February 2, 2021 • 31 mins
The Lost Diadem.
Harry, Ron and Hermione are still stunned to see Neville as they make their way down the corridor to Hogwarts and discuss the things that have happened while they've been away.
In this episode of Owl Post: A Harry Potter Podcast hosts Andrea Coffman and Matthew Rushing talk about the twenty-ninth chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We discuss a little bit of joy, a new Neville, Aberforth's attitude, what's been going on at Hogwarts, letting people help, going to Ravenclaw tower and the Room of Requirement.
Hosts
Andrea Coffman and Matthew Rushing
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Twitter: @JoinNerdParty
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Harry, Ron and Hermione are still stunned to see Neville as they make their way down the corridor to Hogwarts and discuss the things that have happened while they've been away.
In this episode of Owl Post: A Harry Potter Podcast hosts Andrea Coffman and Matthew Rushing talk about the twenty-ninth chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We discuss a little bit of joy, a new Neville, Aberforth's attitude, what's been going on at Hogwarts, letting people help, going to Ravenclaw tower and the Room of Requirement.
Hosts
Andrea Coffman and Matthew Rushing
Send us your feedback!
Twitter: @JoinNerdParty
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenerdparty
Email: http://www.thenerdparty.com/contact
Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcome to the ned polity. AhMiles, he your OWL post for the
week is freshly delivered. And ofcourse I am just one of the hosts
(00:26):
here Matthew Rushing and with me asshe has been through this entire journey.
Dreya Kaufman, Oh hey, I'mhere in a more sane sense than others.
I'll let you all decide what thatlooks like for me today. Oh
you know, I think after doingthis for so long, there's probably been
(00:49):
plenty of times for both of uswhere that's the case. So for sure,
but really excited. We've got afew new reviews and so just wanted
to say thank you to people.We had one from Rachel Ah three five
stars over there on Apple Podcasts,and they said I recently bought a house
(01:11):
with a long to do list andstarted listening to this podcast to take my
house make my house projects more bearable. Now I find myself looking forward to
these projects so I can listen toour posts and hear some of my own
thoughts put into words, and alsolisten to new perspectives and opinions pertaining to
the many themes and ideas in theHarry Potter books. I first read the
(01:34):
series in high school, then readit for a second time in college,
and this podcast has inspired me toread it again now that I'm an adult.
Both times i read the series,different elements within the book stood out
to me, and I'm excited todiscover which parts of this story impacted me
the most as an adult. Thankyou for your wonderful insight, humor,
and ideas. I love that,and I agree. I think that there's
(01:57):
a lot of stories like that.But you know, you read them in
one place and you take something awayfrom it, and you ate, five,
six, ten, whatever years,you read it again and you take
away something entirely different. I foundthe same as a parent. I took
things away very differently before I wasa parent than I do after being a
parent. The news included in that, to be clear, the first like
(02:19):
eight months I did not I couldnot read the news. I couldn't handle
all the trauma while you know,knowing she's this tiny little thing that could
like get hurt. So I totally, I totally appreciate that perspective and I
like that, so thank you forpointing that out. I don't think we've
hammered that home enough. So Ireally like that yep, I know,
I completely agree, and I think, you know, it's one of the
(02:42):
hallmarks, and I would say itis the hallmark of a really good series
is that you can read it atdifferent parts of your life and it can
speak to you in different ways.And I think that's what has made Harry
Potter really continue to stay in thetest of time, you know, with
thematic elements and that it's not somethingthat only children and I think that was
(03:05):
the you know, it's obviously thereason we're still talking about today, and
it was the thing that made itso popular in the beginning as well as
I think parents reading it to theirkids. As the series went on,
they became more and more invested inas well. But part of that is,
you know, as you read itin as an adult, you can
also see you a rowling is doingmore easily than a child in the sense
(03:28):
of what she's trying to say.So I think that's really cool. We
do have one more. Yeah,I was just gonna say too, like
based we've we've even seen based onthe current climate, the world's end,
right, it's a very different worldnow than it was when she first released
these books. And you know,we've talked a lot over the last at
(03:49):
least book or two about how youknow twenty twenty for us was really thematic
within the book too, So yeah, I'm not going to keep babbling on
y'all, y'all get up. No, you're absolutely right, And I think
that's the hallmark of a good seriesas well, is that it's not something
that's tied to one specific thing,but it can continue to be applicable in
(04:13):
many different eras. So our nextreview, I'm not quite sure who how
to say. It's like b SBfan eight zero eight, I think,
but they said mahalow, which,oh man. That means they're from the
Islands, which is really cool.Five stars. Thank you for this podcast.
I literally discovered our post a fewdays ago. I've got a lot
(04:36):
of catching up to do, butit's been wonderful listening to each of the
discussions about the chapter so far.It's given me a better understanding of the
story. Keep up with the awesomepodcast. I hope you'll continue to discussions
for the eighth Harry Potter book,The Fantastic Beast Narratives, and the smaller
books from Hogwarts like Quidditch to theAges and Beatle the Bard. Well,
(04:59):
thank you so much. We reallyappreciate that review. A hollow to you
and aloha for your review, sothank you so much. It really does
mean a lot that people will spendtheir time and give us these type of
reviews, so and it really hasit's helped the show grow. I think
I've said it before, but ofall the podcasts that I do, this
(05:21):
is the one that's the most downloadedand the most successful, like Buy a
long Shot. So thank you guysso much. Well, of course you
can find us wherever you get yourpodcasts, and if you are on Apple
Podcasts, we would appreciate a starrating review and we mentioned those on the
show. You could find us anywherethough, just make sure you're subscribed and
(05:44):
you'll get the episodes as soon asit drops. This is episode one ninety
one, which means they're only nineepisodes left, so we really appreciate everybody
reaching out to us, and ofcourse you could do that over at the
nerdparty dot com slash contact if youwant to send us an email. You
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(06:06):
at Facebook dot com slash the nerdParty and we've also got an Instagram feed
you can follow, which is overat the nerd party there on Instagram.
