March 4, 2025 • 39 mins
I was super excited to jump back into Harry Potter on the podcast! I know it's been a little while but we left off 10 chapters into The Prisoner of Azkaban - so, today we're picking up with chapter 11: The Firebolt!
This one is not the most eventful chapter to welcome us back to the series, but there is a TON of foreshadowing throughout, delivered during conversations that Harry, Ron and Hermione have with Hagrid, their Christmas present banter, and at the Christmas lunch with Professor's Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Trelawney.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Some Harry Potter chapters are action-packed, this is not one
of those, but it is packed full of foreshadowing.
Hi and welcome to Belated Binge Harry Potter, the podcast that
doesn't take itself or the bookstoo seriously.
I'm Zach, your host, and I didn't read this series till my
mid 20s and now I'm here so thatyou can relive your favorite
(00:22):
books as an adult with an affinity for sarcasm.
Today we pick back up with Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 11,
The Fireball, the Belated Binge podcast.
Before we start, spoilers obviously.
Language definitely hold. Definitely shout out to the
(00:45):
Bonus Binge Squad on patreonpatreon.com/belated Binge
if you want to get in on that. Fun shout outs in the episodes,
access to bonus episodes, other cool benefits that are there.
Early access to the episodes. Basically I record them and I
put them on to Patreon and then that's when patrons get them.
(01:09):
So yeah, check it out. Before we get into this
particular chapter though, it has been a while since we've
done a Harry Potter chapter on this podcast, so I thought it
might be a pretty good idea to reset where we left off in the
story. So in case you're obliviated or
you got your Hogwarts letter late, let us shove our faces
(01:32):
into that white liquidy substance of our pensive.
To this point in the book, we have learned that Harry Potter
is a special wizard boy. He lives with his abusive aunt
and uncle who hate him, but somehow not as much as his
uncle's sister Marge, who is a gigantic piece of shit.
At the end of her visit, she pushed Harry a little bit too
(01:55):
far talking shit about his parents, and he accidentally
turned her into a human hot air balloon.
And then he ran away. Luckily, the purple bus of Plot
Convenience picked him up and brought him to the Leaky
Cauldron, where the magical Minister of Plot Convenience
happened to be looking for him in that exact moment in time.
(02:16):
Harry gets to hang out in an allwizard village called Diagon
Alley with a hotel room all by himself with no direct
supervision for the rest of the summer because there's an
escaped convicted murderer wizard man named Sirius Black
who's on the loose and wants to add Harry to his body count.
He was even able to elude Azkaban Guards, which is a term
(02:41):
that's only used in this book upuntil the point where we as the
reader learn that they're actually called Dementors and
nobody ever uses the term Azkaban guard again because
stupid writing. We learn what they're called
when they stop the Hogwarts Express on its way to school and
(03:01):
they suck the happiness out of everyone on the train and the
consciousness out of Harry, who hears his mom screaming in his
head and passes out when he's near them, which is very
unpleasant. Once at school, he's
disappointed that he's not able to go to an all wizard village
called Hogsmeade with a giant group of classmates and
(03:22):
witnesses because he didn't get his signed permission slip and
there's a murderer trying to gethim.
Uh huh. Everywhere he goes, it seems
that someone's telling him or predicting that he's going to
die or they're making fun of him.
We are also reminded that Quidditch's life when Harry
(03:45):
nearly falls to his death from 50 feet in the air and his broom
blows right into the Whomping Willow.
You know, the murder tree. And luckily Fred and George come
through in the clutch to hook him up with a way to sneak into
Hogsmeade anyways, all by himself.
When they give him the Maraudersmap, which helped him to be
(04:05):
present for one of the biggest plot conveniences in the history
of literature. When he hid under a table and
listen to the Minister of Magic telling a bartender all about
the serious Black murder case, how he betrayed the Potter's in
extreme detail and all about howhe was the best friend of James
(04:29):
and what else did he say? They details about the case and
what they found with Peter Pettigrew.
Only one finger. That's it.
He was there and all of this stuff while he's drinking at the
bar with Professor, Professor, Professor Mcgonigal, Professor
(04:50):
Flitwick and Hagrid of all people, because that group
obviously hangs out on the weekends.
And oh, by the way, Sirius Blackis Harry's godfather.
And now you are sufficiently up to speed with at least how up to
speed Harry is in this particular story so that we can
(05:11):
jump into Priori Incan chapter. Where are wands connect?
Not the tips, just the streams so that we can recap what went
down in the chapter that we justread this week.
Chapter 11 The Fire Bolt In thischapter, Harry gets back to
school in a daze. Kind of like when you get up at
(05:34):
3:30 in the morning to go to work and you're pretty sure that
you fell asleep at some point along the drive because you've
been driving for like an hour and suddenly become aware that
you're almost there, but you can't remember how you got
there. Maybe I'm speaking from a little
bit of experience, but I imaginethat that's what he's feeling
like because he's spiraling mentally because of the whole
(05:55):
Sirius Black was his dad's best friend and his own godfather
thing. He was the best man at Lily and
James's wedding. And now knowing a little bit
more about them and him, Harry was able to open his little
photo album book that Hagrid gave him at the end of his first
year and found pictures of his parents and Sirius at their
(06:20):
wedding. And he's doing the thing where
he starts to wonder if Sirius Black was already planning or
had already been betraying them at that point.
Like he's he's doing that that thing where you you see a moment
in time in knowing the later outcome and you kind of wonder,
(06:45):
was it already unfolding or was he still still their friend?
Was he still loyal? Was he still a a loved member of
the group at that point in time?Or had he already started to go
the other way? And was he a mole?
You know, was, was he a spy? Wild.
(07:09):
And he's 13, by the way. So this is kind of a lot to
handle mentally. He brings up in his head the
part of the conversation where Fudge said that the Dementors
don't affect Sirius Black, whichis a foreshadow that we're going
to learn more about later. Naturally, he didn't sleep much
(07:33):
after all of this went down. Luckily, the trio are basically
the only kids staying at Hogwarts during the Christmas
break, so they get to talk openly about it when he gets up
at like noon. You know, straight up teenager
hours. Don't sleep all night.
Fall asleep around 5-6 in the morning and then sleep till noon
(07:53):
and then you wake up kind of looking like a zombie.
Yeah, Harry's doing that. Which seems about right because
I, you know, like I mentioned, he's 13.
But they get to talk openly likethey couldn't the day before
because everybody was still there.
The common room was super crowded.
That's why he snuck up to bed early and all of that.
(08:15):
Anyways, and Hermione and Ron are worried about Harry going
after Sirius Black, which is what the adults were worried
about earlier in the book. To remember how many times,
essentially he's had to say the words why would I go after
someone who wants to kill me? You know that bit?
He does, however, tell them about hearing his mother
(08:36):
screaming and pleading with Voldemort as she's about to be
murdered every time the Dementors get close to him.
And it seems pretty healthy. Not the not what's actually
happening, but that he's finallysaying that, you know, getting
that off his chest a little bit to his friends.
(08:57):
And Ron also gives us some foreshadowing during this back
and forth about how the biggest bit of Peter Pettigrew they
found was his finger. By the way, we're going to have
to recap all the foreshadowing that happens in this chapter.
Good Lord, it's it is foreshadowed a bound.
Harry brings up how Draco knew that this was the case, with him
(09:21):
being his godfather, or at leastbeing the one that betrayed
them, and he stews on that for alittle bit.
Shout out to the dreary fans, particularly the ones that have
been commenting on that YouTube video that I made.
I made this random YouTube videoabout who Harry could have wound
up with romantically if it wasn't Jenny.
I did not expect it to do the things that it's done, but it's
(09:43):
gone kind of hog wild a little bit in the YouTube world.
And there been a lot of people in that comments section telling
me about how he and Draco shouldhave ended up together.
So shout out to those people. And if you want to go watch that
video, go ahead and watch it. But, you know, wait till this
episode is over. They break up the fun discussion
(10:04):
that they're having to go visit Hagrid, where Harry intends to
interrogate him about never telling him this detail about
Sirius Black and his father and all of that.
But when they get down there, they find him crying his eyes
out. He had gotten a letter from the
Ministry of Magic that he's not in trouble for the Buck Beak
(10:27):
thing. You don't remember when Buck
Beak smack the shit out of Dracolike a little bitch, That
incident. Yeah, but there is going to be a
hearing with the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures Committee, I
believe is what they were calledabout whether Buckbeak should
get, you know, murdered or not. And there's two things about
(10:48):
this that I want to say before we move past it because I just
find it a bit odd. First is he was just haggard.
I mean, was literally just with the Minister for Magic
yesterday, the prior day, Uno day, just a a handful of hours,
(11:14):
one sleep before this moment, chumming it up, drinking away in
Hogsmeade like a couple of good old pals.
Just ignoring the fact that lasttime we saw these two together,
just one year before this, Fudgewas showing up to put Hagrid and
Azkaban, you know, to look like he was doing something about the
(11:37):
Chamber of Secrets, that whole mess.
But Fudge had no idea that this letter was coming to Hagrid the
very next morning to the place where he was going to be hanging
out that day. Now, you can tell me, and I
would believe you, that the Minister for Magic is too
(11:58):
important for something like this and doesn't know every
single hearing or, you know, case that is being, I guess,
deliberated or whatever within the ministry.
The head of whatever government branch doesn't know everything
that's happening in that government, clearly.
(12:23):
Why would they? But in this particular case,
Budget ends up being the witnessto the execution later.
So he, at least by that point, ends up being aware.
And I don't think it's a stretchto think that he's at least seen
(12:44):
this. And particularly, I think it's
reasonable to think that if there's an open case of any kind
against a teacher at Hogwarts, he's going to be aware of that
case before he goes to Hogwarts,and certainly before he goes out
drinking at the bar with the teacher whose case is pending.
(13:07):
Am I crazy? I'm just saying he could have
given him a little heads up, that's all.
He had no problem giving the bartender all of the juicy
details of a murder conviction about Sirius Black.
Maybe could have let Hagrid knowthat there was some stuff going
(13:30):
on with the the buckbeak thing. The other thing is that Hagrid
says in this exchange that the whole disposal Department of
Magical Creatures or whatever it's called again is in Malfoy's
pocket and that they're afraid of him.
(13:54):
Leading me to ask the question, is this just a thing that the
Malfoy's enjoy doing? Having magical creatures killed?
Draco just absolutely gets off on this for like the entire
book. He pretends his arms hurt when
it isn't. He talks shit about how he and
his dad are going to make sure that Buckby gets killed like
(14:15):
constantly. And unfortunately, in this very
moment, I can't remember if it'sa movie ISM or if it's also
exactly like this in the book, but he wants to watch the
execution happen. And if Hagrid is so familiar
(14:36):
with this group that they're in with Lucius Malfoy, how often is
this happening and how often is it a creature that Hagrid cares
for? Otherwise, how does he know this
information and why does he knowthis information and why would
this be a thing at all? I get that the Malfoy's are
(14:58):
power trip people so it could just be that, but it seems very
odd that they both seem to have this weird fetish about
influencing the bureaucracy thatoverseas the lives and death of
animals. It's fucking weird detail.
At least Harry wasn't enough of a Dick head to use this time to
(15:20):
dig into Hagrid about Sirius Black.
Instead, we've got the trio on the case.
We're going to get a hippogriff off.
Hagrid tells them about what it's like being locked up in
Azkaban, and that I think, is worth digging into a little bit
deeper. So we're going to do that in the
(15:40):
Lumos segment of this episode here in just a little bit,
because it's pretty dark. And I think it serves a purpose
not just in the moment but also narratively.
After their visit, the trio doessome library research to try to
help Haggard with said case. Because Google doesn't exist.
(16:03):
They have to go to the library and read books.
Books, like real books. And then Christmas.
Because remember, it's the holiday break.
That's why they're all the only ones that are at the castle,
because it's Christmas and most kids go home at Christmas
because they actually like theirfamilies.
(16:24):
But Harry doesn't and Ron and Hermione are there for Harry.
Harry gets presents sometimes. I'm still shocked that that's
the thing that happens. But Ron's mom is awesome.
And make sure that Harry gets presents and their thoughtful
presents. You know, he gets like a sweater
with a lion on it because Gryffindor and some other stuff
(16:48):
they said, I think pie treats. I don't know.
I didn't write all that down because the other thing that he
got was a brand new broom. It's a fireball, the title of
our chapter, and it's the fancy top of the line broom that he
was having wet dreams about earlier in the book when he was
(17:08):
in that hotel room in that all wizard village by himself at 13
years old with no direct adult supervision at all, with a
killer on the loose that wanted to murder him.
That part, you know, he would goto the broom store and stare at
this thing for like hours on endevery day.
And now he has one and Harry andRon are playing the game of who
(17:34):
bought me this crazy expensive gift.
You know we've all played that game before, right?
Right. We get some more foreshadowing
about Lupin before Hermione walks in and is put off by the
mystery broom gift. And this ends up being a topic
that is a a bit divisive among the core trio here in just in,
(18:02):
in, in just a did just a little bit.
We've got that interrupted, though, So the payoff is coming
later. Hermione is just kind of cold
about the broom and there's whatis the it's like Crookshanks on
(18:24):
Scabbers attempted violence that's been happening on and off
throughout the book so far. And the commotion knocks the
sneak a scope out of Harry's bag.
The sneak a scope that Ron bought for him when he was in
Egypt and sent him sent it to him for his birthday.
(18:45):
And they've been thinking that The thing is broken because, you
know, it was going off when at dinner or whatever Ron talked
about in his letter. And it's been seemingly kind of
just going off at random times. But here's some more
foreshadowing. They haven't been random.
