Is this the last hurrah?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 33

The short-sighted, greedy bad guy rises again. "... give him back his wand," the Dark Lord demands. How foolish and how sociopathic of him. (Somebody call those dudes on "Criminal Minds," and they'll find Voldemort and put him away.)

Yes, Voldemort feels the need to prove to his minions (no surprise Lucius Malfoy is present) that he is indeed stronger than Harry Potter.

In a bit of an aside, it is interesting that V (getting tired of typing the whole name) is calling all of his allies together: death eaters, dementors, giants, an army of creatures, the Joker, Al Capone, Blackbeard and Attila the Hun. Does the Ministry of Magic stand a chance?

V explains, at Malfoy's request, how Harry's mother protected her baby, and he admits to his own lack of foresight to anticipate the cleverness of Mrs. Potter. So his spell actually spelled defeat for himself. At least that's his story. He is telling his hooded horde that it wasn't Harry who defeated him. We'll see. I'm not buying that story yet.

The huge question addressed at the end of this chapter is who is V's mole at Hogwarts? My guess is that the first name that comes to every reader's mind is Snape. But is he just the obvious choice that every mystery writer wants us to assume? Could be. The information is withheld to either make us question that it's Snape or because it is someone else.

One thing I know for sure is that V's plans for Harry will be an epic fail in the next chapter. The list of good guys to escape these circumstances is long and distinguished. Plus, there are more books, so I know it can't end here. Hope I didn't spoil it for anybody who happened along this blog and is in the same place I am.

I have no clue how Harry will get out of this, but I'm pretty sure giving him back his wand was a mistake. Harry's spent a lot of time looking up spells in dusty books.

But I do plan to find out today.