I’ve started my journey into Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. After not getting a lot of reading in over the summer, it’s nice to get my nose back in a book, even if some think it will steal my soul. The Goblet of Fire probably won’t produce a tremendous amount of spiritual growth in my life, but so far it has been entertaining.
Here are some thoughts from the first eight chapters of The Goblet of Fire.
Different
One of my biggest complaints about the first three books in the Harry Potter series was that they all pretty much began the same way. Harry didn’t like living with the Dursleys. Some sort of magic mishap happened at the Dursleys. Then Harry went to Hogwarts. The Goblet of Fire begins differently, though. It starts with Voldemort and then moves Harry out of the Dursleys and into the Quidditch World Cup. It was fun to see the wider wizarding world beyond Hogwarts and it was nice to have a change. Sometimes change is good in other areas of our lives as well. If we find ourselves in a spiritual rut then maybe it’s time to make a change in our disciplines or how we interact with God.
Engaging
One of my favorite parts about these first few chapters was seeing how all the wizards and witches interacted with the Muggle world. The wizards did their best to engage and interact with the Muggle world but they were very inept. Men were wearing dresses, kilts were worn with galoshes and Mr. Weasley didn’t know how to use Muggle money. The wizards didn’t make a strong effort to understand the Muggle world, which hurt their ability to interact with it. Sometimes Christians have the same problem when interacting with the secular world. As Christians we can get so scared of the secular world that we think if we even think about evolution or listen to a Lady Gaga song, we’ll lose our salvation. We need to be willing to understand secular culture to have any hope of redeeming it.
Percy
Poor Percy. He graduated from Hogwarts as one of the most important students and now he’s back to getting mocked by his brothers and having his name forgotten by his idol. Percy seems like a perfect fit for his position in the Ministry of Magic, a position that he deems more important than it actually is. Percy seems to have this attitude because he is very concerned with what others think about him. He wants to be seen as important so he carries himself as important even though it makes him look a little silly. We should want those closest to us to think the best of us, but that shouldn’t push us to pride and arrogance. We shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously because, in the end, we’re all just sinners saved by grace.
I’m excited to see what happens next and what plans Voldemort has for the Quidditch World Cup. I’m glad to be reading Harry Potter again and I’m really looking forward to the story unfolding and learning what exactly the goblet of fire is.
What thoughts do you have from the first eight chapters of The Goblet of Fire?
Just watch the movies it’s easier!