2022: full spoilers: I was pretty forgiving in the re read 2 years ago. I mention the contrivances but probably didn’t catch as many. It really is wild how much of a patchwork the world building is, and how many issues are created by the hand wave resolution to obstacles. The movie really did fix a lot. Winky’s storyline is so contrived, the elf rights go no where at all, Dobby just shows up with gillyweed and explains the trial to him, and he’s got the invisibility cloak on him but forgets he’s got it going into the water, which would have helped a heck of a lot trying to free everyone, if he did believe everyone would die. It’s overwritten by a mile and the Crouch showing up was dumb, the other houses as paper thin, as are those characters. What about the sneakascope Harry has? Suddenly there’s another animagus yet again and this convoluted as heck B plot mystery. It’s just too much. And oh my god the exposition on the audiobook is 4+ hours long at the end with Voldemort and the final reveal after it. And then Sirius shows up for the reveal? And then suddenly a dementor kills the only witness? Another animagus. No lol I don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong: it’s also a really fun… but I can’t say it’s well written. It sure thinks young adults are incompetent readers, more like childrens writing and no trust in the reader, only with darker themes.

2020: Far better than the movie this time. There are some wild contrivances in the movie, such as, uh, how the f did Crouch get out of prison?

Moody is waaaay harder to spot and you find out how he was taken. Plus, the missing ministry worker dovetails nicely with the other things and segues into V’s return, which is again, much more fleshed out. The only thing I liked more in the movie was how Harry got Gillyweed, which was the plan here.

And the ending of this goes way further in explaining why Fudge is such a dick about Harry and the disbelief of the dark lord’s return. Nicely sets everything up. And Rita is far more of a character that helps with it.

All in all it’s just far more superior and interesting. The writing is slowly getting better with each iteration, I find, too.