In Isabella's previous life, after the Harry Potter film series officially ended, Hermione Granger became widely recognized across Europe and America as the greatest female character in cultural history, bar none.
Because J.K. Rowling shaped Hermione Granger far too well.
Rowling's Hermione is strong, intelligent, logical, upright, and kind.
You can find almost every positive trait of human civilization in Hermione.
But even all of that still does not cover all of Hermione's strengths.
What truly makes Hermione so charming is that, despite possessing a whole host of heroic traits, she never turned into some saint who only talks about righteousness and morality. She has a strong personality, her own emotions, and genuine preferences and pursuits.
J.K. Rowling once defined the four houses of Hogwarts as follows:
Slytherin cultivates wizards who are ambitious, honour-conscious, calculating, self-preserving, and place victory above all else;
Gryffindor's core traits are courage, daring, and boldness;
Ravenclaw selects students based on intelligence, creativity, and knowledge;
Hufflepuff emphasises equality, diligence, kindness, and patience.
On the surface, the four houses appear independent and separate, but in reality their values are not mutually exclusive — they can coexist. Professor McGonagall has both "lion" and "eagle" traits; Peter Pettigrew has both "snake" and "lion" traits. As for Hermione, if you truly analyse her, you will find that the only house that suits her is Azkaban.
Because she has the extraordinary intelligence valued by Ravenclaw—
She was born into a Muggle family, yet she had already taught herself magic before school even started.
She also has the equality and kindness of Hufflepuff. After witnessing the miserable treatment of house-elves, she set out to establish a society to improve their conditions.
And she possesses an ambition that countless Slytherin students could never hope to match—
Born a Mudblood, yet becoming Minister for Magic. That is something ordinary people would not even dare to imagine.
So when a character like Hermione Granger is too rich for all four houses to contain, her image and the vitality of her whole character become something no ordinary person — or even saint — can compare to.
What?
Someone says the analysis above skipped Gryffindor?
And never explained why the house most suited to Hermione Granger is Azkaban?
Well then—
Gryffindor's traits are courage, daring, and boldness, and Hermione Granger has these in such abundance that they overflow. You could even say that if all the courage in the world were divided into ten parts, Hermione Granger would get eight of them.
In Order of the Phoenix, when Dumbledore was sidelined by the Ministry of Magic, it was she who proposed forming the D.A.
When a student is brave enough to treat the Ministry of Magic's ban as nothing and confront it head-on, then in the eyes of any establishment, someone who dares to dares to do so deserves to be thrown into Azkaban!
It is precisely because Hermione is such a complete character — one who will help you solve any problem, without question — that when Harry realises he doesn't know the Summoning Charm, turning to Hermione for help strikes everyone as perfectly natural.
After Hermione stayed up late tutoring Harry—
"I have a feeling. If Harry Potter weren't called Harry Potter, but Hermione Granger, Voldemort probably wouldn't survive until Order of the Phoenix."
"Oh, you mean Hermione would kill Voldemort with an 'Avada Kedavra'?"
"Yeah~ I believe Hermione already knows Avada! Didn't Mad-Eye Moody teach it?"
"I believe she can use it too! And I believe that if Harry's experiences were given to Hermione, she would absolutely have both the determination and the confidence to avenge her parents and kill Voldemort herself. But—I don't believe the series would abruptly end at Order of the Phoenix just because the protagonist changed to Hermione. Hogwarts has seven years in total — Hermione would see every adventure through. By then, Voldemort would certainly have grown even stronger."
"Oh—I thought you were going to say that writing seven novels earns more than writing four."
"Uh—well, that possibility can't be ruled out either—"
"Hahahahaha—"
Perhaps it was because those invited to the premiere were all genuine fans. Everyone knew the story and knew Harry would overcome every difficulty and reach the far shore of victory.
Or perhaps Hermione Granger's strength simply gave countless people the sense of security they needed.
In any case, even though Chris Columbus had done his utmost to recreate the novel's tension, the audience's mood throughout the film remained relatively relaxed. Very few people were truly praying for Harry on the screen.
After Harry stepped onto the Triwizard Tournament stage and officially faced the Hungarian Horntail—
A spectacular sequence of special effects appeared!
