Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (novel)

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
First UK edition cover
Written by: J. K. Rowling
Central Theme:
Synopsis: The centuries-old Triwizard Tournament is being revived, and Harry gets to compete - against his will and all expectations. Could this be somehow related to the revival of Voldemort's power?
Genre(s): Fantasy
Series: Harry Potter
Preceded by: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (novel)
Followed by: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (novel)
First published: July 8, 2000
More Information
The Wiki Rule: Harry Potter Wiki
v · d · e
"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 or especially prominent in Goblet of Fire include:
  • 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 Ron is speaking to him again.
  • Academy of Evil: Durmstrang, though the school itself is more of a Dark Is Not Evil place.
  • Actually Pretty Funny:
    • While Mr. Weasley yells at the twins for baiting Dudley with Ton-Tongue Toffees, he hesitates to tell Mrs. Weasley about what happened. It's implied that he doesn't think the prank merits the earful that Fred and George eventually receive from their mother.
    • The Veelas accidentally affect the referee mid-game. He flies down to flex in front of them. Bagman, amused by the Veelas' audacity, asks for someone to snap the referee out of it. A med wizard does, and the unamused referee orders the ladies off the field.
    • On the last day of summer, Molly catches Fred and George working on some parchment. She asks if they're creating another joke shop form. During the World Cup panic, she had freaked out thinking the twins had been killed after she yelled at them. Fred asks her how she'd feel if the twins died in a Hogwarts express train-wreck and the last thing she said was an unfounded accusation. She, Percy, and the others laugh at this.
    • At one point, Hermione mispronounces a Wronski Feint as "Wonky Feint". Harry corrects her through clenched teeth, trying not to laugh.
    • Fred and George demonstrate Canary Creams, a sweet that causes the person who eats it to sprout feathers. Neville is their first victim, and he laughs good-naturedly after the spell wears off. It helps that the magic is harmless.
  • Agony Beam: This book introduces the Cruciatus Curse.
  • All of the Other Reindeer: Harry is hated because his fellow students think he sneaked his way into the Triwizard Tournament. Fortunately, when they see him flying for his life during the First Task, they mellow towards him.
  • Amazon Admirer: Hagrid's sweet crush on Madame Maxime at first is because they're both half-giant, and she understands what it means to be an outsider. As he recounts in Book five, she impressed him with some fast spellwork to save them both from hostile giants. The reason why their relationship didn't continue is she didn't think his rescuing his brother Grawp was a good idea, but Hagrid understood it was dangerous to transport a full giant and let her go.
  • 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 PlayStation... in the summer of 1994. The console did not get released in Europe until September the following year.
  • Army of the Dead: Voldemort's most recent victims (Harry's parents among them) emerge from his wand and block him from pursuing Harry just long enough for Harry to escape.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: During the first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

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

  • Ascended Extra: Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang, both introduced as background characters in Book 3, have central roles in this book.
  • Asshole Victim/Monster Sob Story: Barty Crouch, Jr.
  • Badass Teacher: Moody. The fake one does a good job at acting the part, and the real one would have been one too if he'd actually been able to do the job.
  • Basilitrice: Cockatrices are mentioned briefly, where Hermione explains that the Triwizard Tournament had not been held in centuries: the last one had been called off due to a cockatrice that participants were tasked with capturing got loose, and the heads of the competing schools were injured in the aftermath.
  • 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. However, Voldemort does use Harry's escape to his advantage in Order of the Phoenix.
    • 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.
  • Bookie: Ludo Bagman is the dishonest version, accepting bets on the Quidditch World Cup at improbable odds and paying off the winners in (fake, temporary) leprechaun gold.
  • 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 her nose is perfectly fine!
  • 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. It quickly degenerates into a magical rock show.
  • Deus Ex Machina: Averted. The Priori incantatem at the end of the book seems like one, but it turns out that it was foreshadowed/hinted early in Book One when Ollivander explains how Harry's and Voldemort's wands are connected.
  • Diet Episode: The Dursley portion of the book involves Dudley being put on a diet.
  • The Dragon: Barty Crouch Junior, 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, so he doesn't bother repeating the attempt.
  • Due to the Dead: Cedric 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. Bellatrix 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: Voldemort's warning to Wormtail when he gives him the silver hand.
    • Dumbledore gets "an odd look of triumph" after learning that Harry's blood was used in Voldemort's ressurection spell. It's not until very late in the final book that this pays off.
  • Football Hooligans: The Irish after their win at the Quidditch World Cup. Which accidentally becomes a very convenient cover for the riot the Death Eaters caused at the same night.
  • Fun with Acronyms: The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.
  • Gut Punch: Cedric's death is this for both the book and the series.
  • Hate Sink: Rita Skeeter. Voldemort himself doesn’t appear much in the book, so having an antagonist in the meantime makes sense.
  • Hedge Maze: The setting of the third and final challenge.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: When Barty Crouch Sr. was head of Law Enforcement.
  • High School Dance: The Yule Ball, which takes place between the first and second task.
  • Improbable Species Compatibility / 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 Hagrid, who had a wizard father and giantess mother.
  • 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 at his son's trial.
  • 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 fake Moody's 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 forced into 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 Moody/Crouch 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.
  • 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 opinion. Helping matters is that Moody pointed out during the trial that Bagman is not evil, just stupid, something Bagman himself acknowledges.
    • We also find out later that the Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr. did deserve to be tossed in jail.
  • 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: Cedric.
  • Knight Templar: Barty Crouch Sr.
  • Ladykiller in Love: Viktor Krum, who's surrounded by female admirers for his first few months at Hogwarts, asks Hermione to the Yule Ball 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, the entire first chapter.
  • 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 (the first book, for example); 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 Cedric'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 his name was entered in the hope that he would win, touch the Triwizard Cup, and restore Voldemort to life.
  • 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, shows that it's not a nice guy. Sirius, oddly, fails to live up to his own advice in the next book, although that was partially to do with Kreacher being a reminder of the family he hated.
    • 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. Let's just say that Harry really should have left Cedric Diggory behind, for Cedric's own good.
  • 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. Crouch Jr. was making sure that he had a clear path to the cup.
  • 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.

