Chapter Summaries

Harry learned that someone had used a powerful Confundus Charm to make the Goblet of Fire select him as a Champion, and Luna suggested the plot might be intended to kill him during the Triwizard Tournament. Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to consider who would want him entered and why.

• Professor McGonagall mildly criticized Harry and Ron for looking exhausted after the late celebration, while Ryan Moning Meng joined their Transfiguration lesson and performed exceptionally well.
• Harry received Sirius's letter explaining that someone had confused the Goblet of Fire into recognizing an eighth, nonexistent school and had entered Harry as its sole student.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione discussed how advanced the magic was and wondered who could have arranged for Harry to become a Champion.
• Students congratulated Harry and Ron at lunch, and Luna told Harry that the evil aura around him had grown stronger.
• Luna suggested someone might have made Harry enter the tournament to get him killed, prompting Harry and Hermione to recognize the possibility.

After the champions were chosen, jealousy and resentment strained relations at several visiting schools and at Hogwarts. Harry and Ron faced hostility from Slytherin and Hufflepuff, while the chapter left Hufflepuff feeling that Gryffindor had taken the glory they believed should have been theirs.

• Hermione told Harry that Beauxbatons girls had complained that Elizabeth did not need to compete for the champion title.
• Harry observed that Nagudinnaf students made snide remarks about champions Markov Horton and Shen Yalan, while Ilvermorny remained more supportive of Corvinus and Meng.
• Harry recalled that Ravenclaw cared relatively little about the tournament because Ollivander, their leading candidate, had shown little interest in becoming champion.
• Slytherin students repeatedly made snide remarks at Harry and Ron in the corridors, but avoided confronting Harry physically.
• Hufflepuff students grew distant from Gryffindor, believing Harry and Ron had taken the champion glory that should have belonged to them.

During Potions class, Harry and Ron were summoned by Ludo Bagman and went to a third-floor classroom where the champions and tournament officials had gathered. They arrived as the other champions mingled, while Barty Crouch was notably absent.

• Professor Slughorn finished brewing an Antidote Potion as Colin Creevey arrived to summon Harry and Ron.
• Harry and Ron left class with Colin, pleased that they had been called about the Triwizard Tournament.
• Harry and Ron entered a third-floor classroom where Ludo Bagman, Umbridge, a photographer, and several champions were waiting.
• Harry observed the Beauxbatons champions being approached by Markov Horton and Carlos Blanco, while Viktor Krum talked with Jacob Covenas and Lei Kaiming.
• Harry noticed that Barty Crouch was absent and that Krum seemed unusually energetic.

Rita Skeeter interviewed Harry and Ron about entering the Magic Cup tournament, using a Quick-Quotes Quill that exaggerated her introduction. Harry insisted that the quill not distort their words, then gave a polished explanation for competing; Ron began offering a similar answer.

• Rita Skeeter asked Ludo Bagman to interview Harry and Ron, and the two boys agreed to speak with her.
• Skeeter led Harry and Ron into a smaller room and prepared to use her Quick-Quotes Quill.
• Harry warned Skeeter that the quill must not twist their meaning, so she let them watch what it wrote.
• The quill described Skeeter as beautiful and charming, then praised Harry and Ron's appearance.
• Harry said he would compete with skill and represent Hogwarts well, and Ron began giving a similar answer.

Dumbledore found Harry and Ron enjoying their interview with Rita Skeeter and brought them to the wand testing, where Ollivander began examining the Champions’ wands. Fleur Delacour’s wand passed inspection, and Ollivander began testing Elizabeth Xilieikesi’s wand.

• Dumbledore entered to rescue Harry and Ron from Rita Skeeter, but found them pleased with the interview as Skeeter left.
• Dumbledore took Harry and Ron to the wand testing, where they met Ollivander and the visiting school heads.
• Ollivander examined Fleur Delacour’s family-made maple wand and learned its core was a hair from her Veela grandmother.
• Ollivander tested Fleur Delacour’s wand with a spell, found it well maintained, and returned it to her.
• Elizabeth Xilieikesi handed Ollivander her blackthorn wand, which he noted was an unusual choice for a woman.

Mr. Ollivander inspected the champions’ wands, noting their unusual materials and condition. Markov Horton’s inherited wand, made with ocean merpeople sinew, unsettled the gathered schools before Ollivander confirmed it suited water magic.

• Mr. Ollivander inspected Corvinus’s well-maintained American pepperwood wand and asked Viktor Krum to present his.
• Krum handed over his hornbeam-and-dragon-heartstring wand and agreed to autograph it for Ollivander’s great-nephew.
• Lei Kaiming showed Ollivander his laurel wand with two-headed demon wolf hair, a rare core from one of Gongye Ming’s creations.
• Ollivander examined Carlos Blanco’s wand and found nothing especially unusual about its redwood and longhorn water snake nerve.
• Markov Horton’s inherited silver birch wand with ocean merpeople sinew startled the gathered students and headmasters.
• Ralph Wilhelharen noted that the wand predated Australia’s entry into the International Confederation of Wizards, and Ollivander confirmed it suited water magic.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione suspected that the Triwizard Tournament’s First Task involved fire dragons after Charlie Weasley hinted at his upcoming visit, and they worried that the Champions could not face one directly. Hermione concluded that the task might involve dragons without requiring the students to fight them, but they had no idea how it would work.

