Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (novel)

""Kill the spare.""

- Lord Voldemort

The fourth book in the Harry Potter series. Published in 2000. Following the events of Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, Voldemort now has a loyal follower by his side and is making plans to become stronger and regain his body. Meanwhile, Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament between three Wizarding schools in Europe, and Harry discovers that he has been selected to compete, even though he is below the age restriction and did not, as a matter of fact, actually apply as a candidate. He begins to fear that he's a pawn in someone else's plan, whilst becoming slowly more aware of the rising specter of Voldemort...

This book was a turning point in the series in a lot of ways.
 * It's the first Doorstopper, about twice as long as the books that preceded it.
 * It's the point which Cerebus Syndrome really sets in, as Voldemort returns to power and a significant supporting character becomes a Sacrificial Lion, all of which is set up by the events of Prisoner of Azkaban.
 * It's the first book to even mention that there is a wizarding world outside of Great Britain, much less international magical politics. The scale of the story opens up in proportion to the plot.
 * And finally, it's the first book in the series that arrived after Pottermania had gripped the world, making its release a major event in the year's entertainment calendar.

Tropes exclusive to this book or at least especially prominent:
" Moody: "You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."
 * 8.8: Karkaroff gives Harry's performance in the first task a 4/10, in contrast to the 8's and 9's from the more impartial judges (and Bagman's definitely-partial 10). Naturally this provokes outrage from Ron, but Harry doesn't mind too much; he's too happy that
 * Academy of Evil: Durmstrang, though the school itself is more of a Dark Is Not Evil place.
 * Agony Beam: This book introduces the Cruciatus Curse.
 * Anachronism Stew: A minor case: at the beginning of the book, Harry, in writing a letter to Sirius, makes a remark about Dudley and his Play Station... in the summer of 1994. The console did not get released in Europe until September the following year.
 * Army of the Dead:
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: During the first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

Lavender jumped and blushed. She had been showing Parvati her completed horoscope under the desk."

