The Third Triwizard Task Is 'Try Not To Drench The Book With Your Tears'.

[rionaleonhart]

I'd forgotten that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a really messed-up, horrible book. I've always thought of it as the bridge between the 'light' and the 'dark' Harry Potter books, leaning towards the light side, but there's an awful lot of darkness in here. Watching Crouch sentence his son to Azkaban in the Pensieve flashback is distressing enough, and then you find out what happened to Neville's parents, and then there's the ending.

And... all right, I feel strange talking about this outside a spoiler cut, even if the book's been out for fifteen years, so my notes on the ending are below:



I got so upset when Harry and Cedric agreed to take the Triwizard Cup together after both trying to nobly give it to the other - there's such respect between them, there's the potential for a real friendship to develop, and let's just agree that the book ends there, shall we?

(I don't really actively 'ship anything in the Harry Potter series, but I've always sort of liked the idea of Harry/Cedric. Although I'm not sure I can see it taking place anywhere in the canonical timeline. I feel that the seeds for a relationship are planted when they're working together in the maze, and then they... don't really have time to grow.)

I started to cry at 'Take my body back to my parents.' And then there's the scene where Harry's lying on the grass, clinging to Cedric's body, refusing to let go as everyone tries to prise him away, and I'm getting tearful again just thinking about this. I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CHILDREN'S BOOK.

I don't think Cedric's fate has ever hit me so hard before. I wasn't really expecting this reread to affect me that much emotionally, as I know these books so well, but apparently knowing what's coming provides no emotional defence!



When Moody is bringing the horribly traumatised Harry back to the castle after the events in the graveyard, he's described as 'half pulling, half carrying him' and later as 'helping him walk'. I'm startled and oddly sad to realise that the image of this scene I've carried since childhood was incorrect; I always thought that Moody was actually carrying Harry in his arms, like a child (with Harry mostly curled up into himself on account of aforementioned horrible trauma).


Back when I signed up for Pottermore, I was a little frustrated that I was Sorted into Hufflepuff when I'd always thought of myself as a Ravenclaw. I wondered whether perhaps it was because the Sorting quiz only pulled seven questions from a larger pool, so, when a quiz popped up elsewhere online with the entire pool of official Sorting questions, I tried that out.

The full quiz basically said 'you are the biggest Hufflepuff we've ever seen'.

I've come to realise that the Sorting Hat was absolutely right. I've always been a capable student rather than a brilliant one. If I can call myself intelligent, it's not inherent; it's something I've tried to work towards. And I do value the pursuit of knowledge, but I value kindness and fair play more. I think being in Hufflepuff would bring out the best in me.

There aren't many prominent Hufflepuffs in the Harry Potter series, but I think I can be proud of being in the same house as Cedric Diggory. And Makoto Naegi, who is not technically a Harry Potter character but is absolutely, unquestionably in Hufflepuff. He might as well be the Hufflepuff mascot. I will fight anyone who tries to say otherwise.

Newt Scamander was a Hufflepuff as well, wasn't he? I keep forgetting we're getting a trilogy of films about him! It's going to be so strange to have new Harry Potter canon.

I was going to say 'it's a shame that none of the book characters are going to show up, as the films are set seventy years earlier', but then I remembered that we could absolutely see Dumbledore in his late thirties. I'm up for this.

Comments

[wolfy_writing]

Goblet of Fire was the first of the books I read! I was looking after their neighbor's dog while they were out of town, and their son had left it lying around the house, so I picked it up, started reading, and read the entire thing in one sitting.

You are a Hufflepuff in the best possible sense. You're clearly very smart, but you're incredibly kind and caring and concerned about treating other people well. (I am apparently hilariously Gryffindor.)

[rionaleonhart]

Goblet of Fire is an interesting one to start with, as it's the tonal bridge between the two halves of the series. I started with the first book and was quite surprised that everything became so dark later on; I imagine that starting at Order of the Phoenix or later would make it quite disconcerting when you went back to the beginning and discovered relatively cheerful wish-fulfilment adventures set in a world constructed mainly of terrible puns. I suppose beginning with Goblet of Fire would prepare you quite well for both sides of the series.

That's very kind of you to say; thank you! You're definitely a Gryffindor, which is a trait you share with th_esaurus, my mother and a great many of my favourite female fictional characters, so you're in excellent company.

[wolfy_writing]

Yeah, it'd be very confusing to go from the complex web of secrets, trauma, and politics to "Yay, come to wizard school where the candy is magic!"

Thank you!

[nixwilliams]

*CRIES LARGE TEARS*

[rionaleonhart]

THE ONLY CORRECT RESPONSE.

[dancesontrains]

Aw, poor doomed Cedric. Pottermore stuck me in Ravenclaw, but I suspect it was very close.

[rionaleonhart]

It's so sudden and tragic. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!

[squeemu]

...man, I had totally forgotten how traumatizing Goblet of Fire was.

I had to go look this quiz up and I am apparently 92% Slytherin (closely tied with Ravenmore at 86%). I am not terribly surprised, although somewhat startled that I'm more Gryffindor than Hufflepuff.

I had not heard that there was going to be a new Harry Potter series! This is also pretty exciting. I'd love to see Dumbledore in his late thirties. I'm also excited to have a main character who's going to be a Hufflepuff; I always felt like they got the short end of the stick in the series.

[rionaleonhart]

I really wasn't expecting to sob so much over this book! Harry Potter and Everyone Dies is probably the most outright upsetting book in the series, but I think Goblet of Fire might be a strong contender for second place.

I love that a Gryffindor, a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin have all commented on this post by a Hufflepuff. True inter-house unity.

[pete_thomas]

Book four, for me was a pinnacle year in the Potter world. It was by far my favorite of the group, and I think the turning point for what made the series from a "children's book" as you called it, into a legacy. Don't get me wrong, there are many key, integral parts in all of the books, but none quite as... oh what's the word I'm looking for... critical? It's basically the pinnacle of what shapes up to be one of the best told stories in my reading history, and the one that begins truly crafting Harry as an individual. While books 1-3 he works on himself a bit, he's still struggling with his own petty issues with the Dursleys, Malfoy, and naturally, his fear of his parents' death/Voldemort. Book four starts shaping Harry into what we'd end up seeing by book 6-7. It is a true masterpiece and a work of art.

When I was sorted, I, too was put in Hufflepuff (did we talk about this before? I'm having terrible déjà vu). I remember hating it (even though J.K. Rowling herself spun it to say the houses that you didn't hear much about would grant the greatest reward) because I didn't think I fit. I was intelligent. I was brave. Hell, I could have even been cunning and manipulative if need be. But as I grew to know myself (just in the past few years or so) I realized the reason I got put into Hufflepuff is because at my core, I am a nurturer. An empath, through and through, and someone who puts others before self no matter how many times I've been walked on.

Sometimes we don't always know ourselves as well as we think we do until we have an eye opening experience that reminds us of why we are the way we are.

[rionaleonhart]

Goblet of Fire really is excellent. It's always been one of my favourites in the series, alongside Prisoner of Azkaban, but this reread truly brought home how well-crafted it is. Some of the later books can drag a little at points, but Goblet of Fire never feels too long, despite being so much longer than the books preceding it.

Hufflepuff high-five! More specifically, 'initially-reluctant-but-then-accepting Hufflepuff high-five', but that's not quite as snappy.

[kadrin]

I am apparently, like Squeem, in the penumbra of Slytherin and Ravenclaw (making me a Slytherclaw or, more likely, a Rockingface). I don't see how you could possibly put Makoto Naegi in any house but Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuffs are well represented in Danganronpa, actually, since Hina is pretty much definitely one, and you could make an argument for Sakura and Oowada. Kiyotaka's probably a Hufflepuff; maybe a Gryffindor considering how shouty he is. Celestia Ludenberg pretty much has to be a Slytherin, as, I'd say, is Togami, even Twogami. Chihiro Fujisaki is the Tiniest Gryffindor, and particularly adorable, and should get a Potter book series any moment. Leon, Gryffindor. Kyoko, Ravenclaw. Toko, either Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Which just leaves Sayaka who could be in two or three houses depending on how you interpret spoiler spoiler spoiler, Hiro and Yamada who are very hard to classify, and Junko, who is complicated, and may end up being in all four houses.

