Join us for a discussion of the ancient settlement Çatalhöyük, once considered a matriarchy due to shaky archaeological evidence...but new findings suggest that original assumption may have, amazingly, had some truth to it.
Notes; Maggie misspoke around 29:50, America declared independence in 1776, not 1773. Also she meant to include a mention that the new research article came out in June of this year, but forgot. She asks that you please forgive this clearly insurmountable lapse.
(the audio is finally normal! yay!!!! See the youtube description for all the sources and links)
Lavender Lemonade Podcast Episode 3 - Harry Potter analysis part 2
My gyns this time it's Maggie's voice that's sligtly distorted, my fault again! But I discovered that if you speed this up to 1.4 it's much more easy to listen :)
0:00 Intro
2:50 Petunia opinions
7:50 Dudley mention (we get back to this)
8:40 Petunia in depth psychological analysis
10:30 Maggie addresses her past behaviour
12:22 Dumbledore discourse
21:22 Back to Petunia analysis
25:27 Dudley's dark psychoanalysis
29:11 Dudley and Draco parallels
36:04 Narcissa Malfoy is braver than Snape
38:34 Tonks and her parents
41:11 Lupin and Tonks
41:50 Harry yearning for parental figures and losing them
45:57 Sirius Black
50:46 Winky
56:32 S.P.E.W. and Hermione's advocacy for house elves
Thirteen goddess figurines found in the Balzi Rossi caves near Grimaldi di Ventimiglia, Italy, on the border of France. These range from one inch to seven and a half inches. They date to between 24,000 and 19,000 BCE, and represent the widespread Gravatian culture noted for buxom and big-bottomed fertility figurines.
This is one of the oldest settlement regions of Italy, having greater continuity from the Paleolithic to the ancient Ligurians and Celts of the valley, hills, and surrounding alps. So it is perhaps not too unlikely that localized traces of the Goddess provide clues to prehistoric cultus or even names.
We can never know the names of Paleolithic goddesses, but as most early goddesses had river associations, we might assign the Balzi Rossi cave goddess(es) to the swift River Roia (Roya) which shaped the Roya Valley, known as the Valley of Dreams. In this region, Cybele (Mater) was once a significant deity, and might be identified with the regions cliffs, caverns, and mountains.
As the cavern cliffs are by the Ligurian Sea, into which the River Roia flows, so we might also envision an ocean-going proto-Aphroditian goddess akin to Tanit or Atargatis.
Roya means "Dreamer"; or, "Dreams" or "Visions"; or, "To Dream," but can also imply religion, magic, premonition, or fantasy, as well as a common girls' name in several countries. The Roya was known to the Ligurians as Rotuba which means "Rushing Turbulance" but also "Chaos" or "The Terrifier."
"noted for buxom and big-bottomed fertility figurines." They certainly are that, but I also notice the prominent stomachs! They look like goddesses of prosperity.
There are other drawings out there! It's one reason why people can't retcon certain characters' descriptions and claim they're canon: we have the intertextual evidence of Rowling's intentions via the drawings she made.
Holly crap look at these just wow. So glad we have her drawings of her characters they look so great I can’t even just look at them !!! Thank you for sharing this and for your addition.
Lavender Lemonade Podcast Episode 2: Harry Potter Analysis - Part 1
Welcome to Episode Two! Join us as we discuss Harry Potter, whether Hermione was underappreciated, what it means to be a good person, the unfortunate charisma of Alan Rickman, and more! We had some audio issues on this one. We apologize, and I have written captions as well as time stamps in the description to make listening easier. You can also find the full transcript under the read more.
M: Hi, this is Maggie.
H: And my name is Hana and you're listening to Lavender Lemonade. This is episode 2 and today we are talking about the feminist analysis of media, specifically we're gonna start with analysis of Harry Potter.
M: Ah, everybody's favourite!
H: [laughs] Especially recently, people are really loving it.
M: It's really funny to see how originally all of the outcry was from people on the right, a lot of christians, fundamentalists, and now it's all people on the left, and the books have not changed! This entire time, they've been the same books.
H: You're right.
M: We just manufactured the reasons to be angry at them.
H: Exactly. Okay, I want to disclaim, before we start, we both love these books. We are criticizing them from a very loving perspective.
M: Yes, absolutely, I don't think there's anything anyone could say would erase the incredible impact they've had on the world, on publishing industries.
H: Yeah.
M: Everyone knows that these books are iconic for a reason, and we're not trying to diminish that in any way.
H: Yes, and I also want to disclaim that any kind of criticism I personally have for the books, it's not a criticism that extends to the author, I have great respect for the author, and a lot of things I'm about to criticize, are kind of things that belong to this era, and I understand they could not have been different. If it was written now, I know it would be different because the author changed, she started writing things much more realistically, much more in tune to what our feminist consciousness is today, and back then we didn't have that level of consciousness, or the ideas about the equality we have now. So I'm criticizing them from the perspective we have now, but I'm not criticizing the author, I love her.
M: She is absolutely fantastic. I think that some of my criticisms are a little bit unfair too, I'll say that at the jump. 'Cause I'll look at it and be like, oh, this woman deserve better! But that's not like—it's not bad writing.
