Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4)

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Editorial Reviews
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Overview

You have in your hands the pivotal fourth novel in the seven part tale of Harry Potter's training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). He wants to find out about the mysterious event that's supposed to take place at the Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn't happened in a hundred years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen year old wizard. Unfortunately for Harry Potter, he's not normal - even by wizarding standards.

And in his case, different can be deadly.

Fourteen-year-old Harry Potter joins the Weasleys at the Quidditch World Cup, then enters his fourth year at Hogwarts Academy where he is mysteriously entered in an unusual contest that challenges his wizarding skills, friendships and character, amid signs that an old enemy is growing stronger.

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What People Are Saying

Valdimir Zelevinsky

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fireis the pivotal central book in the series; it is by far the longest (at 734 pages, it's roughly double the size of any of the first three), by far the most ambitious--and fortunately, by far the best as well. It is also clearly the darkest, especially in the dazzling climax and it consequences. Ultimately, through, the book's strongest asset is satisfying that irresistible curiosity of discovering what is behind the next corner. For almost all of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire the readers are totally spellbound--entirely at the mercy of an expert storyteller.
—The Tech - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Harry Potter is back in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and this time, the magic gets out of hand!

First, imagine if you will, the sleepy but mysterious village of Little Hangleton, and what happened at the Riddle House. No, the Riddle House is not a place for riddles, but a home where the family died of fright. The man accused of murdering them was eventually released, but when he returns to the Riddle House, he overhears a curious conversation between someone named Wormtail and a terrible, dark presence by the name of Lord Voldemort -- oh, so sorry…He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Volde... (oops, almost said it again) He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is one of the most powerful Dark wizards -- and he wants Harry Potter.

When Harry wakes from a particularly vivid dream, the scar on his forehead throbs, and he knows something is up. Harry's been living in a dreadful house on Privet Drive with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and greedy cousin, Dudley. They won't even let him do any wizardry -- you know Muggles, how they can't really handle that kind of stuff.

Harry's uncle and aunt like to let the neighbors think that Harry goes to St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys rather than to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He has to hide his magic -- and even broomsticks aren't a suitable topic of conversation in the Dursley household. But everything is about to change for Harry, beginning with this particular summer vacation.

It starts with a letter from Mrs. Weasley, Harry's friend Ron's mother. She invites him to come spend the rest of the summer with the Weasleys and to go see the Quidditch World Cup. Quidditch is Harry's favorite sport in the world, and it isn't often that the Quidditch World Cup is in Britain. Faster than you can say "Hogwarts," Harry travels by fire to the Burrow, and the dark and threatening adventure begins.

On the way, Harry discovers that his interest in girls is becoming more nerve-wracking -- how is a young wizard to ask a girl to the Yule Ball? And what of the Goblet of Fire itself? And the Triwizard Tournament? And then, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named might be seeking Harry out even now!

Who can resist a Harry Potter tale? J. K. Rowling has proven again that her international success seemed inevitable. It is beautifully written, with a strong narrative and fascinating, unforgettable characters, and there is not a child or adult in the world who won't love this story. Not one word is wasted.

Now, my only problem is I need to find Harry so I can start classes at Hogwarts, soon. I sent him a message by owl, just this morning.

From the Publisher

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

"Readers are in for a delightful romp with this award-winning debut from a British author who dances in the footsteps of P.L. Travers and Roald Dahl. There is enchantment, suspense, and danger galore (as well as enough creepy creatures to satisfy the most bogey-men-loving readers, and even a magical game of soccerlike Quidditch to entertain the sports fans).
---Publishers Weekly, starred review

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"the magical foundation so necessary in good fantasy, are as expertly crafted here as in the first book."
--Booklist, starred review

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

"Isn't it reassuring that some things just get better and better?"
--School Library Journal

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

"Rowling seems to have the spell-casting powers she assigns her characters: this fourth volume might be her most thrilling yet. Rowling plants the red herrings, the artful clues and tricky surprises that disarm the most attentive audience. The muscle-building heft of this volume notwithstanding, the clamor for book five will begin as soon as readers finish installment four."
--Publishers Weekly starred review-- July, 2000

