Recaps

Hogwarts prepared for the Triwizard Tournament’s visiting schools with an intense Castle cleanup and mandatory etiquette lessons for older students. Valerius began the lessons by forcing Ron to demonstrate eating roast chicken, leaving him humiliated before the Great Hall.

• Professor Flitwick scolded Neville Longbottom after his Switching Spell transformed his ears into furry cactus pads.
• Filch enforced the Castle’s cleanliness rules, and students feared his authority after he punished several Slytherins for deliberately dirtying the floor.
• Professor McGonagall announced mandatory etiquette lessons for students from third through seventh year, taught by Valerius.
• Douglas proposed decorating Hogwarts with red lanterns and Chinese knots, but Professor McGonagall rejected his ideas in favor of traditional British medieval decorations.
• Valerius silenced the students and called on Ron to demonstrate eating roast chicken, then judged his noisy, clumsy performance a textbook example of what not to do.

Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived at Hogwarts in spectacular fashion, making the Triwizard Tournament feel real to the watching students. Their delegations faced one another on the lawn as a silent contest began.

• Valerius warned the students that their behavior reflected on Hogwarts and continued supervising them at meals.
• Hagrid and the professors assembled the Hogwarts students outside the castle to await the visiting schools.
• Beauxbatons arrived in a glowing palace-sized carriage drawn by twelve winged Abraxan horses.
• Durmstrang's ominous ship rose from the Black Lake and brought its delegation ashore.
• Igor Karkaroff led Durmstrang's students off the ship while a tall woman led Beauxbatons' students from the carriage.
• The two delegations faced each other across the lawn as the evening wind stirred their robes.

Douglas greeted Madame Maxime and confronted Karkaroff as the visiting schools arrived at Hogwarts. He hinted that he knew Karkaroff had betrayed his master, leaving Karkaroff visibly terrified.

• Dumbledore welcomed Madame Maxime, who greeted Douglas warmly and congratulated him on becoming a Hogwarts professor.
• Karkaroff questioned Douglas about his actions in Italy, while a Durmstrang student shrank away and Viktor Krum looked delighted to see him.
• Douglas acknowledged the trouble in Italy and displayed a golden Bouncing Ball, identifying it as something he had used to deal with a Church monster.
• Douglas taunted Karkaroff about betraying his master and fearing a reckoning, draining the color from Karkaroff's face.

Douglas’s confrontation with Karkaroff nearly disrupted the welcome for the visiting schools, but McGonagall and Dumbledore redirected everyone into the Great Hall. As the students settled in, Harry brooded over the secrets adults kept from him, while Malfoy provoked him and Ron.

• Douglas used his magic to frighten Karkaroff with memories of Azkaban and the Dark Mark, until McGonagall stepped between them and urged everyone inside.
• Douglas praised Madame Maxime’s Abraxans and suggested Hagrid care for them, and Dumbledore welcomed the guests to the feast.
• Beauxbatons sat at the Ravenclaw table, while Durmstrang joined the Slytherins, prompting Ron and Hermione to disagree over rumors about Durmstrang.
• Harry reflected on Douglas’s connection to Italy and wished the adults would let him share in their knowledge and struggles.
• Malfoy mocked Ron and taunted Harry about the Champions, then went to sit beside Krum, who ignored him.

At the opening feast of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry watched the tension between Karkaroff, Moody, and Snape before Dumbledore began the ceremony. Karkaroff and Madame Maxime conjured displays of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons magic as the Goblet of Fire’s arrival began.

• Karkaroff sat beside Dumbledore and nervously avoided Moody’s stare while Snape ignored them and Douglas studied a pea.
• Harry recognized the tense adults’ conflict as a form of power that could leave someone unable to breathe.
• Dumbledore welcomed the guests, announced the tournament’s official start, and introduced Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman.
• Dumbledore, Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime pointed their wands into the air to begin the Goblet of Fire ceremony.
• Karkaroff conjured a dark, imposing two-headed eagle that filled the Great Hall with an icy sense of command.
• Madame Maxime wove golden crossed wands and six shining stars, whose warm light dispelled the eagle’s chill.

