Harry Potter Cheats the Goblet of Fire, by Draco Malfoy
Written: Jul 13 '05 (Updated Jul 13 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Quidditch, Triwizard Tournament, new characters, intriguing plot
Cons: My paperback might fall apart soon!
The Bottom Line: You should read the first three books in the series first, but then you should definitely read this one. It's my second favorite so far.
Jellyn's Full Review: J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fir...
First Potter and his Mudblood and Weasel friends stink up the top box at the World Cup so I can't properly enjoy the game. Then they run around in the woods accusing my parents of having a bit of fun with Muggles. As if that's the most horrible thing in the world. And that's just for a start. Potter cheats his way into the Triwizard Tournament to try to gain fame, fortune, and glory.. as if he hadn't enough of all of those already.. and naturally no-one cares that he's cheated. They let him get away with it. Then everyone and their cousin cheats to help Harry at each of the tasks. But that's okay, because it's Potter after all and he can do no wrong. Then he manages not to get himself killed, which is some great achievement. But oh, the horrible angst and poor ickle orphan Potter. This book is pure rubbish. Your money is better spent on The Rise of Pureblood Wizarding Families in Britain. Check out Chapter 12: "Those Magnificent Malfoys".
--Draco Malfoy
Introduction
Goblet of Fire is a standout book compared to the three Harry Potter books that preceded it. First of all, of course, it's much longer. Second of all, it breaks away quite a bit from the patterns of the earlier books. Yes, it starts in the summer and involves Harry's fourth year at school, but apart from that it's rather different. People also say this book starts to give the series a darker tone. I don't know if I would really call it darker, but Harry is definitely maturing and having to deal with some more dangerous and complex issues. Not all of them involving Voldemort.
Plot
Harry's having another miserable summer at the Dursleys, but the Weasleys come to collect him eventually. It involves a rather messy floo visit, a destroyed living room, a hexed Dudley, but a liberated Harry. We meet Bill and Charlie Weasley for the first time and all of the Weasleys, minus Molly, plus Hermione set out for the Quidditch World Cup. There's a lot of camping fun and wizards from all over the world. There's an exciting professional Quidditch match. Then some dark wizards do some rather nasty deeds in the middle of the night.
The mysteries, secrets, and intrigues start then. Who was toying with the Muggles? Who conjured the Dark Mark? What's up with this house-elf, Winky? Just what are Fred and George Weasley up to anyway?
When Harry and company finally get to school, quite a number of chapters later, they've acquired a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He's an ex-Auror named Moody called 'Mad-eye' for his rogue magical eye. They learn about the Tri-Wizard Tournament, where champions from Hogwarts, and two other schools in Europe, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, will compete for the Tri-Wizard Cup and a prize of 1000 galleons. (This is roughly 5000 pounds and with today's economy, roughly 5000 dollars as well.)
The Tournament involves some dangerous stunts and puzzles, requiring wit, courage, and magical ability. Meanwhile several students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are staying at Hogwarts and everyone goes about furthering their magical education. Of course Snape is up to his usual nastiness, and so is Draco. Hermione's fed up with boys who just don't get it. Ron's jealous of the attention Harry's getting. And Hagrid may have found himself a belle instead of a beast for a change.
My Thoughts
The Tri-Wizard tournament is rather like certain reality shows and it's rather interesting to see the challenges put to them and how each of the champions overcomes them. That alone would keep me interested, but there are also plenty of secrets to try to suss out. Add to that that I'm constantly searching for clues to the overarching plot of the series, and I'm constantly paying attention to every detail.
This is not my favorite of the books so far, but it is my second favorite. Sirius makes another appearance in this book. Yay, Sirius! Unfortunately, he doesn't play as large a role as I'd like to see. This is also the windup to deeper plots and the end of the book in particular leads directly into the next one.
If you can make it through this book, then you're definitely hooked on the series and will not stop reading. Though I could perfectly understand if some younger children need to wait a year or two before tackling this one and the next. Not just because of the length, but because of the increasing complexity of the plots and themes.
Best Bits
I can't possibly touch on every new character or interesting plot development in this review, so I'll suffice it to say that there are quite a number of new, intriguing characters and developments. Hermione starts championing for house elf rights, there's a Yule Ball where Harry actually dances with a girl, we get to see the Prefect's bathroom, and a whole number of other cool things I'm undoubtedly leaving out.
And despite the increasing dangerousness of Harry's life at Hogwarts and outside of it, there is still plenty of humor within the books.
So, keep reading. Once you've finished this one, you can say you're halfway through the series!
Details
The version of the book I just reread was the American paperback version, ISBN 0439139600. Quite large for a paperback and I'm afraid the spine isn't going to take too many more rereadings.
The textbook, Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire, by J. K. Rowling, available in Hardback. Published by: HarperCollins Publishers. Edition: . ISBN10...More at Textbooks.com
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