Chapter Discussion: Goblet of Fire Ch. 6: The Portkey

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 191581


> The Portkey
> 
> 1. Much of JKR's WW comes from folklore. What do you think inspired "Portkeys"?
> 
Pippin:
Seven league boots are an element in European folklore. That might have influenced JKR to make this particular portkey a manky old boot. 

I can't remember any folktales of people traveling instantly from place to place. It's more about having the ability to travel as swiftly as wind or a galloping horse. Perhaps it wasn't till the telegraph was invented that people imagined vanishing in one place and instantly reappearing somewhere else far away. And until you had a way of sending messages instantly, how would you even know that such a thing had happened? 


> 2. We finally meet Cedric Diggory after hearing about him last year. What do
> you think of Cedric? What do you think of Mr. Diggory? How does your opinion
> change at the end of the book?

Pippin:
He seemed like a nice kid, modest enough to be embarrassed by his father's boasting.
 
> 3. How would you compare Mr. Diggory and Mr. Weasley as fathers?

Pippin:
I don't know, except that Amos seems a bit pushier. 

 
> 4. The Weasley family doesn't have a lot of extras--so how did they afford all
> these good tickets. Per canon, they didn't have cheap seats.

Pippin:
I remembered someone was returning a favor for Arthur. It shows you that cronyism is so widespread in the WW that even someone as generally principled as Arthur doesn't question it. I would speculate that the name "Harry Potter" had something to do with it, even so. But I bet Arthur wouldn't have been so pleased with his acquisition if he'd known the Malfoy family was going to be sharing the Top Box with him. 
 
> 5. Is this chapter as simple as it looks? What is its purpose?

Pippin:
It gives us a thorough introduction to magical transportation. We need to know what a portkey is and Harry has to have a basic understanding of how they work. 

We find out here for the first time that maintaining wizarding secrecy isn't all fun and games. It's difficult for large numbers of wizards to move about the country. Many wizards can't apparate and there's a concern about overloading the Muggle transportation system. Those who have cheap seats for the world cup had to get there two weeks in advance. 

Of course that means that those who could least afford it had to take the most time off -- and that there was plenty of time for people like Lucius and his pals to spread anti-Muggle venom in the crowd. 

> 6. Your questions here ( Bonus points if you can think of a way to discuss Snape
> relative to this chapter.)

Pippin
Joining the speculation about what Snape was up to, we don't see any of the Hogwarts teachers at the QWC, do we?  Maybe they were off at a conference somewhere.

Pippin