Rowling, J.K.- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4); Informal Buddy Read ; Start Date 25 November 2014--REVISIT-- May 2018

[Daniela]

who got the reference Ron made in their first Divination class? Uranus... xD I had to laugh

[Judy]

Daniela wrote: "who got the reference Ron made in their first Divination class? Uranus... xD I had to laugh"

Yesssssss 😂 for some reason that was the first itme I got that joke 😂

[Sassafrass]

Daniela wrote: "who got the reference Ron made in their first Divination class? Uranus... xD I had to laugh"

Yes, I got that, LOL.

[SandyL]

Daniela wrote: "who got the reference Ron made in their first Divination class? Uranus... xD I had to laugh"

Yep - had to laugh at that one!

[Sassafrass]

So I finished this one. I really got into it at the end. I couldn't figure out who had set Harry up and which teacher was planted at Hogwarts for Voldemort.

I completely felt horrible about (view spoiler)[ Cedric (hide spoiler)]. So sad.

But there's a storm coming and I can't wait to see what's going to happen next in the series.

[Jackie]

Going to start this one in a couple of days. Team Tonks.

[Daniela]

Judy wrote: "Daniela wrote: "who got the reference Ron made in their first Divination class? Uranus... xD I had to laugh"

Yesssssss 😂 for some reason that was the first itme I got that joke 😂"

Me too! I never really thought about it before haha

[Dev]

CHAPTERS 27-30

i know it's a children's series and all but i always found it so illogical that when someone turns into an their animagus form and then back again they still have their clothes on lol

one of my favorite quotes from the series is in this part: "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

nice to see hagrid having a good care of magical creatures lesson. i really do think he would be a good teacher if he could just stop trying to make things so dangerous all the time

krum interrogating harry about if he's ever dated hermione always makes ma laugh. "she talks about you very often" "because we're friends" lmao, literally me trying to explain that i'm not dating my roommate

anyway gonna try to finish it up now, just thought this would be a good point for a break since everything is about to go down!

[Judy]

Devann wrote: "CHAPTERS 27-30

i know it's a children's series and all but i always found it so illogical that when someone turns into an their animagus form and then back again they still have their clothes on lol"

Saaaaaaame! Also how they have markings like their glasses... what if they get new glasses?!

"krum interrogating harry about if he's ever dated hermione always makes ma laugh. "she talks about you very often" "because we're friends" lmao, literally me trying to explain that i'm not dating my roommate"

Me @ my mom when I talk about friends from work etc. 😂

[Dev]

haha maybe their markings will change if they get new glasses? although their markings don't change based on what clothes they are wearing so still it doesn't really make sense.

[Dev]

CHAPTERS 31-END

i love the part where fleur is watching bill and harry's like 'she obviously has no problems with long hair or fang shaped earrings' lol. girl has good taste ;)

i feel like the 2nd and 3rd tasks must have been so boring for people to watch. like the 2nd one was at the bottom of the lake and obviously they weren't watching remotely somehow bc dumbledore had to ask the merpeople why harry took so long. you would THINK they could see into the maze because they are [i'm assuming] watching from the quidditch stands? but then it seems like they actually weren't because surely they would have noticed (view spoiler)[krum being controlled by someone and fleur being attacked apparently out of nowhere and also all the things getting out of harry's way for some reason. also would have noticed harry and cedric disappeared. (hide spoiler)]

i think we all know by now that a mistake was made with the reverse order of the spells, but my question is for people with newer editions of the books (view spoiler)[did they change it so harry's mom came out of the wand first since she died after james, or did they just leave it? i thought i heard once that it was changed after the first edition but i can't remember (hide spoiler)]

interesting to me that at the end of this book dumbledore is saying things to harry like 'you have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it' and yet in the next book (view spoiler)[it's all oh better lie to harry about everything it's better if he doesn't know ~he's too young~ (hide spoiler)]

i'm also sure we've all caught the goof with the carriages by now as well (view spoiler)[in that harry should be able to see the kestrels at this point since he has seen cedric die. i think she explained it away as like he hadn't 'processed' the death yet or something but honestly i wish she would just admit that it was because she didn't want to introduce a new plot point in the last chapter of the book. like sometimes it's okay for authors to just admit they made a decision because it worked better narratively and not trying to make up some clearly B.S. explanation (hide spoiler)]

