99 Fun Facts About Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Goblet of Fire is which book in the Harry Potter series?

Fourth. Rowling says it nearly gave her a nervous breakdown: well into the writing she found a big hole in the middle of the plot and had to go back and redo it.

Bloomsbury published Goblet of Fire in Britain; which publisher released it in the United States on the same day?

Scholastic. For the first time both countries got a Potter book on the same day, a Saturday, and no copies went to critics in advance, so reviewers had to buy it and speed-read.

Goblet of Fire is the only Harry Potter novel to win which major science fiction and fantasy award?

Hugo. Prisoner of Azkaban had been shortlisted the year before and lost; Goblet of Fire went one better in 2001, beating George R. R. Martin's A Storm of Swords.

Which creatures, Madame Maxime warns, drink only single-malt whisky?

Winged horses. They pull the giant Beauxbatons carriage through the sky to Hogwarts, where Dumbledore hands the enormous animals over to Hagrid to look after.

Into which animal does Professor Moody transfigure Draco Malfoy for attacking Harry from behind?

A ferret. Moody bounces the white ferret around the Entrance Hall until Professor McGonagall stops him, telling him that Hogwarts never transfigures students as a punishment.

Who is the Beauxbatons champion?

Fleur Delacour. Her wand holds a hair from her Veela grandmother, which is why a dazed Ron blurts out a Yule Ball invitation to her and gets no answer.

Which Durmstrang champion is also a professional Quidditch Seeker?

Viktor Krum. Ron idolises him and buys a model of him at the World Cup, until Krum takes Hermione to the Yule Ball; Harry later finds the little figure broken.

What do Fred and George sprout after trying to enter the Triwizard Tournament?

Beards. Dumbledore's Age Line, drawn to keep out anyone under seventeen, is not fooled by the twins' Ageing Potion: it hurls them back across the hall with long white ones.

Which curse does Professor Moody cast on his own students so they can practise resisting it?

The Imperius Curse. Only Harry manages to throw it off in class, and the practice pays off when Voldemort later tries the same curse on him and fails.

Which Daily Prophet reporter writes sensational articles about Harry during the Triwizard Tournament?

Rita Skeeter. Rowling first gave her snooping role to a Weasley cousin called Mafalda, then cut the girl because an eleven-year-old shut in at school could only find out so much.

What creature must each Triwizard champion get past in the first task?

A dragon. Each champion has to snatch a golden egg from one; Harry draws a Hungarian Horntail and beats it by summoning his broomstick and out-flying it.

Whom does Harry ask to the Yule Ball, only to learn she is already going with Cedric?

Cho Chang. Harry takes so long to work up the nerve that she has already said yes to Cedric, and in the second task she is the hostage Cedric must bring up from the lake.

Which Gryffindor classmate does Harry take to the Yule Ball as his partner?

Parvati Patil. She says yes at the last minute and offers her twin sister Padma for Ron, who then spends the ball glaring at Hermione and her date instead of dancing.

In the film Neville gives Harry the Gillyweed for the second task; who gives it to him in the book?

Dobby. He wakes Harry minutes before the task with Gillyweed taken from Snape's office, after the fake Moody made sure the house-elf overheard that it would work.

Which creatures guard the hostages on the lake bed in the Triwizard Tournament's second task?

Merpeople. Their chief reports that Harry reached the hostages first and stayed until every one was freed, so the judges mark him up although he surfaces last.

What is the third task Harry faces in Goblet of Fire?

Navigating a hedge maze to the Triwizard Cup. Harry and Cedric reach it together, each insists the other has earned it, and they agree to take hold at the same moment.

The Triwizard Cup turns out to be what kind of magical object?

A Portkey. The impostor on the Hogwarts staff bewitched it to carry the winner to a graveyard, and Harry later summons the same Cup to escape with Cedric's body.

On Voldemort's order to "kill the spare", who murders Cedric Diggory in the graveyard?

Peter Pettigrew. Wormtail kills Cedric the moment the two boys arrive, then ties Harry to a headstone and uses his blood in the rite that gives Voldemort a body again.

In which village is the graveyard where Voldemort regains a body beside his father's grave?

Little Hangleton. The rite that restores him needs a bone from his father's grave, and the Riddle House on the hill above the village is where the story opens.

Which rare effect links Harry's and Voldemort's wands and draws echoes of Voldemort's victims from his?

Priori Incantatem. Early printings had James's echo emerge before Lily's, the wrong order for a wand replaying its killings backwards, and later editions swapped them.

Who has been impersonating Mad-Eye Moody all year?

Barty Crouch Jr. He kept the real Moody alive in a trunk because he needed him to go on making Polyjuice Potion, which he drank from the hip flask Moody was known for.

Snape threatens to slip Harry three drops of which potion in Goblet of Fire?

Veritaserum. It would have Harry spilling his innermost secrets, Snape says; months later Dumbledore sends Snape for his strongest truth potion to question the fake Moody.

In the Goblet of Fire novel, what happens to the fake Moody after he confesses?

He receives the Dementor's Kiss. Fudge brings a Dementor into the castle and it sucks out his soul, so the one witness who could confirm Voldemort's return can never testify.

After Cedric's parents refuse the prize gold, what does Harry do with it?

Funds Fred and George's joke shop. Harry hands the twins the whole prize after the train ride home, on one condition: they must buy Ron new dress robes without saying who paid.

What does Ron pay Harry back for with leprechaun gold that later vanishes?

Omnioculars. Ron scoops up a fistful of the Irish mascots' gold at the Quidditch World Cup to pay Harry back, and is upset months later to learn from Hagrid that it never lasts.

Which group does Hermione found in Goblet of Fire to campaign for house-elves?

S.P.E.W. Hermione's first choice of name was a slogan too long to fit on the badges, and she drafts a reluctant Harry and Ron as the society's officers.

Hermione works out that the Daily Prophet's reporter has been eavesdropping at Hogwarts in the form of which creature?

A beetle. Hermione catches the unregistered Animagus on a hospital-wing window, seals her in a jar and frees her only on a promise to write nothing for a year.

Which creatures from Hagrid's lessons do Harry and Cedric meet again in the Triwizard Tournament's final task?

Blast-Ended Skrewts. Hagrid's class has to look after the stinging, fire-blasting creatures all year, and one leaves Cedric smoking on his way to the Cup.

Which working title of Goblet of Fire leaked out before Rowling renamed the book?

The Doomspell Tournament. Its American publisher still listed that name in its catalogue in spring 2000, and the real title was kept back until under two weeks before publication.

Which sign appears in the sky over the Quidditch World Cup campsite and sends the crowd into panic?

The Dark Mark. Ministry wizards rush in firing Stunning Spells and find a house-elf holding the wand that conjured it, which turns out to be Harry's own lost wand.

J.K. Rowling launched Goblet of Fire aboard a steam train that set off from which London station?

King's Cross. Billed as the Hogwarts Express, the train carried Rowling and copies to sign north for four days, calling at York and Edinburgh before ending at Perth in Scotland.

Which bestselling novelist reviewed Goblet of Fire for The New York Times?

Stephen King. He praised its humour and its mystery plotting but grumbled about "a moderately tiresome amount of adolescent squabbling", adding, "it's a teenage thing".

Who directed the 2005 film of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?

Mike Newell. The Four Weddings and a Funeral director had been in the running for the very first Potter film; with this one he became the series' first British director.

Which actor plays Cedric Diggory in the Goblet of Fire film?

Robert Pattinson. Henry Cavill missed out on the same part, and Twilight's author later wanted Cavill as Edward Cullen too, the role that made Pattinson a star.

Which actor made his first appearance as Lord Voldemort in the Goblet of Fire film?

Ralph Fiennes. He had not read the books or seen the films and resisted the part until his sister Martha told him he had to do it; her son later played the schoolboy Tom Riddle.

Which future Doctor Who star plays the Death Eater who impersonates Moody in the Goblet of Fire film?

David Tennant. Unlike the book, the film puts his character in Harry's opening nightmare, so viewers see the impostor's real face long before he is unmasked.

Which actor plays Mad-Eye Moody in the Goblet of Fire film?

Brendan Gleeson. He called Moody "a gunslinger with a wand", and the costume fits: the coat was modelled on spaghetti Westerns, and a team spent a week ageing it.

Which actress plays the Daily Prophet's reporter in the Goblet of Fire film?

Miranda Richardson. Her character keeps a secret on screen that the book exposes: the film drops the closing train scene in which Hermione reveals how the reporter gets her scoops.

Members of which two British bands play the Weird Sisters at the Yule Ball in the Goblet of Fire film?

Radiohead and Pulp. Jarvis Cocker sings with Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway behind him, but a Canadian folk group called the Wyrd Sisters sued, so the film never speaks the band's name.

Which composer scored the earlier Harry Potter films before leaving ahead of Goblet of Fire?

John Williams. Patrick Doyle, who had scored two of the new director's earlier films, took over, and of the old music only "Hedwig's Theme" survives in his score.

Goblet of Fire was the first Potter film to receive which BBFC rating in the UK?

12A. The BBFC cited moderate fantasy violence, threat and horror but asked for no cuts, and under-12s could still see it as long as an adult sat with them.

Goblet of Fire topped 2005's worldwide box office, but which film won North America?

Revenge of the Sith. The Star Wars finale took about $90 million more in North America, but Harry earned two-thirds of his total abroad and finished first worldwide.

A "dry for wet" test for the Goblet of Fire lake scenes hung actors in the air; which detail failed to convince?

Their hair. It would not drift as it does in water, so the crew spent three months building a tank 20 feet deep, and Daniel Radcliffe learned to scuba dive to film in it.

Every Harry Potter film before Goblet of Fire opens at which location?

Privet Drive. This time the Dursleys never appear: the film opens on the Riddle House nightmare, and Harry wakes at the Burrow on the morning of the Quidditch World Cup.

What does the Daily Prophet's reporter use to twist Harry's words in their broom-cupboard interview?

A Quick-Quotes Quill. It scribbles by itself as she talks, and Harry can see it writing down things he never said before Dumbledore interrupts.

Which two characters from the Goblet of Fire novel were cut from the film entirely?

Ludo Bagman and Winky. The gambling Ministry sports chief and the sacked house-elf went with most of the subplots, as the film kept only what bore directly on Harry's story.

Which actor plays Ollivander, the wandmaker who is in the Goblet of Fire novel but missing from the film?

John Hurt. He sells Harry his wand in the first film, but the film of Goblet of Fire leaves out the weighing of the champions' wands, and Ollivander is not seen again until Deathly Hallows.

Which company published the Goblet of Fire tie-in video game in November 2005?

Electronic Arts. Its game went on sale ten days before the film opened, so players could attempt all three Triwizard tasks before cinema audiences had seen them.

Where does Cedric tell Harry to take his golden egg to hear its clue?

The prefects' bathroom. Cedric is repaying Harry's tip-off before the first task, and it takes Moaning Myrtle to suggest opening the egg under the water, where its screech turns to song.

Which team wins Goblet of Fire's Quidditch World Cup although Bulgaria's Seeker catches the Snitch?

Ireland won 170 to 160, the exact result the Weasley twins had staked their savings on: an Irish victory with the Bulgarian Seeker still catching the Snitch.

Cedric Diggory, the champion the Goblet of Fire picks for Hogwarts, belongs to which house?

Hufflepuff seldom gets any glory, so its students feel robbed when a second Hogwarts name comes out and Harry shares the spotlight.

Which part of Hermione Granger grows out of control when Draco Malfoy's stray spell hits her?

Her teeth grew to an incredible length, yet Snape claimed to see nothing wrong. She later had Madam Pomfrey shrink them to slightly smaller than their original size.

In the first Triwizard task, what does Harry summon after Moody tells him to play to his strengths?

His broomstick came flying once he cast the Summoning Charm, a spell he had drilled with Hermione until two in the morning. Moody had pointed out that Harry was an excellent flyer.

What does Hagrid reveal about himself to Madame Maxime in the rose garden at the Yule Ball?

He is half-giant, and he guesses that she is too, which she angrily denies by insisting she is just big-boned. A newspaper story soon exposes his ancestry to the whole wizarding world.

Which Hogwarts ghost tells Harry to open the golden egg underwater, then guides him in the lake?

Moaning Myrtle then takes offence when Harry wonders aloud how he will breathe underwater, since nobody remembers that she can no longer breathe at all.

Which object in Dumbledore's office lets Harry Potter watch Death Eater trials from years earlier?

The Pensieve holds memories that Dumbledore siphons off with his wand when his mind gets too crowded. Harry falls into it by accident while waiting alone in the office.

What does an impostor sip from a hip flask all year to pass as Mad-Eye Moody in Goblet of Fire?

Polyjuice Potion needs a piece of the person being copied, so the real Moody was kept alive in his own trunk to supply it.

Which pet of Voldemort's debuts in Goblet of Fire by catching a gardener at the Riddle House?

Nagini is a giant snake, and her venom is what keeps Voldemort's makeshift body alive until he can be restored. Her discovery of the gardener costs the old man his life.

Which Minister for Magic flatly refuses to believe Voldemort is back at the end of Goblet of Fire?

Cornelius Fudge insists that Harry is an unreliable witness and that the news would undo thirteen years of Ministry work. Dumbledore replies that, if so, the two of them must part ways.

Which magical object does Harry lend to Moody after it shows an intruder in Snape's office?

The Marauder's Map shows every person in the castle by name, which is exactly why the false teacher wants it. He later uses it to track down and silence a man coming to warn Dumbledore.

On which creatures does Professor Moody demonstrate all three Unforgivable Curses to Harry's class?

Spiders were made to dance, writhe and drop dead in turn, and the second demonstration left Neville visibly shaken. Ministry rules kept such curses out of class until sixth year.

How do the Weasleys reach the Dursleys' house to collect Harry, wrecking the living room?

Travelling by the Floo Network should have been simple, but the Dursleys' hearth had been blocked up. Mr Weasley had to force his way through before anyone could get out.

Which second-hand item, trimmed with lace, does Ron Weasley dread wearing to the Yule Ball?

Dress robes were needed for formal school occasions, and Mrs Weasley could only afford an ancient set for Ron. He removes the tatty lace before the ball, but they still look like a dress.

What does Voldemort's servant cut off and drop into a cauldron to restore his master's body?

His own hand is one of three ingredients the ritual needs, with bone from a grave and blood taken from Harry. Voldemort later rewards him with a magical silver replacement.

Harry's and Voldemort's wands lock together because both contain a tail feather from which creature?

Fawkes is Dumbledore's phoenix, and wands that share a core refuse to duel properly. Harry hears phoenix song in the graveyard as the two wands connect, and it reminds him of the headmaster.

In which vehicle, seemingly a derelict wreck, does the Durmstrang delegation arrive at Hogwarts?

A sailing ship surfaces from beneath the lake, looking more like a wreck than a school transport. When the headmaster vanishes at the end of the year, the students sail it home themselves.

Which everyday object whisks the Weasleys from Stoatshead Hill to the Quidditch World Cup?

An old boot does the job when everyone touches it at the appointed minute. Two hundred such objects were placed around Britain for wizards who could not or would not Apparate to the match.

Which alluring beings dance as Bulgaria's mascots at the Quidditch World Cup in Goblet of Fire?

Veela are so entrancing that Harry wants to swan-dive from the Top Box to impress them. Ron has to be pulled away from a group of them again later that night.

Which Durmstrang headmaster scores Harry just four out of ten, then flees when Voldemort returns?

Igor Karkaroff was once a Death Eater who won release from Azkaban by naming others to the Ministry, so he had good reason to fear his old master's return.

Which trick sweet do the Weasley twins drop for Dudley Dursley, sparking a china-throwing rage?

Ton-Tongue Toffee makes Dudley's tongue grow several feet long. The whole household was on a diet for his sake, the twins seem to have dropped it on purpose, and Uncle Vernon answered by hurling ornaments.

What is the name of Ron Weasley's tiny, overexcited owl, a present from Sirius Black?

Pigwidgeon is usually shortened to Pig by Ron, who did not choose the name. The owl is so small and excitable that it bounces around its cage when anyone comes in.

Durmstrang's champion half-turns into which animal to stay underwater in the second Triwizard task?

A shark's head was as far as his Transfiguration went, and its teeth were too awkward to bite through his hostage's ropes safely. Harry had to pass him a sharp stone.

Which relative of the Beauxbatons champion does Harry haul out of the lake in the second task?

Her little sister, Gabrielle, was never in real danger, but Harry did not know that. Waiting to save her cost him the race and won him extra points for moral fibre instead.

In which country did a Ministry witch on holiday run into Voldemort's servant, sealing her fate?

Albania is where Voldemort had been hiding since his fall. Bertha Jorkins was dragged to him there, and what she knew about the tournament and a loyal follower gave him his whole plan.

Dumbledore says his brother Aberforth was prosecuted for practising improper charms on which animal?

A goat was the victim, and Dumbledore brings it up to coax Hagrid back to work after a hostile newspaper story. It is the first time the series mentions the headmaster's brother.

Which creature does stand-in teacher Grubbly-Plank show the class while Hagrid hides in his hut?

Unicorns prefer a woman's touch, so the boys are waved back and the girls are delighted with the lesson. Hagrid later tries to match it by catching two foals of his own.

Which treasure-hunting creatures do Hagrid's students race to dig up buried leprechaun gold?

Nifflers dive in and out of the freshly dug earth after the coins, and whoever's animal finds the most wins a prize. The gold itself is worthless, because it soon disappears.

What does an angry reader post to Hermione Granger, leaving her hands covered in boils?

Bubotuber pus was something her class had squeezed from plants in Herbology that year. The hate mail followed a magazine article casting her as a girl toying with two famous hearts.

Which magazine prints the article claiming Hermione Granger is breaking Harry Potter's heart?

Witch Weekly reaches Mrs Weasley too, and she believes every word: at Easter she sends Harry and Ron huge chocolate eggs and Hermione a tiny one.

Whose Dumbledore angrily grabs Harry in the Goblet of Fire film, a scene the novel plays calmly?

Michael Gambon said that in this film the headmaster is frightened and no longer in control. The director wanted him fallible rather than all-powerful.

Goblet of Fire went on sale on which day of the week, picked so children would not miss school?

Saturday, 8 July 2000, was also the first time a Harry Potter book came out in Britain and America on the same date. Three million copies sold in the United States that weekend alone.

Which company dispatched more than 9,000 trucks and 100 planes to deliver Goblet of Fire in 2000?

FedEx had a mountain to move: the book's combined first printing topped five million copies, and three million sold in the United States over the first weekend.

Which director was approached for the Goblet of Fire film but preferred to adapt Life of Pi?

M. Night Shyamalan was sounded out after Alfonso Cuarón said he could direct only one instalment. Chris Columbus, who made the first two films, also thought about returning.

