Priori Incantatem
chapter thirty-four of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Voldemort gives Harry his wand, and duels him to kill – but Harry first shakes off his Imperius Curse, and then fights back and their wands connect. Shadows of Cedric, Frank Bryce, Bertha Jorkins, and Lily and James then come out of Voldemort’s wand, and protect Harry as he breaks the connection, grabs Cedric’s body, and escapes.
“You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?” said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness.
(by TBranch)
Harry stood up… he gripped his wand tightly in his hand, thrust it out in front of him, and threw himself around the headstone, facing Voldemort…. Expelliarmus!”
(by sharpfish)
He felt his feet lift from the ground. He and Voldemort were both being raised into the air, their wands still connected by that thread of shimmering golden light. They glided away from the tombstone….
(by Beeeb)
The… shadowy figures began to pace around the inner walls of the golden web, while the Death Eaters flitted around the outside of it… and Voldemort’s dead victims whispered as they circled the duelers, whispered words of encouragement to Harry, and hissed words Harry couldn’t hear to Voldemort….
(by Mudblood428)
Accio! Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the Triwizard Cup. It flew in the air and soared toward him. Harry caught it by the handle…. They were going back.
(by Beeeb)
about the chapter
Something You May Not Have Noticed
It’s incredibly interesting that the Triwizard Cup was a Portkey that not only brought Harry and Cedric to Little Hangleton, but was also programmed to go back to Hogwarts. This almost certainly isn’t typical of Portkeys, given the way we see them treated elsewhere (remember the Ministry officials throwing used Portkeys haphazardly into a box at the Quidditch World Cup?). So why on earth would this be the case?
It’s possible that the Cup was pre-programmed to be a Portkey from the middle of the maze back to the outside, and when the “faithful Death Eater” altered it, all he could do was create an intermediary step (he could add a destination, but not alter the existing one). But one other theory I’ve seen is that the Portkey would have been designed this way deliberately to take Voldemort back to Hogwarts, along with his Death Eaters, to start his new reign of terror. The idea would certainly be Voldemort’s type of scheme, and also makes sense – after all, Hogwarts probably has protective spells that prevent someone from creating a Portkey in, similar to how you can’t Apparate in. But since the Portkey was created from within the Hogwarts grounds, he was able to program it to come back.
It’s possible the wizarding world is very, very lucky that Harry was able to get away from Voldemort, for more reasons than they’ll ever know.
Oops
This was another chapter that was the subject of much debate in fandom for a while, as the original printing of Goblet of Fire accidentally described James coming out of Voldemort’s wand first, then followed by Lily. Of course, by all other accounts of their deaths, the order should have been the other way round, and Rowling confirmed as much on her website, saying “my American editor thought that was the wrong way around, and he is so good at catching small errors I changed it without thinking, then realised it had been right in the first place. We were all very sleep-deprived at the time.” The error was fixed for subsequent printings of the book.
The Final Word
(Interviewer:) There’s some other horrific violence, too, like when Wormtail cuts up Harry’s arm to get the blood to bring Voldemort back to life. Very disturbing.
(J.K. Rowling:) Yeah, that wasn’t good, I agree with you.
Have you ever thought, ‘Maybe I should tone it down’?
No. I know that sounds kind of brutal but no, I haven’t…. I don’t at all relish the idea of children in tears, and I absolutely don’t deny it’s frightening. But it’s supposed to be frightening! And if you don’t show how scary that is, you cannot show how incredibly brave Harry is. He’s really brave, and he does, I think, one of his bravest things in this book: He can’t save Cedric, but he wants to save Cedric’s parents additional pain. He wants to bring back the body and treat it with respect.
Saving Cedric’s body reminded me of the Hector Patroclus Achilles triangle in the Iliad.
That’s where it came from. That really, really, REALLY moved me when I read that when I was 19. The idea of the desecration of a body, a very ancient idea… I was thinking of that when Harry saved Cedric’s body.
And then you go and emotionally decimate your readers with that scene where Harry’s murdered parents are drawn out of Voldemort’s wand. I was in tears.
Me too. It was the first time I cried writing a Harry Potter book. I got pretty upset.
(September 2000)
I don’t think Voldemort would have traveled back to Hogwarts. Remember in Order of the Phoenix, Lupin and Sirius tell Harry that he spoiled the Rebirthing Party by surviving to bear witness to the newly reborn Voldemort. Voldemort was hoping to go unnoticed and begin his new reign of terror in secret.
Jim said this on September 28, 2009 at 6:15 am
I like the first theory about the cup being programmed to take the champion to the beginning of the maze (and making the cup a portkey would be a good way to make sure the first to touch it is the winner). Barty Jr just created an intermediate destination to the graveyard but ultimately the coup was meant to take the winner back to Hogwarts.
