Just as old Barty Crouch was being verbally cornered by Hermione Granger and left with no way to save face, Amos Diggory, the father of Hogwarts heartthrob Cedric Diggory, discovered Winky in the nearby woods.
Next, a shouting match broke out over who was the real culprit behind casting the Dark Mark.
Since Winky was a house-elf belonging to the Crouch family, her appearance at the scene meant that old Barty could hardly be uninvolved. Not to mention that his son was a well-known Death Eater.
Winky's appearance also made old Barty realize that the Dark Mark just cast could only have been his own dear son's doing. So he desperately tried to defend himself, insisting that a house-elf couldn't cast a wizard's symbol unless they had a wand.
And then—
Harry Potter's wand appeared in Winky's hand.
Mr. Diggory used the Revealing Charm to prove that Harry Potter's wand was indeed the one that had cast the Dark Mark. On that basis, he concluded that Winky, who was holding Harry's wand, was the culprit and attempted to seize her on the spot.
And then—
Old Barty's face twisted as he spoke coldly:
"Amos, don't you think you're acting rather strangely today?
You say Winky is the culprit? Then may I ask whether you're implying to everyone here that I taught my servant how to cast the Dark Mark?"
As soon as those words were spoken, Mr. Diggory froze.
Old Barty raised his voice and roared:
"But I—I am one of the two people on this clearing who are absolutely least likely to have conjured that mark! About that matter!! Everyone in the Ministry knows it!!!"
Yes.
Back then.
Old Barty had personally sent his own son to Azkaban, sacrificing family for justice.
And this wasn't just something known to the entire Ministry of Magic. The whole world knew.
Because among the witnesses was even Dumbledore.
So Mr. Diggory suspecting him of casting the Dark Mark—
How was that any different from old Barty suspecting Harry Potter of doing it?
At least before the truth of Barty Crouch Jr.'s escape came out, such suspicions simply didn't hold water.
Thus, the scene once again fell into awkward silence.
At this point, the good-natured Mr. Weasley stepped in to smooth things over.
He suggested that everyone continue searching the surrounding area, in case any clues turned up.
That gave old Barty an out. He waved his hand and led his people off to search nearby.
As he left, the image on the screen abruptly cut. The next second, accompanied by a brief "woo woo woo" sound, the Hogwarts Express flashed by. The new school year had begun, and everyone boarded the train back to school.
Now, this is where some cuts come in.
In the original novel, after old Barty and Mr. Diggory finished tearing into each other, Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley family didn't immediately return to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Instead, there was a scene at the Quidditch World Cup campsite where they discussed the Dark Mark, the Death Eaters, and Winky's situation.
But all of that—
Was cut.
The reason was still the same: not enough runtime.
In Rowling's writing, old Barty's loathing of Winky leads into the issue of house-elf treatment, an allegory for the cruelty of real-world slavery. That's not something you can flesh out in just two or three shots.
So without a TV series, S.P.E.W., the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, simply couldn't be filmed.
As for the former—
All the discussion about the Dark Mark and the Death Eaters was moved by the director onto the journey back to school.
On the train.
After reading the Daily Prophet's report on the previous night's incident, Ron and Harry locked the compartment door and asked Hermione what the Dark Mark and Death Eaters actually were.
Hermione's know-it-all mode instantly activated. She pulled out The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and explained that the Dark Mark was a special symbol associated with "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," while Death Eaters were the term used for his followers.
That explanation immediately turned Ron and Harry into curious kids.
Ron frowned and said, "If Death Eaters are the Dark Lord's followers, then why would they run away when they saw his mark? Shouldn't they be excited? Or—does that mean last night's events were led by them?"
Harry nodded. "Yes. Last night, after the Dark Mark appeared, those Death Eaters all fled. They were even more afraid of that mark, afraid of Voldemort, than ordinary wizards. That—"
"Oh! Harry! Don't say that name!"
Before Harry could finish, Ron nervously interrupted.
Harry shrugged apologetically.
Hermione didn't mind. She brushed back her messy hair and said, "That's actually easy to explain—
"Last night, there were probably two groups of Death Eaters. The first group were the ones causing the chaos. The second group were the ones who cast the Dark Mark. The second group were true loyalists of the Dark Lord. As for the first group—"
"Hard to say."
Hermione pursed her lips and continued carefully, "According to the book, after the Dark Lord lost power back then, many Death Eaters did everything they could to avoid being thrown into Azkaban by the Ministry.
"They made up countless lies, claiming they only joined the Death Eaters because they were threatened or abused by him. So after they publicly denounced him, they would naturally be even more afraid of his return than ordinary wizards.
"And now that he's back—
"Isn't it perfectly normal for those who fear retaliation to choose to run away?"
