Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire



Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, published in 2000. A film version of this book was released in November of 2005. This book is seen by many fans as the beginning of darker times in the wizarding world, as it shows the return of Voldemort.

Dedication
To Peter Rowling, in memory of Mr Ridley and to Susan Sladden, who helped Harry out of his cupboard

Book description
The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there are spells to be learnt, potions to be brewed and Divination lessons (sigh) to be attended. Harry is expecting these: however, other quite unexpected events are already on the march...

Chapter 1: The Riddle House
The story begins in the Muggle-occupied village of Little Hangleton, around the Riddle House. The old caretaker, Frank Bryce, sees fires in the house and goes over to investigate. He thinks it is two boys who regularly disturb him. Inside, he overhears Wormtail and Lord Voldemort planning to capture Harry Potter. Frank is then discovered by Voldemort's snake Nagini, and welcomed in by Wormtail. He stands up to Voldemort, but upon seeing Voldemort's current form, is horrified. We can infer by the end of the book that it is a little, red baby like creature. Voldemort then casts the Avada Kedavra spell, ending Frank's life.

Chapter 2: The Scar
The experience is shown to be a dream that Harry had, and he wakes up, with his scar hurting. Harry considers writing to his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and the Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, but eventually decides to write to his godfather Sirius Black, an escaped convict on the run for crimes he did not commit. He does not mention the dream, only his scar hurting.

Chapter 3: The Invitation
The next day Harry gets an invite from Ron to come with the Weasleys and Hermione to the Quidditch World Cup final between Ireland and Bulgaria. Unfortunately, the letter upsets Vernon Dursley and has too many stamps. One mention of his godfather is enough to convince Vernon Dursley to let him go. So, the Weasleys show up later in the day to pick him up through the Floo Network.

Chapter 4: Back to The Burrow
The Weasleys attempt to use Floo powder to access the Dursley household, unaware that there is an electric fireplace. After destroying half the sitting room and gathering Harry, Mr. Weasley sends the boys back, but not before Fred "drops" a Ton-Tongue Toffee. Dudley Dursley attempts to eat it and his tongue grows to four feet long and purple before Mr. Weasley is allowed to fix it After arriving back home, Mr. Weasley is angry with the twins for the stunt they pulled despite their personal reasons.

Chapter 5: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
At the Burrow, Harry learns about Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, a business enterprise Ron's brothers Fred and George had set up to sell their self-invented sweets and prank objects before Mrs. Weasley forced them to stop. He also meets Ron's older brothers Bill and Charlie.

Chapter 6: The Portkey
Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys (excluding Bill, Charlie, and Percy Weasley who would meet up with them later) travel to the site of the Quidditch World Cup Final via a Portkey, an enchanted object that can transport large groups of people across large distances in a short time.

Chapter 7: Bagman and Crouch
Whilst at a campsite occupied by wizards waiting for the match, Harry gets his first taste of the wizarding community outside of Britain and meets Ludo Bagman, the match commentator and head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, who got them their tickets, and Barty Crouch, head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Fred and George make a bet with Ludo: all their life savings and a fake wand that Ireland will win, but the Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum will catch the Golden Snitch. While at the World Cup stadium, Harry meets Winky the house-elf, a friend of Dobby's, saving a seat for Crouch, who never shows up.

Chapter 8: The Quidditch World Cup
The match turns out to be an intense and exciting affair, with amazing skill displayed on both sides, particularly from Krum, and a fight breaking out between the two team's mascots. Ireland storms out to a massive lead and win the match, despite Krum catching the Golden Snitch.

Chapter 9: The Dark Mark
The night after the match, a group of masked wizards attack the camp and torment some local Muggles. Harry, Ron, and Hermione run into the woods, away from the event. They become separated from the others in the dark and run into Draco Malfoy who goads them about the riot, and tells them to keep Hermione, being a mudblood, safe. About the time Harry realises his wand is missing, they hear someone nearby incant "Morsmordre", and they watch the Dark Mark, the sign Voldemort's supporters leave whenever they murder, float into the sky. The Ministry is quick to the scene, stunning anything that moves. After determining that Harry had nothing to do with the Dark Mark, they search nearby to find Winky holding Harry's wand. A quick spell proves that Harry's wand conjured the Dark Mark. Even though no one thinks Winky did it, Barty Crouch publicly fires her. After the attack, the group learn that the hooded wizards were Death Eaters, followers of Voldemort.

