37

"It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament... I'm guessing they submitted Potter's name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category..."
— Alastor Moody

I know this is a seemingly unimportant detail, but it has bothered me ever since I first read the book years and years ago. What was the name of the fake school that was written on the slip of paper to assure Harry would be picked? Has this ever been revealed?

Improve this question
8
  • 55
    My guess is that it was either "H0gwarts" or "Hogwarts " (with a space on the end).
    – Valorum
    Commented May 30, 2016 at 22:53
  • 5
    @Valorum I personally like the 'camel case school', hogWarts.
    – kuhl
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 1:35
  • 37
    "rts'; ) DROP TABLE Students;"... credit: XKCD
    – Möoz
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 3:53
  • 11
    @Mooz well I wouldn't describe a SQL injection as "way beyond the talents of a fourth year" :)
    – A. Darwin
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 5:43
  • 3
    @A.Darwin Crouch is a government official. When was the last time you met one of those who knew anything at all about computers? :P
    – Luaan
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 12:23

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
28

We don't know

We know that Crouch Jr. did indeed use this strategy, by his own admission:

“Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, under the name of a different school? I did."

—Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

We can guess from his previous quote that he used a Confundus Charm to make the Goblet believe that four schools competed.

We know that Dumbledore must know, though:

“Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet,” said Dumbledore.

—Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Thus the name of the school must be written on the parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out —

“Harry Potter.”

—Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

But to my knowledge, nowhere in canon is it mentioned what that school was. It could have been any real school, or perhaps even a fake one.

Improve this answer
14
  • 9
    Exactly so. If a different school name was visible, Dumbledore would have realised what had happened immediately.
    – Valorum
    Commented May 30, 2016 at 23:27
  • 4
    No, he's explaining how the hack worked. The school name must still have been disguised somehow. Perhaps the name of the school was blank or invisible in some way. Otherwise, why wouldn't Dumbledore have commented on it? Surely if it was anything other than Hogwarts, Dumbledore would have raised merry hell.
    – Valorum
    Commented May 30, 2016 at 23:47
  • 8
    ‘Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!’ said Moody. ‘It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that Goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the Tournament … I’m guessing they submitted Potter’s name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category …’ - Moody/Crouch wouldn't have needed to openly guess if the fourth school name was on the slip.
    – Valorum
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 0:03
  • 11
    @Valorum - He wouldn't need to guess period, since he did it! But as to whether he would need to give the appearance of guessing, why? Dumbledore probably hadn't shown the slip to anyone yet - not to Crouch-as-Moody, anyway. Maybe he didn't at all (he is secretive). Had Harry been in the Hogwarts category, he would have competed with the other Hogwarts students for selection. Moody is clearly describing what he did there. Psychology of Dumbledore aside, the interpretation seems very clear. If you still disagree, though, maybe you could collect your comments into an answer?
    – Adamant
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 0:06
  • 5
    @ valorum - it could have been Högwarts. Dumbledore mightn't have the best vision.
    – Scott
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 0:26
17

In the movie, when the slips of parchment come out of the Goblet of Fire, there are no school names on them. The school names could have burnt but it seems more probable that the candidates did not write them on the parchments.

EDIT : These pictures do not come from a scene in the movie. Tanks to @Valorum for pointing out that they are movie props.

Source : https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/10/a4/f8/10a4f8ee95a1fb8d46e3cc6c769fee4a.jpg

This does not really help you but it reinforces @Jonah's answer : we may never know.

Source of the picture : https://www.emaze.com/@AIRTFOCW/goblet-of-fire or https://www.pinterest.com/pin/92253492341296800/

Improve this answer
14
  • 5
    Gosh, isn't Fleur's awfully pretty?
    – Valorum
    Commented May 30, 2016 at 23:21
  • 36
    @Valorum I can't get past the fact that she apparently wrote it on a coffee filter.
    – Thunderforge
    Commented May 30, 2016 at 23:38
  • 3
    Great pictures, but do they really come from the movie? The background of the slips of parchment doesn't seem to be Dumbledore's hand or something like that.
    – A. Darwin
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 12:40
  • 3
    I'm not convinced Harry's handwriting would be that good...
    – mattumotu
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 14:43
  • 3
    @A.Darwin Well You are right :/ I have checked the scene where Dumbledore read the parchments and we don't see these. I found the picture on the internet and stupidily assumed it was from movies. Now there are two possiblities : they are the real slips of parchment from the movie or they are just some useless fan art. Should I delete this answer then ?
    – Fabich
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 14:48

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.