Big shock. They describe how rough Scabbers
(19:09):
is looking though, and Ron callsit out as stress.
It's the stress getting to him because Crookshanks is always
trying to murder him, and who wouldn't be stressed if there
was a killer cat trying to kill you all the time?
If someone was always trying to murder you, wouldn't you be
stressed out, Harry? Anyways, Ron's mostly correct
(19:32):
about this. Of course, they are missing the
context of Sirius Black being the one that's actually after
him, and Crookshanks is just thesidekick.
After the commotion, though, there's saltiness, there's side
eye, and there's Harry stroking his new giant wood broom.
And they go down to lunch with the handful of people still at
(19:56):
Hogwarts. And this gives us the scene that
a lot of people bring up when they talk about Trelawney kind
of in the aftermath and reflecting on the series and how
often her. Random ridiculous predictions
that are played off as just she's a fraud.
(20:17):
Many of them actually end up being accurate and true and
nobody believes her because, well, she carries herself like a
fraud. But in this case, this is the
one where she makes a big deal about not wanting to sit at the
same table as them at lunchtime because she says if she sits
(20:39):
down, there will be thirteen people at that table, and
whoever stands up first will be first to die.
Because she's always about predicting people's deaths.
And that's why people think she's a fraud.
She's always doing this nonsense.
I think I just smacked the microphone.
That was probably good for the audio listeners.
(21:00):
Or maybe you didn't notice it all.
And now I've called it out for no good reason.
This is a thing that producers get mad at for show hosts doing
all the time. But since I'm both, I just do
what I want. So the reason that people have
gotten into this moment and intothis scene is because they have
(21:22):
cited, technically correctly, that Scabbers is currently in
Ron's pocket, AKA Peter Pettigrew.
And so there were actually already 13 people sitting at
that table. So when Dumbledore stands up in
this exchange, he actually ends up being the first person to
(21:44):
die. So while she doesn't know it,
because she thinks she's #13 Andshe freaks out when Harry and
Ron stand up at the same time. And she's like, Oh my gosh,
which one of you died first or is going to die first?
And it's like, ha, ha, ha, fraud.
(22:05):
There was already a 13th wizard at the table in Ron's pocket.
Because again, grown man, young boy's pocket.
This is the kind of nerd shit that makes the nerds in this
fandom such great nerds. Just saying, throughout all of
this, Professor Mcgonigal is nota fan of Trilani, and she makes
(22:28):
a couple of snarky comments. More foreshadowing that happens
during all of this, but it is really funny to listen to her
basically call Trilani out for being a fraud.
And there's more foreshadowing during lunch about Lupin's
potion. And there's more foreshadowing
about how Hermione's taking all these classes after she stays
(22:51):
behind to talk to Professor Mcgonagall and Ron and Harry are
talking about it. And just when they get back to
the common room and all Harry wants to do is Polish his big
old giant broomstick and Ron wants to help, the thing
happens. Hermione and Professor
(23:13):
Mcgonagall walk in on them, touching the wood.
I, I have to stop. I have to stop with those.
They're both caressing the fire bolt together.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just, that's what was
written in in the text. Professor Mcgonigal takes away
the broom and wants to examine it for jinxes, and Harry gets
(23:37):
all sputtery like a kid whose favorite toys being taken away
from him. And of course they're super
pissed at Hermione, who's red inthe face about it and hiding
behind a book. And that is the chapter.
Like I said, All in all, there'snot a lot going on here, but
there is a shit ton of foreshadowing, so we're going to
(24:00):
go through those. And this is just by my count.
If you counted more things than this in your read, then kudos to
you. Let me know what I missed.
Join the Facebook group for listeners of the podcast and you
can sound off in there about howdumb I was because I didn't
catch every single one that you caught.
These are the ones that I caughtone, the dementors don't affect
(24:23):
Sirius, which is how he kept hismind while he was there and
didn't go crazy like the rest ofthe prisoners do.
And hence, you know, was cognizant enough and, and, and
aware of his self, his inner self enough to actually be able
to escape. Two, the only thing that they
found of Peter Pettigrew or the biggest thing that they found
(24:44):
was a finger, which is how he convinced everyone that he was
dead and why Scabbers is missinga toe.
It's also the big reason that Sirius was able to recognize him
in the Daily prophet that convinced him to escape and get
to Hogwarts and save Harry from him in the 1st place.
Now it was, I say, the biggest reason.
He also is very aware of what Peter Pettigrew looks like as a
(25:06):
rat. But it's kind of like the
confirmation of, you know, having a missing toe. 3 Lupin
was sick during Harry's last Quidditch match, but Ron was in
the hospital wing and Lupin wasn't there, obviously
suggesting that there's something strange about whatever
Lupin's illness is. Kind of like is if there's no
(25:28):
illness that exists in which someone would want to avoid a
large crowd of people outside ina storm if they're not
hospitalized. But nonetheless still
foreshadowing. The next one is the pocket
sneak, a scope that Ron got Harry for his birthday.
When it starts going off. When Cruikshanks goes crooks,
yes, Cruikshanks goes after Scabbers.
(25:52):
A hint that there are shenanigans afoot, and in this
case, Scabbers actually being a 30 something year old wizard
disguised as a rat, which shouldhave been a foreshadow to the
Marauders of who the rat was in their group and who the rat from
their group would later be. Seriously, Wolfie, Mick,
(26:13):
Wolferson and the loyal dog couldn't figure out who might
have had the character of a rat,I guess.
Oh, and bonus foreshadowing about how old Scabbers is and
how he would need to have special powers that they didn't
know about to keep living much longer.
(26:33):
Sure does Harry more foreshadowing.
I mentioned the thing where Dumbledore stands up at the
table before Trelawny sat down and ends up being the one that
dies first. Sure, but the main foreshadow at
lunch is just the loop and cluesand how Trelawny says that he
won't be with them very long. Which we know ends up being
(26:54):
because he resigns at the end ofthe year after going all
werewolf on the grounds, which is not very safe when there are
children present. And Dumbledore is already aware
of this because there's still a curse on the Defense Against the
Dark Arts position. So he's going to have to be out
of that position somehow before next year.
So yeah, not going to be with you very long.
(27:17):
Dumbledore also foreshadows in his response the potion that
Snape has been making for Lupin because of his illness, the
Wolfsbane potion. More foreshadowing.
Ron making a snide comment aboutHermione wanting to talk to
Professor Mcgonagall Take He says it's probably about taking
more classes, which is a hint tothe time Turner because that's
(27:40):
how she's been taking all of these classes.
And the answer to that mystery that they've been trying to
solve all year long. And finally, Hermione thinking
that Sirius Black sent the fireball is less foreshadowing
and more just a correct assumption by the character.
She doesn't, however, know that he's a good guy and not using it
as a murder tactic. That is all the foreshadowing
(28:04):
that I noticed in this chapter, which seems like a lot of
foreshadowing. How'd I do?
