Is there a plot hole in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?

I have just realized something while re-reading the harry potter four book. Warning: There are spoilers ahead, so if you haven't read the book, don't read the following materials. I'll give you two questions, and if you can answer them thoroughly with a good explanation, or just say "I don't know" or "huh'" then we'll know if there really is a plot hole in harry potter and the goblet of fire.





If portkey's leave at specific preset times, then why do cedric and harry instantly go to the graveyard right after they touch it?





As said in the book, portkeys can be made out of anything, so why doesn't Mad-eye just turn a book into a portkey and then make harry touch it? That'll get the job done a little easier than making him go through a whole tournament to touch what could've been an old shoe which, I guess 'has' to be a big trophy.





If you guy's could maybe answer these questions and give your opinions that would be great. 10 points to best answer!

Is there a plot hole in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?
Well first I think that's why mad ey went in to place the trophy himself, because he wanted to make sure when it was touched that it sent straight to the graveyard.





As for question two, I think it just made the story better for one, and two, I think that he didn't do that because it would be more suspicious under dumbledoors (sorry if misspelled) eye. He would get caught easier if he was ion the castle and made harry touch the book.
Reply:The portkey trophy could have been altered, so that the first person (or in this case, people) to touch it would go to the graveyard. I'm not entirely sure. Maybe some portkeys are like that, for specific purposes, like the Quidditch World Cup you had to be there on time because whole groups were using each of them, but the trophy is for one person. So the trophy, needing to not leave at a certain time, but simply just go to a certain place when touched, could do what they wanted it to. Same thing with how they got back to the Hogwarts grounds.





As for why it was a trophy, the crowds wouldn't have expected Voldemort to strike out at that time. I mean, it's the third task, and in all the excitement, that's what everyone is thinking about: who would win. Who would know if they were gone longer? Who would question it? It's a hard maze, after all. They'd only have to worry if it got too late, and it didn't, really. If "Moody" had done it any old day, Ron would have noticed when Harry didn't come back to the common rooms, and teachers would have been alerted. Even with Hogsmeade (I can't remember if he went or not that year) his presence would have been missed by somebody.





Hope this helped.
Reply:Say your a teacher all of a sudden one of your kids goes missing last person to see them is Moody. A bit suspicious. Also with so many kids it'd be really difficult to pull off something that only Harry would touch. And the ministry sense or knows when they're done and you probably can't do it in Hogwarts so that's another fault.





I would bet that Pettigrew and Voldemort needed more time and they knew they'd be ready by the 3rd task so they just used good timing.





If you didn't know already but the Triwizard cup was designed to be a portkey, leading outside the maze to Dumbledore. But when Crouch went in he just switched the location. No one knew!





Harry and Cedric go to the graveyard instantly because a Portkey works 2 ways.





A) For use around muggles a preset time so a muggle doesn't just smack into one and goes flying


B) For instant use it will go whenever it is touched.
Reply:Portkeys can also be made to leave when touched at all, explaining the first half of your question.





The reason that Barty Crouch (disguised as Mad-Eye) didn't just hand Harry a portkey, was the same reason he gave Neville the book about Herbology (not Harry), the same reason he told Cedric the secret of the egg (not Harry), the same reason he let Dobby overhear him talking about Gillyweed to McGonnagal (not Harry), he did not want to be suspected or found out, explaining your second question.
Reply:I think you can have "open" portkeys. I think the reason why they were set at pre-determined times for the championship was so that they didn't have people appearing all at one time and drawing attention.





As for it being the trophy. It probably would have made more sense to just turn anything into a portkey and do it sooner. I think the author was probably going for dramatic effect.
Reply:If MadEye turned a book into a portkey to have Harry transported to the graveyard, he would almost certainly have gotten caught. People would have noticed for sure. The tournament was a good cover for the whole thing because it wasn't unheard of for someone to die during the tournament.


I think it was explained somewhere about the portkey leaving when it was touched and not at a set time. I don't remember where though.





There certainly are plot holes in HP though, just check around the internet and I'm sure you'll see whole forums on them.


I do remember feeling that the whole tournament seemed like a large digression from the main plot.
Reply:I think that Crouch didn't just transform anything into a portkey and give it to Harry because that would mean the teachers at Hogwarts would instantly know that he was a traitor. And Crouch wanted the whole plot to remain secret because even after Harry's death Voldemort probably still didn't want people to know he was back as he'd want to consolidate power again.





Portkeys don't necessarily have to be set at preset times, just some of them do. If you remember the one Dumbledore made at the end of Phoenix for Harry to transport him to his office.
Reply:Those are good points that I never thought about. "I don't know."
Reply:1. Actually I had never thought about that before. What could be the case is that our first introduction to portkeys were ones that leave at preset times, so we just assume that all do. Maybe they were just a special case for the Quidditch World Cup and normal portkeys leave whenever someone touches them. Another example to think about is in DD's office (I can't remember which book... possibly OotP) he conjures up an object and makes it into a portkey which immediately transports Harry.





Aha *brainwave* I think I understand it now! There was a time, probably in the MoM at the end of OotP, when DD makes a portkey and Fudge says something about it being unauthorised and that all portkeys have to be pre-approved by the Ministry. This is why the others all had a particular time when they were activated - they would need to in order for the Ministry to keep an eye on them. Since the Triwizard Cup was most definitely NOT Ministry-approved then maybe that's why it immediately transported the first person(s) to touch it rather whoever happens to be touching it at a particular time. That is my theory anyway.





2. Ah, now this question has been asked a lot throughout the online HP fandom. Instead of writing paragraphs and paragraphs myself, I will give you this link for a fairly simple answer http://www.leakylounge.com/General-Plot-... to a post on the leaky lounge, a forum for discussing HP-related subjects. Or, if you would like a lengthier theory then try here http://thehogshead.org/2007/05/10/gof-po...





Both of your questions are very interesting though, and neither can be answered quickly - they both require a lot of thought. I hope these opinions and theories are of some benefit to you because, even if you don't agree with them, they could lead you to think of your own. If you have any more questions though then feel free to email me =)
Reply:Why did Barty Crouch Jr. go to the trouble of making Harry go through the whole tournament? Because he was sending Harry to his DEATH! If Harry died the public would just think that he died as a result of the dangers in the maze. Nobody would realize that LV resurrected himself using Harry.





It is in LV's best interest to have everyone be ignorant of his return...like in the 5th book...this would only be accomplished by using and killing Harry and have everyone believe that Harry died because something in the maze killed him...which is believable since not many champions survive the tasks and Harry isnt even old enough.





LV never wanted to come out in the open...he operates in secrecy (even in the 7th book he never proclaims himself as the Minister of Magic...he operates behind a veil of mystery and seclusion...this makes ppl panic and more fearful)





But that plan foiled because Harry survived and came back to inform everyone of LV's return!...even still not many believed him as is obvious in the 5th book.
Reply:I think that in another book they explain that you can just touch portkeys at any time and leave. It's probably illegal though, so that's why they have to leave at specific times. I'm just guessing here though.





And about the second question, if it was made that easy, then there would be no story. The whole book is about the tournament, so if Harry had just been forced to touch a pencil or something stupid like that, then there's no story.



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