One of my favorite magical devices in the series makes its first appearance in this reading selection, chapters 26-30 of [amazon_link id=”0439139600″ target=”_blank” ]Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire[/amazon_link].

Chapter 26 sees Harry preparing in earnest for the second task after he’s worked out the egg clue. The trio are talking about what Moody said about Snape being on a second chance, and Harry remarks, “I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he’s on his second one.” The arc of Snape’s development is interesting to watch. He is a complex character precisely because he’s not a nice guy, but he is ultimately on the side of good, and the reason he is good is that he has loved someone deeply. I think perhaps one of the strongest motifs of this series is that there is true goodness in love. Voldemort’s evil stems in part from the fact that he has never known love and therefore cannot understand it as a motivation for behavior. It is this blind spot that is his downfall over and over again, from trying to kill Harry to trusting Snape to believing he can be stronger and even defeat Harry if he steals Harry’s blood to his final defeat at the Battle of Hogwarts when he cannot fathom the characters’ strong bonds of love for one another that give them, as Harry puts it in the fifth movie, “something worth fighting for.” And part of loving others is giving them second chances and forgiving them, which is yet another thing—forgiveness—that Voldemort cannot comprehend. Dumbledore trusts Snape not just because of what he knows about Lily, but because he understands the power of his forgiveness over Snape. Snape will get no such treatment from Voldemort, no matter how useful he might be.

Dobby finds Harry in the library and gives him gillyweed, which enables him to grow gills and swim easily underwater. The route by which Harry gets the gillyweed is a little circuitous. I actually liked that the movie had Harry find out about it from Neville. That had been Moody/Crouch’s plan all along, but in the book, Harry never asks Neville for help and so Moody/Crouch lets slip that gillyweed would work where Dobby could overhear. A bit contrived. I imagine the movie used Neville instead because of the extra expense of CGI Dobby. That whole film cuts the storyline waaaay down, anyway, but I do like Harry getting gillyweed from Neville better. Sigh.

A moment’s pause to reflect on what a ridiculously dangerous task the champions are set. I mean anyone could have drowned, hostages or champions. I suppose the fact that so many trained wizards are on hand would probably have prevented such a tragedy, but still. I have to wonder again about why anyone sends their child to Hogwarts.

In chapter 27, I noticed a nice little bit of foreshadowing I don’t think I have picked up on before. When Hermione is speculating about how Rita Skeeter could have known that Viktor asked Hermione to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer, she is “holding her pestle suspended over a bowl of scarab beetles.” Of course, Rita turns out to be an animagus who turns into a beetle. If you re-read the book after knowing about Rita, you notice that Rowling carefully connects those dots and plants clues about Rita’s secret.

It does crack me up every time when Snape sidles over to their table and says, “Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Granger, I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor.” But then he reads that horrible article out loud. That’s just nasty. I have known teachers who will do that sort of thing—read notes out loud. Of course, students today rarely pass notes in class. They text.

Much has been made of Sirius’s statement in this chapter that “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” On the one hand, Sirius seems to be advocating kindness towards creatures like house elves, but on the other, his statement makes it very clear he considers them lesser beings, and he himself is not kind to Kreacher. He has his reasons. Kreacher is pretty horrible to him. It’s interesting that Harry later determines that kindness is the key to reaching Kreacher and actually befriends the elf, but Sirius, despite this platitude, never figures that out.

We also learn that Sirius never had a trial before he was sent to Azkaban. Had he been given a trial, there is a chance he might have gone free, though the evidence against him did look overwhelming. Crouch’s tactics as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement are reprehensible. He allowed Aurors to use Unforgivable Curses and sent others besides Sirius to Azkaban without a trial. He did it for what he might have viewed as the greater good, but as we learn in the rest of the series, many atrocities are committed by people who think they are acting “for the greater good.” My hunch is that we’ll find out more about Crouch’s background on Pottermore when this book is released, and one thing I expect to find out is that he was in Slytherin House in school. And then, his son is caught alongside the Lestranges, torturing the Longbottoms. I am interested to learn more about Barty, Jr. He swears he is innocent, but all of his actions in this book point to his being a full-fledged Death Eater. I’d be interested to know how he wound up in the company of Death Eaters.

