Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

In the fourth chapter in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is plagued by nightmares and disturbing dreams that leave his scar hurting more than usual. Harry is glad to escape these nightmares by going to the Quidditch World Cup, companied by his close friend Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson). Little do Harry and his friends know, but something rather dark and evil is waiting for them at the Quidditch campsite.

The Dark Mark, the sign of sinister Lord Voldemort, ignites the skies of the campsite. It turns out that the sign of Voldemort was conjured by the dark Lord’s followers, the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters have remained hidden from public view since Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) was last seen on the night Voldemort murdered Harry’s parents, thirteen years ago. With the Death Eater’s back, Harry longs to return to the safety and security of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry but Professor Dumbledor (Michael Gambon) announces that this year will be a little bit different. This year Hogwarts is going to host the Triwizard Tournament.

The Triwizard Tournament is one of the most exciting (and most dangerous) magical competitions of the wizarding community. The three largest and most prestigious wizarding schools will select one champion each to compete in a series of life-threatening tasks to win the highly coveted and desired Triwizard Cup. As host, Hogwarts welcomes the wizards and witches from the opposing schools - the elegant girls of the Beauxbatons Academy and the dark and brooding boys of Durmstrang Institute. Children from the three schools fill the Great Hall in anticipation of who will be chosen as champion for their school.

Professor Dumbledor, along with Ministry of Magic official Barty Crouch (Roger Lloyd Pack), preside over a candlelit ceremony as the enchanted Goblet of Fire chooses one student from each of the three schools as champion to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. The cup names Quidditch pro Victor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski) from Durmstrang, Fleur Delcour (Clémence Poésy) from Beauxbatons, and popular overachiever Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) from Hogwarts as the three champions. Just as the children and schoolmasters believe the Goblet has finished making the choices, the Goblet inexplicable spits out on final fourth name…Harry Potter. This comes as a shock to all as Harry, only 14 years of age, is three years too young to enter his name in the tournament. Harry doesn’t want to compete but whatever the Goblet decides is a binding decision, therefore, he must.

Many kids become jealous and suspicious, and their fire intensifies as journalist Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson) fans the flames against Harry through outrageous stories in her gossip column. Even Harry’s best friend Ron has his suspicions.

Harry insisted that he did not put his name in the Goblet and Dumbledor, believing Harry, suspects that whoever did enter his name deliberately wants him harmed. Dumbledor asks the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody (Brendan Gleeson), to keep an eye on Harry, just in case.

Although Harry is preparing diligently for the Triwizard competition, his biggest fear is not the fire-breathing dragons, merpeople or grindylows he will encounter during the tasks. His biggest fear is getting enough courage to ask Cho Change (Katie Leung) to the Yule Ball. Finding a date can be the most terrifying challenge of them all, and both Harry and Ron must face this task. If Ron weren’t so distracted, perhaps he would acknowledge a change in his feelings for Hermoine.

With everything on his mind, Harry still can’t shake his nightmares about Voldemort. When someone is murdered at Hogwarts, Harry takes his concerns to Dumbledore who, in all his wisdom, can’t guarantee any easy answers.

As Harry and the other champions chosen by the Goblet of Fire struggle through their last tournament task, there is someone or something keeping a watchful and ominous eye. As each competitor edges closer to the Triwizard Cup, secrets are revealed and Harry soon finds himself hurtling toward an inevitable encounter with true evil.