"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."

  • 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. Indeed, by the end of the series Harry and Fleur are in-laws.
  • 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. Luckily, they survive.
  • 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 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets).
  • Pragmatic Villainy: This is Voldemort’s reason for not acting until the Quidditch World Cup was over. He’s far less likely to get caught if he bides his time. This is also why he wants to use Harry Potter specifically to restore him to life.
  • Red Herring: Igor Karkaroff basically spends the whole book acting as suspiciously as possible. For readers Genre Savvy enough to know it would never be someone so obvious, Ludo Bagman 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? No. But he was a Death Eater.
  • The Reveal: "It was I who did that."
  • Riddle for the Ages: The main cast doesn't know if Barty Crouch Jr. was truly responsible for {{spoiler|helping the Lestranges torture Neville's parents to permanent insanity, or if he was even a Death Eater. Sirius says that he isn't certain, since Crouch Jr. could have easily been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the kid was awfully young for being a potentially Death Eater, no older than nineteen. When Harry asks Dumbledore about it, the Headmaster says that Frank and Alice's testimony was shaky and Neville was only a baby, so he's not certain either. Crouch Jr. proclaimed his innocence at the trial, much like other Death Eaters who avoided jail time, Voldemort calls Crouch Jr. "my most faithful servant" and Crouch Jr. calls the Dark Lord "my master". He could have easily been converted with the Lestranges' influence and the Dementors' powers to induce despair, and being under the Imperius curse for a decade didn't help with his sanity. Crouch Jr. claims that he comforted Neville as Moody to manipulate him. We don't get any answers one way or the other.
  • 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 Ludo Bagman of being a Death Eater, giving him a chance to explain that Augustus Rookwood suckered him into a bad deal and used him as a pawn. It says something that Mad-Eye Moody, known for his paranoia, acknowledged that Bagman is not evil, just stupid. It was one of the few times that Moody presumed innocence and Crouch presumed guilt when normally both would be on the same side.
    • Also, Frank assumes that Voldemort and Wormtail are spies and criminals based on the language they use. While the language isn’t unusual for a Wizard for use (Quidditch is a popular Wizard sport, for instance), they are indeed dangerous criminals.
  • Rule of Three: The Triwizard Tournament is a competition between three wizards though this is later subverted when Harry is chosen as an unprecedented fourth contestant, with three rounds.
    • Also there are three Unforgivable Curses.
  • Sacrificial Lion: Cedric. The Cedric. 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.
    • Imposter 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 Moody is not the real Moody 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.)
  • Super Drowning Skills: Invoked; Harry goes Oh Crap when realizing the Second Task involves going underwater for an hour, after Myrtle tells him how to activate the egg's singing. The Dursleys never game him swimming lessons, in hopes that he would drown one day, and at best he can manage the prefects' bath which allows him to stand on the floor. There is also a logical problem: no human can last underwater for an hour. Myrtle breaks into sobs when Harry asks her how he's going to breathe during the Second Task, and the library is too big for Harry to find the spell that he needs, even with McGonagall giving him permission slips for the Restricted Section. Dobby has to bail him out with some gillyweed filched from Snape's office, and it lasts for the full hour. Fortunately when it does wear off, Harry is close enough to the surface with Ron and Gabrielle to avoid this trope.
  • 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:

Giggling should be made illegal, Harry thought furiously, as all the girls around Cho began doing it.

  • Tournament Arc
  • Treacherous Advisor: Crouch!Moody, 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: Barty Crouch Jr.'s motive. Since he'll never have approval from his own father he is seeking it from his substitute father figure: Voldemort.
  • 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: Barty Crouch Jr. is closer to being this.
  • Wronski Feint: The Trope Namer.
  • Xanatos Roulette: The whole Tri-Wizard Tournament is hijacked by the scattered remnants of Voldemort's followers for the sole purpose of kidnapping Harry Potter by having him touch a object that would magically teleport him away to their Supervillain Lair. Their overly elaborate plan hinges not only on manipulating the titular Goblet of Fire to draw Harry's name -- an act that immediately draws suspicion since it violates half a dozen Tri-Wizard rules -- but also on Harry's winning (and, for that matter, surviving) a multi-stage tournament that culminates in an obstacle course through a large maze. Surely there had to be a simpler way to get to Harry.
    • "Hey Harry, can you hand that totally non-Portkey object that is on my desk to your old, ailing teacher Moody? Now there's a good lad."
    • 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: Fake Moody had to change his plans when Harry didn't ask Neville for help.
  • You're Insane!: Harry's response to Barty Crouch Jr.'s Motive Rant.
  • Your Mom: Malfoy insults Ron's mother and Harry responds by insulting Malfoy's mother:

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?
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?


Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Goblet_of_Fire_(novel)?oldid=2046933"