i think part of the reason this book isn't as good to me as the others is because after the first reread it's just all kind of bland. i mean on your first reread it's fun bc you notice all the clues but at this point i'm just sitting here like yes yes i know and then you have to read through all the explanations of things you already know. i think that's one of the reasons i don't read a lot of mystery books as well because i hate the part at the end where someone just info dumps the solution. it's still a good book but i wasn't in any hurry to finish it [took me almost a week] so that's why i give it 3 stars.

[Judy]

Devann wrote: i think we all know by now that a mistake was made with the reverse order of the spells, but my question is for people with newer editions of the books (view spoiler)"

Never knew that that was a conspiracy theory! (view spoiler)[I have the 2014 editions and Lily came out for me first... she also does so in my German edition & my mom's copy from way back when... so I guess that's why I never knew about this 😅 (hide spoiler)]

[Nikki the Sapphired Book Dragon]

Just started this today. I am from team Luna Lovegood :-) Currently up to Chapter 10

(view spoiler)[ Love the joke The twins play on Dudley LOL

The quidditch world championships sound awesome. Talk about a spectacle to watch.

(hide spoiler)]

[ClaireB]

Nikk the Sapphired Book Dragon wrote: "Just started this today. I am from team Luna Lovegood :-) Currently up to Chapter 10"

(view spoiler)[That joke was priceless. And I love their way of trying to get away with it. That they didn't give Dudley the sweet. The Dursley are really stubborn. They didn't let Mr. Weasley help them until the tongue reached an incredible length. I can't help but laugh at the image.
Also, it really made me laugh that Mr. Weasley thought Dudley was simple. haha. (hide spoiler)]

[Dev]

@Judy yeah i got mine as soon as it was released so it's a first printing and she messed up and did it backwards lol i think the fans caught it SUPER quick though so they probably changed it right away, i've just never read any copy of the book except my own so i wasn't sure.

[Dev]

also, something i forgot to mention before, about rita skeeter at the end: (view spoiler)[how many unregistered animagus do you think there are? because i'm pretty sure hermione said there have only been seven registered in the last century and we've already run into four unregistered ones and that's just people who end up hanging around harry potter lol. do you think there are really a ton of them but no one wants to register and that's why it's considered to be very difficult? (hide spoiler)]

[Natesha]

Hi everyone! I started reading on Monday. Team Minerva McGonagall!!!

[Jammin Jenny]

I'm starting my re-read of this book tonight before I go to bed. Team Draco! I am so enjoying re-reading this series again. I can't believe how much I forgot!

[Nikki the Sapphired Book Dragon]

Up to Chapter 14

(view spoiler)[ OMG poor Neville and Harry during Moody's unforgivable curses lesson ;-(
(hide spoiler)]

[SandyL]

I've read through Ch 18 and I feel so bad for Harry (view spoiler)[ that no one will believe him that he didn't put his name in the goblet and he's being alienated, especially by Ron. (hide spoiler)]

Hagrid's blast ended skrewts are hilarious and I can't wait to see what happens with them - from his bad luck with creatures in previous books, it's gotta be something interesting!

[Sassafrass]

Yeah, it was hard to see Harry in that situation, Sandy.

[Natesha]

I finished this book over the weekend and wow. This series gets better and better. Can I say that Fred and George Weasley are my favorite characters! I love how they're always getting into something and scheming.

My thoughts on the ending...

(view spoiler)[ I had a very bad feeling when Harry and Cedric decided to share the win and both be champions. Somehow I knew that it was going to be the end of Cedric. Not sure if I was the only person who cried when Cedric was killed. I found it extremely frustrating that Cornelius Fudge didn't believe Dumbledore about Voldemort's return. Fudge's character is fishy. I didn't understand why he would let a dementor inside the same room with Crouch's son. Maybe he didn't want there to be any evidence of Voldemort's return? No witnesses? Idk. Maybe I will find out in HP and the Order of the Phoenix (currently reading) (hide spoiler)]

[ClaireB]

I just finished Chapter 14
My rereads of The Goblet of Fire are always a bit slow. I don't know why because it's one of my favorite books in the series (maybe even my favorite).

