Due to the life-threatening risks inherent in the Triwizard competition, Barty Crouch, the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, decrees that no student under the age of 17 may enter – precluding 14 year old Harry and his friends from participating. But when the magical Goblet of Fire selects one champion from each of the three wizarding schools to compete in the Tournament, it stuns everyone by naming a fourth: Harry Potter
Despite Harry’s protests, the Goblet’s decision is binding, and he has no choice but to compete in the grueling Tournament against older students with far superior wizarding skills
“What I really like about Harry is that he’s not a hero in the classic sense, a brave all-conquering Superman,” says Daniel Radcliffe, who watched thrillers like North by Northwest at Newell’s suggestion in preparation for filming. “Harry’s vulnerable. He’s scared. Even though he’s helped so many people, I think he’s always yearned to leave his past behind him and let the ‘hero’ thing end. But when his name comes out of the Goblet, he’s instantly back in the limelight again. Not only does he have to cope with criticism from everyone, he also knows he didn’t put his name in the Goblet – so someone else must have.”
When Harry turns to his trusted mentor for guidance and protection, he is surprised to discover that Dumbledore himself is struggling to uncover the meaning of these mysterious events. “Harry’s world is completely shaken,” says Radcliffe. “For the first time, Harry sees Dumbledore as an old man who is no longer at the height of his abilities, and it’s very unsettling. Something or someone has infiltrated Hogwarts and is trying to get to him, but Dumbledore doesn’t know what it is, where it’s coming from or how to stop it.”
“Dumbledore is no longer in control and he’s frightened,” says Michael Gambon, who reprises his role as the highly respected Headmaster in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. “He carries tremendous weight on his shoulders, ensuring the safety and well-being of the students, and when evil penetrates Hogwarts, he doesn’t know how to deal with it.”
Suspecting that whoever put Harry’s name in the Goblet didn’t intend for him to win the Tournament, Dumbledore asks Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody, Hogwarts’ eccentric new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, to keep his highly perceptive eye trained on the teenage wizard until they discover the true meaning of these ominous events.
Moody is a legendary Auror, or dark wizard catcher, credited with filling half the cells at Azkaban prison with Voldemort’s followers. But years of fighting evil on the front lines have taken their toll. Battle scarred and verging on paranoid, Moody relies on his magical, all-seeing blue eye to help him thwart the evil he sees lurking in every shadow.
“Moody is a gunslinger with a wand,” says Brendan Gleeson, the versatile actor known for his powerful performances in films such as Braveheart, Cold Mountain, Troy and The Gangs of New York. “He’s someone who has chased the demons away from goodness to the extent that he’s gotten quite warped by it. One of the things Mike Newell suggested when we first discussed the character was that Moody’s great wounds have damaged him greatly. It’s a very interesting arc to play with this character, who comes into Hogwarts as death warmed over and grows into someone the kids learn to trust.”
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