• Harry recalled that Charlie Weasley had sent Ron a secret letter saying he would visit Hogwarts in early December with his colleagues.
• Hermione deduced that Charlie’s work with dragons and the timing of his visit meant the First Task probably involved fire dragons.
• Harry and Ron worried that the Champions could not defeat a fire dragon, given the creatures’ danger and resilience.
• Hermione argued that the Champions would not be expected to fight dragons directly, though she could not say what the task would require.

Harry enjoyed a Hogsmeade outing with Cho that became a private date after their friends left, and he finally held her hand. The pair ran into Cedric and Yi Qianqian, but Cho still did not let go of Harry’s hand.

• Harry went on a Hogsmeade outing with Cho, accompanied at first by Ron, Hermione, and Cho’s roommate.
• Cho’s roommate left, and Hermione pulled a bewildered Ron away, leaving Harry and Cho alone.
• Harry took Cho’s hand as they walked toward Honeydukes, and she did not pull away.
• Harry and Cho spotted Cedric Diggory walking with Yi Qianqian, and Cedric greeted Harry warmly.
• Cho asked whether Harry and Cedric were close, while Harry grinned and she moved nearer to him.

Harry and Qiu spent a pleasant date in Hogsmeade before discovering that the road back to Hogwarts had been magically altered. Edward Menzies, an Australian Ministry of Magic official serving Nagadainaf Magic School, confronted them, while the chapter revealed his resentment of his position and the school’s search for a missing magical device.

• Harry and Qiu shared tea at Madam Puddifoot's, and Qiu suggested that Hermione might look at Ron differently than she looked at other people.
• Harry and Qiu ate in Hogsmeade, visited Honeydukes, and held hands on their walk back toward Hogwarts.
• Qiu noticed that their walk had gone on unusually long and that no other students were on the road.
• A mocking voice spoke as the scenery turned pitch-black, and Harry stepped in front of Qiu with his wand ready.
• Edward Menzies appeared, and Harry recognized him as the deputy director of the Australian Ministry of Magic Auror Office accompanying Nagadainaf Magic School.
• The chapter explained that Nagadainaf sought a magical device lost in Hogsmeade the previous year and that Menzies resented serving under the school’s authority.

Edward Meng Sies identified Harry as the wizard carrying the lost Soul Conductor and ambushed him and Qiu in a space-folding trap while they returned from Hogsmeade. He demanded the object and used the Imperius Curse when Harry denied having it.

• Meng Sies sensed traces of a deity's power in Harry and Weasley, and wrongly concluded that Harry's power came from the Soul Conductor.
• Meng Sies planned to ambush Harry outside Hogwarts, where Dumbledore could not stop him.
• Meng Sies trapped Harry and Qiu on the road back from Hogsmeade and demanded the object Harry had found the previous year.
• Harry concealed his knowledge of the box and denied taking anything that did not belong to him.
• Meng Sies cast the Imperius Curse on Harry.

Harry fought Edward Menzies after Menzies attacked him and Qiu with Dark Magic. Harry destroyed one curse with a Sword Beam Charm, but when his flames failed against Menzies’s black crows, Qiu shielded them with her Patronus Charm.

• Menzies launched a black, misty skull at Harry and Qiu, and Harry cleaved it apart with the Sword Beam Charm.
• Harry followed with a Disarming Charm, but Menzies dodged and conjured dozens of black crows from mist.
• Harry’s fiery phoenix failed to stop the crows from breaking through and flying toward him and Qiu.
• Qiu regained her composure and cast the Patronus Charm, forming a silvery-white shield that held the crows back.

Harry finally summoned a Corporeal Patronus in the shape of a lion, giving him and Qiu hope and an advantage against Meng Sies. Meng Sies countered with conjured vines, and one caught Qiu by the ankle.

• Harry understood his desire to protect Qiu and summoned a majestic lion Patronus, which was different from his Animagus form.
• Qiu felt reassured by the Patronus and hoped they could hold out until help arrived, while Meng Sies was surprised to see the spell.
• Meng Sies conjured six vines to attack Harry and Qiu.
• Harry and Qiu dodged, but one vine caught Qiu's ankle; her Blade Wave cut into it without severing it.

Meng Sies used a talisman to suppress Harry’s Left Hand of Chaos and Calamity, then disarmed him and demanded the Soul Conductor. When Harry refused, Meng Sies struck him with the Torture Curse.

• The Yellow Paper in Meng Sies’s hand became golden threads and covered Harry’s forearm with runes that suppressed the Left Hand of Chaos and Calamity.
• Meng Sies explained that the talisman came from spellcraft developed by wizards influenced by the East Ancient Country.
• Meng Sies overpowered Harry in several exchanges, knocked away his wand, and cut its cord to disarm him.
• Meng Sies demanded that Harry hand over the Soul Conductor, while Harry refused because he feared Meng Sies would kill him and Qiu.
• Meng Sies cast the Torture Curse on Harry, causing him intense pain.

