Join hosts Aureo, Irvin, Sam, and guest Sierra as they discuss the third chapter in the third Harry Potter book: The Knight Bus, Prisoner of Azkaban, chapter 3
In this episode:
- Run away, do something stupid – check!
- I wanna be where the Muggles are
- Let my people fly!
- The amenities of the Knight Bus
- Madam Marsh needs to party
- Foreshadowing Cedric’s vampiric turn
- What If: Would Harry trust Sirius?
- Uncles and favourite nephews have fraught relationships
- No place safer than Hogwarts… except Diagon Alley?
Resources:
- Sierra’s cats on Instagram by Sierra
- Irvin’s Cornelius Fudge cosplay by Irvin
The Pub’s Jukebox: Get on the Bus by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls
Don Bledore, known for his quoteable catchphrase: “I’m going to make him an offer of sherbet lemons.”
I agree with Dumbledore being a mix of empathy and strategy, and being driven by his own attempts at atonement. But I disagree that his agreements are always unconditional: his offer to Snape, at least, is very transactional.
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I thought of #12 as operating similarly to muggles looking at the Leaky Cauldron – if you’re not allowed to see it, your eyes just skip over it.
Your brain is good at filling in gaps in perception (lots of fascinating stuff to do with saccades and blind-spots, for example), so you perceive it as there being no space in between. Likewise the reveal is the brain trying to make sense of a building suddenly appearing where there wasn’t space for it – nothing actually moves, but Harry perceives #12 pushing the neighbouring properties aside.
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You certainly can get soft toy hottie covers – we had a snuggle cow.
These days (given the prevalence of electric blankets) I gather they’re more popular for soothing cramps.
Yes, that view of #12 makes a lot of sense. I think it’s one of the problems of a visual medium like film, where you see the building appearing between two others – it’s not made clear whether that is just what Harry sees or whether it’s what we (as the observers) also see.
Touche about Dumbledore and Snape, you’re right on that one. So there does come a point – namely, being an active Death Eater in the middle of a war – where Dumbledore’s unlimited empathy does reach its limit.
Now that I’ve finished the episode, some further (somewhat random) thoughts…
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On a slightly more serious note, the wizarding world seems to delegate needing to understand muggles (Muggle Studies isn’t a required course). There are entire departments of the Ministry (e.g. the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee) that exist to ensure the average witch/wizard doesn’t have to know anything that might make them uncomfortable, while allowing them a non-bigoted excuse to look down on those who do (like Arthur Weasley): “I’ve nothing against Muggles, but that’s not a very prestigious career path!”
If someone wants to manipulate me by plying me with ice cream… it would 100% work.
[…] Please give a warm welcome to our new host Sierra Obermark! We’re super happy Sierra has agreed to join us as a permanent member of The Three Broomsticks. You can listen to Sierra’s first appearance on the podcast as a guest on episode 9 here. […]