Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Author: J.K. Rowling
Published: 8th July 2000
Genre: Children’s literature, Fantasy, Fiction
Start Date: 23rd July 2022
Finish Date: 26th July 2022
Summary
'There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways, their magical prowess - their daring- their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.'
The Triwizard Tournament is to be held at Hogwarts. Only wizards who are over seventeen are allowed to enter but that doesn't stop Harry dreaming that he will win the competition.
Then at Hallowe'en, when the Goblet of Fire makes its selection, Harry is amazed to find his name is one of those that the magical cup picks out. He will face death-defying tasks, dragons and Dark wizards, but with the help of his best friends, Ron and Hermione, he might just make it through; alive!
Review
This is my first time since the movies come out that I have read the Harry Potter series, I have fond memories of Harry Potter.
We are now entering year 4 for Harry at Hogwarts. This year is different to any other years as there is a big event going on; the Triwizard Tournament is being held at Hogwarts! The participants are the three biggest schools in Europe; Beauxbaton, Durmstrang and Hogwarts. Each school has one student to represent them in the tournament.
However this Triwizard tournament is like no other, this year there is a fourth entry; Harry Potter. Harry has no choice but to participate so he fights through the Triwizard tournament with at first no support from his fellow students or friends.
The Goblet of Fire is the perfect blend of a humorous young-adult fiction and a serious action-drama book. It also marks the transition of Harry Potter and his friends from an easy-going childhood life to serious adulthood adventures. The book has an aura of darkness about it right from the first chapter and it consistently maintains that tone to the very end. Unlike the previous three books in the series, The Goblet of Fire is fairly lengthy. Even so, the consistently palpable tension throughout really takes the edge off the book’s length. The plot also accommodates a fair chunk of relationship drama.
The Goblet of Fire sees the characters become more mature. In this sense, it wouldn’t be unfair to term this as the coming-of-age novel of the Harry Potter series. Hermione Granger, in particular, drives home her image as not just a clever girl, but a passionate and determined wizard as well. Her complex personally is actually quite likeable. Having been typecast and stereotyped as a beauty with brains, Hermione showcases her more girly and emotive side in The Goblet of Fire. This helps her come out of Harry’s shadow after having been portrayed as his clever friend throughout the series.
The book is also replete with various details that make the mystic world a lot more realistic. Cedric’s fairness, for example, is for all to see. Even though the book is a dark novel, it has its fair share of humour as well. The confluence of adolescence and magic is an intriguing one, and the readers – in spite of being Muggles – can often relate to events.
Even though this part is immensely important, J.K Rowling simply chooses to skim over the ritual that restores Voldemort. This is the one part where the author could have done a lot better: she fails to make the most of the ritual’s setting and darkness to truly demonstrate the terror that Voldemort is suppose to incite.
The Goblet of Fire concerns the part when things really begin to heat up in Harry’s life. His relationships with his friends and peers become more complex, he is clearer about his duties, and the plot itself begins to move forward in a more certain direction.
Looking at comparing the movie to the book; there are many aspects of the book that stands out to me, but I will tell you the ones that make a difference to me. The book starts with the whole story about the murder of the Riddle family and Frank Bryce the gardener. In the film his name and story are not mentioned. In the book, Frank Bryce is invited into the room with Voldemort and his servants, and he confronts them shortly before he is killed. In the film, he does not say anything to them and is killed outside of the room. Also, in the book Wormtail was terrified to find someone listening in, not manically gleeful as in the film. The film shows Barty Crouch Junior in the room along with Voldemort and Wormtail. His presence there is never mentioned in the book. Bertha Jorkins is frequently mentioned in the book, but never in the film.
In the book, Harry wakes up at Privet Drive, two weeks before September 1st. In the film, he wakes up at The Burrow. This means that the scene where the Weasleys enter Privet Drive through the fireplace, Harry receiving an invitation from the Weasleys to the Quidditch World Cup, Fred and George giving Dudley Ton-Tongue Toffee, and every other scene with the Dursleys are omitted. In the book, Harry sends a letter to Sirius shortly after waking up from his dream to let Sirius know his scar hurt, and his concerns about Voldemort being nearby. In the film, Harry only sends a letter to Sirius when already at Hogwarts and upon advice Hermione gave him aboard the Hogwarts Express rather than on his own decision. Hermione arrives at the Burrow before Harry in the book.
In the film, after she wakes him up, she says that she had just got there. Bill and Charlie Weasley, and Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes are omitted from the film. In the book, Ron finds out he is going to wear his flashy ball dress at the Burrow when he is unwrapping his belongings. In the film, he receives it by owl post already at Hogwarts, after the first task has happened. In the book, Amos Diggory is described as having a scrubby beard. In the film, he has no beard at all and he wears glasses that are not mentioned in the book.
