Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Chapters Five–Six Summary & Analysis

Chapter Five: Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

Summary

Harry arrives at The Burrow, The Weasleys' home, in a dizzy state from traveling by Floo powder. He instantly notices two older Weasleys sitting at the kitchen table. He is introduced to the eldest members of the family: Charlie, who works with dragons in Romania, and Bill, who works at Gringotts bank in Egypt. Suddenly Mr. Weasley arrives in the fireplace, furious with the twins for giving Ton-Tongue Toffee to Dudley. As he reprimands them, his wife, Molly Weasley, enters the kitchen. Harry, Ron, Ron's sister Ginny, and Hermione, who also is visiting, all troop upstairs away from Molly Weasley's rage. On their way up, they encounter the smug and hardworking Percy, another Weasley brother who has just graduated from Hogwarts and now is working for the Ministry of Magic. Ron admires the eldest two brothers and the twins, but is scornful of Percy.

They all remain in Ron's room for a bit, discussing Percy's job and Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, a line of magical jokes that Fred and George have been perfecting. Their mother disapproves. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny go downstairs to find Mrs. Weasley cooking dinner and complaining about the twins. They dart outside to find that Bill and Charlie have levitated a pair of tables and are using magic to make them crash into each other. Percy yells from his window for them to pipe down. Eventually they all sit down for a twilight meal. A cozy evening ensues, filled with simple family arguments. Percy complains about how Ludo Bagman, a friend of Mr. Weasley and the head of Magical Games and Sports within the Ministry of Magic, has managed to lose one of his workers, a woman named Bertha Jorkins. Mrs. Weasley tells Bill to cut his hair and get rid of his earring. The twins and Charlie discuss the potential outcome of the next day's Quidditch World Cup. Harry feels at peace to be with the Weasleys, and is excited to be going to the World Cup.

Chapter six: The Portkey

Summary

Early the following morning, Harry is awakened by Mr. Weasley, who is dressed in Muggle clothes instead of his usual wizard robes. He is trying not to be noticed and thought odd as he leaves the safety of the wizard world and ventures to the World Cup. He, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Fred, and George must leave early in the morning to get to the Cup. The eldest three Weasleys are able to Apparate, disappearing from one place and reappearing almost instantly elsewhere. Everybody is grumpy and tired. The early morning tension escalates when Mrs. Weasley calls out "Accio!", casting a spell that extracts dozens of Ton-Tongue- Toffees from the twins' pockets. Everybody except for Mrs. Weasley leaves the house and walks through the cold morning air to Stoatshead Hill. Mr. Weasley explains that because it would be impossible to fit thousands of wizards at once onto Hogwarts Express, or Diagon Alley, alternate means for transportation are used for events such as the World Cup. In this case, they were to use a Portkey.

At the top of the hill, they encounter Cedric Diggory, a handsome Hogwarts student and the Seeker for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and his father, Amos Diggory. Amos Diggory spies Harry, and embarrasses everybody by talking about how Cedric beat the famous Harry Potter in last year's Quidditch game between Hogwarts Houses. The Diggorys have found the Portkey, a dilapidated boot, and at five a.m. they all touch it. It jerks them from the bellybutton and spins them all blindly through the air. When they arrive shakily at the campground, only Mr. Diggory, Mr. Weasley, and Cedric are able to land on their feet.

Analysis

The relationships between the Weasley family members are not unusual. Sibling rivalry arises between Ron and Percy, who bosses him around smugly, as well as the basic sibling idolization that Ron feels for Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George, make sense in the context of any large family. Because the Weasleys have seven children, many opportunities for these interactions present themselves. Molly Weasley berates her twins for wasting all their time creating practical jokes instead of studying, and the eldest two brothers, more advanced in their magic than the others, become the center of attention by harmlessly dueling with the family dinner tables.

These chapters introduce new elements of the magical world. Traveling by Floo powder is nothing new for Harry, but seeing the Ton-Tongue Toffee is novel and impressive. the Portkey is something new, as is the notion of searching a child's pockets with spells, as Mrs. Weasley does when calling "Accio!" Certain ones of these magical "twists" are noted because they become important later in the story. For one thing, Harry's solution of the first Tri-Wizard Championship Task is through his use of the "Accio!" command. Furthermore, Portkeys appear again, but in disguised and dangerous form. Bertha Jorkins is mentioned here by Percy, but since Harry cannot remember his dream in its entirety, the name Bertha Jorkins means nothing to him. When all of the Hogwarts students lose their balance and fall after traveling by Portkey, the only one who remains standing is Cedric. This fact reflects his superb strength and determination, qualities that resurface throughout the story.

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