Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Chapter 37 Summary

The Beginning

• In the weeks after the Triwizard Tournament, the worst thing that happens to Harry is his meeting with the Diggorys.
• Amos Diggory is so sad that he can't stop crying.
• Mrs. Diggory's grief "seemed to be beyond tears" (37.2).
• She thanks Harry for bringing back Cedric's body.
• Harry asks if she will accept the thousand Galleons in prize money he received from Fudge.
• She won't.
• During this horrible time, Harry, Ron, and Hermione hang out quietly together.
• Mrs. Weasley asks Professor Dumbledore if Harry can spend the summer in the Burrow.
• Professor Dumbledore insists that Harry must spend at least some time with his aunt and uncle.
• So that sucks.
• Harry goes to visit Hagrid.
• Hagrid mentions that he has "a little job" (37.32) to do over the summer, and Madame Maxine might be coming. Ooh la la.
• But Hagrid won't say what the job is.
• Harry packs up his belongings to go back to Privet Drive.
• But first, there's the Leaving Feast.
• The banners on the wall are all black, out of respect for Cedric.
• Professor Dumbledore addresses the students.
• He gives a toast for Cedric, who was "a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, [and] he valued fair play" (37.47).
• Then, Professor Dumbledore tells the students that Cedric was murdered by Lord Voldemort.
• Even though the Ministry of Magic is denying Voldemort's involvement, that's what happened.
• Professor Dumbledore instructs them, "Remember Cedric. Remember [...] what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort" (37.61).
• Fleur Delacour makes a point of seeking out Harry to say that she is glad that she met him.
• And Viktor Krum grabs a last word with Hermione before he goes home.
• Ron caves and asks Viktor for his autograph.
• On the train back to London, Hermione finally gets to tell Harry and Ron how she has shut up Rita Skeeter.
• After Harry's little hint about Rita Skeeter "bugging" conversations, Hermione figured out that Rita Skeeter is an unlicensed Animagus.
• This means that she can transform into an animal, an activity that's (usually) strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic.
• But Rita Skeeter has (literally) been flying under the radar.
• Rita Skeeter transforms into a beetle, a really handy form if you want to overhear conversations unobserved.
• And the day when Harry was lying in the hospital wing, Hermione managed to catch the beetle and put it in an unbreakable jar.
• Hermione has promised not to tell the Ministry about Rita Skeeter's unlicensed animal form only if Rita Skeeter will take a break from writing things about people for a whole year.
• Malfoy comes into the trio's train compartment, backed by Crabbe and Goyle.
• He threatens Harry: "You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you!" (37.117).
• But as he's shouting, Harry, Ron, and Hermione curse Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
• It turns out that Fred and George were in the train hallway, and they add their own curses.
• So Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle are lying unconscious on the train floor. Whoops.
• Fred observes that Crabbe "seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face" (37.123) thanks to all the curses. (Yech.)
• Finally, finally, the twins explain what they've been so mysterious about during the year.
• It turns out that Ludo Bagman never paid up on the bet he made with the twins during the Quidditch World Cup.
• What's more, he wouldn't even return the money the twins originally bet.
• And then Fred and George found out that Lee Jordan's father had also been having trouble getting money Bagman owed him.
• It turns out that Ludo Bagman got in way over his head into debt with the goblins (who run Gringotts Bank).
• To try and win back enough gold to pay the goblins and everybody else, Ludo Bagman bet all of his remaining money on Harry to win the Triwizard Tournament.
• But Harry didn't win outright; he tied.
• So Ludo Bagman lost the bet, and now he has fled the country.
• As they get off the train, Harry pulls Fred and George aside.
• He insists on giving them the thousand Galleons to start their joke shop.
• He only has one condition: "Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you" (37.169).
• Fred and George agree.
• At the train station, Uncle Vernon is waiting to take Harry away.
• Mrs. Weasley hugs him and promises, "I think Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the summer" (37.171).
• And Harry decides: "what would come, would come ... and he would have to meet it when it [does]" (37.176).