Portkey in GOF

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 149554

David:
> Hi all,
> Once again, I am sorry if this has been covered, but if not:  I was 
> wondering why Crouch/Moody went through all of that trouble to have 
> Harry go through the tournament and then make the Goblet the portkey.  
> Why didn't he, for example, just make Harry's toothbrush or pillow the 
> portkey?

Pippin:
If Harry just disappeared then everyone would immediately suspect 
Voldemort, even without corroborating evidence like Snape's dark mark.

According to Sirius, Voldemort didn't want that. He seems to have 
been prepared to plant a story that was easier and more comforting to 
believe than the truth: Harry entered the contest illegally and paid a
sad price for his folly. There was an acromantula in the maze and
maybe other known wizard killers too.

Since no one other than Crouch with his magical eye could see what 
was happening in the maze, a Death Eater  could 
have returned the portkey   for one of the other contestants to
find (Crouch being on hand to make sure that no one discovered it
missing in the meantime. ) The DE could then have been
smuggled out of Hogwarts by Crouch, or if it was Peter, could have
escaped in rat form.

I've always thought that the thousand spectators watching nothing in
particular in the maze and water trials was just JKR's way of taking
the mickey out of sports fans. 

Pippin