I agree with Jim in that Voldemort’s plan is to come back quietly as we are told in OotP. Harry was not supposed to survive and no one was supposed to be aware of the fact that he had returned.
I think this was the first time I actually cried reading Harry Potter. It was heart-breaking to see Cedric back, and Lily and James…
Lola said this on September 28, 2009 at 8:54 am
I can’t decide how I feel about the ‘Voldemort returning to Hogwarts’ theory. It wasn’t my idea (though the other one was, so I’m glad you both liked it better ;) ), and I’m torn. On the one hand, wanting to stay hidden fits with Voldemort’s actions over the ensuing couple of years (quiet, in the background, until he’s built up enough strength) and it’s possible he mentioned to Snape that his plan had gone awry, given Snape’s role as a spy for the Death Eaters – hence the Order’s knowledge of it. On the other hand, with the element of surprise on his side (and the lack of adults at the school), he could easily have killed Dumbledore and taken the school over. And the fact that the cup went back to Hogwarts at all is so strange, though obviously it needed to for the sake of the plot. So… I’m not sure. Any other thoughts?
John Kearns said this on September 28, 2009 at 11:39 am
My reaction to the idea that Voldemort was going to go to Hogwarts is that it doesn’t make sense because of Lupin saying that no one was supposed to find out that Voldemort returned.
I’m thinking it’s one of those things that is more about making the plot work and less about what makes sense. Voldemort wanted to stay in the background, but the portkey needed to go back to Hogwarts.
It’s kind of like with Yaxley. He was the Death Eater Harry used Petrificus Totalus on on the tower (as we learn when Harry, Ron, and Hermione infiltrate the Ministry), and, from Scrimgeour’s comments to Harry at the funeral, was apparently discovered by the Ministry. Yet, he was able to use his role in the Ministry to get information and place the Imperius curse on Thicknesse just a few weeks later. It doesn’t make sense that he would be discovered as a Death Eater and still working at the Ministry, but he needed to be so that’s how it is.
jay ferguson said this on September 28, 2009 at 12:06 pm
I guess I don’t 100% buy Lupin’s comment that Voldemort wanted to stay in the background as fact. It’s possible Snape told him that, of course, but it also sounds to me like it could just be an assumption that the Order made based on how the events took place.
And jay ferguson, as far as the “things that [are] more about making the plot work and less about what makes sense,” yes – there are plenty of those, to be sure. But I find it much more fun to try to find rational explanations for them, even if the explanations weren’t Rowling’s intent. :) Of course, occasionally we’ll have things like two Mondays in a row, but most of the time there’s at least SOMETHING that we can make sense of.
John Kearns said this on September 28, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I was thinking for some reason that you have to “deactivate” a portkey…I could swear I remember them doing something to the portkeys at the World Cup before tossing them aside, but maybe I just made that up to make sense of it.
I’ve always liked the idea of Voldemort’s plan being to wipe out Harry and then go back to Hogwarts to slaughter everyone at the tournament — a plan which of course didn’t work since Harry didn’t die. I’d say things didn’t go according to plan, but not necessarily for the reason Lupin provides.
fenshae said this on September 28, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Seeing that Voldemort had intended Harry to die, maybe the plan was using the portkey to transport Harry’s body back to Hogwarts?
I’m sure it would have caused much despair and horror to the spectators at Hogwarts,and eventually the wizarding world, to see The Boy Who Lived’s body dead and yet many of them would merely think that he died during the events of the third task?(Of course Dumbledore would have suspected otherwise more of less..)
Jason said this on September 29, 2009 at 4:37 am
Maybe the portkey was supposed to bring Harry’s corpse back to Hogwarts? After all, if Harry just disappeared without a trace, that would seem a whole lot more suspicious than if he had just died in the maze somehow. Of course, Dumbledore would have realized that something was wrong no matter what, but maybe Voldemort had planned how to make something or somebody else seem responsible for Harry’s death, so that he himself could stay in the background. Perhaps he would put the blame on the faithful servant? It’s not like he hadn’t framed someone else for murder and got away with it before…
Alex said this on September 29, 2009 at 4:40 am
fenshoe, I agree with you. In my head, you aso had to de-activate the portkey. Or maybe the portkeys at the World Cup were the exceptions, instead of the rule: What if they had put a special spell on those (since there are so many and people have put a lot of thought in the organisation) and the portkey to the graveyard just does what every portkey does….
I love the JK-quotes about this chapter :)
kim said this on September 29, 2009 at 5:07 am
Unrelated to anyone else’s thoughts, I love Beeeb’s first picture.