Sirius also wonders why Dumbledore would hire Snape to teach given Snape’s fascination with the Dark Arts. As we later learn, he invented quite a few hexes, including the very nasty Sectumsempra. Sirius says, “Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters.” He has a keen mind, and that he would choose to dwell so much in such activity is interesting. I have to say as much as we learn about Snape and his history, I still would like to learn more. But Sirius cannot get past one fact: Dumbledore trusts Snape. And though Dumbledore “trusts where a lot of other people wouldn’t,” it doesn’t make sense to Sirius that Dumbledore would let Snape teach at Hogwarts if he had ever been a Death Eater, which just illustrates further Dumbledore’s capacity to forgive and ability to understand others, and, indeed, to understand regret and what it means to have a second chance—something, as we find out, Dumbledore himself was never given. As the trio leaves Sirius in the cave near Hogsmeade, they talk about Percy and Crouch. Ron has the measure of Percy: “But maybe he doesn’t care … it’d probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He’d just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son,” to which Hermione replies, “Percy would never throw any of his family to the Dementors.” Ron says, “I don’t know … If he thought we were standing in the way of his career … Percy’s really ambitious, you know.” Foreshadowing. You know, I just don’t ever forgive Percy for being such an ass later. I just don’t. I guess every family has to have a jerk like Percy in it somewhere.

In chapter 28, Harry says something to Hermione about Rita Skeeter using “bugging,” and Hermione gets an idea. She dashes off to the library to check, and sure enough, Rita Skeeter is not a registered animagus. Later in the chapter, he and Krum go have a chat in the forest after learning about the final task, and Crouch shows up, raving mad. He is clearly fightly off the Imperius Curse with some difficulty.

In chapter 29, Harry speculates that Moody was using the Marauder’s Map to reach them in the forest so quickly, which is precisely what he was doing. The trio later runs into Fred and George in the Owlery, discussing blackmail, when Ron warns them they could get in trouble for that, George says, “Carry on like this and you’ll be made a Prefect.” Ron replies hotly, “No I won’t!” Interesting because, of course, he is made a Prefect, and he is not disappointed about it when it happens.

Harry later has a dream in Divination that appears to be real—he is seeing what Voldemort is doing at that moment. He goes straight to Dumbledore, who is with the minister and leaves Harry in his office, alone with the Pensieve, which he did not put away properly. Naturally, Harry peeks. The first scene Harry sees is Karkaroff’s trial, in which he names the names of other Death Eaters in order to walk free. Harry learns that Snape himself was, indeed, a Death Eater. The scene changes, and Harry is seeing a new trial. This time, Ludo Bagman is testifying on his own behalf, addressing charges that he passed information to Voldemort through Augustus Rookwood. The wizards and witches in the courtroom are so blinded by Bagman’s celebrity that they can’t focus on the trial, and Bagman walks. The scene changes again, and this time, four people are brought in—the Lestranges and Barty Crouch, Jr. Harry learns that Neville’s parents were tortured into insanity.

I have always found it interesting that Barty, Jr. pleads his innocence. I don’t know how guilty he actually is. Did he become true to Voldemort only after his father cast him away, or is his desperation in the court a ruse to appeal to his father’s paternal instincts in order to avoid prison? It’s hard to say. I think he was probably young and stupid. He was with the Lestranges when they were caught, but knowing them, I have a hunch they did the torturing while Crouch more or less watched and did nothing about it. However, his behavior later suggests that he has strong loyalty to Voldemort, even after all these years have passed. He seems to view Voldemort as a father figure—a substitute for the father who cast him aside and then imprisoned him for years. It’s a complicated situation, and I’d like to learn more about him, for sure.

At that point, Dumbledore returns to his office, and far from chiding Harry for nosing into the Pensieve, he is patient and understanding of Harry’s curiosity. He shows Harry how the Pensieve works and even answers his questions about what he saw in it. It would be a great device to have if you want to make connections and see how everything fits together.

Harry and Dumbledore discuss Harry’s scar hurting, and Dumbledore says that Voldemort and Harry “are connected by the curse that failed.” Whether he has completely figured out that Harry is a Horcrux or not at this stage is not clear, but I believe he has. I think he realizes that the diary is a Horcrux in Harry’s second year, and he deduces that Harry must be one as well before the events in this book.

