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Rating: Recently, on this website, a review was published concerning the sixth chapter of the Harry Potter saga, "The Half-Blood Prince". Discovering a unanimous (or almost) appreciation from DeBaser's users towards Rowling's works brought me sweet relief. Meanwhile, memories abandoned between the pages of Harry Potter popped into my mind, unfortunately unfamiliar with the last three volumes. A character, a brand, a true media industry that pleases and will continue to please in the near future. It is pointless to criticize and be nauseated by the commercialization of the adventures of the young English wizard: especially because, aside from the myriad of products and merchandise created for that purpose, the individual chapters of the saga, the individual literary "bricks", only they can evoke emotions and astonishment, even many years after the original reading and re-reading of them. Who hasn't abandoned themselves to the verve while leafing through the pages in which the bespectacled Potter faced off with Lord Voldemort and/or his deputies, a summary of any mystery conceived in the remaining narratives?
As I have already mentioned, my Potterian knowledge is still stuck at the fourth chapter, "The Goblet of Fire", a great masterpiece of contemporary fantasy. Several times, over these last years, I found myself going back to those now tattered pages, that voluminous "magical package", a compendium of all that the fantasy genre can offer to the curious and "hungry" reader. And I can state with certainty that I have always felt a sincere pleasure in re-leafing through the book, an element that provides my personal evaluation of it in advance.
"The Goblet of Fire" represents the midpoint of the seven volumes, not so much for its position within the series, but for its unique characteristic as a "bridge" that connects Harry and his gang's childhood with the "maturity" typical of those on the brink of adulthood. Not only that: the tranquility, frivolity, and lightheartedness of the first three volumes (The Dark Lord/Voldemort has not yet become a concrete and real enemy for Hogwarts' most famous student) rapidly evaporate, and Evil enters not just as an extra, in some way avoidable or removable, but as a terrible adversary determined to contend the role of protagonist with Potter's valiant defenders. The first true expressions of human feelings involving the Wizarding World also appear (timidly hinted at in "Prisoner of Azkaban"). In short, that brave kid, a bit cocky, decidedly very lucky, often intent on disregarding the rules set by society (Muggle and magical) and the ancient heads of Hogwarts, grows up and realizes that possessing magical powers does not preclude more "human" and "real" features, including a heart, emotions, passions, temperaments, and outbursts, whose negative effects cannot be subdued simply with a magic wand or a Wingardium Leviosa.
It is unthinkable to adequately summarize the plot of "The Goblet of Fire", the multitude of mini and micro-stories, the weight of the topics covered by its three predecessors, the emergence and disappearance of characters, which would qualitatively diminish any summary of the work. Let us at least try to sketch the general context in broad strokes: within it intertwine the events of the "Triwizard Tournament" (an ancient competition between the most renowned Wizarding Schools -Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang-: three students/adult wizards, each representing their school delegation and chosen by the prophetic Goblet of Fire, are called upon to face equally complex tests of courage and magical prowess. To the winner, glory and eternal honor. Potter is unfortunately and involuntarily inserted into this competition, which in an unprecedented manner, therefore, sees four participants) and the autonomous, corporeal return of Lord Voldemort, a return announced by the appearance of the "Dark Mark" during the Quidditch World Cup. The Triwizard Tournament is the perfect opportunity to announce to the magical—and even Muggle—world the resurrection of the Dark Lord (previously in a semi-deceased state due to the rebound on his body of the curse aimed at the young Potter years ago), now surrounded by his subservient Death Eaters: it is precisely the last, arduous test of the competition—the capture of the Triwizard Cup in a labyrinth infested with magical creatures and various traps—that provides You-Know-Who with the pretext to summon Harry (who, unfortunately, drags along Cedric Diggory, the "official" delegate of Hogwarts, immediately killed with the inescapable curse "Avada Kedavra") and to fight him, a duel surely intended for the child's final elimination. Potter will, after a fierce battle, evade Voldemort's deadly wrath, who in any case will only be pushed back in anticipation of further future clashes. The book ends sadly (the first in the series to depict a sad conclusion) with a "funereal" remembrance of Diggory, now "martyr" of the "English" School of Magic & Witchcraft, and with Dumbledore's announcement of Voldemort's return, an event that, throughout much of the subsequent "Order of the Phoenix", will be treated as akin to a prank staged by the "egocentric" Potter: he himself will lose the esteem of many influential characters (Cornelius Fudge—the Minister of Magic—first and foremost) and will endure endless harassments, until Voldemort's second reappearance becomes more than evident to all, even the most skeptical.
In "The Goblet", we witness the first true murder in the saga, the disappearance of a "good" character (Diggory), an element that foreshadows new, more complex, and catastrophic events. The times of the young Potter, with his small adventures in underground secrets and dark castles, are long gone. The horror genre wonderfully merges with dynamics for which a little courage, some magical knowledge, and the help of trusty friends are no longer sufficient. Evil has new allies, new aces up its sleeve, it shifts the events into decidedly dark and terrifying environments, the specter of death enters swiftly, never before taken seriously. Casting a few spells or invoking wise characters (Dumbledore) to act as "Deus ex machina" are now weak and outdated safety anchors. The stakes are serious, hard, difficult, complex.
Potter barely passes the first trials inflicted by Voldemort, just a prelude, however, to a long series of ordeals and challenges that will also affect other notable "allies" (the aforementioned Albus Dumbledore), inevitably defeated by the ever-advancing Evil. Above all, Harry will understand that the age of toys, of frivolous escapades around Hogwarts with the "talking portraits", of trips to Hogsmeade and through the shops of Diagon Alley, are over and that for him, the era of maturity is opening, with traits and characteristics (even negative) typical of both wizardry and Mugglehood. And he will have to strive to reconcile/reconcile Reality and Magic, almost a metaphorical expression of our own life, from carefree childhood (Magic) to complex adulthood (Reality).
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