Before we move on, I would like to ask you to leave a five star
rating and review in the podcastplayer that you are using right
now. It does truly help the show.
And if you're on YouTube, like the video, same request that
(28:26):
leads us to the next part of ourshow, which is the Lumos
section, the part where we lightour wand tips and illuminate a
character from the chapter. We're going to go with Hagrid.
Like I mentioned earlier, this is really kind of an interesting
part, not just for the chapter itself.
(28:46):
Also, I have something to give him a little bit of shit about,
but it is also also, I think doing some work narratively for
the book. And this is when he's telling
the kids about what it's like tobe locked up in Azkaban, which
is a just a common thing that you typically talk about with
(29:07):
children when you're a grown assadult and their teacher.
Totally. He talks about how being
surrounded by dementors all the time makes him like makes you
replay all of the worst memoriesin your head.
And he even goes as far as to say that he would go to sleep at
(29:31):
night hoping that he would just die instead of waking up again,
something you often tell children.
But here are the memories that he brings up.
And this is the thing that I want to give him a little bit of
shit for. The first memory being expelled
from Hogwarts? That makes sense.
(29:53):
He was framed for murder after all.
And in this world, getting expelled from school also comes
with a lifetime sentence of no magic because they break your
wand in half. Well, for Hagrid they do that.
It doesn't seem to have been thecase for Newt's commander or
Geller Grindelwald. Fred and George Weasley just
(30:13):
quit school in their final year and they certainly get to keep
theirs. That must be something
completely different. But for Hagrid, no school meant
no wand and it being illegal forhim to do magic for the rest of
his life. We can set aside the logic to
that, but that does seem like itwould be worthy of one of your
(30:33):
worst memories to relive. Makes sense to me.
The next one that he brings up is the day that his dad died.
I don't have to describe why that makes sense in the category
of worst memories of your life. Moving on, the third one, the
(30:54):
third worst memory of his life that he said the day he had to
let Norbert go. The baby fucking dragon that he
wasn't supposed to have in the 1st place.
The baby fucking dragon that bitand poisoned Ron.
The baby fucking dragon that Harry and Hermione got caught
(31:18):
smuggling out of the castle for him and led to the detention
that Harry was nearly murdered by Voldemort in the Forbidden
Forest because of. If the Centaur plot armor had
not shown up and saved his ass, he'd probably be dead because of
this baby fucking dragon. And Hagrid puts losing that baby
fucking dragon on the same list as being exiled from magic and
(31:42):
the death of the only parent in his life.
Fucking Hagrid. OK, he also uses this time to
explain that that's why he doesn't want to let Buckbee go
because not only can you not tell a wild animal that he needs
(32:04):
to go into hiding. Which by the way, do you think
that the Ministry of magic like tagged Buckbeek or or somehow
like checked his markings of some sort?
Like if Hagrid just took Buckbeek out to the other wild
(32:29):
hippogriffs that live in the forest because there were more
in that class, could a single person, Draco included, even
pick out the right one, aside from him and maybe Harry,
because he wrote it? Anyone.
Maybe. But alas, Will will put aside
that part of it. He is correct that you can't
(32:53):
really explain to a wild animal that it needs to go into hiding
and not get caught, but he talksabout them knowing that it would
be him and he's afraid to break the law because he's scared to
go back to Azkaban. And that's the part that carries
(33:15):
some weight here, because Hagriddoesn't have a problem breaking
rules, at least not to that point.
He didn't. But after his Azkaban
experience, he's afraid to even just let a hippogriff go in case
(33:35):
they think that that is a bad enough offence to put him back
in prison. The the like drive you mental
kind of prison. Ultimately, it's really a
pathway for us as a reader to get more explanation of why
(33:58):
Azkaban is so bad, so that it stays in our brain and can stay
relevant throughout the book. The author wants us to feel what
Azkaban is like, how horrible itis, how horrible the Dementors
are, so that it raises the stakes of the big reveal and the
climax later to make it more impressive that Sirius escaped
(34:23):
at all, To make it scary for himto have to go back, giving the
whole thing more steaks. Steaks for Pettigrew, steaks for
Remus and Sirius, for Hermione and Harry, and for the scene at
the lake when the dementors attack Harry and Sirius.
It this is part of what makes that wait felt.
(34:52):
This book is called The Prisonerof Azkaban and for that to truly
matter we have to actually give a shit and be afraid of Azkaban.
And what better way to do that then by showing us how one of
the biggest, physically, strongest physically characters
(35:13):
in this entire book series crumbles to pieces at the
thought of going back. Now, let's give out some house
points from this chapter. In true Hogwarts fashion, these
points are completely subjectivewith no oversight and fully at
my discretion. This week, I'm going to give
(35:35):
some house points to Sirius Black.
We don't know it yet, but he just gave Harry the dopest
present ever and it's also not meant to kill him, which is a
good bonus. He is going to get 50 points for
that. I'm also giving points to
(35:55):
Hermione for being someone who is more concerned with her
friend's safety then if that same friend is mad at her when
she expresses her concern to Professor Mcgonagall and her
suspicion that Black is the one indeed who did send the broom.
20 points to Hermione. Professor Mcgonigal is also
(36:18):
getting some points for just simply being highly entertaining
and calling Trolhani on her bullshit.
All throughout that lunch. It was great, I enjoyed it.
Five points, Professor Mcgonigal, the same as, you
know, defeating a mountain troll.
Now I'm going to take away some points from Ron for being a Dick
(36:41):
to Hermione about Crookshanks and the Fireball. 10 points for
each offense. I'm going to take away some
points from Haggard here too. He didn't do anything wrong, but
he is a grown ass man and seems to always need to lean on these
children to take care of him. And some of the stuff he said
(37:01):
was disturbing to be sharing with said children -5 points.
The last points I'm going to be taking away from characters are
from Draco and Lucius Malfoy both.
They aren't directly in the chapter, but their actions are
what caused the entire Buckbeak storyline in the 1st place, and
(37:25):
their weird fetish for hurting animals sucks ass.
So I'm taking away 100 points from each of these creepy
bastards. Before we go, we need to expect
O plot change O rewrite Harry Potter one small change at a
time. The expecto plot change O
(37:46):
question from this chapter is what if Hagrid did the adult
thing and didn't involve the trio in his problems?
How could that have changed the events in the chapter or the
book or the series? I'll give you my initial
thoughts on this one here. Would Harry and Hermione even be
(38:07):
aware of the appeal and execution at all?
So if they weren't, how would the end of this book play out?
You can share your thoughts on any social media platform.
I think I've got them all at Belated Binge.
You can use the comments sectionif you are on YouTube and you
(38:27):
can join the free Facebook groupfor listeners of the podcast
that there is a link in the shownotes for and let me know what
you think on any of those things.