"Harry is now l4 years old and in his fourth year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where big changes are afoot. This year, instead of the usual Inter- House Quidditch Cup, a Triwizard Tournament will be held, during which three champions, one from each of three schools of wizardry (Hogwarts, Durinstrang, and Beaux-batons), must complete three challenging magical tasks. The competitors must be at least 17 years old, but the Goblet of Fire that determines the champions mysteriously produces Harry's name, so he becomes an unwilling fourth contestant. Meanwhile, it is obvious to the boy's allies that the evil Voldemort will use the Tournament to get at Harry. This hefty volume is brimming with all of the imagination, humor, and suspense that characterized the first books. So many characters, both new and familiar, are so busily scheming, spying, studying, worrying, fulminating, and suffering from unrequited first love that it is a wonder that Rowling can keep track, much less control, of all the plot lines. She does, though, balancing humor, malevolence, school-day tedium, and shocking revelantions with the aplomb of a circus performer. The Triwizard Tournament itself is bit of a letdown, since Harry is able, with a little help from his friends and even enemies, to perform the tasks easily. This fourth installment, with its deaths, a sinister ending, and an older and more shaken protagonist, surely marks the beginning of a very exciting and serious baffle between the forces of light and dark, and Harry's fans will be right there with him".-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
--School Library Journal, August 2000

" Was it worth the long, agonizing wait and all the hype and hoopla? You bet! Harry's fourth challenging experience willmore than live up to his myriad fans' expectations--though the 734 pages divided into 37 chapters may be a bit daunting to your readers. The very length, however, allows an even richer tapestry of magical events and humorous escapades, even as the tale takes the long-predicted darker turn. . . . Any inclination towards disbelief on the part of readers is swept away by the very brilliance of the writing. The carefully created world of magic becomes more embellished and layered, while the amazing plotting ties up loose ennds, even as it sets in motion more entanglements. The long climax races relentlessly to a stunning denouement that leaves the way open for the next episode. Le the anticipation be

Stephen King

The Harry Potter series is a supernatural version of ''Tom Brown's Schooldays,'' updated and given a hip this-is-how-kids-really-are shine. And Harry is the kid most children feel themselves to be, adrift in a world of unimaginative and often unpleasant adults -- Muggles, Rowling calls them -- who neither understand them nor care to. Harry is, in fact, a male Cinderella, waiting for someone to invite him to the ball. In Potter 1, his invitation comes first by owl (in the magic world of J. K. Rowling, owls deliver the mail) and then by Sorting Hat; in the current volume it comes from the Goblet of Fire, smoldering and shedding glamorous sparks. How nice to be invited to the ball! Even for a relatively old codger like me, it's still nice to be invited to the ball.
— New York Times Book Review

Charles Taylor

Children (and many of us who aren't) have been so anxious for the fourth installment of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series because they are caught up in a breathless adventure, because they have learned to ask the most vital and essential question any reader can: What happens next? "But," the still-puzzled persist, "aren't there other children's books that are just as good?" Perhaps. But for kids, "Harry Potter" is of their time, something that will always be theirs instead of a legacy left to them by a previous generation....Like all great fantasy sagas, the Harry Potter books have grown narratively, morally and psychologically more complex as the series progresses. There is a special pressure on a writer who midway through a series finds herself entrusted with the imagination of a huge number of readers. That Rowling has done nothing to break that faith seems a deed as brave and noble as any her hero has accomplished.
— Salon

Robert McCrum

[T]his is storytelling of a high order indeed. It draws the reader in with a riddle and a letter. It proceeds through a series of trials to a great confrontation. And it concludes with a death and a climactic resolution. E.M. Forster famously observed that, 'Yes - oh dear, yes - the novel tells a story'. HP IV is the apotheosis of 'story.'
— Guardian

Associated Press

As usual, Rowling has written a fast-paced story full of surprises. Just when the traitor at Hogwarts seems obvious, it turns out to be someone else. When death strikes, it's a shock. Readers might think they know who's on what side and what they're after, but don't be too sure. Rowling is really good at turning smoking guns into red herrings....So, how long until book five?

Chicago Tribune

Rowling has a way of making the wildest, most whimsically unlikely conventions and scenarios seem utterly plausible, of creating a world so convincing that you don't even stop to question the existence of flying broomsticks and invisibility cloaks.

