Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 15 Summary.
Beauxbatons and Durmstrang
Chapter 15 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, titled ‘Beauxbatons and Durmstrang’ deals with another one of Moody’s unconventional lessons, and welcomes the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.
An Unconventional Lesson
Harry wakes up early in the morning and sits down to write a reply to Sirius’s letter. He lies that he probably imagined his scar hurting and that there is no need for Sirius to fly North.
After he completes the letter, Harry heads straight to the Owlery and finds Hedwig. She is mad at him for not being grateful the previous day, and it takes him a while to convince her to deliver the letter. Hedwig eventually obliges, nips at Harry’s finger, and flies off with the letter. Over the next couple of weeks, Harry tries to fight off his anxiety about Sirius getting caught.
One evening, the Gryffindors head into Defense Against the Dark Arts to find a rather surprising lesson.
Moody announces that Dumbledore wants the students to teach the students what the Imperius Curse feels like. The only way to achieve that is for him to cast it on the students.
One by one, he casts the Imperius Curse on the students. He makes Dean hop around the class singing the national anthem, Lavender imitate a squirrel and Neville perform gymnastics. Next up is Harry’s turn, and he walks towards the middle of the classroom.
Fighting the Imperius Curse
Moody casts the Imperius Curse on Harry. He feels a wonderful floating sensation, which fills him with happiness. Moody’s voice echoes in his head distantly, asking for Harry to jump onto the desk. Harry nearly follows through, until a voice in his head questions the instructions.
Conflicted between wanting to follow Moody’s orders and his self fighting against it, he does a sort of half jump and smashes headlong into the desk. Impressed, Moody appreciates the fight Harry put up and announces they will go at it once again.
After the lesson, the trio discusses the lesson and concludes that Moody is far too paranoid to be a sane wizard.
Trouble with Lessons
The fourth years observe that in the past few weeks, their workload has increased considerably. Professor McGonagall explains that it is because the fourth years need to prepare for their Ordinary Wizarding Level exams, which will take place in their fifth year. Dean protests, but she tells him off and reminds him that his transfiguration is nowhere up to the mark.
In Divination, Harry and Ron receive the top marks for their homework. Trelawney praises their unflinching acceptance of the horrors the future holds for them and asks them to repeat it for the following month.
For History of Magic, Binns gives them weekly essays, and for Potions, Snape makes them research antidotes. He hints that he will poison someone before Christmas, which makes the class take his lessons very seriously. Flitwick contributes to the workload by giving the class three extra books to read.
Even Care of Magical Creatures is not peaceful, as the Blast-Ended Skrewts continue growing at a remarkable pace. It is astonishing since nobody has yet discovered what they eat.
Delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons
As the students file into the entrance hall after class, they see a large crowd gathered around a large signboard near the foot of the staircase. According to the notice, delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are scheduled to arrive at 6 pm on Friday, 30th of October.
For the next week, the Triwizard Tournament is all anyone can talk about. The castle undergoes an extra thorough cleaning; all portraits are scrubbed and all the armors are cleaned. The Great Hall is decorated on the morning of 30th of October, with silk banners for each house.
The trio sits down for breakfast with Fred and George and overhears them whispering about someone avoiding them. Ron inquires, but the twins snap at him. They then wonder who the panel of judges might consist of, and Hermione joins the conversation.
She explains that according to Hogwarts a History, the heads of schools are always present on the panel. However, she quickly transitions into a speech about how Hogwarts is oppressing hundreds of slaves. Nobody wants to be part of this conversation.
This is soon cut short, however, as Hedwig soars in among the other owls, carrying a reply from Sirius. Sirius is back in the country and has managed to find a hiding spot. He asks Harry to keep him updated on everything and to keep switching owls for his letters to him.
The Guests Arrive
The day has a pleasant air of anticipation about it. The lessons end half an hour early, and nobody really pays any attention to them.
After the last lesson, students deposit their bags in their dormitory and line up house-wise in welcome at the Entrance Hall. As the students guess how their guests will be arriving, the delegation from Beauxbatons shows up.
A huge horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house lands near the castle. A boy in pale blue robes jumps from it and unfolds a set of golden steps. From the carriages descends the largest woman Harry had ever seen. The students clap in their welcome as Dumbledore kisses the woman’s hand, addressing her as Madam Maximoff.
She introduces her students, around a dozen boys and girls in their late teens. Dumbledore asks her if she would like to head inside the castle and warm up or wait there for Durmstrang, and she chooses the castle.
As the delegation from Beauxbatons leaves, students from Hogwarts once again stand in anticipation. They scan the skies for any signs of Dumstrang, but they arrive through the lake.
An old, skeletal-looking ship emerges from the middle of the lake and makes its way towards the bank. The students disembark, headed by their headmaster Kakaroff. He is thin and tall like Dumbledore but with shorter hair and a weak chin.
The chapter ends as Dumbledore greets Kakaroff. The headmasters shake hands before Kakaroff calls forward Viktor Krum, and introduces him to Dumbledore.