The three schools’ magical displays culminated in the arrival of the Goblet of Fire, and Dumbledore announced the rules and the new age restriction for the Triwizard Tournament. The feast began, leaving Karkaroff glowering after Dumbledore credited Douglas with the ceremony’s idea.

• Dumbledore’s living Hogwarts crest joined the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons displays in a contest that summoned the Goblet of Fire.
• Dumbledore told Karkaroff that the ceremony had been Douglas’s idea, undercutting Karkaroff’s grand display.
• Dumbledore announced that students had until the following evening to enter, and that champions had to be at least seventeen years old.
• Dumbledore drew an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire and warned students that they could not cross it.
• The feast began with dishes from around the world, while Moody watched Karkaroff and the staff table remained tense on Dumbledore’s right.

Douglas spoke with Barty Crouch about Hogwarts's Academic Affairs Office and legal lectures while the students watched a Veela entrance enchant the Great Hall. Harry's Jade Plaque protected him from the Veela's influence, but he found himself thinking about Cho Chang and regretting that canceled Quidditch had taken away his chance to get close to her.

• Douglas told Crouch he looked tired and asked about his support for Hogwarts's Academic Affairs Office and legal lectures.
• Hagrid reported to Madame Maxime that the Beauxbatons visitors' horses were settled, and she thanked him.
• A silver-haired Beauxbatons girl revealed herself as a Veela and enchanted Ron and nearly every boy in the Great Hall.
• Harry's Jade Plaque warmed and shielded him from the Veela's enchantment, and he laughed Ron out of his stupor.
• Harry noticed Cho Chang speaking with the Veela, felt flustered, and remembered that canceled Quidditch had deprived him of a chance to approach her.

Harry became flustered by Cho Chang’s smile during the feast, then Viktor Krum approached him and asked whether Professor Holmes was his relative. The chapter ended with Harry wondering if Krum had met Douglas Holmes over the summer, possibly in Bulgaria.

• Harry watched Cho Chang laugh at the Ravenclaw table and struggled to understand his growing feelings for her.
• Ron noticed Harry’s distraction, while Hermione asked why he had stopped eating.
• Viktor Krum crossed the Great Hall and approached Harry, drawing the attention of the students and Draco Malfoy.
• Ron excitedly introduced Harry to Krum as the famous Chosen One and his good friend.
• Krum asked whether Professor Holmes was related to Harry, and Harry said Douglas was his mother’s cousin.
• Harry asked Krum whether he had met Douglas over the summer or whether Douglas had gone to Bulgaria.

Krum approached Harry to ask about Professor Holmes, but the Weasley twins suggested that professors might be eligible for the Triwizard Tournament. The hall turned its attention to Douglas Holmes, who stood as hundreds of students watched, leaving everyone unsure whether he would enter.

• Ron jumped up to welcome Krum, but Hermione questioned why he wanted to know about Professor Holmes.
• Fred and George suggested that the tournament rules might allow a professor to compete, and Fred asked Krum whether he saw Holmes as a rival.
• The students began speculating excitedly about Holmes entering and winning the tournament, then shifted their attention from Harry and Krum to him.
• Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Snape, and Moody each reacted to the prospect of Holmes competing.
• Holmes set down his glass of milk, rose, and calmly surveyed the watching students.

Douglas joked that he could not enter the Triwizard Tournament because his contract forbade professors from joining student competitions, and Barty Crouch confirmed that magical law limited Champions to registered apprentices. After the feast, Dumbledore gathered the remaining staff and assistants, and Douglas took out a metal ring as they prepared to begin.

• Douglas thanked the students for their confidence, then joked that his contract barred him from entering the tournament to avoid marking homework.
• The Great Hall erupted in laughter, and Dumbledore let the joke dispel speculation about Douglas competing.
• Barty Crouch cited the Triwizard Tournament’s charter and the magical contract to explain that only registered apprentices could enter.
• As the feast ended, Karkaroff called Krum back to the Durmstrang group before Krum could approach Harry again.
• After the hall emptied, Dumbledore, Madame Maxime, Bagman, Crouch, Moody, Sirius, Lupin, and the assistants remained with Douglas.
• Dumbledore told Douglas to begin, and Douglas took an ordinary-looking metal ring from his pocket.