And the scene was completely different from the film Isabella had seen in her previous life.
In that previous version, for some unknown reason, the film adaptation of Goblet of Fire had omitted the scene from the novel where Harry asks Hermione to teach him the Summoning Charm. As a result, Harry appeared completely unprepared and extremely flustered when facing the Hungarian Horntail — or rather, he looked rather dumb and foolish.
The moment the Horntail breathed fire, Harry started screaming—
Those who knew the situation understood that Harry was the fourth Triwizard champion, the one challenging the Hungarian Horntail. Those who didn't might have thought the Horntail was toying with its dinner — some hapless Spanish pig.
But in the film of Isabella's current life, with the Summoning Charm firmly under his belt, everything changed.
Facing the ferocious Hungarian Horntail, Harry shouted—
"Hermione, come!"
Ah, ptooey!
What he shouted was—
"Firebolt, come!"
And the Firebolt — enchanted by Sirius, the Ferrari of the wizarding world — flew from the Gryffindor common room all the way to the arena in the blink of an eye.
An ultra-long-distance Summoning.
The moment Harry mounted the Firebolt, every trace of fear left him!
High in the air, he carefully tracked the position of the golden egg — the only prize that counted as completing the trial —
Then, with his approach route fixed in his mind, he charged.
First attempt: failed.
The Hungarian Horntail's flames were too fierce. The erupting heat drove him back.
Second attempt: failed again.
Harry avoided the fire this time, but the Horntail's tail was not merely decorative. It caught him directly.
Third attempt—
Success!
Harry executed the legendary manoeuvre: a dive from the heavens.
He shot straight up, luring the Horntail into a frantic chase. Then he reversed direction in an instant — weaving, weaving, weaving, until he slipped past the Horntail and swooped down to the guarded nest, snatching the golden egg.
The moment this display of brilliance unfolded, the stands erupted in cheers!
The dazzling special effects and Harry's prowess gave the cinema audience a true visual feast.
"Oh! That scene was shot so well!"
"My god! Harry is seriously so cool!"
"OMG — this is the Triwizard Tournament I always wanted to see!!!"
"I hereby declare that Goblet of Fire Part Two is the best-looking film in the HP series! The special effects are genuinely stunning, the plot is packed, and it's easy to follow!"
It may not sound pleasant, but the truth is — core fans are really the easiest audience to satisfy.
When you have a loyal core audience, all you need to do is keep making them feel like they're winning. Even small wins are enough. They will hold on tight and follow you, always.
And since HP fans love HP because of the novels—
As long as you bring the story of the novels faithfully to the screen, everyone will praise you for it.
But back to the main topic—
Although Harry had appeared almost effortlessly calm during the first trial, everyone knew what ferocity lay beneath that ease.
Especially Ron.
Once it sank in that Harry could not have safely withdrawn from the competition even if he'd tried, Ron finally understood that Harry's earlier complaints had not been groundless. So he took the initiative and apologised.
Since Harry is a saint, the two of them made up.
When the reconciliation hug caught Hermione's eye—
A look of maternal satisfaction settled over her face.
Earlier, she had worried herself sick over the rift between her two boys.
It had started by the lake — where, alongside talking with Harry about the invisible but very real conspiracy surrounding him, she had comforted the dejected "little one" still smarting over his row with Ron.
Then, while the two were giving each other the cold shoulder, she had served as their go-between for a while, keeping things from falling apart entirely.
Uh—
This part differs from the original novel.
In the novel, Harry and Ron's reconciliation moved Hermione to tears.
Because the two of them had concluded that magic alone would never be enough to defeat Voldemort.
So they decided to go into business, make money like mad, and buy heavy weapons — using the power of truth to fight magic.
And thus they founded a company called Haro Bikes.
Ahem, ahem.
The end of the first task was not the beginning of the second.
There was an interval between them, and that interval included Christmas — so the Yule Ball plot naturally came into play.
In Goblet of Fire Part Two, this section was not very different from the novel. It largely captured the hazy, tentative feelings between teenagers that J.K. Rowling had wanted to depict. But if one were to nitpick—
The film's handling of this section still had its shortcomings.