So, Drea, this is thechapter, chapter twenty nine, the Last
Diadem, And you know, weliterally pick right back up where we left
off, which was Neville had comethrough the portrait. And I just absolutely
(06:30):
love this whole thing because Neville isso excited to see them, and not
only is he excited to see them, but he wants to know everything because
they only have had so much newsabout Harry and what they've been doing,
and he is He's like just soexcited to hear whether all the things that
(06:54):
they've heard are actually true. Imean, did you write in a dragon?
Did you break into green Goods?All these things? And it's just
there's this over exuberance, and Ireally, I think what's really kind of
fun at the very beginning of thischapter here is there's a little bit of
joy that we haven't had in along time just by seeing Neville, and
(07:18):
his joy of seeing his friends forthe first time in like a year rings
like a renewed energy to them thatI think they really need at this point,
right. They're kind of like separatelyeach of these groups we come to
learn are sort of down trodden andhave been through the Ring or the past
year very different ways. But Ithink both of them sort of refresh each
(07:42):
other, right, which I secretlyhope is what's going to happen when I
see some of my friends for thefirst time and you know, a year
or whatever. But you know,Neville has so much enthusiasm, He's got
all this energy. He has adifference to him. They really note that
he's got like this kind of calmconfidence they've never seen in him before.
(08:03):
He's really and he goes on toexplain what has happened at Hogwarts over the
past what like semester and a halfsomething like that, But they've been there
and how you know, they've keptDumbledore's army just powerful and strong, and
he was really inspired by Harry tostart speaking up when appropriate, and that
(08:24):
you know, they've done things likekind of taunt the death theaters, and
they've learned how far to push itbecause you know, he's got pure blood.
They're not going to kill me,They're just going to torture me.
But I can survive that. Youknow, there's this real a differenceive approach
that Neville has taken and he's reallystepped into the leadership vacuum that Harry left
(08:46):
when he went looking for horcruxes,which I think kind of takes Harry and
all of them by surprise. Right. They're used to him being someone who
came along and really wanted to dosomething impactful and powerful, and they're seeing
him really come into his own somuch so that you know, as he's
explaining this, one of the thingshe explains is that when he really pushes
(09:09):
it too far, the death Eatersgo after his grandmother, right, and
that she fights him off, goeson the run, sends him a letter
telling him how proud she is ofhim and how proud his parents would be
of him for who he's become,which is huge considering when we started this
it was my grandmother's embarrassed with me, I should be ashamed, and now
(09:31):
it's a complete one eighty. Sothis is one of those massive moments where
this character goes from one type toa completely different person because it was in
him all along, which is whatthe sorting hat saw and why they put
him in Griffindor. Yeah, Ithink it's really beautiful. I love you
know, you could tell too.He's got this great relationship with ab or
(09:54):
forth. He even calls him abyou know, he tells him, we've
got other people coming, you know. Um. And there's this really beautiful
moment before they make their way downthe hallway to where they're going to the
castle, um, where Harry looksat Apper fourth and he's like, thank
you so much for for saving ustwice, and he's like, well,
you got to be careful because I'mnot sure I'll be able to do it
(10:16):
a third uh. And so it'sreally it's really neat um to kind of
just see the way, um,you know, his change of heart and
what you can see I think inin this here is that his attitude in
that that you know, the beginningof last chapter and the fight they kind
(10:37):
of have is is you can tellthis is a character who, um,
he's worried about these kids. Youknow. Um. It wasn't a thing
of like, uh that he trulyfeels like that nobody should fight and everything's
lost and it's all done for um, But he truly is worried for these
kids and like he he knows hecan only do so much and he he
(11:01):
worries about that. And I thinkthere's a real beauty to seeing that in
this character. And and of courseyou know he's he's going to help them
in this sense. Like you know, he's been this way station for people
to be able to come back andforth from the castle. He's been giving
them food, Uh, Neville tellsthem, and uh, you know,
(11:22):
he begins to you know, andI think this is to some really disturbing
stuff. Um. You know,Neville kind of breaks down what's been going
on at the school here over thelast year, and it's super disturbing.
I mean, you know, youhave, um, the Carro brother and
(11:43):
sister who are really making life.I think, you know, hell is
a perfect word for for what they'redoing to the kids. You know.
Um, the way that the deatheaters are making m people obey is by
(12:05):
going after their family members. Um. So that's what happened with Luna.
You know, his his dad gotthere, her dad got a little bit
too mouthy uh in the paper.Uh, and he um, his daughter
was stolen, you know. Uh. And the same thing has been happening
to two kids, you know,throughout Hogwarts, and like you said,
(12:28):
the same thing happened to uh Neville'sgrandmother. Um, they just didn't realize
they were coming after the wrong granny. I love that the granny is such
a such a ba She's she's just, I don't know another way to put
it, that sums up how I'mfeeling about it. She's she's just a
(12:48):
real bad mama jama, Like shedoes it right. Like I love that
they're like whoever they send after heris still in Saint Mungo's because they totally
underestimated her, which I love isjust as little aside, don't don't underestimate
someone just because they're older. Don'tunderestimate them just because they're you know,
(13:09):
a small elderly woman. She'll she'sjust still got some fight in her.
And I love that well. AndI think it's really interesting, you know,
to me what we're learning about what'sbeen happening at school, and it
is, you know, quite disturbingbecause you know, you mentioned Neville kind
of taking on that role he hadkind of seen Harry do where you know,
(13:33):
mouthing off and trying to use thatas a way to show hope and
everything, and um, you know, as time has gone on, they've
had to stop doing a lot ofthose things because you know, at Christmas
time, you had Luna leave andyou had Ginny not come back. They
were help helpful ring leaders in that. Um you know, you had um
(13:54):
Michael Connor who had gone to savea young student who had been like chained
up and like having him get tortured, and so like just terrible, terrible,
terrible things have been happening here.And then of course the Carros have
been teaching m Dark Arts and MuggleStudies, which you know, Dark Arts
(14:16):
has now just turned into punishment timefor people who would disobey you practice unforgivable
curses on them, like the Cruciatiuscurse. And then Muggle Studies is basically
about how Muggles are less than human, they're dirt, and how basically they
deserve anything they get. Um,which if that doesn't sound familiar as a
as a philosophy, just just youknow, read any dictator or you know,
(14:41):
a Terrible Regimes way of dealing withpeople that they don't like. This
is exactly you know, what theyhave become. And we see that blatantly
here, like this is straight upthe worst of the worst. And so
I really appreciate that we're truly gettingto see what through what's happening at Hogwarts
(15:03):
here, you know what things alllook like when death eaters and their ilk
run things. Yeah, I totallyagree. It's a lot, we learn
a lot. It's all horrifying,and I love that, specifically she has
Harry think that he can't tell what'smore horrifying that this is happening or the
(15:26):
casual and accepting tone with which Nevilleis explaining what's been happening to them.