With that, we have reached the end of this episode of Belated
Binge. If you enjoyed it, please
follow, subscribe, whatever podcast player that you're using
(38:48):
right now. And if it does support a rating
and review option, once again, please leave one if you're so
inclined to check out the additional benefits available on
patreon.com/belated Binge. Thanks for listening and tell
all your Potterhead friends their new favorite podcast
should be the Lady Binge Harry Potter.
Some Harry Potter chapters are action-packed, this is not one
of those, but it is packed full of foreshadowing.
Hi and welcome to Belated Binge Harry Potter, the podcast that
doesn't take itself or the bookstoo seriously.
I'm Zach, your host, and I didn't read this series till my
mid 20s and now I'm here so thatyou can relive your favorite
(00:22):
books as an adult with an affinity for sarcasm.
Today we pick back up with Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 11,
The Fireball, the Belated Binge podcast.
Before we start, spoilers obviously.
Language definitely hold. Definitely shout out to the
(00:45):
Bonus Binge Squad on patreonpatreon.com/belated Binge
if you want to get in on that. Fun shout outs in the episodes,
access to bonus episodes, other cool benefits that are there.
Early access to the episodes. Basically I record them and I
put them on to Patreon and then that's when patrons get them.
(01:09):
So yeah, check it out. Before we get into this
particular chapter though, it has been a while since we've
done a Harry Potter chapter on this podcast, so I thought it
might be a pretty good idea to reset where we left off in the
story. So in case you're obliviated or
you got your Hogwarts letter late, let us shove our faces
(01:32):
into that white liquidy substance of our pensive.
To this point in the book, we have learned that Harry Potter
is a special wizard boy. He lives with his abusive aunt
and uncle who hate him, but somehow not as much as his
uncle's sister Marge, who is a gigantic piece of shit.
At the end of her visit, she pushed Harry a little bit too
(01:55):
far talking shit about his parents, and he accidentally
turned her into a human hot air balloon.
And then he ran away. Luckily, the purple bus of Plot
Convenience picked him up and brought him to the Leaky
Cauldron, where the magical Minister of Plot Convenience
happened to be looking for him in that exact moment in time.
(02:16):
Harry gets to hang out in an allwizard village called Diagon
Alley with a hotel room all by himself with no direct
supervision for the rest of the summer because there's an
escaped convicted murderer wizard man named Sirius Black
who's on the loose and wants to add Harry to his body count.
He was even able to elude Azkaban Guards, which is a term
(02:41):
that's only used in this book upuntil the point where we as the
reader learn that they're actually called Dementors and
nobody ever uses the term Azkaban guard again because
stupid writing. We learn what they're called
when they stop the Hogwarts Express on its way to school and
(03:01):
they suck the happiness out of everyone on the train and the
consciousness out of Harry, who hears his mom screaming in his
head and passes out when he's near them, which is very
unpleasant. Once at school, he's
disappointed that he's not able to go to an all wizard village
called Hogsmeade with a giant group of classmates and
(03:22):
witnesses because he didn't get his signed permission slip and
there's a murderer trying to gethim.
Uh huh. Everywhere he goes, it seems
that someone's telling him or predicting that he's going to
die or they're making fun of him.
We are also reminded that Quidditch's life when Harry
(03:45):
nearly falls to his death from 50 feet in the air and his broom
blows right into the Whomping Willow.
You know, the murder tree. And luckily Fred and George come
through in the clutch to hook him up with a way to sneak into
Hogsmeade anyways, all by himself.
When they give him the Maraudersmap, which helped him to be
(04:05):
present for one of the biggest plot conveniences in the history
of literature. When he hid under a table and
listen to the Minister of Magic telling a bartender all about
the serious Black murder case, how he betrayed the Potter's in
extreme detail and all about howhe was the best friend of James
(04:29):
and what else did he say? They details about the case and
what they found with Peter Pettigrew.
Only one finger. That's it.
He was there and all of this stuff while he's drinking at the
bar with Professor, Professor, Professor Mcgonigal, Professor
(04:50):
Flitwick and Hagrid of all people, because that group
obviously hangs out on the weekends.
And oh, by the way, Sirius Blackis Harry's godfather.
And now you are sufficiently up to speed with at least how up to
speed Harry is in this particular story so that we can
(05:11):
jump into Priori Incan chapter. Where are wands connect?
Not the tips, just the streams so that we can recap what went
down in the chapter that we justread this week.
Chapter 11 The Fire Bolt In thischapter, Harry gets back to
school in a daze. Kind of like when you get up at
(05:34):
3:30 in the morning to go to work and you're pretty sure that
you fell asleep at some point along the drive because you've
been driving for like an hour and suddenly become aware that
you're almost there, but you can't remember how you got
there. Maybe I'm speaking from a little
bit of experience, but I imaginethat that's what he's feeling
like because he's spiraling mentally because of the whole
(05:55):
Sirius Black was his dad's best friend and his own godfather
thing. He was the best man at Lily and
James's wedding. And now knowing a little bit
more about them and him, Harry was able to open his little
photo album book that Hagrid gave him at the end of his first
year and found pictures of his parents and Sirius at their
(06:20):
wedding. And he's doing the thing where
he starts to wonder if Sirius Black was already planning or
had already been betraying them at that point.
Like he's he's doing that that thing where you you see a moment
in time in knowing the later outcome and you kind of wonder,
(06:45):
was it already unfolding or was he still still their friend?
Was he still loyal? Was he still a a loved member of
the group at that point in time?Or had he already started to go
the other way? And was he a mole?
You know, was, was he a spy? Wild.
(07:09):
And he's 13, by the way. So this is kind of a lot to
handle mentally. He brings up in his head the
part of the conversation where Fudge said that the Dementors
don't affect Sirius Black, whichis a foreshadow that we're going
to learn more about later. Naturally, he didn't sleep much
(07:33):
after all of this went down. Luckily, the trio are basically
the only kids staying at Hogwarts during the Christmas
break, so they get to talk openly about it when he gets up
at like noon. You know, straight up teenager
hours. Don't sleep all night.
Fall asleep around 5-6 in the morning and then sleep till noon
(07:53):
and then you wake up kind of looking like a zombie.
Yeah, Harry's doing that. Which seems about right because
I, you know, like I mentioned, he's 13.
But they get to talk openly likethey couldn't the day before
because everybody was still there.
The common room was super crowded.
That's why he snuck up to bed early and all of that.
(08:15):
Anyways, and Hermione and Ron are worried about Harry going
after Sirius Black, which is what the adults were worried
about earlier in the book. To remember how many times,
essentially he's had to say the words why would I go after
someone who wants to kill me? You know that bit?
He does, however, tell them about hearing his mother
(08:36):
screaming and pleading with Voldemort as she's about to be
murdered every time the Dementors get close to him.
And it seems pretty healthy. Not the not what's actually
happening, but that he's finallysaying that, you know, getting
that off his chest a little bit to his friends.
(08:57):
And Ron also gives us some foreshadowing during this back
and forth about how the biggest bit of Peter Pettigrew they
found was his finger. By the way, we're going to have
to recap all the foreshadowing that happens in this chapter.
