Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Ch 28-31

Harry Potter and the First Time Readers

Chapter 28 - The Madness of Mr Crouch

• "Master is - hic - trusting Winky with - hic - the most important - hic - the most secret..."

Q1 - What is this secret?

Q2 - What do you think of Nifflers?

• "Oh..." he said, the memory coming back to him at last. "I dunno...I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn't I?" They climbed the steps into the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch. "Must be nice," Ron said abruptly, when they had sat down and started serving themselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. "To have so much money you don't notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing."
• Hermione hung back in their next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson to ask Professor Moody something. The rest of the class was very eager to leave; Moody had given them such a rigorous test of hex-deflection that many of them were nursing small injuries.

Q3 - Is this Moody or Crouch?

Q4 - If Rita isn’t using an invisibility cloak and she can’t use bugging equipment, how is she learning all this stuff?

• Suddenly a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, Harry didn't recognize him...then he realized it was Mr. Crouch.

Q5 - What is Crouch doing out there and in that state?

Q6 - How does this line up with your theory, Jenn?

• Crouch's eyes were rolling in his head. Harry looked around at Krum, who had followed him into the trees, and was looking down at Crouch in alarm. "Vot is wrong with him?" "No idea," Harry muttered. "Listen, you'd better go and get someone -" "Dumbledore!" gasped Mr. Crouch. He reached out and seized a handful of Harry's robes, dragging him closer, though his eyes were staring over Harry's head. "I need...see...Dumbledore...." "Okay," said Harry, "if you get up, Mr. Crouch, we can go up to the-" "I've done...stupid...thing..." Mr. Crouch breathed. He looked utterly mad. His eyes were rolling and bulging, and a trickle of spittle was sliding down his chin. Every word he spoke seemed to cost him a terrible effort. "Must...tell...Dumbledore..." "Get up, Mr. Crouch," said Harry loudly and clearly. "Get up, I'll take you to Dumbledore!" Mr., Crouch's eyes rolled forward onto Harry. "Who...you?" he whispered. "I'm a student at the school," said Harry, looking around at Krum for some help, but Krum was hanging back, looking extremely nervous. "You're not...his?" whispered Crouch, his mouth sagging. "No," said Harry, without the faintest idea what Crouch was talking about. "Dumbledore's?" "That's right," said Harry. Crouch was pulling him closer; Harry tried to loosen Crouch's grip on his robes, but it was too powerful. "Warn...Dumbledore..." "I'll get Dumbledore if you let go of me," said Harry. "Just let go, Mr. Crouch, and I'll get him...." "Thank you, Weatherby, and when you have done that, I would like a cup of tea. My wife and son will be arriving shortly, we are attending a concert tonight with Mr. and Mrs. Fudge." Crouch was now talking fluently to a tree again, and seemed completely unaware that Harry was there, which surprised Harry so much he didn't notice that Crouch had released him. "Yes, my son has recently gained twelve O.W.L.s, most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud indeed. Now, if you could bring me that memo from the Andorran Minister of Magic, I think I will have time to draft a response...."

Q7 - What is this conversation about?

• He raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Harry saw something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird.

Q8 - What kind of magic is this?

Chapter 29 - The Dream

• “You can’t disapparate in the Hogwarts grounds, haven’t I told you enough times?” said Hermione.

Q1 - Who attacked Krum?

• "Maybe he didn't want you to get there!" said Ron quickly. "Maybe - hang on - how fast d'you reckon he could've gotten down to the forest? D'you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore there?" "Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or something," said Harry.

Q2 - Is Snape a vampire?

Q3 - What do you think Snape would turn into if he were an animagus, and what do you think his Patronus would be? Or any characters for that matter…

Somebody was climbing the steps up to the Owlery. Harry could hear two voices arguing, coming closer and closer. "- that's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that-" "- we've tried being polite; it's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did -" "I'm telling you, if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!” "Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?" The Owlery door banged open. Fred and George came over the threshold, then froze at the sight of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Q4 - What are Fred and George doing?

Q5 - Is Harry’s dream real?

Q6 - Who was killed in Harry’s dream?

• "Or else - well..." Fudge sounded embarrassed. "Well, I'll reserve judgment until after I've seen the place where he was found, but you say it was just past the Beauxbatons carriage? Dumbledore, you know what that woman is?" "I consider her to be a very able headmistress - and an excellent dancer," said Dumbledore quietly.

Chapter 30 - The Pensieve

• A shallow stone basin lay there, with odd carvings around the edge: runes and symbols that Harry did not recognize. The silvery light was coming from the basin's contents, which were like nothing Harry had ever seen before. He could not tell whether the substance was liquid or gas. It was a bright, whitish silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the surface of it became ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. It looked like light made liquid - or like wind made solid - Harry couldn't make up his mind.

Q1 - Before Dumbeldore explained this, what did you think this basin was?

• "Crouch is going to let him out," Moody breathed quietly to Dumbledore. "He's done a deal with him. Took me six months to track him down, and Crouch is going to let him go if he's got enough new names. Let's hear his information, I say, and throw him straight back to the dementors." Dumbledore made a small noise of dissent through his long, crooked nose. "Ah, I was forgetting...you don't like the dementors, do you, Albus?" said Moody with a sardonic smile. "No," said Dumbledore calmly, "I'm afraid I don't. I have long felt the Ministry is wrong to ally itself with such creatures."

Q2 - Is Dumbledore right to not want to ally themselves with dementors?