For example: Isabella Haywood was simply too beautiful.
Also, the company responsible for Hermione's dress was not Warner Bros., but Disney.
When Mickey Mouse brought out their time-honoured craft and produced a Cinderella-style princess gown, the English dictionary finally acquired the phrase "outshining every other beauty."
"Oh — Isabella should really go film a princess movie. She looks far too much like a princess—"
"What a pity. It's already impressive enough that she can finish filming HP, because at this point she has absolutely no need to act at all."
"Yeah! Right now, she is a princess!"
"Hey! Hey! Hey! What are you people saying? What do you mean she is a princess? What princess freely controls billions in wealth? Princesses don't have that kind of power! She is clearly a queen! A queen who rules her own life!"
"Right, right, right! Princess no longer suits her! She has already become a queen!"
"Sigh — the American media really had foresight."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Didn't the American media call her Isabella I before? Isn't that extraordinarily far-sighted?"
"Hm? Ah! Oh, hahahahaha."
On the surface, the Yule Ball plot is only about the small matters between young people — feelings and love. But in reality, that is only the shallowest layer of what J.K. Rowling wanted to express.
Because while everyone was dancing, the head of Slytherin House, Snape, quietly met with former Death Eater Karkaroff.
Karkaroff complained to Snape that in recent months, the ominous mark on his body had been growing more and more pronounced.
Snape replied impatiently that if he wanted to run, he was free to leave at once — but he shouldn't expect to drag him along.
Although the exchange was brief—
Given that Karkaroff was once a Death Eater, that the Death Eaters had been very active in recent months, and that both Mad-Eye Moody and Sirius believed Karkaroff was the one who had put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire —
was this conversation really so simple?
The exchange between Karkaroff and Snape was overheard by Harry and Ron.
Even if they didn't understand what was being said at the time, that didn't matter — the information had been gathered.
As the Yule Ball wound down, the second task of the Triwizard Tournament officially began.
In the original novel, J.K. Rowling devoted a large amount of space to the preparation leading up to the second task.
It contained a great deal of information.
For example—
When Harry was deciphering the golden egg's riddle in the bathroom, Myrtle sang a song, and the final lines of that song shaped Harry's key decision in the second task: that the competition was not what mattered, and that life was worth more than victory.
Another example—
After solving the riddle, when Harry tried to use the Marauder's Map to return to his dormitory, he unexpectedly spotted Barty Crouch in Snape's office. Curious, he went to investigate — and ran straight into Snape and Mad-Eye Moody.
Yes.
The Barty Crouch Harry saw was Mad-Eye Moody, not old Barty Crouch.
In the British naming convention, both old Barty Crouch and young Barty Crouch go by the same name.
And the reason young Barty appeared in Snape's office was that he was stealing ingredients to brew Polyjuice Potion.
To maintain the disguise of Mad-Eye Moody, he had to keep drinking it.
But Harry's sudden appearance made Snape set all of that aside entirely.
There was no helping it.
Who told the second task of the Triwizard Tournament to require gillyweed?
That could only be found in his office.
And Harry was the fourth champion.
Honestly!
The Marauder's Map is one of the most brilliantly conceived devices in Harry Potter!
It can both create mysteries and resolve them.
When Rowling wants to deepen the intrigue, she simply has Harry lose the Map. When she wants an answer to surface, she has him pick it up again — and the pieces begin to fall into place.
The lean but effective adaptation drew repeated cheers from the premiere audience!
After the second task ended with Harry and Cedric tied on points, another rest period arrived. During this time, the story delivered two further bundles of information to the audience.
The first: Karkaroff and Snape met in secret again.
This time, he rolled up his sleeve directly in front of Snape.
The moment the Dark Mark appeared, Harry was certain that Karkaroff was the one who had harmed him.
But unfortunately—
This was still one of J.K. Rowling's misdirections.
The second bundle of information was that Sirius came to Hogwarts to find Harry.
During their meeting, the two sorted through everything that had happened over the past year.
