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Why didn't Harry, Hermione, and Ron discover the Bubble-Head Charm in advance of the second task?

Science Fiction & Fantasy Asked on May 14, 2021

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry finds out several weeks before the second task of the Triwizard Tournament that he would be required to survive underwater for an hour.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron all proceed to spend hours and hours researching a solution to this problem, even engaging the librarian’s help:

So Harry, thinking that he would soon have had enough of the library to last him a lifetime, buried himself once more among the dusty volumes, looking for any spell that might enable a human to survive without oxygen. However, though he, Ron and Hermione searched through their lunchtimes, evening and whole weekends — though Harry asked Professor McGonagall for a note of permission to use the Restricted Section, and even asked the irritable, vulture-like librarian, Madam Pince, for help — they found nothing whatsoever that would enable Harry to spend an hour underwater and live to tell the tale.

Goblet of Fire — Bloomsbury — chapter 26, The Second Task

Hermione, in particular, has a charm in mind as the most probable solution:

"I think your best chance is some sort of charm."

Hermione — Goblet of Fire — Bloomsbury — chapter 26, The Second Task

Despite many hours spent searching, and despite Hermione’s formidable researching skills, they are unable to find any solution.

However, in the second task itself, both Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour use a Bubble-Head Charm to survive underwater:

Miss Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by Grindylows as she approach her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage.

Mr Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour.

Goblet of Fire — Bloomsbury — chapter 26, The Second Task

The Bubble-Head Charm doesn’t appear to be particularly difficult to perform, as it is in widespread usage among students by Harry’s fifth year:

Dungbombs and Stink Pellets were dropped so frequently in the corridors that it became the new fashion for students to perform Bubble-Head Charms on themselves before leaving lessons, which ensured them a supply of fresh air, even though it gave them all the peculiar appearance of wearing upside-down goldfish bowls on their heads.

Order of the Phoenix — Bloomsbury — chapter 30, Grawp

Why did Harry, Hermione, and Ron all fail to discover the Bubble-Head Charm in advance of the second task, despite spending weeks specifically researching a charm to survive underwater, and despite both Cedric and Fleur learning that charm?

2 Answers

The correct answer is, We don't know, unless Rowling confirms. However, there are a number of plausible explanations for this.

My personal explanation for this was that the Charm was not intended to be used for underwater purposes but rather a sort of comforting purpose like filtering out smells, toxins in the air only.

Breathing underwater maybe an explanation that experienced wizards such as Karkaroff or Madame Maxime may have been thought of, but it was not possible for inexperienced kids such as our protagonist trio to think of. I feel that there are a number of instances where Hermione fails to apply her knowledge in practical purposes. The first instance I think of is the one with Fire and Devil's snare.

Additionally, Wikia states (without reference)

It's unclear why Harry Potter was unable to find information on this spell while researching for the second task. It is possible that the spell was a relatively new invention not covered in many books as of 1995, or that the spell was not commonly used for breathing underwater, but for other purposes.
Source: Bubble-Head Charms

Correct answer by Arcane on May 14, 2021

I think the Trio were aware of the Bubble-Head charm, but due to their inexperience; Harry probably couldn't keep it active for a full hour. He very well could have produced a Bubble-Head charm, but perhaps only lasted like 15 min or so. I think to be able to produce that charm for a full hour took real inquisitive skill that Cedric and Fleur possessed. Since he didn't have too long to hone his skill in producing that charm, I believe all three dismissed it relatively fast, and were looking for something else.

Answered by Chris on May 14, 2021

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