Douglas, Sirius, and Dumbledore created three layers of protection around the Goblet of Fire. The next morning, George and Fred drank Ageing Potion to try to enter the competition and win the prize money.

• Douglas placed a miniature anti-magic field around the Goblet of Fire to prevent magic from acting on it.
• Sirius added a Water Curtain that would remove spells and magical disguises from anyone passing through.
• Moody questioned Douglas and Sirius for keeping the arrangement from him, while Dumbledore defended their chance to show what they could do.
• Dumbledore added an Age Line around the other protections and declared the Goblet ready to await its Champions.
• On Halloween morning, George and Fred drank Ageing Potion so they could try to cross the Age Line and claim the prize money.

Fred and George Weasley tried to enter the Triwizard Tournament but were rejected by Sirius Black’s manual age check, leaving them ashamed and worried about their debt. Angelina Johnson passed the eligibility check and was allowed to proceed.

• Fred and George marched into the Great Hall expecting cheers as they presented their names for the Goblet of Fire.
• Sirius checked their birth dates in his register and rejected them because they were still five months short of seventeen.
• The students laughed at the twins, who realized they had spent Professor Holmes’s project funding and could no longer rely on tournament winnings to cover their debt.
• Angelina Johnson approached Sirius’s desk and presented her name.
• Sirius confirmed Angelina had turned seventeen the previous week and approved her eligibility.

Angelina entered her name in the Goblet of Fire after passing through Hogwarts’s three protective rings, prompting a clash between Gryffindor and Slytherin. When Durmstrang arrived, Karkaroff saw the defenses and suspected they had been designed specifically to guard against him.

• Angelina passed Dumbledore’s Age Line and Purification Waterfall, then endured Professor Holmes’s Anti-Magic Field to submit her name to the Goblet of Fire.
• Sirius congratulated Angelina and mocked the Gryffindor boys for failing to sign up, while a Slytherin student boasted that Warrington had entered first.
• Harry watched Angelina, the humiliated Weasley Twins, and the jeering Slytherins before feeling irritated as he noticed Cho Chang glancing toward Hufflepuff.
• Durmstrang entered the Great Hall, and Karkaroff stopped in alarm when he saw the three protective rings and Sirius at the registration desk.
• Sirius explained the defenses to Karkaroff, who concluded they were meant to prevent him from cheating and demanded to know why tournament registration resembled entering a Gringotts vault.

Sirius forced Karkaroff to let the Durmstrang students enter their names, while Fleur Delacour effortlessly passed the tournament’s safeguards and submitted hers. Harry felt relieved to avoid the Tournament but grew unsettled seeing Cho Chang with Cedric; Hermione then told him Fred and George were taking bets with Ludo Bagman.

• Sirius confronted Karkaroff about security precautions and his past as a Death Eater, then ordered the Durmstrang students to submit their names.
• The Durmstrang students, including Viktor Krum, entered their names into the Goblet of Fire, and Karkaroff left with his group.
• Fleur Delacour passed through the Age Line, Thief’s Downfall, and anti-magic field without difficulty, then put her name into the Goblet of Fire.
• Harry felt relieved that he did not need to enter the Tournament, but seeing Cho Chang smiling with Cedric Diggory left him dejected.
• Hermione pointed out Ludo Bagman talking excitedly with Fred and George, and she told Harry and Ron that the twins were taking bets.

Viktor Krum asked Harry about his maternal cousin, Professor Holmes, then awkwardly handed Harry an envelope to pass on. Harry mistakenly assumed Krum was confessing romantic interest in Holmes and declared that Holmes liked women, leaving Krum flustered and protesting.

• Hermione told Harry and Ron that Bagman was taking bets on Hogwarts' Champion and had asked Fred and George to collect them.
• Krum approached Harry at the Gryffindor table and asked to speak with him, drawing curious looks from Cho Chang and Cedric.
• Krum asked Harry what Professor Holmes was like, and Harry described his maternal cousin as a good person.
• Krum gave Harry an unmarked envelope to pass to Holmes, and Harry assumed it was a love letter.
• Harry announced that Holmes liked women, then reconsidered, and Krum angrily insisted Harry had misunderstood.

Krum explained that his letter to Douglas was only a thank-you for helping him in Germany, but Harry became convinced he needed to investigate why his maternal cousin was still single. Douglas teased Harry about his suspicions, leaving him red-faced and fleeing the office.

