The Legal Ramifications of the Triwizard Tournament 

Harry can't visit Hogsmeade without a signed consent, but it's perfectly fine for him to repeatedly risk his life inside Hogwarts, a place run by someone who seems aware of the most trivial matters yet oblivious when something truly dangerous is happening.

Beauxbatons was never an all-girl school in the books. Goblet of Fire explicitly mentions several male Beauxbatons students, most notably a boy who spent the rest of the Yule Ball with Parvati after Harry started ignoring her. She later mentioned meeting up with him for a date in Hogsmeade.

There is absolutely a prize for winning the Triward Tournament: 1,000 Galleons. Fudge unceremoniously rewards it to Harry, who in turn gives it to Fred and George, who use it to start their joke shop.

Harry Potter must go into the lake and save his Weezy. His Weezy sir, who gave Dobby his sweater.

In the books, the other schools are both very upset about having two Hogwarts champions, but whatever magical contract that forces Harry to compete also forces Fleur and Krum to stay and compete. Truthfully, I think it's a handwave for the plot, but it does happen.

Love when a small creator pops on my recommendations. Your production and presentation are great! Keep up the good work!

Wow, not even 150 subscribers yet. With this level of nerd analysis, it'll be 100,000 in no time. Cool video.

A fun idea, a Hogwarts version of Legal Eagle.

3:08 - Isn’t the prize 1000 Gallions which Harry gives to Fred and George to begin their business?

I agree, rita skeeter should be charged. Weird looks to minors aside, she published articles lying about minors. Thats gotta be a crime!

Love this video! Another other-worldly analysis that is so entertaining! Thanks Gracie for making me think about the nefarious intentions of Rita Skeeter and the apparent prejudice between Mer-people and Hags. Loved it!

The TriWizard Tournament became the perfect cover for Voldemort's followers to begin planning and preparing for his return. That in of itself should have been a red flag to Dumbledore and the Hogwarts staff, but I guess they felt his return was inevitable at that point. Harry's name was put in the Goblet of Fire as a champion from a fake school. False information is a crime, so there is one charge on whoever put Harry's name in it. That's how Hogwarts got two champions. Otherwise Cedric would have been the only Hogwarts champion. Rita's list of crimes also include being an unregistered animagus (which is how she got all her information). I don't know what else could be a crime in that book. Tampering with objects by turning them into portkeys and impersonating others with Polyjuice Potion seem like normal things in the Wizarding World, even though both would be considered crimes in the Muggle World.

I know others pointed out that Beauxbatons wasn't an all girls school and that there was a prize, but the dragon also never escaped in the books

Got sent here by The Algorithm. And this is a fun video, so hope this channel blows up!

Great job following up the hunger games/divergent video with another hit! 2 for 2 means I’m officially subbed 👍

Dragon Advocate. My next band name.

Absolutely LOVED this video. Keep it up!

this is the video i didn’t know i needed

These are so interesting : )

Great video!

I have a sense that, in the wizarding world, insurance and liability are concepts that they have not yet accepted or understood in their society? That said, I DO wish they had shown Harry deciding not to compete, and then some dire something or other happened to show that he had to at least attempt competition in each task or bad things happen.