"Oh—Hermione—I think I get what you mean now."
Ron's eyes lit up, his face full of admiration.
But the next second, his brows knitted together again. "But if that's the case, then what was the first group's goal in causing chaos? And what was the second group's intention in casting the Mark? Did they think they'd spotted allies and wanted to regroup? Or did they find the turncoats disgusting and want to scare them off?"
"That, I don't know, because I'm not omniscient," Hermione said with a shrug.
She couldn't answer Ron's question.
But that didn't matter.
Because after Hermione once again demonstrated her brilliance, Harry decided to share his secret with them.
"Hermione, Ron, there's something I haven't told you.
"Actually, the night before we arrived at Ron's house, I had a dream—"
The dream involving the noseless monster left Ron pale with shock and made Hermione frown repeatedly.
When they learned that Harry's scar had already hurt before the disaster even happened, Ron immediately went into full panic mode, shouting "No no no no," while Hermione started flipping through books, trying to find a solution.
Their reactions matched exactly what Harry had expected, leaving him both relieved and saddened.
Relieved because he understood his two friends so well.
Saddened because even someone as capable as Hermione Granger couldn't offer a way forward.
Since Ron and Hermione couldn't solve his problem, Harry chose to put them at ease. He changed the subject and said that he had already written to Sirius, who should be able to help him figure things out. That immediately relaxed both of them.
The next second—
The scene cut.
The train arrived.
The new school year at Hogwarts officially began.
In Isabella's previous life, the opening scenes of the Goblet of Fire film were very different from the original novel.
In the movie, after getting off the train, Harry, Hermione, and Ron immediately saw Beauxbatons' and Durmstrang's modes of transportation. Essentially flying carriages and something like the Flying Dutchman. Then Dumbledore announced at the opening feast that the Quidditch Cup was canceled this year because Hogwarts would host the Triwizard Tournament. After that, students from the two schools appeared, and old Barty from the Ministry came on stage to announce that, for safety reasons, students under seventeen were not allowed to enter the tournament.
In the novel, however, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang didn't arrive at Hogwarts until October, and old Barty didn't appear at the opening feast. It was Dumbledore who announced the age restriction.
This kind of accelerated change is understandable. Same old issue: limited movie runtime.
But when the narrative runtime of Goblet of Fire in Isabella's current life doubled—
A more novel-faithful rhythm emerged.
At the opening feast, Dumbledore announced that there would be no Quidditch this year, only the Triwizard Tournament. His words sparked cheers throughout the hall, as everyone eagerly anticipated the competition. Hermione, however, was confused because she had never heard of it, so Ron explained what the Triwizard Tournament was.
A few brief shots covered the tournament's history.
Then Dumbledore announced the age restriction: wizards under seventeen could not participate.
The moment those words were spoken, the Great Hall erupted in fierce protest.
At that instant, a massive crack of thunder rang out, and the doors of the Great Hall were smashed open from the outside.
The strongest Auror in history, the man who filled half of Azkaban's cells, Mad-Eye Moody, made his entrance.
Of course, he wasn't the real Moody, but Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise.
After all, Voldemort was targeting Harry Potter.
Moody's sudden intrusion drew all the students' attention, allowing Dumbledore to introduce him in turn.
When the students learned that the one-eyed Moody was their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, everyone felt that the new school year was going to be rough. He looked terrifying.
And in reality—
It was.
Scene change.
The first class of the new term appeared.
Mad-Eye Moody, played by Barty Jr., introduced the three Unforgivable Curses in his very first lesson.
And he didn't teach theory.
He demonstrated them in practice.
Right in front of the students, Moody cast the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Killing Curse on a test spider.
Everyone was horrified by his madness.
But in the eyes of the audience watching the screen—
"This Moody is acted incredibly well."
"That sense of insanity practically spills out of the screen."
"Even though this isn't the real Moody but Barty Jr. in disguise—still, you have to admit that only Death Eaters make the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, because only they'll use the Unforgivable Curses without hesitation!"
Although the audience thought the portrayal of Moody was a great success, Chris Columbus's presentation didn't stop there.
After the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, the camera shifted to mealtime.
Everyone was busy complaining about how brutal Moody was and almost missed their next class.
After the students attended Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination classes—once again skimmed through with montage-style shots, just like previous films—Draco Malfoy made his appearance.
Holding a copy of the Daily Prophet, he loudly read an article written by Rita Skeeter that twisted Mr. Weasley's image, mocking Ron's parents. Harry couldn't stand it and stood up for Ron.
Draco Malfoy was left speechless by Harry's retort and pulled out his wand, ready to attack. At that moment, Mad-Eye Moody suddenly appeared, transformed Malfoy into a ferret, and waved his wand to make him bounce endlessly.
