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Suggest pagesMuggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Goblet of Fire/Chapter 20
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Chapter 20 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: The First Task
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The next morning, Harry drags Hermione off for another walk around the lake, during which he relates what he learned from Hagrid and what Sirius told him. They return to the library, looking for a simple spell that will defeat a dragon, but their search is fruitless. Krum's arrival in the library annoys Hermione, and she and Harry return to the Gryffindor Common room.
On Monday, Harry realizes that only Cedric is unaware that the First Task involves dragons. Sending Hermione on ahead, he trails Diggory through the halls. To get him alone, Harry charms Cedric's bag so that it falls apart. When Cedric stops to pick up his belongings, Harry runs up and tells him about the dragons. Cedric asks why Harry is telling him, and he says that both Fleur and Krum know. Professor Moody appears and sends Cedric to class. He takes Harry to his office and commends him for his fairness. He says cheating is also a Tournament tradition. Moody does not tell Harry how to get past the dragon, but tells him he needs to play to his strengths. Harry believes he has none, apart from Quidditch, but Moody says Harry is a darned good flyer. He suggests using a simple spell to get what he needs. Harry understands, and he tells Hermione he has to learn how to do a proper Summoning charm before the First Task next afternoon. Hermione is adamant about not missing classes, so they practice through lunch and after dinner. Finally, in the Gryffindor Common room at two in the morning, Harry seems to have the spell working properly.
The concentration needed to learn the spell has eased his nerves, but they come back in full force the next day. Professor McGonagall escorts him onto the grounds for the First Task. Harry sees the dragon enclosure and a tent in front of it. The other champions are already inside, along with Ludo Bagman. Ludo has them draw tokens from a bag. Each token represents the item they will face, and their task is to retrieve a golden Egg. Fleur draws a Welsh Green dragon, number 2; Krum, a Chinese Fireball, number 3; Cedric, a Swedish Short-snout, number 1; and Harry, the Hungarian Horntail, number 4. Harry notices from their reactions that the other champions knew what they were facing. Ludo explains that the numbers are the order in which they will compete. He requests a private word with Harry and asks if he is OK or if there is anything he can get for him. Harry says he is fine, he has a plan. The first whistle sounds for Cedric's Task, and Ludo bolts – he is supposed to be commentating.
The waiting is tortuous. Harry can hear the roaring crowd, and the commentating only tantalizes, but it does not tell him what is happening. Finally, it is his turn. He walks into the enclosure and sees the Hungarian Horntail and the golden egg. He casts the Summoning spell, and, to his surprise, his broom arrives. He flies over the dragon's head, baiting it. When it lunges, he swoops down and grabs the Egg. He is not unscathed; the Horntail's tail tagged him, and he is bleeding. As he is attended to in the first aid tent, Hermione and Ron come in. Ron is finally convinced that Harry never cheated to enter the Tournament. Harry acts aloof, but they eventually reconcile. The judges post Harry's scores: 8, 9, 9, 10 (from Ludo), and 4 (from Karkaroff), tying Harry for first place with Krum. Charlie Weasley runs in to congratulate Harry. He says he has to send an owl to Mrs. Weasley to let her know what happened and mentions that Mr. Bagman wants to see all the Champions back in the tent.
When the champions reassemble, Ludo says the next task will take place at half past nine in the morning of February 24th, and that there is a clue in the golden egg that they have just retrieved. He dismisses them, and Harry and Ron head back to the castle. On the way, they run into Rita Skeeter, who asks Harry for a few words; Harry refuses to comment.
[edit] Analysis
Harry attempts to research ways to defeat a dragon, but, in what will become a familiar pattern, he becomes so terrified that he briefly considers running away to the Dursleys, although he quickly abandons this idea. Instead, he accepts help from others, and in this, and nearly all future endeavors, Harry will learn to rely on and trust his friends. This shows that, despite his many talents, he is, in essence, the sum of many parts. And while Harry wants to win the Tournament, he wants to do so without any inequitable advantages. Cedric's ignorance about the Dragons while the other Champions are using ill-gotten information to prepare their strategies represents an uneven playing field to Harry. It would never be a true victory if another Champion was at an unfair disadvantage. Moody commends Harry for his honesty and fairness, which Moody has already shown are traits he values in himself, as well as others. Cedric is also grateful, and it is probably something he himself would have done if their situations had been reversed.
A few additional noteworthy points:
First, Moody seems to be handing the First Task to Harry. While it does take Harry some time to realize what Moody is hinting at, Moody has provided Harry a tool that will serve him better than any other Champion. Whether Moody has any special reason for wanting Harry to win is unknown, although it could be motivated by his concern over how and why Harry was entered into the Tournament.
Second, Ludo makes a clumsy attempt to assist Harry with the challenge, then assigns him a perfect score, which Harry feels is unwarranted. It seems Bagman also wants him to win, but why is unclear.
Finally, Rita Skeeter continually appears from nowhere, even though it is learned later that she has been banned from the school.
It should be noted that the action in the book apparently takes place in 1994 and 1995; but the date of the first task, November 24th 1994, is not a Tuesday but a Thursday, which is consistent with the day of the week mentioned in Chapter 15. This does not affect the story in any way; the fact that there is this conflict is provided more as a curiosity than as something for the scholar to concern himself with.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why does Harry tell Cedric Diggory about the dragons?
- Why does Moody give Harry advice about the first task? Is Moody breaking the rules?
- Why does Harry ignore Ludo Bagman's advice and feel that the high score Ludo gives him is unwarranted?
[edit] Further Study
- Why does Ludo Bagman give Harry unsolicited advice and a perfect score?
- Harry usually masters basic spells quickly. Why then is the Summoning charm so difficult for him to learn?
- What clue might be hidden in the Golden Egg?
[edit] Greater Picture
Of note, Harry stops reading the dragon book just before the passage containing the spell he needs. The passage he does read aloud from Men Who Love Dragons Too Much goes: "Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate." The next passage would probably discuss their one weak point, which Sirius later identifies as their eyes. In a later message from Sirius, we learn that if their conversation had not been interrupted, Sirius would have suggested using the Conjunctivitus curse to blind the dragon. This is what Krum did; but the blinded dragon, flailing about, broke some of its own eggs, losing Krum points. Curiously, although Harry observed first-hand how Charlie Weasley and the other handlers subdued and controlled the caged dragons with Stunning spells, he fails to consider how he might use this in his strategy.
We will later learn that Ludo is trying to recoup his losses on the Quidditch World Cup by betting on Harry to win the Tournament. His clumsy attempts to assist Harry, which will be uniformly rejected, are an unethical attempt to influence the Tournament's outcome, made worse because he is a Tournament judge. Moody also intends for Harry to win the Tournament; offering Harry a strategy to complete the First Task is his most overt attempt in his role as a trusted mentor to ensure Harry's victory. Moody's other assistance will be less obvious to Harry, revealed only when Moody explains it after the Third Task.
It is only Harry's inherent honesty and belief in fairness that prompts him to share information about the dragons with Cedric, and also to reject Ludo's proffered assistance. In a future chapter, Cedric rewards Harry for his fairness towards him: when Cedric solves the Egg's riddle, he will pass on an important hint to Harry.