@Gracie This is really fascinating stuff! I loved the video! Still, I would like to point out a few things. 1. Parents or Guardians Signing Waivers; especially Muggle Parents or Guardians. You are right that most Muggles would never do it, however, as you pointed out a little later, they don't have a choice because the Goblet of Fire "constitutes a magical binding contract." That aside, for the sake of argument, let's say they DO have to sign a waiver of some sort. You're really telling me that Vernon Dursley would not immediately sign the document after hearing "Harry could die and if you sign this form you agree not to sue us"? Vernon would sign that without hesitation and include a message of, "YES PLEASE!!" Petunia on the other hand... I'm not so sure. While she resents Harry for who he is and what he represents, he's still her nephew and, thus, she DOES have some love for him. So your assessment here may not be too far off. Still, I believe Vernon would overrule her and sign it anyway all with a grin on his face and an evil laugh in his throat. He didn't sign the Hogsmeade Permission Slip because it would have been a reward for Harry and Vernon wasn't about reward Harry. But a Waiver Form to allow Harry to compete in a tournament that could kill him? Now THAT is something Vernon would sign. Because of the possibility of the Ultimate Reward for Vernon himself. 2. Task 1, Dragons, and the potential dangers. I think the Movies put the non-competitors in far more danger than the book. In the book, the Hungarian Horntail never broke free of the restraint, nor could it. In fact none of the Dragons did or could. Remember, these Dragons were cared for and restrained by a Professional Dragonologist, namely Charlie Weasley. Moreover, Charlie earned a NEWT ranked at "Exceeds Expectations" in Care of Magical Creatures and he is considered to be such an expert in the field of Dragonology that he actually taught a course in it in Romania. Given those qualifications and experience, I find it hard to believe that any known Dragon would able to break a restraint applied by Charlie Weasley. And that leads me to... 3. Task 1, Dragons, and the usage of Nesting Mothers. Given Charlie Weasley's above-mentioned qualifications and experience, I feel confident in saying that there was no "Animal Cruelty" here. Beyond the aforementioned qualifications and experience, Charlie also cares very deeply for all Dragons under his care. He would never have agreed to using Nesting Mothers for the Triwizard Tournament if he felt that it infringed on "Animal Cruelty." He's been established as being, very much, Newt Scamander when it comes to Dragons. Also it was mentioned that he worked, very closely, with the Ministry of Magic when it came to the selection and transport of the Dragons. 4. Hogwarts having two Champions and the other Schools' response. If you remember, both Madam Maxime and Igor Karkaroff were FURIOUS at Harry being allowed to compete. Not only was he severely underaged and, above all else, being Headmasters, they feared for his safety, like you said, it also gave Hogwarts an unfair advantage. But, again, as you stated at the beginning of the video, they had no choice because "binding magical contract." And it was Barty Crouch Sr of The Ministry of Magic who made the final ruling and Barty's paygrade is above all three Headmasters so yeah, they had no choice. Also, speaking of "binding magical contract," have you forgotten the consequence for breaking said "binding magical contract"? Yeah, Harry would die. The "binding magical contract" would kill him. So he either competes in this tournament where there is a chance he'll die, or refuse and 100% die. And nobody, not even Former Death Eater Igor Karkaroff, would order a 14-year-old child to, effectively, commit suicide "in the interest of fairness." Now, just to cover all of my bases, we don't know if Barty Crouch Sr was being truthful when said that breaking a "binding magical contract" would kill the person who made the contract. There is speculation that Barty only said that to ensure Harry would compete because he was under the effects of Voldemort's Imperius Curse. Also, there is the question of whether the "magical binding contract" would even be enforced on Harry since he was not the one who put his name in the Goblet of Fire. Fact remains, nobody was willing to take that chance. Nor would I. 5. Task 2, The Black Lake, Dumbledore's Warning. Dumbledore wasn't being serious with the whole "you have one hour and outside of that hour, you will die" stuff. He said that to raise the stakes. He wanted the Champions to give their all and he knew they wouldn't if he told them, "I have everything under control. There is no danger here." 6. Task 2, The Black Lake, Mer-People's Rights. Regardless of their "Legal Classification" within the Ministry of Magic and the greater Wizarding World, their entire inclusion within the Triwizard Tournament was of their own free will. Dumbledore met with their leader and asked them to help with the Task. They agreed. Any harm that would befall any of their people just comes with the territory. They know that there will be armed Witches and Wizards not knowing this all a set-up and actually trying to save their loved ones. Also, given that the Mer-People were told before-hand what this all is as part of Dumbledore's request, I have to assume that the Mer-People wouldn't have actually harmed any of the Champions. The last thing they would want is to incur the wrath of Albus Dumbledore for returning a corpse instead of an unconscious student. 7. Task 3, The Maze, Who Is Ultimately Responsible? Well on one hand, we have Barty Crouch Jr who physically committed all those crimes or made those crimes possible. He was promptly arrested and killed via Dementor's Kiss for his crimes. However, while Barty, absolutely was guilty and deserved that, I think this was a lot of smoke and mirrors perpetrated by the man who was even more at fault: Cornelius Fudge, The Minister For Magic (at the time). I think Cornelius Fudge is every bit as responsible as Barty Crouch Jr, if not moreso. Why? Because he actively and intentionally ignored Barty Crouch Sr's, Albus Dumbledore's, and Harry Potter's warnings that Voldemort was returning. Ultimately, Cornelius DID pay the price and faced the consequences for his role in all this as he was fired by the Ministry of Magic itself after the people discovered that Fudge valued his career and his prestige over the safety of, not only The Wizarding World, but of the World as a whole (Voldemort threatened the Muggles if Fudge didn't step down and Fudge refused, hence why he destroyed that massive bridge and killed all the Muggles that were on it). While I believe that he should have, at least, been incarcerated as a criminal for his refusal to acknowledge the truth and act (he would stay a free man for the rest of his life, though a man without prestige or power), he still DID pay for what he did and, I suppose, that's good enough. But yeah, I guess the TLDR for this one is, if the people wanted to sue anyone, it should be the Ministry of Magic itself. While Fudge was the one making the calls, the rest of the Ministry followed him and were complicit in his ignorance, which is what led to the tragedy of the Triwizard Tournament and the Rise of Voldemort. For that reason, I believe the Ministry of Magic, in its entirety (or, at least, those in positions of authority), is almost as guilty as Cornelius Fudge in this instance. And that's all I have for today. Again, fun video and you made some great points! I'm glad this vid showed up in my feed!

