Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 25 Summary.
The Egg and The Eye
Chapter 25 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, titled ‘The Egg and The Eye’ deals with a trip to the prefect’s bathroom, an interesting revelation and a conversation with Moody.
Bathing with the Egg
On Thursday night, Harry decides to take Cedric’s advice and have a bath with the egg. He takes his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder’s Map, and heads over to the prefect’s bathroom.
He follows the directions Cedric gave him, and is soon inside the prefect’s bathroom. The bathroom is magnificent, and the bath is the size of a swimming pool. There are multiple taps, and each of them produce a different type of foam.
Harry enjoys the water, but doesn’t understand how this is supposed to help him with the second task. He even tries opening the egg, but the same old wailing noise emerges from it.
Suddenly, a voice behind him tells him to put the egg under the water. Harry jumps and turns back; but it is only Myrtle. Myrtle asks why Harry hasn’t been visiting her, and Harry replies it is because he got told off for entering a girl’s bathroom (this is partly true since Percy did tell them off). She then instructs him to open the egg underwater, because that is what Cedric did.
Harry follows her advice, and opens the egg under the water. Instead of the wailing, he hears a riddle now. It takes a while for him to memorize the riddle, after which he tries to solve it. Soon, he comes to the conclusion that the riddle talks about Mermpeople of the lake. With this, he thanks Myrtle and leaves the bathroom.
Filch, Snape and Bartemius Crouch
Out in the corridor, Harry checks his map to see if he is alone and finds something strange. Near Snape’s office is a moving dot belonging to Bartemius Crouch. Harry doesn’t understand what Barty is doing inside the school at this hour, specially since he hasn’t even been going to work.
Focusing completely on Crouch’s movements, Harry forgets to dodge the trick step on the staircase. The egg pinned under his arm, still damp from his bath slips and opens; starting the wailing once again. The map falls as well, and is far enough that Harry can’t wipe it blank.
The ruckus attracts Filch, who thinks it is Peeves’ doing. He spots the egg, and assumes with glee that Peeves has stolen it from a champion. He starts to climb up the stairs, but before he can get close to Harry, a voice calls to him.
Filch turns around to see Snape, who questions what is happening here. Snape reveals that someone had been in his office searching for something, and it could only have been a wizard and not Peeves. He asks Filch to come help him search for the intruder. Before either of them can leave, the group is joined by Mad Eye Moody.
Mad Eye Saves the Day?
Moody’s eye scans around the scene; and it is a peculiar sight indeed. Harry under the invisibility cloak, Snape in his nightshirt and Filch clutching a golden egg. He questions what is going on, and Filch lets slip that somebody broke into Snape’s office.
Moody suspects if Snape is hiding something other than potion ingredients in his cupboards, which Snape coldly denies, citing that Moody has already checked his office.
Moody laughs and asks him to go back to bed. Snape says that Moody has no authority to send him anywhere, and that he can prowl around at night as much as Moody. Moody asks him to prowl all he wants, but pick up the piece of parchment he left near the staircase; and points towards the Marauder’s Map.
From under his cloak, Harry catches Moody’s attention and mouths that the map is his. Moody gets the hint and summons the map before Snape can reach it, announcing that it belongs to him. However, Snape catches a glimpse of it and figures it out. He concludes that both the egg and the map belong to Harry, which means he is somewhere nearby, probably under his invisibility cloak.
Moody cuts him off, showing interest in how quickly Snape thought of Harry. They have a tense moment, but Snape defuses it and decides to head back to bed; a decision Moody appreciates. Moody then retrieves Harry’s egg from Filch and sends him on the way as well.
Why is Barty Here?
Harry emerges out of his cloak and thanks Moody. Moody asks about the piece of parchment, and Harry reveals that it is a map of Hogwarts. Mad eye inspects it and finds it incredible. Still staring at the map, he asks if Harry saw who broke into Snape’s office.
Harry says it was Bartemius Crouch, which alarms Moody. He scans the map and says that Barty isn’t here in Hogwarts anymore. Harry wonders what Crouch could have been doing in Snape’s office, and Mad Eye explains that Crouch’s obsession with Dark Wizards far exceeds his own. It could do with the fact that odd things have been happening lately, with the Dark Mark at the World Cup and everything.
Moody then asks if he can borrow the Marauder’s map for a bit. Harry feels like he owes Moody one, and therefore agrees to part with his beloved map. Finally, he suggests that Harry should consider a career as an Auror and bids him farewell.
The chapter ends as Harry walks back to his dormitory. He is confused about the whole affair with Crouch and proud that Moody thinks he could be an Auror.
