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In a scene in the movie version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we are shown the Great Hall and the Goblet of Fire, and then Igor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang, entering the room and closing the gate.

I get this was added so it made Karkaroff look suspicious, but is there any logical explanation to it? It also indicates that he was the one that put Harry's name in the Goblet, but it wasn't him. How can this make any sense?

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    To create suspicion. Same reasons why Harry et. Al suspect snape in Philosophers stone
    – user46509
    Oct 28, 2016 at 19:06
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    @Po-ta-toe sure, but an in-universe answer would be of some interest and I have to agree that this is a very crude kind of red herring as the film gives absolutely no other good reason for Karkaroff to have done that at all, which makes it seem, after the fact, like an obvious attempt to mislead the viewer, rather than something that actually happened in the story's world. Especially as there were opportunities to make Karkaroff look suspicious that the book afforded and indeed the movie included some of them ... before cutting them out ...
    – Au101
    Oct 28, 2016 at 19:13
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    @Au101 to be fair, the films are pretty simplistic rubbish
    – user46509
    Oct 28, 2016 at 19:19
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    There has also been online speculation (and my own personal opinion) that it was actually Barty Crouch Jr using his polyjuice potion this time for Karkaroff instead of Moody. Thus even if he was noticed slipping into the Great Hall that night, it would be Karkaroff who would get the suspicion rather than "Moody", since Barty Jr would not want a lot of investigation into his impersonation of Moody. I personally thought I caught the slightest glimpse of a "shift" in Karkaroff's form just as the door closed, but its been awhile and a clip does not appear to be online.
    – cybermike
    Oct 29, 2016 at 1:39
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    Because the movies are nonsense.
    – ibid
    May 24, 2017 at 21:54

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Only theory I've ever considered was that he "fixed" the goblet to ensure that Krum's name was pulled from the flames. Other than that, he really had no business being in that room. Whether he actually has the skill to manipulate such a magically powerful object... possibly. He was a headmaster, after all. That has to say something about him.

Recalling the conversation between fake Moody and Igor, Moody does say that only a very powerful Confundus charm could hoodwink the goblet, so perhaps there is some way to do it, if you're powerful enough.

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No, no, no - That WASN'T Karakroff! It was Barty Crouch Jr., going in to put Harry's name into the goblet; he was using his Polyjuice to disguise himself as Karkaroff in case someone else came into the room and caught him tampering with the Goblet.

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    It's a compelling theory, but do you have any evidence to back this up? In any case, for something that isn't confirmed anywhere in the books or the films, the emphatic nature of this answer seems a bit much to me? Or have I been really thick and missed where this is made clear - cause I'd be really interested to see that?
    – Au101
    Nov 1, 2016 at 18:21
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    +1. That's actually a very good idea. Probably no evidence whatsoever, but i absolutely love the idea of Barty sneaking in as Karkaroff in the night to tweak the goblet so even a shadow of suspicion wont fall in his direction, but on the antipathic foreigner.
    – user68762
    Sep 4, 2017 at 19:49
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    @PMar this could be an excellent explanation, however this doesn't have any supporting evidence. Also, if Barty Jr. used a Polyjuice, how did he manage to obtain hair of Karkroff?
    – Sandun
    Apr 22, 2021 at 10:45
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I think for a lack of better words, this was an in-movie red herring. There are not one but two scenes where we get the red herring. The entering of the great hall, and when the Goblet of Fire chooses Harry, we get a close-up on Igor's face. It's entirely possible that it was Barty Crouch Jr. disguised as Igor to Harry's name in. Ever since I saw GoF, I always suspected Igor himself wanted to enter into the contest for fame and glory but that was just my theory. Overall, probably just a red-herring to make Igor seem like the bad guy so the audience could not or would not suspect the half-mad Mad-Eye Moody.

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I suppose that he might've been trying to hoodwink the goblet of fire into choosing Viktor Krum, one of his students that was also a famous Quidditch player.

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    Hey, welcome to Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange! On this site, we prefer answers that are backed up by sources (or at least have a fully fleshed out logical explanation). Could you possibly include what makes you think this? Thanks!
    – Mithical
    Oct 8, 2018 at 7:26
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Sure it made him look suspicious but I think was happened was that he cast some sort of spell on it so that Victor Krum would get picked for the Durmstrang triwizard champion.

In future scenes he is shown to be very passionate about winning so it makes sense that he would do something to cheat in order to get his best abled pupil and Quidditch World Cup player to represent the school in the tournament.

But that is just what I think.

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    Perhaps he did, but is there evidence of this?
    – Adamant
    May 24, 2017 at 1:37
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I have always said it was Igor Karkaroff who put Harry’s name in the Goblet of Fire. Two people have said he was in the hall to make sure Krum’s name was chosen, and another person said it was Barty Crouch Jr. disguised as Karkaroff through Polyjuice potion.

But during the scene when Harry’s name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, you can see by the look of Karkaroff’s face his face that he was expecting Harry’s name to come out.

And again during the first task when Harry is being battered by the dragon, Karkaroff is laughing menacingly.

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  • So if it wasn't Crouch, why would Karkaroff have any interest in putting Harry's name into the Goblet?
    – Jenayah
    Aug 23, 2019 at 18:24