H: Yeah! No, I get you, that's exactly how I feel, the writing is amazing, and for it's time, it was incredible progressive. Like I don't remember that we even had that strong feminist – female characters in books, at least not in popular books, until Harry Potter arrive, each character was already a standalone, like a progress for our literature and I love them so much. But I'm still gonna point out, whatever I think now, with additional knowledge.
M: Yes, absolutely.
H: Alright, do you want me to start?
M: Yes, go ahead.
H: Okay, so my first criticism that I think of when I think of Harry Potter, is that Ron was not good for Hermione, it makes me so mad.
M: Oh, okay, hot gossip, alright, tell us.
H: Okay okay, I mean, at the beginning of the books, I really liked Ron, because he was extremely likeable, he was Harry's first friend, he accepted him, it was all great, but even from the get-go, he was kinda horrible to Hermione, he was always putting her down, he was always calling her know-it-all, even though her knowledge was a really great skill that she had, it was a big value she had; she was their resource, for everything. But he found it very natural to push her away, to put her down, to make her feel bad about herself, like with every, every chance he got. And at the time, I think that was very very normal, like for-- I'm not saying it's okay, I'm just saying it was very normal to the boys and girls in school like this, I think we've all lived trough being put down by boys when we were girls.
M: I think Ron is a very ordinary kind of like.. shitty. You know, I think his insecurity, his jealousy, he has his good points but you can just sort of see, in the books, that he's such a typical like, boy of his age, right, like 11 to, how old do they get in the books, 17?
H: Yes.
M: Okay, yeah, he's very ordinary in that sense.
H: Ordinary shitty is the exact phrase that I needed, thank you so much.
M: So, give us an example, what are some specific things that he does?
H: Oh you know that one time when he called her 'insufferable know-it-all' in the corridor and she runs away crying in the bathroom all day, my heart was broken. They do rescue her from the troll later, but still, that was Ron's fault, and he didn't even like, feel bad about it. He was just, you know, oh she heard me.
M: I'll push back a little bit, I do think he felt bad, I do think he felt guilty 'cuz he didn't expect her to actually hear that. Um, he was just complaining to his friend. We all talk shit to our friends sometimes and and he did not know that she was there. But yeah, poor Hermione in that moment.
H: Yeah. And she didn't deserve to be called that just because she was the brightest person in the entire class and she was eager to learn. I mean, she was a muggle in a magical world. Like, who wouldn't be curious? Who wouldn't want to learn everything? I would be the same in her situation, I feel like.
M: Yeah. Yeah, it would be really interesting. Um, I do feel like we get that kind of background on Hermione that she doesn't make friends easily before she makes friends with Harry and Ron. I don't think she's really had friends before.
H: Yeah. She never mentions anyone. Yeah.
M: Yeah. So, 'cuz it is true. Hermione too is this is this very interesting sort of human flawed character. Her streak of ruthlessness I think is great like that. I feel like we hardly ever get representations of women, oh my god, women like this um what she did to Rita Sketeer.
H: I know. I was thinking it, I was thinking, she trapped that woman into a jar.
M: She really did. And then just the absolute like cutthroat of when they do the the secret defense against the arts club, Dumbledore's army and she hexes the parchment that they all signed.
H: Oh, that was that was so scary. Wow.
M: She is hardcore. I mean like and that's like she is a genuinely flawed person in some very fascinating ways. Although that is to say that like I do understand your frustration where Hermione is such a rare kind of character. It's so interesting and so complex and Ron seems too ordinary for her.
H: No, I feel like I feel like he needs to put her down in order to feel superior to her.
M: I think some of their sniping back and forth is like fun for them. I I struggle with how he doesn't, I feel like he doesn't try like when he realizes that he wants more from her than he's getting. He just kind of sulks about it.
H: Yes. Oh my god, that was going to be my next point.
M: Yeah. Okay, let's talk about it. Okay.
H: Well, the moment where we realize there's something actually going on between Ron and Hermione is the ball in the fourth year, right? Ron and Harry just refuse to invite her, and I mean they don't invite Hermione and they only look at, I mean Ron only looks at her as a last resort and, like he's so sure that she doesn't have a date and that she's lying about it and he's play trying to play it off like he's taking mercy on her by inviting her like oh you poor thing like you don't have anyone and you actually are a girl so I'll go with you.
M: I'm doing you a favor you're desperate one, not me.
H: Exactly. Like he just expected her to be available to him. He just expected that she is going to be in his service when he decides it's time that they go together. And when it turns out that she had someone else to go with, he absolutely ruined her night. Like, he did everything to make sure that she ends up in tears just because she rejected, I mean she didn't even reject him because she already had someone and he she told him that and like, how much clearer could she be? She didn't do anything wrong and he destroyed the entire night for her. I think I think it was not only jealousy. I feel like it was to punish her to show her that she can't just go and do what she likes if he's going to feel a certain way about it.
M: There is definitely, um, I would say everything like he's he's very immature in that way where everything does come back to his ego. Ugh, so yeah, I see what you mean. It's very painful to watch her night get ruined. And I was kind of hoping 'cuz I knew that she um maintained a correspondence with Victor Krum.
H: Yes.
M: For a while afterward that I was kind of hoping like that was something that would get, you know, that she could do.
H: I'm actually so so happy that she had that because like if she didn't have that that, most of her life would just be about Harry and Ron and like at least she had like one relationship that was not about the main trio and I'm so glad for her.
M: Yes. I will say like, Hermione is this fun character because I I always kind of end up hoping, I'm like, "Hermione, I want you to make some female friends." And she doesn't really she's not really about that.
H: Yeah, we didn't have female solidarity back then in media or in like real life maybe.
M: I don't know. I I It wasn't that long ago. I don't want to sell it short, but Hermione is just definitely not one of those characters. Like that's something that, like, I think she as a person would have to kind of sort out a little bit of. Yeah, she just doesn't really get along with girls very well.
H: I think she was okay with Ginny and with Luna and she knew a lot about Cho Chang. Like she understood her emotions better than Harry and Ron. So I think she was very aware of the girls around her. She just didn't make it very personal.
M: Okay. She definitely was very in tune with what Cho Chang had going on, but I'm going to push back that she got along with Luna. She did not.
H: Wait. Oh, yeah. I know. She called her weird names. I forgot about that. Oh my god.
M: It's okay. Um, but yeah, that was definitely, that's one of Hermione's things though is that uh she's very convinced that she's right. And often she is, but not always. And even when she is right, like, she's one of those people that, the fact that she's right completely blinds her to like, is the fact that I'm right the most relevant thing in this situation? Like, how do I approach this? How do I deal with this? She just becomes very impatient with other people and doesn't really care about seeing it from their perspective or convincing them or trying to understand what they have going on. If she thinks she's right, like that's the only thing that matters to her.
H: Wow, that is that's actually very correct. And I never I never thought much about that, but you're right. She is like that. She does get extremely impatient once she figures out that she's right. Everyone else is just, you know, kind of dumb to her at that point.
M: Yes. But and I say all that like I love Hermione. I love her so much.
H: No, I mean she she's a teen. We are an analyzing her character, but she's just a teen. That's something that you get sorted out in your late 20s.
M: Yeah. Yeah. You know what? And she's allowed. She's allowed to be a human person.
H: Exactly.
M: I'm glad that she is the way she is and not like some paragon of virtue. That would be very annoying, especially because Harry and Ron are allowed to be flawed. So, yeah, you know.
H: Oh, sorry. Sorry for interrupting you. You go on.
M: No, no, that's all I wanted to say.
H: Oh, all right. Now that you now that you explained to me about her thinking that she's right and dismissing everyone else, that's actually kind of inverted of how we are supposed to act. I think that that's what maybe what makes her so special because. I know for most of my life if I thought something and someone else thought something else regardless of whether I was right or wrong, I was pushed to assume that other person was more correct than me. I was never allowed to really think that I'm right if a man thinks I'm wrong. It was kind of like that. And Hermione does not tolerate that shit. She's like, "I'm right and everyone else in the universe is wrong." And that's actually fascinating to me because I was never allowed to think like this as a little girl or as a teenage girl even. So I'm fascinated by this. Like, she was smart and she knew it and she was not going to hear otherwise.
M: It does make her this really interesting character. I definitely agree. Um, women are raised to make ourselves very very vulnerable. Uh, very very susceptible to control tactics, and manipulation by men. And Hermione is a fun character in that she really doesn't go along with all of that so much.
H: Yeah. I mean, I actually can't I can't think of a single time when someone actually managed to manipulate or outsmart her. Like remember when a minister tried to talk to them or any kind of, or umbrage or anyone was trying some kind of wishywashy business, she would immediately just look at Harry and go, "Yeah, anyway, that was bullshit." She saw through everyone and she would even give like comprehensive analysis of what that person actually wanted. She's really impressive.
M: She has a lot of faith in herself, self-confidence, and it's just absolutely fantastic.
H: I feel like she has so much confidence in her intellect, but not so much in her social skills, like in her bonds with her friends. Yeah, because her friends did let her down. There were so many times in a book they just ignore her or neglect her or let her deal with the entire world on her own just because Ron is mad at her for something and that made me sad every single time. Remember that one time that Hagrid went at, went off at Ron and Harry for just abandoning her and she had to do everything all alone and research for Hagrid and she was just crying a lot and spending time in the library.
M: Yeah, that was that was in the third book that was trying to
H: Yeah. Oh my god. It was because of Scabbers.
M: No, it was because it was it was because of Draco Malfoy being, um, the way that he is and trying to get Buckbeak killed, right?
H: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But Ron was mad at Hermione because he thought that her cat ate his rat who was Peter Pettigrew, which is so funny now. He was mad at Hermione because he thought that she killed Peter Pettigrew. Like, okay.
M: Oh no.
H: And Harry was—
M: Yeah. Poor Ron too. Like when they figure when they find out like oh oh that's that's lifelong trauma baby.
H: Okay. Yeah that that was bad in his defense. That was pretty bad. But I was going to say Harry was completely spineless in that situation and just sided with Ron because it was easiest for him. I don't respect that.
M: I'll defend him a little bit. I will say like Harry especially at the beginning, like, you can tell like Ron was his friend first and if the friend group splinters it's Hermione who who will be left on her own. I do feel like later, in the later books it's less like that and it's more like if they're fighting he doesn't want to take a side. He doesn't want to be involved. Um, there are points where he like literally tells them to like sort it out, and like not bother him until they've fixed it or whatever. Um, I do think that that's an expression of like, if I sound absolutely lovely, it's because I for our listeners, I, I woke up like a little bit sick, but don't mind it. Um, and Hana's getting over sickness, so we are just gorgeous.
H: No, you sound amazing. Go on.
M: Okay. Okay. Um, Harry is this character who like he's so shaped by being horribly abused as a child.
H: Yes.
M: And it's interesting cuz it's something that the narrative doesn't really like talk about a lot. Doesn't explicitly bring up. Especially when he's at Hogwarts and he doesn't want to think about all that shit. But you could just see it in his behavior constantly, like he cannot stand conflict.
H: That's true.
M: He like he likes Ron, he likes Hermione. So when they are arguing with each other, it's really really really hard for him. Even to the extent that I kind of feel like, especially later on, um some of the ways that Ron and Hermione will kinda snipe back and forth, I kind of think that they're having fun. There are certain points where like it just sort of seems like interesting to them. There's no actual animosity like they're just it's like intellectual right the bickering. It's all fine for them but like it really bothers Harry it really gets to him. Um, and I kind of feel like there might have been like off off screen, off page, uh, I feel like Ron and Hermione, like I want to know how they talk about Harry.
H: Oh my god, that's not something we ever got to see because we were only looking from Harry's perspective. But yeah, I want this, too. JK Rowling, get on it. Please.
M: I'm so curious.
H: Oh, now I am too. Like I don't want to imagine it. Maybe there's a fanfiction. Yeah, I'll find it.
M: Oh, that would be interesting.
H: Okay, I want to go back to topic of why I think Ron is bad for Hermione.
M: Yes, tell us more.
H: Okay. Okay. So, um, the next thing that really, really pissed me off is that in the last book, Harry, uh, I mean, Ron, Ron was starting to decide to truly pursue Hermione for real. And the way he went about it is he read a book, "How to Get Witches or How to Charm Witches". And the book was just filled with manipulative shit. Like you pretend to care, you go and pet her when she's sad or something like this, if she says this, you say that. He was just using all these tricks to basically slowly win her over. And it was working on her. It was actually working on her. And she didn't I don't think that she knew that it was all just behavior learned from a book that it was not something that came from him. And I think if she knew maybe it would be different, like I don't think she would appreciate that he was just using a bunch of manipulation techniques to get her. I really, I really hate that.
M: I didn't remember that at all. That was in the last book?
H: Yeah. Yeah. Fred and George gifted him this book because I think they realized there was some kind of drama and they're like, "This book will sort it out." It's in the beginning of the book. Ron mentions to Harry like Harry. No, I think he actually gives Harry the book. Yeah. He thinks Harry wants to manipulate women, too.
M: Oh, no.
H: Yeah. And so, yeah, I just remember that because it it pissed me off so much. And you could see later Ron just acting empathetically but in a very very fake way. Like Hermione would be trying to do something or she would get upset and instead of usually being like very degrading about it, he would go like and say something nice or pet her, it was very jarring because it was not his usual behavior. But I can imagine Hermione was just relieved that he was being nice to her for once. Like literally he just needed to be nice to her, if he was just nice! But he had to read it in a book.
M: A book had to tell him how to be nice. Oh!
H: yeah. And it was just for the purpose of wooing her. I don't think it was something he intended to do for the rest of his life. You know how men are. They just do nice thing during the courting phase and then after a woman says yes to them, like you know it's over. Like she's getting one gift per year if he remembers her birthday.
M: That is a very very frustrating thing. Um, I thought about that a little bit of I could see Ron and Hermione sort of the best versions of them like living happily in, like but only in very specific circumstances. Because I actually think that they would do best if like Hermione is like, off doing amazing career things and Ron is supporting her. Honestly if the gender roles were kind of flipped. I could see them like the way that their personalities are. I could see that working for them. But the problem is that Ron has such an insecurity, such a problem with like being in the shadows. Um, and feeling like, overshadowed. I just don't think that he could be the husband that someone like Hermione, who is clearly going to go and do incredible things, I don't think he's what she deserves. I don't think he's going to be able to support her. I think he's going to drag her down.
H: Yeah, that's exactly what I see. I, I think it's fascinating what you just uh imagined because that never even crossed my mind. I can't imagine Ron being supportive because I can't remember one instance where he was supportive to her. Like, whenever was he supporting her goals or her dreams, he always expected her to be the in the support figure. And that's not for her.
M: No, it doesn't really suit her. I mean, she is she's brilliant. She has many strengths, but being nurturing is not really one of them.
H: Okay. Yes. Emotionally, no. But, um, her role in the book was to be a support to Harry's mission basically. I mean, she was the most valuable support he ever had, but she was a support character to him mo most of the time, I think.
M: Yes. I think that's fair. Yeah.
H: Okay. So, last thing I wanted to say was, okay. So, the the exact moment when they get together is when Ron finally for one moment thinks about the well-being of the of the house elves, which was very very important to Hermione. And okay, I'll, I'll concede. Like that that was a good moment. Like that was a moment where I was like, "Oh my god." Like that was a moment of good. I also thought like that was good. Good job on this one, Ron. He got rewarded very well. Oh, I didn't hear you. Say again.
M: Oh, it was definitely a cute moment. I agree.
H: Yeah. And I did like that one, but the rest was still, like not good enough. And also, I want to say um I think JK Rowling realized later that they were not a fit, that Hermione deserved better because I remember a few years after the books came out. I think it was when the last movie was either being made or or made or being in theatre, she said that she regrets putting Ron and Hermione together and people were rioting. People were so mad that she said that. I remember even on tumblr there were like, angry posts like how could she do this? How could she say this? And people I remember specifically there was a post floating around saying like I don't care. She cannot take it back. Ron and her money are together. I have that shit in text. It's canon. They were very vindicated that she can never take this back and like I I didn't understand either, I was too young, I didn't understand why why was she saying that or why was it all wrong, but now I get it and I feel like JK Rowling only understood later like how all the tropes that she wrote in this book played out and how it was actually unequal and unfair relationship that would end up being a little toxic and a little maybe like unhappy for Hermione to always have to deal with this whiny, insecure, unsupportive little shit.
M: I think I might vaguely remember this. Um, did she I don't know if I'm making this up. I feel like she might have said something about how they would definitely need therapy down the road.
H: Yeah. Okay. I don't remember that specifically, but that sounds like something she would say. Yes.
M: Um, man, there was something else I wanted to say, and of course, it's just gone from my brain.
H: No, bring it back. No. Was it about Hermione and Ron?
M: God damn it. I have no idea. We'll have to just keep going and see if it comes back.
H: Yeah, if it comes back, you can like we can edit it in in this part. Okay. Everything can be done.
M: Um I do love how, you know, we were like, "Oh, we're going to criticize these books from a feminist lens." And we've there's definitely some criticism in here, but there's also just a lot of, you know, admiration because they're good books.
H: They're really good. I adore them. Yeah.
H: Okay. We did a lot of talk about Hermione already. My next note about it was how she was, she was a bit neglected as a character. Even though she was so vital to the story and her value was so huge for the main character, it was rarely or almost never acknowledged in the book. They would only acknowledge her like as a last resort, like when she was already sick of their shit, or when she was like, and they were about to lose her in in some way. Only then they would concede that she's actually, that they wouldn't be able to do anything without her. And I feel that that's a lot of how women that's what women have to deal with in their regular lives. You know, we always have to do so much and then it's only when we're sick of it we get acknowledgement, right?
M: Let's see. When does she get acknowledged for her achievements in the books?
H: I think I don't know the exact timing, but I just remember like at one point Harry and Ron acknowledged like we wouldn't be able to get anywhere without her.
M: I do remember that moment. I think also um in the sixth book with Slughorn, cuz I think that comes up a couple times where like Slughorn is impressed with Hermione and then he also like, realizes in front of everyone that like when Harry referred to the greatest witch of their generation like he was talking about Hermione. That was a nice moment for Hermione to realize that that was how he talked about her behind her back. That's great.
H: Yeah, but it's also the fact that he only says that behind her back. He never says it to her face ever.
M: Okay, but like to be fair, like who does who is he praising to their face? He's not really
H: Oh, okay. True. I'm so glad that one came back to to her, that she was able to hear it.
M: That was a lovely moment.
H: And she was so happy! She was so happy. She looked at him like thrilled about it. Oh, my baby. I'm so happy for her.
M: I do feel like she probably, I'm interested about Hermione's relationship with McGonagall. Because McGonogal gives this 13-year-old a time turner.
H: Omg, that was crazy!
M: Intervenes like with the ministry to get it for her, which like that tells me like that's kind of crazy, but also like that tells me that McGonagle like, is rooting for her, believes in her. Um, she's this muggleborn in this magical world that is definitely still full of so much racialized biases. And it's just really nice that there is this older woman who is trying to look out for her, and to advocate for her. Uh so that's definitely lovely.
H: Yeah, you you're so you're so insightful for of like noticing this because I never I never really thought about it much, but I have to imagine because McGonagall was incredibly powerful and bright and like, she, she was strict, but she appreciated knowledge. She appreciated curiosity and hard work and Hermione was giving it everything like she was everything McGonagall would ask of a student. So I wonder if maybe, even though Hermione was not from a magical family, we didn't really know the McGonagall's roots. I at least I never read about it. But I have to imagine she was maybe seeing herself in the little Hermione. She was seeing a girl who was trying her best.
M: That's so sweet. I definitely agree. Um, I really really like that. Uh, yeah, I think you're right. I think that's what it is. Um, McGonagall is just a really interesting character to me. She's, she's so accomplished, she's so interesting and I think it's great how Harry especially like takes her as, like she's this authority figure to him. She's part of the establishment and Harry has a fun relationship with authority figures.