""There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat.""
 * Ascended Extra: Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang, both introduced as background characters in Book 3, have central roles in this book.
 * Asshole Victim/Lone Dalek: Barty Crouch, Jr.
 * Badass Teacher: Moody.
 * Beam-O-War: A rare effect (their two wands have the same core from the same specific specimen of phoenix) makes Harry's and Voldemort's wands connect and results in an anime-style beam-of-war battle.
 * Blind Mistake: When Harry reads a letter sent by Sirius and considers its tone too much babying, his response hints at this: "You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls...."
 * Blood Magic
 * Bond Villain Stupidity: Near the end of Goblet of Fire, Harry has been disarmed, gagged, and tied securely to a gravestone. Rather than simply killing Harry after using his blood to regain his body, Voldemort not only has Wormtail cut him loose and give him back his wand, but insists on fighting him in a one-to-one duel and forbids interference from any of his Death Eaters, for no other reason than to prove, once and for all, that he is the stronger of the two. Of course the final result of this is that Harry manages to escape Voldemort's attempt on his life, once again through luck, and warn everyone of his resurrection. It was reasonable of Voldemort to assume that Harry was no longer protected by love, but he was unaware of the twin cores.
 * Well, Voldemort's point was to show his superiority to his followers. Killing the boy right then and there simply would not have the same effect.
 * Rowling stated that the reason for Voldemort's downfall was mainly because of his over-inflated ego. This scene was foreshadowing all the pride-related mistakes he'd make in the future.
 * Also, Ralph Fiennes mentioned something about how the scene - when you strip the magic elements away - is really just a man humiliating a young boy. Voldemort was gloating over having his body back and wanted to mess with the kid who'd caused him so much trouble over the years. He wasn't exactly using his head at that moment.
 * Brick Joke: In one of the first chapters, it is mentioned that a Hufflepuff girl tried to curse her pimples off, and had to have her nose put on again. Later, when the Trio are discussing Yule Ball date possibilities, that same girl is mentioned. Ron says he won't go with her, because her nose is slightly off-center.
 * Mentioned again in the Yule Ball chapter, only to confirm that
 * Censor Suds: The prefect bathtub is loaded with suds and bubbles, which come in handy when Moaning Myrtle decides to drop in on Harry.
 * Chekhov's Gun: The series has its own page.
 * Completely Unnecessary Translator: The foreign officials to Fudge at the Quidditch game.
 * Cool and Unusual Punishment: "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret".
 * Cough-Snark-Cough: Ron accuses Hermione of only liking Cedric because he's handsome. When Hermione claims she doesn't like people just because of their looks, he gives a false cough that sounds oddly like "Lockhart".
 * Covert Pervert: Moaning Myrtle.
 * Creepy Long Fingers: Voldemort.
 * Dances and Balls: The Yule Ball.
 * Diet Episode: The Dursley portion of the book involves Dudley being put on a diet.
 * The Dragon:, particularly in the movie adaptation.
 * Dungeon Bypass: During the third task, Harry blasts a shortcut through the hedge maze when he hears one of the others being tortured. It takes a curse plus a bit of fighting to get through.
 * Due to the Dead:  asks Harry to retrieve his corpse, and Harry does.
 * Dub Induced Plot Hole: A small one. When Hermione mentioned that the 1792 Triwizard Tournament was cancelled because of a cockatrice breaking free and injuring the judges, the Dutch edition translates cockatrice as basilisk. But this is impossible, since breeding basilisks is illegal since medieval times. And they certainly don't want to use one of the most deadly creatures ever in a school tournament. Its gaze alone would have killed the entire audience.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: During a trip into Dumbledore's Pensieve, Harry sees the trial of the Lestranges, being especially struck by the fanatic - and, at this point, unnamed - Mrs. Lestrange.  is an important villain in the later books.
 * Much more minor one, but Cedric's father says that a family called the Lovegoods have been at the World Cup for a week.
 * The End of the Beginning: The last chapter is titled 'The Beginning'.
 * Everyone Looks Sexier If French: The Beauxbatons students.
 * Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Voldemort is later shown to be an offender, but his main agent in this book is not. "Decent people are so easy to manipulate."
 * Although the agent did have a moment. He assumed that Harry would ask everyone for help, but he didn't, because that would be cheating. This forced the agent to play Xanatos Speed Chess.
 * Fandom Nod: The pronunciation of "Hermione", which was finally clarified by Hermione herself in this book -- then the films were released, so everyone knew how to pronounce it anyway.
 * Fixing the Game: The Weasley twin subplot is driven by Ludo Bagman's welching.
 * Foreshadowing:
 * Football Hooligans: The Irish after their win at the Quidditch World Cup.
 * Fun with Acronyms: The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.
 * Gut Punch:  death is this for both the book and the series.
 * Hate Sink: Rita Skeeter.
 * Hedge Maze: The setting of the third challenge.
 * He Who Fights Monsters: When Barty Crouch was head of Law Enforcement.
 * High School Dance: The Yule Ball.
 * Hot Skitty-On-Wailord Action / Interspecies Romance: Hagrid has been secretly breeding manticore/firecrab hybrids called "Blast-Ended Skrewts". The actual creation of magical crossbreeds is forbidden in the Potterverse.
 * Human variants appear with Fleur Delacour, whose (presumably) human-wizard grandfather married a veela and.
 * Hypocritical Humor: Before the Weasleys come to get Harry, Uncle Vernon calls Mrs. Weasley a "Dumpy sort of woman." Harry reacts with private outrage that he dares to call Mrs. Weasley dumpy when Dudley is the size of a small whale.
 * Identical Twin ID Tags: Padma and Parvati Patil's uniforms.
 * I Feel Guilty You Take It: Harry offers the Triwizard Cup to Cedric Diggory, because his entrance in the tournament was un-fair.
 * Harry offers the prize money from the tournament to Cedric's parents, who turn it down. He then gives it to Fred and George Weasley.
