Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Goblet of Fire/Chapter 15
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Chapter 15 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang
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[edit] Synopsis
Early in the morning, Harry writes to Sirius telling him that he is perfectly alright and not to worry about him. He goes to the Owlery and persuades a still-aloof Hedwig to carry the message to Sirius. Harry is certain Sirius' reply will make things better. Hermione remonstrates with him later, saying that what he wrote to Sirius is a lie. Harry says he does not care; he will not do anything that risks Sirius going to Azkaban again.
Classes are harder than ever, particularly Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Moody is going to use the Imperius curse on each student to teach them how to resist it. Hermione objects, saying it is illegal. Moody responds that Dumbledore wants them to know what it feels like and offers to excuse her from class. She decides to stay, and Moody puts each student under the curse. Harry feels euphoric while he is cursed. When a little voice breaks in telling him to jump on Moody's desk, Harry thinks, "But why?" As the command gets more forceful, Harry both jumps and tries to prevent himself from jumping and smashes into Moody's desk. Moody is overjoyed and repeats the process four times, until Harry is able to cast off the curse perfectly.
As they leave class, Ron comments that Moody seems to believe everyone is on the verge of being attacked and mentions a few events that would make the Ministry glad not to have Moody around to worry about. Harry and Ron wonder how to cope with the extra homework on resisting the Imperius curse in addition to all the other homework teachers are piling on. Professor McGonagall explains in Transfiguration that it is to prepare students for their Fifth-year OWLs.
Luckily, Professor Trelawney approves their Divination homework, even reading sections to the class. Harry and Ron are amused, but less so when she asks them to repeat this the month after next; they are running out of catastrophes to predict. Meanwhile, Professor Binns is having students write weekly essays on the Goblin Rebellions. Professor Snape has them researching antidotes, and Professor Flitwick assigns three books in preparation for Summoning Charms. Even Hagrid gives extra work. The Blast-Ended Skrewts are growing apace, even though nobody knows what they eat. Hagrid has the class record their behaviour on alternate evenings.
Returning to the Castle one evening after Care of Magical Creatures, the Trio see a notice that delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will arrive the following Friday. Ernie Macmillan runs off to tell Cedric Diggory. Ron expresses dismay that Cedric could be the Hogwarts' champion, but Hermione says he is a good student and a Hufflepuff Prefect. Ron accuses her of liking him because he is handsome.
The next week, much of the Castle is cleaned, and teachers are tense that the visitors might discover that some Hogwarts students are not quite up to standard. On the 30th, the day the representatives are to arrive, the Great Hall is decorated with silk banners representing the four Houses. At breakfast, Ron and Harry interrupt the twins who are discussing what to do about someone who does not answer them. Hermione mentions that the champions will be judged on how well they perform the set tasks and that three House Heads, among others, will be the judges. She then notes indignantly that A History of Hogwarts fails to mention that the school enslaves over a hundred House-elves. Her diatribe is interrupted by arriving post owls, including Hedwig bearing Sirius' reply. Sirius says he is back in the country and well hidden. He does not believe Harry's most recent letter that everything is fine now ("Nice try, Harry!") and advises Harry to use different owls for future messages. Hermione points out that Hedwig, a snowy owl, is too easily noticed.
Classes end a half hour early, and the students are marshaled outside the Entrance Hall. At dusk, the Beauxbatons representative arrives in a giant flying carriage pulled by enormous winged horses. Emerging from the carriage, the headmistress, Madam Maxime is revealed to be as large as Hagrid. After Professor Dumbledore greets her, she takes her students inside Hogwarts where it is warm. Dumbledore assures her Hagrid is quite capable of tending to the horses, although Madame Maxime expresses some concern.
Durmstrang arrives in an apparently derelict sailing ship, surfacing from beneath the lake. Headmaster Igor Karkaroff warmly greets Dumbledore and asks if they can proceed immediately into the Castle. Viktor, he says, has a slight cold. As they pass, Ron recognizes that "Viktor" is the Bulgarian Quidditch Seeker, Victor Krum.
[edit] Analysis
Harry has a a rather juvenile belief that writing to Sirius will always solve his problems; it does not, but finally having someone he can reach out to for help provides the comfort and security as well as family that has been lacking from his life. Harry realizes that any communication with Sirius, who is a hunted fugitive, is risky. Hermione chastising Harry for "lying" in his letter, even though Harry is only trying to protect Sirius, shows that she is persisting in rather two-dimensional, child-like thinking. Hermione strictly follows rules without questioning them, and it hardly occurs to her that telling the truth could actually be harmful. To her thinking, rules provide a safe, predictable outcome—breaking them leads to disorder and consequences. However, Hermione has broken rules and bent the truth in the past when she strongly believed it served a greater purpose, indicating that she is developing a more independent and analytical personality. This also creates a conflict within herself regarding her need for conformity and acceptance, although her growing maturity is gradually overcoming this, and it is why she has taken the first steps to challenge the entire wizarding world defending House-elves. Ron, meanwhile, is unknowingly developing a romantic interest in Hermione, and appears to become jealous when he suspects she is attracted to the handsome Cedric Diggory.