H: Yeah, you can say that.
M: Yeah. And so like it's it's very evident to me that like he he kind of dismisses her mentally in the way that he dismisses everybody. Yeah. He puts people um in categories. Again like this all goes back to like how abused he was as a child. I think in my reading.
H: I agree.
M: And so I I think these moments where she surprises him are just really interesting and really fun. And by the end like he has such a deep respect for her, such an incredible respect for her that he can't stay hidden in the final book when he hears her being insulted.
H: Yes. Yes. Now, now that we started talking about McGonagall, one of my notes is about how. Wait, where is it? Yeah. And it was it was about how Harry acknowledges his male mentors and authority figures in a way stronger way that he ever acknowledges McGonagall because he actually named his children after Albus and Snape, but he didn't name the girl after McGonagall. And it was so unfair. And I never even realized until I was watching like a parody of Harry Potter. There was like a big parody and, there was actually a conversation that McGonogal had with Snape and Dumbledore like, on their portraits, where they were making fun of her because Harry named their kids after them but not after Minerva, and she was so mad about it and she was like where is he? I'm going to get him. And then I realized how messed up that was because even though he didn't he wasn't as close with her maybe. Well, no, he wasn't close with Snape either. They hated each other.
M: But naming a child after Snape was crazy work. I need to like look up now, Harry Potter's children, what did he name his daughter? I think he named like was it Lily Luna?
H: Rose, I think it, no, some somebody was named Rose. No, maybe I'm thinking of Hermione and Ron's child. I have no idea what Harry's daughter was called. Please look it up.
M: Okay, hold on. We are going to, you know, we're going to do research.
H: When I reread the books, I don't reread that last part where they have children because that just doesn't fit in the story.
M: It does bother me a little bit, the end of the story. I think, yeah, poor Harry. Okay. Um, so the Harry Potter wiki is set up in a frustrating way and they're not helping me and somebody needs to die obviously. Uh, okay. Give me the names of his children. Not you. Okay. Wait, wait, hold on. Okay. They had three children. James, Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna Potter.
M: Yeah, you were right from the start. It was Lily Luna.
M: Uh, okay. That's kind of sweet in its way.
H: I love Luna and I can't fight against it, but it would be okay, it would be fine if there wasn't Albus Severs. Like, it would have been fine.
M: I think the question is like if, okay, I do think that Harry's friendship with Luna is kind of this understated, very interesting, very valuable thing to him cuz she's so non-judgmental and it seems like he's able to just relax with her. I think that's very sweet. I think the question here is if he had another daughter, would he name her after McGonagall?
H: Well, we we cannot get an answer to that
M: Right.
H: But also, I'm just Oh, sorry. Go on.
M: That naming your son Alba Seus, that's crazy work. You can't be doing that. You cannot be doing that.
H: I do think he gets very dumb about his like he has this cheesy attitudes towards like how much people mean to him even though the people did not actually do that much to him. What did the Albus do for him? Like, let's think about it.
M: Okay, so my friend and I were talking about Harry Potter last night, actually, and we were talking about how it's, it's really interesting, it it explores what it means to be a good person, like that you can be a good person and not be nice. That you can be nice and not be a good person. you know, all these questions around what it means to actually do like a good thing. And the relationship that Dumbledore and Snape have, I think, is a great example of that, where Snape ends up doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
H: Wait, wait. What right thing did he ever do?
M: To work against Voldemort, to spy for the order, to protect Harry.
H: Um, okay. Okay. All right. He did that. I'll concede that. That was good of him. But he did it for kind of for revenge because Voldemort killed his his crush?
M: Right. That's the thing of like, he's not a good person and cuz we were talking about my friend and I were talking about the uh the TV series um and we're very excited about it and the only thing that's making me nervous is the casting of Snape.
H: Who is cast for Snape?
M: Let me make sure I got this name right. I don't know any actors or celebrities names. Um, I just saw him. Okay. So, Oh no.
H: No. I just looked it up. It's a black person.
M: Yes. Yes. That's the problem already.
H: They should not have done that. Oh my god. No. But, but, that's so bad. No. Please reverse this decision. We need to do something. We can't have this.
M: It's a problem. So, his name I don't know how to pronounce this, I'm sorry. It's, um, Paapa Essiedu. And the thing is is that he's too handsome first of all. And then because like Snape is, okay, he's an incel first of all, but he's this very miserable person who had an abusive home life as a kid, you know, growing up in poverty. Like clearly no one ever taught him to take care of himself. His hygiene is not great, uh canonically. He goes to school and he ends up falling in with like, okay, so like he when he went to Hogwarts, he was friends with Lily who is Muggleborn. And this is clearly like, the most important relationship of of his life. And despite that, despite that, he joins the hate group against her, and really expect that they could keep being friends. I don't think he only called her a mud blood once.
H: Agreed.
