In the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie, the filmmakers were tasked with adapting a novel of over 600 pages into a mere two and a half hour movie. It may sound like a long time, but considering the sheer amount of source material, it's a daunting task to fit all the plot and details into a compact movie while maintaining a good pace. While they got the main story of the Triwizard Tournament across nicely, there are definitely both major and minor plot points that are noticeably missing from page to screen.
Here are nine things from the Triwizard Tournament missing from the Harry Potter Movies
1. Leaving The Arena During the First Task
In a blockbuster movie such as the fourth installment in the groundbreaking Harry Potter film franchise, there needs to be a fair bit of action to keep moviegoers young and old on the edge of their seats. The first task in the book showcases Harry’s fight against the Hungarian Horntail as being confined to the arena he starts the battle in, where he beat the beast with nothing but his flying skills and his wand. In the film however, this becomes a huge action sequence, sprawling all throughout the Hogwarts grounds, and eventually ending with what looks to be the dragons demise, as he sinks down to Earth with a whimper never to be seen again after his tussle with Harry.
2. No Charlie Weasley
Due to time constraints, mainly subplots and side characters had to be cut from the movies. One victim of these cuts is Charlie Weasley, the second eldest Weasley brother who is known for his fondness for dragons.
He originally appears in the forest where the dragons are kept, and later congratulates Harry on his performance in the first task, but unfortunately he remains absent here and throughout the entire film series.
3. Absence of Dobby
One of the biggest subplots in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book focused on the various developments of the House-Elves. However, one of the biggest omissions of all the films is the eradication of Winky, SPEW, and most other House-Elf developments outside of Dobby’s appearance in Chamber of Secrets and Deathly Hallows Part 1. So instead of Dobby helping Harry with the second task and providing him with the gillyweed he needed, he was substituted for Neville.
4. Ludo Bagman Is Written Out
One of, if not the biggest character of all from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book to be left out of the movie is the character of Ludo Bagman, who has somewhat of a recurring role throughout the book. He appears throughout the Quidditch World Cup and pensieve scenes, and is notably cut from judging the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. While he doesn’t contribute much to the story in a stripped down version such as the movies telling of events, book fans definitely felt his absence.
5. Percy Weasley Is Omitted
In an example of yet another Weasley family omission, Percy Weasley remains curiously absent in this film. In the books, he is shown to have gotten a job at the Ministry of Magic after his graduation from Hogwarts, and even represents them as a judge for the second task. However, here he is simply replaced with Barty Crouch Sr.
6. No Mention of the Triwizard Tournament's History
The Harry Potter books and other media detail a rich history of the Triwizard Tournament spanning back through the 1700’s with detailed lore about the old days of the Tournament and all the hijinx that ensued. Due to the high rate of injuries and casualties, the Tournaments were ended, but eventually brought back as we see here. But in the film, we get just enough of an explanation to justify why it’s showing up randomly in the fourth film in the series, and then the origins of the Triwizard Tournament are forgotten without the slightest afterthought.
7. No Prize Money For The Winner
In the books, a reward of one thousand galleons is offered to the winner of the tournament. As Harry is left the only surviving winner, he is given the money, but as he is already quite rich in wizard money due to the large inheritance left to him by his deceased parents and his lack of means to spend it, he then later bestows it upon Fred and George so they may start their joke shop that appears later in the series, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.
However, in the movies, the only reward that was ever touched on is “eternal glory” and the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes shop later shows up in the series in the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince film with no explanation as to how Fred and George possibly started a business this huge.
8. Barty Crouch Sr.'s Death
With many characters in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book having their roles either cut or reduced in the film, one character that got a little more to do was Barty Crouch Sr. As in the film it was depicted through hints and foreshadowing that Mad Eye Moody was Barty Crouch Jr. all along, there was not a lot of mystery surrounding Barty Crouch Sr.’s death. While in the books, the body was transfigured into a mere bone and buried to cover up his death, in the film his body is left in the open for Harry and his friends to discover shortly after the second task.
9. The Maze Holds Different Obstacles
The film series cut many of the wide variety of magical creatures out of the various films, especially considering big removals of Hagrid’s storyline, such as the entire character of Professor Grubbly-Plank, The absences of these different magical creatures especially applies to the depiction of the third task. While the obstacles in the books are mainly portrayed as magical creatures such as the blast-ended skrewts or the magical sphinx, the film simplifies it down to no more than an enchantment placed on the hedges that the maze is built out of.