• "Not yet!" cried Karkaroff, looking quite desperate. "Wait, I have more!" Harry could see him sweating in the torchlight, his white skin contrasting strongly with the black of his hair and beard. "Snape!" he shouted. "Severus Snape!" "Snape has been cleared by this council," said Crouch disdainfully. "He has been vouched for by Albus Dumbledore." "No!" shouted Karkaroff, straining at the chains that bound him to the chair. "I assure you! Severus Snape is a Death Eater!" Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. "I have given evidence already on this matter," he said calmly. "Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned spy for us, at great personal risk. He is now no more a Death Eater than I am."

Q3 - Do you think Snape is still a Death Eater?

Q4 - What kind of person do you think Karkaroff is?

Q5 - Do you think Bagman is more seriously a Death Eater than portrayed in this memory?

• The dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the dungeon floor. There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. He was shivering, his straw-colored hair all over his face, his freckled skin milk-white. The wispy little witch beside Crouch began to rock backward and forward in her seat, whimpering into her handkerchief.
• "We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror - Frank Longbottom - and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named -" "Father, I didn't!" shrieked the boy in chains below. "I didn't, I swear it. Father, don't send me back to the dementors -" "You are further accused," bellowed Mr. Crouch, "of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife, when he would not give you information. You planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong. I now ask the jury -"

Q6 - What do you think of Crouch and his son?

Q7 - Are any of the other people recognizable to you?

Q8 - What do you think about the person they were cursing?

• The dementors were gliding back into the room. The boys' three companions rose quietly from their seats; the woman with the heavy-lidded eyes looked up at Crouch and called, "The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!" ​​But the boy was trying to fight off the dementors, even though Harry could see their cold, draining power starting to affect him. The crowd was jeering, some of them on their feet, as the woman swept out of the dungeon, and the boy continued to struggle. "I'm your son!" he screamed up at Crouch. "I'm your son!" "You are no son of mine!" bellowed Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging suddenly. "I have no son!"
• "What is it?" Harry asked shakily. "This? It is called a Pensieve," said Dumbledore. "I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind." "Er," said Harry, who couldn't truthfully say that he had ever felt anything of the sort. "At these times," said Dumbledore, indicating the stone basin, "I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form."

Q9 - Do you like the idea of the Pensieve?

• "Yes," said Harry. "Professor - I was in Divination just now, and - er - I fell asleep." He hesitated here, wondering if a reprimand was coming, but Dumbledore merely said, "Quite understandable. Continue."
• "D'you - d'you know why my scar's hurting me?" Dumbledore looked very intently at Harry for a moment, and then said, "I have a theory, no more than that....It is my belief that your scar hurts both when Lord Voldemort is near you, and when he is feeling a particularly strong surge of hatred." "But...why?" "Because you and he are connected by the curse that failed," said Dumbledore. "That is no ordinary scar."

Q10 - Do you understand why his scar hurts?

• "You know - you know the trial you found me in? The one with Crouch's son? Well....were they talking about Neville's parents?" Dumbledore gave Harry a very sharp look. " Has Neville never told you why he has been brought up by his grandmother?" he said. Harry shook his head, wondering, as he did so, how he could have failed to ask Neville this, in almost four years of knowing him. "Yes, they were talking about Neville's parents," said Dumbledore. "His father, Frank, was an Auror just like Professor Moody. He and his wife were tortured for information about Voldemort's whereabouts after he lost his powers, as you heard." "So they're dead?" said Harry quietly. "No," said Dumbledore, his voice full of a bitterness Harry had never heard there before. "They are insane. They are both in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I believe Neville visits them, with his grandmother, during the holidays. They do not recognize him." Harry sat there, horror-struck. He had never known...never, in four years, bothered to find out…

Q11 - What are your thoughts on this?

• Harry looked into Dumbledore's light blue eyes, and the thing he really wanted to know spilled out of his mouth before he could stop it. "What made you think he'd really stopped supporting Voldemort, Professor?" Dumbledore held Harry's gaze for a few seconds, and then said, "That, Harry, is a matter between Professor Snape and myself."

Q12 - What do you think this is, and is Dumbeldore right?

Chapter 31 - The Third Task

• Harry and Hermione went to see. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it. "He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said Harry curiously.

Q1 - What are these three doing?

• "Yes," said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again, and then held her hand up to her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie. Harry and Ron stared at each other. "I've had an idea," Hermione said, gazing into space. "I think I know...because then no one would be able to see...even Moody...and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge...but she's not allowed...she's definitely not allowed...I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library - just to make sure!" With that, Hermione seized her school bag and dashed out of the Great Hall.

Q2 - How does Rita Skeeter know these things?

• Harry finished his breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. He saw Fleur Delacour get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Harry stayed where he was. He really didn't want to go into the chamber. He had no family - no family who would turn up to see him risk his life, anyway. But just as he was getting up, thinking that he might as well go up to the library and do a spot more hex research, the door of the side chamber opened, and Cedric stuck his head out.

Q3 - Who did you think was going to show up for Harry?

Q4 - Do you really believe Mr and Mrs Weasley were going for a nighttime stroll at four in the morning?

• He had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when he heard something in the path running parallel to his own that made him stop dead. "What are you doing?" yelled Cedric's voice. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?” And then Harry heard Krum's voice. "Crucio!"

Q5 - Is this the first bit of bad language in the books?

Q6 - Why was Krum torturing Cedric?

Q7 - Did you take time to guess what the Riddle was? Did you get it right?

• "I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously!" said Harry bitterly. "Just take the cup!” "No," said Cedric. He stepped over the spider's tangled legs to join Harry, who stared at him. Cedric was serious. He was walking away from the sort of glory Hufflepuff House hadn't had in centuries.

Q8 - What do you think of Cedric?

Q9 - Which of the tasks would have tripped you up?