ESCAPE TIME!  with KC Heath

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
J. K. Rowling
Arthur A. Levine Books, An Imprint of Scholastic Press, 2000
Hardback 734 pages
ISBN # 0-439-13959-7

 

Voldemort is back!  In the flesh!  But that is a mystery this book has to solve.  The beginning questions are: Why is Harry's scar hurting? and, Who put his name in the Goblet of Fire?

This year at Hogwarts they won't play Quidditch because an old tradition has been revived for something different to do this year: The Triwizard Tournament.  Champions from two other schools spend the year at Harry's school in competition with Hogwarts' chosen champion.  Student's seventeen years and older get to put their names in the Goblet of Fire.  The next day it spits out one name from each school.  Except, it produced four names.  Harry is too young to compete.  Everyone is angry at him for putting his name where it didn't belong.  Hogwarts isn't supposed to have two champions--that isn't fair.  How could a Triwizard Tournament have four champions?

Very few people believe Harry when he says he did not put his name in the Goblet.  Even Harry's best friend Ron is mad at him.  But Professor Dumbledore and Harry's friend Hermione believe him.  They agree that someone is out to kill Harry.  The Triwizard Tournament is dangerous.  Someone could get killed in a way that would look like an accident.  Especially since Voldemort has hidden his most loyal Death Eater at Hogwarts!  Oooo, but it does get scary.

But this book is full of laughs, too.  Like when George and Fred pull pranks on other students (my favorite is the Canary Cremes: pastries that give you feathers when you eat them!).  Oh, and I really enjoyed seeing Hermione get even with Rita Skeeter for embarrassing her in the Daily Prophet.  But the best part for me was when Ron and Harry made up--it sure is nice to have a good friend.

Rowling's magical mystery has top-notch characterizations.  She caught me by surprise on who her mysterious Death Eater was, the one who steers Harry right into Voldemort's clutches!   And of course, there is always a group of kids that are nasty: the Slytherins continue to make Harry's life miserable.  And the Hogwart's professors each have a grand personality all to their own: like the half-giant Hagrid who teaches Care of Magical Creatures.  This year Hagrid introduces his students to Blast-Ended Screwts: repulsive lizardy things that grow very large, are strong and have stings, suckers, and fire-blasting ends.
 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a very well written story, perfect for parents to read to their kiddos at bedtime (and for the child inside us older folks too).  The story flows well through Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts, through highs--like seeing Hermione dancing with Viktor Krum while Ron fumes jealously in the corner--and lows--like when Harry feels death in his hand....  But the story has lots of ups and downs and ups....  Go see for yourself!