Giant questions

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Chapter 30

Some apparently unrelated items find their way into our latest musings about our young heroes.

Harry unwittingly helps Ron by giving his Triwizard winnings to Fred and George to open a joke shop in Diagon Alley. Their conspicuous exit from Hogwarts apparently took pressure off Ron as the Quidditch goalie.

They'll be sorry they weren't there to see little brother lead the Gryffindors to the Cup.

Umbridge and Filch are still doing battle with all of the curses and spells left behind by Fred and George and continued by others. Those two were apparently quite inspirational.

But let's talk about the giant in the room.

I wonder what purpose Grawp serves in the story. I suppose something down the road, but it's hard to imagine what. Maybe just another misstep to get Hagrid in more trouble.

Hagrid's heart, though, is as big as his girth. The way he cares for creatures that no one else does is admirable. Though he sure doesn't care much for centaurs.

I suppose all of this is somehow helping to lead us to the book's climax. At some point I expect Umbridge to be gone. We will learn more about Harry's dreams. And we'll see if Harry's claims of the return of Voldemort will be believed outside of the Order. It might take a conspicuous act by Voldemort for that to happen.

Only eight more chapters to go.

The truth comes out

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 35

I can't prove it, but I knew something was up when Mad-Eye Moody was suddenly a Death Eater. I know unexpected things happen in this story, but that just didn't fit. It's like I was channeling Dumbledore. Neither of us was surprised when he turned out to be an imposter.

Of course, I didn't know it was the junior Crouch. That was quite a tale he got to tell of how he escaped Azkaban and showed his loyalty to Lord Voldemort. He cursed Mad-Eye and took his place with the old Polyjuice Potion trick. (Drinking something with somebody's hair in it is not something I could do. Gag me with a spoon.) He incapacitated his father, later killed him, turned him into a bone and buried him like a dog would. Then he turned the Triwizard Cup into a portkey. That's one busy bad guy.

And poor Winky was made an accomplice. Dobby won't be happy.

I just had a thought. Because Harry saw all of those Death Eaters, will he have to go into witness protection?

He's gaining strength ...

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 28

Now we might be getting somewhere. Mr. Crouch's revelation about Voldemort gaining strength feels like the first big plot advancement in a good while. Of course, Crouch has disappeared, so we can't ask him any more questions. But there are only about another 150 pages, so I will exercise patience.

We also find out that the third task will be a maze. It's an idea that certainly has potential for all kinds of twists and turns to the plot. I have been wondering what the Triwizard Tournament had to do with the central plot of Voldemort vs. Harry, and my crystal ball is showing me that the Dark Lord will make an appearance during the third task. I could be wrong, but I'll bet for sure that Pettigrew will rear his ugly head.

Crouch's mumblings will be news that Sirius will be eager to hear. For his sake, it would be nice if he could clear his name soon and leave the dog days behind.

The crystal ball also shows me that lots more relationship drama is in my reading future. I suppose it will relate somehow, but sometimes I'd rather read about the Dursleys. At least their ridonkulousness is funny.

Wand-ering what's next

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 17

As I suspected, everyone had two cents to throw into the discussion of whether Harry should be permitted to compete in the Triwizard Tournament.

Ze French tried to appeal to Dumbly-dorr, but he refused to go against ze goblet. Is he just playing by the rules, or does he know something we don't. He's wearing a pretty good poker face if he does know something.

The first task ought to make the champions want to see Pomfrey for a sleeping pill. Knowing that you will have to defeat some unknown danger can't be comforting. Harry does have experience, though. Plus he's not taking this as seriously as the others, so he ought to be more relaxed. His resourcefulness should be a strength.

Of course, the students aren't buying the truth from Harry that he didn't put his name in the goblet. Even his best friend won't believe him.

So how did Harry's name get in there? Was it a joke? Was it to get him killed? Do I smell a rat?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 18

Hermione's powers of observation are still intact. She saw the genuine disbelief on Harry's face when his name was called. Ron, however, is slow on the uptake as always. He typically goes for the obvious, which in this case is that Harry somehow must have put his name in the goblet.

