Why Goblet of Fire is the most important book

[Constance Vigilance]

No: HPFGUIDX 170429

Goblet of Fire is replete with elemental symbolism, but in most 
cases, one element is missing. The missing element is usually 
compensated with another item of equal weight in the story.

Follow me to see what I mean.

Three schools. Each one named after an element:

Hogwarts. Hogs root in the earth, earth symbol.
Durmstrang. Strang means storm. Storms bring rain. Water symbol.
Beauxbatons. "Good sticks/wands" Wands are the fire symbol in the 
Tarot.
The missing element is air, but there is the whole World Cup event 
where the players fly in the air.

Three schools arrive at the tournament:

Beauxbatons - arrive in the air in a flying carriage.
Durmstrang - arrive by water
Hogwarts - already there (earth)
The missing element is fire, but Voldy's arrival is via a firey 
cauldron

Three tasks:

Dragons. Breathe fire.
Lake. Water.
Labyrinth. Earth.
The missing element is air, but the cup was a portkey, designed to 
transport the winner by somewhere by air

Three intended champions, each representing one element:

Fleur: "Plegm" - symbol for water element
Krum: Seeker - flies in the air
Cedric: Hufflepuff house - earth
The missing element is fire, but then Harry is selected. He is a 
Gryffindor, which is a fire symbol.

JKR has left lots of hints that there needs to be a balance of all 
things. The Sorting Hat tells us that all the houses need to come 
together. It's like she is setting up all these situations where 
there is an imbalance, but the void finds a way to fill itself.

It is my feeling that things are not going to end well for the 
champions. Remember that the book was going to be called The 
Doomspell Tournament? Perhaps JKR felt that calling it The Tournament 
That Spells Doom might have been too obvious.

Cedric - already dead. But his body is returned. Is there more to 
that then just sympathy for his family?

Fleur - marrying a possible werewolf. Would she sacrifice for her 
man? I think she would.

Victor - just the kind of guy who would come to the rescue and die in 
the effort.

And then there is Harry. I think he will die but be resurrected. 
Perhaps he will go through the veil.

Anyway, that's why I think that Goblet of Fire is not the book 
that "doesn't fit", but is the book that lays out the whole we-gotta-
come-together mission of the series.

~ CV, speculating while there's still time.