Chapter 10: Mayhem at the Ministry
Whilst staying at the Burrow, Harry hears that the Ministry of Magic, already facing criticism as one of its employees, Bertha Jorkins, has gone missing, has come under heavy fire for failing to stop the riot at the Quidditch World Cup or arrest any of the culprits. The criticism is helped along by Rita Skeeter, a journalist well known for her heavily negative stories. Also, Harry tells Ron and Hermione about his scar hurting and his letter to Sirius, and again, does not mention the dream. The three remark on how strange it is; Harry's scar hurting, and the Dark Mark appearing for the first time in thirteen years.

Chapter 11: Aboard the Hogwarts Express
At the King's Cross Station, the kids say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie. The adults suggest that there would be an exciting event at Hogwarts. But they didn't tell what it is. In the Hogwarts Express, Draco Malfoy also speaks on the subject and says that there's glory and money involved in the event.

Chapter 12: The Triwizard Tournament
With the start of the new school year, Professor Dumbledore announces that a very special event is going to take place at Hogwarts this year: The Triwizard Tournament. The Tournament calls for a single champion from each of the three largest wizarding schools in Europe to compete in a series of three trials for the prize of one thousand Galleons. Also during the opening feast, Hermione discovers that Hogwarts houses the largest house-elf population in Britain, and that, to her horror, they live like slaves; not uncomfortable, but without payment. Dumbledore also introduces the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, an ex-Auror named Alastor Moody.

Chapter 13: Mad-Eye Moody
Moody soon establishes his presence in the school, most notably transfiguring Harry's nemesis Draco Malfoy into a white ferret and bouncing him around when he tries to curse Harry when the latter's back is turned. Meanwhile in Care of Magical Creatures class, Hagrid teaches the class about monstrous creatures known as Blast-Ended Skrewts.

Chapter 14: The Unforgivable Curses
In their first lesson with Moody, he shows Harry, Ron, and Hermione the Unforgivable Curses: Imperio, a mind control spell, Crucio, a torturing curse, and Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse.

Chapter 15: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang
On 30 October, delegations from the two other schools, the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute arrive, with their respective heads: Madame Maxime, a woman as big as Hagrid, and Igor Karkaroff. Viktor Krum is also among the Durmstrang students.

Chapter 16: The Goblet of Fire
It is announced that the three champions will be decided by the Goblet of Fire, an enchanted artefact that chooses the most worthy entrants from those students who submit their names. An age line around the Goblet is drawn to prevent under-age students from submitting their names. Predictably, Fred and George attempt to enter, but they are repelled by the line much to everyone's amusement, including Dumbledore's.

Chapter 17: The Four Champions
The champions are soon announced: Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff representing Hogwarts, Fleur Delacour representing Beauxbatons, and Viktor Krum, the Seeker for the Bulgarian Quidditch World Cup team, representing Durmstrang, but then a fourth name is thrown from the Goblet of Fire: Harry Potter. Since Harry neither submitted his name due to the age restriction nor asked an older student to do so, the assembly is dumbfounded, and so is Harry himself. Although protests issue from the heads of the other schools against two Hogwarts champions, it is decided that the Goblet of Fire has spoken and that changes must be made accordingly. While many think Harry has somehow circumvented Dumbledore's age restricting barrier, Moody suggests that perhaps someone entered Harry's name under a fourth school to ensure he would be included in the competition, hoping he might not survive the perilous tasks that awaited the other champions.

Chapter 18: The Weighing of the Wands
Harry's entry into the competition strains his relationship with Ron, who feels once again left in the shadow of his friend. Ron is not alone in shunning Harry; a great many of the students from all three schools assume he somehow cheated his way into the tournament, making Harry's life miserable with the exception of his fellow Gryffindors (excluding Ron) who are proud about Harry being in the tournament. Rita Skeeter then interviews Harry as part of a piece on the Triwizard Tournament during the Wand Weighing ceremony and twists it into a highly inaccurate life story of him. When the article is published, Harry's reputation, and his friendship with Ron, take another blow. As if that were not enough, Harry develops a hopeless crush on Ravenclaw Seeker Cho Chang. Among the things that keep Harry sane is the promise of speaking to his godfather, Sirius Black.