Harry probes Dumbledore about why he trusts Snape, but Dumbledore says, “That, Harry, is a matter between Professor Snape and myself.” The relationship between Snape and Dumbledore is one of the closest and most touching in the books. When we finally explore it from Snape’s memories in the final book, Snape and Dumbledore are both illuminated. I know my perspective of them both changed as I saw their relationship through that lens.

Look at this very cool House Elf Abolitionist Badge you can buy on Etsy!

I love Etsy.

That said, Hermione’s heart is in the right place, but she has it wrong about house elves, which is just one of the thoughts I have about chapters 21-25 of [amazon_link id=”0439139600″ target=”_blank” ]Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire[/amazon_link].

Harry has successfully managed to beat the dragon in the first task, and he is trying to work out the egg clue for the second task, but it just sounds like wailing. Seamus Finnigan says it sounds like a banshee, which is what his boggart is. Neville says it sounds like someone being tortured and wonders if Harry will have to fight the Cruciatus Curse. He has been much preoccupied with this curse, for obvious reasons, and it begs the question: Did he remember, somewhere in the back of his mind, his parents’ torture? He would have been quite young, but it is possible that such an event left an impression on him.

I mentioned Hermione and house elves. As I said, she has good intentions, but house elves do not seem to want to be free, at least not for the most part. Winky is devastated when Crouch frees her, and she never really gets over it. She is so determined to view Dobby as the example instead of an exception to the rule. She can be quite stubborn when she thinks she’s right. On the other hand, Hermione is right. House elves are treated like slaves, and the fact that they seem to like it is ignorance. Even Dobby, the most “forward thinking” elf in terms of his conception of freedom, talks Dumbledore down from a larger paycheck and more benefits. So what do you do? How do you free a people who doesn’t want to be free? How do you educate them about their choices? The issue of house elves is not really resolved in the books, but I would be interested to learn more about them on Pottermore. I hope the issue of house elves is addressed when they release this book on Pottermore.

Harry faces his first major dating challenge and has to confront the dilemma of how to ask a girl out. He sets his sights on Cho Chang, with whom he has a few things in common: she’s a Seeker for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, so at least there is Quidditch to talk about. I have always liked the actress who played her in the movies. Her wonderful Scottish accent! At any rate, of course, she already has a date, and Ron and Harry grow more desperate until Ron is even willing to go with Hermione. I love her response. And I love how gorgeous she looks at the ball. They wind up, of course, with the Patil twins, and Dean Thomas even remarks that he can’t figure out how they managed to get dates with the prettiest girls in their year. Interesting that Neville thinks to ask Hermione out before her two best friends. He seems to be able to appreciate her as a girl and as a friend before they can. As Ron relates, “He told me after Potions! Said she’s always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff.” Ron thinks Hermione has made up a date to avoid going with Neville.

I have to admit I’ve always found it kind of odd that Viktor Krum asked Hermione out. I mean, she is quite a bit younger than he is, and it’s hard to see what might attract him. I suspect he is a much more serious student than his pro-Quidditch-player background would suggest. I was glad Rowling brought Krum back later in the books. I liked him.

Fred winds up asking Angelina Johnson to the ball. Their relationship is never really elucidated in the books, but Rowling has hinted that they dated for some time because she refers to Angelina as Fred’s ex. That’s not the kind of terminology you use to describe someone with whom you went to one dance. Later on, George winds up marrying Angelina. She has intimated that it is not the healthiest thing to marry your brother’s ex under the circumstances, but also perhaps that George and Angelina came together in their grief over Fred, and they did name their son Fred (they also had a daughter Roxanne).

One last note about the whole date-procuring fiasco. Parvati Patil’s best friend is Lavender Brown, and when Harry asks Parvati to the ball, he initially asks if Lavender will go with Ron, but Lavender already has a date with Seamus. So funny that later on, Lavender will be Won-Won’s first girlfriend.