Good Lord, it's it is foreshadowed a bound.
Harry brings up how Draco knew that this was the case, with him
(09:21):
being his godfather, or at leastbeing the one that betrayed
them, and he stews on that for alittle bit.
Shout out to the dreary fans, particularly the ones that have
been commenting on that YouTube video that I made.
I made this random YouTube videoabout who Harry could have wound
up with romantically if it wasn't Jenny.
I did not expect it to do the things that it's done, but it's
(09:43):
gone kind of hog wild a little bit in the YouTube world.
And there been a lot of people in that comments section telling
me about how he and Draco shouldhave ended up together.
So shout out to those people. And if you want to go watch that
video, go ahead and watch it. But, you know, wait till this
episode is over. They break up the fun discussion
(10:04):
that they're having to go visit Hagrid, where Harry intends to
interrogate him about never telling him this detail about
Sirius Black and his father and all of that.
But when they get down there, they find him crying his eyes
out. He had gotten a letter from the
Ministry of Magic that he's not in trouble for the Buck Beak
(10:27):
thing. You don't remember when Buck
Beak smack the shit out of Dracolike a little bitch, That
incident. Yeah, but there is going to be a
hearing with the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures Committee, I
believe is what they were calledabout whether Buckbeak should
get, you know, murdered or not. And there's two things about
(10:48):
this that I want to say before we move past it because I just
find it a bit odd. First is he was just haggard.
I mean, was literally just with the Minister for Magic
yesterday, the prior day, Uno day, just a a handful of hours,
(11:14):
one sleep before this moment, chumming it up, drinking away in
Hogsmeade like a couple of good old pals.
Just ignoring the fact that lasttime we saw these two together,
just one year before this, Fudgewas showing up to put Hagrid and
Azkaban, you know, to look like he was doing something about the
(11:37):
Chamber of Secrets, that whole mess.
But Fudge had no idea that this letter was coming to Hagrid the
very next morning to the place where he was going to be hanging
out that day. Now, you can tell me, and I
would believe you, that the Minister for Magic is too
(11:58):
important for something like this and doesn't know every
single hearing or, you know, case that is being, I guess,
deliberated or whatever within the ministry.
The head of whatever government branch doesn't know everything
that's happening in that government, clearly.
(12:23):
Why would they? But in this particular case,
Budget ends up being the witnessto the execution later.
So he, at least by that point, ends up being aware.
And I don't think it's a stretchto think that he's at least seen
(12:44):
this. And particularly, I think it's
reasonable to think that if there's an open case of any kind
against a teacher at Hogwarts, he's going to be aware of that
case before he goes to Hogwarts,and certainly before he goes out
drinking at the bar with the teacher whose case is pending.
(13:07):
Am I crazy? I'm just saying he could have
given him a little heads up, that's all.
He had no problem giving the bartender all of the juicy
details of a murder conviction about Sirius Black.
Maybe could have let Hagrid knowthat there was some stuff going
(13:30):
on with the the buckbeak thing. The other thing is that Hagrid
says in this exchange that the whole disposal Department of
Magical Creatures or whatever it's called again is in Malfoy's
pocket and that they're afraid of him.
(13:54):
Leading me to ask the question, is this just a thing that the
Malfoy's enjoy doing? Having magical creatures killed?
Draco just absolutely gets off on this for like the entire
book. He pretends his arms hurt when
it isn't. He talks shit about how he and
his dad are going to make sure that Buckby gets killed like
(14:15):
constantly. And unfortunately, in this very
moment, I can't remember if it'sa movie ISM or if it's also
exactly like this in the book, but he wants to watch the
execution happen. And if Hagrid is so familiar
(14:36):
with this group that they're in with Lucius Malfoy, how often is
this happening and how often is it a creature that Hagrid cares
for? Otherwise, how does he know this
information and why does he knowthis information and why would
this be a thing at all? I get that the Malfoy's are
(14:58):
power trip people so it could just be that, but it seems very
odd that they both seem to have this weird fetish about
influencing the bureaucracy thatoverseas the lives and death of
animals. It's fucking weird detail.
At least Harry wasn't enough of a Dick head to use this time to
(15:20):
dig into Hagrid about Sirius Black.
Instead, we've got the trio on the case.
We're going to get a hippogriff off.
Hagrid tells them about what it's like being locked up in
Azkaban, and that I think, is worth digging into a little bit
deeper. So we're going to do that in the
(15:40):
Lumos segment of this episode here in just a little bit,
because it's pretty dark. And I think it serves a purpose
not just in the moment but also narratively.
After their visit, the trio doessome library research to try to
help Haggard with said case. Because Google doesn't exist.
(16:03):
They have to go to the library and read books.
Books, like real books. And then Christmas.
Because remember, it's the holiday break.
That's why they're all the only ones that are at the castle,
because it's Christmas and most kids go home at Christmas
because they actually like theirfamilies.
(16:24):
But Harry doesn't and Ron and Hermione are there for Harry.
Harry gets presents sometimes. I'm still shocked that that's
the thing that happens. But Ron's mom is awesome.
And make sure that Harry gets presents and their thoughtful
presents. You know, he gets like a sweater
with a lion on it because Gryffindor and some other stuff
(16:48):
they said, I think pie treats. I don't know.
I didn't write all that down because the other thing that he
got was a brand new broom. It's a fireball, the title of
our chapter, and it's the fancy top of the line broom that he
was having wet dreams about earlier in the book when he was
(17:08):
in that hotel room in that all wizard village by himself at 13
years old with no direct adult supervision at all, with a
killer on the loose that wanted to murder him.
That part, you know, he would goto the broom store and stare at
this thing for like hours on endevery day.
And now he has one and Harry andRon are playing the game of who
(17:34):
bought me this crazy expensive gift.
You know we've all played that game before, right?
Right. We get some more foreshadowing
about Lupin before Hermione walks in and is put off by the
mystery broom gift. And this ends up being a topic
that is a a bit divisive among the core trio here in just in,
(18:02):
in, in just a did just a little bit.
We've got that interrupted, though, So the payoff is coming
later. Hermione is just kind of cold
about the broom and there's whatis the it's like Crookshanks on
(18:24):
Scabbers attempted violence that's been happening on and off
throughout the book so far. And the commotion knocks the
sneak a scope out of Harry's bag.
The sneak a scope that Ron bought for him when he was in
Egypt and sent him sent it to him for his birthday.
(18:45):
And they've been thinking that The thing is broken because, you
know, it was going off when at dinner or whatever Ron talked
about in his letter. And it's been seemingly kind of
just going off at random times. But here's some more
foreshadowing. They haven't been random.
Big shock. They describe how rough Scabbers
(19:09):
is looking though, and Ron callsit out as stress.
It's the stress getting to him because Crookshanks is always
trying to murder him, and who wouldn't be stressed if there
was a killer cat trying to kill you all the time?