I really am confused about the Portkeys. ^.^
Mickey said this on September 29, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I don’t consider myself a gullible reader, but I remember first reading this chapter and thinking (very casually) to myself that “The next book is gonna have to be called Ron and Hermionie and the Something Something” because I was so sure that Harry wasn’t going to make it. Imagine my suprise. . .
MartinTenbones said this on October 1, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Regarding the intended use of the portkey to transport Harry’s body back to Hogwarts (re: Jason and Alex), that makes the most sense to me. It fits not only with Lupin’s belief that Voldemort wanted to lie low for a while, but also with Voldemort’s perpetual need to show his work. I can’t imagine Voldemort killing Harry and then keeping his death a secret. So, even if he didn’t plan to storm Hogwarts with the Death Eaters (and I have to think even the greatest Dark Wizard would want a little more time to recoup), the death of The Boy Who Lived would send a vanguard of fear through the wizarding world.
Inky Squirrel said this on October 3, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Another fascinating detail that’s overlooked here is that VOLDEMORT HAS HIS OWN WAND.
When you’ve been blasted into a bodyless /thing/, how can you take your wand with you? But clearly, this is the wand Ollivander sold young Tom Riddle, since it reacts to Harry’s in the way only Voldemort’s can.
But.
But.
Peter had two wands. When Sirius chased him down–he had another wand behind his back, the rat– did Peter stop by the ruins of the Potter house first? He certainly wasn’t hiding when Sirius checked on him. Did Peter see Voldemort’s dead body (how else would the wizarding world know he was ‘dead’?) and take his wand? Did Scabbers have Voldemort’s wand with him the entire time he was at Hogwarts?
Kinda makes this bit all the more lucky for Harry, right? If Peter hadn’t escaped Sirius and Ron in PoA, Voldemort would have acquired a new wand by this point, and instead of Priori Incantatem, we’d have Avada Kedavra Harry Potter.
Spider said this on October 4, 2009 at 9:20 am
Spider, Rowling has said that Wormtail went by and picked up Voldemort’s wand after the house was blasted apart. So your theory is correct – but your point about the Priori Incantatem is an interesting one.
John Kearns said this on October 5, 2009 at 8:10 am
Okay, here’s a theory…what if Voldemort wanted to kill Harry, turn him into an inferi and send him back to kill Dumbledore? You can control inferi, right?
Or maybe Voldemort wanted to send Harry back dead to freak everyone out.
Eliza said this on October 23, 2009 at 2:41 am
So there were two first times JRK cried while writing this book (once when Cedric was killed and now when Harry’s parents’ shadows come out of the wand)? ;-)
Spider, I was wondering about Voldemort having his own wand, too, but didn’t think it through as you did.
Avada Kedavra – Expelliarmus. Voldemort should really keep in mind that the outcome of this combination wasn’t what he had hoped for. ;-)
Kim said this on November 1, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Although I did like the idea of Voldemort planning on showing up at Hogwarts, the more I think about the portkey problem, the more I like the idea that fake Moody was only able to add an interim destination, but it was originally programmed to return to the outside of the maze. It fits in with the snitch being only touched by skin the first seeker who reaches it, i.e. the winner automatically appears and there’s no dispute.
Anna said this on March 3, 2010 at 6:19 pm
I always thought Lupin said Voldemort was staying low because Harry’s survival in the graveyard had thrown his original intentions askew. I don’t know that LV’s original intentions are ever mentioned in the books, but I always thought he was going to make his grand re-entrance at the tournament.
Chelsea said this on April 26, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Why didn’t Harry and Cedric take the portkey back as soon as they appeared in the graveyard? Even if they didn’t know it would take them back, I’m surprised they didn’t even think to try…
It seems likely to me that Voldemort planned to take the portkey back himself to Hogwarts – if he had been planning all along to keep quiet, it wouldn’t have worked anyway. Dumbledore would realize what had happened and tell everyone anyway.
Will said this on May 29, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Also, why did the Priori Incantatum only reveal the murders? We know this effect works on all spells cast by the wand. From the time Voldemort killed James, was it really not used for ANYTHING but murder? What about when he tried to kill Harry? And why didn’t Wormtail use it at all? I know he has his own wand, but if he uses it regularly, why did he use Voldemort’s wand to kill Bertha and Cedric?
Will said this on May 29, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Will: I got the impression that Harry and Cedric thought the graveyard was a part of the last assignment, that there was a last challenge there (maybe because there were two of them and it wasn’t supposed to be a draw) they needed to do in order to win. That’s why they didn’t immideatly think of turning back :)
Amanda said this on June 16, 2010 at 9:20 am