Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (2002, Paperback)

The main plot centers around the Tri-Wizard Tournament, where the three most prestigious schools of witchcraft and wizardry select a champion to compete. The tournaments are extremely dangerous and this year's is no exception. The events include stealing an egg from a dragon, rescuing a loved one from the bottom of the lake and the guardian mer-folk and finding the winner's cup in a maze made up of carnivorous hedges.

Harry wants no part of it, but the Goblet of Fire, which chooses a champion from each school, spat his name out. The tournament is supposed to be only for sixth and seventh years, but Harry is forced to participate anyway.

I said in my review of Prisoner of Azkaban that Harry comes of age at the end, when he decides to bring his parent's betrayer to justice rather than kill him out of revenge. In Goblet of Fire, Rowling has the world treat him like an adult as well, despite his age.

The new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts shows the class the three most horrible curses known to the wizarding world, which is pretty mature stuff. It is also the last real lesson a teacher gives Harry for the rest of the series. Never again does Harry learn a new spell in school, at least not one that is specifically mentioned in the books. He either uses spells he already knows, learns on his own or gets from his peers. There is only one more effort for a professor to teach him something (Snape teaching Occlumancy in Order of the Phoenix) and it fails.

The theme of adults no longer being able to help Harry does not end in the classroom. In the earlier books, tough questions could usually be answered by adults, or at least enough information as to form a helpful clue. Although Harry does continue to receive advice from adults in this book and the rest of the series, it is no longer very helpful. Much advice turns out to be wrong and often the adult admits to not knowing. When anything useful is received, it is of very marginal value.

The final demonstration of manhood comes when Harry must face off with Voldermort one on one. When it is over, he has completed his rite of manhood, regardless of what the Ministry says about his age.

But more than just Harry is developing. Although a mega-plot has been hinted at in previous books, this is the first time we see more than just shadows or vague references. Voldermort is alive, he has a plan and he is able to get his minions to execute his wishes. The attack on Harry wasn't a target of opportunity like the three times before, it was pre-meditated.

And Voldermore has an unwitting ally in The Ministry. The Ministry unwittingly joins the side of Voldermort when they force Harry to compete. One law says that the goblet chooses the champions, but another law says the underage should be protected. Any judge with a sense of fairness and decency would choose to protect the young over a rule to a game, no matter how important the game was. This should especially be true when it was clear that the goblet was tampered with.

Yet the Ministry didn't. It made a conscious decision to pervert the intent of a tradition for the sake of preserving the past and, in doing so, ignore the perils of the future. Like many decisions made in life, this choice has far reaching and disastrous consequences for wizards and muggles alike, but we don't see them right away. You have to read the final three books for that.

John Holland-author of The Necklace of Terrersylvanous

DOES IT REALLY GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS? THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS ARE JUST UNLIKE ANY OTHER BOOKS YOU MAY READ BECAUSE THEY ARE SO VERY ORIGINAL. IN THIS FOURTH BOOK IN THE HARRY POTTER SERIES "HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE", HARRY FINDS OUT THAT HE HAS BEEN MYSTERIOUSLY CHOSEN TO COMPETE IN THE TRI-WIZARD TOURNAMENT. HE MUST COMPETE AGAINST THREE OTHERS, TWO FROM DIFFERENT WIZARDRY SCHOOLS, TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP. HARRY MUST COMPLETE THREE DIFFERENT TASKS SPREAD OUT ACROSS THE SCHOOL YEAR TO WIN. ALL THESE TASKS TAKE A VERY EXPERIENCED WIZARD TO COMPLETE AND MANY STUDENTS IN THE PAST HAVE EVEN DIED IN THE PROCESS. THIS IS AGAIN ANOTHER FANTASTIC BOOK BY J.K. ROWLING THAT WILL HAVE YOU ZIPPING THOROUGH THE PAGES AND WANTING MORE WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED WITH THIS 734 PAGE NOVEL. FANTASTIC!!

This is a excellent book! SPOILER WARNING!: It starts with a dream that Harry has about He Who Must Not Be Named and Wormtail (Peter Pettigrew), and Harry wakes up with his scar hurting. He then goes to the Quidditch World Cup with the Weasley's and Ron. After the cup, the Dark Mark (You Know Who's sign) shows in the sky causing a panic. Harry, Ron and Hermione go to Hogwarts, where the Triwizard Tournament is being held with two other Wizarding schools. Somehow, Harry becomes champion, and must compete against three 17 year olds, in three dangerous tasks. SPOILER ENDED!: This is a great book and should be read along with the other Harry Potter books! This is terrific!

My son wanted this book. We had read the previous books in the series but hadn't read this one or the ones after. He checked this book out from the library but with our busy schedule we weren't able to read it before it was due back. Now with our purchase, we can take our own sweet time and get the read. Thanks. Rhonda

I am reading all the Harry Potter books to my grandson who has muscular dystrophy and needed this one in paperback. It is our special time together. The tranaction was good & the price was much better than buying a new one.