In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry returns for his fourth year at Hogwarts to find that the school is hosting the Triwizard Tournament, a competition between three wizarding schools. When Harry is unexpectedly chosen as a competitor, he must not only face the tournament's dangerous tasks, but also uncover who submitted his name as a competitor - and why. Ushering in the return of Lord Voldemort, this installment is a major turning point for the series, and also touches on themes of friendship, slavery, and coming of age.
Jeff Jensen, who interviewed Rowling for Entertainment Weekly in 2000, pointed out that bigotry is a big theme in the Harry Potter novels and Goblet of Fire in particular. He mentioned how Voldemort and his followers are prejudiced against Muggles and how in Goblet of Fire Hermione forms a group to liberate Hogwarts' house-elves who have "been indentured servants so long they lack desire for anything else". When asked why she explored this theme, Rowling replied,
Because bigotry is probably the thing I detest most. All forms of intolerance, the whole idea of that which is different from me is necessarily evil. I really like to explore the idea that difference is equal and good. But there's another idea that I like to explore, too. Oppressed groups are not, generally speaking, people who stand firmly together– no, sadly, they kind of subdivide among themselves and fight like hell. That's human nature, so that's what you see here. This world of wizards and witches, they're already ostracized, and then within themselves, they've formed a loathsome pecking order.
She also commented that she did not feel this was too "heavy" for children, as it was one of those things that "huge number of children at that age start to think about".
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