Sirius felt that old Barty Crouch was hiding something;
believed that the incident at the Quidditch World Cup had begun when Harry lost his wand during the match;
and told Harry everything about old Barty Crouch's history—
"He was once Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, and a leading candidate for Minister for Magic. But his son, Barty Crouch Jr., was a Death Eater — and even after Voldemort fell, he refused to accept it, convinced the other side still had a chance at resurrection. And so—"
"Old Barty personally sent his own son to Azkaban."
"Young Barty's crimes became a stain old Barty could never wash off."
"He missed the position of Minister for Magic forever."
Then, just as Sirius was suggesting that old Barty Crouch and the missing Bertha Jorkins might hold the keys to solving everything — old Barty Crouch suddenly lost his mind.
And ran off without warning.
Then, just as suddenly, he was nowhere to be found.
The chain of events left Harry utterly bewildered.
Sensing something was deeply wrong, he rushed to the headmaster's office, hoping to ask Dumbledore for help.
There, he stumbled upon Dumbledore's Pensieve — and unwittingly glimpsed everything from those long-ago days.
By this point, Harry had gathered all the information: he knew why young Barty had been sent to Azkaban, and he knew Bertha Jorkins's story. But since the fact that young Barty was still alive was known only to five people — his mother, old Barty, Winky, Voldemort, and Peter Pettigrew — the truth behind everything still could not be fully pieced together.
But it didn't matter.
Because the final task of the Triwizard Tournament had arrived.
After Barty Crouch Jr., wearing Mad-Eye Moody's face, turned the Triwizard Tournament trophy into a Portkey leading to the Riddle House, Harry and Cedric touched it — and came face to face with the noseless figure who had been waiting for them.
"Kill the spare!"
"Avada Kedavra—"
A flash of green light, and Cedric met his end.
Though, in a sense, this was a blessing for Robert Pattinson.
Because only the dead can become vampires.
If Cedric hadn't made his exit, how could he have gone on to star in Twilight?
Right?
With Voldemort's appearance, the mysteries began unravelling one by one.
Everything Harry had endured was Voldemort's doing — only Harry's blood could complete the resurrection.
Of course, the ritual did not specifically require Harry Potter's blood. It only called for the blood of an enemy. But without Harry's blood, Voldemort could not break the protection Harry's mother had placed on him.
So—
This is the terrifying Dark Lord?
Compared with the senior schoolmate from a century ago, he is not worth a single hair.
Voldemort is, in truth, a very classic villain.
He has the defining trait of all great villains: he talks too much — even more than Naruto.
After recovering his wand and sensing victory within reach, he began to toy with Harry.
He wanted to duel. He wanted to kill Harry in front of all his Death Eaters, to put to rest the rumours that he feared facing the boy. But no one expected — no one could have expected — that in the middle of the duel, Harry suddenly shouted—
"May the force be with you!"
Then, with a swish, Harry produced a lightsaber from his robes.
"Ha—!" Harry roared, and Voldemort was cleaved in two.
Cough.
Fine.
Enough nonsense.
Whether in the original novel or in the Goblet of Fire from Isabella's previous life, the confrontation between Harry and Voldemort was a Priori Incantatem — a beam struggle.
Harry stood on the side of right, and since ancient times, the left side always loses a beam struggle, so Voldemort could never have defeated him. But to make Harry's victory feel earned, J.K. Rowling devised a move — one she called—
Infinite Love.
Don't laugh.
The move Harry used to defeat Voldemort in Goblet of Fire really is called Infinite Love.
During the beam struggle, Harry accidentally triggered the Reverse Spell effect in Voldemort's wand. Then, those the wand had killed began to emerge: the old gardener, Bertha Jorkins, Cedric, Harry's father, Harry's mother — each one stepping forward to help.
When all of them were standing with Harry against Voldemort — wasn't that move essentially called Infinite Love?
With Voldemort's defeat, Harry made it back to Hogwarts. Mad-Eye Moody — still played by young Barty — reappeared. He had intended to finish Harry off in his master's name, but unfortunately—
The greatest white wizard in history activated Savage Charge once more.
Except this time, Dumbledore was saving Harry.
After blasting Mad-Eye Moody away with an Expelliarmus, the film reached its true ending.
Because Snape poured a full bottle of Veritaserum straight down Mad-Eye Moody's throat.