Number 4 already! We are now officially more than half way through this blog series! For those of you just joining in, my good friend and fellow Harry Potter fanatic, Erica Haskett & I, decided this year we were going to re-read our favorite series and afterwards create inspiring blog posts centered around all the life lessons embedded within.
Now, we’re diving deep into all things Triwizard as we enter The Goblet of Fire!
I know this is about the book, but I have to say this is definitely my personal favorite movie, I just love the tournament and I think the costuming and production design of this movie are on a whole other level. The Beauxbaton costumes? Gorgeous. Harry and Cedric’s maze uniforms? Such a vibe. And honestly the entire Yule Ball in general has forever been the most gorgeous set and scene to me in any movie (and I’m not even a winter person!). The music is perfection as well (lots of this soundtrack is the one that plays in the Wizarding World in Universal! They are very heavy on the Rita Skeeter trills down there!)
So, now, going back into the book it was crazy (in a good way) to see how incredibly different this one is! The plot line is so much more intricate and there’s so many more layers and details to the overall drama. I totally get why they had to cut so much of it back because there’s no way it would’ve all fit into a movie (if only streaming series were a thing back then!), but because of seeing the movie so many times, it definitely felt like reading a whole new book. I really loved it again of course, it definitely still holds up as one of my favorite books.
Nevertheless, no matter how different the movie and book were from each other, the book still holds so many great nuggets of lessons we can bring into real life.
As the books get longer, the more amazing wisdom they hold, so expect our blog posts to get longer and longer every time!
So without further ado, here’s our takeaways:
Erica Rose, House Slytherin Beauxbatons
The first thing that really stuck out to me in this novel was towards the beginning when they’re all at the Burrow and Mrs. Weasley is furious at Fred and George for developing their own joke products. As she yelled at them, confiscated their goods, and basically told them they weren’t taking life seriously, it really made myblood boil. I think this is a plot line so many of us know personally all too well.
Mrs Weasley says Fred and George have no ambition solely because they’re not following what HER view of success is … aka working at the ministry, like their brothers and father. But in actuality, Fred and George are SO ambitious! They’re literally sixteen year olds at this point and created their own products from scratch and are making plans to start their own business!
Sometimes parents and guardians from the older generation have that narrowed view that the only way to make money is from a corporate 9-5 (which is really an 8-7 let’s be honest). I know that was always drilled into my head, but it’s really not like that anymore!
Molly thinks Fred and George are in such trouble in terms of their lives, but as we see in the sixth book, they literally become the richest Weasley’s, and they’re self-employed, and they’re the only ones who manage to stay afloat in Diagon Alley when tough times hit, and most importantly, they’re doing what they love.
Fred and George are straight up proof that you cannot quell your soul’s calling, your soul’s longings, and listen to adults that have another idea of life for you. No one gets to decide your path. You need to follow your heart and soul and passion. The Weasley Brothers are absolutely proof you can make money doing what you love. So seriously just start the business!
Even when Molly tried to keep them down, confiscated their products, and yelled at them, they still continued to persevere and pursue making their products and eventually shop. And this is why Fred and George are amongst my favorite characters. They don’t follow the rules, they make them!
My next takeaway is when Hermione is all about her S.P.E.W (Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare), she talks about Hogwarts a History and notes: “Though it should be called Hogwarts, a revised history.” And it definitely took me right to the whole theme of Hamilton, the musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The play ends with a song “Who lives, who dies, who tells your story” which has always been true, that whoever lives gets to tell the story. More importantly, the victors tell the story, and they will always paint themselves in the best light. That’s why with so much of history and even current events it’s always good to take it with a grain of salt and consider all sides and consider how the people writing the history books or presenting the news are making themselves seem like heroes when they might not have been.
This also definitely connects to Rita Skeeter’s articles where she greatly misquotes Harry and just prints straight up lies - and so many people believe those lies! Even Mrs. Weasley believed Rita’s article that Hermione was two-timing Harry with Viktor Krum and sent her a tiny Easter egg while sending all the boys huge, big ones.