It's really quite flattering if you think about it that all the students think Harry is clever enough to get past Dumbledore and put his name in the goblet. If that's true, then Harry has to be the favorite to win the tournament.

Now Malfoy as we all know is an idiot who does nothing but play on his social status and elevate himself by putting others down. But I will give him credit for being smart enough to pull the stunt with the badges in front of Snape. Had this happened in front of anybody else, Malfoy would have been the one in detention for inciting the incident.

Maybe Ron and Harry will make up in detention and make a plan.

The wand inspection wasn't too exciting until we learned that Harry's wand shares some common ancestry with Voldemort's wand. The entanglement between these two continues. I'll accept anything that comes along as long as Voldemort never says, "Harry, I am your father."

Not sure what's coming next, but we do have the clandestine meeting between Harry and Sirius to look forward to on 11/22.

Only the Goblet knows

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 15

Obviously you have to get up earlier in the morning than Harry did to fool Sirius Black. I told Harry not to worry about Sirius. Maybe now he will take my advice.

No surprise that Harry was able to fight and beat the Imperius Curse. If you can beat the Avada Kedavra as a baby, then you ought to be able to beat a lesser curse as a teen. Still, I'm sure Mr. or Mrs. Potter had plenty to do with that. That knowledge, I surmise, has a lot to do with Harry's bravery.

The arrivals of the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were predictably elaborate. They do like impressing one another, not that it does any real good.

Madame Maxime summoned images of the Queen of Hearts from the old animated Disney version of "Alice In Wonderland." Not just her size, but also her manner.

And Viktor Krum is in the house. How exciting.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 16

But not as exciting as the announcement of the champions. As I began this chapter and read about Krum's presence, the great welcoming feast, Fred and George's ill-fated attempt at beating the age requirement and Hagrid's crush, I couldn't help but wonder if Harry would end up in the Triwizard Tournament. I didn't think it would be as the fourth, though.

I suppose we will find out how this happened, because I'm sure Maxime and Karkaroff won't like Hogwarts having two players in the tournament and will demand answers. But the Goblet has spoken, so I'm sure there is no undoing what's been done.

Betting and handicapping isn't my thing, but I would lay heavy odds on Harry winning the tournament. He has the instincts, and he's already encountered more danger than the others combined.

I wonder though ... are dark forces at work here.

The Mad Identity

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 11

So who was sneaking around old Mad-Eye Moody's yard? There are lots of suspects, but I won't speculate.

Mad-Eye might be the most colorful name yet. He could be a pirate or a pro wrestler or a hitman. With a name like that he has to play a central part to our developing story.

Is it just me or is there more interaction with muggles in this book. We always have the Dursleys, of course, but we had the theatrics at the campground and now we have these poor taxi drivers. I'm positive that veteran taxi drivers figure they've seen it all, but these guys have story to top the others in the garage.

I see Malfoy hasn't changed over the summer. Harry needs to ask Malfoy: "What have you ever won?" Some say it ain't bragging if you can't back it up (not a theory I subscribe to), but Malfoy has nothing to point to that he's ever done on his own. Where would he be without daddy and his sidekick goons?

So what's Malfoy's big secret? Keep reading.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 12

I'm sorry, but I have a soft spot for Peeves. He has great comedic timing and knows just how to rile everybody. When everybody's wet, make 'em wetter.

What? No Quidditch? I can't say I'm sorry about that. It can get a bit old at times. But now we have the Triwizard Tournament. At first I thought it was a competition for three-legged magic students.

I'm not sure this decision will be good for morale. It's already fixing to get Fred and George Weasley into trouble. I can just hear their mother: "You should be doing better on your O.W.L.'s."

Ah, old Mad-Eye is a teacher. I'm sure Snape and the Malfoys will think this is a terrible idea, but who better to prepare Harry to do battle with Voldemort? I look forward to seeing if Mad-Eye has mad skills.

What will become of Hermione's crusade for house-elf rights? Guess she has to have something else to keep her busy this year because she won't be time-traveling to take extra classes.

And Harry definitely has his first crush. Ain't that sweet.