With the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament comes the promise of an “impartial judge:” a means of determining which students are “most worthy to represent their schools” (103) in the tournament. When the Goblet of Fire is revealed, many of Harry’s fellow students believe they can fool the goblet into allowing them to enter the tournament, and although many fail to cross Dumbledore’s Age Line, the goblet itself does not adhere to the same rules as the Triwizard judges. The goblet represents the fickle nature of fate, and while Harry did not consent to anyone putting his name into the goblet, forces outside his control once again act in his life to deliver him into the hands of Voldemort. Fate does not care about age or experience; it often comes for those who least expect it.

Dumbledore announces that he will “personally [ensure] that no underage student hoodwinks [their] impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion” (76). However, Dumbledore did not account for the possibility that an older student—or even an adult—could enter an underage wizard’s name into the goblet. When Karkaroff and Madame Maxime demand to add more of their students’ names to the goblet until everyone has two champions, Bagman explains that the Goblet of Fire has already gone out, and it “won’t reignite until the start of the next tournament” (112).