This is so very true in real life, too. People make stuff up, people spread lies on the internet and media, we can’t always believe what we read so it’s so important to do your own research, trust your own gut, and make your own judgements. Learn all sides of the story before you condemn someone. I think internet culture has been so famous for not looking into the full truth and just making assumptions based on a clickbait title, and then getting mad and spreading those lies. Now, some are not always lies, but some are for sure - so just always, always do your personal research before jumping to conclusions!
Rita Skeeter’s articles in general create a lot of drama. Especially in hurting Hagrid by talking about his giant heritage which causes others judge him.
“If you are holding out for universal popularity I’m afraid you’ll be in this cabin for a very long time” Dumbledore so wisely says to him.
Which is so true, no matter how amazing and great and kind and noble we are, we’ll always have haters. It’s just a fact of life unfortunately, we’re not meant to vibe with everyone and that’s okay. It’s okay if people don’t like you. There’s people out there who don’t like chocolate! Which proves that people just don’t all have the same tastes and interests. While it may hurt and be hard to accept sometimes, it’s impossible to please everyone or to be liked by everyone.
Just know that the way others view you has absolutely nothing to do with you. Maybe something about you triggers them to what’s unhealed within them, or it triggers them because they’re jealous, or you’re everything they’re not. Either way, like my girl Taylor says, “Haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake - shake it off.” We can’t spend so much time dwelling on those who dislike us.
In this chapter, while talking to Dumbledore, Hagrid learns that half the people still support him and said they’d be outraged if he was fired because they remembered how kind and amazing he was to them when they were at school, but Hagrid is still so focused on the ones who hate him and want him gone.
Let go of the haters and realize that those people are absolutely not worth your time, they are so not worth taking away a second of your happiness, and definitely not worth dimming your light. Yes, focus more on the ones who love you and like you, but above all the absolute only thing that matters is this question: Do you like you? Do you think you’re great? Do you love the person you’re being? If the answer is yes, then never ever change yourself. You’re doing just fine, keep being you regardless. The only opinion of you that ever matters is your own.
And if you don’t like who you’ve been, be gentle with yourself, and try to maybe find more ways to work on your self-development (like reading books or hiring a coach!) and get yourself to the kind, soul-centered, dedicated, ambitious person you want to be!
Hagrid also says his dad always told him: “Never be ashamed of who you are. There’s some who will hold it against you but they’re not worth bothering with.” TRUTH!
One of my favorite moments, too was from the first task, when Harry was worried about his firebolt (his broom) being too far away for him to summon with the Accio charm.
“That doesn’t matter as long as you’re focusing on it it’ll come!” He’s told.
This is literally manifesting! No matter how far away it seems, if you keep focusing on it, universal energy will move around to bring it to you!
No matter whether it’s a big thing you’re trying to manifest or a small thing, it’s the same process.
So, here's a new exercise I developed in light of that quote: think of what it is you’d love to manifest, get or make a wand and wave it and say “Accio (insert your dream),” and then imagine it coming zooming towards you! Get soooo excited, feel the power within, feel your innate strength, and know that so long as you keep focusing on it, it absolutely will be like you just cast a real magical spell, and it will 100% come to you!
My final takeaway, another standout to me, was in the end, after the peak drama, post Voldemort returning and Harry battling him, after they discover Moody is really Barty Crouch Jr, when Harry is solely with Dumbledore and Sirius, Dumbledore tells Harry he could use as spell to relieve him of his worries and put him to sleep, but temporarily numbing the pain only makes it worse later on when you start to feel it. You need to let it all out immediately.
Dumbeldore again proving he is the wisest character of the book.
At this, Harry begins to tell Dumbledore and Sirius everything that happened and notes to himself that when he started talking, it felt like expelling poison.