• Krum told Harry that he had once received advice from Douglas in Germany and had written to thank him.
• Harry rushed to the Defense Against Dark Magic office and gave Douglas Krum's letter.
• Douglas read the letter and described Krum as strong-willed but not terribly sharp.
• Sirius and Lupin noticed Harry's suspicious behavior, and Douglas guessed that Harry was wondering why he was still single.
• Douglas joked that he had given all his love to Harry, and Harry fled the office while Sirius laughed.

Douglas explained how he had helped a stranded young Viktor Krum escape his coach’s abuse in Germany. On Halloween, Douglas decorated the Demon-Suppression Tower with red lanterns and took a seat beside Moody to watch the Triwizard selection, as Hagrid arrived at the feast.

• Douglas told Sirius and Lupin that he had met fifteen-year-old Krum in Berlin after Krum’s coach abandoned him there as punishment.
• Douglas said he had urged Krum to survive like grass growing through a crack, and Krum found work and bought a train ticket back to Bulgaria.
• Krum reported the coach to Karkaroff, who fired him to protect Durmstrang’s reputation.
• Douglas hung enchanted red lanterns on the Demon-Suppression Tower for Halloween and invited Moody to watch the selection with him.
• Hagrid entered the Great Hall wearing a rugged, carefully put-together outfit.

The Goblet of Fire ceremony began as Douglas’s casual gestures drew attention and Harry worried that his friends’ questions had led Hagrid to wear an outrageous outfit. After the defenses around the Goblet were removed and its flames turned scarlet, Dumbledore prepared to announce Durmstrang’s champion.

• Hagrid passed the staff table in his striking outfit, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried to hide at the end of the Gryffindor table when they saw him.
• Douglas exchanged a quiet salute with Krum, but Karkaroff stepped between them, and Krum went to the Slytherin table without speaking to Harry.
• Dumbledore removed the Age Line, while Sirius withdrew his bracelet’s ring of light and Douglas recalled the metal ring around the Goblet with a snap of his fingers.
• Dumbledore darkened the Great Hall and explained how the chosen champions would come forward to receive instructions.
• The Goblet’s flames turned scarlet and sent out a parchment, which Dumbledore caught before beginning to announce Durmstrang’s champion.

Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, and Cedric Diggory were chosen as the champions for their schools, while Harry felt relieved that he had not been selected. Seeing Cho Chang celebrate Cedric's victory left Harry jealous and bitter, and the story ended as Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed back to Gryffindor Tower.

• Viktor Krum was chosen as the Durmstrang champion, followed by Fleur Delacour as the Beauxbatons champion.
• Cedric Diggory was chosen as Hogwarts's champion, and Hufflepuff celebrated his victory.
• Harry felt relieved not to be chosen, but seeing Cho Chang happily applaud Cedric made him jealous and bitter.
• Dumbledore, Ludo Bagman, and Barty Crouch told the champions that the first task would take place on November twenty-fourth and test their courage.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the feast for Gryffindor Tower while Ron complained that Cedric had become champion.

Harry struggled with jealousy over Cho Chang cheering Cedric, while Ron nearly got himself in trouble by insulting Hufflepuff. As Hufflepuff celebrated Cedric’s victory, Dobby arrived with Professor Holmes’s gift: a cauldron of Dragon Blood Hot Pot.

• Harry silenced Ron after Ron insulted Hufflepuff, then warned him about Professor Holmes’s punishments.
• Hermione, Fred, and George cautioned Ron against bad-mouthing Hufflepuff, reminding him that Professor Holmes had graduated from the house.
• Fred and George celebrated winning their bet on Diggory, while Harry sat despondently, relieved not to compete but pained by Cho Chang’s attention to Cedric.
• Hufflepuff celebrated Cedric as Professor Sprout filled the Common Room with yellow-and-black flowers.
• Dobby appeared and announced that Professor Holmes had sent Dragon Blood Hot Pot to celebrate Hufflepuff’s Champion.
• An enormous brass cauldron of scarlet, boiling broth appeared, and the students stared in alarm at its powerful scent and apparent dragon blood.

