Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Goblet of Fire/Chapter 5
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Chapter 5 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
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[edit] Synopsis
Harry arrives at the Weasleys' home and is introduced to Bill and Charlie, the two oldest Weasley brothers. Charlie works with dragons in Romania, while Bill, a one-time Head Boy at Hogwarts who now works for Gringotts Wizarding Bank in Egypt, is a surprise: he sports a pony tail, an earring (with what looks like a fang), and dragon-hide boots.
Fred and George are having a row with their father over them dropping a Ton-Tongue Toffee, apparently deliberately, and causing Harry's cousin Dudley's tongue to grow several feet long. Mrs. Weasley enters the argument, demanding to know if it had anything to do with their Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Hermione and Ginny enter the room behind Mrs. Weasley; Hermione, to avoid the family argument, suggests they show Harry where he is sleeping.
On the way to Ron's bedroom, Ron and Hermione explain to Harry about "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes", which are magical tricks and jokes the Twins have invented. What they just escaped was an ongoing battle: Mrs. Weasley wants the Twins to work for the Ministry of Magic, but they want to open their own joke shop.
Ron's room is much the same as it was two years ago, except for his new owl, given to him by Sirius Black, which is bouncing excitedly in its cage. Ginny named it Pigwidgeon, which Ron often shortens to "Pig."
When the fight between Mrs. Weasley and the Twins has apparently ended, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny return to the kitchen, where they catch a small rant about Fred and George from Mrs. Weasley while she prepares dinner. Outside, Charlie and Bill are jousting with the picnic tables and Crookshanks is chasing Gnomes. As evening falls, the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione enjoy a lovely dinner in the garden, with some home-made strawberry ice cream for dessert. Conversation at the table ranges widely, covering the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, Bill's personal appearance, Sirius Black's whereabouts, a missing Ministry witch named Bertha Jorkins, and a top secret event that Percy mentions in hopes that someone will ask him about it.
[edit] Analysis
The story is only advanced slightly in this chapter. Much time is devoted to reintroducing the Burrow's atmosphere, the Weasley family home, and contrasting its somewhat grubby friendliness with the Dursley household's overly antiseptic aloofness. This is also the first time the entire Weasley clan has been seen together, and the differences between the seven siblings is evident. The more Bohemian and unconventional Bill and Charlie, as well as the rowdy Twins, are a stark contrast to the sedate Percy, whose starchy and bossy personality irritates his siblings. Ron is neither rowdy nor sedate and usually feels overwhelmed and intimidated by his talented older brothers. Ginny, being the youngest and the only girl, is able to develop her own magical abilities and strong-willed persona apart from her doting and protective family, although she may feel a bit isolated being the only female child. Bill and Charlie, both powerful wizards, display an irreverent sense of humor similar to the Twins when they are seen dueling each other with the picnic tables.
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is introduced. The Twins are planning to open their own joke shop after leaving Hogwarts, although Mrs. Weasley, who constantly chastises them for wasting time with their incessant pranks, strongly disapproves. Failing to recognize their unique talents and entrepreneurial abilities, she instead wants them to pursue more conventional and secure occupations. For American and international readers, it should be noted that a "wheeze" in England can be a joke; the idea is that you laugh so hard it leaves you wheezing.
There is independent confirmation regarding some events in Harry's "dream" from Chapter 1 as well. Specifically, that Bertha Jorkins, a witch who works for the Ministry of Magic, has been missing for some time while in Albania. Bertha appeared in Harry's dream, even if Harry is unable to remember it. This is an indication that Voldemort is alive as a separate entity, and that Wormtail has returned to his service.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- What can be learned about Charlie and Bill's personalities based on their appearances and behavior seen here? How do they differ from Percy?
- How does Ron's character contrast to his older brothers? What accounts for this?
- Why does Ron feel overwhelmed by his brothers, while Ginny apparently does not?
[edit] Further Study
- It is only two days since Harry's "dream", and Bertha Jorkins' name, mentioned in that dream, has just come up in a conversation that she was in Albania and is now missing. Thinking back to the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Professor Dumbledore says that his information is that Voldemort is hiding in Albania. Why might Harry not have recalled his "dream", with so much prompting?
- Why is Mrs. Weasley so strongly opposed to the Twins opening their own joke shop? Would working for the Ministry of Magic, as she wants them to, be a good career option for them? Explain.
[edit] Greater Picture
It is perhaps intriguing to note how much of the dinner table conversation is actually foreshadowing events in this book, and to a certain extent later books.
We will see that Mrs. Weasley's battle with Bill over the length of his hair is an ongoing one. Mrs. Weasley does not manage to win this battle until Bill's wedding; Harry suspects, though, that as soon as he is safely out of range, Bill's hair will be long again.
We can see that Percy is "hiding" a secret of some sort. The author has managed to show that Percy is hoping someone will ask him what he's talking about, so that he can boost his own status by refusing to tell. We will later find out that several others there at the table already know the secret; specifically, Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, and Bill all do, and we can safely assume that the information came from Mr. Weasley. It is interesting to contrast Percy's handling of this secret, with the way the rest of the family does. We will shortly discover that the secret in question is the re-starting of the Triwizard Tournament, a competition that will quite unexpectedly snare Harry and form the axis on which the entire book turns.
The discussion of Bertha Jorkins, as mentioned, somewhat confirms the belief that Harry's dream actually reflected real events. We will later find that Bertha had been brought to Albania by Pettigrew, and there she had been killed by Voldemort. Before she died, though, she revealed the existence of the Tournament to Voldemort, and had at the same time revealed that Barty Crouch Jr., one of the more faithful Death Eaters, was not only free, but was in hiding, believed dead, and so was available to carry out the plan Voldemort had devised to capture Harry.
Sirius is quite some distance away; as mentioned, his last few messages have been brought by tropical birds. Harry has sent him a message about his scar hurting, and as soon as he receives it, Sirius will return to England, much against Harry's wishes. Sirius' actual location, though, remains unknown.
The twins' joke shop will be in full operation by Harry's sixth year. It has been mentioned that each of them get only a handful of OWLs, but over the course of this book and the next, we will see that the Twins are extremely deft practical wizards, creating and selling magical materials of amazing quality. In fact, some of their magical wares are so good that the Ministry buys them for protection of their less-able wizards. Harry, Ron, and Hermione will also make significant use of their wares over the rest of the series.
