The fourth book in the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling is much longer than the previous three and, by our reckoning, the best yet. Back in 2000, I bet that parents were ecstatic to see so many kids chomping at the bit to read a 600+ page book cover-to-cover in no time flat, and that’s exactly what happened! It was like Barnes & Noble was releasing a new iPhone or something, because fans were camping out for its release, lines stretching around the block.

My kids (9, 11) and I loved this book best of the four for many reasons. I’m sure thousands of others have already reasoned out why this book carries such an appeal, but as a 39yo dude coming to this series 2 decades too late, maybe I’ve got a perspective worth noting.

First, we actually liked the fact that book was so long. Virtually an entire book passed before the fourth-year Potter and his friends ever made it to Hogwarts. Filling the initial chapters was a special visit to the Quidditch World Cup, an event so large that the witches and wizards had a hard time keeping it secret from the Muggles!

Second, I am always drawn to a plot involving games and mysteries. I loved The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, and I’m sure I’d enjoy The Maze Runner series as well. I write my own strategy games that I’ve never tried to get published, so thinking through the details of how games work is a side hobby of mine. Long ago, I even drafted the plot to my own dystopian world in which children are forced to hunt others in order to save their own lives or the lives of their families. It was dark, but piecing together the details was an exercise in both logic and creativity. That’s what I got from The Goblet of Fire as well.

Third, until the final chapters, this book was far less dark than the previous books. Of course, the presence of “the death eaters” might seem to put a damper on that claim, but really, it was a pretty innocent story most of the way through. Then came Voldemort and his sorcery, and everything changed. My kids already know that if we watch the movie, we’re skipping the whole “resurrection” scene, and perhaps we should have skipped it in the book too. The death eaters describe this monster in words disturbingly similar to those which describe the Lord Jesus (provider, merciful, miraculous, etc.), though certainly he’s no Christ. The evil blackness and serpentine features, not to mention his giant pet black snake, definitely portray him as the opposite all that is good and holy, which again suggests that maybe we should have just gotten the Cliff Notes version of this scene.

Finally, the book continues to teach such important lessons as friendship, loyalty, and now ingenuity. These traits have really been the overarching themes of the series so far, so parents can at least focus on these glimmers of goodness if they are looking to have some constructive conversations with their kids about their reading fare.

Harry set himself up in this book, even if by accident, as the true counterpart to Voldemort, so it will be interesting to see how his own popularity grows as well as the hatred between him and Voldemort’s cronies. It’s hard to believe we’re more than halfway through the series already! We definitely look forward to Book 5!

©2022 E.T.

Read More from J.K. Rowling:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997)
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (1998)
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (1999)
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (2000)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (2003)
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (2005)
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling (2007)
* Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling (2016)