Right, they have become so desensitizedto how awful this is that it's just
very matter of fact and hey,it's like, Okay, I went and
got a coffee today and it wasdelicious, and you know whatever is how
they're discussing the torture and this horriblesituation they've been in for you know,
(15:50):
what, would you say, eightnine months something like that, maybe a
year? Yeah, And so youknow, I think that speaks volumes when
you can be that desensitized to what'sgoing on around you. So, um,
you know, it's it's a lotfor them to take in. Um.
I do love though there's some beautifulmoments in there, like you pointed
(16:11):
out that Luna was taken away whenthe Quibbler got a little too too mouthy.
Um against the Death Eaters and themovement, and uh, you know
he's like, but Luna's okay,and he's like, oh, yeah,
no, I know. We've beenstill using the Dumbledore coins from what two
books ago now a book ago.Um, they're still communicating via that and
(16:36):
it's driving you know, the DeathEaters crazy because they can't figure out how
they're doing it. Um. Andbut you know, he knows that Luna's
safe. He knows the Dean safe. You know, it's a Ginny safe
you know. Um, so Ido like that, you know, when
he really gives Hermione credit for that, like, it's brilliant. That was
(16:56):
brilliant. Right. So, asas he's explaining and as this is going
on, you know, they thinkHarry and Ron and Hermione are back to
fight with them, to start anuprising, to fight back and take Hogwarts
back. And that's, as weknow, not why they're there, but
(17:17):
because that's what Neville and everyone elsethinks. Neville has started to send messages
at using the coin to others tocome back, and so throughout the latter
part of this chapter, while youknow, they're trying to convince Harry to
let them help him we have afew familiar faces show up through the portrait
(17:40):
hole through Aberferth's bar. Yeah,I mean we have students coming in.
We've got you know, some likeyou said, really familiar faces, which
is really fun. And you knowthe fact that we have Fred and George
showing up. You know, wehave Dean showing up. You know,
(18:04):
we have all of these, youknow, characters which we really love.
And I think that you know,Harry would be enjoying this if, and
sadly, if he wasn't starting tosee what Voldemort's doing, which is,
Voldemort has been to the shack andthe ring is not there, and so
(18:27):
now he's in a rage and he'sflying off to other places to look for
his hidden horcruxes. And Harry hasno idea when he's going to arrive at
Hogwarts and how long they have,and so it's a really a moment of
desperation for him because he's got tofind whatever this is because he doesn't know
how much time they have. Andthen, of course, who should show
(18:52):
up through the portrait the last place, honest Lee that Harry wants her to
be, but Jenny herself as wellas Um Choe Chang, and of course,
Harry's excited and devastated to see Jennyall at the same time because he
doesn't really want her to be here. And I love though that he can't
(19:12):
help but think, wow, shelooks so beautiful. Yeah, I mean,
he is happy to see them,but sad thinking that this is kind
of the most dangerous place you couldbe, right, Like there's a reason
why he hasn't been around all thesepeople for so long, and so you
know, he has this this sortof guilt. I'm happy to see them,
(19:34):
but they need to get away fromme kind of response to all these
people. And you know, asthey're arriving, we mentioned that, you
know, they're trying to convince Harryto let them help, because you know,
he tells them like, we're nothere to fight back, but I
can't tell you why I'm here,and they kind of keep pushing and pushing,
and finally Hermione takes some kind ofaside or quietly says like, you
(19:59):
know, you can let them helpyou without telling you what, telling them
what you're doing. Like they're alreadyhere, They're not going to give up.
They know more about what's been goingon and more about things than we
do, right, now, andso you know, Harry kind of says,
all right, let's do it,and basically says, you know,
(20:19):
we're looking for something. We don'tknow what it is. It's probably related
to raven Claw, don't know muchabout that. And he kind of directs
the question to the raven Cloud groupas to like, what is it that
I could be looking for? Right, It's going to be a small object
of some sort of value. MaybeI don't know right on that. I
think one of the really important thingsthat we get here is that Harry,
(20:42):
as Hermione and Ron are encouraging himto ask for help. He remembers something
from the conversation that they just hadwith Aberforth with just this idea of secrets
and lies, and that that's kindof who Albus Dumbledore was, this person
(21:03):
who you know, grew up withum these secrets and lies and keeping his
secrets very close to himself. Andand Harry makes the decision here to be
different than Dumbledore, to to notgo down that road. And you know
that's also you know Dumbledore it confessedto Harry that you know, he wasn't
(21:25):
always right and he didn't always dothe right thing. And so I think
It's beautiful here that that Harry hasthis moment of no, okay, it's
okay for me to ask for theirhelp. And I think there's there's something
in that um that is you know, so different, uh, And it
shows what what's beautiful about it isit shows growth. You know, we've
(21:45):
talked about Harry's ability to put thingstogether and puzzle pieces together, but I
think this also shows that Harry justhas the ability to to truly see what's
important and to learn from others mistakeswithout necessarily having to make those same mistakes
himself, which is a true signof wisdom for anybody. And I really
(22:08):
love that moment here. I thinkit's such a big moment for the character.