M: I definitely think that there was more there that wasn't shown. So he absolutely wrecks that friendship and then never gets over it, never stops feeling entitled to her. And then Voldemort is going to kill her. when he goes to talk to Dumbledore, Dumbledore is like, "Hey, fucker." So, so, Voldemort, so your master is going to kill the woman you like, am, and you're begging for her life. She's married. With a kid. Did you beg for their lives? I know you didn't. I know you didn't.
H: Oh my god. You make a great impression of Dumbledore. I love it. Continue.
M: This is exactly how he sounds. Um
H: Yes, that's it, that's it.
M: Dumbledore is so harsh with Snape. Uh it actually like took me back the first time that I read it because I had never I'd never really seen Dumbledore act like that.
H: I know. I think that was his true self. He's usually so kind. This was this one chance to be super sassy.
M: Well, you have to remember like what a piece of shit Snape is. He is Voldemort's number one. How many people has he killed? How many people have he has he tortured? Like, yeah, he is out here doing this shit and now he's crawling back to Dumbledore to be like, "Oh, but now it's going to affect me personally. I'm going to be really sad." And Dumbledore is looking at him like, "You would have let, like, Dumbledore knows." He's like, "You would have let Voldemort kill her husband, kill her child. You would have been fine with that. It's just the fact that she might die that's bothering you." And so I know I'm going on this whole rant, but
H: Go on. I love it.
M: So, so after that, everything we see is Voldemort, sorry, not Voldemort, Dumbledore just manipulating the hell out of Snape to try and get him to do anything anything good. And it's fascinating like the whole moment he has a moment where like he tries to get Snape, he's like, "Is there, would you ever like be convinced to care about Harry like as a person?" And Stape's like, "No, f**k off." Um, and then like after that moment, we see Dumbledore, I'm paraphrasing everything beautifully obviously, but when Snape is complaining to Dumbledore in the in the pensive memories after Snape's death, we see Snape complaining to Dumbledore about Harry and Dumbledore's like, "Yeah, okay." Uh, all his other teachers think he's great and you know, he might look like his dad, but actually I think that he acts a lot more like his mom." Pure 100% manipulation.
H: Oh, you're right.
M: It's this funny moment. Not funny, but like it's interesting because it's like Dumbledore manipulates Snape so profoundly.
H: Yeah.
M: He kind of does an awful thing to Snape for a good reason. And then meanwhile, Snape is doing good things for an awful reason. And like couldn't even be convinced to not bully children. That's like, I have like I googled the um the new actor for Snape um Essideu. I don't know. I'm sorry. Um, and I'm, I'm just like looking at his face and I'm like, you have to be kind of greasy in a dungeon bullying children. And I don't think Alan Rickman was a good Snape because he was too charismatic.
H: Oh, really? This the first time I heard someone say that he wasn't a good Snape. He was very charismatic, right.
M: That's the problem. Like I've seen um I haven't really seen these movies, but I have seen clips and I've seen like when he's in the dungeon like, teaching with uh Ron and Harry and he like smacks him on the back of the head or whatever. And I just, like, his voice is so compelling and he's so interesting that like you can't help but like him. And I just think that like, Alan Rickman was too strong an actor, too good at what he was doing. And it distracts you from the fact that this is a grown man bullying school children. Like this is not a good person. The whole phenomenon of like Snape wives and all of that like kind of proves that point to me, that Snape is a very interesting, very complex person. He never manages to be good.
H: Yeah, that's true.
M: He's reaching for it. I think that's what he was so interested in Lily is that she was a good person. But he never managed to figure that out uh for himself.
H: Okay, I have a lot of comments on everything that you just said.
M: Yes, tell me. Tell me everything. Tell me what you think.
H: I'm going in backwards order so I don't remember wrong. But the fact that you said about him being charismatic, I think to us viewers, he is incredibly interesting and charismatic and like fun and yeah, people were very obsessed with him. But I think if you are a small child in that situation, um when I was a kid, when I was 11, I didn't really understand the charisma. To me, he was just scary. And I know on the set, multiple children had to be kind of comforted and reassured that he's not going to do anything bad because he was actually big and scary to them. I think to us as adult viewers, he does look very interesting and charismatic, but to a small child, that's a scary man who is threatening them.
M: That is very good context. Thank you.
H: Yes. And I want to clarify why my visceral reaction to the actor was so so bad. It was because I know that the metaphors in the books of the the meaning or is it a metaphor? No, just symbolism. I can't remember the the right word, but I know it's an allegory. Yes, the allegory is the right word. The whole death eater cult was an allegory for Nazis, right?
M: Um, I don't know if she ever said that explicitly. I'm not sure, but it's a very common comparison that people make. Definitely.
H: Yeah. So I was thinking Yeah. Sorry.
M: They're definitely like a um a racially motivated hate group.
H: So yeah, because they were they were so focused on like pure blood and only people of certain kind of breed were allowed to be a part of their community and everyone else needed to go and be less worthy or whatever. Yeah, it was very reminiscent of nazism and fascism and that's why I immediately got so upset because like it has to be a white guy who acts like this. Why are we putting a black person in fiction to play a role of the oppressor when it's just it doesn't translate well to reality? That's not what happens in reality. It's always a white person doing that bullshit. So, I just hate the misrepresentation on screen. It bothers me.
