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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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A Note Regarding Spoilers

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire can be found here.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000) is the fourth book of the Harry Potter series, written by British author J.K. Rowling. The other books in the series include: (1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (aka Sorcerer's) Stone (1997), (2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), (3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), (5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), (6) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and (7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007). Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was adapted for the screen by American screenwriter Steve Kloves.

This is Harry (Daniel Radcliffe)'s fourth year at Hogwarts. He began attending Hogwarts when he was 11, so he is now 14 years old. Harry affirms this when he tells reporter Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson) that he is 14.

Harry's father was a full-blooded wizard. His mother was a witch born of muggles. They met while attending Hogwarts as students.

Returning are Professor Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith), deputy headmistress of Hogwarts, head of Gryffindor House, and teacher of Transfigurations, Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman, head of Slytherin House and Potions Master, and Professor Filius Flitwick (Warwick Davis), head of Ravenclaw House and teacher of Charms. In addition, we are introduced to Professor Alastor "MadEye" Moody (Brendan Gleeson), newly-appointed teacher of the class in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) is back as the teacher of a class in the Care of Magical Creatures, as is Argus Filch (David Bradley), Hogwarts caretaker. We are also introduced to the headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, the extremely tall Madame Olympe Maxime (Frances de la Tour), and to Highmaster Igor Karkaroff (Predrag Bjelac) from Durmstrang Academy.

Gardener Frank Bryce (Eric Sykes) sees a light in a country house at the Riddle house and sees three people discussing something in secrecy. Two of the discussants are revealed as Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall) and Bartemius Crouch Jr (David Tennant). The third discussant is not revealed. Later in the movie, it is learned that the third discussant is Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

Those were the Death Eaters, wizards and witches who are loyal to Lord Voldemort.

How is Quidditch played?

Quick recap of the rules of quidditch: Each team has seven players: three chasers, two beaters, one keeper, and one seeker. The chasers try to put the big red quaffle ball through one of the opposing team's three hoops. If a chaser is successful, his or her team gets 10 points. The keeper defends his team's hoops. Beaters use small bats to hit bludger balls at the other team's players. Beaters protect their teammates by making sure that the bludgers are always heading toward the other team. The seeker tries to catch the golden snitch ball. When a seeker catches the snitch, his team gets 150 points and the game ends. Usually the team whose seeker catches the snitch will win, but they could also lose if the team is trailing by 160 points or more. If that team's seeker grabs the snitch, they get 150 points and the game is over, but they lose by 10+ points. What happens when a seeker catches the snitch with his or her team trailing by exactly 150 points (thus requiring a tie-breaker scenario) is unknown. One more thing: Quidditch is played while riding on brooms.

Ireland, as evidenced by one of the Weasley twins in the scene following the game. "It looks like the Irish have got their pride on," he says. In the book, Krum (Bulgaria's Seeker), decides to catch the snitch and end the game, even though Bulgaria would not win. The final score is Bulgaria 160 and Ireland 170. Krum knew that the Bulgarians would never be able to catch up to Ireland's excellent Chasers, and so decides to end the match on his own terms. In the movie, Krum is still praised by Ron for his excellent flying skills and for catching the snitch, and, in turn, Ireland supporters celebrate as well since Ireland ended up winning the match. All of this was probably seen as of little importance in comparison to other more important details that had to be put in the film, and so these Quidditch details were cut.

The Goblet of Fire is an old magical cup that spews fire for twenty-four hours before a Triwizard Tournament. Into the cup go the names of those students wishing to be contestants in the tournament. The cup throws out those it believes to be the best candidates for school champions.

The Triwizard Tournament is a competition between three schools of magic -- Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang -- in which the selected student from each school must compete in three dangerous tasks. In this year of the tournament the first task is to retrieve a golden egg from a dragon. The second task is to find and save someone close to the contestant who is chained underwater. The third task is to find and touch a cup placed inside a maze where the hedges are capable of attacking as the contestants attempt to reach it.

Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski) is picked from Durmstrang Academy. Fleur Delacour (Clémence Poésy) becomes the candidate from Beauxbatons. Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) is chosen as the delegate from Hogwarts. Suddenly, the Goblet announces that Harry Potter will be a fourth contestant, even though he is underage.

There are four dragons: 1) the Welsh Green faced by Fleur Delacour, 2) the Chinese Fireball faced by Viktor Krum, 3) the Swedish Short-Snout faced by Cedric Diggory, and 4) the Hungarian Horntail faced by Harry Potter.

An Unforgiveable Curse is one that carries a mandatory life sentence to Azkaban Prison. There are three Unforgiveable Curses: 1) the Imperius Curse (incantation "Imperio"), which allows the user to totally control the victim; 2) the Cruciatus Curse ("Crucio") or Torture Curse, which inflicts horrific pain; 3) the Killing Curse ("Avada Kedavra"). In Goblet of Fire, the Imperius curse is used on Barty Crouch senior, Victor Krum and Harry, the Cruciatus curse on Harry and Cedric, and the Killing Curse on Cedric.

The Floo network that we saw Harry and the Weasleys use to travel in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets can also be used for communication, if one simply uses floo powder and sticks his face into a fireplace.

No. At that point, Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) had not realized that they might have feelings for each other. Hermione went with Krum because he seemed like a nice guy who might show her a fun night. She clearly did not expect Ron's jealous reaction.

In the making of the movie, the stylist said that a blue dress just didn't look good on Emma Watson, so they changed it to pink. Also, since blue screen technique was used to replace the wall at the top of the stairs (as seen in "the making of" and some sneak peeks), a blue dress would obviously have caused contrast problems. Although some viewers claim that pink is associated with futility and that Hermione dislikes it, there is no such thing in the book. In fact, at one point she is described as wearing a pink dressing gown.

Near the end of the movie, it is revealed that Barty Crouch Jr., impersonating Professor MadEye Moody, put Harry's name in the goblet. A confudus charm was then cast on the goblet of fire to make it produce Harry's name after the first three champions had been named. This was done to rig the contest so that Harry could touch the cup in the maze and be portkey-transported to Voldemort.

In the movie: Come seek us where our voices sound / We cannot sing above the ground / An hour long you'll have to look / To recover what we took. The book's version differs slightly: Come seek us where our voices sound / We cannot sing above the ground / And while you're searching, ponder this: / We've taken what you'll sorely miss, / An hour long you'll have to look, / And to recover what we took, / But past an hour - the prospect's black, / Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

That was gillyweed. It caused Harry to grow gills and turned his hands and feet into flippers temporarily.

Moody was swilling polyjuice, a potion that allows him to take the shape of someone else.

This wasn't explained clearly. While Harry is looking for a way to breathe underwater, Hermione and Ron are summoned to the office. When Harry goes underwater to retrieve his most prized possession (Ron) he truly believes the words in the clue. He genuinely thinks that if he doesn't save them, the merpeople will keep him. He is so convinced that he stays there to make sure none of the other captives are taken. In doing so, he doesn't return to the surface within the allotted time and, thus, he fails the task. Because he stayed to make sure everyone was saved, however, he was given bonus points. Later, It was explained to him that Ron and Hermione had been told they would be safe; they were put in a trance to protect them underwater, and, when the task was over, they would have been returned. They made fun of him for thinking Dumbledore would let anything happen to them.

This is explained better in the novel. During his mother's declining years, she wanted to see her son freed before she died. She and Barty Crouch Sr went to visit their son in his cell, and by using polyjuice potion, they were able to reverse their appearances. Barty Jr was smuggled out of Azkaban disguised as his mother, while his mother stayed behind in his cell, dying soon after and buried under her son's name. The elder Crouch controlled his son by way of the Imperius Curse. A woman named Bertha Jorkins learned of this and also that Hogwarts was to host the revival of the Triwizard Tournament. She revealed this information under torture to Voldemort and Wormtail. No mention of this is made in the film, so perhaps the audience is to assume that the younger Crouch learned about the tournament from his father and relayed the information to Voldemort.