Jabari Asim

J.K. Rowling has not lost her touch. The fourth in her series starring the courageous young wizard is just as absorbing as its celebrated predecessors.
— Washington Post

Sarah Johnson

Once again, Rowling packs the pages with witty and imaginative ideas....Fourth year report? Another fine year, Ms Rowling. Three more to go and it looks as though your OWLS (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) results will be terrific.
— Times (London)

Janet Maslin

As the midpoint in a projected seven-book series, Goblet of Fire is exactly the big, clever, vibrant, tremendously assured installment that gives shape and direction to the whole undertaking and still somehow preserves the material's enchanting innocence. This time Ms. Rowling offers her clearest proof yet of what should have been wonderfully obvious: what makes the Potter books so popular is the radically simple fact that they're so good.
— New York Times

Daily Record

Potter enthusiasts will not be disappointed. Here are all the old friends, the funny creatures, the magic, the thrills and the laughs that are the ingredients of Rowling's fabulous success.

Rebekah Denn

...keeps up the awesome inventiveness, deadpan humor and gripping pace of previous installments....As usual, Rowling flawlessly knits her plotlines together, with seemingly casual early details taking on meaningful force by the end.
— Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Publishers Weekly

Even without the unprecedented media attention and popularity her magical series has attracted, it would seem too much to hope that Rowling could sustain the brilliance and wit of her first three novels. Astonishingly, Rowling seems to have the spell-casting powers she assigns her characters: this fourth volume might be her most thrilling yet.

The novel opens as a confused Muggle overhears Lord Voldemort and his henchman, Wormtail (the escapee from book three, Azkaban) discussing a murder and plotting more deaths (and invoking Harry Potter's name); clues suggest that Voldemort and Wormtail's location will prove highly significant.

From here it takes a while (perhaps slightly too long a while) for Harry and his friends to get back to the Hogwarts school, where Rowling is on surest footing. Headmaster Dumbledore appalls everyone by declaring that Quidditch competition has been canceled for the year, then he makes the exciting announcement that the Triwizard Tournament is to be held after a cessation of many hundred years (it was discontinued, he explains, because the death toll mounted so high). One representative from each of the three largest wizardry schools of Europe (sinister Durmstrang, luxurious Beauxbatons and Hogwarts) are to be chosen by the Goblet of Fire; because of the mortal dangers, Dumbledore casts a spell that allows only students who are at least 17 to drop their names into the Goblet. Thus no one foresees that the Goblet will announce a fourth candidate: Harry. Who has put his name into the Goblet, and how is his participation in the tournament linked, as it surely must be, to Voldemort's newest plot?

The details are as ingenious and original as ever, and somehow (for catching readers off-guard must certainly get more difficult with each successive volume) Rowling plants the red herrings, the artful clues and tricky surprises that disarm the most attentive audience. A climax even more spectacular than that of Azkaban will leave readers breathless; the muscle-building heft of this volume notwithstanding, the clamor for book five will begin as soon as readers finish installment four.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Ages 9-12 Even without the unprecedented media attention and popularity her magical series has attracted, it would seem too much to hope that Rowling could sustain the brilliance and wit of her first three novels. Astonishingly, Rowling seems to have the spell-casting powers she assigns her characters: this fourth volume might be her most thrilling yet. The novel opens as a confused Muggle overhears Lord Voldemort and his henchman, Wormtail (the escapee from book three, Azkaban) discussing a murder and plotting more deaths (and invoking Harry Potter's name); clues suggest that Voldemort and Wormtail's location will prove highly significant. From here it takes a while (perhaps slightly too long a while) for Harry and his friends to get back to the Hogwarts school, where Rowling is on surest footing. Headmaster Dumbledore appalls everyone by declaring that Quidditch competition has been canceled for the year, then he makes the exciting announcement that the Triwizard Tournament is to be held after a cessation of many hundred years (it was discontinued, he explains, because the death toll mounted so high). One representative from each of the three largest wizardry schools of Europe (sinister Durmstrang, luxurious Beauxbatons and Hogwarts) are to be chosen by the Goblet of Fire; because of the mortal dangers, Dumbledore casts a spell that allows only students who are at least 17 to drop their names into the Goblet. Thus no one foresees that the Goblet will announce a fourth candidate: Harry. Who has put his name into the Goblet, and how is his participation in the tournament linked, as it surely must be, to Voldemort's newest plot? The details are as ingenious and original as ever, and somehow (for catching readers off-guard must certainly get more difficult with each successive volume) Rowling plants the red herrings, the artful clues and tricky surprises that disarm the most attentive audience. A climax even more spectacular than that of Azkaban will leave readers breathless; the muscle-building heft of this volume notwithstanding, the clamor for book five will begin as soon as readers finish installment four. Copyright 2000, Cahners Business Information.|

