Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, Book 4)

Though I remain unshakable in my conviction that the third is my favourite of the series, I really enjoyed Goblet of Fire the first time around and it still hits hard today.

I remember very well the thrill of walking out of the library with the rather bulky box of tapes in my hand, marvelling at the fact that the tapes were in a double layer inside the box because there were 14 of them, which is a nine hour increase on the last book and made me all the more desperate to actually go and listen to it. I also recall very vividly being polite and sociable, sat on the sofa explaining the appeal of the series to my grandfather over a cup of tea before I was to vanish for almost a whole day of audio. He remained convinced that the "thing" on the cover was more of a lizard than a dragon: unfortunately, his dementia progressed quickly such that by the time the movie was available to watch at home the image on the cover no longer held any significance, which is sad. He died a few months ago, and sitting there on that sofa with the box and talking about the lizard-like dragon is a memory I shall always cherish.

As with the Philosopher's Stone, I have specific memories of flashes of this book. The first chapter is a departure from narrative style in that we peek at Little Hangleton for a bit, the first time we start seeing "through" Harry's scar. The next thing I really remember is Stephen Fry's "so...", when Uncle Vernon is about to read Molly Weasley's letter, for some reason the inflection and intonation has stuck with me. The fireplace incident is of course very fun, and I have a great memory of almost cackling with glee when Arthur uses a previously unseen spell to light the fire.

Back in those days, I didn't read whole books at a single sitting and it would have taken me well over a week to get through this one. It transpires that my parents and brothers were going on holiday during the reading and, rather than take me but leave me in a hotel room for the week, they decided to leave me with an aunt "for the duration". I remember feeling slightly disappointed that I'd miss out on the sun and the swimming on the Costa del Maresme, but this was soon overtaken by the enthusiasm of the Quidditch World Cup. "I like a healthy breeze round my privates, thanks!" is a line that my teenage self found very, very amusing indeed.

I noticed, twice, during this reread, the way in which rowling shows how clever her characters can be, which I completely missed as a kid. First, in chapter 9, when Winky is discovered with the wand, Barty's obviously very shocked and of course we know that he's got more to be shocked about than is obvious at this stage. Nonetheless in a short space of time he composes himself and takes control of things. Similarly, the Weasley twins are worrying about blackmail all the way over in chapter 29: that whole scene in the owlery is such a perfect blend of the comic and the serious that the twins subtle cleverness flew by me to start with.

For some reason, the emotional stuff hit me harder this time around as well. When Harry and Ron make up after the first task I couldn't stop smiling, and when Harry is telling everyone how he's solved the clue for the second task in chapter 24, especially Hagrid, I felt a great swell of... something then, too.

The Egg and the Eye, chapter 25, is perhaps my favourite of the whole book. I don't quite know why, but the scene on the stairs is superb, knowing all the subtext enriches it even more if that's possible..

And then, there's the graveyard. Listening late at night, in my bed, the house quiet and still and the rain lashing the windows despite it being summer... I was afraid to reach out my arm to turn the tape over, never mind physically getting out of bed to get the next one out of the box. Flesh, Blood and Bone is the second shortest chapter in the book, yet Fry's performance is astoundingly scary and even reading it now I still have to keep an eye out, just in case Lord Voldemort is hiding behind a curtain.

And we end on a war footing, be it a quiet one. The ways have parted, The Beginning has begun, Dumbledore is calling for unity whilst the world at large is still unaware. "Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory." He really is quite enspiring, isn't he?

This is the book where things get darker, of course. We glimpse the cruelty of the Death Eaters at the world cup and have the rest of the novel before we're hit with a death, but there's no denying that the simplicity of good and bad guys and Albus in complete control with Harry's safety assured is slipping away and the wizarding world is in for a very rough time indeed.