Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 13 Summary.
Mad-Eye Moody
Chapter 13 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, titled ‘Mad-Eye Moody’ deals with the first day of classes, and an interesting encounter with Professor Moody.
Bubotubers and Blast-Ended Skrewts
The storm clears out by the morning, and everyone gets ready for the first day of classes. Gryffindors have Herbology with Hufflepuff, followed by Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins.
Harry groans upon seeing his timetable. They have double divination in the afternoon, and Harry hates the subject. On a brighter note, Hermione has started to eat again. She claims to have found a better way to stand up for elf rights.
As they sit for breakfast, there is a rustling noise above them. Around a hundred owls swoop in with mail and deliver them to their owners. Harry scans the birds for Hedwig, but cannot find her. It makes him anxious, and he wonders if something happened to her.
After eating, the group makes its way to Herbology. Their task for the day is to squeeze the pus of Bubotubers; plants that look like giant slugs. It is a disgusting task, but feels oddly satisfying.
Next, the Gruffindors head to Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid greets them outside his hut and introduces the creatures for today’s lesson; Blast-Ended Skrewts. They resemble deformed, shell-less lobsters with slimy legs, no visible head, and have a horrible smell about them.
Malfoy arrives on the scene and asks why they need to look after such creatures. Hagrid does not have an answer. Instead, he simply instructs the class to feed the creatures some ant eggs and frog liver. The Skrewts are dangerous, and one of them blasts off at the end, burning Dean’s hand.
The class unwillingly completes the lesson and then heads over to the castle for lunch. Hermione eats quickly, saying she needs to leave for the library, which comes as a surprise to Ron and Harry. Once finished, she bids them goodbye and rushes off.
Divination
The afternoon bell rings. Ron and Harry make their way up the North Tower to Trelawney’s classroom. Professor Trelawney greets them inside and walks up to Harry. In a solemn voice, she predicts that he will face difficult times ahead. Harry doesn’t think much of it though, since he considers her an old fraud.
She announces that it is time for them to start studying the stars. Harry is lost in his own thoughts, and doesn’t hear when Trelawney makes further predictions about him. She declares he has a baleful influence of Saturn, and asks if he was born in midwinter. Harry says he was born in July, which makes Ron laugh.
Trelawney makes them fill the position of stars at the time of their birth in a circular chart. Harry finds his chart to have two Neptunes, and Ron makes a joke which makes both Seamus and Dean laugh. He makes another joke when Lavender asks Trelawney for help with a planet she cannot identify (Uranus), which results in her giving them a lot of homework.
The Antics of Arnold Weasley
The trio reunites after classes end. As they head towards dinner, they meet Malfoy and his cronies. Looking thoroughly pleased with himself, he hands Ron the Daily Prophet.
There is an article about the Ministry that mentions Arthur Weasley (misspelled as ‘Arnold Weasley’). According to it, when Arthur reached Moody’s heavily guarded house, Moody had set off another false alarm. The commotion forced Arthur to modify a lot of memories, but he escaped before the police arrived.
Using the article, Malfoy pokes fun. He goes a step further this time, and insults both his house and mother. Harry snaps back at him and comments on Malfoy’s mother. Angered, Malfoy shoots a curse which narrowly misses him.
Before Harry can reach his wand, another curse is fired, although not at Harry. Turning back, Harry sees Professor Moody with his wand out, pointing at a ferret. The ferret shivered on the stone floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing.
Moody reprimands Malfoy and bounces him on the floor with his wand. Professor McGonagall arrives on the scene and is horrified to find out that the ferret is actually a student. She transfigures the ferret back into Draco and scolds Moody, but he does not care.
The trio walks back with mixed emotions. Ron is thrilled with what happened, while Hermione feels that Moody should not have done that.
The chapter ends as the trio sits down to have dinner. They are joined by Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, who seem thoroughly impressed with Moody’s first lesson.
