Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Chapter Twenty-One:
The House-Elf Liberation Front

Synopsis by William Silvester
Notes and links by Michele L. Worley

U.S. hardcover edition: pages 363 - 384
U.K. hardcover edition: pages 317 - 335
U.K. paperback edition: pages 398 - 420
Timeframe: Tuesday 24 November - Monday 7 December, 1994 [Y14]

In which a surprise party is held for Harry, he opens the egg, and Hermione discovers how to get into the kitchens. In Care of Magical Creatures, the Blast-ended Skrewts rebel against hibernation, Rita arranges an interview with Hagrid, and HRH go to the kitchens where they find Dobby and Winky.

Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:

"Sounded like a banshee -"

"It was someone being tortured!"

Characters introduced in this chapter:

• the Hogwarts house-elves

Characters returning in this chapter:

• Bloody Baron, the

• Crabbe, Vincent

• Dobby

• Fat Lady, the

• Finnigan, Seamus

• Goyle, Gregory

• Granger, Hermione

• Hagrid, Rubeus

• Jordan, Lee

• Krum, Viktor

• Longbottom, Neville

• Malfoy, Draco

• Pigwidgeon

• Potter, Harry

• Skeeter, Rita

• Thomas, Dean

• Trelawney, Professor

• Weasley, Fred

• Weasley, George

• Weasley, Ron

• Winky

• (not named) the remaining Slytherins in Harry's Care of Magical Creatures class, including Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson

• (names unknown) the six or seven Hogwarts girls who are Krum's unofficial fan club

Characters mentioned in this chapter:

• Bagman, Ludo

• Black, Sirius

• Crouch, Bartemius (senior)

• Diggory, Cedric

• Karkaroff, Igor

• Malfoy, Lucius

• Maxime, Olympe

• Vector, Professor

• Weasley, Percy

Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:

• kitchens

• Owlery

Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:

• none yet

Exceptional character moments:

• Each Gryffindor's guess as to what the horrible sounds from the golden egg mean.

• The twins' frank admission that the house-elves are eager to be helpful in the matter of supplying food.

• Dumbledore's willingness to hire a free elf and having attempted to give Dobby higher wages and more time off than Dobby felt comfortable with; also Dumbledore's relaxed attitude toward whether or not the house-elves respect his dignity.

• The other house-elves' disapproval of Dobby's status as a free elf.

• Winky's anger at Hermione's unthinking assumption that all Winky did for the Crouch family was housework, and that Crouch senior can easily dispense with her help. It says a lot about Winky that she manages to keep her silence in the face of this, particularly since she's been drinking.

• Ron's observation that Percy has no sense of humour and wouldn't want to work for a boss who had one.

Spells:

• canary Transfiguration hex/potion

Links and Resources:

• Daily Prophet

• Death Eaters

• Bestiary: Abraxan winged horses, banshees, dragons, skrewts

• Canary Creams

• classes

  • Care of Magical Creatures

  • Divination

Memorable lines:

• "Winky is a disgraced elf, but Winky is not yet getting paid!"

• "Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea-cosy."

Strictly British:

• barmy

• cream cake

• jam

• peckish

• prat

• tea-cosy

Timelines/Calendar:

This chapter begins on the evening after the first task. After the surprise party scene, the action moves into the month of December and "the next lesson" in Care of Magical Creatures. The very next lesson in that subject after the first task would actually have been in November and not December, so there is a bit of a discrepancy at this point. We have put Rita's visit on the first Care of Magical Creatures lesson in December, therefore, rather than the very next after the first task.