Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

When I started typing this post, I had to squeal out loud and couldn't stop grinning. After six months, I'm catching up with my Revisiting Hogwarts posts. *squeeeeee* Six months may not be a long time but it is to me because I have been blogging for less than 10 months only. So, it was also an amusing trip to those initial months and seeing if my style of writing really changed or if it is the same.

(Spoiler alert: the Revisting Hogwarts feature assumes that you have at least 10 OWLs and 5 NEWTs.)

"We start by recruiting members," said Hermione happily. "I thought two Sickles to join - that buys a badge - and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You’re treasurer, Ron - I’ve got you a collecting tin upstairs - and Harry, you’re secretary, so you might want to write down everything I’m saying now, as a record of our first meeting."

There was a pause in which Hermione beamed at the pair of them, and Harry sat, torn between exasperation at Hermione, and amusement at the look on Ron’s face.

I finally managed to get caught up with this series (never mind that it is for the umpteenth time). The fourth book of the Harry Potter series - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, is the first of the chunksters. It is also, to me at least, the first of the books geared for an older audience. And that's understandable, because Harry Potter and his friends are not kids anymore - both in age and in experience. They're also beginning to appreciate the opposite sex as more than just people to be friends with. They are beginning to have more serious fights and ego clashes, and are starting to play a greater role in the evil that happens outside.

"You're not by any chance writing out a new order form, are you?" said Mrs. Weasley shrewdly.

"Now, Mum," said Fred, looking up at her, a pained look on his face. "If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow and George and I died, how would you feel knowing that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?"

This is one of my favorite books, second only to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, for many reasons. Other than the obvious facts that this is more age-appropriate to me, compared to the first three books (*snicker*), this also happens to be the very first Harry Potter book I ever read, and the one that introduced me to this series, making me obsessed with all things Harry Potter for the rest of my life. "Obsessed" is right, and this is the only obsession that I will ever admit to, otherwise I like to say that I don't get swayed by anything - be it movies, actors or real-life people. When this book was released, I smirked at all the hoopla around this book. Then my cousin (hugs to him) made begged pestered nagged tormented me until I read it. After that, I smirked at anyone who smirked at the Harry Potter phenomenon. There are still many people who do that - laugh at me like I am a baby when they come to know that I love this series. I pity them - they are missing out on something truly amazing. If they gave it a try and didn't like it, that's another matter. Or if they aren't reading it out of choice, it's still okay. But not trying it and criticizing others (not just smirking) is plain lame.

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

What I love about this book is that Harry's whole fourth year spreads more pages than the previous three books. There is plenty of drama and ooh-la-la moments. There are pages I deliberately read slowly because I know what's going to come and because I want to feel those moments, as if I am part of the audience too. One of my favorite scenes is when Harry's name comes out of the Goblet. That was probably a tragic moment in Harry Potter history, but to me that was splendid, because of how well J.K. Rowling wrote that chapter - the building excitement, the noise, the cheers, the babbling voices, all instantly vanished in a moment like someone switched off a noisy radio, when the fourth name comes out of the goblet; and then the painful long pause while Dumbledore stares at name on the paper and the rest of the people stare at him. Wow! Gotta love that - I read that passage so many times and still don't tire of it.

It turned out that Hagrid knew quite as much about unicorns as he did about monsters, though it was clear that he found their lack of poisonous fangs disappointing.

One of my favorite characters in this series also returns in this book - Dobby. In real life, if I knew someone like Dobby, I would just run in opposite direction. Imagine being worshipped so much by anyone! In fact, this Facebook page captures Dobby's obsession so well, that it feels like stalking. But it is the elf's innocence and love for the freedom he is denied that makes him so enduring.

"Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cozy."

This book, in so many ways serves as a Part one for the next book. For instance, Dumbledore and Hermione are already stressing about the importance of better relations between wizards of different countries - even before Voldemort has risen. The possibility of a Ron-Hermione pairing is hinted at, and  Ginny gets over her infatuation with Harry. The first time I read this book (after reading the previous three books), I never noticed Ginny's lack of grace around Harry. She was always stumbling around, blushing hard or being plain clumsy in Harry's presence, in the first three books. In this book, she doesn't even bat an eyelid around him, and I barely noticed it until I read the fifth book, when Hermione mentions it to Harry and he himself realizes. That was certainly well-done by J.K. Rowling.

My memory of this movie is really bad though. I believe I watched it only once, maybe twice. Either ways, there are so many scenes I don't remember. I should probably make it a point to rent out those first six movies in time for the release of the part one to the seventh movie. I definitely won't read the seventh book before the movie, much as I want to - that has always ruined my experience.

---

Related reading:
Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

This book features Portkeys for the first time in the series. If you had a portkey that you could magic to take you to ONE place on earth for 5 whole minutes, where would that be?

Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Over the past fortnight, I re-read the third book of the Harry Potter series - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. For the first time, as I read these books, I pause to think. I've been reading with breaks in between and also writing up posts on my re-read experience, while also marking out my favorite quotes from the books. (Previously, I just raced through the pages. It's hard to slow down.) It's been a thrilling ride!

The third book has always seemed to me the "coming-of-age" book. The series is beginning to take shape slowly. Some of the principal characters of the rest of the series (Lupin, Sirius, Wormtail, Buckbeak, Trelawney, Dementors) make their first appearances here. The relationships between the characters are defined strongly. In addition, we are introduced to the Knight Bus, Divination class, Hogsmeade and the Marauder's Map.

Moreover, this book had some of the best magical vignettes ever. I enjoyed the DADA class the best of all. It is interesting that this would be the only enlightening DADA class that they would ever have, in the whole series, not considering the meetings of the Dumbledore's Army in the fifth book. Another interesting feature was Quidditch! I loved the extensive coverage that J.K. Rowling devoted to this fun sport. Three games! Harry's receiving the Firebolt only added to the excitement!

On the other side, I admired Hermione's role in this book. I feel she totally came into her own. Her desire to take every class offered by Hogwarts was endearing. But when she cracked due to the workload, I was relieved. It felt good to see that she had human limitations too. When I first read the Harry Potter books, I was studying. Hermione's total dedication would in turn inspire and intimidate me. Like Harry, I could never fail to marvel at the amount of effort she put into her homework.

The best part of this book, though, is the Patronus and Harry's attempt to conjure one. I truly enjoyed the idea of a bright glowing guardian that is unique to the wizard or witch that conjures it. The Patronus charm would be making many appearances in the remaining books of the series, and one of my best scenes is the patronus charm training that Harry gives in the fifth book. I would love my patronus to be a cute little elephant - not huge but small, cute and cuddly. I guess because they are my favorite animals. So what would your Patronus be like?

So here are my favorite quotes from this book:

---

They were watching a brand-new television, a welcome-home-for-the-summer present for Dudley, who had been complaining loudly about the long walk between the fridge and the television in the living room.

He raised his hand automatically and tried to make his hair lie flat.
"You're fighting a losing battle there, dear," said his mirror in a wheezy voice.

"Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry... you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry --"
"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me."

"Farewell, my comrades-in-arms! If ever you have need of noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir Cadogan!"
"Yeah, we'll call you," muttered Ron as the knight disappeared, "if we ever need someone mental."

"Right, you've got a crooked sort of cross... " He consulted Unfogging the Future. "That means you're going to have 'trials and suffering' -- sorry about that -- but there's a thing that could be the sun... hang on... that means 'great happiness'... so you're going to suffer but be very happy...."
"You need your Inner Eye tested, if you ask me," said Ron.

"You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."

"Well... when we were in our first year, Harry -- young, carefree, and innocent --"
Harry snorted. He doubted whether Fred and George had ever been innocent.
"Well, more innocent than we are now."

"Er -- shall I make a cup of tea?" said Ron.
Harry stared at him.
"It's what my mum does whenever someone's upset," Ron muttered, shrugging.

"You know what, Hermione?" said Ron, looking down at the enormous Arithmancy book Hermione had been using as a pillow. "I reckon you're cracking up. You're trying to do too much."

"Okay, but we'll go around by the greenhouses!" said Hermione breathlessly. "We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door, or we'll see us! We must be nearly at Hagrid's by now!"

---

Related reading:
Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

What do you think of the third book? Is it anywhere among your top favorites?

If you haven't read this series yet, what keeps you away from it?

Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

This weekend, I re-read the second book of the Harry Potter series - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This has always been my least favorite book of this series, because of which I never read this book too many times - in fact, probably only slightly more than the number of times I re-read the last two books of the series. When I scouted for opinions of other Harry Potter fans, I heard the same feeling echoed by most. What is it about this book that has made us like it less than the others? Is it because it is geared towards a much younger audience? But the first book is also geared to the same crowd. Is it because there is lesser humor in this book than there are tragedies? If you like this book the least, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

I'm not sure why this was my least favorite either. (Yes, I say was. More on that later.) I guess it had something to do with Aragog and his clan, or even the Basilisk. These are the creatures I was least impressed with in the entire series. There is also not much "variety" as there is in the other books. It's mostly the attacks and the voices.

One thing I decided when I started re-reading this series, was to walk into the adventure with no prior biases. That helped greatly this time. When I closed this book, I was surprised to see that I actually enjoyed this book much more than I ever did previously. That was one of the biggest surprises to me this time. I like it when re-reading brings to my attention things I missed earlier. Though, truth be told, there really isn't anything I've missed in this series, having re-read it too many times.

I had forgotten that this book introduces so many firsts. It gives us our first glimpse to the Burrow, the gnome hunting, Harry's connection to Voldemort via his ability to speak Parseltongue and similarities in upbringing, Dumbledore's impressive office, Dobby - my favorite elf, Lucius Malfoy, Ginny. I think that's why I liked it a lot this time. This is actually the first book that's setting the stage for future events (Riddle's diary, Harry learning how to do the disarming spell - Expelliarmus at the Dueling Club, Dobby's obsessive dedication, are just some of them).

Don't you just wish the Burrow was your home? I can very much understand Harry's love for that place and how much he wished he could stay there. The ghoul in the attic, the talking mirror, the gnomes in the garden, the crooked house, a vociferous family, Fred and George (who wouldn't love to have them as brothers!). Another scene I re-enjoyed in this book is Lockhart's Valentine's Day celebrations. All those dwarfs running around all day, interrupting class to deliver valentines.

So here are my favorite quotes from this book:

---

"See, they're not too bright," said George, seizing five or six gnomes at once. "The moment they know the de-gnoming's going on they storm up to have a look. You'd think they'd have learned by now just to stay put."

"'Course, he's very ambitious, Percy, he's got it all planned out... He wants to be Minister of Magic..." Ron told Harry and Hermione in an undertone as they left Percy to it.

Harry had seen Professor McGonagall angry on several occasions, but either he had forgotten just how thin her mouth could go, or he had never seen her this angry before.

"If you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my - my teddy bear into a great big filthy spider because I broke his toy broomstick... You wouldn't like them either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and... "

"If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" said Ron irritably.

"It'll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a Seeker has to have something more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we've got to win today, we've got to."
"So no pressure, Harry" said Fred, winking at him.

Deliberately causing mayhem in Snape's Potions class was about as safe as poking a sleeping dragon in the eye.

"Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through...
Percy was deeply disapproving of this behavior.
"It is not a laughing matter," he said coldly.
"Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred. "Harry's in a hurry."
"Yeah, he's off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his fanged servant," said George, chortling.

"But why's she got to go to the library?"
"Because that's what Hermione does," said Ron, shrugging. "When in doubt, go to the library."

"You're alive," she said blankly to Harry.
"There's no need to sound so disappointed," he said grimly, wiping flecks of blood and slime off his glasses.
"Oh, well ... I'd just been thinking ... if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," said Myrtle, blushing silver.

---

Read: Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

What do you think of the second book? Is it anywhere among your top favorites?

If you haven't read this series yet, what keeps you away from it?

Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

(If you have never read this book, please drop all your other books, head to the nearest library/bookstore, and grab the set. Please, please, please! I beg you! You are missing an amazing treat!)

Ever had a book that you would go to when your brain's all fried and tensions are high? No matter what you set your mind to, you can't concentrate, and then you pick that one book. Much like having a glass of wine. Or going shopping. All those tensions just ooze out of your self. The Harry Potter series does that to me. Ever since I first read a Harry Potter book, I have always returned back to them once a year. Or at least to most of the books of the series, if not all.

The first book of this series that I read is actually the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. That happened after I caught the first raving waves about this series in the newspaper. I ignored the series. The news persisted. Every day, I would hear some gossip or the other about this series. I still ignored the series. After all, the idea of me @ 16 years of age reading this book that I branded "children's book" is indeed laughable! (You can see how obnoxious I was then!) And then, as things usually go, in to this picture comes the proverbial cousin with a copy of the book, literally. He wouldn't take "no" for an answer. So to appease him, I decided to bore myself for a few days with the book. The rest, as they say, is history.

So now, I am re-reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone after more than two years. Believe it or not, I think I became an adult only recently. The last time I read this book, I lapped it happily. This time though, I got bugged by small nuances that a teenager wouldn't complain about.

• Such as, for the first time, I realized that this book is not written for an audience like me, but for those more than half my age. Which is to be expected, seeing as the protagonists are 11 years old! It's amazing though comparing the first and last books of this series - both in writing quality and in their darkness. The dangers surrounding Harry are only felt tangentially in this book.
• J.K. Rowling's writing is nowhere near as captivating as it is in her later books. That's to be expected, of course, but I had never noticed that before. The ever-prevalent humor still makes me laugh! This series has some very unforgettable humorous quotes. Fred and George are as funny as ever!
• The story rushes through certain parts while strolls lazily through others. Previously, I thought the supporting characters had a great depth! I couldn't feel that now though. That could be because each time I re-read, I was going into the book, already knowing the supporting cast well. Moreover, my first time with this series was with the fourth book, which is the first coming-of-age book in my opinion. When I was reading this time, I made sure I wasn't biased by any of my earlier knowledge. So I can't really blame Chris Columbus for not giving much character to the supporting cast!
• For the first time, I gave it only 4 stars. I had never given it less than 5. I wonder how my ratings of the remaining series will be affected!

So here are my favorite quotes from this book:

---

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"
"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it -- it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.

"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."
"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once --"
"Or twice --"
"A minute --"
"All summer --"
"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

He thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant. His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron and the others becoming wizards, while he stumped around the grounds carrying Hagrid's bag.

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.
"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"
"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," he added.

Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.

"So -- after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating --"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul --"

"Jordan, I'm warning you --"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor

still in possession."

"I hate maroon," Ron moaned halfheartedly as he pulled it over his head.
"You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid -- we know we're called Gred and Forge."

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."

"It bit me!" he said, showing them his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

"Peeves," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... what did Professor Sprout say? -- it likes the dark and the damp
"So light a fire!" Harry choked.
"Yes -- of course -- but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

Ah! Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them -- but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"

He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked and said, "Alas! Ear wax!"

---

What do you think? Ever been bugged by this series at any point?

If you haven't read this series yet, what keeps you away from it?