A school contest turns grave: Harry's name in the Goblet seals Cedric's fate.
Who drives the story
The fourteen-year-old who never entered the tournament but is magically bound to survive it. Every task is a rigged step toward the graveyard where he watches a friend die and faces Voldemort alone.
Hogwarts' honest champion, decent enough to share clues and offer a tie. His fairness earns him a place beside Harry at the Cup—and a Killing Curse in the graveyard.
Harry's best friend, whose jealousy over the Goblet silences him for weeks. Seeing Harry face a dragon restores him; the Yule Ball reignites the fire as jealousy over Krum.
The conscience of the trio, founding S.P.E.W. for unpaid house-elves and enduring Skeeter's slander. She attends the Ball with Krum and pays for it in Ron's temper.
A grotesque, half-formed creature plotting Harry's death from the Riddle House. Wormtail's ritual with Harry's blood restores him to full power, and he kills Cedric within minutes of rebirth.
The scarred ex-Auror with a magical eye and wooden leg who teaches the Unforgivable Curses. Except for a few weeks in a trunk, he never really teaches at all.
The stern Ministry official who dismisses Winky and once disowned his own son. His obsession with Dark wizards is his undoing; Harry finds his body in the Forbidden Forest.
Harry's godfather, speaking through the fire and hiding near Hogsmeade as a dog. He is the first to say someone entered Harry's name to kill him.
Also in the story
The Death Eater hiding in plain sight as 'Mad-Eye' Moody, who entered Harry's name and coached him toward Voldemort's resurrection. Veritaserum strips the disguise; the real Moody sits in a trunk.
The free house-elf who supplies the gillyweed that saves Harry underwater. His help quietly proves Hermione's point about elf loyalty and cleverness.
How they are connected
Every task is a rigged step toward the graveyard where he watches a friend die and faces Voldemort alone.
His fairness earns him a place beside Harry at the Cup—and a Killing Curse in the graveyard.
Harry's best friend, whose jealousy over the Goblet silences him for weeks.
She attends the Ball with Krum and pays for it in Ron's temper.
The Death Eater hiding in plain sight as 'Mad-Eye' Moody, who entered Harry's name and coached him toward Voldemort's resurrection.
The Death Eater hiding in plain sight as 'Mad-Eye' Moody, who entered Harry's name and coached him toward Voldemort's resurrection.
Barty Crouch Jr.Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
The Death Eater hiding in plain sight as 'Mad-Eye' Moody, who entered Harry's name and coached him toward Voldemort's resurrection.
Wormtail's ritual with Harry's blood restores him to full power, and he kills Cedric within minutes of rebirth.
His obsession with Dark wizards is his undoing; Harry finds his body in the Forbidden Forest.
Harry's godfather, speaking through the fire and hiding near Hogsmeade as a dog.
The free house-elf who supplies the gillyweed that saves Harry underwater.
His help quietly proves Hermione's point about elf loyalty and cleverness.
Go deeper
The cost of being believed · Institutional cruelty and the invisible workers · Fathers, sons, and disownment · Fair play as a fatal virtue
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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