In the book, it is said that the Ministry forbids the use and display of magic in the Quidditch World Cup campsite, even though some wizards discreetly transgress this rule. In the film, Quidditch supporters ostensibly fly with broomsticks in the campsite. In the book, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys watch the Quidditch match from the Top Box alongside the Malfoys and other prominent figures such as Cornelius Fudge and the Bulgarian Minister for Magic. In the film, only the Malfoys, and not the Weasleys, watch the match from there. Draco even brags about the fact that they were invited by Cornelius Fudge himself, something which is not mentioned in the book. In the book the whole Quidditch game is shown. The film only shows the players doing the introduction. In the book the Irish show the leprechauns as their mascots and the Bulgarians show the Veelas as theirs. Only the Irish mascots' presentation is shown in the film. In the film, when the Death Eaters attack the Quidditch World Cup, Harry gets trampled by the panicked crowd and then knocked out, resulting in him getting separated from his friends. This does not happen in the book. Dobby's reappearance does not occur in the film. Winky, all of the other House-elves and the Hogwarts kitchensare also cut out.
Ludovic Bagman, a character who plays a major role in the book, is completely absent from the film. Hagrid's lessons with the Blast-Ended Skrewts and the Nifflers are not shown in the film. Sybill Trelawney and her classes are absent from the film.In the films, Percy's work with the ministry is not mentioned and the storyline of him betraying his family is skipped. In the book, students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrive on Hallowe'en night. In the film, they arrive at the beginning of the school year. In the book, Beauxbatons students of both genders are mentioned. In the film, only female students are seen. Although it may look like that it is an all-female school in the film, this is not necessarily true, as the visiting delegation is just a small portion of the whole school.
In the book, Dumbledore calmly asks Harry if he put his name in the Goblet of Fire. In the film, he asks very aggressively while pushing Harry against a table. Garrick Ollivander's reappearance and his weighing of the wands are omitted from the film. In the book, Moody demonstrates each of the Unforgivable Curses on a different spider. In the film, he demonstrates all three on the same spider. In the film, Rita Skeeter insists on writing that Harry is twelve years old, even with him telling her that he is actually fourteen. In the book, although Skeeter writes several falsehoods about Harry, none involve his age. In the film, Sirius only appears on his arranged meeting with Harry through the Floo Network, when his head on the fireplace talks to Harry. In the book, the trio personally visits him and Buckbeak in their cave hideout in the mountain shadowing Hogsmeade. Sirius is also invited by Dumbledore into his office near the end of the book (that is when it is revealed to Snape and Molly Weasley that he is working with Dumbledore, while he stays in his dog form in front of others).
In the book, Igor Karkaroff follows Madame Maxime and Hagrid to see the dragons. In the films we do not know how, or even if, Viktor Krum knew about the dragons. In the book, when Harry decides to tell Cedric about the first task, he finds him in the corridors going to a Charms class and uses Diffindo to rip his bag open, so that his friends go to the classroom first and he can talk to Cedric in privacy. In the film, Harry finds Cedric and his friends hanging around in a courtyard instead of going to a class, and Harry simply calls Cedric for a private word. In the book, Moody transfigures Malfoy into a ferret after he attacks Harry from behind his back. In the film, Moody transfigures Malfoy before he can even hit Harry. Also, in the book the fight is caused by Harry insulting Malfoy's mother after Malfoy insulted Ron's mother, while in the film Harry insults Malfoy directly and Ron does not appear in the scene. In the film, Krum tells Skeeter that she has no business in the champions' tent. This does not happen in the book. In the book, Harry's task with the dragon is short and remains in the dragon arena. In the film, the dragon chases Harry all over the school. As a consequence of Winky's absence, SPEW and Hermione's concerns about house-elves are not shown or mentioned in the film. In the book, the scene when Fred asks Angelina out to the Yule Ball and Hermione tells Harry and Ron she already has a partner happens in the Gryffindor Common Room. In the film, it happens in the Great Hall while they are doing schoolwork for Snape. The film scene also includes Snape punishing Harry and Ron for talking in his class, which does not happen in the book.
In the book, in order to ask Cho to go to the ball with him, Harry asks her for a private word while she is among a pack of giggling girls. In the film, he finds Cho alone in the Owlery. Also, after she says she is already going with someone else, Harry asks who it is in the book, but not in the film. In the film, Ron does not cut the ruffs out of his dancing robes like he does in the book. Harry spying on the heated argument between Snape and Karkaroff in the grounds after leaving the ball appears in a deleted scene but was cut out from the final version of the film. Although the film shows Hagrid and Madame Maxime having a stroll and talking, it cuts out the part when Hagrid reveals he is a half-giant and implies that Maxime is one too, to which she angrily replies that she only has "big bones" before leaving him alone. Also, Harry and Ron were spying on them at that moment and that is how they found out that Hagrid is a half-giant, while in the film this does not happen either. In the book, Rita publishes a libellous article exposing Hagrid's condition as a half-giant, which makes him go into isolation in his cabin for weeks, during which Professor Grubbly-Plank replaces him and gives a lesson involving a unicorn, which is followed by the trio and Dumbledore visiting Hagrid and trying to convince him to return to teaching. None of this happens in the film, but during his stroll with Madame Maxime, Hagrid mentions to her that he could carry his father on his shoulder, which in the book he mentions to the trio while they are visiting him in his cabin.