KLIATT

This fourth volume of Harry's adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is up to the high standards of its predecessors, full of fantasy, suspense, humor and horror. All the familiar characters are back—Harry's faithful friends Ron and Hermione (she takes on the cause of enslaved house-elves here), professors both kind and nasty, and Moaning Myrtle the ghost, among others—and there are some new characters, too, like the half-giantess Madame Maxime, a little house-elf named Winky, and "Mad-Eye" Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And defense is needed; because Harry's great enemy Lord Voldemort has risen again, with a new plot to kill Harry. There is a Quidditch World Cup, to supply some sports action, and even more important for Harry, a dangerous Triwizard Tournament in which he is a competitor. At 14, Harry and his friends are starting to mature, and boy-girl relationships are beginning to play a role in their lives, making this book of even greater interest to the YA audience. For all libraries. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick; September 2000

Children's Literature

Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione return for their fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This year promises to be special, for the school plans to resurrect the tradition of the Triwizards Tournament, pitting the best Hogwarts student against foes from two other schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. It is no surprise to Harry Potter fans that Harry gets tangled up in the competition. This year at school is different also because the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Mad-Eye Moody, actually seems to know his subject. Will he last, or will he meet an ignominious end as have all his predecessors? As with the first three books in the series, there is much skulking through the halls at night, bending rules somewhat and general schoolboy mischief. There is also chivalry, team spirit, hero worship and puppy love. What is new to this entry in the series is its sheer weight--Rowling's mastery of storytelling is evident since her fans think nothing of lugging this 734-page tome about on family vacations. The story also turns much more macabre as Harry's archenemy, Lord Voldemort, regains some of his former power. The imagery is vivid and somewhat disturbing and could easily lead to a few nights' restless sleep. Another riveting read by Rowling. Reviewer: Dr. Judy Rowen

VOYA

There must be a committee that lives in Rowling's head. Could just one brain possibly come up with all this creativity and imagination? I wanted to see into her "Pensieve," to steal into her swirling thoughts, just as Potter stumbles into Dumbledore's in Goblet of Fire. This fourth installment continues fourteen-year-old Harry's journey to full wizardhood, opening immediately with the mysterious and foreboding appearance of Lord Voldemort, who again establishes the presence of the dark side. Harry spent another summer with the least imaginative and most disappointing of all Muggles, the Dursleys. His stay on Privet Drive ends sooner than expected when Mr. Weasley secures box seat tickets for the Quidditch World Cup and invites Harry to go. Uncle Vernon reluctantly agrees to the outing after Harry casually and slyly mentions his "godfather" Sirius Black. And the fun begins. Using a different structure for this adventure, Rowling allows events to lead to four climaxes instead of one. She sets up the story with a demonstration of her creative mastery in the Quidditch World Cup segment: the Weasley's arrival via Floo Powder in the Dursley's bricked-up fireplace, their unconventional trip in Muggle disguise to the World Cup campsite (I want one of those tents!), the magical and exciting Quidditch match, and the mysterious events that follow. Three more high points occur with each challenge in the Triwizard Tournament, held at Hogwarts during the school term. Single champions from Beauxbaton, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts schools are to compete, but Harry's name is sneaked in to the competition. Because one cannot contradict the Goblet of Fire (or disappoint readers), Harry stays. Between the heart-thumping events, some critics complain of slow reading. We are, after all, an audience of highly educated Muggles and harder to please. We have read the previous books—at least once, perhaps twice—and know all the passwords and the counterspells. But for me, reading a Potter book has become a sort of reunion. I use the down time between tense moments to visit with all the characters I've missed since the last gathering. There are some new faces, familiar faces, furry faces, translucent faces, suspicious faces, wise faces, and heroic faces. Some are just plain weird! Mad-Eye Moody, the new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher, has a long mane of grizzled hair, and a heavily scarred face with one normal eye and one magical eye that swivels in its socket and seems to see at all times—even through the back of his head. Mad-Eye introduces students to the "Unforgiveable Curses" that would earn a wizard a life sentence in Azkaban if used. Fun characters, new spells, incredible events, and delightful gimmicks add to the puzzle that Rowling challenges us to complete. The multilayered framework is unquestionably well constructed. Answers to unresolved questions from earlier installments are revealed—we finally learn why Harry must summer with the Dursleys—and enough hints about what comes next will leave readers anxiously awaiting the fifth book. After finishing this adventure, I needed to share my excitement and was lucky enough to find a fourth grader on his eighth reading just two weeks after the book's release. Two days later I bumped into my retired teaching mentor whose book group finished it. Our animated dialogue drew crowds. Rowling again has created magic—between the covers of this book and between readers of all ages who need to talk about Harry.Reviewer: C. J. Bott October 2000

