Cues No. 2 & 3

The english horn introduces us back into the world of our three protagonists, beginning with Hermione awakening Harry, then moving over to Ron. Here we get our first statement of Ron’s Theme in the movie, which accompanies his antics as he’s unwilling to get up. As the Burrow is shown, the ascending line at the end of Ron’s Theme goes through a key change, and it moves into a statement over a new chord quality. This represents not just Ron now, but the whole Weasley clan as they trek through the woods on their way somewhere.

A pedal bass holds as chords above them move upwards. The music comes to an abrupt halt when Cedric Diggory suddenly drops out of a tree, before a french horn plays a fragment of the new theme for Cedric. This theme will develop throughout the film for him as a character so that by the end, when Dumbledore addresses Cedric’s “brave and true” qualities, the music will have represented them from the start.

The camera begins moving faster through tall grass towards the top of a hill. The music pulses as it doesn’t know quite where it’s going. At the reveal of what looks like just an old boot, parallel triads move around in excitement as the strings have a flurry of Hedwig-esque passagework. This explodes in its full form when Harry grabs the boot, now known to be a Portkey, and flies with the Weasleys and Diggorys to their destination. Musical punctuations accent Harry and his friends hitting the ground, before a graceful sailing motion shows Amos, Arthur, and Cedric landing with a little bit more finesse. They have now arrived.

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The third cue (at 2:17) starts with a new motif known as the Wizard Games motif. It is a simple chord progression that moves forward and outward, opening up the excitement of this new part of the Wizarding World. A tag on the end quotes the horn line from when Harry first saw the Hogwarts Express, recapturing the sense of wonder he felt that day.

Hedwig’s Theme appears quietly and then flows into its full orchestration as they walk through the campgrounds, seeing different magical people, creatures, and events going on. There were so many options in terms of what theme to put here - something like Williams’ music for Diagon Alley could have worked well. But because of that childlike excitement, and since Hedwig’s Theme didn’t properly start the film like it has in the past, this became its true re-introduction into the series.

As the Weasleys all enter a tent that seems quite small for them, upwards scales and glissandos in the strings and harp accent them disappearing one after another. Upon entering, Harry realizes that it’s enchanted to be much bigger and homey on the inside. The Family Theme plays as Harry has a moment to himself to say “I love magic”.

A big fanfare begins as the sun sets and the camera pans up to the Quidditch World Cup stadium. Once inside, Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys are spotted by Lucius and Draco Malfoy. Ominous strings play low under the conversation, and at Lucius’ last words, we hear his theme play in the horns.

The Quidditch Fanfare plays as the stadium fills up and people get excited for the match. Once the fanfare makes its way through a couple new keys and everyone takes their place, the Irish team swoops quickly over them. The colorful orchestration accents the celebratory nature of the event, and emphasizes the giant dancing leprechaun created by the magical fireworks. Quidditch-style duplet and triplet figures play under the shot of the full Irish team before being interrupted by the Bulgarians.

The music for the Bulgarians is much more pulsating and threatening. Here, we get our first introduction to Viktor Krum’s motif: it plays three times, growing in intensity every iteration. The final statement plays as Krum comes directly into frame. The Wizard Games chords return as Cornelius Fudge welcomes everyone to the stadium and announces the beginning of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup.