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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
History, Community, and Coming of Age
Empathy and Love
Reading, Critical Thinking, and Truth
Activism and Diversity
Good, Evil, Power, and Choice
Summary
Analysis
The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione discuss that either Mr. Crouch attacked Krum or someone attacked both of them. They send a letter to Sirius and in the Owlery, Harry explains again what Mr. Crouch said. Ron is concerned that Mr. Crouch was talking about Voldemort getting stronger. Ron suggests that Snape held Harry up on purpose and they decide to ask Moody if he saw Mr. Crouch on the map. They stop talking when they hear Fred and George approaching, talking about something that could be construed as blackmail. They're surprised to see the trio but say that they won't ask questions if the trio won't either. Ron, however, is concerned that the twins are blackmailing someone.
Ron's choice to involve himself in whatever Fred and George are potentially doing shows that he's beginning to learn the importance of looking out for his family members and trying to keep them safe and on the right side of the law, though it's also telling that Fred and George don't give Ron the opportunity to empathize with them. Instead, they recognize that by denying Ron this, they can maintain their secrets. This shows again how behaving in this manner has its uses.
Themes
After the twins leave, Ron uncomfortably says that Fred and George are obsessed with making money and are serious about starting their joke shop. They wonder if the twins know anything about Mr. Crouch and how far they'd go to get money. The day goes painfully slowly. Even Hermione struggles to stay awake during History of Magic. After, they go find Moody. Moody pulls them into a classroom, admits he didn't find Crouch last night, and they discuss how Mr. Crouch may have disappeared. He tells Hermione that she'd also make a good Auror and then tells the trio that there's nothing they can do but concentrate on getting Harry through the third task.
The discomfort that Ron seems to feel with the twins' trajectory shows that at this point, he still agrees with Mrs. Weasley and doesn't take Fred and George's dreams for the future seriously. When the trio approaches Moody to discuss what happened with Mr. Crouch, Moody uses the fact that they trust him to point them in the direction that he wants them to go: he wants Harry to do well in the maze and knows how to use their trust to make this happen.
Themes
The next morning, Harry receives a letter from Sirius reprimanding him for going into the forest with Krum and asking him to promise to not go out of bounds. Harry is offended, but Hermione points out that someone wants to hurt Harry since they put his name in the Goblet of Fire.
The suspicion surrounding Krum continues to illustrate how, in times like this, it's very easy for people to begin to suspect those that they might not otherwise.
Themes
Harry spends the next few days learning hexes and curses. Ron and Hermione help Harry during lunch and then Harry and Ron head upstairs for Divination. The room is boiling, so Harry cracks a window. Trelawney dims the lights and Harry dozes off, listening to an insect outside the window. In his dream he rides an eagle owl to an old house. He sees a huge snake and Wormtail on either side of a chair. Voldemort's voice comes from the chair, saying that Wormtail's mistake won't ruin everything. Voldemort performs the Cruciatus Curse on Wormtail and Harry wakes up on the floor, screaming, his scar burning.
Harry's dream and the very physically painful effect it has on him suggests that what he sees may be real. This continues to expand Harry's conception of what the world outside of Hogwarts is like and, specifically, what the evil parts of the world consist of. Further, after Moody's lesson on the Unforgivable Curses, Harry can make better sense of seeing the Cruciatus Curse in action.
Themes
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Trelawney wants to know what Harry saw, but Harry says he has a headache and excuses himself to the hospital wing. However, Harry decides to seek out Dumbledore instead. At the gargoyle that guards Dumbledore's office, Harry lists candies until the gargoyle leaps aside at "cockroach cluster." Harry climbs the staircase but waits outside, listening to Fudge talking about Bertha Jorkins's disappearance and insisting it's not linked to Mr. Crouch's. Fudge wonders if Madame Maxime is to blame and Dumbledore accuses Fudge of being prejudiced. Moody tells Dumbledore that Harry is outside.
Everything that Fudge says here should raise suspicions that he's not as much of an ally as Harry and Dumbledore currently seem to believe, given that he openly suspects Madame Maxime and likely also doesn't think highly of Hagrid either, despite years of evidence to the contrary. Unlike Sirius and Dumbledore, Fudge clearly isn't reading between the lines or connecting dots.
Themes