School Library Journal

Gr 4 Up-Harry Potter is back in J.K. Rowling's fourth installment of his adventures (Scholastic, 2000). He is 14 years old and in his fourth year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the traditional Inter-House Quidditch Cup has been temporarily suspended so that the Triwizard Tournament can be held. Only three students, one from each of the biggest schools of wizardry, may compete, but the Goblet of Fire that chooses the champions from each school mysteriously produces a fourth name--Harry Potter. As the school readies for the tournament, it becomes obvious to Harry's allies that Voldemort is plotting something dastardly--but only at the very end does he show his hand, springing a trap that Harry only narrowly escapes. Jim Dale, who has narrated the previous Harry Potter audiobooks, succeeds marvelously at the Herculean effort of voicing about 125 characters. By now, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid are so well known to him that his renditions of their voices are practiced and flawless. He also invests new characters such as Mad-Eye Moody and Winky with voices that enhance their already vivid personalities. Dale intones magical commands with such great authority that one would almost think he was a wizard himself. Twenty hours is a long time to listen to a book, but the combination of Rowling's enthralling adventure and Dale's limber narration will easily see kids through to the very last sentence.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Kristen Baldwin

...anything but boring.
—Entertainment Weekly

Robert Allen Papinchak

The legend continues. Rowling's audacious series about the world's most beloved boy wizard moves into classic mode when fourteen-year-old Harry encounters his most daring challenges so far, confronting You-Know-Who and overcoming a daunting series of tasks in the process. Rowling's wisely inventive twist on the previous books is to eschew the ponderous exposition that halted the openings of books Two and Three, The Chamber of Secrets and The Prisoner of Azkaban. Instead, she provides a powerhouse opening chapter that lays the groundwork for the spellbinding twists and turns that follow. Harry knows disaster surrounds him even as he sets off with his favorite family, the Weasleys, for the four hundred twenty-second Quidditch World Cup Final Match against Ireland and Bulgaria, a speedy but heart-stopping event. Later, at Hogwarts, the students discover that the annual interschool quidditch matches are displaced by an even greater competition, the Triwizard Tournament. When Harry's name is drawn from the goblet of fire--despite the fact that he is underage--he endures Herculean tasks that test magical prowess, daring, powers of deduction and the ability to cope with danger. All of this moves inexorably toward a definitive, horrifying face-off with Lord Voldemort. Rowling balances the darkness of the novel with some delightfully raucous highlights. Every reader will have his favorite book in the series. Some might find Rowling overloading the goodies in this one, but, in this case, more is better. What a shame to have to wait another year to find out what happens next.

Kirkus Reviews

As the bells and whistles of the greatest prepublication hoopla in children's book history fade, what's left in the clearing smoke is—unsurprisingly, considering Rowling's track record—another grand tale of magic and mystery, of wheels within wheels oiled in equal measure by terror and comedy, featuring an engaging young hero-in-training who's not above the occasional snit, and clicking along so smoothly that it seems shorter than it is. Good thing, too, with this page count. That's not to say that the pace doesn't lag occasionally—particularly near the end when not one but two bad guys halt the action for extended accounts of their misdeeds and motives—or that the story lacks troubling aspects. As Harry wends his way through a fourth year of pranks, schemes, intrigue, danger and triumph at Hogwarts, the racial and class prejudice of many wizards moves to the forefront, with hooded wizards gathering to terrorize an isolated Muggle family in one scene while authorities do little more than wring their hands. There's also the later introduction of Hogwarts' house elves as a clan of happy slaves speaking nonstandard English. These issues may be resolved in sequels, but in the meantime, they are likely to leave many readers, particularly American ones, uncomfortable. Still, opening with a thrilling quidditch match, and closing with another wizardly competition that is also exciting, for very different reasons, this sits at the center of Rowling's projected seven volume saga and makes a sturdy, heartstopping (doorstopping) fulcrum for it. (Fiction. All ages)

