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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Chapter Seven:
Bagman and Crouch
"Met a few people."
EXCEPTIONAL CHARACTER MOMENTS
SPELLS | LINKS & RESOURCES | MEMORABLE LINES | STRICTLY BRITISH
Synopsis by William Silvester
Notes and links by Michele L. Worley
U.S. hardcover edition: pages 75 - 94
U.K. hardcover edition: pages 70 - 86
U.K. paperback edition: pages 86 - 107
Timeframe:
Monday xx August,
1994
[Y14]
In which they arrive at the campsite, erect their tent, tour the camp, meet Ludo Bagman (with whom Fred and George bet on the match), and excitement rises as game time draws near.
Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:
The chapter title refers to Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch senior, both of whom Harry meets for the first time in this chapter.
Until Harry's disciplinary hearing in OP, this chapter was one of the main sources of information about the Ministry of Magic, thanks to Arthur's running commentary on wizards passing through the World Cup campgrounds and his conversations with colleagues.
They had arrived on what appeared to be a deserted stretch of misty moor.
Several regions of the United Kingdom feature moorland; Yorkshire and Scotland, to name two.In front of them was a pair of tired and grumpy-looking wizards, one of whom was holding a large gold watch...
This would be a pocket watch, not a wristwatch....the other a thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly. The man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho.
A tweed suit with thigh-length rainboots on one wizard and a mixture of incompatible, distinctive regional clothing on the other."Morning, Basil," said Mr. Weasley, picking up the boot and handing it to the kilted wizard.
The kilted wizard is Basil, since he is the wizard who consults the parchment list.
"Would you be Mr. Roberts?"
"Aye, I would," said Mr. Roberts.
"I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago."
If Mr. Roberts is exaggerating somewhat about the size of the coins, these may have been ordinary Galleons.At that moment, a wizard in plus-fours appeared out of thin air next to Mr. Roberts' front door.
How did this wizard know to Apparate in at that moment? (Since no invisibility cloak is mentioned, and since he definitely Disapparated to leave, this seems like an instance of Apparition.)Actually, since he seems to be working a lot with Mr. Roberts, stationing him right here under an invisibility cloak might have made more sense, but it seems unlikely that the Ministry would tie up one person to look exclusively after one Muggle when everyone else is so busy.
"Obliviate!" he said sharply, pointing his wand at Mr. Roberts.
The wizard in plus-fours, from his remarks to Arthur Weasley, is a Ministry employee; since he seems to be tasked with modifying the memories of the few Muggles in the vicinity, it seems likely that he is an Obliviator and not just a wizard from some other section of the Ministry who knows the spell.Instantly, Mr. Robert's eyes slid out of focus, his brows unknitted and a look of dreamy unconcern fell over his face. Harry recognized the symptoms of one who has just had his memory modified.
We have never seen Harry experience a Memory Charm as the target, but he has witnessed it being cast. Conversely, Harry will later experience the Imperius Curse, so we will learn about the mental effects on the victim in detail (GF15), but we have never seen a description of the facial expression of the victim just after the spell is cast. Judging from Mr. Roberts' reaction to the spell, the mental state resulting from a Memory Charm seems somewhat similar to that induced by the Imperius Curse."I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago."
We last heard of Perkins on the first day of Harry's first visit to the Burrow (CS3), and will meet Perkins briefly about a year from now on the morning of Harry's disciplinary hearing. Perkins, like Arthur, works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office....they saw two little witches, barely older than Kevin, who were riding toy broomsticks which rose only high enough for the girls' toes to skim the dewy grass.
The Weasleys also had toy broomsticks when they were little. Fred once transfigured Ron's teddy bear into a spider because Ron had broken Fred's toy broomstick (CS9).Characters introduced in this chapter:
Wood, Mr. (Oliver's father)
Wood, Mrs. (Oliver's mother)
(surname unknown) Archie
(surname unknown) Basil, keeper of the Portkeys
(surname unknown) Kevin
(name unknown) Kevin's mother
(name unknown) Ministry wizard (Obliviator?) in plus-fours
(name unknown) Ministry wizard in tweed suit and galoshes with large gold watch
(name unknown) Ministry wizard dealing with Archie
(name unknown) Ministry wizard dealing with toy broomstick incident
(name unknown) two young witches on toy broomsticks
(name unknown) three African wizards
(name unknown) group of witches from the Salem Witches' Institute
(name unknown) group of teenagers who don't attend Hogwarts, probably foreign
(name unknown) group of haggard-looking Ministry wizards
(name unknown) wizarding souvenir sellers
Characters returning in this chapter:
Weasley, Percy (as Weatherby)
Characters mentioned in this chapter:
(name unknown) head of the Bulgarian Department of Magical Games and Sports
(name unknown) Bill's penfriend from Brazil
(name unknown) Kevin's father
(name unknown) parents of the two young witches on toy broomsticks
Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:
Quidditch World Cup campsite
Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:
Exceptional character moments:
Arthur Weasley, who is tickled pink at being able to play at camping out Muggle-style.
Engorgement Charm (effect mentioned)
items and devices, magical
slang (memory like a leaky cauldron)
Ministry of Magic
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Department of Magical Games and Sports (a.k.a. the Sports Department)
Department of Mysteries (Unspeakables)
Accidental Magic Reversal Squad (includes Obliviators)
Goblin Liason Office
Rules and Regulations (Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects)
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money (Galleons, Sickles, Knuts)
Quidditch terms: Beater, Seeker
none yet
brew ("do me a brew")
This chapter is set on the same day as the preceding and following chapters, the day of the Quidditch World Cup. From Ron's earlier letter to Harry, we know that this is a Monday.
