Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire

It matters not someone is born but what they grow to be

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fifth book in the Harry Potter series, after Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

In this volume we can encounter, besides magical creatures, magic lessons and children teasings, some more exciting things.

In the light of renewing the bonds between magical people, the Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry is host of the Triwizard Tournament, a competition that is meant to bring glory to the winner, but which will test every single one of the wizard’s ability. Strength, courage, attitude, intelligence, knowledge, moral fiber. A tournament that could bring you eternal glory, but which requires a lot of work. People died in the past in this tournament, but this year the Minister of Magic assures the wizarding world that it is completely safe. But is it really?

In the light of these foreseen events, things start to happen. Harry keeps having nightmares about Voldemort planning to kill him, his scar hurts again, and Death Eaters show up at the Quidditch world cup putting a fright into everyone present. And things escalate even quicker after the Dark Mark shows up in the sky.

Harry, Hermione and Ron start to be more and more concerned with the latest events, and thing start to come out of control when Harry’s name appears among the ones of the Triwizard Tournament champions, when only three were allowed and where only students under seventeen were admitted. Although Harry does not fulfil none of the competing conditions, he is forced to participate because of the magical contract that is bonded to the competition.

Unlike the other volumes, this one is much darker than the other ones. It is the beginning of the end, where past mixes with future, not only through what happens in the present, but also through evoking the past, letting us have a glimpse into a time much further in the past than usual. It is then when people start to foresee that hard times are to be coming, although some still refuse to accept the truth for the sake of their positions, caring more about their place into the society than about human lives.

Although Harry knows that he has to be worried about Voldemort trying to kill him, he is now more worried about the tournament, as tricky and dangerous tasks await him, distracting him from some other problems. In the end, you first try to not die from starvation and then about a potential earthquake that has an indefinite moment of shuttering.

The friendship of the trio is put to a trial, and they have to find a balance in a world so unstable that they almost lost themselves. The only one who seemed to remain lucid is Hermione, who is always aware, prepared for anything. She herself demonstrated in this volume more than being the brightest witch of her age. Although in the other previous volumes were some indirect references to her emotions, this time was much clearer. This time her emotional part has come out, getting her even closer to us, and letting us have a glimpse into what she wishes (you just have to follow the clues). She has evolved much since the first volume, making us, or at least me, loving her more and more.

Ron and Harry on the other side, as self-assured as they are in the majority of their time (or at least Harry), they are really bad at getting themselves a partner for dancing, like they have to left feet and a mouth at the back of their head.

Ron’s own insecurity starts to come out even more in this volume. Him always being in the shadow of Harry makes him feel invaluable, and deepens even more his feeling of inferiority, until he realises he is just being silly and returns to his senses.

But getting back to what is essential in this volume, Voldemort makes his presence felt again, this time more intense than ever. He plans a trap to get Harry, putting together past, present and future, using his still loyal subordinates to get what he wants. But is it that easy? The boy won’t give up just as easy as the Dark Lord thinks. And Harry has an advantage over his side: his mother’s love and something to fight for, which gives him power, the power to strive, the power to keep going, to keep fighting. Voldemort only has himself and his fury.

While facing his fears, Harry notices that his dreams start to come true, that what he sees in his dreams really happened. But why is that? Why can he see what Voldemort is doing? Why can he feel what the other one is feeling?

Regarding Harry’s scar, there are multiple interesting things about it. First of all it’s shape. J.K.Rowling said that she chose the lightning because she thought it was cool, that she couldn’t have made it in the shape of a doughnut. But in my opinion, it means more than a cool shape. The lightning has multiple meanings. First of all is the power of the lightning as a phenomenon. He strikes and provokes damage on whatever it touches. In the same way, Harry is a very powerful wizard and his spells are strong, especially when he is very motivated. Let’s not forget the magnificent Patronus he conjured in “Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban“.

On the other side, the lightning is the marking of a hero. Superman, Madman, The Flash, Captain Marvel, all had lighting scars as their logo. Harry himself is a hero in the wizarding world, or at least he transforms into one. People start to see him like this at least, and also his actions help them a little bit into this.

But now why does his scar hurt every time he was next to Voldemort? Well, J. K. Rowling stated that the pain from Harry’s scar is caused by the piece of Voldemort’s soul trying to leave his body through the wound it entered to rejoin its master’s soul. Or, let me be more explicit. The night that Harry was struck by the Avada Kedavra curse, it bounced back at Voldemort. But beside making the dark lord losing all his powers, something else has happened. A part of Voldemort’s soul attached to Harry’s body, making the then one year old child the sixth horcrux of Voldemort. Ironic enough, the one who should have had to bring his immortality has the potential of being his downfall. That makes thing a bit clearer, doesn’t it?

From now on, the series will start to become more and more interesting, the action more and more exciting. Will come back with the review for the next volume.

© picnicontheshelf, June 14, 2019