Shall we dance?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 21

Are the house-elves of Hogwarts any relation to the Keebler elves? Can they bake cookies?

Sorry, before we get to the question of whether elves should have free-agent status, I suppose we should address the screaming or howling egg. I have no clue. All it made me think of was a howler. That's all I've got.

So Dobby is getting paid. It doesn't appear that the other elves have ostracized him for it. I wouldn't be surprised if after a while of seeing Dobby with freedom that the others won't start to ask for money.

Apparently, Dobby might be one to provide intelligence on enemy movements. It's not surprising that he called the Malfoys bad dark wizards. But what about Winky's slip about Bagman being a bad wizard? Might be that Crouch just doesn't like him, or it might mean something dark. The light of truth will shine eventually.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 22

The Yule Ball. Now this is starting to sound like my high school days.

The pressure to have a date. Friends telling you who to ask. Getting up the nerve. Being turned down. Acting like you don't want to go, but all the time really wanting to go.

Amid all this figuring out who is asking whom to the ball, Hermione raises a good point once or twice. Harry does need to start working on what the egg is revealing about the next task. He shouldn't put all of his eggs in the basket of figuring it out at the last minute.

In the end, everyone finds a date for the ball. Not everyone gets their first choice, but at least no one will go alone.

And that includes Hermione. She won't divulge her date because why? Probably because it's someone they would either make fun of or be jealous of.

Viktor Krum, perhaps.