Harry Potter might be one of the most beloved book series of all time, but it’s by no means perfect. While fans of the series love entering the magical world that exists in these books, not everything about them always holds up well. Some things about Harry Potter just don’t make a lot of sense, and others are troubling or problematic when examined. While these issues shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the books, they are worth thinking about and interesting to analyze.
Here are the main ten things from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that haven’t aged well.
MAD-EYE MOODY BEING ALLOWED TO TEACH AT ALL
Fans of the series know that finding professors to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts job was difficult. Each professor in this role only lasted one year while Harry was at school and many people thought it was cursed. While it might have been a struggle to find professors, hiring Alastor Moody in the first place doesn’t make a lot of sense. While he might have been a good Auror, he was also paranoid and prone to outbursts. This doesn’t make him a great teacher.
THE TREATMENT OF HAGRID
Before Goblet of Fire, it’s just assumed by Harry and readers that Hagrid is just a really big person.
However, in this book, it’s revealed that he is actually half-giant. This leads to many students and their parents being afraid of him and being prejudiced towards him. This is just one example of the bigotry that exists within the magical universe, and it’s pretty unfair.
HOW WINKY WAS TREATED
Winky and all of the house-elves are another example of how humanoid creatures in the books are treated poorly. Even though beings like house-elves, centaurs, and goblins are just as intelligent and aware as humans, they are treated as second class citizens or worse. Winky is treated poorly by Barty Crouch in front of other wizards. While some of them might be kinder to her, no one really seems to think this is a big issue or stick up for her except Hermione.
VEELA
Veelas are yet another humanoid race in the books, and there seems to be a trend with this in Goblet of Fire. Veela appear as beautiful women and try to lure men but turn into angry, monstrous creatures when provoked. The existence of Veela in the books is pretty problematic as they are similar to sirens. This brings up a lot of questions about gender, consent, and more. Overall, it seems like it would have been best to not include them in the series.
MAD-EYE TEACHING UNFORGIVABLE CURSES
As mentioned above, hiring Mad-Eye Moody to teach at Hogwarts is questionable at best. However, the Moody that Dumbledore hires isn’t even Moody but is instead Barty Crouch Jr. This might be way Unforgivable Curses are shown and then performed on students.
Regardless of the true identity of Moody, performing the Imperius Curse on teenagers shouldn’t have been allowed. It’s amazing Dumbleodroe let that happen.
NO ONE ELSE SUPPORTING S.P.E.W.
When Hermione starts S.P.E.W., she is met with apathy from Harry and annoyance from Ron. Hermione seems to be the only person in the entire wizarding world who seems to be bothered by the fact that an entire race of intelligent creatures are used as slaves. Everyone around her thinks she is just being ridiculous. While Hermione might not be able to change everything herself, she at least cares enough to try.
LETTING HARRY COMPETE IN THE TOURNAMENT
When Harry’s name is thrown out of the Goblet of Fire, everyone is shocked, especially Harry. While obviously Harry was allowed to compete because it was a plot device needed for the story, looking at this choice in the world is confusing. It seems ridiculous that the contestants can’t back out once their name has been chosen. It’s said to be a magical, binding contract, but the consequences of not competing aren’t really stated.
Harry was only fourteen at the time and not of age, so having him compete was especially cruel.
TREATMENT OF THE DRAGONS
The treatment of animals and magical creatures across the board in Harry Potter isn’t always great. There doesn’t seem to really be anything in place to keep people from abusing animals. While dragons might be ferocious creatures, it seems cruel to have them flown in from their homes and their eggs taken away briefly just so they can be used in a contest. Doing so seems unfair to the dragons and also stupidly dangerous for the contestants.
CORNELIUS FUDGE REFUSING TO BELIEVE IN VOLDEMORT’S RETURN
This point is an interesting one because this storyline is often meant to be a mirror and metaphor to some real-life events. Fudge refused to believe that a tyrannical, genocidal man was back in power is something that has happened in history in real life. However, it’s definitely one of the most frustrating things about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The other horrible thing is how quickly he turns on Harry even though he had been supportive of him before.
THE FACT THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT WAS HELD AT ALL
The biggest issue in Goblet of Fire is the very existence of the Triwizard Tournament. This is a medieval, cruel contest. There was a reason it hadn’t existed in the wizarding world since around the late 1700s. Bringing it back was a ridiculous and dangerous choice. This tournament was known and meant to be dangerous, and in the old days claimed many lives. Having students at a school, even if they were technically adults who were allowed to enter, compete in such a barbaric contest is mind-boggling.