(view spoiler)[Every time I read it I'm surprised at how long it takes for the triwizard tournament to start. We're already at 30% of the book and the students from Beaubaton and Durmstrong aren't even there yet.

About the S.P.E.W. : you'd think Hermione would change the name of her little project after realising how stupid it sounds when you pronounce it as a word. haha.
It's something I never really knew what to think about. On the one hand, it's true slavery should be abolished. But on the other hand, it seems Ron is right and elves don't want to be freed. Elves must get something out of it that they can't let go. I think we lack insight into the situation. And because Harry doesn't seem to care that much, we are not getting that insight. (hide spoiler)]

[SandyL]

I've finished Chapter 20.

The first round of the Triwizard tournament was interesting. (view spoiler)[ I was surprised at how the adults were cheating in telling the players what they were going to be up against. It seems like the only one with integrity is Dumbledore. I loved how Harry told Cedric about the dragons and that Moody complimented him on it. I'm also happy that Ron has come around - it was so sad when he and Harry were fighting. (hide spoiler)]

[Deanna]

Hey all! Team Filius Flitwick here. Looking forward to starting this one in the morning and joining the discussion. I'm glad to see others are still reading.

[Donna]

Chapters 1-6
(view spoiler)[
Harry - I love that Harry found a way to co-exist with his relatives. I have to laugh when he mentions his godfather and his uncle hurries to make things right.

Fred & George Weasley - I love the antics that these two get up to. The toffee that enlarged Dudley's tongue was priceless!!! The dragon dung they slipped their brother amused me as well. Poor Percy!! I am looking forward to more of their fun antics.
(hide spoiler)]

[Sophie, The other one]

Chapter 1 - wow the tone is already much darker than the first 3. I always think of this as the turning point of the series

[Sophie, The other one]

Chapter 2
Love the image of Dumbledore on the beach over the summer holiday!

[Jackie]

Sophie wrote: "Chapter 1 - wow the tone is already much darker than the first 3. I always think of this as the turning point of the series"

I agree. It really turns dark here and for the rest of the series.

I just started the Jim Dale audio.

[Sophie, The other one]

Jackie wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Chapter 1 - wow the tone is already much darker than the first 3. I always think of this as the turning point of the series"

I agree. It really turns dark here and for the rest of t..."

This one sort of bridges the gap. It still has a lot of light moments to left the mood, but by the end you know the series has changed!

[Sophie, The other one]

Chapter 4
(view spoiler)[Mr Weasley is so sweet in this chapter - excited about the electricity and trying to teach Mr Dursley manners!

Fred and George def up to their normal tricks (hide spoiler)]

[Melissa]

Starting this today!!! :D:D:D

[Sophie, The other one]

Chapter 9

(view spoiler)[ hadn't realised the relevance of the name Madame Maxine before. Every conversation links to the rest of the plot in a way I hadn't given jk Rowling credit for before (hide spoiler)]

[Sophie, The other one]

Nikk the Sapphired Book Dragon wrote: "Up to Chapter 14
"

I agree! Felt so bad for them, especially Neville.

[Sophie, The other one]

How are you getting on with it Melissa?

Just into chapter 25 - Marauder's map doing its thing again, people in unexpected places

[Sarah]

Just about to start! Love this one : )

[Deanna]

Finished through chapter 12 today.

I had forgotten how long it took them to actually get to Hogwarts in this book. Not that the Quidditch World Cup wasn't interesting.

The Dursleys - (view spoiler)[I'm glad that Harry is having an easier time with his relatives, but it's sad that he has to threaten them with Sirius to get anything. (hide spoiler)]

The World Cup - (view spoiler)[I had forgotten how chaotic it was with the mascots. I never did understand why it took Harry so long to realize his wand was missing. (hide spoiler)]

The Tri-Wizard Tournament - (view spoiler)[This is my favorite part of book four. I can't wait for it to start. (hide spoiler)]

[Deanna]

Donna wrote: "Chapters 1-6

Fred & George Weasle..."