If someone was always trying to murder you, wouldn't you be
stressed out, Harry? Anyways, Ron's mostly correct
(19:32):
about this. Of course, they are missing the
context of Sirius Black being the one that's actually after
him, and Crookshanks is just thesidekick.
After the commotion, though, there's saltiness, there's side
eye, and there's Harry stroking his new giant wood broom.
And they go down to lunch with the handful of people still at
(19:56):
Hogwarts. And this gives us the scene that
a lot of people bring up when they talk about Trelawney kind
of in the aftermath and reflecting on the series and how
often her. Random ridiculous predictions
that are played off as just she's a fraud.
(20:17):
Many of them actually end up being accurate and true and
nobody believes her because, well, she carries herself like a
fraud. But in this case, this is the
one where she makes a big deal about not wanting to sit at the
same table as them at lunchtime because she says if she sits
(20:39):
down, there will be thirteen people at that table, and
whoever stands up first will be first to die.
Because she's always about predicting people's deaths.
And that's why people think she's a fraud.
She's always doing this nonsense.
I think I just smacked the microphone.
That was probably good for the audio listeners.
(21:00):
Or maybe you didn't notice it all.
And now I've called it out for no good reason.
This is a thing that producers get mad at for show hosts doing
all the time. But since I'm both, I just do
what I want. So the reason that people have
gotten into this moment and intothis scene is because they have
(21:22):
cited, technically correctly, that Scabbers is currently in
Ron's pocket, AKA Peter Pettigrew.
And so there were actually already 13 people sitting at
that table. So when Dumbledore stands up in
this exchange, he actually ends up being the first person to
(21:44):
die. So while she doesn't know it,
because she thinks she's #13 Andshe freaks out when Harry and
Ron stand up at the same time. And she's like, Oh my gosh,
which one of you died first or is going to die first?
And it's like, ha, ha, ha, fraud.
(22:05):
There was already a 13th wizard at the table in Ron's pocket.
Because again, grown man, young boy's pocket.
This is the kind of nerd shit that makes the nerds in this
fandom such great nerds. Just saying, throughout all of
this, Professor Mcgonigal is nota fan of Trilani, and she makes
(22:28):
a couple of snarky comments. More foreshadowing that happens
during all of this, but it is really funny to listen to her
basically call Trilani out for being a fraud.
And there's more foreshadowing during lunch about Lupin's
potion. And there's more foreshadowing
about how Hermione's taking all these classes after she stays
(22:51):
behind to talk to Professor Mcgonagall and Ron and Harry are
talking about it. And just when they get back to
the common room and all Harry wants to do is Polish his big
old giant broomstick and Ron wants to help, the thing
happens. Hermione and Professor
(23:13):
Mcgonagall walk in on them, touching the wood.
I, I have to stop. I have to stop with those.
They're both caressing the fire bolt together.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just, that's what was
written in in the text. Professor Mcgonigal takes away
the broom and wants to examine it for jinxes, and Harry gets
(23:37):
all sputtery like a kid whose favorite toys being taken away
from him. And of course they're super
pissed at Hermione, who's red inthe face about it and hiding
behind a book. And that is the chapter.
Like I said, All in all, there'snot a lot going on here, but
there is a shit ton of foreshadowing, so we're going to
(24:00):
go through those. And this is just by my count.
If you counted more things than this in your read, then kudos to
you. Let me know what I missed.
Join the Facebook group for listeners of the podcast and you
can sound off in there about howdumb I was because I didn't
catch every single one that you caught.
These are the ones that I caughtone, the dementors don't affect
(24:23):
Sirius, which is how he kept hismind while he was there and
didn't go crazy like the rest ofthe prisoners do.
And hence, you know, was cognizant enough and, and, and
aware of his self, his inner self enough to actually be able
to escape. Two, the only thing that they
found of Peter Pettigrew or the biggest thing that they found
(24:44):
was a finger, which is how he convinced everyone that he was
dead and why Scabbers is missinga toe.
It's also the big reason that Sirius was able to recognize him
in the Daily prophet that convinced him to escape and get
to Hogwarts and save Harry from him in the 1st place.
Now it was, I say, the biggest reason.
He also is very aware of what Peter Pettigrew looks like as a
(25:06):
rat. But it's kind of like the
confirmation of, you know, having a missing toe. 3 Lupin
was sick during Harry's last Quidditch match, but Ron was in
the hospital wing and Lupin wasn't there, obviously
suggesting that there's something strange about whatever
Lupin's illness is. Kind of like is if there's no
(25:28):
illness that exists in which someone would want to avoid a
large crowd of people outside ina storm if they're not
hospitalized. But nonetheless still
foreshadowing. The next one is the pocket
sneak, a scope that Ron got Harry for his birthday.
When it starts going off. When Cruikshanks goes crooks,
yes, Cruikshanks goes after Scabbers.
(25:52):
A hint that there are shenanigans afoot, and in this
case, Scabbers actually being a 30 something year old wizard
disguised as a rat, which shouldhave been a foreshadow to the
Marauders of who the rat was in their group and who the rat from
their group would later be. Seriously, Wolfie, Mick,
(26:13):
Wolferson and the loyal dog couldn't figure out who might
have had the character of a rat,I guess.
Oh, and bonus foreshadowing about how old Scabbers is and
how he would need to have special powers that they didn't
know about to keep living much longer.
(26:33):
Sure does Harry more foreshadowing.
I mentioned the thing where Dumbledore stands up at the
table before Trelawny sat down and ends up being the one that
dies first. Sure, but the main foreshadow at
lunch is just the loop and cluesand how Trelawny says that he
won't be with them very long. Which we know ends up being
(26:54):
because he resigns at the end ofthe year after going all
werewolf on the grounds, which is not very safe when there are
children present. And Dumbledore is already aware
of this because there's still a curse on the Defense Against the
Dark Arts position. So he's going to have to be out
of that position somehow before next year.
So yeah, not going to be with you very long.
(27:17):
Dumbledore also foreshadows in his response the potion that
Snape has been making for Lupin because of his illness, the
Wolfsbane potion. More foreshadowing.
Ron making a snide comment aboutHermione wanting to talk to
Professor Mcgonagall Take He says it's probably about taking
more classes, which is a hint tothe time Turner because that's
(27:40):
how she's been taking all of these classes.
And the answer to that mystery that they've been trying to
solve all year long. And finally, Hermione thinking
that Sirius Black sent the fireball is less foreshadowing
and more just a correct assumption by the character.
She doesn't, however, know that he's a good guy and not using it
as a murder tactic. That is all the foreshadowing
(28:04):
that I noticed in this chapter, which seems like a lot of
foreshadowing. How'd I do?
Before we move on, I would like to ask you to leave a five star
rating and review in the podcastplayer that you are using right
now. It does truly help the show.
And if you're on YouTube, like the video, same request that
(28:26):
leads us to the next part of ourshow, which is the Lumos
section, the part where we lightour wand tips and illuminate a
character from the chapter. We're going to go with Hagrid.
Like I mentioned earlier, this is really kind of an interesting
part, not just for the chapter itself.
(28:46):
Also, I have something to give him a little bit of shit about,
but it is also also, I think doing some work narratively for
the book. And this is when he's telling
the kids about what it's like tobe locked up in Azkaban, which
is a just a common thing that you typically talk about with
(29:07):
children when you're a grown assadult and their teacher.
Totally. He talks about how being
surrounded by dementors all the time makes him like makes you
replay all of the worst memoriesin your head.
And he even goes as far as to say that he would go to sleep at
(29:31):
night hoping that he would just die instead of waking up again,
something you often tell children.
But here are the memories that he brings up.
And this is the thing that I want to give him a little bit of
shit for. The first memory being expelled
from Hogwarts? That makes sense.
(29:53):
He was framed for murder after all.
And in this world, getting expelled from school also comes
with a lifetime sentence of no magic because they break your
wand in half. Well, for Hagrid they do that.
It doesn't seem to have been thecase for Newt's commander or
Geller Grindelwald. Fred and George Weasley just
(30:13):
quit school in their final year and they certainly get to keep
theirs. That must be something
completely different. But for Hagrid, no school meant
no wand and it being illegal forhim to do magic for the rest of
his life. We can set aside the logic to
that, but that does seem like itwould be worthy of one of your
(30:33):
worst memories to relive. Makes sense to me.
The next one that he brings up is the day that his dad died.
I don't have to describe why that makes sense in the category
of worst memories of your life. Moving on, the third one, the
(30:54):
third worst memory of his life that he said the day he had to
let Norbert go. The baby fucking dragon that he
wasn't supposed to have in the 1st place.
The baby fucking dragon that bitand poisoned Ron.
The baby fucking dragon that Harry and Hermione got caught
(31:18):
smuggling out of the castle for him and led to the detention
that Harry was nearly murdered by Voldemort in the Forbidden
Forest because of. If the Centaur plot armor had
not shown up and saved his ass, he'd probably be dead because of
this baby fucking dragon. And Hagrid puts losing that baby
fucking dragon on the same list as being exiled from magic and
(31:42):
the death of the only parent in his life.
Fucking Hagrid. OK, he also uses this time to
explain that that's why he doesn't want to let Buckbee go
because not only can you not tell a wild animal that he needs
(32:04):
to go into hiding. Which by the way, do you think
that the Ministry of magic like tagged Buckbeek or or somehow
like checked his markings of some sort?
Like if Hagrid just took Buckbeek out to the other wild
(32:29):
hippogriffs that live in the forest because there were more
in that class, could a single person, Draco included, even
pick out the right one, aside from him and maybe Harry,
because he wrote it? Anyone.
Maybe. But alas, Will will put aside
that part of it. He is correct that you can't
(32:53):
really explain to a wild animal that it needs to go into hiding
and not get caught, but he talksabout them knowing that it would
be him and he's afraid to break the law because he's scared to
go back to Azkaban. And that's the part that carries
(33:15):
some weight here, because Hagriddoesn't have a problem breaking
rules, at least not to that point.
He didn't. But after his Azkaban
experience, he's afraid to even just let a hippogriff go in case
(33:35):
they think that that is a bad enough offence to put him back
in prison. The the like drive you mental
kind of prison. Ultimately, it's really a
pathway for us as a reader to get more explanation of why
(33:58):
Azkaban is so bad, so that it stays in our brain and can stay
relevant throughout the book. The author wants us to feel what
Azkaban is like, how horrible itis, how horrible the Dementors
are, so that it raises the stakes of the big reveal and the
climax later to make it more impressive that Sirius escaped
(34:23):
at all, To make it scary for himto have to go back, giving the
whole thing more steaks. Steaks for Pettigrew, steaks for
Remus and Sirius, for Hermione and Harry, and for the scene at
the lake when the dementors attack Harry and Sirius.
It this is part of what makes that wait felt.
(34:52):
This book is called The Prisonerof Azkaban and for that to truly
matter we have to actually give a shit and be afraid of Azkaban.
And what better way to do that then by showing us how one of
the biggest, physically, strongest physically characters
(35:13):
in this entire book series crumbles to pieces at the
thought of going back. Now, let's give out some house
points from this chapter. In true Hogwarts fashion, these
points are completely subjectivewith no oversight and fully at
my discretion. This week, I'm going to give
(35:35):
some house points to Sirius Black.
We don't know it yet, but he just gave Harry the dopest
present ever and it's also not meant to kill him, which is a
good bonus. He is going to get 50 points for
that. I'm also giving points to
(35:55):
Hermione for being someone who is more concerned with her
friend's safety then if that same friend is mad at her when
she expresses her concern to Professor Mcgonagall and her
suspicion that Black is the one indeed who did send the broom.
20 points to Hermione. Professor Mcgonigal is also
(36:18):
getting some points for just simply being highly entertaining
and calling Trolhani on her bullshit.
All throughout that lunch. It was great, I enjoyed it.
Five points, Professor Mcgonigal, the same as, you
know, defeating a mountain troll.
Now I'm going to take away some points from Ron for being a Dick
(36:41):
to Hermione about Crookshanks and the Fireball. 10 points for
each offense. I'm going to take away some
points from Haggard here too. He didn't do anything wrong, but
he is a grown ass man and seems to always need to lean on these
children to take care of him. And some of the stuff he said
(37:01):
was disturbing to be sharing with said children -5 points.
The last points I'm going to be taking away from characters are
from Draco and Lucius Malfoy both.
They aren't directly in the chapter, but their actions are
what caused the entire Buckbeak storyline in the 1st place, and
(37:25):
their weird fetish for hurting animals sucks ass.
So I'm taking away 100 points from each of these creepy
bastards. Before we go, we need to expect
O plot change O rewrite Harry Potter one small change at a
time. The expecto plot change O
(37:46):
question from this chapter is what if Hagrid did the adult
thing and didn't involve the trio in his problems?
How could that have changed the events in the chapter or the
book or the series? I'll give you my initial
thoughts on this one here. Would Harry and Hermione even be
(38:07):
aware of the appeal and execution at all?
So if they weren't, how would the end of this book play out?
You can share your thoughts on any social media platform.
I think I've got them all at Belated Binge.
You can use the comments sectionif you are on YouTube and you
(38:27):
can join the free Facebook groupfor listeners of the podcast
that there is a link in the shownotes for and let me know what
you think on any of those things.
With that, we have reached the end of this episode of Belated
Binge. If you enjoyed it, please
follow, subscribe, whatever podcast player that you're using
(38:48):
right now. And if it does support a rating
and review option, once again, please leave one if you're so
inclined to check out the additional benefits available on
patreon.com/belated Binge. Thanks for listening and tell
all your Potterhead friends their new favorite podcast
should be the Lady Binge Harry Potter.
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