Sirius returning to England shows how devoted he is to his godson, although Harry is now terrified that he has endangered his godfather. But Sirius willingly risks his own freedom to ensure that Harry is safe. And though Sirius will sometimes be an imperfect role model to Harry, his actions show that he is a protective and loving guardian who willingly and responsibly assumed his parenting responsibilities.
Hogwarts is in an uproar as preparations are underway for the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arrivals. The three schools could not be more different from one another, with Durmstrang representing a darker masculine personality, while the Beauxbatons have a more serene, feminine persona (although there are male students); Hogwarts embodies all these traits. Whether their interactions can build harmony or instead create discord will be tested. And although Dumbledore revived the Triwizard Tournament to unify the three schools, it also places him under immense pressure to present Hogwarts, and its teachers and students, in the best possible fashion. Being the host institution is a disadvantage, however. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang schools remain unseen, and they can showcase only their brightest and most accomplished pupils, while Hogwarts and all its staff and students are on full display, even those less adept than others. Enhancing Durmstrang's image is Viktor Krum, the famed Seeker for the Bulgarian team that played in the Quidditch World Cup Final, although Harry is equally famous. Krum, an international sports star, is an unexpected surprise, particularly to many excited female students vying for his attention, and to Ron, who idolizes him as a hero. We may suspect, from the preferential treatment he seems to be receiving, that Krum is the favored candidate to become the Durmstrang Triwizard Champion.
It should be noted that the action in the book apparently takes place in 1994 and 1995; but the other schools' arrival date, October 30, 1994, is not a Friday but a Sunday. This does not affect the story in any way; the discrepancy is noted only as a curiosity rather than as something the scholar should be concerned with. It may be worth mentioning, however, that the book is internally consistent; every date for which a day of the week is mentioned is off by two days.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Is Hermione correct that Harry is lying to Sirius in his letter? What does Harry say?
- Why does Hermione object to Professor Moody teaching the Unforgivable Curses, even though Dumbledore gave his approval to do so? What is Moody's response?
- Why do the teachers fear that some Hogwarts students will fail to impress the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons visitors? Do Durmstrang and Beauxbatons have an advantage over Hogwarts in this regard? If so, how?
- Why does Ron consider Hufflepuff student, Cedric Diggory, an unsuitable competitor for the Triwizard Tournament? Is he correct?
- What does Hermione have to say regarding Ron's objection to Cedric as a Champion, and why does Ron disagree with her opinion?
[edit] Further Study
- How can Sirius, a hunted fugitive, help Harry by returning to England? Is his decision to return wise or reckless, or even both?
- Why does Hermione choose to remain in class, even though Moody gives her permission to be excused during the Unforgivable Curses demonstration?
- Why does Professor Trelawney continually praise Ron and Harry for their increasingly outlandish predictions, even though none come true? What does this say about Trelawney's abilities as the Divination teacher?
- Why did no one know that the World Cup Quidditch champion, Viktor Krum, is still a student?
[edit] Greater Picture
While this has not been stated anywhere in the books so far, we have an informal belief that there is something odd about Hagrid; he is too large and hairy to be believed to be fully human, and his size seems, so far, unique in the Wizarding world. It is a partial relief to discover, with Madam Maxime's arrival, that he is not the only one so oversized. It is hardly surprising that Hagrid, upon seeing Madam Maxime for the first time, is instantly smitten, and it seems appropriate that they eventually start spending time together. This will cause some difficulty, however; while Hagrid admits, privately, to Madame Maxime that he is half-Giant, she denies that part of her heritage, and is insulted when Hagrid suggests that she has some Giant in her background. This also causes further difficulty as Hagrid is overheard by Rita Skeeter, who publishes his confession in the Daily Prophet. As Giants are still large, fierce, and destructive, this creates a certain backlash against Hagrid's employment and causes Hagrid to tender his resignation as Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Dumbledore, of course, refuses to accept Hagrid's resignation, and many other students and staff come to his support.
Readers should probably note that Snape is emphasizing antidotes in his Potions class this year. While they only play a small part in this book, some of what Harry learns here may be useful in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Ron is accidentally poisoned. It is true that Harry fears being deliberately poisoned by Snape, as Snape proposes to use that technique to test the students' antidotes, but he escapes that possibility due to the Weighing of the Wands ceremony.
The Skrewts will remain puzzling to Harry; in the end, there are only two left, and in the final Task maze, Harry will encounter and disable one. It is never determined what they eat, and it is suggested that these are a new hybrid of two existing species. Apart from the ongoing travails regarding their care, however, they play a minor role in the story. Interestingly, Draco challenges Hagrid over how he handles the Skrewts, which causes Hagrid to stand up to him. Harry seems to think Hagrid is showing an uncharacteristic amount of backbone in this instance.
