If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.
Rating: 4/5
Trigger Warnings: violence, death
Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t read the book, this review will contain spoilers so it’s up to you if you continue…
So for a while I’ve been saying I didn’t like Goblet of Fire that much, but I really, really enjoyed this reread. Finally we have an opening that isn’t just a re-introduction to Harry Potter and his childhood. It was so interesting to read this dark mysterious opening rather than the repetition of Privet Drive being a very normal place and Harry being the one strange thing because he has magic. That has been reiterated in every book but at some point an author needs to accept that if a reader is picking a book series, they can retain enough information to know the protagonist attends a magical school.
The darkness of this opening, along with it turning out to be Harry’s dream, really starts to introduce the bigger themes of the series as well. Here is where things start to take a turn towards darkness, where the books stop being for children and approach more mature themes. The seeds are being sown that Rowling will later reap, making us realise just how planned out this series was, how thoroughly she had thought through the plot.
I also really appreciate the expansion of the magical world that comes along with the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament. Even now we’re learning more about the Wizarding World (though I think we’re all starting to question how much we can listen to Rowling as she continues to create more), but I think the fourth book was really the first time we realised how much magic there was outside of Hogwarts. For books 1-3, the action takes place almost exclusively at Hogwarts, with Privet Drive, The Burrow, Diagon Alley, and Hogsmeade as our other main locations. Goblet of Fire really shows magic to be a worldwide phenomenon for the first time, and brings with it the varying cultures of other countries and the way they utilise magic.
The Quidditch World Cup was particularly exciting as it showed how well Rowling had thought about all aspects of the magical world; not only does a massive sporting event take place, but there is travel and security and accommodation all thoroughly explained to us. I really believe that the highest praise I can give this book is its demonstration of a well-built world - it is one of Rowling’s biggest strengths.
The introduction of more magical schools was also a very clever addition to prove the presence of worldwide magic and cultural differences (the film’s gender division within Durmstrang and Beauxbatons frustrates me more than I care to express). The world expansion in terms of magical creatures was equally as good as the globalisation of magic. Veela, leprechaun, blast-ended skrewts, dragons, merpeople, sphinx, nifflers and more are all introduced in the fourth book, and it’s really fun to learn new things about the Wizarding World. The Tournament was also a fun way to mix up what was happening in the books. As I said above, most the action takes place at Hogwarts, so every year it is at school that threats seem to take place, and whilst the Tournament took place at the school, it changed up the pattern of things, taking away quidditch and giving us something new to read about.
It was also fun to learn something new about the characters; Hermione’s political motivations were revealed with SPEW, Ron’s jealous side came out showing he wasn’t just loyal to Harry no matter what and Harry…well we know a lot about Harry, but I’m going to say we learnt about his laziness in Goblet of Fire. He repeatedly lied about how well he was doing with the golden egg puzzle because he kept putting it off - and it’s so true of what most teenagers would do. His fear of disappointing people as a motivation was very touching, but made his lack of progress all the funnier. The increased contact with Sirius was also really fun because we can see a real relationship developing between the two. I’d have loved to see them live together; Sirius would have been a really awful influence on Harry, but it would have been so much fun.
The final thing I want to rave about is the introduction of politics. Fudge is infuriating and ignorant and just a whole issue, but the introduction of politicians not only makes it feel real, but shows the complexity at play. Voldemort is really back, no longer an abstract threat, and Dumbledore (plus, you know, everyone except Fudge) realises that this means war. Things aren’t going to be the same from here and this is going to affect everyone, not just those at Hogwarts. Again, it’s the expansion of the world that is important. Sure, Voldemort’s a threat, but until we see the complexity and fullness of the world, that threat does not seem as large as it is. A whole political system indicates that this story is now bigger than Harry and Hogwarts. (Moment of appreciation for Hagrid, by the way, who treats Harry like normal, tells him things are going to change now, but that that’s okay and they will handle it when they come to it. He’s a really wonderful character.)
So I feel like this whole review has been me raving about the planning and detail Rowling puts into her books…well, the main 7 at least, the rest of her writing has been a little questionable. However, it’s what I love about the Harry Potter Series. The plots are interesting mysteries which are engaging, but the reason rereading them is so fun is because I can rediscover the world I loved so much, with all its subtleties.
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