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harry potter - Is Viktor Krum a good wizard?


I rarely introduce movie canon into a question, but I'm watching Goblet of Fire and there's the scene where Moody/Crouch Jr is helping Harry figure out how to solve the first task (dragons), where he says, "Krum's head may be filled with sawdust, but Karkaroff's is not; you can bet he's got a plan."


Is there a basis in canon that Viktor Krum's head is "filled with sawdust", i.e. he's kind of dopey? Or is this just a characterization choice used in the movie? I didn't get the vibe off Viktor in canon that he's a "dumb jock" or not a talented wizard. So what gives about Viktor Krum? Is he daft or is he a smart and capable wizard who happens to be the best Quidditch Seeker in the world?



Answer



Krum is definitely NOT a very bad wizard.





  • As Nominsim noted in the comment, he performed a self-transfiguration charm for the second task (1/2 way done but fully effective - it got him where he needed AND he didn't damage himself) by turning half of himself into a shark. As we saw mentioned elsewhere in canon, transfiguring living things is one of the hardest of configurations, and doing so on humans is even harder.




  • He was chosen as his school's champion. Somehow I doubt that being a dumb jock with good reflexes and flying skills would be enough to be chosen. (Then again, Harry was a champion... *DVK ducks and hides*)




  • Hermione liked him enough to actually go out with him somewhat seriously. Since this is NOT a hollywood romantic comedy, I'm going to make an assumption that Hermione's personality is that of a typical nerdy know-it-all girl; and nearly 100% of those that I have known (and I've known plenty) were almost exclusively into guys who had intelligence.




  • He said that he and the others on the TriWizard team were the ones who were steering their magical boat to Hogwarts (when questioned how they would get back home without just-eloped Karkaroff). Presumably, that's not a fully trivial skill.





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