well reasoned argument, looking forward to more :)

This whole video is basically under the sole purview of the french/andorran/spanish, the soviet and the british ministry of magics department of international games and sports and because the hosting country is britain ludo bagman is responsible for stuff going wrong. The name on the parchment paper is essentially the signatory paperwork with the goblet having the entire contract in magic. The whole shtick with the mer poem was that after an hour if all champions have either rescued their intended treasure or tapped out the mer chieftainess sets them free, hauls them to dumbledore's general direction owing to dumbledore knowing mermish and being on rather friendly terms with the mer chieftainess.

Enjoyed it alot!

You REALLY love to talk... and actually... I enjoy listening to you doing so.

I don't think you can infer much from a legal perspective about what points the judges award giving that, setting aside the respective heads of the schools and their biases, the other two judges are serving ulterior motives, Crouch Sr being controlled (and Percy Weasley following his letters later on) to advance Harry as best he can, and Bagman having placed a large bet on Harry and thus is incentivised for him to win. As for the dragons, I doubt a conjunctivitis curse is permanent, and given the amount of times Hogwarts students end up with serious injuries/disfigurements in hospital the Wizarding World seems to operate a "no harm no foul" mindset if the damage can be undone, hence why Viktor was penalised for the eggs rather than the blinding. But also as Book Five and onwards makes pretty clear, when the Ministry of Magic calls their animal control the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Control is the operative word. It's entirely about keeping non-human magical creatures, including those sapient beings, on a tight leash for Wizard benefit. Wizards will happily test products on animals, but they'll try super hard to keep those animals from escaping and causing mischief around muggles. That's just their priorities. People like Hagrid who actually believes in magical creature welfare are the exception.

Fluer was totally the victim of internalized sexism as well. Molly, Ginny, and Hermoine were kinda rude to her for being… too pretty??

Gillyweed was classed by your fellow RU-vidr Dr. Mike as a performance enhancing drug. Plus we don't know the how of the shark head in the same challenge. Could be other stuff there.

Aight, this is awesome, and this needs WAYYYYYYYYYYY more views. Such a fun watch! Editing this as I go along. The other schools were NOT ok with Hogwarts having two champions. Karkaroff and Madame Maxine were PISSED. They wanted to submit a second name for their schools, but it was too late, because the fire in the goblet had already gone out. Karkaroff was like 'No fair! Well, I don't wanna play next time. Wah wah.' Second edit: I just saw the description, so I took out all the stuff I said about prize money. xD

🔥

I never know wtf is happening here, but I am here to watch you rant. It could be any topic really

Even if parental consent was required, the muggle parents still wouldn't be consulted. Because the wizards (even the good ones) do not view muggles as equals. They just find them amusing (in the same way we find a cat amusing). Even Arthur Weasley, the most pro-muggle wizard we meet in the whole series, is only fascinated with how muggles go about their day-to-day lives without magic, not muggles themselves. There is no way anyone involved with the tournament gives a second thought about what muggle parents might think.

But, remember, cheating is a traditional part of the tournament...

6:21 😂

Beauxbatons is not an all girls school. Parvati leaves Harry at the Yule ball to dance with some boys from Beauxbatons.

Interesting video added ro my subs but nitpick. I doubt that the ministry is governing body of the tournament. Its implied by the ministry and headmaster/headmistress's that they cannot overrule the Goblets decision on champions. How cup enforces a contract is beyond me.

Fleur is a female character not named "Hermione" or "Ginny" so yes, she is being belittled by the authorial voice because of sexism. It's especially evil of her not to mock other girls for being "girly". Unforgivable, that...

They can't just hold a tournament that is not so dangerous?

The dragon didn’t escape in the book.

in the books beau batons has boys!

There is prize, FYI

Ugh don't say your going to primarily use the books as the source then ONLY speak towards the movie version of the tournament, because alot of your qualms ARE ADDRESSED IN THE BOOK

What are talking about signing liability? Hahaha there is no such thing...this is all BS.

I stipped liatening when you suggested that Fleur was a victim of sexism in the book written by a women just because she got last place in the first conpetition.