Who dies in this film?

There are several deaths in this film. It begins with the death of Frank Bryce, a muggle caretaker who used to work for the Riddle family. A spider is killed by Barty Crouch Jr., and Barty Crouch Sr. (Roger Lloyd-Pack) is later killed by his son. Finally, Cedric Diggory is killed by Peter Pettigrew on Voldemort's order (and using Voldemort's wand).

Voldemort and his followers rigged the Triwizard Tournament in order to get access to Harry Potter's blood so that Voldemort could manifest in a corporeal body. Bone of the father unwillingly given / Flesh of the servant willingly sacrificed / And blood of the enemy forcibly taken. In the novel, Voldemort acknowledges that the blood of any enemy would do, but Harry Potter's blood would confer upon Voldemort the powerful protection granted by Harry's mother. Voldemort shows this by touching Harry on the cheek; in Philosopher's Stone, touching Harry caused Voldemort great pain.

How does the movie end?

With the help of those that Voldemort has killed, Harry escapes from the graveyard through the Portkey, bringing back with him Cedric Diggory's body. Moody confesses to Harry that it was he who put Harry's name in the goblet of fire for the express purpose of delivering Harry to Voldemort. Dumbledore exposes Moody as really being Barty Crouch Jr, escaped from Azkaban Prison. In the final scenes, Ron, Harry, and Hermoine prepare to leave Hogwarts for the summer, promising to write each other (except for Ron).

The book opens with a long history of Tom Riddle Sr. (Voldemort's father), and his parents, who were found murdered one day in their stately manor. The Muggle villagers and the police suspect Frank Bryce, the Muggle caretaker of the house, to be the killer. As there is no clear evidence against him, he is released, but over the years, he is shunned by the villagers who do not believe his innocence. The scene where Frank, who still took care of the declining house all those years, discovers that there are intruders, is in the movie. The main differences are that Barty Crouch Jr. is not present, and Frank has a short conversation with Voldemort, in which he demands that he face him like a man; Voldemort replies he is no man, but complies anyway. The 'thing' that Frank sees is not described, but it causes him to scream in fear before he is killed by the green flash of the Killing Curse.

The movie then cuts to Harry waking up at the Weasleys' residence. In the book, however, he wakes up at home with the Dursleys. He gets a letter from Ron who tells him they will come and pick him up for the Quidditch World Cup. However, they use the Floo Network and enter through the fireplace, which terribly upsets the Dursleys.

The entire Quidditch game was omitted from the movie for time reasons. In the book, Victor Krum grabs the Snitch, but this cannot prevent Ireland from winning with a 10-point difference.

While the Death Eaters are destroying the camp site, Harry is not knocked unconcious as in the movie, but he notices that his wand is missing. He also has another run-in with Draco Malfoy. Harry does not see the person who conjures up the Dark Mark (as later revealed, this person was hidden under an Invisibility Cloak), he merely hears the incantation 'Morsmordre' being spoken. Unfortunately, Aurors locate Harry's wand at the place and confirm that it was used to create the Mark, so they have an even more legitimate reason for suspecting Harry of conjuring the Mark than in the movie.

While at Hogwarts, Hermione makes numerous issues about how the House Elves are treated at Hogwarts and in general. To improve their lives, she creates the S.P.E.W.-the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare, in spite of the fact that everyone attempts (to no avail) to convince her that House Elves are actually very happy to serve wizards and witches. This House Elf subplot is actually related to the first appearance of the Dark Mark, as in the book, Barty Crouch's house elf, Winky, is accused of casting the Dark Mark, and is fired from the family's service because of it. In reality, Winky was covering for Barty Crouch Jr. For the audience to be able to make sense earlier of who is behind this plot, the younger Crouch is seen both casting the Mark, and conspiring with Voldemort and Wormtail.

