Essays on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Many a tale has been woven around the concept of competition, from simple sports competition to cutthroat business and politics.  Yet the greatest lesson of such competition is, more often than not, that two heads are better than one.  Runners will frequently team up with one of their peers to pace themselves while running, political adversaries team up with each other to get legislation passed that both might agree are needed and students strive for high honors when it comes time for graduation.  As one might guess, such competitions in the wizard world have far greater dangers.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, fourth in J. K. Rowling’s series, two schools come to join Hogwarts in a very dangerous competition.  The Ministry of Magic makes the decision that, due to the level of danger involved in the competition, no student under the age of seventeen may compete in the competition this year to the dismay of many of the students.

When the competitors are chosen, however, the goblet ends up choosing a fourth student for the first time ever.  The goblet spits out the name of Harry Potter to the outrage of everyone who thinks that Potter somehow cheated to get his name into the competition.  Harry is forced then to compete as the law states and is required to face three dangerous obstacles via the competition.

The first part of the competition is one of amazing courage and skill; outwitting a dragon.  Harry receives forewarning about the nature of this task and recovers the egg his dragon is guarding, passing to the second challenge.  The second part of the competition the students must rescue a loved one from the black sea, a feat of endurance and compassion.  Harry, slowed by his determination to rescue both his “loved one” and that of the girls school competitor who was forced to abandon the contest, ends up arriving last at the surface, but is awarded second place for his compassion.  The third challenge is to recover the competition trophy from within a magical maze.  Cedric Diggioty, Harry’s classmate, manages to touch the trophy at the same time as Harry and both are whisked away to a distant graveyard, confronted by Lord Voldemort himself.  One of them doesn’t survive the encounter, slain by the evil Lord’s death curse.

During the course of the story, Harry and Cedric show a rather hesitant friendship, helping each other with the challenges of the competition, though both are competing.  Discuss the effects this has on each character and how it relates to the events of the book’s finale.

Students today face many great challenges, though seldom is death a haunting figure in the hallways of the university or college.  The threats to students today take the form of massive writing assignments that loom like a great Sword of Damocles over their heads, ready to cull them from the academic herd in a single blow.  Yet all is not as hopeless as it may seem.  Great knights, with mighty pens in hand, stand ready to come to your aid.  All we need is your command … um, order.