Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire

Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to the kitchens to visit Dobby. They find Winky more miserable than ever, drunk, and desperate to return to Mr. Crouch. Winky tells them that Mr. Crouch trusted her with his “most important” and “most secret” (217) information, and when Hermione tries to rally the house-elves to stand up for themselves and demand pay, the elves become very uncomfortable and shoo her, Ron, and Harry away. The next day, Hermione starts getting hate mail because of Rita Skeeter’s article. The champions are summoned to the Quidditch pitch, which has been turned into a giant maze, and in one month, the champions will have to enter the maze and maneuver through a series of obstacles to reach the Triwizard Cup. As they leave the field, Krum confronts Harry and wants to know if he and Hermione are romantically involved. Harry assures him they are not, but in the middle of their talking, Mr. Crouch appears in the woods, disheveled and disoriented. He babbles about Bertha Jorkins and says something about “Voldemort getting stronger” (226). Harry runs to Dumbledore’s office, and Krum stays behind, but when Harry returns with Dumbledore, Krum is unconscious, and Crouch has disappeared. Once revived, Krum says that Crouch attacked him. Moody arrives on the scene quickly, and the grounds are searched.

The next day, Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to see Moody and ask him if Mr. Crouch was ever found on the grounds. Moody says no and advises Harry to keep his mind on the third task. Harry promises Sirius that he won’t go wandering off again while there is someone dangerous lurking around Hogwarts, and he tries to focus on learning helpful spells for the maze in the third task. One day during Divination, Harry falls asleep and has a strange dream. He rides an owl to the same strange house he saw during his dream over the summer. Inside, Voldemort, Wormtail, and a huge snake are gathered, and Voldemort announces that someone is dead, despite Wormtail’s mistake. Harry watches as Voldemort tortures Wormtail with the Cruciatus Curse, and his scar “burn[s] so badly that his eyes [are] watering” (234) when he wakes up on the floor of Divination. With the entire class and Professor Trelawney staring at him, Harry excuses himself and rushes to Dumbledore’s office. As he approaches the door, Harry hears the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, Dumbledore, and Professor Moody talking. Fudge refuses to listen to Dumbledore’s theory that the disappearances of Bertha Jorkins and Barty Crouch might be related, and he is dismissive of Dumbledore’s concerns. He suggests that Madame Maxime might be responsible because she is a half-giant like Hagrid, and “they don’t all turn out harmless” (235). Moody interrupts to say that Harry is right outside the door.

Harry tells Dumbledore that he needs to speak to him. Dumbledore instructs Harry to wait for him while he, Fudge, and Moody go to examine the grounds. Harry is left alone in Dumbledore’s office, and he finds a Pensieve, a basin full of Dumbledore’s memories, which look like “light made liquid” or “like wind made solid” (236). Harry looks inside and is transported to a courtroom from the past. He watches as a younger Karkaroff is dragged out and questioned by Mr. Crouch. Karkaroff has been brought from Azkaban to name names, hoping to save his skin by turning on his fellow Death Eaters. He names Snape, but Dumbledore stands up and declares that although Snape was once a Death Eater, he turned against Voldemort and has been cleared of all suspicions. The scene changes, and Harry watches as four people are brought in, and one of them, Crouch’s teenage son, looks “nothing short of petrified” (240). Crouch reveals during the trial that these four have been accused of torturing the Longbottoms using the Cruciatus Curse. As Crouch’s son cries out for mercy, Crouch sentences all of them to life in Azkaban and declares that his son “[is] no son of [his]” (241). The present-day Dumbledore appears and takes Harry back out of the Pensieve. Harry tells Dumbledore about his dream and how his scar began to hurt. Dumbledore tells Harry that he is connected to Voldemort through his scar, and Harry might be able to pick up on Voldemort’s strong emotions like anger. Dumbledore admits that Neville’s parents were tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, and although Harry questions Dumbledore’s stance that Snape can be trusted, Dumbledore stands firm. He wishes Harry luck in the third task and dismisses him.

Harry tells Ron and Hermione about the Pensieve but not about Neville’s parents. As the third task approaches, Rita Skeeter publishes yet another article questioning Harry’s sanity and calling him “disturbed and dangerous.” Skeeter knows about Harry collapsing in Divination class, and she reveals that Harry is a Parseltongue who can talk to snakes, a rare and dark gift. Harry is told that the champions' families have been invited to the school, and Harry is surprised to see Mrs. Weasley and Bill are there to see him.

As night falls, the third task begins, and the champions enter the maze. Harry quickly encounters a Blast-Ended Skrewt, a boggart taking the form of a dementor, and a sphinx with a riddle. He hears Fleur scream and then the sound of Krum using the Cruciatus Curse on Cedric. Harry stuns Krum and rushes to Cedric’s aid. For a moment, Cedric and Harry are “briefly united against Krum” (254), but when they realize that they are probably the only two champions left, they split up. Harry is horrified to think that Krum would use an Unforgivable Curse on Cedric because he “thought [Krum] was all right” (254). As he approaches the Triwizard Cup, he sees Cedric racing to it. Suddenly, a giant spider attacks them, and they work together to fight it off. They decide to grab the cup simultaneously, but the moment they touch it, they are suddenly transported.