Chapter Discussion: Chapter Seventeen, Goblet of Fire: The Four Champions

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 192263



> 1. What do you think McGonagall whispered to Dumbledore?

Annemehr:
I always wanted to know that!  I don't want it to have been anything so boring as "Dumbledore, you can't let Harry compete!  It's too dangerous!"  Even though that's surely something she *would* say.

> 
> 2. Do you think that any of the students believed Harry did not put his name
> in the Goblet?
> 

Annemehr:
I speculate that Krum may have had an open mind.  He knows what it is like to be a celebrity, and doesn't seem to care about it much. What he cares about is Quidditch.  He would be familiar with unwelcome attention and having to attend functions he wouldn't have chosen himself.  I also wonder whether he really cared about being in the Triwizard Tournament. Perhaps he entered because it was expected of him.  If so, this would make him less threatened by another entrant.

In the little room, when they were first aware there were four champions, Krum scowled.  Since he scowled even before the Quidditch World Cup, I don't see scowling necessarily as a sign of anger in him.  More like concentration, sometimes.  He may have been thinking, rather than jumping to conclusions.

> 3. What was your impression of the three other champions at this point?

Annemehr:
I only recall disliking Fleur for her dismissive remark about Harry.  And if she really thought so little of him, why did she seem to feel threatened by him?  I think there was some personal dishonesty/mental disconnect going on with her.

> 
> 4. There is a magical contract that forces any student whose name comes out
> of the goblet to compete in the tournament, however, we are never told what
> the terms of this contract might be. Speculate: what do you think the
> contract entails? What if Harry had loving guardians, how would they react
> to his participation, be it James/Lily or Sirius?

Annemehr:
I'm having trouble coming up with an answer, and I wonder if JKR had the same trouble and so left it out.  Death and Azkaban seem a bit extreme, for just a tournament.  In fact, a binding magical contract of any sort seems a bit extreme for just a tournament.  Why wouldn't you just lose by forfeit by not showing up?  

Based on this magical contract thingy, I don't think James, Lily, or Sirius would have been able to do anything.

> 
> 5. The Wizarding world doesn't seem to have the same attitudes about
> children as the Muggle world. Of course, the three other participants are of
> legal age, but does Harry being forced to participate seem like another
> indication of the WW's more lax or open sort of attitudes? An example of
> this attitude could be that even in first year, Astronomy classes were held
> at midnight, a time when most eleven-year-olds in our world would be asleep.
> Can you think of other examples?

Annemehr:
The Tournament was not even restricted to wizards who were of age, originally.  The Age Line was something Dumbledore added.  So that is one indication, even though you could normally expect the older, more experienced student would be the ones chosen.

There is also the fact that children get wands at the age of eleven, and we have seen that some are capable of learning to do quite powerful things with them fairly quickly.  Consequently, if they wish to be, they can be well armed with a powerful weapon as minors.

And it's not just minors, either - crazy things happen to the adults, too.

I think the WW is this way partly for the fun of writing and reading it, and partly because Harry & co. need to be able to do a lot of things to get to the end of the story.


> 
> 6. Do you think Dumbledore used Legilimency on Harry when he asked him about
> putting his name in the Goblet? If you do, how do you feel about him doing
> so?
> 

Annemehr
Yes, I think so, and I have no problem with it.  Parents, or those in loco parentis, have to treat children in ways that would be wrong to treat adults, in order to get them safely to adulthood.  DD obviously needs to know for sure if this is an attack on Harry or not.

> 7. Did you think there was anything strange going on with Crouch after
> reading this chapter?
> 

Annemehr:
I thought his illness was going to be important somehow, but I never guessed it was the Imperius Curse at the time.


> 8. Knowing the overall outcome of the saga, in particular Snape's loyalties
> and motives, do you think he really believed Harry put his name in the
> goblet, or was this just part of his act? And if you think he did really
> believe Harry did it, do you think he truly believes Harry could outwit
> Dumbledore's protections against underage wizards entering the tournament?

Annemehr:
I wonder if he thought DD meant Harry to do it, as he meant Harry to find the Stone at the end of PS/SS and to get Sirius free in PoA.  I don't think DD told Snape enough for Snape to really know the answer to that.  Either way, it would have been a huge strain on Snape knowing he had this new danger to protect Harry from.  No wonder he was angry.

> 
> 9. During the adult confrontations, Moody seems to be one of the most calm,
> apparently thinking only of what this might mean for Harry. Looking back,
> did you have any suspicions of Moody at this point?

Annemehr:
No, I thought he was in Auror mode, and thus in a good mental state.

As a retired Auror with many enemies, I think it was unsurprising that in his inactivity his mind kept spinning over all the possibilities so that he ended up being a bit paranoid. (And is it really paranoia if there are people who really are out to get you?) But in this scene, he had something specific to deal with, and so I thought he quite naturally slipped back into his old job, with the mental acuity that went with it.

So, no, at this point his behavior made sense to me, and I had no idea he was not really Moody at all.


> 
> 10. Knowing Harry, one of the most devastating things to happen was most
> likely the way Ron behaved. What did you think about Ron's reactions? Did
> you expect him to feel the way he did? Did you think he'd get over this
> quickly? That it might last a while? That it might end their friendship? 

Annemehr:
I felt it was disloyal of Ron to be so *sure* that Harry had left Ron out of his plans.  I wouldn't have minded if Ron had been just suspicious; it was his certainty that bothered me.  Because there was no way for them to get past that until something huge came along to force Ron to change his perspective (i.e. Harry's near death by dragon).  What if the task weren't so terrifying?  They may have been estranged indefinitely, and all for nothing.

I was very relieved when they finally made up.



Thank you for the interesting batch of questions!

Annemehr