The names in the Goblet

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 96718

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, tyler maroney <tmar78 at y...> wrote:
> Carol:
> So Dumbledore is right--there's no escaping the
> contract and Harry has no choice to participate.
> 

> Tyler:
> 
> I can't help but wonder though...if Harry had refused
> to participate,  what would the consequence have been?
> ...edited...
> 

bboy_mn:

Pure speculation, but I wonder if the Goblet wasn't charm in a way
that created a magic 'compulsion' for all contestants whose names came
out. Sort of an Imperius-like compulsion that forces them to compete.

Example, Harry could wake up one morning and say 'screw it, I'm not
competing', but none the less when the time came, he would find
himself standing in line with the other champions wondering how and
why he was there.

I suspect it has to be something magical that kicks in once you are
named champion. Civil and criminal penalties just don't seem to fit
the circumstances. As others have pointed out, a fine or a couple
months in Azkaban might seem pretty nice along side facing a 50 foot
firebreathing dragon armed only with a twig.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn