Oh, Harry Potter. So wonderful and yet so full of flaws. Continuing my re-read of this series, a book at a time when I need something a little different, I've finally gotten to the fourth volume, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.The third book was somewhat of a break from the direct Harry vs. Voldemort conflict, but Rowling doesn't waste any time getting back to things here, diving right in with a foreboding scene hinting at Voldemort's actual return and his direct targeting of Harry. But then things recede for a while as Harry returns to school and finds himself inadvertently entered into the Triwizard Tournament, possibly because they want him dead. The book is padded out with the Quidditch World Cup (to make up for a lack of quidditch as a whole) and a house elf rights campaign by Hermoine. Oh, and a vicious stream of gossip by Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter.
Overall, this is a fun book. It's the first "long" Harry Potter book, but before the series takes a darker turn starting in Order of the Phoenix. The Triwizard Tournament is of course a highlight, particularly because it brings in other schools in the wizarding world, which we didn't know about before this point. The tasks are new and interesting, and there are a new cast of supporting characters to match them, like Mad-Eye Moody, Viktor Krum, and Fleur Delacoeur, in addition to some of the Weasleys we haven't seen before. But while Rowling has a fun book and one that works to get the plot back on track after the detour it took in the third book, there are still so many questions that, reading it years after the first (and second, and third) times through, I couldn't dislodge.
Like why is Harry allowed to just run around all year? If the antagonist lurking in this book wanted to save Harry for Voldy to kill himself, why not just nab him, curse him, whatever, and keep him stashed until the appropriate time? This is the main thing that dogs me throughout the entire book. There are so many opportunities for Harry to be "taken care of" that don't require him being in the Tournament at all, and so the Tournament clearly is meant to serve purely as fan service for readers. In addition, I am baffled by how easily Harry's concerns and stories about Voldemort are dismissed by everyone except his core handful of supporters, namely Ron, Hermoine, Sirius,and Dumbledore. Harry has repeatedly been proven to be a reliable source, and yet every gossip column that Rita Skeeter puts out seems to destroy his credibility, even among students at Hogwarts, who should know better.
And why are Slytherins (other than Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle) repeatedly characterized as evil? There doesn't seem to be a point...? Slytherins are supposed to be cunning, but making them into the "evil" house whereas the others are all "good" really seems to be a very shallow characterization and one that does not fit in with Rowling's other layered pieces of worldbuilding.
However, this is still a good book. The Harry Potter books are known for delving into issues that resonate strongly in our own world, and this is no exception. Voldemort is not Hitler, but his policies and actions sometimes bear a close resemblance; racism is a key part of politics in this world, and we can see that even Ron, who is one of the heroes and is a good person, dismisses Hermoine's claims that house elves should have rights just like humans should, and that he views Hagrid and Madame Maxine differently after finding out about their giant heritage. This is also where we really start to see the consequences of Voldemort's reign that we haven't seen before, like what happened to Neville's parents. It's a hint at what's to come, but still a rollicking story in and of itself.
I'm rather dreading moving on to Order of the Phoenix, which was always been my least-favorite of the books, but I have it lined up and ready to go.
4 stars out of 5.
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