DJ and Mayuri (Not The Droids and Spiced Volumes podcast) join Aureo and Sophia to discuss the hirings and firings of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors in the Harry Potter series. We discuss the impact of Voldemort’s curse on the subject and the results as seen through Harry’s eyes.
In this episode:
- Harry should have been a DADA teacher
- It’s a swing to go from Muggle Studies to DADA
- Everyone just learns about trolls
- How does Voldemort’s jinx of the DADA position work?
- Did the Marauders have better DADA professors?
- Auror training could have included a year as a DADA professor
- Quirell would have lost his job either way
- Dumbledore should not be the headmaster
Resources: The Schemes Behind the Spite: Why Voldemort Really Jinxed the DADA Job by Sophia
Pub’s Jukebox: Mad-Eye Moody by Percy and the Prefects
There was a discussion about Quirrell touching Harry’s arm in the Leaky Cauldron. Voldemort possessed Professor Quirrell after Quirrell failed in his mission to steal the stone from Gringotts. This was not an immediate act; at first, Voldemort was merely manipulating Quirrell, but after the failed heist, Voldemort took direct control of Quirrell’s body.
Correct! You beat me to it.
I find the discussion of “all the werewolves we see” to be very perplexing, because we have a sample size of 2. Based purely on what we see in the text, you could say werewolves are as likely to be gentle nerds like Lupin as bloodthirsty savages like Fenrir.
Also, I’m commenting as I listen, but surprised no one has yet brought up that Umbridge crafted anti-werewolf legislation during Harry’s second year that “made it impossible” for Lupin to get a job. That was surely a factor in why Dumbledore chose to hire Lupin when he did, even if the Sirius factor can explain the bulk of it.
They’re the only two we meet in person, but doesn’t it reference Fenrir being more successful than Lupin at recruiting other werewolves? Thus lending more weight to that side of the scale.
It’s a bit like Hagrid and giants: our first encounter is counter to stereotype, but then later events (mostly off-screen) demonstrate why the stereotype exists.
Sure, it does, but we don’t see them, and I wouldn’t consider those to be “werewolves we see.” The argument is certainly there that werewolves prefer Fenrir’s outlook, but we don’t know how savage or gentle they are due to it all being entirely off-page.
In the case of giants, we get much more specific info: Kirkus, Golgomath, Grawp, and Fridwulfa are all named giants who do subscribe (in varying degrees) to the stereotypes of vicious giants. So we hear enough about the specifics of how giants are to draw some conclusions, far more than werewolves IMO.
I know I appreciate it when a werewolf gently tears my leg off…
Exactly! With a tender caress of the bloodied stump afterwards.
XD
Oh, so you’ve been reading those sort of fics…
Fenrir/Mad-Eye OTP!
First off, Sophia’s theory about the DADA jinx affecting Harry and influencing Marietta is genius – definitely one of the most innovative and elegant theories I think I’ve heard on our pod!
Second, I’d like to push back on Voldemort cancelling the jinx in Deathly Hallows. I’ll admit I never even considered that, though now that it’s been brought up, of course it’s a possibility. I’m still not sold though, for several reasons.
1) I don’t think cancelling the jinx is as easy as all that. It seems that the more complex and woolly magic is, the harder it’d be to undo… and I think the jinx is one of the most complex bits of magic we see. Kind of like Jo’s comment that “Harry’s blood + wand cores + willing sacrifice = Harry lives is not a scientific equation, it’s all very imprecise and nebulous at that level of magic.” I think that Voldemort probably could undo the jinx if he put his mind to it, but I think it would be a very complex bit of magic, and one that would necessitate him being at Hogwarts. As far as we know, he barely spends any time at the school in DH, and I don’t think he’d gotten around to it.
2) Amycus definitely seems like he fell afoul of the jinx. “Coincidence” is a possible explanation, but not one I favor.
3) I think it’s telling that the Death Eater given the task of DADA Prof is… one of the more expendable ones, shall we say. I think Voldemort hadn’t got around to fixing the jinx, or perhaps wasn’t even sure that he had fixed it even if he’d tried. So he picked a Death Eater he wouldn’t miss (disloyal, showing no particular skill, no value in terms of espionage, and kind of creepy) and gave him the job. And then was like, “Well, if he survives then great; if not, oh well.” I especially like this theory because we’re led to conclude he prizes Alecto more than Amycus, which is very telling since she’s no prize!
(Gosh, can you tell I’ve been writing about Death Eaters and have thought about this quite a bit?)