And you know, he does makethe right decision. They don't have
enough time for him just to figureit out himself, even with just Ron
and Hermione, right, he needstheir help. And I love the discussion
about you know, like what itcould be that is Raven Claus, that
(22:30):
was you know they're looking for andthey're talking about the Lost Diadem and like
Michael Connor's like, yeah, butit's lost, that's the Lost Diadem is
lost. Yeah, learned that it'sbeen lost for a really long time because
it disappeared with raven Claw herself.So I mean it's been you know,
generations, Bawn generations that this thinghas not been found. Yeah, and
(22:55):
I do like you calling out thathe makes a different decision than Dumbledore and
the all just a small point toadd to that. I think that's also
something Harry's become really good at,is being an empathetic leader. Right,
he can take the feeling he experiencedbeing on the other end of that and
not then do the same thing toothers. Right. He was sort of
subjected to the withholding of information andthe keeping of secrets really really close,
(23:21):
and so I think he knew howthat made him feel, and he could
see all the problems it caused him, Right, so why should he do
the same thing again? Right?And that's something that a lot of people
can't always do. They can't alwayssee how their actions are going to be
the same as something they've experienced.So I think that I really like how
(23:41):
that was also part kind of ofhis thought process. But yeah, so
they start talking about this lost diadem, and you know, Harry's like,
while, can you show me whatit looks like? And you know,
cho starts because Choe's the one whosort of pipes up and says, there's
(24:02):
a statue in our in our inour common room, and it'll show you
what it looks like. Maybe thatwill help. I don't know what,
you know, would that help?He's like, yeah, I can't.
You know. She's like, Ican take you there, and Jenny pipes
up and is like, no,Pluna, why don't you want it?
Why don't you take him? Whydon't you take him? And it's followed
(24:23):
with Joe looks really disappointed, um, which is really funny. It's like
a moment where it's like don't no, no, no, Luna, I
trust you much more, why don'tWhy don't you go? Why don't you
go? And she's like, oh, yeah, I'd love to take you.
Harry, let's go. And Harry'slike, I don't got time for
this whatever. Whoever's come and getunder get out of the cloth. We
gotta we gotta go. You know, he doesn't have time for the inner
(24:47):
inner relationship drama. He's like,he knows Baltimore's on his way, and
he his time's running out, sohe's like, let's get to it,
um, and then they kind ofhide under the cloth. You know.
It's so cool because you know,again we we we use things that we've
seen throughout the series. You know, we use the uh, the invisibility
(25:08):
cloak, and we use the Maraudersmap, you know, to get there.
And what's interesting is, you know, Harry's never been to the raven
Claw's tower, so he doesn't reallyknow where they're going, and you know,
you have to answer her riddle toget in there, which Harry finds
slightly annoying at this point, butLuna is able to reason it out.
(25:29):
And there is a statue of ravenClaw there in the common room, and
Harry is looking at it. Wesee the diadem on her head, there's
the phrase wit beyond measure is Man'sgreatest treasure. And then whip. Unfortunately,
Electo Caro is there and before Harrycan even raise his wand she's pressed
(25:56):
her finger to the skull and snakeBrandon on her forearm, and that's how
we leave the chapter done. Duned right. I remember when I was
reading this for the first time,and even when I reread it again years
later after it had been some time, I remember being surprised by this because
(26:18):
it's very different than kind of howit plays out in the movie, and
you're just not expecting them to bewaiting in the raven clock common room,
and you don't know why. You'relike, well, I guess that makes
sense, right, I guess Iprobably would have done something like that too
if I was the evil head ofa school I've just taken over. I
will learn more about the thought processbehind why they're there later, but I
(26:41):
remember being like, oh, Ididn't see that coming when I read it,
So I also this time had anoh, that's not good the moment.
But at the same time, wealso know he's kind of already on
his way, so I don't reallyknow what difference that's going to make.
(27:03):
But I think one of the thingsthat is really interesting that we didn't touch
on just yet in the chapter,but I think it's really important is you
know, they're using the Room ofRequirement as their hiding place, and we
find that Neville has really learned thesecret of the Room of Requirement, of
how to make it work and howto keep other people out of it that
(27:25):
you don't want in it, andyou know the only thing it can't do
is make food because that's one ofthe magical law properties is you can't just
make food out of nothing, whichis the moment. We did not give
enough credit to Ron for it becausehe says that as like a very big
learning moment because I don't remember whenHermione, at what point Hermione said that,
but that's definitely something that he's justregurgitating from what you've learned from Hermione
(27:48):
and everyone's like, oh, runand it's just another moment where you're like,
oh, that's just so cute.Well, and you know what makes
it really interesting is that. AndI think the movie does a real disservice
to the Room of Acquirement here becauseyou know, when they come in,
Harry is thinking to himself, howit really looks like it looks like a
(28:11):
big treehouse basically, you know,full of all these you know, hammocks
and everything, and or like abig ship's galley, you know, full
of hammocks and everything, and likethat doesn't come across whatsoever in the way
that they do. I mean,it just does not look cool like that.
You know. I don't really likethe movie hook, but I kind
(28:33):
of almost pictured that, yeah,you know, like yeah, like the
where the Lost Boys live and hookand there's just like hammocks and stuff everywhere.
And I like that it. ButI like that the Room of Requirement
keeps adding it, right, Likethe whole point is that whenever they have
a need for it, the roomjust it's magically there. Right they mentioned
the girls. The girl's restroom orwashroom shows up as soon as as the
(28:56):
girls start coming, because you knowit as they can't maybe relieve themselves in
the same way that a boy can, and it just kind of starts to
grow. So I think of itas if the Lost Boys stuff to sort
of organically started adding hammocks and coloreverywhere. Yeah, I think that's a
really great way to think about it. I like that. Yeah. So,
(29:17):
I mean it was a lot offun, but I mean we literally
leave the chapter on a cliffhanger,and so we'll have to wait till next
week when we get to the sackingof Severus Snape. But dream as everybody's
waiting. If they want to catchup with you, where can they find
you? Sure? You can findme on Twitter at pcf check or on
(29:38):
Instagram at Dreya Kaufman and at CFMan and you could find me on all
the different social media platforms under MattRushing is zero two. You can find
me here on the network doing aggressivenegotiations with John Mills as we are talking
about Star Wars each and every week. Who it's so much fun. You
can also find me on the TFMnetwork doing a few shows. One is
(30:00):
called the six or two Club,where we're talking about all of the fandoms
we love, not just one.Of course, you can also find there
in that feed. Now we arejust about to release Snyder cuts as John
Mills and I are walking through allof the directorial work of Zack Snyder as
we wait for his Justice League whichis coming out in March. Exciting.
