearing the egg sing underwater, Harry deduces that he must retrieve something taken by merpeople. Dobby gives Harry Gillyweed, that allows him to breathe underwater. At the task, each champion must retrieve a "hostage" from Hogwarts' lake, where they are being guarded by the merpeople. The hostages are: Ron (for Harry), Hermione (for Viktor), Cho Chang (for Cedric), and Fleur Delacour’s younger sister, Gabrielle. Although Fleur is quickly eliminated, Harry, Cedric and Victor reach the hostages. When Harry attempts to rescue both Gabrielle and Ron, the merpeople try to prevent him, but Harry threatens them with his wand. He surfaces with both hostages and is awarded extra points for displaying "moral fiber".
The final event involves navigating a dangerous maze, within which the Tri-Wizard cup is hidden. Harry and Cedric reach the cup together, and because they helped each other, they agree to grab the trophy simultaneously, ensuring a Hogwarts win.
[edit] Little Hangleton's graveyard
The trophy is actually a Portkey that transports Harry and Cedric to a graveyard where Peter Pettigrew and Lord Voldemort await. Voldemort orders Wormtail (Pettigrew) to kill Cedric. Harry is bound to a tombstone. His blood, the late Riddle Sr.'s bone, and Wormtail's severed right hand, are used in a macabre ritual that restores Voldemort to his full physical form and overcomes the protective charm that has shielded Harry since he was a baby. Voldemort summons the Death Eaters and then forces Harry into a deadly wizard's duel. However, because Harry's and Voldemort's wands are "brothers" that contain the same core - a tail feather from Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes - a freak phenomenon known as Priori Incantatem occurs in which the wands streams' interlock and create a golden light. Harry forces the stream backwards into Voldemort's wand, causing the ghostly echoes of its past victims - including Cedric, Frank Bryce, Bertha Jorkins, and Harry's parents - to spill out. The echoes momentarily protect Harry as he escapes with Cedric's body through the portkey and back to Hogwarts.
[edit] Young Crouch revealed
Harry returns to Hogwarts amid a swirl of confusion and grief caused by his disappearance and Cedric's death. To remove Harry from the intense situation, Professor Moody escorts him back to the castle. In his office, Moody reveals himself to be a Death Eater and tells Harry it was he who entered his name into the Goblet and ensured that he was 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 Bartemius Crouch Jr. He used polyjuice potion to impersonate the real Alastor Moody, who has been imprisoned in a magical trunk for the entire school year. Before young Crouch can repeat his confession, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge orders his soul to be sucked out via the Dementor's kiss.
The Ministry's refusal to believe that Voldemort has returned results in Dumbledore's removal from several important posts within the wizard community, and his and Harry Potter's reputations are maliciously maligned. To combat Voldemort, Dumbledore sends Sirius Black to summon "the old crowd" (revealed in the next book to be the Order of the Phoenix). Severus Snape, meanwhile, is sent on an unspecified mission by Dumbledore, who apparently trusts him fully.
[edit] Points of interest
 |
This article or section may be confusing or unclear for many readers. Please improve the article or discuss this issue on the talk page. This article has been tagged since December 2006. |
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 displays his characteristic bravery. From his battle with the Hungarian Horntail dragon, to his bold undertakings in the frigid waters of the second 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 the 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 Harry Potter 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.
Some readers claim that during the final chapter (when the horseless carriages appear) an inconsistency occurs between facts mentioned in previous novels. At this time, Harry has witnessed a death, so he should be 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 has not quite fully accepted the death of his classmate yet, the thestrals remain invisible to him until the following year. The only previous deaths during which Harry was present occurred when he was a baby (his parents) and when he was unconscious (Professor Quirrell); therefore, Cedric's is the only death Harry has fully witnessed and comprehended by the time he returns to Hogwarts for his fifth year.
On page 450, US Edition(Scholastic), Dumbledore states, "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. . . .". It is written many times in the series that James Potter was murdered before Lily. Therefore, logically, Lily, the more recently killed of the two, should emerge from Voldemort's wand before James during the Priori Incantatem scene. However, in the original edition of the book, James Potter comes out first, and says, "Hold on, your mother is coming and wants to see you." Rowling had originally written that Lily emerged from the wand first. However, her American editor, in the rush to edit the book, incorrectly pointed this out as an error, and Rowling "changed it without thinking."[1] Subsequent editions of the book corrected the mistake, and Rowling's original order (Lily appearing before James) stands as canon.
In a letter written by Harry, he mentions that Dudley has a PlayStation - however, if Harry was born in 1980, then the year here should be 1994, a whole year before PlayStation came out.
[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
 US Edition
|
 UK Adult Edition
|
 UK Children's Edition
|
 Original UK Adult paperback edition
|
 French Edition
|
 Hindi Edition
|
 Japanese Edition
|
[edit] Translations
See: Harry Potter in translation
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- wiki of chapter and character summaries for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire extended information
- Fans of Fantasy, One of the largest Fantasy sites on the web with Eragon, Potter, and much much more.
- 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
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the Harry Potter Wiki
| J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philosopher's Stone | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Chamber of Secrets | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Prisoner of Azkaban | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Goblet of Fire | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Order of the Phoenix | book | (film) | (game) | |
| Half-Blood Prince | book | (film) | ||
| Deathly Hallows | (book) | |||
| Other books | Other games | |||
| Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup | |||
| Quidditch Through the Ages | ||||
|
Characters • Places • Spells • Translations • Quidditch • Timeline Films • Fandom • Controversy • Money |
||||
</nowiki>