The antics of Fred and George are always one of the highlights to these books.

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Deanna wrote: "Finished through chapter 12 today.

I had forgotten how long it took them to actually get to Hogwarts in this book. Not that the Quidditch World Cup wasn't interesting.

The Dursleys - [spoilers re..."

Yeah there was enough going on at the World Cup to keep things very interesting.

[Jammin Jenny]

Sophie wrote: "Chapter 2
Love the image of Dumbledore on the beach over the summer holiday!"

Me too. Kind of like Santa Claus...

[Jammin Jenny]

I loved the Ton-Tongue Toffees they spilled so Dudley would eat one. That was hilarious.

[Jammin Jenny]

I'm up to Chapter 20 - Harry and Ron are still fighting, Harry found out about the first task, and he talked to Sirius. So far I'm really liking this book and the movie seems to have really stuck to the main themes with the exception of SPEW...

[Sophie, The other one]

Jammin Jenny wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Chapter 2
Love the image of Dumbledore on the beach over the summer holiday!"

Me too. Kind of like Santa Claus..."

Exactly the image I had in my head!

[Sophie, The other one]

I've just finished. Struck by how clever some of the comments are. I'd never paid as much attention to every word said in a conversation before, but they all seem to become relevant later or foreshadow a later event - Voldemort saying people would give their right hand for the opportunity being one.

Enjoyed seeing Rita Skeeter get her comeuppance as well! Who knew Hermione had it in her

[Jackie]

Thru Chapter 13

World Cup (view spoiler)[ My least favorite part of the series is the World Cup tournament. Listening to Jim Dale was great though. He does such a good job with the voices. (hide spoiler)]

Weasleys (view spoiler)[It was good to see Harry spending time with the Weasleys. They are ideal for Harry as he gets no affection from the Dursleys. Loved Mr. Weasley trying to teach Mr. Dursley some manners! (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah]

Sophie wrote: "I've just finished. Struck by how clever some of the comments are. I'd never paid as much attention to every word said in a conversation before, but they all seem to become relevant later or foresh..."

I absolutely love what Hermione does with Rita! It is Hermione at her finest.

[Deanna]

Jackie wrote: "Thru Chapter 13

World Cup [spoilers removed]

Weasleys [spoilers removed]"

The Weasleys are such an amazing family, and the way they take Harry in is wonderful.

[Deanna]

Through chapter 22

Dragon - (view spoiler)[ I love dragons. While on the one hand I appreciate the courage and daring of the wizards going against the dragons, on the other hand I feel sorry for the mama dragons trying to defend their eggs. (hide spoiler)]

Ron - (view spoiler)[It is never fun to see Ron and Harry fighting for no good reason. Poor Hermione is such a good sport trying to reason with them when they are acting like idiots. (hide spoiler)]

Rita - (view spoiler)[It's always surprised me that Rita was able to publish her outlandish "articles" in The Daily Prophet. I guess I expect the main wizard paper to report something closer to the facts instead of her ridiculous imagining, which are far more tabloid worthy. (hide spoiler)]

[Jammin Jenny]

So I just finished the book and forgot how different the story was in the book vs. the movie. I can understand why because (view spoiler)[ once you remove Winky and Crouch's son's "escape" from Azkaban in the movie, you have to create a different story. Also there was much more of the whole house-elf story line in the book (none in the movie) and Dobby ends up giving gillyweed to Harry instead of Nevill recommending it from a book he got from "Mad-Eye". (hide spoiler)].

I love the movie and the book but the book had much more depth.

[SandyL]

I've finished Chapter 21 - this book is taking me much longer than the others and isn't holding my attention.

Like others, I feel Hermione's obsession with the house elves and SPEW is an annoying distraction. I am glad (view spoiler)[Harry and Ron have made up and Harry is much happier. (hide spoiler)]

As for Rita (view spoiler)[ I wonder if JK based her character on a paparazzo she knew or came into contact with? (hide spoiler)]