Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 28 Summary.
The Madness of Mr. Crouch
Chapter 28 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, titled ‘The Madness of Mr. Crouch’ deals with a meeting with the house-elves, some hate mail and a bizarre encounter.
Winky’s Condition
The trio heads to the Owlery the following Sunday to send a letter to Percy, just as Sirius instructed. Next, they go to the kitchens to gift Dobby his socks. Dobby is overjoyed, and the other house elves are also happy to see them. Harry suggests they send some food to Sirius, and the house elves are more than happy to give them some extra food.
Hermione looks around for Winky, and finds her with a butterbeer by the fire, her condition filthy and pathetic. She misses her home, and is going through six butterbeers a day now.
Harry asks Winky if she knows why Crouch might have stopped coming to the tournament, but Winky is surprised by the information. She hears that he might be ill, which only makes her more worried. She announces that her master needs her, not just for housework but also since he trusts her with his most important secrets. What these secrets are, she refuses to tell and passes out without warning.
A bunch of house elves hurry to hide her from sight, and apologize for her behavior. Hermione insists that she has a right to be sad just like wizards, but the house elves disagree. She further suggests that they should stand up for their rights and demand wages like Dobby, but the suggestion only offends them. They shove the extra food in Harry’s arm and bid them goodbye.
Hermione’s Hate Mails
Ron snaps at Hermione for ruining their relationship with the elves, and Hermione snaps back, saying all he wants from them is the food. Their bickering only gets worse, to the point that Harry decides to mail Sirius his food on his own.
Thankfully, their bad moods burn out by the next day. Hermione looks forward to the owl posts at breakfast, and explains she bought a subscription to the Prophet. Soon, a gray owl lands in front of her, but it does not have a newspaper. It is followed by a whole bunch of owls, and they all have strongly worded letters against her.
The letters are from the readers of Rita Skeeter’s articles, and they all call her horrible for cheating on Harry. The last letter contains bobtuber puss, which sends Hermione to the hospital wing.
She doesn’t turn up for Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid has completed the lessons on Unicorns, and introduces the class to his Nifflers. They are fluffy black creatures with a long snout, found near mines. He explains that they are treasure hunters, and instructs the class to use one each and find the gold coins he has buried around the grounds.
Hermione turns up by the end of the lesson. Hagrid greets her, and tells Goyle to not pocket the coins, since it is leprechaun gold and will disappear later. Hermione tells Hagrid all about the letters, and Hagrid shares that he received a few one them as well, after his article came out. He tells her to simply ignore the mail, and not open it at all.
Easter is Here
Hate mail continues to arrive for Hermione the following week, and ignoring it doesn’t work since a lot of her ill wishers send her howlers.
Harry consoles her saying people will get bored of this soon, but all she can think about is how Rita Skeeter is listening to private conversations. She isn’t using an invisibility cloak, otherwise Moody would have spotted her. She swears to find out her secret, and when Ron says they have enough on their plate already, she storms out, saying she doesn’t need their help.
Hedwig returns at the end of the Easter holidays. She delivers Percy’s reply, along with a package of easter eggs filled with toffees from Mrs Weasley. Molly is a reader of Witch Weekly, hence Hermione’s egg is significantly smaller than both Harry and Ron’s.
The trio reads Percy’s reply. It is short and irritated, declaring that while Crouch hasn’t showed up in person, he has been consistent with his instruction-filled letters.
About the Final Task
In the last week of May, McGonagall instructs Harry to go down to the Quidditch field at nine o’clock, where Bagman will brief the champions about the final task.
So, at half past eight, Harry heads down to the field. On the way he meets Cedric, and they both wonder what the third task could be about. The two reach the field, and realize it is no longer flat; but there are hedges growing on it in every direction.
Bagman enters the scene and explains that the hedges will be about twenty feet high by the end of the month, and assures that the field will be back to normal once the task is over.
For the third task, Champions will be required to navigate a maze filled with a number of creatures and spells; at the center of which the Triwizard Cup would be placed.
The briefing ends, and they start heading back to the castle. Before Bagman can offer help to Harry once again, Krum calls Harry for a word.
He takes Harry near the forest and asks if there is something between him and Hermione, which Harry denies. This makes Krum slightly happy, and he compliments Harry on his flying skills.
Before either of them can say another word, however, there is movement in the trees behind him. Harry reaches for his wand, but from the trees emerges a disheveled looking Mr Crouch. He looks like he has been traveling for days, and resembles a tramp that Harry once came across while with the Dursleys.
Crouch, Sane or Insane?
Krum recognizes Crouch as a judge, and Harry approaches him to check on him. Crouch seems to be out of his senses, and keeps talking to himself. Suddenly, he exclaims that he needs to see Dumbledore, and tell him about some stupid things he has done. Harry leaves Krum to stay with Crouch, while he goes to fetch the Headmaster.
Harry reaches the stone gargoyle outside Dumbledore’s office and yells an old password, which does nothing. Hoping that Dumbledore might be in the staffroom, he runs towards the staircase, but is stopped by Snape. Snape doesn’t believe Harry when he tells him about Crouch, and says that Dumbledore is busy. Harry argues back, and the commotion finally attract’s Dumbledore’s attention.
Dumbledore emerges out of his office and asks Harry to lead the way without question. Harry leads him to where he left Krum and Crouch, and fills him in on the details on the way. They find Krum stunned unconscious, and Crouch is gone.
Dumbledore revives Krum and calls for Hagrid through a bird from his wand. Krum complains that Crouch attacked him, but Dumbledore urges for him to lie still.
Hagrid arrives, and he is instructed to fetch Karkaroff and then Moody. Bringing Moody is not required, since he shows up to the scene on his own. Dumbledore instructs him to find Crouch, and Moody limps off into the forest.
Karkaroff’s Anger
Karkaroff soon arrives on the scene, and Krum fills him in. Karkaroff declares that the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts have plotted against his school, and spits on Dumbledore’s feet. This enrages Hagrid, who slams Karkaroff into a nearby tree.
At once, Dumbledore tells Hagrid to leave Karkaroff and escort Harry back to the castle. To Harry, Dumbledore says not to send any owls till the next morning.
Hagrid leaves Fang with Dumbledore and does what he is told. On the way, he scolds Harry for going off alone with Krum, saying that they can’t trust any of the lot.
Harry brings up Madam Maxime, and Hagrid’s mood only worsens. She has been trying to get back into his good books now, trying to find out information about the third task.
The chapter ends as Harry bids good-bye to Hagrid in front of the Gryffindor common room, and hurries off to fill Ron and Hermione in on everything.