Barty Jr.'s reasons for being displeased with Malfoy were simple.
First, Barty Jr. was the truly loyal Death Eater.
Although his loyalty was tied to his father, like Voldemort, Barty Jr.'s descent into darkness was also caused by his father. He felt his father was obsessed with power and didn't love him at all. So when he learned that Voldemort had suffered a similar upbringing and had even killed his own father, he became Voldemort's most devoted fan.
Why do so many Western stories love patricide?
Another fascinating villain in fiction, Arthas, was also a devoted son in his own way.
But that's not important.
What mattered was that Barty Jr. despised the Malfoy family for washing their hands clean and rehabilitating themselves after Voldemort's disappearance.
So punishing Malfoy was, to Barty Jr., politically correct in the purest sense.
Second, he had a mission at the time.
A mission issued by Voldemort himself.
The punishment of Malfoy by Barty-as-Moody thrilled Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
So much so that on the way back to their dormitory, the three of them had already expressed their admiration for Moody through their conversation.
And they proved it with action as well. That very night, Harry received a reply from Sirius.
Upon learning that Harry's scar had suddenly begun to hurt again, Sirius grew extremely anxious and wanted to return at once.
He really is a good godfather. Not portraying this properly in Prisoner of Azkaban was honestly a waste.
But at the moment, he was still a fugitive.
So, to make sure his godfather wouldn't be captured by the Ministry of Magic, Harry, following Hermione's suggestion, wrote a reply to Sirius saying that his scar no longer hurt and that the earlier pain was probably just psychological.
At the same time, he told him that Hogwarts was extremely safe right now, because the famous Mad-Eye Moody of the wizarding world was stationed at the school.
"Oh—Harry's falling straight into Barty Jr.'s trap now."
The audience understood what was happening.
"But this part doesn't seem quite the same as in the book…"
Quite a few people murmured to themselves.
In the novel, Harry did write back to Sirius and told him not to rush back.
But he didn't mention Moody.
Because at that point, he merely had a good impression of Moody. He didn't trust him the way he trusted Sirius.
In the movie, however, Chris Columbus deliberately strengthened this sense of "trust."
As for why?
Simple.
First, it was to accommodate casual viewers and make the plot easier to understand.
Second, because the movie was about to end—
Hedwig carried Harry's letter to Sirius and flew out of Hogwarts;
At the same time, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived, riding the wind and waves;
Old Barty, who had previously given Harry and Hermione trouble, and Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, also appeared together;
Dumbledore summoned the Goblet of Fire and, while explaining how to enter, personally drew an Age Line around it;
Even though the headmaster repeatedly emphasized the seventeen-year age limit, it still couldn't dampen the students' enthusiasm. That very night, the Weasley twins, brimming with mischievous ideas, announced that they had already thought of a way to break through the restriction;
Ron was extremely curious and wanted to know what crazy scheme his brothers had come up with this time;
Harry guessed that maybe they would sneak in at midnight to enter their names;
Ron thought that sounded reasonable, but unfortunately, Harry was wrong;
The next day, right in front of everyone, the twins drank an Aging Potion and jumped into the boundary Dumbledore had drawn;
And then—
They instantly turned into "Christmas Twins."
Their ridiculous appearance sent the whole theater into laughter.
Then the scene shifted, and the announcement of the champions appeared.
Everyone gathered in the Great Hall. The flames of the Goblet of Fire turned from blue to red and spat out the chosen names:
"The champion of Durmstrang is—Viktor Krum!"
"—!"
"The champion of Beauxbatons is—Fleur Delacour!"
"The champion of Hogwarts is—Cedric Diggory!"
"Go, Diggory!"
Each time Dumbledore called out a name, thunderous applause erupted throughout the vast hall.
Just as Dumbledore was about to proceed with the ceremony, declare the selection complete, and introduce the Triwizard Cup, the Goblet of Fire turned red again and spat out a fourth name—
"Harry Potter!!"
The moment that name appeared, the Great Hall exploded into uproar.
Even though "three champions, four people" was common knowledge, no one could believe what they had just heard.
Dumbledore practically overheated, turned into a berserker, and roared Harry Potter's name over and over again. After Hermione shoved Harry forward to respond, Dumbledore even charged at him and slammed him aside, shouting:
"You! Did you!! Cheat???"
Ahem.
Alright, the last three paragraphs were nonsense.
When the Goblet spat out the fourth slip of paper, Dumbledore was surprised, but he didn't lose his composure.
He simply widened his eyes and calmly called out Harry Potter's name.
Then the camera instantly cut to Harry.
Chris Columbus gave him an extremely long close-up, with a slow pull-out shot.