In the book, the taps in the Prefects' Bathroom are on the swimming pool's edges. In the film, they are packed on a platform on the centre of it. In the book, when Harry is returning from the Prefects' Bathroom, he trips on the missing step and drops his egg down the stairs, causing his egg to open and make a giant sound. Filch arrives and thinks that Peeves stole the egg. Moody and Snape then arrive and the three start talking. Despite Snape suspecting that Harry is there, Moody saves Harry from trouble by countering that, and he then talks to Harry after Filch and Snape leave. All of this is omitted from the film. Hogsmeade does not appear in the film.
Moody's ability to see through invisibility cloaks with his magical eye is not shown or mentioned in the film.In the book, Dobby gives Harry the Gillyweed. In the film, Neville does. In the book, Harry advances slowly into the Black Lake from the shore. In the film, he jumps into it at once from a platform. Also, the scene when Harry emerges from the water, jumps into the air making a loop and then dives in again (at the point when Neville says: "Oh my God! I've killed Harry Potter!" with his back turned) does not happen in the book.
Some elements of the merpeople colony, such as the rock painting depicting them hunting the giant squid, are omitted. In the book, Harry has a much harder time trying to cut the ropes tying Ron and the others under the lake. In the book, Harry cannot speak underwater at all. In the film, he can speak but his voice has a bubbling effect. In the film, Harry uses the incantation Ascendio to throw himself out of the lake. In the book, he swims up until the surface. The film has a scene, after the second task, in which a friendly Barty Crouch Snr talks to Harry about the sorrow of losing a family member. This is followed by Moody (really Barty Crouch Jnr) speaking angrily to Barty Crouch Snr, who remains unresponsive and apprehensive. None of this happens in the book.Barty Crouch Snr is not shown to be mad in the film, and there is no mention of him attacking Viktor Krum.
The Pensieve in the film is larger, stays on a fixed location and is much more like a sink. In the book, it is described as a movable basin.
In the book, the Pensieve shows Harry three different events: Karkaroff's plea deal, Ludo Bagman's trial and the trial of the four Dark wizards (among which a desperate and protesting Barty Crouch Jnr) accused of torturing the Longbottoms. In the film, it only shows Karkaroff's plea deal, but Karkaroff accuses Barty Crouch Jnr, who is among the crowd, of having joined Voldemort.In the book, Karkaroff is chained to a chair during his plea deal. In the film, he is inside an elaborate cage. The Dementors are absent in the court scene in the film. In the book, the maze of the third task grows inside the Quidditch pitch. In the film, it is situated on a different location. The sphinx and the Boggart as well as all the other creatures and obstacles in the third task are absent in the film. Only the maze itself appears.
Cedric's last lines in the film are "Who are you and what do you want?", said to Wormtail while pointing his wand at him. In the book, Cedric is attacked by surprise. In the book, Wormtail ties Harry with ropes to Tom Riddle Senior's grave and later unties him with his dagger under Voldemort's orders. In the film, Wormtail uses his magic to restrain Harry under the scythe of a reaper statue beside the grave and Voldemort himself frees Harry. In the book, the beam connecting the wands of Harry and Voldemort turns golden in colour. In the film, it remains red and green. In the film, Amos Diggory mourns his son's death beside Harry right after Harry returns from Little Hangleton. In the book, Amos is only shown to have learned about it days later. In the book, when the real Moody is found, he is fast asleep. In the film, he is awake. Not counting the memories shown by the Pensieve, the real Moody does not have any lines in the book. In the film, he says his only line, "I'm sorry, Albus", when he is discovered.
In the book, Barty Crouch Jnr is administered the Veritaserum after he regains his true form and gives every detail of events such as how he escaped Azkaban, got Harry through all the tasks, what he did to his father, and what went on at the Quidditch World Cup. In the film, he is still given the Veritaserum, but before changing back into his true form, and the only thing he says under its effect is that he is not Alastor Moody; after he regains his form, the serum's effect apparently goes out and he proudly proclaims that his master has returned. Barty Crouch Jnr's death by a Dementor's Kiss is neither shown nor mentioned in the film. It is implied that he was returned to Azkaban instead.
In the book, Dumbledore and Fudge discuss their diverging views on the cause of Cedric's death, with Dumbledore asserting that Cedric was murdered by a returned Voldemort and Fudge refusing to believe it. This is omitted from the film, even though a brief argument between Dumbledore and Fudge concerning Voldemort is shown earlier. The train's trip back to London, including Hermione's revelation that Rita Skeeter is a beetle Animagus she has captured, Harry and his friends Stupefying Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, and Harry offering to give his tournament winnings (1000 galleons) to Fred and George, is omitted from the film.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️