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The Veritaserum has revealed many truths. And while this chapter solves many mysteries regarding Harry and Voldemort, it also reveals just how vulnerable Harry actually is. The comforting notion throughout the series that Harry is protected as long as he is within Hogwarts's secure walls has been forever dispelled by Barty Crouch's clever deception that allowed him direct access to Harry. From here on, Harry will have difficulty finding a completely safe haven. Now that Voldemort has fully regained his body, he will likely execute another attack on Harry as soon as possible. Voldemort's power will begin spreading as well, quietly and methodically seeping into nearly all wizarding areas, taking hold in key institutions until he has gained control.
Also, Harry's earlier wish to compete as a Triwizard Champion came to fruition, but the experience was far from what he could have imagined. Now Harry must cope with the tragic aftermath, forever haunted by knowing that rather than being the celebrated hero, he was instead duped and manipulated into a bogus victory that cost Cedric Diggory his life. Harry had also placed his trust and admiration in (the fake) Alastor Moody, but having been so horribly deceived, he may never again ever fully trust anyone to be who or what they seemsseem. Harry's relationship with Dumbledore may also be affected. Dumbledore has always seemed invincible, but his failure to detect Barty Crouch and to fully protect Harry exposes a chink in his otherwise infallible power. As the newly reborn Voldemort gains strength, is Dumbledore growing weaker with age? It is unclear if that is what is happening here, but Dumbledore failing to anticipate someone being able to breach Hogwarts' tight security is surprising, especially considering how both Sirius Black (on multiple occasions in ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'') and, more recently, Rita Skeeter, both so easily slipped into the castle undetected. In fact, Harry has never truly been completely safe at Hogwarts, only safer.
Cornelius Fudge, meanwhile, ineptly attempts to implement damage control, claiming Cedric is not dead, merely injured. While he may be attempting to shield the Diggorys, feeling it would be inappropriate to inform them their son ishas been deadkilled when such a large audience is present, he is also protecting his and the Ministry's public image. This attempt to either spin or minimize bad news reappears in the next chapter and later books.
It is also interesting that Barty Jr., as Professor Moody, taught students how to repel an Imperius curse, which he presumably mastered while detained in his father's house. As reprehensible and evil as Crouch Jr. was, he was apparently a good [[Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Defence Against the Dark Arts|Defence Against the Dark Arts]] teacher, althoughthough almost certainly some of his Defence information was forced from the real Alastor Moody, who was kept captive in his office.
OneSome thingreaders thathave hasbeen troubled somethat readersVoldemort's is that thisplan seems an extremely convoluted plan, with multiple points of failure, to achieve one objective: the arrival of Harry Potter's arrival, alone, in the graveyard at Little Hangleton at a specific time. Having managed to winwon Dumbledore's trust, the falsebogus Moody could have, at any time, given Harry an object that was a Portkey. Clearly, this would have caused some problem for the author, as the series quite plainly is designed to cover the seven years of Harry's education, with a climax cominghappening at or near the end of each school year. The author must have determined somea logical reason thatwhy Voldemort would have chosen so involved a plan for such a simple outcome, in order to make her story timing work while also entertaining readers with a more sophisiticated and exciting plot. While her reasons are never revealed, we can make a guessspeculate. Voldemort seems to be a particularly vindictive sort of person; we have seen him torturing his own followers becausefor ofany real or imagined slights. It seems entirely likelyplausible that Voldemort would be amused by bringing Harry to defeat and death immediately after he had won a major competition, particularly if Harry was made awareinformed that his winning the competition"victory" had been engineered, andrather thatthan heachieved hadby nothis wonown itefforts. byHowever, considering this may be Voldemort's only opportunity to resurrect his ownbody effortsusing atHarry's blood, that reasoning seems risky and allself-indulgent. In this light, thewhat onlyis thingperhaps that ismost surprising is that it was not Voldemort who told Harry this, but Moody / Barty.
== Questions ==
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