Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 

 

Finished with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and its another disappointing outcome for me it terms of my playing a detective :-(

 

Then only thing that I was able to guess was that Moody was the one who placed Harry's name on the Goblet of Fire. The problem with that was that its not even Moody who did it.

 

The things that I need to discern or decipher on the book were; who put Harry's name on the Goblet of Fire, why was Ludo Bagman and Mad-Eye Moody so keen in helping Harry win, how does Rita Skeeter know what's been happening in Hogwarts when she is banned from going near it? And who was the person that George and Fred are blackmailing?

 

As I said, I got lucky with Moody, who was not Moody. Does that count? I've always thought that Bagman was the  Death-Eater, but his reason for his wanting too bad for Harry to win was too petty. Ludo was a gambler and he need to have Harry win to ge relief from a fix. And it turned out the Ludo was the one the Fred and George are contemplating of blackmailing because Ludo did not give the twin's winnings on their bet on the Quidditch World Cup.

 

Then Rita Skeeter's being able to write controversial scoops while banned from Hogwarts was a matter of bugging :-) She can turn herself into a bug, why didn't I thought of that.

 

Its another exciting journey, reading HP and the Goblet of Fire, although the book focused on the Triwizard Tournament, and the three tasks were by no means simplistic and easy to achieve, Rowling was able to insert a lot of emotions while Harry was waiting and anticipating his upcoming task.

 

Emotions also ran high when Harry and Ron had a misunderstanding and were not speaking with each other.

 

And Ron confronted Hermione of cavorting with the enemy since she agreed to be Krum's date to the Yule Ball, Hermione said to Ron that, if he does not like that, he should have ask her first to be her date on the ball, rather than as replacement. There's an inkling of what Ron really feels towards Hermione, and I will not be surprise if they will become partners.

 

I started HP and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday, I'm just on the first chapter but its already revealing and exciting.

 

Some things that I took notes on while reading the book:

 

* HP and the Goblet of Fire is turning out to be sinister and gloomy with the death of Cedric. This is no longer kid's stuff. The days when Harry is thinking about how to ask a girl for a date or worry about studying are slowly disappearing to be replaced by a new one, to prepare when he and Voldemort will finally battle.

 

* Not really good with being a detective as evidenced by my not catching again the clue Hagrid had said during the Care for Magical Creatures class. He said that leprechaun's gold disappears after a few hours. Suddenly Ron became upset and I didn't know why. Only when he asked Harry why he did not told him that the gold he had given him during the Quidditch World Cup disappeared did I realize what he was upset about.

 

*  I was finding the Second Task a bit boring but got a very excited when I found out what the Merpeople had taken. When Harry learned what the Merpeople had taken, 10 minutes before he needs to start the task... whew! Its heart-pounding, I can't wait for finish the chapter and see what happens.

 

I have read a lot of books and had almost resigned myself to not experiencing being taken by surprise. But J.K. Rowling's treatment of her books is very different. Its like... magic!

 

* Harry and Ron's making up after Harry was able to successfully complete his First Task was very emotional. Add to that was Hermione's crying when they finally made up.

 

* The way J.K. Rowling describes how Harry feels when they are about to face their first task was very involving, I felt myself being nervous to the point of having sweaty palms. I felt Harry's anxiety when Professor Mcgonagall called and accompanied him to the tent, left him at the tent's opening, when Bagman was explaining the procedure for their first task and when harry was left all alone in the tent.

 

Some funny, interesting scenes:

 

* When Fred and George intentionally dropped a Ton-Tongue toffee for Dudley to see and eat and when he ate it, his tongue became swollen and reach 4 feet before they allowed Mr. Weasley to help him.

 

* When Ron was saying that Percy was obsessed with his work at the Ministry of Magic and mocked him that Percy and his boss will announce their engagement soon.

 

See you on my next update.