Adventures In Hogwarts
As an Amazon associate, I may earn a small commission if you navigate to Amazon from my site and buy something. This will not result in an extra cost to you.
I love the wizarding world and the Harry Potter books. I remember starting the series in 2000. I brought the first book to work (at a job where I worked nights and had a fair amount of free time) and finished it before the end of my shift. Same thing the next night with the second book. After that, I cranked through them as fast as they came out. I even went with a friend to a midnight release event for the last book. It was amazing…a bit like being at a Star Trek convention. We didn’t know anyone there but we could still talk to everyone because we were all there for the same reason and had this great passion in common. Brilliant.
Today, I want to discuss the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I am going to assume that anyone reading this blog has read the book (or at least watched the movie), and so I’m not going to recap the plot. And also, obviously, spoiler alert. What I’d specifically like to talk about is what I consider a major plot error in this book. It’s possible that I’ve fundamentally misunderstood the book. But assuming that I have not, I would prefer not to ruin the book for anyone who really loves it. So before you read on, I request that you take 3 1/2 minutes to watch this YouTube video about a beloved bit of media being spoiled for someone. If you don’t want to end up like Sheldon, don’t read this post.
You’ve been warned. Onward.
Let’s consider the endgame of the story. At the beginning of the book, Voldemort sets his plan in motion, sending his Death Eater off to Hogwarts to impersonate Mad-Eye Moody. The endgame is to get Harry to the graveyard, so that Voldemort can take his blood (along with some other equally delightful ingredients) and restore himself to a physical body. That’s it. That’s all that needs to happen. Harry transported to the graveyard. So why on earth is this elaborate plan concocted to enter Harry in the Triwizard Tournament, with the fake Moody helping him through the challenges to get him to the Triwizard Cup (portkey) at the end of the school year? Why didn’t Moody walk Harry outside the castle and far enough away that he could apparate them both to the graveyard? Like, on the first night he arrived! Or how about when Moody takes Harry into his office right before the first Tournament task…that would have been a perfect time. Hand Harry a portkey and boom. Done.
This really comes home at the end of the book when the fake Moody (Barty Crouch Jr.) is ranting about all he did to get Harry to the middle of the maze and the portkey at the end of the school year. He goes on and on (and on) about how difficult and complicated it was. Well, no kidding! What a crazy plan!
If I were to make an analogy, I’d say this circuitous—nay, labyrinthian plan is a bit like being told to turn on a lamp on the other side of the room in which you are standing. But instead of walking across the room and turning it on, you choose to walk out your front door, run around the house eighteen times, make a trip to the grocery store, and stop in to visit your neighbor…on your way across the room to turn on the lamp. It makes about as much sense.
Now, if Rowling had managed to work into the plot some necessity for Harry to undergo certain events/experiences before his blood would effectively heal Voldemort, I suppose that might be a way to rationalize such a plan. But since that’s not the case, I think I can really say (along with Amy, in the YouTube clip I recommended above…I sure hope you watched it!) that the Goblet of Fire and the Triwizard Tournament were completely irrelevant to the goal and outcome of the story.
Now, does this mean I do not recommend this book? Absolutely not. I loved this book, just like I love all of Rowling’s books (okay, I hated The Casual Vacancy, but all the other ones…two thumbs up). I have it in hardback (you can get it here) and I have the audio version on CD (bought before iTunes was really a thing). It’s still a delightful read. And you find out lots of interesting things related to the series’ story arc which are necessary to know for later plot developments. I won’t spoil that for you.
If you enjoyed this discussion, you might also enjoy a discussion about the last book in the series, which you can find here.