(30:22):
And then of course you can alsofind me doing Larry tracks and the ORB.
Literary Checks is about the books inthe comics of Star Trek, and
the ORB is about Star Trek,Deep Space and nine. But thank you
so much for checking your outpost.It's Jeff Managed. Join the Revolution,
(30:56):
Join the nerd Party.
Welcome to the ned polity. AhMiles, he your OWL post for the
week is freshly delivered. And ofcourse I am just one of the hosts
(00:26):
here Matthew Rushing and with me asshe has been through this entire journey.
Dreya Kaufman, Oh hey, I'mhere in a more sane sense than others.
I'll let you all decide what thatlooks like for me today. Oh
you know, I think after doingthis for so long, there's probably been
(00:49):
plenty of times for both of uswhere that's the case. So for sure,
but really excited. We've got afew new reviews and so just wanted
to say thank you to people.We had one from Rachel Ah three five
stars over there on Apple Podcasts,and they said I recently bought a house
(01:11):
with a long to do list andstarted listening to this podcast to take my
house make my house projects more bearable. Now I find myself looking forward to
these projects so I can listen toour posts and hear some of my own
thoughts put into words, and alsolisten to new perspectives and opinions pertaining to
the many themes and ideas in theHarry Potter books. I first read the
(01:34):
series in high school, then readit for a second time in college,
and this podcast has inspired me toread it again now that I'm an adult.
Both times i read the series,different elements within the book stood out
to me, and I'm excited todiscover which parts of this story impacted me
the most as an adult. Thankyou for your wonderful insight, humor,
and ideas. I love that,and I agree. I think that there's
(01:57):
a lot of stories like that.But you know, you read them in
one place and you take something awayfrom it, and you ate, five,
six, ten, whatever years,you read it again and you take
away something entirely different. I foundthe same as a parent. I took
things away very differently before I wasa parent than I do after being a
parent. The news included in that, to be clear, the first like
(02:19):
eight months I did not I couldnot read the news. I couldn't handle
all the trauma while you know,knowing she's this tiny little thing that could
like get hurt. So I totally, I totally appreciate that perspective and I
like that, so thank you forpointing that out. I don't think we've
hammered that home enough. So Ireally like that yep, I know,
I completely agree, and I think, you know, it's one of the
(02:42):
hallmarks, and I would say itis the hallmark of a really good series
is that you can read it atdifferent parts of your life and it can
speak to you in different ways.And I think that's what has made Harry
Potter really continue to stay in thetest of time, you know, with
thematic elements and that it's not somethingthat only children and I think that was
(03:05):
the you know, it's obviously thereason we're still talking about today, and
it was the thing that made itso popular in the beginning as well as
I think parents reading it to theirkids. As the series went on,
they became more and more invested inas well. But part of that is,
you know, as you read itin as an adult, you can
also see you a rowling is doingmore easily than a child in the sense
(03:28):
of what she's trying to say.So I think that's really cool. We
do have one more. Yeah,I was just gonna say too, like
based we've we've even seen based onthe current climate, the world's end,
right, it's a very different worldnow than it was when she first released
these books. And you know,we've talked a lot over the last at
(03:49):
least book or two about how youknow twenty twenty for us was really thematic
within the book too, So yeah, I'm not going to keep babbling on
y'all, y'all get up. No, you're absolutely right, And I think
that's the hallmark of a good seriesas well, is that it's not something
that's tied to one specific thing,but it can continue to be applicable in
(04:13):
many different eras. So our nextreview, I'm not quite sure who how
to say. It's like b SBfan eight zero eight, I think,
but they said mahalow, which,oh man. That means they're from the
Islands, which is really cool.Five stars. Thank you for this podcast.
I literally discovered our post a fewdays ago. I've got a lot
(04:36):
of catching up to do, butit's been wonderful listening to each of the
discussions about the chapter so far.It's given me a better understanding of the
story. Keep up with the awesomepodcast. I hope you'll continue to discussions
for the eighth Harry Potter book,The Fantastic Beast Narratives, and the smaller
books from Hogwarts like Quidditch to theAges and Beatle the Bard. Well,
(04:59):
thank you so much. We reallyappreciate that review. A hollow to you
and aloha for your review, sothank you so much. It really does
mean a lot that people will spendtheir time and give us these type of
reviews, so and it really hasit's helped the show grow. I think
I've said it before, but ofall the podcasts that I do, this
(05:21):
is the one that's the most downloadedand the most successful, like Buy a
long Shot. So thank you guysso much. Well, of course you
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Podcasts, we would appreciate a starrating review and we mentioned those on the
show. You could find us anywherethough, just make sure you're subscribed and
(05:44):
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one, which means they're only nineepisodes left, so we really appreciate everybody
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(06:06):
at Facebook dot com slash the nerdParty and we've also got an Instagram feed
you can follow, which is overat the nerd party there on Instagram.
So, Drea, this is thechapter, chapter twenty nine, the Last
Diadem, And you know, weliterally pick right back up where we left
off, which was Neville had comethrough the portrait. And I just absolutely
(06:30):
love this whole thing because Neville isso excited to see them, and not
only is he excited to see them, but he wants to know everything because
they only have had so much newsabout Harry and what they've been doing,
and he is He's like just soexcited to hear whether all the things that
(06:54):
they've heard are actually true. Imean, did you write in a dragon?
