Get behind the bar and start mixing Polyjuice Potion and Veritaserum together for a new special drink: Join Irvin, Karoline, Sophia and our guest Lizzie, in discussion of Chapter 35 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – “Veritaserum”!
In this episode:
- Mad Barty Crouch Eyes
- What does Dumbledore know during the Third Task?
- What does Moody call Lord Voldemort? What about Fake Moody?
- Who calls Voldemort “daddy”?
- Is Winky a master Occlumens… or just very drunk?
- The merits of villain monologues
- Hermione is a walking and talking book, really
- Cheating on behalf of Harry
- Is Snape foe(glass) or friend?
- Is Moody’s chest a Tardis?
Resources:
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Sevens by Irvin Khaytman
- The Fallen Fathers of Goblet of Fire by Irvin Khaytman
- The Schemes Behind the Spite: Why Voldemort Really Jinxed the DADA Job by Sophia Jenkins
- The Role of Books in the Hogwarts Saga by David Martin
- A Very Bad Year for Albus Dumbledore (and it’s all Snape’s fault) by Josie Kearns
- Dumbledore: The Life and Lies by Irvin Khaytman
Pub’s Jukebox: The Tournament by Slytherin Soundtrack
Loved the show and especially your good taste in choosing reader correspondence. I had a couple of thoughts about how Dumbledore may have initially caught on to something being amiss in the maze. DD, after all, does not have to seek out Snape or Moody in person in order to communicate with them. Although we were not told explicitly what it was, we saw the first use of DD’s special innovation, message-sending via Patronus, in GoF, when DD used it to summon Hagrid on the night he and Harry found Viktor Krum stunned in the forest. If Snape was off with the other teachers patrolling the perimeter of the maze, he probably would have used his own Patronus to tell DD about the Dark Mark burning as soon as it happened, rather than make his way back to the judges’ table.
I’ve always assumed that DD invented this communication method during the first Wizarding War, and that its use was known by all of the original Order of the Phoenix, including Mad-Eye Moody; that’s why we see Kingsley, Arthur and McGonagall use it in DH. But, Barty Crouch Junior would presumably not know how to send a message by Patronus. The Order seems to have kept it their own special secret.
If DD Patronused “Moody” an “urgent, check on Harry” message and got no answer, he would likely have concluded that Moody himself had been attacked. If, however, Moody had clump-clumped all the way back to the judges’ table on his wooden leg to say that Harry was fine, DD should certainly have been suspicious as to why Moody did not use the more efficient method of a return Patronus. In any case, when Moody turned up unharmed after Harry returned with Cedric’s body, the fact that Moody had not answered an urgent Patronus message may have raised DD’s suspicions that Moody was not who he claimed to be. The fact that Moody removed Harry from DD’s presence would then have sealed the deal.