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Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780439139595
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date: 7/8/2000
Series: Harry Potter Series , #4
Pages: 752
Sales rank: 16,288
Age range: 9 - 12 Years
Lexile: 880L (what's this?)
Product dimensions: 6.40 (w) x 9.30 (h) x 2.13 (d)

Meet the Author

J.K. Rowling was a struggling single mother when she wrote the beginning of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, on scraps of paper at a local cafe. But her efforts soon paid off, as she received an unprecedented award from the Scottish Arts Council enabling her to finish the book. Since then, the debut novel has become an international phenomenon, garnering rave reviews and major awards, including the British Book Awards Chidren's Book of the Year and the Smarties Prize. Ms. Rowling lives in Edinburgh with her daughter.

Biography

As the often told story goes, J. K. Rowling was on the brink of poverty, receiving welfare when her first Harry Potter book catapulted her into a stratosphere of stardom rarely enjoyed by any writer. While accounts of Rowling's destitution have been greatly exaggerated, her story is still something of a rags-to-riches tale not unlike that of her most famous creation.

Yes, Rowling did briefly receive government assistance after returning to her home country of England following a stint in Portugal, but that ended when she took a fairly well-paying teaching job. Rather than financial hardships, the period between a 1990 train ride from Manchester to London -- during which Rowling first conceived of a "scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard" -- and the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was marked by setbacks of a more personal nature. Her mother passed away. She divorced her first husband, leaving her to raise her daughter alone. The writing career she'd always desired was becoming less and less viable as her personal responsibilities mounted.

Then came Harry, the bespectacled boy wizard she'd first dreamed on that fateful train ride.

The success of the first Harry Potter novel (given the slightly less lofty title of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.), in which the orphaned, seemingly ordinary boy discovers that he is not only a possessor of incredible powers but already a celebrity among fellow wizards, was far beyond anything Joanne Kathleen Rowling ever dared imagine. International praise poured in. So did the awards. Rowling won England's National Book Award and the Smarties Prize for children's literature. The series spawned an equally successful and hotly anticipated series of films starring the young megastars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson and featuring such venerable British actors as Maggie Smith, John Hurt, John Cleese, and Alan Rickman.

Rowling is responsible for introducing several new words and terms into the English lexicon, such as "muggle" (a civilian lacking in wizardly powers) and "Quidditch" (a fast-paced sport played while riding broomsticks). Perhaps most satisfying of all for the mother and teacher was the way she single-handedly ignited the literary pursuits of children all over the globe. Kids everywhere couldn't wait to get their hands on Harry's latest adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is no small feat, considering that the novels tend to be exceptionally lengthy for books aimed at such a young audience (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is just a few pages shy of a whopping 900 pages!). Rowling has said that she conceives of her novels as "real literature," despite the fact that they are written for young people. Perhaps a testament to the literary merit of her books is the fact that they are nearly as popular with teenagers, college kids, and adults as they are with the grammar-school set.

With the massive popularity of her Harry Potter novels, Rowling has achieved similar fame and fortune -- for better and for worse. According to an article in a 2004 edition of Forbes magazine, Rowling's wealth was estimated at 576 million English pounds. In U.S. currency, that made her the very first billionaire author. The downside of that success is the unwanted attention she receives from Britain's notoriously relentless paparazzi. As Rowling lamented to Jeremy Paxton of the BBC, "You know, I didn't think they'd rake through my bins, I didn't expect to be photographed on the beach through long lenses." Rowling has also come under fire from Christian groups who object to her depiction of wizardry and witchcraft and certain critics who contest the "literary merit" of her work. Of course, one must always keep in mind that no one ever achieves Rowling's level of celebrity without having to listen to the griping of naysayers, none of which has impeded her continued success seriously.