Chapter 19: The Hungarian Horntail
Prior to the First task, the students visit Hogsmeade village. Harry goes with Hermione under his Cloak of Invisibility. While there, Moody sees Harry under his cloak and Hagrid asks Harry to meet him late that night. The Gamekeeper sneaks Harry into a meeting with Maxime, through which he reveals that the first task will involve dragons. Just as he returns to the castle, Sirius contacts Harry via the Floo Network, as they had arranged, and warns him that Karkaroff was once a Death Eater, suspecting he may have put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. Before he can give Harry any advice on getting past his dragon he is interrupted by the appearance of Ron and disappears from the fire. Harry and Hermione then spend the next few days trying to think of a way to subdue a dragon, but have no luck.

Chapter 20: The First Task
Realising the other schools' champions know about the dragons, Harry tips off Cedric to make sure the contest is fair. Moody then appears, and gives Harry some general advice on how to beat his Dragon: to play to his strengths and use a simple spell to get what he needs. With Hermione's help, Harry manages to master the Summoning Charm. On the day of the task, Harry is up against the most violent of the four dragons, the Hungarian Horntail. Harry manages to summon his broom and fly, and he uses flying strategy he had learned as a Quidditch player to lure the dragon off the eggs long enough for him to zoom in and snatch the golden egg, the prize of the task. Ron, realising the true danger of the Tournament becomes Harry's friend again, with most of Hogwarts following suit.

Chapter 21: The House-Elf Liberation Front
Hermione takes Harry and Ron to the Kitchens and there they see a lot of domestic elves, and among them are Dobby and Winky. She is very sad and ashamed for being fired by her old masters. Hermione tries to cheer her up, with no luck. Hermione, then, starts to fight for the rights of the elves.

Chapter 22: The Unexpected Task
Harry ties with Krum for first place and is told that opening the egg will give him the clue for the next task, but when it opens, only a loud screeching noise can be heard. Meanwhile, Harry meets up with Dobby, an old friend, and Winky, who has become depressed since Crouch fired her. Later, Harry finds out he will be expected to take part in the Yule Ball, a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament. Both Ron and Harry unsuccessfully attempt to find dates; Harry asks Cho, but learns that she had already agreed to go with Cedric. This information sours his relationship with Cedric. Meanwhile, Ron tactlessly asks Hermione out, but she is going with someone else. Finally, Harry manages to secure dates for them.

Chapter 23: The Yule Ball
At the ball, it is revealed that Hermione is going with none other than Viktor Krum. This strains Ron's friendship with Hermione as they argue about it repeatedly throughout the night, but by the next day they seem to have decided not to mention the fight. Meanwhile, Crouch is nowhere to be seen. Percy Weasley, Crouch's assistant says that he is simply ill. Neither Harry nor Ron have any interest in dancing and go for a walk in the grounds. While there, they encounter Karkaroff having a worried discussion with Snape, and Hagrid and Maxime enjoying a tender moment. The moment is ruined when Hagrid insinuates Maxime is a Half-giant, like him, offending her. Shortly after the ball, Cedric gives Harry a hint about the egg: to take a bath with it, as thanks for warning him about the dragons.

Chapter 24: Rita Skeeter's Scoop
Harry is reluctant to take Cedric's advice, jealous of his relationship with Cho. Meanwhile, Rita Skeeter publishes a nasty story about Hagrid and his giant heritage, driving him into hiding. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore try to persuade him to return, pointing out the bad people in their own families and that he can never please everyone. Hagrid also remembers his late father telling him never to be ashamed of what he is, and gets over his depression. He gives his support to Harry in the Tournament, believing that if he won, he could show everyone they do not have to be ashamed of what they are.

