Reread # ?? 
 Initial Impressions 5/17/14: Wow, this book. I mean, I just finished my re-reads for 1-3, but Goblet of Fire really steps it up a notch. The plotting that goes on, the darkness that really starts to emerge -- everything rapidly escalates and also takes on a much more adult air. There are SO many things not in the movie and they really enhance the book that much more. I think this may be a contender for my favorite Harry Potter book again... But I DO still have the rest of the series to re-read first... 
 Review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide 5/29/14: How is it that each time I re-read a Harry Potter book, I find myself amazed all over again? I know I said it before with the first three books, especially with my amazement of how much I enjoyed HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN when it used to be my least favorite book of the series, but honestly. J.K. Rowling really stepped everything up a notch with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 
 Sure, we stepped from defending the world from a supervillain in the first two books and magical school hijinks to personal vendettas and darker family history in book three, but GOBLET OF FIRE puts Harry in mortal peril preeeeeetty much all year. It's not as apparent how much time passes int he movies, but Harry is literally involved in the Triwizard tournament all freaking year and pretty much his state in the mortal world depends on how well he can figure out these clues before it's time to put him in front of another dangerous task that may or may not kill him. 
 Aside from upping the danger, things also get exponentially darker. Not only is Voldemort still involved, as always, but we learn more about the Death Eaters -- his dedicated followers -- but also the Unforgivable Curses and so much more about the dark years that preceded Voldemort's decline. We've seen the bad guys punished in previous books and we knew about the awful deaths that occurred when Harry was just a baby, but Goblet of Fire... This book really takes a dive into the deep end of the dark. Bad things happen to good people in this book and there are just some really gut-wrenching moments that even when you know they're coming still hit you hard. 
 This is another book whose movie really started to deviate a lot -- not even necessarily changing events and specifics but we lose whole plot lines and characters. I'm not necessarily disappointed looking back because of course you can't adapt everything in a book for a movie, but it's kind of amazing when you see what has changed and what you totally forgot about. Here are just a few. 
 *Ludo Bagman: Remember Ludo Bagman? He's the head of Magical Games and Sports and once played Quidditch for the Wimbourne Wasps. If you haven't read the books in a long time and you've been watching the movies, I'm sure you remember Ludo Bagman but you wouldn't believe how much he is actually a part of the books!! He's involved in so many scenes, from beginning to end! 
 *S.P.E.W.: The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, for those who aren't familiar, was Hermione's attempt to free the house elves from their lifetimes of enslavement. However....... I was not sorry to see that go. Sorry, not sorry, Hermione. It was a bit much! 
 *Winky: To go along with S.P.E.W., Winky was a house elf who also played a very significant part in the book. But again..... eh. Not sorry to see that go and be adapted in a different way! Oh, the movie spoils me in some ways. 
 *Rita Skeeter's "downfall": I mean, we're assuming here that you all have read the books if you're reading my review, but I'll try to remain mostly spoiler-free here, so Rita! I wish the movie had at least touched on what really happened to her at the end of the book and how Hermione really put her in her place! 
 My take from the audiobook re-read? This may be a new contender for my favorite Harry Potter book out of all seven. Then again, my current favorites are five and six, so there's still time for that to change! We'll have to see how those audiobooks go as well. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE was just SO good. An amazing book to begin with and so much fun to re-read (for the countless time because I've honestly lost track)!