[rionaleonhart]

I think I actually have notes on how to sort all the Dangan Ronpa characters lying around from a couple of years ago! Let's dig them up:


Naegi - absolutely textbook Hufflepuff (assuming he's not a Squib; I suppose that might be interesting, but it's hard to think of how to make it work [in fanfiction])
Maizono - Slytherin
Kirigiri - Ravenclaw
Chihiro - confuses everyone by being in Gryffindor
Mondo - confuses everyone by being in Hufflepuff
Togami - confuses absolutely nobody by being in Slytherin
Ishimaru - Hufflepuff
Asahina - Gryffindor?
Sakura - Gryffindor?
Celes - Slytherin
Hagakure - Slytherin?
Ikusaba - Hufflepuff

Nobody knows what house Junko is in. Nobody's entirely sure whether she's a Hogwarts student at all. Somehow she seems able to get into all of the common rooms.

Not sure what to do with Leon, Fukawa and Yamada. Leon could be a Gryffindor, maybe? I suspect I'm sorting him based entirely on the colour of his hair here. Fukawa and Yamada... maybe Ravenclaw? I don't know.


Our ideas seem to line up pretty smoothly! Although I've got Asahina as 'tentative Gryffindor with Hufflepuff in reserve' rather than 'definite Hufflepuff'.

I'm pretty firm on Ishimaru as a Hufflepuff, although not as firm as I am with Naegi, because Naegi is the single character in the universe whose house I am most sure of. I've seen people try to put Naegi in Gryffindor and it's horrified me.

(I'm also sad that I've seen people variously putting Mahiru Koizumi in Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin when she's definitely, definitely a Gryffindor in my head.)

(It's possible I need to take hypothetical Dangan Ronpa/Harry Potter crossovers less seriously.)

[kadrin]

I wouldn't have thought of it, but yeah, Mahiru definitely has the "charge ahead! make a plan later if at all!" attitude so emblematic of the Gryffindors.

I think the problem Naegi has with Gryffindor-sortings (Gryffindortings!) is that even Joanne Rowling had a tendency to define "Gryffindor" as "the good guys". And Naegi is quite definitively the good guy.

Junko puts on the Sorting Hat, the Sorting Hat EXPLODES.

[pete_thomas]

Hahaha! I was thinking when I read the first one "Hufflepuff High-Five-then-stare-afterwards-awkwardly-without-much-more-to-say-than-that!" But again, not as snappy. :)

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

The thing I find odd about Hufflepuff (which is an excellent house) is that on the one hand you have the distinct house values of hard work, loyalty, fairness and so on, and on the other there's the fact that it's the house which takes "the rest". I imagine it as having a weird mix of students like Cedric who exemplify its best qualities and then a load of other students who just don't fit in any of the other houses. It must get irritating. ("No, I'm not just a leftover! I'm loyal and hard-working, I swear!")

Goblet of Fire is so dark. There's a bit of a theme of people doing noble self-sacrificing things which don't exactly work out, which is a bit of a weird message for a children's book - don't try to do the right thing, kids! It'll backfire on you! Harry and Cedric choosing to share the victory is the big one (what a lovely moment of unity! And now it's led to a horrible murder), but you also have things like Barty Crouch's mother sacrificing herself for her son, like Lily Potter, only for her son to use that opportunity not to save the wizarding world, but to help to ruin it; there's even Wormtail's devotion to his master going so far that he cuts off his hand for him. Essentially, sacrificing your needs for those of others isn't shown to have a brilliant track record.

[wolfy-writing.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's quite weird about Hufflepuff. It's one part admirable and important qualities, one part dumping ground for people who aren't distinctly anything.