Chapter 25: The Egg and the Eye
Hagrid's support convinces Harry to shelve his pride and take Cedric's advice. He sneaks into the Prefect's bathroom and opens the egg underwater. This time, it does not scream. Instead, there are voices singing, and Harry realises, with a little help from Moaning Myrtle who had been spying on him, that he must save something he cares about from the depths of the Black Lake. On the way back to Gryffindor tower, he sees Barty Crouch in Snape's office on the Marauder's Map, and goes to investigate. When he falls through a trick stair, he accidentally drops the egg, attracting the attention of Filch the caretaker, Snape, and Moody. Moody saves Harry from being caught, in exchange for the map. Harry then asks what Crouch was doing in Snape's office, and Moody suggests that Crouch was trying to find evidence of Snape being a dark wizard.

Chapter 26: The Second Task
Even with help from Hermione and Ron, Harry struggles to think of a way to breathe underwater for a hour. With a little help from Dobby, Harry discovers gillyweed, a plant that, when eaten, gives him fish like qualities such as gills and fins. He makes his way through the lake, fighting off a swarm of Grindylows, and discovers a town of Merpeople, where Ron (the thing Harry would miss the most) is being held, along with Hermione (for Krum), Cho (for Cedric), and Fleur's sister. Harry frees Ron, but refuses to leave the others, despite the hostility of the Merpeople. Cedric and Krum appear and rescue their loved ones, but Fleur never arrives. With little other choice, Harry drags her sister to the surface as well, narrowly avoiding drowning as the gillyweed wears off. Although he was wrong to think the other hostages would be left to die(they would of simply returned to the surface unharmed), his bravery and valour earn him extra points from the judges who state that he showed great "moral fibre."

Chapter 27: Padfoot Returns
After eavesdropping on Krum and Hermione's conversation on the shores of the lake, Rita publishes an article on Hermione Granger saying that she is toying with both Harry and Krum's feelings, resulting in a lot of hate mail for Hermione over the next few months. Hermione begins wondering how Rita is getting her information.

Chapter 28: The Madness of Mr Crouch
Harry and the other champions are informed the next task will be in a maze, filled with magical obstacles. After being shown the maze, Krum takes Harry aside, and questions him about his relationship with Hermione. Harry assures Krum that he and Hermione are just friends. Moments later, a rather crazy looking Barty Crouch Sr. emerges from the forest, asking for Dumbledore. Harry goes to retrieve Dumbledore, but when he returns, they find Krum has been stunned and Crouch is nowhere to be seen.

Chapter 29: The Dream
Not long later, Harry has a vision of Voldemort being informed of someone's death and then torturing Wormtail. Harry awakens with his scar hurting badly and goes to see Dumbledore.

Chapter 30: The Pensieve
Alone in Dumbledore's office, Harry looks into Dumbledore's Pensieve, a device that stores memories. Harry accidentally ends up going back into three of Dumbledore's memories. The first is the trial of Igor Karkaroff in which he renounces his support of the Death Eaters and gives the names of existing Death Eaters, including Snape. Dumbledore (in the memory) states that Snape had turned spy against Voldemort and is no longer a threat. The second memory consists of the trial of Ludo Bagman, on charges of passing information to Voldemort, but his popularity quickly clears him. The third is the trial of four people; the Lestrange family and Crouch's son, Barty Crouch Jr, for the use of the Cruciatus Curse on Alice and Frank Longbottom. Crouch sentences them all to a lifetime in Azkaban. Having seen his reaction to the dream, Rita Skeeter publishes an article on the day of the Final task stating that Harry is dangerous and mad.

Chapter 31: The Third Task
In the third task, Harry successfully makes it through the maze. He manages to pass Sphinxes and other magical barriers. As he approaches the Cup he is attacked by an Acromantula. Aided by Cedric, he defeats it, and they decide to grab the Cup simultaneously. Unknown to them, the Cup is actually a Portkey that transports them to an old cemetery, in the village of Little Hangleton.