Did you break into green Goods?All these things? And it's just
there's this over exuberance, and Ireally, I think what's really kind of
fun at the very beginning of thischapter here is there's a little bit of
joy that we haven't had in along time just by seeing Neville, and
(07:18):
his joy of seeing his friends forthe first time in like a year rings
like a renewed energy to them thatI think they really need at this point,
right. They're kind of like separatelyeach of these groups we come to
learn are sort of down trodden andhave been through the Ring or the past
year very different ways. But Ithink both of them sort of refresh each
(07:42):
other, right, which I secretlyhope is what's going to happen when I
see some of my friends for thefirst time and you know, a year
or whatever. But you know,Neville has so much enthusiasm, He's got
all this energy. He has adifference to him. They really note that
he's got like this kind of calmconfidence they've never seen in him before.
(08:03):
He's really and he goes on toexplain what has happened at Hogwarts over the
past what like semester and a halfsomething like that, But they've been there
and how you know, they've keptDumbledore's army just powerful and strong, and
he was really inspired by Harry tostart speaking up when appropriate, and that
(08:24):
you know, they've done things likekind of taunt the death theaters, and
they've learned how far to push itbecause you know, he's got pure blood.
They're not going to kill me,They're just going to torture me.
But I can survive that. Youknow, there's this real a differenceive approach
that Neville has taken and he's reallystepped into the leadership vacuum that Harry left
(08:46):
when he went looking for horcruxes,which I think kind of takes Harry and
all of them by surprise. Right. They're used to him being someone who
came along and really wanted to dosomething impactful and powerful, and they're seeing
him really come into his own somuch so that you know, as he's
explaining this, one of the thingshe explains is that when he really pushes
(09:09):
it too far, the death Eatersgo after his grandmother, right, and
that she fights him off, goeson the run, sends him a letter
telling him how proud she is ofhim and how proud his parents would be
of him for who he's become,which is huge considering when we started this
it was my grandmother's embarrassed with me, I should be ashamed, and now
(09:31):
it's a complete one eighty. Sothis is one of those massive moments where
this character goes from one type toa completely different person because it was in
him all along, which is whatthe sorting hat saw and why they put
him in Griffindor. Yeah, Ithink it's really beautiful. I love you
know, you could tell too.He's got this great relationship with ab or
(09:54):
forth. He even calls him abyou know, he tells him, we've
got other people coming, you know. Um. And there's this really beautiful
moment before they make their way downthe hallway to where they're going to the
castle, um, where Harry looksat Apper fourth and he's like, thank
you so much for for saving ustwice, and he's like, well,
you got to be careful because I'mnot sure I'll be able to do it
(10:16):
a third uh. And so it'sreally it's really neat um to kind of
just see the way, um,you know, his change of heart and
what you can see I think inin this here is that his attitude in
that that you know, the beginningof last chapter and the fight they kind
(10:37):
of have is is you can tellthis is a character who, um,
he's worried about these kids. Youknow. Um. It wasn't a thing
of like, uh that he trulyfeels like that nobody should fight and everything's
lost and it's all done for um, But he truly is worried for these
kids and like he he knows hecan only do so much and he he
(11:01):
worries about that. And I thinkthere's a real beauty to seeing that in
this character. And and of courseyou know he's he's going to help them
in this sense. Like you know, he's been this way station for people
to be able to come back andforth from the castle. He's been giving
them food, Uh, Neville tellsthem, and uh, you know,
(11:22):
he begins to you know, andI think this is to some really disturbing
stuff. Um. You know,Neville kind of breaks down what's been going
on at the school here over thelast year, and it's super disturbing.
I mean, you know, youhave, um, the Carro brother and
(11:43):
sister who are really making life.I think, you know, hell is
a perfect word for for what they'redoing to the kids. You know.
Um, the way that the deatheaters are making m people obey is by
(12:05):
going after their family members. Um. So that's what happened with Luna.
You know, his his dad gotthere, her dad got a little bit
too mouthy uh in the paper.Uh, and he um, his daughter
was stolen, you know. Uh. And the same thing has been happening
to two kids, you know,throughout Hogwarts, and like you said,
(12:28):
the same thing happened to uh Neville'sgrandmother. Um, they just didn't realize
they were coming after the wrong granny. I love that the granny is such
a such a ba She's she's just, I don't know another way to put
it, that sums up how I'mfeeling about it. She's she's just a
(12:48):
real bad mama jama, Like shedoes it right. Like I love that
they're like whoever they send after heris still in Saint Mungo's because they totally
underestimated her, which I love isjust as little aside, don't don't underestimate
someone just because they're older. Don'tunderestimate them just because they're you know,
(13:09):
a small elderly woman. She'll she'sjust still got some fight in her.
And I love that well. AndI think it's really interesting, you know,
to me what we're learning about what'sbeen happening at school, and it
is, you know, quite disturbingbecause you know, you mentioned Neville kind
of taking on that role he hadkind of seen Harry do where you know,
(13:33):
mouthing off and trying to use thatas a way to show hope and
everything, and um, you know, as time has gone on, they've
had to stop doing a lot ofthose things because you know, at Christmas
time, you had Luna leave andyou had Ginny not come back. They
were help helpful ring leaders in that. Um you know, you had um
(13:54):
Michael Connor who had gone to savea young student who had been like chained
up and like having him get tortured, and so like just terrible, terrible,
terrible things have been happening here.And then of course the Carros have
been teaching m Dark Arts and MuggleStudies, which you know, Dark Arts
(14:16):
has now just turned into punishment timefor people who would disobey you practice unforgivable
curses on them, like the Cruciatiuscurse. And then Muggle Studies is basically
about how Muggles are less than human, they're dirt, and how basically they
deserve anything they get. Um,which if that doesn't sound familiar as a
as a philosophy, just just youknow, read any dictator or you know,
(14:41):
a Terrible Regimes way of dealing withpeople that they don't like. This
is exactly you know, what theyhave become. And we see that blatantly
here, like this is straight upthe worst of the worst. And so
I really appreciate that we're truly gettingto see what through what's happening at Hogwarts
(15:03):
here, you know what things alllook like when death eaters and their ilk
run things. Yeah, I totallyagree. It's a lot, we learn
a lot. It's all horrifying,and I love that, specifically she has
Harry think that he can't tell what'smore horrifying that this is happening or the
(15:26):
casual and accepting tone with which Nevilleis explaining what's been happening to them.