This is definitely one of the best lessons to learn in life. People try so hard to numb their pain (usually unfortunately with alcohol or intimate relations), but all it does is just bury it down deeper and make it so much worse. Talking it out, seeking help, working on healthy ways to process your emotions (like journaling or meditating or really just talking to a trusted friend) are soooo much better for your mental health, and really help you in the long run. I’m sure you’ve even felt at some point once you’ve been able to get something off your chest, you’ve felt so much better. It really is a form of magic, in itself.
Never try to numb your pain or to push it down; it may be hard, but like Dumbledore says it only gets worse if you let it steep. So, let it allllll out, don’t be afraid to dig deep and heal. It’ll definitely feel like expelling poison for sure!
Erica Haskett, House Hufflepuff
The Goblet of Fire was my favorite for a long time when I was younger, and after re-reading it I remember exactly why. The introduction to other schools of magic, the tri-wizard tournament with dragons and merpeople and all of the creatures in the maze, the yule ball–everything magical is just overall elevated in goblet of fire. It’s all taken to another level and is even more enchanting than ever before. The theme of the goblet of fire is one of my favorites as well–community. Even though the three school are competing with each other in the tri-wizard tournament, the theme of community over competition is evident all throughout the book. Goblet of Fire is all about making friends, learning about different cultures, accepting our differences and loving what sets us all apart–again, an incredibly powerful theme for a children’s book.
With this theme in mind, let’s dive into some life lessons!
The first thing aside from the theme of community over competition that stood out to me in GOF was when Hagrid was hiding out in his hut after news broke that he’s half-giant. Hagrid was ashamed and didn’t think that anyone would love or accept him now that they know what he is. Harry, Ron, and Hermione-specifically Hermione-had had enough of him hiding out and went banging on his door to tell him he was being thick and shouldn’t care what other people think and were greeted by Dumbledore in Hagrid’s hut. Dumbledore agreed with Hermione, and went on to say that “if you’re holding out for universal popularity, I’m afraid you’ll be in this cabin for a very long time”.
This whole passage really hyped me up honestly. Universal popularity does not exist, so trying to hide who you are or being afraid of other’s people’s opinions is so irrelevant!! BE YOU and the right people, the perfect people, will always find you and love you and accept you exactly who and as you are. Stop worrying about what others will think. You’re never going to please everyone and that should never be your goal for anything that you do. Ever. Be you. You are perfect exactly as you are!
And be as confident in yourself as Hagrid is that Harry’s going to win the tournament. That’s another thing that stood out to me. Hagrid never once doubted Harry, and wouldn’t let Harry doubt himself. Hagrid said repeatedly, “yer goin to win Harry, I can feel it. I know it.” He believed it so strongly that he could feel it and he knew it without a shadow of a doubt, and guess what? Harry won the tournament! Hagrid definitely manifested that through his unwavering belief, which is a good reminder to us all to really focus on what we desire. To feel it happening. To know it’s going to happen. And then sit back, relax, and watch it unfold, like a memory in a pensieve...
Which brings me to my final takeaway from Goblet of Fire-the pensieve. The pensieve is one of my favorite things in the wizarding world. I love the idea of being able to clear your mind of any and everything and come back to it later. It’s like meditation in a way. You clear your mind, empty it into the pensieve, then you can come back later and examine everything at a distance with much more clarity. Dumbledore says it helps him make connections he couldn’t otherwise have made, and I absolutely love that. I also love the description of it. How everything is shimmering in the light. Fragments of memories swirling around in different colors, everything illuminated. It’s just so captivating and intriguing to me. If I had a pensieve, I would store SO MANY THINGS in it hahaha, and can only imagine how useful it would be to me personally. But since I linked it to meditation, I just need to start thinking about meditation like a pensieve. Clear my mind of everything, give it all up to the universe, focus on different things for a bit, and then watch the rest unfold later on with a fresh perspective. Easy enough to do, right?
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