Chapter 32: Flesh, Blood and Bone
Awaiting them is Peter Pettigrew, who is carrying what appears to be a deformed infant. This creature orders Wormtail to kill Cedric, which he does, leaving Harry shocked and angry. Harry is then stunned and tied to a tomb-stone. Here, Wormtail takes some of Harry's blood and cuts off his own hand, at the orders of the strange creature, and places both in a cauldron. The creature is revealed to be Lord Voldemort, and the potion made by Wormtail returns him to full strength, with the new ability to touch Harry. This also means the magic of his mother has been lifted, since now the same blood runs through both their veins.

Chapter 33: The Death Eaters
After summoning his Death Eaters (including Lucius Malfoy), Voldemort reveals how he returned. Following his failure to obtain the Philosopher's Stone, Voldemort fled deep into an Albanian forest, surviving by possessing animals. After fleeing the country after the events of Harry's third year, Wormtail learned of Voldemort's continued existence and sought him out. During his journey, he ran into Bertha Jorkins and brought her to Voldemort. Through torturing her, Voldemort found out about the Triwizard Tournament, and with Wormtail's help, he was able to return to Britain, where he plotted Harry's abduction. He reveals that he had a servant at Hogwarts who has ensured that Harry would win the tournament and be brought to the graveyard.

Chapter 34: Priori Incantatem
Voldemort challenges Harry to a duel. However, his wand and Harry's are "brothers", due to the fact that their wand's cores are both tail feathers from Fawkes. As the wands' streams interlock, gold, a Priori Incantatem effect occurs, causing the spirit echoes of Voldemort's victims, including Harry's parents, to spill out from his wand. The echoes momentarily protect Harry, allowing him to grab the portkey and escape to Hogwarts with Cedric's body.

Chapter 35: Veritaserum
When he arrives back at the school, many of the students begin to cheer before they see the body of Cedric. Harry is then ushered away by Moody and taken to his office where he sits in shock. As Moody probes Harry for information, he reveals he knows that Harry was taken to the graveyard. Harry realises that Moody is, in fact, Voldemort's servant at Hogwarts. Moody attempts to kill Harry. Before he has the chance, Harry Stuns him and the teaching staff burst in and stop him. He wakes up, and by way of Vertiserum reveals that he is in fact Barty Crouch Jr, who was secretly released by his mother from Azkaban, and has been using the Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself as Alastor Moody all year. It was Crouch Jr who stole Harry's wand and used it to set off the Dark Mark at the Quidditch Cup, in retaliation at the Death Eaters who had abandoned Voldemort. Winky was secretly supervising him, and was fired for nearly letting him escape.



Eventually, thanks to Bertha's information, Voldemort and Wormtail were able to find Crouch Jr, and release him from his father's imprisonment. Crouch Jr was planted at Hogwarts as Moody, with Wormtail keeping an eye on Crouch. It is revealed that Crouch Jr was the Barty Crouch Harry saw on the Marauder's Map, stealing potions ingredients from Snape's office to continue making the Polyjuice Potion. Eventually, Crouch started to fight off the Imperius curse placed upon him, and was then kept under home imprisonment by Winky, under the lie of being unwell. He managed to escape, and travelled to Hogwarts to warn Dumbledore of his son's existence. Using the Marauder's Map, Crouch Jr was able to intercept him however.

Chapter 36: The Parting of the Ways
Before Crouch can repeat his confession to the authorities, however, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge arrives at Hogwarts, along with a Dementor which sucks out Crouch's soul. Due to reading Rita Skeeter's last article about Harry being dangerous and being offended by Dumbledore's suggestions of dealing with the situation out of fear for his job, Fudge refuses to believe Harry and Dumbledore on the information regarding Voldemort's return and makes it clear that he is going to have a serious talk with Dumbledore about his running of Hogwarts. After Fudge leaves and Molly Weasley meets Sirius Black and learns of his innocence, Dumbledore quickly dispatches Sirius to reinstate the Order of the Phoenix by gathering known known wizards and witches who would support their side. A memorial feast for Cedric is then held, where Dumbledore tells the school what has happened in the graveyard despite the Ministry's wishes not to.

