Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Published on July 8, 2000, the release of this book was surrounded by more hype than any other book in recent times outdone only by its successors, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It was fairly large for a children's book -- at 636 and 734 pages (hardback British and American editions respectively). The book attracted a lot of attention owing to a pre-publication warning from J.K. Rowling that one of the characters would be murdered in the book. This started a stream of rumour and speculation as to who the murdered character would be. The publication of Goblet of Fire caused unprecedented heights of Pottermania to be reached internationally. The novel won a Hugo Award in 2001.
Harry Potter and his friends begin their fourth year at Hogwarts. During assembly, they are told that the long-stopped Triwizard Tournament will resume, and will be held at Hogwarts this year. The tournament was originally a friendly competition between the three most prestigious schools of magic: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. However, it was halted after increasing competitor fatalities.
Due to the deadliness of the tournament, all participants have to be 17 years old. The Goblet of Fire is used to pick a representative for Hogwarts. Cedric Diggory is chosen, however the goblet then goes on to select an extra contestant; Harry Potter.
The First TaskThe first task was to retrieve a golden egg from a nest guarded by a dragon to test the champions' ability to function under pressure. The participants were not informed of their task beforehand, or that was the idea, and were graded on a scale of one to ten by a panel of five judges.
The breed of dragon varied from champion to champion. To determine the breed they would face, the champions drew lots. Cedric picked the Swedish Short-Snout, Fleur the Common Welsh Green, Viktor the Chinese Fireball, and Harry the Hungarian Horntail, the most dangerous of the four. All four completed the task. Fleur used a sleeping charm, Krum knew that dragons are weak around the eyes and hit his with a conjunctivitus curse, Cedric utilized his talents in transfiguration to create a distraction, and Harry summoned his top-of-the-line Firebolt broomstick to good outmaneuver the Horntail.
It should be noted that, contrary to the official rules, each of the four champions had, in fact, been informed about what the first task was going to be. Hagrid had received a hint from Moody to show Harry the dragons. Hagrid did indeed do this and brought Madame Maxime with him, who informed her champion, Fleur Delacour. Karkaroff had also seen the dragons, which is proven when Harry runs into him on his way back to the castle after seeing the dragons (Harry wore his Invisibility Cloak, thus preventing Karkaroff from recognizing Harry). Harry later told Cedric Diggory about the dragons, seeing it as only fair since the other champions knew about the dragons as well.
The Yule Ball is a dance held during the Christmas season, as an opportunity for the students from their respective schools to mix and mingle. It is open to fourth year students and older, though younger students may be invited to attend by older students, as fourth year student Neville Longbottom invited Ginny Weasley, a third year. The Triwizard champions traditionally open the dance with their partners. Harry Potter's partner was Parvati Patil, while Cedric Diggory went with Cho Chang, Fleur Delacour went with Roger Davies and Viktor Krum went with Hermione Granger, despite being three years olders than her, where she stunned all who knew her with her unexpectedly beautiful appearance. During the Yule Ball, an argument breaks out between Ron Weasley and Hermione, showcasing Ron's jealousy towards Krum, and demonstrating his burgeoning attraction to Hermione.
The egg from the dragon had to be opened underwater for the next task to be revealed to them. The task was to retrieve something "valuable", which turned out to be a friend or relative, from the bottom of the Hogwarts lake. Harry's hostage was Ron Weasley, Cedric's was Cho Chang, Viktor's was Hermione Granger, and Fleur's was her little sister, Gabrielle Delacour.
All four contestants found a way of breathing underwater (Harry via magical herbs called Gillyweed, Cedric and Fleur by using the Bubble head charm, Krum underwent a rather distressing partial self-transfiguration into a half-shark). Potter reached his objective first, but stayed behind as Diggory and Krum rescued their hostages to ensure that all four got to safety. Fleur failed in her task, so Harry eventually returned with both his hostage (Ron) and Fleur's sister. Concerned about his brother's safety, Percy Weasley (who was acting as a substitute judge) wades into the lake himself just to make certain Ron is okay.
Grading was done in the same fashion as in the first task. Though Potter was technically a weak third, his actions were perceived as showing moral fibre instead of/in addition to being foolish, increasing his score. Harry and Cedric were tied in first place after the task.
The third task was to traverse a maze which had been created on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch and populated with a variety of obstacles and creatures. The contestants were informed of this and given ample time to prepare. Instead of a scoring system, the champion who retrieved the Triwizard Cup from the center would win. Champions were released into the labyrinth at intervals, depending on their scores so far.
The task was heavily manipulated; Fleur and Krum were eliminated because Krum was placed under the Imperius Curse (by Barty Crouch Jr) and Stunned Fleur. Krum, still under the curse, tortured Cedric with the Cruciatus Curse and attempted to eliminate him also, but fortunately, Harry arrived and Stunned Krum. Cedric and Harry worked together to tie finish.
Despite the good intentions of the organisers, the Tournament was not the honourable and friendly event originally envisioned. It was wrought with corruption, including biased judges and the illegal pre-informing of the four candidates before each task. The corruption was minor in comparison with Lord Voldemort's plan for Hogwarts. Barty Crouch Jr, disguised as Professor Alastor Moody, was charged with orchestrating Harry's victory. It was he who tricked the Goblet into forgetting that only three schools could compete, and he who entered Harry under a separate school. He aided Harry in acquiring the necessary objects for the first two tasks, and did his best to clear Harry's path of obstacles (and other competitors) in the third task.
Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory arrived to the centre together, having pooled their resources to get past the final obstacles. Unfortunately for both, Crouch/Moody had turned the cup into a Portkey, which transported both champions to a graveyard where Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew lay in wait. Pettigrew unceremoniously murdered Cedric with Voldemort's wand, tied Harry to a gravestone and gagged him, then took some of Harry's blood to use in Lord Voldemort's revival ritual. Voldemort was brought back to full power.
After a duel with Voldemort, Harry grabbed Cedric's body and touched the portkey, returning them to Hogwarts, officially ending the Tournament.