Right, they have become so desensitizedto how awful this is that it's just
very matter of fact and hey,it's like, Okay, I went and
got a coffee today and it wasdelicious, and you know whatever is how
they're discussing the torture and this horriblesituation they've been in for you know,
(15:50):
what, would you say, eightnine months something like that, maybe a
year? Yeah, And so youknow, I think that speaks volumes when
you can be that desensitized to what'sgoing on around you. So, um,
you know, it's it's a lotfor them to take in. Um.
I do love though there's some beautifulmoments in there, like you pointed
(16:11):
out that Luna was taken away whenthe Quibbler got a little too too mouthy.
Um against the Death Eaters and themovement, and uh, you know
he's like, but Luna's okay,and he's like, oh, yeah,
no, I know. We've beenstill using the Dumbledore coins from what two
books ago now a book ago.Um, they're still communicating via that and
(16:36):
it's driving you know, the DeathEaters crazy because they can't figure out how
they're doing it. Um. Andbut you know, he knows that Luna's
safe. He knows the Dean safe. You know, it's a Ginny safe
you know. Um, so Ido like that, you know, when
he really gives Hermione credit for that, like, it's brilliant. That was
(16:56):
brilliant. Right. So, asas he's explaining and as this is going
on, you know, they thinkHarry and Ron and Hermione are back to
fight with them, to start anuprising, to fight back and take Hogwarts
back. And that's, as weknow, not why they're there, but
(17:17):
because that's what Neville and everyone elsethinks. Neville has started to send messages
at using the coin to others tocome back, and so throughout the latter
part of this chapter, while youknow, they're trying to convince Harry to
let them help him we have afew familiar faces show up through the portrait
(17:40):
hole through Aberferth's bar. Yeah,I mean we have students coming in.
We've got you know, some likeyou said, really familiar faces, which
is really fun. And you knowthe fact that we have Fred and George
showing up. You know, wehave Dean showing up. You know,
(18:04):
we have all of these, youknow, characters which we really love.
And I think that you know,Harry would be enjoying this if, and
sadly, if he wasn't starting tosee what Voldemort's doing, which is,
Voldemort has been to the shack andthe ring is not there, and so
(18:27):
now he's in a rage and he'sflying off to other places to look for
his hidden horcruxes. And Harry hasno idea when he's going to arrive at
Hogwarts and how long they have,and so it's a really a moment of
desperation for him because he's got tofind whatever this is because he doesn't know
how much time they have. Andthen, of course, who should show
(18:52):
up through the portrait the last place, honest Lee that Harry wants her to
be, but Jenny herself as wellas Um Choe Chang, and of course,
Harry's excited and devastated to see Jennyall at the same time because he
doesn't really want her to be here. And I love though that he can't
(19:12):
help but think, wow, shelooks so beautiful. Yeah, I mean,
he is happy to see them,but sad thinking that this is kind
of the most dangerous place you couldbe, right, Like there's a reason
why he hasn't been around all thesepeople for so long, and so you
know, he has this this sortof guilt. I'm happy to see them,
(19:34):
but they need to get away fromme kind of response to all these
people. And you know, asthey're arriving, we mentioned that, you
know, they're trying to convince Harryto let them help, because you know,
he tells them like, we're nothere to fight back, but I
can't tell you why I'm here,and they kind of keep pushing and pushing,
and finally Hermione takes some kind ofaside or quietly says like, you
(19:59):
know, you can let them helpyou without telling you what, telling them
what you're doing. Like they're alreadyhere, They're not going to give up.
They know more about what's been goingon and more about things than we
do, right, now, andso you know, Harry kind of says,
all right, let's do it,and basically says, you know,
(20:19):
we're looking for something. We don'tknow what it is. It's probably related
to raven Claw, don't know muchabout that. And he kind of directs
the question to the raven Cloud groupas to like, what is it that
I could be looking for? Right, It's going to be a small object
of some sort of value. MaybeI don't know right on that. I
think one of the really important thingsthat we get here is that Harry,
(20:42):
as Hermione and Ron are encouraging himto ask for help. He remembers something
from the conversation that they just hadwith Aberforth with just this idea of secrets
and lies, and that that's kindof who Albus Dumbledore was, this person
(21:03):
who you know, grew up withum these secrets and lies and keeping his
secrets very close to himself. Andand Harry makes the decision here to be
different than Dumbledore, to to notgo down that road. And you know
that's also you know Dumbledore it confessedto Harry that you know, he wasn't
(21:25):
always right and he didn't always dothe right thing. And so I think
It's beautiful here that that Harry hasthis moment of no, okay, it's
okay for me to ask for theirhelp. And I think there's there's something
in that um that is you know, so different, uh, And it
shows what what's beautiful about it isit shows growth. You know, we've
(21:45):
talked about Harry's ability to put thingstogether and puzzle pieces together, but I
think this also shows that Harry justhas the ability to to truly see what's
important and to learn from others mistakeswithout necessarily having to make those same mistakes
himself, which is a true signof wisdom for anybody. And I really
(22:08):
love that moment here. I thinkit's such a big moment for the character.
And you know, he does makethe right decision. They don't have
enough time for him just to figureit out himself, even with just Ron
and Hermione, right, he needstheir help. And I love the discussion
about you know, like what itcould be that is Raven Claus, that
(22:30):
was you know they're looking for andthey're talking about the Lost Diadem and like
Michael Connor's like, yeah, butit's lost, that's the Lost Diadem is
lost. Yeah, learned that it'sbeen lost for a really long time because
it disappeared with raven Claw herself.So I mean it's been you know,
generations, Bawn generations that this thinghas not been found. Yeah, and
(22:55):
I do like you calling out thathe makes a different decision than Dumbledore and
the all just a small point toadd to that. I think that's also
something Harry's become really good at,is being an empathetic leader. Right,
he can take the feeling he experiencedbeing on the other end of that and
not then do the same thing toothers. Right. He was sort of
subjected to the withholding of information andthe keeping of secrets really really close,
(23:21):
and so I think he knew howthat made him feel, and he could
see all the problems it caused him, Right, so why should he do
the same thing again? Right?And that's something that a lot of people
can't always do. They can't alwayssee how their actions are going to be
the same as something they've experienced.So I think that I really like how
(23:41):
that was also part kind of ofhis thought process. But yeah, so
they start talking about this lost diadem, and you know, Harry's like,
while, can you show me whatit looks like? And you know,
cho starts because Choe's the one whosort of pipes up and says, there's
(24:02):
a statue in our in our inour common room, and it'll show you
what it looks like. Maybe thatwill help. I don't know what,
you know, would that help?He's like, yeah, I can't.