Hufflepuff students feasted on Dobby’s fiery hot pot and Cedric gained confidence for the tournament, while Karkaroff warned Viktor Krum to avoid Douglas Holmes. The next morning, Durmstrang students watched Hogwarts’ runners and noticed a disciplined group carrying longswords.

• Dobby served the Hufflepuffs a fiery hot pot that he said would give them courage to face a fire dragon.
• A seventh-year boy tried the meat, felt powerful, and inspired the Hufflepuffs to join the feast.
• Cedric ate the hot pot, felt his tournament anxieties fade, and led the common room in a toast to Hufflepuff.
• Karkaroff told Viktor Krum that he had to win the tournament and warned him to stay away from Douglas Holmes.
• The next morning, Durmstrang students watched Hogwarts students run beside the Black Lake and noticed a disciplined group carrying longswords on their backs.

Neville led Hogwarts students in sword training beside the lake, drawing the attention of Durmstrang. After Karkaroff proposed a friendly exhibition match, Neville accepted Ivanov’s challenge, leaving the two schools poised for a duel.

• Neville demonstrated sword techniques to the Hogwarts students while Durmstrang students watched and Polyakov mocked their training.
• Krum rebuked Polyakov and recognized the discipline and strength behind the students’ practice.
• Ivanov challenged the Hogwarts students to prove themselves with magic, and Neville defended the value of both sword and wand.
• Karkaroff recognized Professor Holmes’s influence, then proposed a friendly exhibition match to Lupin and the students.
• Lupin left the decision to Neville, who accepted the challenge and bowed to Karkaroff.
• Karkaroff assigned Ivanov to fight Neville and warned them to keep the match friendly.

Neville faced Ivanov in a public swordsmanship and magic duel, using a wand fitted into his practice sword and a weapon-based spell to redirect a water attack. The duel took a dangerous turn when Ivanov struck Neville with an ancient sound-wave incantation.

• Karkaroff questioned Lupin about Neville's medicine, but Lupin deflected his probe about the New Wolfsbane Potion.
• Neville fitted his wand into the hilt of his practice sword as students gathered to watch the duel with Ivanov.
• Neville dodged Ivanov's opening spells and parried the rest with his sword.
• Neville used Part the Clouds to See the Sun to redirect Ivanov's water dragon into the ground without getting wet.
• Douglas explained that Neville's close-combat spell redirected force, while Fake Moody studied Neville's sword and Karkaroff questioned Lupin about Douglas's background.
• Ivanov cast an ancient sound-wave incantation that made Neville stagger as his hearing rang and the world spun.

Neville defeated Ivanov in a duel by using the combat technique Professor Douglas had taught him, earning the respect of students from several schools. Gryffindor celebrated his victory, and Fred and George staged a mock coronation as he returned to the common room.

• Neville sensed Ivanov's wand movement with his other senses, then disarmed him with a perfectly timed Expelliarmus and held his practice sword at Ivanov's throat.
• Ivanov retrieved his wand and left in humiliation, while Krum praised Neville's combat instincts and Fleur watched him with new scrutiny.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the Gryffindors congratulated Neville, and Lupin told him Professor Holmes would be proud.
• Students at breakfast celebrated Neville's victory, while Harry reflected that Neville's confidence had awakened.
• Fred and George blocked Neville at the Gryffindor common room entrance and theatrically demanded his sword so they could crown him.

Neville’s victory sparked a celebration that grew into a proposal for inter-school dueling matches to prepare for the Triwizard Tournament. Cedric planned to seek official approval for supervised exchanges, while Harry recognized Cedric’s tactics as strikingly similar to Holmes’s.

• Ron pushed Neville forward, and Fred and George raised his practice sword as the students cheered him as King Neville Longbottom.
• Hufflepuffs brought food to the celebration, where Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan praised Professor Holmes’s Dragon Blood Hot Pot.
• Anthony Goldstein proposed that Hogwarts students challenge Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students to learn their magical techniques for Cedric.
• Hermione warned that the duels could expose Hogwarts’s own tactics, but Cedric argued that the exchanges would benefit all three schools.
• Cedric proposed applying to the Academic Affairs Office for a supervised dueling platform in the Great Hall, with matches every evening.
• Harry watched Cedric organize the plan and thought he resembled Holmes.