Although Rowling could surely sell countless copies of Harry Potter books for as long as she is able to put pen to paper (and she does write much of her work in longhand), she initially conceived of the series in seven installments and has, of course, realized that plan with the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. "There will be no Harry Potter's midlife crisis or Harry Potter as an old wizard," she once told the Sunday Telegraph. As for what life after Harry Potter might entail for Rowling, she has suggested quite a number of possibilities, including ideas for adult novels and possible tie-ins to the Hogwarts universe involving periphery characters. Whatever Rowling chooses to do, she has forever guaranteed herself a place alongside Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, and L. Frank Baum as one of the most beloved children's authors of all time.

Good To Know

Rowling's parents met on a train, coincidentally from King's Cross station to Scotland. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when Rowling was 15, her mother died in the early 1990s. Rowling has a sister, Di, two years younger than she, who is an attorney.

Rowling's publisher requested that she use initials on Harry Potter covers, concerned that if they used an obviously female name, the target audience of young boys might be hesitant to buy them. Rowling adopted her grandmother's middle name, Kathleen, for the "K".

Rowling made a special guest appearance as herself on the hit cartoon show, The Simpsons.

With great success often comes great controversy. Rowling's Harry Potter books landed on a list of banned books because of their depiction of wizardry and witchcraft. However, Rowling regards her place on the list as a feather in her cap, as past lists have included works by such literary giants as Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, J. D. Salinger, and Harper Lee.

Rowling ran into a bit of potential trouble in the wake of stepped-up airline restrictions. While traveling home from New York, she refused to part ways with the manuscript of her still in-the-works final installment of the Harry Potter series during bag inspections. Fortunately, she was allowed onboard without further incident.

In 2001, two Harry Potter tie-in books were published: Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander. For those wondering who the mysterious Misters Whisp and Scamander are, well, they are actually both J. K. Rowling. The author donated all proceeds of her pseudonymous books to the charity Comic Relief.

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1. Also Known As:
  
  Joanne Kathleen Rowling (full name), "Jo"
2. Hometown:
  
  Perthshire, Scotland
1. Date of Birth:
  
  July 31, 1965
2. Place of Birth:
  
  Chipping Sodbury near Bristol, England
1. Education:
  
  Exeter University
2. Website:
  
  http://www.jkrowling.com

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1. The Riddle House

The villagers of Little Hangleton still called it "the Riddle House," even though it had been many years since the Riddle family had lived there. It stood on a hill overlooking the village, some of its windows boarded, tiles missing from its roof, and ivy spreading unchecked over its face. Once a fine-looking manor, and easily the largest and grandest building for miles around, the Riddle House was now damp, derelict, and unoccupied.

The Little Hangletons all agreed that the old house was "creepy." Half a century ago, something strange and horrible had happened there, something that the older inhabitants of the village still liked to discuss when topics for gossip were scarce. The story had been picked over so many times, and had been embroidered in so many places, that nobody was quite sure what the truth was anymore. Every version of the tale, however, started in the same place: Fifty years before, at daybreak on a fine summer's morning, when theRiddle House had still been well kept and impressive, a maid had entered the drawing room to find all three Riddles dead.

The maid had run screaming down the hill into the village and roused as many people as she could.

"Lying there with their eyes wide open! Cold as ice! Still in their dinner things!"

The police were summoned, and the whole of Little Hangleton had seethed with shocked curiosity and ill-disguised excitement. Nobody wasted their breath pretending to feel very sad about the Riddles, for they had been most unpopular. Elderly Mr. and Mrs. Riddle had been rich, snobbish, and rude, and their grown-up son, Tom, had been, if anything, worse. All the villagers cared about was the identity oftheir murderer for plainly, three apparently healthy people did not all drop dead of natural causes on the same night.

The Hanged Man, the village pub, did a roaring trade that night; the whole village seemed to have turned out to discuss the murders. They were rewarded for leaving their firesides when the Riddles' cook arrived dramatically in their midst and announced to the suddenly silent pub that a man called Frank Bryce had just been arrested.

"Frank!" cried several people. "Never!"

Frank Bryce was the Riddles' gardener. He lived alone in a rundown cottage on the grounds of the Riddle House. Frank had come back from the war with a very stiff leg and a great dislike of crowds and loud noises, and had been working for the Riddles ever since.

