Jk Rowling's Huge FLAW with Goblet of Fire (Another Weasley?) - Harry Potter Explained

Hey everyone,

Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be discussing JK Rowling, the Goblet of Fire, and an unpublished but huge flaw that JK Rowling encountered when she was writing the famed novel.

In an old interview with South West News Service, Rowling was questioned further about the error- as it was something that she had revealed in a former interview, but never explained.

“You mentioned something in a recent interview about a flaw in Book 4…”

“Did I? Oh yes. . .I repaired it! This is why Book 4 nearly caused me a nervous breakdown - because for the first time ever I lost my careful plot - which I've had since 1994, I think. I really should have gone through it with a fine toothcomb before I started writing and I didn't. I had a false sense of security because all my other plans had held up so well. So I sailed straight into the writing of Four, having just finished Azkaban. I had written what I thought at the time was half the book - it turns out now to have been about a third of the book - and I realised there was this big hole in the middle of the plot and I had to go back and unpick and redo. That's part of the reason it's longer than I thought it was going to be.”

“Can you say what the flaw was, or would that spoil things ?”

“No, because that would ruin it”

In the interview with South West News Service, she discusses the errors very broadly-but it wasn’t until much later, in her interview with Entertainment Weekly, that she finally revealed the specifics of the error that she had made when writing the book. While discussing her feelings surrounding the Goblet of Fire and how it was much harder to write than the other books, she reveals the grave error that she had originally made:

“You sat on the title for a long time, too.”

“The title thing was for a much more prosaic reason: I changed my mind twice on what it was. The working title had got out – 'Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament.' Then I changed Doomspell to Triwizard Tournament. Then I was teetering between Goblet of Fire and Triwizard Tournament. In the end, I preferred Goblet of Fire because it's got that kind of “cup of destiny” feel about it, which is the theme of the book.”

“Was this the hardest book you've had to write so far?”

“Easily.”

“Why?”

“The first three books, my plan never failed me. But I should have put that plot under a microscope. I wrote what I thought was half the book, and “Ack!” – huge gaping hole in the middle of the plot. I missed my deadline by two months. And the whole profile of the books got so much higher since the third book; there was an edge of external pressure.”

“And what exactly was that gaping hole all about?”

“I had to pull a character. There you go: “the phantom character of Harry Potter.” She was a Weasley cousin. She served the same function that Rita Skeeter now serves. Rita was always going to be in the book, but I built her up, because I needed a kind of conduit for information outside the school. Originally, this girl fulfilled this purpose.”

So there you have it- JK Rowling wrote and then had to remove an entire character from the book- going from halfway done back to only a third of the way. I must confess that I am very curious about this unknown Weasley, and why it is that JK had to do so much backtracking to ensure that this character was completely erased from the book. Why not reframe the character? Why remove them altogether?

According to JK Rowling's website, the unknown cousin of the Weasleys was ‘Mafalda Weasley’ - the daughter of the 'second cousin who's a stockbroker' mentioned in the Philosopher's Stone.

Mafalda however, would turn out to be "the most unpleasant child Mrs Weasley had ever met", and she would prove to continually butt heads with the protagonists.

"Mafalda was supposed to convey certain information about the Death Eaters to Harry, Ron and Hermione, because as a nosy, eavesdropping Slytherin who likes to impress, she does not keep her mouth shut when she overhears their sons and daughters talking,"

But Rowling ended up taking her out, because she felt that the character was out of place:

"Unfortunately, however bright I made her, there were obvious limitations to what an eleven year old closeted at school could discover, whereas Rita Skeeter, whom I subsequently built up to fulfil Mafalda's function, was much more flexible."

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[HarryPotterTheory]

Thanks for watching guys! As always, leave your video suggestions down below.

[eDumke]

I think she made the right call taking the character out

[CreatureCal]

Another Weasley?! I know just what to do with YOU!

[flowyflo]

JK: "I missed my deadline by to months."
George R. R. Martin: "Oh, my sweet summer

[ariza]

It would've been great to have a Weasley in Slytherin..
But, I've always thought Percy Weasley should've been a Slytherin.

[YellowBear-kxff]

For those of you calling her Mafalda WEASLEY, she was only a cousin of the Weasleys through Molly’s side, so she would be called Mafalda PREWETT. Also, she was the daughter of a Squib and a Muggle.

[brambleshadeofshadowclan]

Video idea: Did Snape come up with the spells in the Potions book, or did he just copy them down from an old spell book?

[ShaolinMeditator]

JK Rowling should be watching all of Harry Potter Theory videos. She would be astounded by the vast knowledge and intellect of the Narrator, aswell as his smooth and swift delivery.

[Ismail-dbvj]

It must be hard to write a 7 part book series and still keep a perfect continuety.

[zachwoolley]

I definitely think she made the right call however it would’ve been interesting having a evil snotty character from the Weasley family

[sinclair]

Good she did. Goblet of fire is my favorite HP book no doubt.

[anshithac]

Well the name Mafalda is a kept, not as a character but as a name cuz that’s the name of the witch Hermione turns(using Polyjuice Potion of course) into when they sneak into the Ministry of Magic(in Deathly Hallows)




But a

W
E
A
S
L
E
Y

Being a Slytherin

[Shred_The_Weapon]

So, was Mafalda Weasley supposed to be in the same year as Dennis Creevey, if she was 11 years old when the fourth book took place?

[jackdawson]

Your voice is so calming, love it bruh. ♥️

[donnapettalia]

I never knew about this. Thanks. I guess GoF just wasn't her book since the first printing had another glaring error that had to be corrected. In the graveyard, James came out of the wand before Lily instead of the other way around as it should have been. It was later corrected.

[slytheringingerwitch]

JK Rowling: "Unfortunately, however bright I made her, there were obvious limitations to what an eleven year old closeted at school could discover."
Hermione Granger: *glares angrily*

[trixmania]

Imagine the sorting hat... another weasley huh, i know what.... wait, u no griffindor, slytherin, says it very fast so could be removed

[airforcebuddy]

Damn J.K. Rowling looks a lot like lily potter with her red hair.

[leo-fsrb]

And remember guys, J.K. Rowling didn’t just teach us about love... she also taught us that if someone doesn’t fit in your life remove them from it

[brambleshadeofshadowclan]

Thanks for making your cool videos❤️🙃they are awesome! This was a pretty cool reveal for me.