Join hosts Aureo, Irvin, Sam, Sophia, and guest Grace as they discuss their favorite characters and the characters that most intrigue them in the Harry Potter series.
In this episode:
- Meeting the hosts of The Three Broomsticks!
- Are there German prophecies declaring Aureo a Chosen One?
- Is Ron and Hermioneās bickering annoying or enjoyable?
- The epic tragedy of Sirius Black
- ALL the feelings when Luna Lovegood comes up!
- Does Tom Riddle ever truly become Lord Voldemort?
- We love sassy characters!
- The thankless job of Deputy Headmistress
- Whatās Quirrellās favorite novel?
Resources:
A list of all the articles mentioned in the episode.
- Why Luna is Loved by Irvin
- Why Luna Lovegood Is the Bravest Character by Sophia
- The Big Bads: Grindelwald vs. Voldemort by Irvin
- Mentoring Through the Madness: How Lupin Helps Harry Even When Heās Hurting by Sophia
- Is Lupin the Only One Who Understands Snape? by Sophia
- The Schemes Behind the Spite: Why Voldemort Really Jinxed the DADA Job by Sophia
Welcome everyone! Hope you enjoy listening!
And can’t wait to discuss with you in the comments here š
A great start (though I’m only halfway through so far), and I look forward to future episodes!
I’m less bothered by Ron & Hermione’s bickering than Harry is (excepting when they’re Not Talking To Each Other). A common trait of kids from bad upbringings is hyper-awareness of mood and body language. Harry probably over-reacts to what is actually mild anger between them.
Sirius is definitely a tragic figure, partly because despite escaping Azkaban he never really got to be free. I remember being alarmed at how quickly Harry agreed to live with him (at the end of PoA); sure, he’s not a Dursley, but he’s a homeless wreck in prison rags. I could understand Harry wanting to give Sirius something to look forward to, but staying together that summer was never going to work out well.
Yay, glad to have you with us!
I always thought it made perfect sense for Harry to immediately want to move in with Sirius, because of how desperate he is to get away from the Dursleys. He will go with anyone, anywhere, if they offer an alternative. After all, he goes off to London with Hagrid at age 11, knowing him for all of two hours at that point. For Harry, homeless wreck >>> Dursleys any day of the week.
Oh, I understand it from both Sirius and Harry’s perspectives, but as a (responsible?) adult, it gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Oooh, this was such a good episode! I literally jaw-dropped when Grace started analyzing the different reasons why we can only see Voldemort as two-dimensional!
About Aureo’s discussion of why McGonagall doesn’t take a more active role sometimes: I think we see the answer in OotP when Fudge and the Aurors are trying to take Dumbledore into custody. McGonagall says she’s going to fight them, too, and Dumbledore tells her not to, saying, “Hogwarts needs you.” We know he always liked to keep Hogwarts under competent protection when he was gone; he wouldn’t have been able to focus, otherwise. She was too valuable to him! I think he couldn’t risk her.
Thanks Lorrie!
That’s a really good point! Dumbledore is, in general, not fantastic at delegation – so the fact that he can entrust Hogwarts to her and have one big thing off his plate would be a big consideration.
That’s a great point, Lorrie! I think what we know and are seeing repeatedly is that Dumbledore’s flaw in general seemed to trust people more, despite often coming across as too “naive and trustworthy” in the eyes of others. But we know, he keeps the big plan veeeeery close to his chest and ultimately doesn’t trust anyone with the full picture.
I am not saying he should have told McGonagall the whole plan, I don’t think she would have been able to go through with it, but I do think, it would have been overall beneficial to the whole Order if he trusted them a little more. Once he is dead the Order’s role in the war could have been more significant (or at least we don’t see much of their resistance to Voldemort) during the Trio’s hunt for Horcruxes.
Hiiiiiiiii! Loved the first episode. Can’t wait for more š
I appreciated the discussion on the literary decision to knock Dumbledore off his pedestal post-mortem. We ironically follow some extensive character development throughout book seven… of a character who is no longer living in the story. More Dumbledore character development happens in DH than in the rest of the series, I’d argue, where he’s alive and acting of his own accord. I think it’s really powerful to watch Harry struggle with the rapid disintegration of yet another idealized father figure’s image while balancing this with what he knew of the guy while alive. The first, of course, was his father James, after seeing him bully Snape in the pensieve. As much as the series is a journey of a boy in search of a father, it’s equally pointing to the tragedy of realizing that parents are just people, like anyone else. A great discussion overall. My favorite is Ginny. Book Ginny.
Hello and glad to hear you enjoyed our first episode!