Later, Hermione has a great time at the ball until Ron ruins the end of her evening by being a jealous jackass. Viktor describes Durmstrang. It sounds sort of stark and cold. Karkaroff is prompted to quiet Viktor so as not to reveal Durmstrang’s secrets, after which Dumbledore and Karkaroff have a short discussion about their school’s secrets, and Dumbledore’s reaction always makes me laugh: “Oh, I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts’ secrets, Igor.” He describes finding the Room of Requirement when he had to use the bathroom. It had been full of chamber pots. In pondering the room’s appearance, he speculates finally that it might only appear when “the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder,” which is the closest explanation to the truth.

Then the Weird Sisters take the stage, and this one aspect of the books that I felt was really well represented in the films. Of course, the filmmakers were able to convince Jarvis Cocker to be the Weird Sisters’ lead singer and write songs for the film.

A side note: Rowling included the passage when Viktor is trying to learn to say Hermione’s name in order to address frequent questions from readers about how to pronounce it. Pretty sneaky, sis.

Ron and Harry overhear Hagrid admitting he is half-giant, and he notices the Rita Skeeter beetle for the first time. She’s a great character, isn’t she? I hope we learn more about her background on Pottermore. My bet is that she was a Slytherin because she doesn’t seem to mind bending the rules—at all—when she’s after a story. She doesn’t strike me as particularly brave, so Gryffindor is out. She is not kind and loyal, so Hufflepuff is out, too. She might possibly be a Ravenclaw because she does have some brains, but I think her ambition and hungry story-seeking is much more dominant in her personality, so my vote is Slytherin. Do you ever try to figure out what House characters whose Houses are not revealed in the series are in?

Naturally, Skeeter prints the news about Hagrid’s mother. Hagrid retreats to his cabin, and he doesn’t come back to work until the trio visit him. They find Dumbledore already there, trying to convince Hagrid to come back to work. Dumbledore says, “Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I’m afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.” Isn’t that the truth? I love Dumbledore. I have always wondered exactly what inappropriate charms Aberforth was practicing on that goat.

In the next chapter, “The Egg and the Eye,” we learn more about the limitations of the Maruader’s Map. It does show everyone, even if they are magically concealed under an invisibility cloak or Polyjuice Potion, but it does not distinguish among people with the same name. Bartemius Crouch, Sr. or Bartemius Crouch, Jr. would both just read Bartemius Crouch, which is why Harry naturally assumes Barty Sr. is poking around Snape’s office. Why on earth would he assume it was Barty Jr.? Who would? But Barty Jr. realizes that the map could reveal his big secret and asks Harry if he can borrow it.

I always found it interesting that when Moody/Crouch arrives when Snape and Filch have found Harry’s egg, and Filch is about to reveal that someone has broken into Snape’s office to Moody, Snape hisses at Filch to “Shut up!” Snape doesn’t trust Moody. Now you could go the obvious route and note that as a former Death Eater, Snape likely tangled with Moody in some capacity, but I have a hunch that he knows something is up with Moody, but is not sure what. Possibly he is more attuned to the effects of Polyjuice Potion than others might be, being the Potions Master. I think it likely he hasn’t figured out that Moody is really Barty Crouch, Jr., though, but that he thinks there is something not quite right with the guy. Snape has pretty good instincts, when he doesn’t let his prejudices blind him, and he does seem to pick up on things that others miss. He did, after all, figure out Lupin was a werewolf back in school.

Interesting that Moody/Crouch suggests Harry consider a career as an Auror. I think it’s the first time Harry ever thinks about it, and even though the suggestion comes from a madman, he winds up doing exactly that with his life later. I still contend that no matter how insane Moody/Crouch was, he was still one of the best DADA teachers Harry had. Even Dean Thomas later says they learned a lot from Barty Jr. despite his being a maniac.

Pottermore has recently released the last chapters of [amazon_link id=”0439136369″ target=”_blank” ]Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban[/amazon_link], but who knows when [amazon_link id=”0439139600″ target=”_blank” ]Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire[/amazon_link] will be ready to go. I am going to try to remember to think of questions I hope will be answered on Pottermore as I go forward. This reflection will cover chapters 11-15 of Goblet of Fire.

Of note: at the beginning of Chapter 11, “Aboard the Hogwarts Express,” Harry expresses feeling “a definite end-of-the-holidays gloom” as he, Hermione, and the Weasleys will be setting off for King’s Cross to board the Hogwarts Express that morning. This is the first time in the series when Harry wishes summer would last longer, and I contend it’s because it’s the first time he’s spent the end of his summer with the Weasleys.

On the train, the trio overhears Malfoy talking about how his father wanted to send him to Durmstrang. I suppose it stands to reason that witches and wizards can attend school outside their home region or country, but this the first time we’ve encountered it in the series. Of course, even if it were unusual, Malfoy would not likely have had any trouble, given the connection between his father and Igor Karkaroff. Have you ever noticed how often the bad guys have Russian or Eastern European names in this series? It really started to bother me a bit the more I noticed it because it almost feels like Cold War era distrust of Soviets and communism.

In the course of the conversation the trio overhears, we learn two interesting things about Durmstrang: 1) According to Malfoy, they don’t admit Muggle-born students, and 2) Students at Durmstrang learn the Dark Arts. Likely Igor Karkaroff alone is not responsible for both policies. We will later learn that Gellert Grindelwald attended Durmstrang, and he was notorious for his desire to subjugate Muggles “for the greater good.” In typical Rowling fashion, she said during an interview that she “thinks that Durmstrang is in northern Scandinavia—the very north of Sweden or Norway and that Beauxbatons is somewhere near Cannes in the south of France.” Durmstrang has been around since at least 1294 because it competed in the Triwizard Tournament that year. The films made an interesting choice in depicting it as a boys’ school (and Beauxbatons as a girls’ school). I am not a fan of that choice, but it didn’t significantly alter the storyline, so it’s not a huge deal.

In chapter 12, “The Triwizard Tournament,” we learn another interesting tidbit about sorting. It stands to reason that families frequently share certain values, such as courage, intelligence, hard work and loyalty, or resourcefulness and ambition. Thus, it is not unusual for families to wind up in the same house. Notable exceptions have occurred. We know, for instance, that Sirius Black is the only Black who wasn’t as Slytherin. The Patil twins are an interesting case, as Parvati is in Gryffindor, and Padma is in Ravenclaw. However, all the Weasleys are in the same house (and the same house as their parents), and Harry was in the same house as his parents. But according to Hermione, it is not necessarily true that family members wind up in the same house, which is interesting for later on when we learn about Sirius’s family. I like it when Rowling plants an interesting fact in her books, but we don’t see it flower until much later.

The Sorting Hat sings a different song this time, and one line goes, “I’ve never yet been wrong.” I wonder about that. I don’t understand, for instance, how Peter Pettigrew wound up in Gryffindor. Pottermore explains beautifully how Neville did, and of course, Neville shows his bravery and courage as the series unfolds. Pettigrew just doesn’t. The Sorting Hat does occasionally have a very hard time deciding where to place students. Students who take longer than five minutes to sort are known as Hatstalls. On Pottermore, we learn that Neville and Hermione came closest to being Hatstalls in Harry’s year. BUT! According to Pottermore, “the Sorting Hat is notorious for refusing to admit it has made a mistake in sorting a student.” So, you can’t believe the hat. I really think that passage was written just to explain Peter Pettigrew.

Another very cool side note on this chapter. A girl named Natalie McDonald is sorted into Gryffindor. Natalie McDonald was a real fan of the books—a young Canadian girl who passed away from leukemia. A family friend had written to Rowling asking her to write to Natalie and tell her how the series would end. Rowling did, but Natalie didn’t receive the letter before she passed. Natalie’s mother responded, and the two women developed a friendship. If you did not tear up a little when you heard that story, then I just don’t know about you, my friend. Here is a link to an article about it.

Towards the end of the chapter, there is yet another mention of Neville’s poor memory. Some fans have speculated he suffered from a poorly-cast memory charm and that he may have seen his parents being tortured. I am not sure if I buy it, but it’s an interesting theory. As evidence, I have seen these fans mention Neville’s upset over seeing the spider undergo the Cruciatus Curse. He also describes the mermish screeching from the Golden Egg as sounding like people being tortured. Later on, when Neville doesn’t sign up for Charms, McGonagall reveals that Augusta Longbottom wasn’t very good at Charms herself, which is why she denigrated it to Neville. If she were the one who cast the memory charm, so the line of thinking goes, perhaps it explains why he seems to suffer in the same way as other characters who have experienced problems with memory charms. At any rate, Rowling mentions it several times, and I wonder if we’ll find out at some point on Pottermore why Neville has such a bad memory. Or maybe there’s no reason. But I am curious.