During this—
Harry looked utterly incredulous!
Ron was completely dumbfounded!!
Hermione's brows were tightly furrowed!!!
Everyone present couldn't believe what was happening!!!!!
And then—
"Bang."
The screen went black.
The movie ended.
The moment Hedwig's Theme began to play, wails filled the theater—
"That's it??? It's over already???"
"Oh—how can you cut it like this—the main story hasn't even started yet!"
"I know the Quidditch World Cup is important, but—Goblet of Fire is about the Goblet of Fire!"
"So is Goblet of Fire (Part One) just digging a bunch of holes? Showing how the villains gathered and set everything up? Sure, Rowling wrote it that way, but—this is way too faithful, isn't it???"
"I just want to know when Goblet of Fire (Part Two) comes out??? Don't tell me we have to wait until next year???"
Under normal circumstances, no matter the quality of a movie, once a premiere screening ends, endless applause follows. Courtesy, after all.
But at today's premiere of Goblet of Fire (Part One), the ending triggered cries of regret instead. It took a full four or five seconds before enthusiastic applause finally broke out.
In other situations, would that pause have satisfied the creators?
No one knew.
But at this moment, the reaction made the Harry Potter creative team breathe a long sigh of relief.
Because the design of Goblet of Fire (Part One and Two) did indeed cut a complete story in half.
Therefore—
Only if the audience felt intense frustration after watching the movie;
Only if the audience desperately wanted to know what happened next;
Could it prove that Part One had succeeded.
And so—
When everyone went on stage for interviews as scheduled, every face was glowing.
So much so that many people were reluctant to put down the microphone while answering questions.
Of course, this didn't apply to Isabella.
Winning big the moment she woke up was something she'd experienced far too many times.
Cough.
Alright, that was bragging.
Sitting on stage, Isabella still instinctively smiled happily when praised, especially when Chris Columbus and David Heyman told everyone present that Goblet of Fire being split into two films was entirely thanks to her—
"Uh—Chris, David, I know you're bringing up the split as a kindness right now," Isabella said, brushing her hair back.
"If Goblet of Fire (Part One) has a great box office, then revealing the split today will earn me endless praise, but—
"What if something goes wrong?
"Wouldn't I become the biggest sinner then?
"So please, everyone here, help me keep this a secret. Wait until Part One explodes at the box office before saying the split was all thanks to me. And if Part One doesn't perform amazingly—
"Then just pretend we never talked about the split today."
"Okay?"
Isabella made a playful questioning gesture toward the crowd.
Laughter erupted.
Her prideful, stubborn refusal to lose face had everyone cracking up.
Even though everyone knew she was joking, the next lucky audience member to get a question still aimed their curiosity straight at her:
"So—Isabella—what's your box office expectation for Goblet of Fire (Part One)?
"How much do you think it can make?"
It was a very sensitive question.
But Isabella didn't mind.
Because to her, the answer was simple—
"One month ago, the sixth Harry Potter book, Half-Blood Prince, was officially released.
"It sold ten million copies on its first day.
"When the paperback novel sells for £19.99, I think the Harry Potter film's first-day global box office could even reach £200 million, because there are more than enough people in this world who love this story.
"Who love this magical world."
Her words sparked screams and applause throughout the premiere hall.
Every face was filled with cheering smiles.
In other contexts, or with other projects, Isabella's prediction would have sounded outrageous.
At current exchange rates, £200 million was about $340 million.
A movie making $340 million on its first day?
Honestly!
That was even more absurd than Titanic eventually breaking $1.8 billion!
But applied to Harry Potter?
There was nothing wrong with it at all.
Same old truth—
Harry Potter's physical sales numbers were a one-sided massacre in any industry.
Even the most fan-driven pop superstars didn't have one-tenth of Harry Potter's fanbase.
An album priced at $9.99 might sell just over a million copies on its best day.
But Harry Potter?
Every time J.K. Rowling released a new book, the publishing industry, supposedly being killed by the internet, would turn around and beat the new world senseless.
It was ridiculous.
Still, even if everyone present felt Isabella's words made perfect sense, they were explosive enough that the next day, she once again made headlines for her interview remarks.
Unfortunately, no one in Britain cared much at the moment.
Because the day after the premiere was Saturday.
And that meant preview screenings.
The result—
On December 17, 2005, Goblet of Fire (Part One) raked in £8.1 million across the UK.
About $13.92 million.
It effortlessly claimed the top spot on the UK single-day box office chart, beating second place by £1.8 million.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was that after the previews, every box office chart in the UK—no matter how you compared them, inflation-adjusted or not—the top four were all Harry Potter.
No one could resist the magical world.
No one.