Apparently Tonks was a Hufflepuff?

[rionaleonhart]

I wonder whether perhaps it ties into the idea that your house is supposed to help you access your potential; Neville was intimidated by the idea of being in Gryffindor, but the Hat put him there because it could see that he had the potential for great bravery and Gryffindor would help to draw it out of him. Maybe some people don't have natural reserves of bravery or cunning they can learn to unleash, but I can't imagine anyone not even having the potential to work towards a goal. If you're not naturally especially brave or cunning or intelligent, Hufflepuff is the house in which you can learn to excel regardless through effort and perseverance. And then, as you say, there are people like Cedric; he does have qualities that might have seen him accepted into other houses (Gryffindor, for example), but he's in Hufflepuff because his Hufflepuff traits are stronger, rather than by default.

That is a bit of an odd message! Reminds me a bit of Merlin, actually, which very much gave the message 'helping people creates problems; killing people solves them'.

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

Well, it does solve some, I suppose.

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

As people keep reminding me, you are sorted based on your cakes (look at Lockhart!) Rather than your abilities. I am a little despondent, but not surprised, to have been shoved into Slytherin by every single quiz, official and non, even wheni was deliberately assuming for something else. Be proud of Hufflepuff! You have Cedric, andi couldn't cheat my way into your house.

[rionaleonhart]

I always forget that Lockhart was a Ravenclaw! That was a surprise.

(...sorted based on your cakes? I have no idea what that means, but I sort of love it. And I'm quite impressed (and confused) by the fact that your cakes put you in Slytherin even if you're aiming for something else.)

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

Values! I'm afraid predictive text on the tablet and last-thing-after-night-shift levels of concentration lead to HILARIOUS CONSEQUENCES. Also, my cakes are not evil.

[livii.livejournal.com]

I am a very, very, very proud Hufflepuff. (Though when I signed up for Pottermore I got Slytherin, which I can see as plausible, but don't accept since I think my Hufflepuff side is much stronger, unless my laziness overpowers my fairness and loyalty and sense of justice). (Which is, to be fair, pretty epic lack of hard work most of the time).

I think being in Hufflepuff would bring out the best in me.

This is a really great way of looking at it. I *could* fit into Slytherin, but I think the Hat wants to bring out your best qualities and push you, so Hufflepuff would indeed bring out the best in me, while Slytherin would be a lazy fit and leave me remaining very lazy.

I think this is the most I've written about HP in years. But omg, Hufflepuffs forever.

[milliebee.livejournal.com]

I know a lot of people that stopped reading Harry Potter on that fourth book, because of how dark it was. Cedric Diggory's death in particular caused a few of my friends to give up.

I, too, am a Hufflepuff. I was also a little disappointed at first, although I think, in hindsight, it's not because I don't like Hufflepuff as a house so much as because it's made out to be boring in the books. The characters from Hufflepuff are generally side-characters, and Harry never visited their dorms or learned much about Helga Hufflepuff. Until you get the secret info on Pottermore, it's ... kind of bland.

I have one of those soft toys you can put in the microwave to turn into a heat pad - it is a badger and is named Cedric, after Harry Potter.

[rionaleonhart]

I find it interesting that you're a Hufflepuff-Slytherin when you say that you don't have the 'hard worker' quality! I generally think of hard work as the most obvious crossover point for those two houses; ambition tends to demand it.

(I still think fondly back on when we met up and theorised for ages just before Deathly Hallows came out. WE WERE SO SURE THAT METAMORPHMAGI WOULD BE IMPORTANT.)

[livii.livejournal.com]

Hmm, interesting point on that being the crossover quality! I am not ambitious enough to have ever really realized that as being necessary to achieve it. But you are quite right. I still think I'm a slightly Slytherin Hufflepuff, but I'm not sure how to explain why...

(Yes but we were RIGHT about Hogwarts: A History finally being of some necessity! And Harry and Ron being idjits for never reading the damn thing!!!)