In chapter 13, “Mad-Eye Moody,” we see Moody turn Malfoy into a bouncing ferret. Satisfying as that may have been, it’s pretty appalling behavior for a professor. I wonder if the real Moody would have done it. I have a lot of questions about Barty Crouch, Jr.

Note also that Professor McGonagall once again has an armful of books that she drops. Someone ought to count how many times she does that in the series. It’s dangerously close to a motif.

In chapter 14, “The Unforgivable Curses,” we learn for the first time exactly how Voldemort killed Harry’s parents. I actually really love this chapter. I am not sure Dumbledore actually does know what Moody is doing in his classes and actually approves, but the end result is that the class learns a lot from him. Even if he is a Death Eater. Also, unusually for a DADA teacher, Moody has communicated with their previous teacher to find out what they have learned. I guess since Quirrell died and Lockhart lost his memory, it would have been impossible for anyone to find out from them what the students had learned, but it is interesting that Moody mentions it.

The class on curses is really interesting. When Moody asks what the three Unforgivable Curses are, Ron volunteers the Imperius Curse, which he would, of course, have heard about from his dad. Neville knows about the Cruciatus Curse. He can’t know he’s possibly looking at one of the Death Eaters who tortured his parents with that curse. Hermione volunteers the Avada Kedavra. Now, I have always thought this part was genius. Avada Kedavra sounds most like the magical phrase abra cadabra that you hear in all sorts of magic shows, cartoons, stories, and even Steve Miller Band songs. It stands to reason the one curse Muggles would know about would be the Killing Curse, as any accidental witnesses wouldn’t likely forget it. But Moody tells us you have to be a powerful wizard to cast it and actually kill anyone with it: “you could all get your wands out and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I’d get so much as a nose-bleed.”

I really hope Pottermore reveals more about the Crouches. I would love to know what house Barty, Jr. was in. I suspect Ravenclaw, but I know others think Slytherin. Not all the bad guys come from that house. Quirrell was a Ravenclaw, and in many ways, Barty, Jr.’s career as a Death Eater seems to follow the same trajectory as Quirrell’s ill-fated entanglement with Voldemort. I also want to know if he really was guilty of torturing the Longbottoms or not. The books leave this open to question.

About the Avada Kedavra, Moody says, “there’s no counter-curse. There’s no blocking it.” Of course, it can be dodged, but that’s not the same thing as Moody’s talking about. “Only one known person has ever survived it, and he’s sitting right in front of me.” That sentence still gives me chills when I read it. Harry thinks, “So that was how his parents had died… exactly like that spider. Had they been unblemished and unmarked, too? Had they simply seen the flash of green light and heard the rush of speeding death, before life was wiped from their bodies?”

Later, Moody takes Neville aside and gives him a book about Mediterranean water plants, telling him Professor Sprout mentioned his aptitude for Herbology. Harry thinks, “Telling Neville what Professor Sprout had said… had been a very tactful way of cheering Neville up, for Neville very rarely heard that he was good at anything. It was the sort of thing Professor Lupin would have done.”

It is rather amazing that despite the fact that DADA is taught by a mentally unstable Death Eater that year, Harry and Co. still learn a lot. Perhaps more than they learned from any other DADA teacher. Even Lupin.

In chapter 15, “Beauxbatons and Durmstrang,” the class’s lessons continue as each of the students is put under the Imperius Curse, and Harry alone fights it. As with casting the Patronus, this ability to fight the Imperius Curse sets Harry apart from his peers in DADA. I still maintain he would have been the best DADA teacher ever had he gone that route with his career. And, in fact, some of his peers comment that he was their best DADA teacher when he teaches the DA how to fight.

Another question I have, and I hope Pottermore addresses it, is why Professor Binns was so preoccupied with goblins. True, the history of Gryffindor’s sword is really important in the last book, but I wouldn’t mind knowing more about why goblins are so important to wizarding history. Or at least to Binns. He has them writing essay after essay about Goblin rebellions in this chapter.

Of course, by the end of the chapter, the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang delegations have arrived. More about all of that anon.