I never thought about it that way, but of course, you’re correct, we do get more character development of Dumbledore after he died. While Dumbledore transitions from the untouchable great hero during Goblet of Fire, to someone who admits his flaws and shortcomings at least to Harry by the time he passes, Harry still regards Dumbledore much more highly, than maybe even Dumbledore expects him to. But then of course, Harry needs to still trust and put his faith in Dumbledore and his plan to defeat Voldemort, for the said plan to be successful…
I wonder regarding the first “downfall” of a father figure if that isn’t Hagrid. Hagrid, very early on changes from a father figure to a friend of Harry’s, leveling him more as an equal to the trio. I’d say this happens about halfway through Philosopher’s Stone, latest by the point with Norbert(a), when he originally starts as the first adult to explain the Wizarding World to Harry. In Hagrid’s case it’s probably less of a downfall but a more natural transition and I am sure largely impacted by his own lack of self-esteem, which is part of the trouble when it comes to his teaching career (I am already regretting raising this anywhere near Irvin…)
And yay, all the love to Book Ginny, she is amazing!
*insert GIFs of me ranting and raving*
Jokes aside, I think all of Harry’s father figures suffer from a downfall of sorts, as part of the series’ arc that “whoops, turns out parents are human!” James and Dumbledore are the most dramatic examples, of course, but I think it was also a very rude awakening for Harry when Sirius transformed from Gold Star Godfather to Moody Rebel Under House Arrest.
For Hagrid, it was less downfall and more demotion in my mind. Sorcerer’s Stone onwards, and *definitely* starting in PoA once he’s teaching, Harry views Hagrid more as a bumbling friend who happens to be a grown-up, rather than a father figure. I agree that Norbert is definitely a huge part of that transition. But it’s different to James/Sirius/Albus, because Harry still views them as father figures, albeit flawed ones.
Agreed that Hagrid was never truly occupying a “father figure” role to Harry. As an aside, I very much support your controversial anti-Hagrid attitude, lol. Blind innocent (naive) loyalty seems to be the source of his “likeable” nature, similar to Dobby, a character I also struggle with.
Yay! Glad at least someone is onboard with this!
I’ll admit to being VERY irked with Dobby in Chamber of Secrets, and then I was “meh” about him until Deathly Hallows. But the tragic death really did redeem him for me – I think it’s a testament to Jo’s writing that his death is so emotionally affecting even for readers who aren’t his biggest fans.
“than maybe even Dumbledore expects him to” … a super interesting observation of Dumbledore’s character. I like to believe this is true (that Dumbledore is surprised by his own success in solidifying Harry’s loyalty and trust) in the same way I like to think that Dumbledore overestimates Harry’s deductive reasoning skills overall. Because the man never actually planned Harry to get and use felix in book 6, in fact I’m not sure we get confirmation that Dumbledore ever knew Harry used the potion to get Slughorn’s memory. Dumbledore set Harry on a mission our hero may never had succeeded in without felix felicis. Moreover, there are a few times Harry actually frustrates the headmaster by being a tad slow on the info processing side. Overestimation of others may be something those who are known to possess – forgive me the lack of seemly modesty – prodigious skill are prone to…is it a likely assumption?
On your point re Harry’s mission – I don’t think it’s an overestimation on Dumbledore’s part, so much as it is a teaching moment. I get into this in my Dumbledore book, but the gist is that Dumbledore needs Harry to be able to get information about Voldemort from reluctant sources after Dumbledore is no longer around to do so. So the Slughorn assignment was a very important part of Dumbledore’s Voldy-Slaying 101 curriculum for Harry.
I’d be curious what other moments come to mind for you where Dumbledore overestimates Harry’s processing. On the whole, I think Harry is pretty quick on the uptake, and seems to favorably impress Dumbledore during the HBP lessons by asking good questions and noticing things.
And as for Dumbledore being surprised by Harry’s regard – I think it’s indicative of Dumbledore’s guilt. Generally, Dumbledore is very comfortable cultivating loyalty among his allies, and being held in very high regard by them. But with Harry, I think he might feel bad about how much regard Harry shows considering that Dumbledore is “raising him for slaughter.” If that guilt is internalized, Dumbledore would feel unworthy of Harry’s esteem, so Harry’s loyalty and admiration are a little surprising because they don’t jive with Dumbledore’s feeling of how Harry should feel about him.
Yay, glad to have you with us!
I agree, it is fascinating that most of Dumbledore’s character development happens after he’s dead. One of Jo’s great gifts as a writer is how much characters are still very much part of the story after they’re dead – we see this with James and Lily, and we see this powerfully in her Cormoran Strike mysteries (especially Troubled Blood). Dumbledore is no exception – he’s as crucial as ever in DH, even as we finally learn that he was human and flawed after all.
I really enjoyed this episode, Iām disappointed that I was late to the first episode but you guys are some of my favorite people from Alohamora! And yes, the best character is objectively Lee Jordan
Aw, thanks so much!
And you still got here within the first 10 days the podcast has been live, I feel like we’ll still count it as an OG listener! š
Oh my god I cannot believe that I forgot to check in with your new podcast!! I’ll have to listen to the episodes IMMEDIATELY š
But on the upside, now you have three whole episodes waiting for you š