You know. She's like, Ican take you there, and Jenny pipes
up and is like, no,Pluna, why don't you want it?
Why don't you take him? Whydon't you take him? And it's followed
(24:23):
with Joe looks really disappointed, um, which is really funny. It's like
a moment where it's like don't no, no, no, Luna, I
trust you much more, why don'tWhy don't you go? Why don't you
go? And she's like, oh, yeah, I'd love to take you.
Harry, let's go. And Harry'slike, I don't got time for
this whatever. Whoever's come and getunder get out of the cloth. We
gotta we gotta go. You know, he doesn't have time for the inner
(24:47):
inner relationship drama. He's like,he knows Baltimore's on his way, and
he his time's running out, sohe's like, let's get to it,
um, and then they kind ofhide under the cloth. You know.
It's so cool because you know,again we we we use things that we've
seen throughout the series. You know, we use the uh, the invisibility
(25:08):
cloak, and we use the Maraudersmap, you know, to get there.
And what's interesting is, you know, Harry's never been to the raven
Claw's tower, so he doesn't reallyknow where they're going, and you know,
you have to answer her riddle toget in there, which Harry finds
slightly annoying at this point, butLuna is able to reason it out.
(25:29):
And there is a statue of ravenClaw there in the common room, and
Harry is looking at it. Wesee the diadem on her head, there's
the phrase wit beyond measure is Man'sgreatest treasure. And then whip. Unfortunately,
Electo Caro is there and before Harrycan even raise his wand she's pressed
(25:56):
her finger to the skull and snakeBrandon on her forearm, and that's how
we leave the chapter done. Duned right. I remember when I was
reading this for the first time,and even when I reread it again years
later after it had been some time, I remember being surprised by this because
(26:18):
it's very different than kind of howit plays out in the movie, and
you're just not expecting them to bewaiting in the raven clock common room,
and you don't know why. You'relike, well, I guess that makes
sense, right, I guess Iprobably would have done something like that too
if I was the evil head ofa school I've just taken over. I
will learn more about the thought processbehind why they're there later, but I
(26:41):
remember being like, oh, Ididn't see that coming when I read it,
So I also this time had anoh, that's not good the moment.
But at the same time, wealso know he's kind of already on
his way, so I don't reallyknow what difference that's going to make.
(27:03):
But I think one of the thingsthat is really interesting that we didn't touch
on just yet in the chapter,but I think it's really important is you
know, they're using the Room ofRequirement as their hiding place, and we
find that Neville has really learned thesecret of the Room of Requirement, of
how to make it work and howto keep other people out of it that
(27:25):
you don't want in it, andyou know the only thing it can't do
is make food because that's one ofthe magical law properties is you can't just
make food out of nothing, whichis the moment. We did not give
enough credit to Ron for it becausehe says that as like a very big
learning moment because I don't remember whenHermione, at what point Hermione said that,
but that's definitely something that he's justregurgitating from what you've learned from Hermione
(27:48):
and everyone's like, oh, runand it's just another moment where you're like,
oh, that's just so cute.Well, and you know what makes
it really interesting is that. AndI think the movie does a real disservice
to the Room of Acquirement here becauseyou know, when they come in,
Harry is thinking to himself, howit really looks like it looks like a
(28:11):
big treehouse basically, you know,full of all these you know, hammocks
and everything, and or like abig ship's galley, you know, full
of hammocks and everything, and likethat doesn't come across whatsoever in the way
that they do. I mean,it just does not look cool like that.
You know. I don't really likethe movie hook, but I kind
(28:33):
of almost pictured that, yeah,you know, like yeah, like the
where the Lost Boys live and hookand there's just like hammocks and stuff everywhere.
And I like that it. ButI like that the Room of Requirement
keeps adding it, right, Likethe whole point is that whenever they have
a need for it, the roomjust it's magically there. Right they mentioned
the girls. The girl's restroom orwashroom shows up as soon as as the
(28:56):
girls start coming, because you knowit as they can't maybe relieve themselves in
the same way that a boy can, and it just kind of starts to
grow. So I think of itas if the Lost Boys stuff to sort
of organically started adding hammocks and coloreverywhere. Yeah, I think that's a
really great way to think about it. I like that. Yeah. So,
(29:17):
I mean it was a lot offun, but I mean we literally
leave the chapter on a cliffhanger,and so we'll have to wait till next
week when we get to the sackingof Severus Snape. But dream as everybody's
waiting. If they want to catchup with you, where can they find
you? Sure? You can findme on Twitter at pcf check or on
(29:38):
Instagram at Dreya Kaufman and at CFMan and you could find me on all
the different social media platforms under MattRushing is zero two. You can find
me here on the network doing aggressivenegotiations with John Mills as we are talking
about Star Wars each and every week. Who it's so much fun. You
can also find me on the TFMnetwork doing a few shows. One is
(30:00):
called the six or two Club,where we're talking about all of the fandoms
we love, not just one.Of course, you can also find there
in that feed. Now we arejust about to release Snyder cuts as John
Mills and I are walking through allof the directorial work of Zack Snyder as
we wait for his Justice League whichis coming out in March. Exciting.
(30:22):
And then of course you can alsofind me doing Larry tracks and the ORB.
Literary Checks is about the books inthe comics of Star Trek, and
the ORB is about Star Trek,Deep Space and nine. But thank you
so much for checking your outpost.It's Jeff Managed. Join the Revolution,
(30:56):
Join the nerd Party.
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Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.