Chapter 37: The Beginning
As Harry, Ron, and Hermione ride the Hogwarts Express back home, it is revealed by Hermione that Rita Skeeter is an unregistered animagus. This explains how she has been getting her information. They also realise that the reason why Rita got those interviews from Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson undetected for her articles was that they knew she was an animagus. Hermione shows them Rita in her animagus form, a beetle, trapped in a jar, and assures Harry and Ron that her stories will trouble them no longer. Soon afterwards, another mystery is solved; it was hinted earlier that Fred and George were blackmailing someone, and they reveal that it was Ludo Bagman, who paid them their winnings at the Quidditch World Cup in Leprechaun gold, and wouldn't return even their original wager. As they get off the train, Harry gives the twins his Triwizard Tournament Winnings, to help them with their dream of running a joke shop.

Harry's Christmas presents

 * An all-time low: A single tissue from the Dursleys
 * A copy of Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland from Hermione
 * A bag of Dungbombs from Ron
 * A penknife from Sirius
 * A box containing Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and Fizzing Whizzbees from Hagrid
 * Mrs. Weasley's usual package
 * Handmade, mismatched Quidditch socks from Dobby

Errors

 * At one point when Dumbledore is asking Barty Crouch Jr. questions Barty is referred to as "Moody", even though he is not disguised as Alastor Moody any more.
 * Towards the end of the book when Voldemort puts the Imperius Curse on Harry the book says "For the third time in his life," when towards the middle of the book it states Harry had the Imperius Curse put on him four times by Moody (Crouch).
 * Harry's fourteenth birthday is on 31 July, 1994 but in his letter to Sirius at the beginning of the book he mentions that his cousin Dudley got really angry and chucked his PlayStation out of the window. The PlayStation was not released in Europe until 29 September, 1995. It could not have been imported either, because the PlayStation wasn't released in Japan until 3 December, 1994. However, other versions just mention "his videogame console".
 * At the ending of the book Harry, Hermione, and Ron travel on the "carts without a horse," and then Harry cannot see the thestrals, even though he has already seen Cedric die. The reason Rowling has given for this is that Cedric's death has not yet fully sunk into Harry's mind.
 * In the first task, nowhere has it been stated that one could not retrieve the Golden Egg through the use of a Summoning Charm, but none of the champions even attempted this most simple system to do so. However, it is stated that the first task was designed to test the champions' daring and courage; thus, using a Summoning Charm would be too easy – almost to the point of cheating. It is possible that use of this spell would have resulted in a bottom score, or that there were enchantments on the eggs to prevent summoning.
 * Curiously, 1994 was the second year in a row in which Halloween fell on a Saturday. In 1993, Professor Trelawney's prediction to Lavender Brown warned her that her worst fears would come true on Friday October 16th. In 1994, October 30 was the date of the arrival of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students and was a Friday; the same day of the week it would have been in 1993 as the 30th fell exactly two weeks after the 16th. That is not possible because the same date does not fall on the same day of the week two years in a row