Harry and Sirius also correspond regularly in the book, rather than just once. He also meets Sirius in person shortly before the final task, and then again shortly after, when Dumbledore recruits both Sirius and Snape to begin recruiting and spying activities on behalf of the Order of the Phoenix.

An entire character that was omitted from the film is Ludo Bagman, an ex-Quidditch player working for the Ministery of Magic. He is introduced during the Quidditch World Cup chapters as a gentle and good-natured man who is very partial to gambling. Throughout the book he tries to give Harry some advice about the tasks to come, not in the least because he is betting heavily on Harry and hopes this information will help Harry winning. Later on, he becomes one of the suspects who could have put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire, as Harry witnesses one of Dumbledore's memories in the Pensieve: it is revealed that Bagman was brought to trial as a suspected Death Eater, but he was acquitted as he had not really joined their ranks. He is involved in a lengthy subplot with Fred and George, who bet all their savings on the outcome of the Quidditch World Cup and won, but were paid in leprechaun gold (which vanishes eventually). It is eventually revealed he had his gold taken by a group of goblins to whom he was in debt, and so bet on Harry to win the Triwizard Tournament.

Barty Crouch Jr's existence is not revealed until the final part of the book. He is not mentioned until between the Second and Third Tasks, when Harry sees him on trial in the Pensieve. He is not open about his guilt as he is in the film and begs his father to show him mercy. He is assumed to have died in Azkaban (see above) and is eventually given the Dementor's Kiss accidentally.

Those are the same obstacles which the champions face in The Maze as it's presented in the book. The whole concept of The Maze was drastically altered for the film, including what sort of obstacles it would present.

*A defence against the dark arts class is shown in which Moody teaches the students the Unforgiveable Curses.

*A class is shown where McGonnagall teaches the students how to waltz.

Harry asks Dumbledore about the spirits that emerged from Voldemort's wand during their duel. Dumbledore calls it simply 'Priori Incantatem' and adds that no spell can really bring back the dead. The book is more detailed about this. Dumbledore explains that, in the rare occasion when the spells of two wands collide, the wands can spill out some sort of 'recording' of the previous spells performed by that wand, in reverse order, a Priori Incantatem. In the case of Voldemort's wand, they are the images of the people he killed with the Avada Kedavra curse. Dumbledore also adds that the interlocking of two wands is an extremely rare event, which will only happen when the two wands involved are akin to each other; in this case, both Harry's wand and Voldemort's each contain a feather from the same Phoenix as their core, making them "brother wands." In the movie, this last explanation is not given anywhere, and this may mean that, in the movies, the colliding of two spells can always occur when they are fired at the same time and meet in mid-air.

This is the most common criticism of the plot of both novel and film. It is never explained in either why Crouch Jr. (in his disguise as Moody) could not simply have turned one of Harry's books (for example) into a Portkey and sent him to Voldemort in that way, rather than entering him in the Triwizard Tournament and helping him in the tasks so that he would touch the Triwizard Cup-Portkey first.

The most likely explanation is that Voldemort does not want it to be known - or even suspected - that he has returned to his corporeal form (i.e, his body). The unexplained disappearance of Harry Potter would place the wizarding world on high alert. The Order of the Phoenix would reform, suspected Death Eaters would likely be interned, and Voldemort would face an uphill struggle to power. But, as stated in the graveyard, he wants to kill Harry Potter in a fair fight in front of his Death Eaters to prove conclusively that he is the superior one. So, he must engineer a way for Harry to vanish, his body never to be found, with no one made to be suspicious. The Triwizard Tournament supplied this chance.

The first task took place in full view of hundreds of people, so Crouch Jr. had to wait. The second task would give him a chance, but he knew of Dumbledore's friendship with the merpeople; if Harry was kidnapped underwater, they would know of it and tell Dumbledore. The third task took place in a maze with no one present but the champions, so Crouch Jr. could sabotage the other three's chances and be confident that Harry would reach the cup first. Crouch Jr. hopes that when Harry does not return, it will be assumed that one of the various monsters in the maze killed and ate him.

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