Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapters 11–18

by J.K. Rowling
In the fourth book of the Harry Potter series, the Triwizard Tournament brings foreign students — and unexpected dangers — to Hogwarts.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–18, Chapters 19–27, Chapters 28–37

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. wistfully
    in a pensively sad manner
    “Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year,” said Bill, hands in his pockets, looking almost wistfully at the train.
  2. formidable
    extremely impressive in strength or excellence
    Several of their friends looked in on them as the afternoon progressed, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, extremely forgetful boy who had been brought up by his formidable witch of a grandmother.
  3. crony
    a close friend or associate
    Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer.
  4. testy
    easily irritated or annoyed
    “Either explain what you’re on about or go away, Malfoy,” said Hermione testily, over the top of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4.
  5. reproachful
    expressing disapproval, blame, or disappointment
    “Ron!” said Hermione reproachfully, and she pulled out her wand, muttered “Reparo!” and the glass shards flew back into a single pane and back into the door.
  6. trundle
    move along on or as if on wheels or a wheeled vehicle
    Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale.
  7. bedraggled
    limp, untidy, and soiled
    "Well, move along, then!” said Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd.
  8. indifferent
    showing no care or concern in attitude or action
    Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome.
  9. impartial
    showing lack of favoritism
    An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money.
  10. hoodwink
    influence by slyness
    I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion.
  11. haughty
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    “I’ve decided there are better ways of making a stand about elf rights,” said Hermione haughtily.
  12. portent
    a sign of something about to happen
    The movements of the planets and the mysterious portents they reveal only to those who understand the steps of the celestial dance.
  13. baleful
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    “I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn,” said Professor Trelawney, a faint note of resentment in her voice at the fact that he had obviously not been hanging on her words.
  14. vindictive
    showing malicious ill will and a desire to hurt
    Professor Snape, who seemed to have attained new levels of vindictiveness over the summer, gave Neville detention, and Neville returned from it in a state of nervous collapse, having been made to disembowel a barrel full of horned toads.
  15. animosity
    a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility
    Snape had disliked all of their previous Dark Arts teachers, and shown it—but he seemed strangely wary of displaying overt animosity to Mad-Eye Moody.
  16. apprehensive
    in fear or dread of possible evil or harm
    Moody’s magical eye spun around to stare at Ron; Ron looked extremely apprehensive, but after a moment Moody smiled—the first time Harry had seen him do so.
  17. pensive
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    “I don’t know,” said Hermione, looking pensive.
  18. sardonic
    disdainfully or ironically humorous
    “Not going to have a very good month, are you?” she said sardonically as Crookshanks curled up in her lap.
  19. alleviate
    provide physical relief, as from pain
    He had been so sure that Sirius’s reply would alleviate his worries rather than increasing them.
  20. scathing
    marked by harshly abusive criticism
    “You only like him because he’s handsome,” said Ron scathingly.
  21. collude
    act in unison and in secret towards a deceitful purpose
    “Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts: A History mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!”
  22. trifle
    a small amount
    “Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?”
  23. imperiously
    in a manner showing arrogant superiority
    "Come,” said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.
  24. unctuous
    unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating
    Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin.
  25. smattering
    a small number or amount
    “—just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation”—there was a smattering of polite applause—“and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.”
  26. prowess
    a superior skill learned by study and practice
    There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways...their magical prowess—their daring—their powers of deduction—and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.
  27. wizened
    lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness
    He saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus mustache.
  28. nonplussed
    filled with bewilderment
    Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Harry and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said.
  29. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Harry, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles.
  30. vehemently
    in a forceful manner
    “Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?” said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring Snape.
    “No,’’ said Harry vehemently.
  31. disdainful
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    Harry could tell he was trying to sound disdainful, as though what Moody was saying was barely worth his notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled themselves into fists.
  32. bamboozle
    conceal one's true motives from
    It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament.
  33. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
    Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie.
  34. idle
    silly or trivial
    Yes, he’d thought about it...he’d fantasized about it...but it had been a joke, really, an idle sort of dream...he’d never really, seriously considered entering.
  35. exacerbate
    make worse
    It was plain that the Hufflepuffs felt that Harry had stolen their champion’s glory; a feeling exacerbated, perhaps, by the fact that Hufflepuff House very rarely got any glory, and that Cedric was one of the few who had ever given them any, having beaten Gryffindor once at Quidditch.
  36. sycophantic
    attempting to win favor by flattery
    Crabbe and Goyle guffawed sycophantically, but Malfoy had to stop there, because Hagrid emerged from the back of his cabin balancing a teetering tower of crates, each containing a very large Blast-Ended Skrewt.
  37. simper
    smile in an insincere, unnatural, or coy way
    “Wonder why that was,” said Harry darkly as Cedric Diggory walked past, surrounded by a large group of simpering girls, all of whom looked at Harry as though he were a particularly large Blast-Ended Skrewt.
  38. precariously
    in a manner affording no ease or reassurance
    “Come along, dear—that’s right—lovely,” said Rita Skeeter again, perching herself precariously upon an upturned bucket, pushing Harry down onto a cardboard box, and closing the door, throwing them into darkness.
  39. surreptitiously
    in a secretive manner
    He could see finger marks all over it. He gathered a fistful of robe from his knee and tried to rub it clean surreptitiously.
  40. brusquely
    in a blunt direct manner
    “You’ve had an owl,” said Ron brusquely the moment he walked in.
Created on Wed Aug 26 20:06:25 EDT 2015 (updated Tue Jul 19 13:53:15 EDT 2022)

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