Behind the scenes

 * The book presents the second out of four instances in which the opening narrative is not delivered through a point of view close to Harry: The first instance is in Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 1 - "The Boy Who Lived" which is told from the perspective of Vernon Dursley. The second instance is Chapter 1 of Goblet of Fire - "The Riddle House", from the perspective of the Muggle caretaker, Frank Bryce. The third instance is in Half Blood Prince, Chapter 1: "The Other Minister" from the perspective of the British Minister, and the final instance is in Deathly Hallows, Chapter 1: "The Dark Lord Ascending" from the perspective of nearly all of the Death Eaters.
 * The book presents a greater international aspect to the wizarding community: The Quidditch World Cup, the Triwizard Tournament, two European schools of Magic (Beauxbatons and Durmstrang), and possibly two other international schools (The Salem Witches Institute and an unnamed school in Brazil) are shown or mentioned.
 * The book mentions the name of a real person - Natalie McDonald, a nine-year-old girl from Toronto, Canada, who was dying of leukaemia. She wrote to Rowling asking what was going to happen in the next Harry Potter book as she would not live long enough to read it. The former emailed back, but Natalie had died a day earlier. In tribute, she became a first-year student at Hogwarts named by the Sorting Hat in Gryffindor - the house for the brave at heart - in the fourth book. When Rowling was later in Canada for a promotional tour she visited the McDonald family. With the exception of people of ancient times, such as Nicolas Flamel, this is the only Harry Potter book to so honour an individual.
 * On page 697, US hardcover edition (Scholastic), Dumbledore states, "If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle... a very rare effect will take place. One of the wands will force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed - in reverse. The most recent first [...] and then those which preceded it. [...]". The series had maintained that James Potter was murdered before Lily. Therefore, logically, Lily, the more recently killed of the two, should have emerged from Voldemort's wand before James during the Priori Incantatem scene. However, in the original edition of the book, James Potter came out first, and said, "Hold on, your mother is coming and wants to see you." Rowling had originally written that Lily emerged from the wand first, however, her American editor, in the rush to edit the book, incorrectly pointed this out as an error, and Rowling "changed it without thinking." Subsequent editions of the book corrected the mistake, and Rowling's original order (Lily appearing before James) stands as canon.
 * Mad-Eye Moody said there was no known way of blocking the Avada Kedavra curse. However, Harry blocked it with his own spell in the battle against Voldemort, creating the Priori Incantatem effect. Dumbledore also blocked the spell with physical objects in the following book. However, Moody may have been referring to a lack of any spell that could block the Avada Kedavra curse as opposed to physical objects or the Priori Incantatem effect. But since it was really Barty Crouch Jr. disguised as Moody that said this, he might have just said this to purposefully discourage the kids in his classroom of ever finding or believing in ways to block the Avada Kedavra curse.
 * Dumbledore was said to have a "gleam of triumph" in his eyes when told that Voldemort had restored his body using Harry's blood, at the end of Goblet of Fire (Ch. 36). Rowling has confirmed that this is "still enormously significant". It turned out that this was very significant because when Voldemort used Harry's blood to revive himself he made it so that as long as he lived Harry could not die, as revealed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
 * In Quidditch Through the Ages, it says that the first ever World Cup was in 1473, with a match being held every four years. Yet the World Cup in 1994 is number 422. There cannot be 422 world cups in 521 years with a four-year gap in between. Calculated correctly, the World Cup that the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry attended was actually the 130th, and it should have been held in 1993.
 * Before the Third Task starts, Molly Weasley reminisced about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, named Ogg. But in other books, it was implied that Hagrid had held that post since his expulsion from school in 1943. Since Hagrid's years as gamekeeper appeared to have overlapped Molly's years at school, it seemed unlikely that she knew a previous one.
 * In Hogsmeade, Sirius implied that at a certain point, Snape's attendance at Hogwarts overlapped with Lestrange's. It could have meant Rodolphus or Rabastan Lestrange, Bellatrix's husband and brother-in-law respectively, as Bellatrix would have left school about two years before Snape started.
 * When Fred and George bet on the Quidditch match with Bagman, it said that Fred put the paper with their wages in his robes, but Fred was wearing Muggle clothing.
 * In the beginning, it said that Harry thought that for one hour last year he would be staying with Sirius, but in the third book, he only thought he would be staying with Sirius for a half an hour.
 * In chapter 35, the book said '"The Imperius Curse," Moody said.' However, the Polyjuice Potion had already worn off, so it should have been Barty Crouch Jr. speaking.
 * In the film version, it was heavily implied by the sheer number of students that everyone from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang made the trip to Hogwarts. However, in the book, it was mentioned that after the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students entered the school are the Halloween feast began, there were only about twenty extra students in the Great Hall. Igor Karkaroff also said in the book (during the argument about letting Harry Potter participate the Triwizard Tournament) that he would have brought more students to Hogwarts if he had known younger students could enter the Tournament.
 * At the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, Cornelius Fudge mentioned possibly bringing a dragon to Hogwarts to guard the school. Ironically, the Ministry does bring dragons to Hogwarts, although for a different purpose.
 * In the chapter entitled "The Unforgivable Curses" when Harry and Ron are doing their Divination homework some of their fake prophecies could be considered as coming true throughout the book. For example "stabbed in the back by someone you thought was a friend," may refer to Ron's later jealousy towards Harry's many achievments and when Hermione points out Ron's apparent double drowning it could be interpreted as foreshadowing to she and Ron being placed at the bottom of the lake during the second task.