Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire - Development

Development

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the Harry Potter series. The first, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was published by Bloomsbury on 26 June 1997; the second, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published on 2 July 1998; and the third, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, followed on 8 July 1999. Goblet of Fire is considerably longer than the first three; almost twice the size. Rowling stated that she "knew from the beginning it would be the biggest of the first four". She said there needed to be a "proper run-up" for the conclusion and rushing the "complex plot" could confuse readers. She also stated that "everything is on a bigger scale" which was symbolic, as Harry's horizons widened both literally and metaphorically as he grew up. She also wanted to explore more of the magical world.

Until the official title's announcement on 27 June 2000, the book was called by its working title, Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament. J. K. Rowling expressed her indecision about the title in an Entertainment Weekly interview. "I changed my mind twice on what was. The working title had got out — Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament. Then I changed Doomspell to Triwizard Tournament. Then I was teetering between Goblet of Fire and Triwizard Tournament. In the end, I preferred Goblet of Fire because it's got that kind of cup of destiny feel about it, which is the theme of the book."

Rowling mentioned that she originally had a Weasley relative named Malfalda, who, according to Rowling, "was the daughter of the 'second cousin who's a stockbroker' mentioned in Philosopher's Stone. This stockbroker had been very rude to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in the past, but now he and his (Muggle) wife had inconveniently produced a witch, they came back to the Weasleys asking for their help in introducing her to wizarding society before she starts at Hogwarts". Malfalda was supposed to be a Slytherin and who was to fill in the Rita Skeeter subplot, but eventually was removed as "there were obvious limitations to what an eleven year old closeted at school could discover". Rowling considered Rita Skeeter to be "much more flexible". Rowling also admitted that the fourth book was the most difficult to write at the time, because she noticed a giant plot hole halfway through writing. In particular, Rowling had trouble with the ninth chapter, "The Dark Mark", which she rewrote 13 times.