Mark Reads ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’: Chapter 37

In the thirty-seventh (and final) chapter of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry deals with an even more awkward school life, Dumbledore says his greatest lines yet, and Hermione’s revenge on Rita Skeeter is unbelievably amazing. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Harry Potter.

CHAPTER 37: THE BEGINNING

Dear diary,

Sometimes I just wish I could go back.

I’m sitting in the back of the Dursleys car, writing, trying to keep myself occupied so that Uncle Vernon doesn’t feel the need to talk to me about anything. Not that he would, but still.

I can’t stop thinking of Cedric Diggory’s parents. They came to me the day after I woke up in the Hospital Wing from my rest. Mrs. Diggory was happy that she knew her son died so quickly and died having won the Triwizard Cup. I didn’t have the heart to correct her. I didn’t care enough to make her hurt anymore than she already did.

The days just seem to drift by now. Sometimes I don’t remember how I got to where I’m standing or why I’m having a conversation with someone. I’ve just accepted that this is how things will be for a while.

I’m really thankful for Ron and Hermione because they let me sit in silence most of the time, and they don’t feel the need to ask me questions or interrogate me or ask me how I’m feeling. I’m sure they know, but it still means a lot. They’re the best part of my life.

Hagrid is doing well. Looks like he’s hitting it off with Madame Maxime. He told me something I can’t seem to shake. That’s a good thing. “No good sittin’ worryin’ abou’ it,” he told me. “What’s comin’ will come, an’ we’ll meet it when it does.”

I like that. We’ll meet it when it comes.

The last night at Hogwarts was especially hard for me. Or everyone, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t want to leave that place, despite how difficult of a year I’ve had. I sat there, listening to Dumbledore giving his final address, hoping that maybe there was someway for me to travel back and change the things I’d done and maybe things would be ok.

Dumblemore made the final toast to Cedric Diggory, saying he exemplified exactly what a Hufflepuff and a Hogwarts student should be. I saw Cho crying when he was saying this, and part of me felt that I should go comfort her, but I don’t think she likes me too much. I wonder if everyone else blames me as much as I blame myself for his death.

But I was happy that Dumbledore took a stand and surprisingly announced what had happened to Cedric. He told the whole school that Voldemort killed him! I guess this is part of the plan he had to make sure Cornelius Fudge didn’t get his way and keep things quiet.

Most of all, he wanted everyone to remember Cedric, because it would help people to know if they should do what is right or what is easy. I kind of feel like he was talking to the Slytherins, but they don’t seem to get in trouble as much as they should.

I was dreading the train ride back to London, but I guess I am starting to take Hagrid’s advice and just face things as they come. I don’t want to see the Dursleys, but hopefully I will get to stay with the Weasleys before long.

Hermione did make things a lot better for me, though. She told me and Ron how Rita Skeeter managed to get so much information on all of us when she was banned from the school grounds. She produced a small glass jar and showed us some sort of beetle. Turns out she’s an unregistered Animagus. Huh. There was a small part of me that wanted to crush that jar in Hermione’s hand, but I much like Hermione’s idea of keeping her prisoner for a year. Yeah, much better.

However, I did get to exact a bit of revenge on Malfoy and his trollish friends. He used that wretched “m” word I can’t even bring myself to say and then tried to say something about Cedric. Ron, Hermione, and I all cast different hexes on them at the same time.

I love my friends.

So now I’m on my way back to Privet Drive. I don’t want to go, but I’ll face it when I get there. I don’t want to live in a world where Voldemort is back in power, but I’ll face him when I need to.

Sometimes I just wish I could go back. But I can’t. And it’s time to move on.

Harry

I’m not going to post about this book as a whole right now because I have something planned for tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday that will deal with that. So you won’t have to wait an agonizing three days before I post again.

And about that. So here’s what I’ve settled on:

Our next liveblog, Mark Watches Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, will take place on Sunday, August 22nd at 10am PST (which is 1pm EST and 6pm in the UK). Plan accordingly!

And, because I need to do this at the end of each book I finish:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is so goddamn fantastic and mind-blowing that I am now a Harry Potter fan for life and if I could find some way to justify it, I would do nothing more than lock myself in some sort of life-sustaining cave and just review until I am done with this series but that is probably unrealistic and stupid, so you’ll just have to deal with me posting as many reviews as I can in the meantime.