 * I Have No Son: Barty Crouch, Sr. He says this exact line.
 * Improbably Predictable: Harry predicts how Ron and Hermione will react to his dream about Voldemort, and they both react more-or-less exactly as he thought they would.
 * I Need You Stronger: The reason for  assistance to Harry in the Tri-Wizard's challenges. See Xanatos Roulette.
 * Inevitable Tournament: A straight example. A super-dangerous and challenging tournament takes place at Hogwarts, and despite being three years too young, Harry finds himself  competing.
 * Jerkass: Ron Weasley. Okay, we get that he's tired of being Overshadowed by Awesome (kind of an occupational hazard of being the best friend of one of the most famous wizards of all time), but was that his entire excuse for calling Harry an "attention-seeking prat", ignoring him when both of them were angry on Hermione's behalf, and generally treating him like shit? If it was, dude... You're an asshole! He wisens up after the First Task, though.
 * It's not his only reason though, because Ron thinks that Harry really did put his own name in the Goblet but didn't tell him about it, despite Ron explicitly mentioning that he wants to enter the competition. Not only did Harry do more Attention-Whoring, but he couldn't be bothered to include Ron in it.
 * And Rita Skeeter. Intrepid Reporter nothing, she seems to live not to tell the truth but to humiliate people! Case in point: Hermione just for criticizing her, and Hagrid due to him confessing he's half-giant with her deliberately eavesdropping.
 * Just Between You and Me: A lot of this, both from Voldemort and at the end of the book.
 * Kaizo Trap: The Giant Spider at the very end of the third task, meant to blindside champions who were focused on the Triwizard Cup ahead. It was only thanks to Harry's yell that poor Cedric wasn't killed.
 * Kangaroo Court: The trials in the Pensieve Flashback are stacked against the defendants. Sirius says he didn't even get that much.
 * However, Ludo Bagman managed to get off, largely because he was a popular Quidditch player, making him acquitted by public opinon.
 * We also find out later that.
 * Kick the Dog: Snape in the exchange of spells outside the Potions dungeon. After Hermione is hit with a spell that enlarges her already noticeable buck teeth to a cartoonish size (and Goyle's nose having done the same). Snape tells Goyle to go to the hospital wing, and then turns his attention to Hermione when Ron points out that she's been hit with a spell too. Snape says "I see no difference." Hermione runs off crying.
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Knight Templar: Barty Crouch Sr.
 * Ladykiller in Love: Viktor Krum, who's surrounded by female admirers for his first few months at Hogwarts,  because she's the one girl who wasn't throwing herself at his feet.
 * The Law of Conservation of Detail: Still played straight in this book despite being longer than the last three combined.  The plot is just that complex, and if it's not part of the plot now, it's bound to come up later, such as, say,
 * Literary Allusion Title: The Harry Potter Lexicon speculates that the title of the chapter "The Madness of Mr. Crouch" is a reference to The Madness of King George, especially since George III is reputed to have mistaken a tree for the King of Prussia, while Crouch mistakes a tree for Percy Weasley.
 * Living Labyrinth: The third task.
 * Loose Lips: Bertha Jorkins gives Hagrid a run for his money on blabbing secrets. Hagrid at least has enough sense to realize at times that he shouldn't have blabbed; she doesn't.
 * Meaningful Name: Beauxbatons means 'pretty wands' and that school's crest shows two crossed wands, while Durmstrang is a Spoonerism of "Sturm (und) Drang", 'storm and stress', a German cultural movement.
 * Ludo Bagman, who starts as a shifty character and we later learn is actually a bagman.
 * "Ludo" also means "I play" in Latin; Ludo is the Head of Magical Games and Sports.
 * Rita Skeeter. Skeeter is an annoying, bloodsucking parasite who thrives on human misery... and so are mosquitoes, AKA skeeters.
 * Mobile Maze: The third task.
 * Mood Whiplash: As said in the description, the series gets dark after this book. It starts with 's death and goes downhill from there.
 * Moral Guardians: It was with this entry that they started coming out in full force against the series. Just as the series became a worldwide phenomenon, it also brought a wave of parents, politicians, and preachers raging against the series, accusing it of glorifying witchcraft and Satanism to children, some having burnings of it. Of course, this required them to buy copies to burn.
 * Motive Misidentification: Throughout the story, everyone thinks that someone put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire in an attempt to get him killed while making it look like an accident. In the end it is revealed that
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: Crouch can't seem to remember that Percy's last name is "Weasley" and not "Weatherby". Fred and George have a lot of fun with this.
 * Nice to the Waiter: Crouch's treatment of Winky, as lampshaded by Hermione and Sirius. Sirius, oddly,  in the next book, although that was partially to do with.
 * Hermione attempts this with the House Elves of Hogwarts. She means well, but it doesn't go over too well.
 * No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Harry, when going to the Triwizard cup in the third task, is forced to make a decision of whether to save Cedric Diggory from something in the maze, or to go for the cup. He ultimately decides to save Diggory, and they take the cup together.
 * Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: Moody mentions explicitly that cheating is a traditional part of the tournament. And Harry even goes out on a limb to help Cedric when it turns out that Cedric was the one person who hadn't had any done in his favor.
 * Nothing Is Scarier: Harry's trek through the hedge maze was rather unnerving because of this.
 * Not Me This Time: Harry's trio did steal Polyjuice Potion ingredients from Snape 2 books ago, but they're not the ones who did it this time.
 * Not Just a Tournament: Doubly subverted. Everyone thinks the tournament is a ruse to kill Harry during the contest. In truth, it is rigged for him to win, so he can be captured at the moment of victory.
 * Not Just a Tournament: Doubly subverted. Everyone thinks the tournament is a ruse to kill Harry during the contest. In truth, it is rigged for him to win, so he can be captured at the moment of victory.