There was a rush to buy the cook drinks and hear more details.

"Always thought he was odd," she told the eagerly listening villagers, after her fourth sherry. "Unfriendly, like. I'm sure if I've offered him a cuppa once, I've offered it a hundred times. Never wanted to mix, he didn't."

"Ah, now," said a woman at the bar, "he had a hard war, Frank. He likes the quiet life. That's no reason to -"

"Who else had a key to the back door, then?" barked the cook. "There's been a spare key hanging in the gardener's cottage far back as I can remember! Nobody forced the door last night! No broken windows! All Frank had to do was creep up to the big house while we was all sleeping . . . ."

The villagers exchanged dark looks.

"I always thought he had a nasty look about him, right enough," grunted a man at the bar.

"War turned him funny, if you ask me," said the landlord.

"Told you I wouldn't like to get on the wrong side of Frank, didn't I, Dot?" said an excited woman in the corner.

"Horrible temper," said Dot, nodding fervently. "I remember, when he was a kid. . ."

By the following morning, hardly anyone in Little Hangleton doubted that Frank Bryce had killed the Riddles.

But over in the neighboring town of Great Hangleton, in the dark and dingy police station, Frank was stubbornly repeating, again and again, that he was innocent, and that the only person he had seen near the house on the day of the Riddles' deaths had been a teenage boy, a stranger, dark-haired and pale. Nobody else in the village had seen any such boy, and the police were quite sure that Frank had invented him.

Then, just when things were looking very serious for Frank, the report on the Riddles' bodies came back and changed everything.

The police had never read an odder report. A team of doctors had examined the bodies and had concluded that none of the Riddles had been poisoned, stabbed, shot, strangled, suffocated, or (as far as they could tell) harmed at all. In fact (the report continued, in a tone of unmistakable bewilderment), the Riddles all appeared to be in perfect health - apart from the fact that they were all dead. The doctors did note (as though determined to find something wrong with the bodies) that each of the Riddles had a look of terror upon his or her face - but as the frustrated police said, whoever heard of three people being frightened to death?

As there was no proof that the Riddles had been murdered at all, the police were forced to let Frank go. The Riddles were buried in the Little Hangleton churchyard, and their graves remained objects of curiosity for a while. To everyone's surprise, and amid a cloud of suspicion, Frank Bryce returned to his cottage on the grounds of the Riddle House.

"'S far as I'm concerned, he killed them, and I don't care what the police say," said Dot in the Hanged Man. "And if he had any decency, he'd leave here, knowing as how we knows he did it."

But Frank did not leave. He stayed to tend the garden for the next family who lived in the Riddle House, and then the next for neither family stayed long. Perhaps it was partly because of Frank that the new owners said there was a nasty feeling about the place, which, in the absence of inhabitants, started to fall into disrepair...

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1. The Riddle House ... 1
2. The Scar ... 16
3. The Invitation ... 26
4. Back to the Burrow ... 39
5. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes ... 51
6. The Portkey ... 65
7. Bagman and Crouch ... 75
8. The Quidditch World Cup ... 95
9. The Dark Mark ... 117
10. Mayhem at the Ministry ... 145
11. Aboard the Hogwarts Express ... 158
12. The Triwizard Tournament ... 171
13. Mad-Eye Moody ... 193
14. The Unforgivable Curses ... 209
15. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang ... 228
16. The Goblet of Fire ... 248
17. The Four Champions ... 272
18. The Weighing of the Wands ... 288
19. The Hungarian Horntail ... 313
20. The First Task ... 337
21. The House-Elf Liberation Front 363
22. The Unexpected Task ... 385
23. The Yule Ball ... 403
24. Rita Skeeter's Scoop ... 433
25. The Egg and the Eye 458
26. The Second Task ... 479
27. Padfoot Returns ... 509
28. The Madness of Mr. Crouch ... 535
29. The Dream ... 564
30. The Pensieve ... 581
31. The Third Task ... 605
32. Flesh, Blood, and Bone ... 636
33. The Death Eaters ... 644
34. Priori Incantatem ... 659
35. Veritaserum ... 670
36. The Parting of the Ways ... 692
37. The Beginning ... 716

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4)

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