Which future screen superhero auditioned to play Cedric Diggory in the Goblet of Fire film?

Henry Cavill missed out years before he was cast as Superman in Man of Steel. Another hopeful, Tolga Safer, read for the Durmstrang champion and ended up as his headmaster's aide instead.

Which British actress plays Beauxbatons headmistress Madame Maxime in the Goblet of Fire film?

Frances de la Tour came back to the part five years later for a brief cameo in the first Deathly Hallows film. She is a Tony and Olivier winner best known in Britain for the sitcom Rising Damp.

A folk group from which country sued Warner Bros. over the Yule Ball band's name in Goblet of Fire?

Canada is home to the Wyrd Sisters, a Winnipeg group who claimed 40 million dollars and tried to block the film's release there. The studio left the band unnamed on screen, and the case was later settled.

Which Hogwarts resident pelts returning students with water balloons at the start of Goblet of Fire?

Peeves was sulking because he had not been invited to the feast. He had already wrecked the kitchens that evening, upsetting the house-elves who were cooking the meal.

Who goes to the Yule Ball with Neville Longbottom after Hermione has turned him down?

Ginny Weasley had already said yes to Neville when the chance of a different partner came up, and she looks miserable admitting it. Neville then treads on her feet for much of the evening.

Which creature bars Harry's path in the novel's Triwizard maze but lets him through without a fight?

A sphinx stands between Harry and the prize near the very end, and she lets him pass once he solves her riddle. By then he has already fought off a Boggart and rescued Cedric from a bewitched rival.

Where does Sirius Black hide out near Hogsmeade in Goblet of Fire, surviving mostly on rats?

In a mountain cave above the village, Sirius keeps Buckbeak tethered and tears into the chicken his visitors bring. He had returned to Britain because Harry's scar was hurting.

By which code name does Sirius Black ask Harry, Ron and Hermione to refer to him in Goblet of Fire?

Snuffles suits the shaggy black dog he becomes whenever he leaves his hideout. Even the chapter that brings him back uses his older nickname in its title, Padfoot Returns.

Which book does Hermione Granger attack for ignoring the hundred house-elves who run the castle?

Hogwarts, A History never says who cooks and cleans, which infuriates her. She had already refused to eat at the opening feast on learning that elves prepared it.

At the Yule Ball, Dumbledore describes a vanishing room he once found full of which objects?

Chamber pots filled a room he stumbled on once and never found again. Dumbledore tells the story to a rival headmaster obsessed with secrecy, adding that he would never claim to know all his own castle's secrets.

What was the name of the nosy Weasley cousin J.K. Rowling cut from Goblet of Fire during writing?

Mafalda was a Slytherin first-year meant to uncover secrets, but an eleven-year-old stuck at school could only learn so much. Rowling replaced her with a far more flexible snoop, a newspaper reporter.

Professor Trelawney wrongly insists Harry was born in midwinter under which planet's influence?

Saturn was her confident reading of his face, until Harry pointed out that his birthday is in July. Ron had to turn his laugh into a cough.

Who in Goblet of Fire claims compensation for a twelve-bedroom tent, having slept under a cloak?

Mundungus Fletcher is only a name on a claim form at this point. Dumbledore later lists him among the old crowd to be alerted now that Voldemort is back.

Which screenwriter squeezed Goblet of Fire into one film after failing to find a way to split it?

Steve Kloves said the team always expected two movies but could never work out where to break the story. The director's answer was to drop whatever was not tied to Harry and play it as a thriller.

What are Triwizard champions excused from at Hogwarts because the tasks are judged demanding enough?

End-of-year exams are waived for all four champions. The same announcement bars them from asking teachers for help and sends them into the first task armed only with their wands.

Which water demons attack Harry in the lake and put the Beauxbatons champion out of the second task?

Grindylows grab at Harry on his way down, and he jinxes them off. His rival was overpowered by them, which is why her hostage was still tied up when he arrived.