Harry tried to surrender his spatial bag to Meng Sies to spare Qiu from torture, but his Strange Ability showed him that Meng Sies would kill him anyway. He used his Wooden Box and Demon-Breaking Shockwave, summoning a mysterious Yellow Figure as the chapter ended with Harry struck by unbearable pain and recognizing the scene from his earlier vision.

• Harry offered Meng Sies his spatial bag after deciding he could not bear to see Qiu tortured.
• Meng Sies cast Avada Kedavra as Harry was about to hand over the bag, and Harry realized his Strange Ability had shown him the coming attack.
• Harry activated the magical box in his hidden pocket, restoring the power of his Left Hand of Chaos and Calamity.
• Harry used Demon-Breaking Shockwave, and the Killing Curse vanished into warped space.
• A towering Yellow Figure appeared, and Harry recognized it as the figure from his earlier Crystal Ball vision.

After Harry survived a yellow figure’s attack, Qiu woke beside him and helped him recover. Harry suspected the Australian wizard’s strange power was connected to an evil god, leaving both of them shaken by his growing connection to deities.

• Qiu woke in the dew, dried their clothes with magic, and helped Harry regain enough strength to sit up.
• Harry drank a low-level vitality tonic from his capsule and asked Qiu if she was all right.
• Qiu asked what had happened to the Australian wizard, and Harry said he had probably died.
• Qiu explained that the yellow light had overwhelmed her with information before she lost consciousness and remembered nothing.
• Harry told Qiu that the yellow figure seemed connected to an evil god, and she grew pale at the possibility.

Harry and Cho concluded that Meng Sies had likely left after searching for what he wanted, and the Australian delegation lost interest in the Triwizard Tournament. Meanwhile, Harry and Cho grew closer, leaving Ginny unhappy and her older brothers affected by her mood.

• Harry kept his attack by Meng Sies secret and watched the Australian professors’ reactions.
• Professor Weir Hallen reported Meng Sies missing, but the Australians assumed he had left on his own after finding what he sought.
• Harry and Cho concluded that the Australians had used the tournament as a pretext to search for something and then stopped causing them concern.
• Students saw Harry and Cho holding hands in Hogsmeade, and Harry continued doing homework with Cho while evading questions about their relationship.
• Ginny became unhappy about Harry and Cho’s apparent romance, and her three older brothers were affected by her mood.

Harry brought Dobby to the seventh floor to investigate a memory fragment about a hidden room, and discovered the Room of Requirement. He left the room in a practice-room form with Dobby, then wondered how they would get out.

• Harry woke Dobby and led him to a wall on the seventh floor, asking him to help find a hidden room.
• Dobby identified the place as the Room of Hidden Things and opened its cluttered interior by walking past the wall three times.
• Dobby explained that house-elves called it the Room of Hidden Things and wizards called it the Room of Requirement, and said it was not the Chamber of Secrets.
• Harry made the room open as an empty space with magical automata for spell practice, then entered with Dobby.
• The door disappeared after it closed, and Harry asked Dobby how they would get out.

Harry encountered the Black Man again in his mental world after breaking through the Mental Barrier. The Black Man took a gold-and-silver eyeball from him, and Harry awoke unsure whether he had lost his brief glimpses of the future.

• The Black Man appeared in Harry’s mental world and remarked on Harry’s stronger soul and the Starsea Wind brand.
• The Black Man said Harry had chosen to serve another and reached into Harry’s right eye to retrieve a gold-and-silver eyeball.
• The Black Man left Harry’s Left Hand of Chaos and Calamity untouched and vanished after mentioning that someone was watching Harry.
• Harry woke in the dormitory and realized the Black Man might have taken away his ability to glimpse the future.

As the First Task approached, Harry noticed his Ancient Runes studies becoming strangely easy and wondered whether Professor Babbling knew the reason. The task’s contents remained secret, leaving the champions with less than a week before it began.

• Ron regained his composure after reacting strongly to Harry, then privately convinced himself that he liked girls and not boys.
• Students from the other schools stopped attending Trelawney’s Divination lessons after two classes.
• Harry found Ancient Runes unusually easy and suspected the memory fragments from the strange yellow figure were helping him.
• Professor Babbling praised Harry’s improved grades and told him to seek her or Dumbledore if he had problems, leaving Harry unsure whether she meant Runes or deities.
• December arrived with less than a week until the First Task, while the Tournament Committee kept its contents secret.

Harry and Ron received a cryptic letter from Charlie Weasley and suspected the First Task would involve dragons. They planned to meet Charlie at Hagrid’s Hut at midnight, while Hermione insisted on joining them to see the dragons.

• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville discussed how difficult dragons would be to fight and doubted the Conjunctivitis Curse would be reliable.
• Ron received a letter from Charlie Weasley instructing them to meet at midnight outside Hagrid’s Hut.
• Harry guessed Charlie and Hagrid would take them into the Forbidden Forest to see dragons before the First Task.
• Hermione said she wanted to come along, and Ron’s question about her not being a champion annoyed her.