"Giggling should be made illegal, Harry thought furiously, as all the girls around Cho began doing it."
 * Off on a Technicality: The only reason the Muggle authorities didn't convict Frank Bryce for murdering Tom Riddle Senior and his parents (a then human-looking Voldemort was the real culprit) was the fact Muggles cannot establish a cause of death for victims of Avada Kedavra.
 * One-Hit Kill: Although it appeared in the first book, this one gives a name to the flash of green light that Harry kept remembering. It's revealed to be the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra. (There's a reason this series has its own "Chekhov's Gun" page.)
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: Until Dumbledore calls him "Alastor," it doesn't occur to Harry that "Mad-Eye" isn't Moody's first name.
 * Opposing Sports Team: Refreshingly subverted with Cedric, Fleur, and Krum, who, whatever their flaws, are pretty decent people and end up having cordial relationships with Harry.
 * Our Mermaids Are Different: See the page for details.
 * Outscare the Enemy: A group of Death Eaters run amok at the Quidditch World Cup as the Ministry tries in vain to control them. The riot only ends once an unknown person conjures the symbol of Voldemort, from which the Death Eaters immediately retreat. They're more afraid of the punishment they'll get for denouncing Voldemort when he lost his power than they are of the Ministry.
 * Paparazzi: Rita Skeeter.
 * Parting Words Regret: Molly Weasley worries about this when the twins have a close call with the Death Eaters.
 * Pensieve Flashback: The Trope Namer. This book is the first time they're used, at least directly (as Harry notes, the exact same concept previously drove the diary flashback in Chamber of Secrets).
 * Red Herring:  basically spends the whole book acting as suspiciously as possible. For readers Genre Savvy enough to know it would never be someone so obvious,   is made a viable suspect with evidence against him occasionally brought up, but nearly always dismissed by the characters as irrelevant.
 * We learn about mid-way through the book that Voldemort has a spy at Hogwarts. A little while later, Harry finds out that Snape was accused of being a Death Eater after Voldemort's fall. Is Snape Voldemort's eyes and ears in the school?
 * The Reveal: "It was I who did that."
 * Riddling Sphinx: Harry encounters a sphinx in the hedge maze and has to answer a riddle in order to pass by it safely.
 * Right for the Wrong Reasons: The jury that acquitted.
 * Rule of Three: The Triwizard Tournament is a competition between three wizards, with three rounds.
 * Also there are three Unforgivable Curses.
 * Sacrificial Lion: Former Trope Namer.
 * Sadist Teacher: Snape continues the role from the previous books, but really reaches his peak in this book, not even trying to hide his favoritism for his Slytherin students and his bias against the students from the other houses. This is most notable when he not only lets Malfoy off scot-free when he hits Hermione with a charm that makes her front teeth grow huge but then tells her he "sees no difference", causing her to run off crying, then has the nerve to take points from Griffyndor, and then give Harry and Ron detention when they get angry over this. Fortunately, in the next book, Umbridge appears, replacing him in this role and making Snape look not nearly as bad by comparison.
 * Moody briefly becomes this to Malfoy when he turns him into a ferret, until McGonagall shows up and rebukes him for using Cool and Unusual Punishment.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: Hermione at the Yule Ball.
 * She's All Grown Up: Again, Hermione at the Yule Ball.
 * Shout-Out: Monty Python. Harry gains entrance to Dumbledore's office by trying various passwords, all of which are different kinds of sweet; the one that actually works, Cockroach Cluster, is a flavour used in the 'Whizzo Assortment' sketch. Lampshaded in that Harry is amazed that it works and insists that he was kidding, which suggests that Harry is in Muggle-world a Monty Python fan.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal: Malfoy's boasting speech to Harry at the end of the novel gets interrupted by Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred, and George blasting off a variety of spells simultaneously. Also see Berserk Button. Qualifies as Crowning Moment of Awesome
 * Spotting the Thread: Dumbledore realizes that  when he removes Harry from his sight.
 * Spy Speak: A Subverted Trope: a Muggle believes that terms such as "Quidditch", "Muggles" and "Ministry of Magic" are codenames used by gangsters or spies, but these are just normal wizarding words.
 * Strawman Political: Averted or even subverted. Hermione, after seeing a house-elf get fired for the crime of being terrified, decides that house-elves are "uneducated and brainwashed" slaves and need to be liberated. But when she meets other house-elves, they're quite satisfied with their way of life, claiming that virtue is its own reward. There's a lot more details on all sides, but the point is that what could have been some sort of equal rights crusade gets pretty well deflated; if anything, Hermione ends up looking the fool due to her heavy-handed tactics, which the house-elves find amusing or even insulting. (Later books have Dumbledore pointing out that Hermione generally has the right idea, and Hermione gaining a better understanding of house-elf psychology.)
 * Talk About That Thing: Used by Hermione as an excuse to get her, Harry, and Ron out of the room before Mrs. Weasley blows up at Fred and George.
 * Tantrum Throwing: Upon discovering that Fred and George have engorged Dudley's tongue, Uncle Vernon begins throwing things at the Weasleys and Harry, who flee the house via Floo Powder.
 * Technicolor Fire: The titular object lights up with blue-white fire at the beginning of each tournament. When it's about to spew out the name of an accepted contestant, it turns bright red.
 * There Should Be a Law:

"Malfoy: Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren’t you, Potter? So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?
 * Tournament Arc
 * Treacherous Advisor:, a Tournament Arc example.
 * Ultra Super Death Gore Fest Chainsawer 3000: Mega Mutilation Part Three, a game played by Dudley.
 * Understatement: "Potentially problematic? When was the last time you held your breath underwater for an hour, Hermione?"
 * Unscaled Merfolk: Viktor become half shark for the undersea challenge. It's later revealed that he messed the transfiguration up, and apparently one of the teachers had to put him back to normal.
 * Giving himself only a shark's head was on purpose, since wizards who completely transform themselves without being an animagus lose their humanity. Not being able to say the incantation to turn himself back with a shark's mouth, however, was pretty straight Didn't Think This Through.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy:
 * Witch Hunt: The trials, or lack thereof for Sirius, of suspected Death Eaters at the Ministry.
 * What Could Have Been: J.K. Rowling intended to put in a female character named Mafalda (not the Ministry of Magic employee). She was written at being a "black sheep" cousin of the Weasleys'; extremely badly-behaved, unpleasant to be around, nosy and loose-tongued, and to top it off, being sorted into Slytherin. In addition, she would have been the first rival to Hermione, being equally brainy and a show-off, and eavesdropping into the conversations of her fellow Slytherins hoping to relay and impress The Trio. Despite Rowling's fondness for the character, she was ultimately axed due to her age limiting her story potential. Rita Skeeter was thus created to fill the nosy, eavesdropping role instead. Mafalda would be the daughter of the accountant relative Ron mentioned to Harry in Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone.
 * White Man's Burden: Hermione's house-elf liberation subplot is basically this. Somewhat unusually for this trope, it's portrayed in-universe as a bad thing, and she gets called on it by practically everyone. Even an attentive reader can notice the inherent hypocrisy of her cause: launching a house-elf freedom campaign on her own for the benefit of other elves without so much as asking for their help, forcing them into unwanted freedom. She also bases her entire view of house-elves on Dobby, whose views on freedom, payment and clothing are quite different than the average elf. And she completely misses the point about why house-elves are unhappy--their working conditions, not the work itself or lack of pay.
 * Why Don't You Marry It?: Percy just won't stop gushing about Mr Crouch. Ron's waiting for them to announce their engagement.
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: is closer to being this.
 * Wronski Feint: The Trope Namer.
 * Xanatos Roulette:
 * "Hey Harry, can you hand that
 * However, Voldemort wanted Harry's absence to look like an accident, so the plan had to involve him dying DURING the tournament, so Voldemort planned on Harry being entered under another school name.
 * Xanatos Speed Chess: had to change his plans when Harry didn't ask Neville for help.
 * You're Insane!: Harry's response to  Motive Rant.
 * Your Mom: Malfoy insults Ron's mother and Harry responds by insulting Malfoy's mother:

Harry: You know your mother, Malfoy? That expression she’s got, like she’s got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"


 * Zombie Advocate: Hermione for House Elves, via S.P.E.W.