M: I do agree. It It's going to be very difficult. It doesn't it doesn't feel fair. It doesn't feel fair to like honestly the actor that they chose um I think he would make a wonderful like Kingsley Shacklebolt. I just like I don't know, again he's too handsome for Snape. And then and then to be a black man playing like a blood supremacist.
H: Exactly. Blood supremacist. You're You're so right. That was the right word.
M: Yeah. in this in this British context. I just don't think that's going to play well. I don't like it. Um
H: Yeah, I don't like it either. Who made these decisions? Like who who who's guilty for this? I need someone to blame, someone to talk to.
M: This is the thing of like this is what worries me. Um I think it flattens Snape's character. If your Snape is noble, I think you've made a mistake. You know, kind of for the reasons I've already said, like, he's not a good person. And, just this this specific casting choice makes me feel like they're moving into portraying Snape in a noble and complicated light. And I don't like that.
H: Yeah. I hope they do not try to like, redeem him like, any more than the original book does because the book the text does kind of redeem him at least in Harry's eyes. I feel like we can make our own decision but Harry's decision is that he's redeemed.
M: Yes. Yes. I think that's fair. Um I just like for me I'm like Harry can come to the conclusions that he comes to. Um, and that's fine, but I don't want the narrative itself to deviate too much, I think, from the original.
H: Yeah, that's true, too. I agree.
M: But yeah, so we'll see. Um, okay.
H: I think we talk a lot about a male, and I'm sick of it. I We need to go back to female characters. I really enjoyed that.
M: I kind of want to talk about Luna, but um
H: Yes, talk. Oh, I have I have an opinion about Luna.
M: Okay, tell me.
H: Okay, I think Luna is a wonderful wonderful character. I love her so much. Um, what bothers me is that she is she almost all of the time she's like a support figure and I feel like she specifically has been added to the story to help Harry deal with death, because she's someone who is very very at peace with death, she watched her mother die and every time Harry is dealing with some sort of mourning or some sort of loss that is too big for him to handle and he cannot find any peace, he cannot find anyone to talk to about it, nobody understands him and then somehow Luna appears and she's so calm about it and she has just the right words for him to feel a little better. I think she's put in the story as his grief support character and I love her so much and I just wish that she was given a bigger role in the story because later we find out that the entire time she was so lonely that she considered Harry Ron and Neville and Hermione her such good friends that she like drew them on their walls and wrote the word friends over and over, and I have to imagine that he she didn't have a lot of other friends except for them. And that makes me so sad for them because it doesn't seem like she was a big part of their life at all. Like she was only there when they when Harry needed something, when he needed some consolation, when he needed a date to the death ball or whatever it was, like when he needed something. She would just appear when something was needed for his goals, for his mission or for his comfort. So that makes me a little bit sad. I later read the fanfiction when Harry, Draco, and Luna team up together and she gets a bigger role and that was incredible, like she she ruled that place like she was like I would add her to the main trio immediately. She's incredible. I wish she had more than she did. Okay, now you go.
M: I disagree a little bit. She is very interesting. I I feel like Luna kind of comes in doing her own thing and Hermione is like a hissy cat. Um Luna is unbothered and Hermione does not like her, does not want her there and she kind of she kind of comes in as this oddball and, I don't know, to me it's been a minute since I read those sections specifically. But to me I always thought that like Harry just like despite the fact that one of his best friends doesn't really like her, he's kind of a little bit curious or at least like he doesn't mind her, himself. And so when they get opportunities to kind of talk like, he doesn't look down on her. They're able to just kind of hang out and even if he doesn't like, understand her, he finds her very restful. And I I kind of like their friendship. I don't really feel like she's there as a support figure just because she's so very clearly like. she has a wonderful self-confidence. She's really not going to change for anybody else. Um, and so in that sense, she ends up feeling very complete to me of like, for as little as she is in the story, I do get a sense that she is like a whole entire person uh who has her entire life and doesn't exist just to serve a narrative function. I definitely do feel like she's she keeps things to herself. Like Harry coming into her room and seeing the portraits with the word friends written over and over again and he feels like this great affection for Luna, which that's interesting as a reaction of like it's this great affection, but it's not like annoyance or disgust or revulsion or like anything being like, "Oh girl, we are not like that." you know, like he sees it and he feels very affectionate towards her. But I think it's also true that before he saw it, he probably didn't realize how much their friendship meant to her.
H: Yeah, I didn't either.
M: Yeah. Which I don't think that's a knock against Harry necessarily. She's so unperturbed. She she has this very serene kind of way of moving through the world that I don't think she means to, but she ends up being the sort of person who kind of keeps keeps things close to the chest. I do, I like I understand you though because I also want her to have more to do. Like I just like, her and Hermione like need to find a way, really Hermione needs to find a way to like get along with Luna.
H: You see that is so interesting because I didn't even clock that. I know Hermione did say some insensitive things, but I didn't get the, I mean I feel like I need to reread the books like specifically with this in mind to figure out what was their relationship because I, you obviously have like analyzed it and I haven't. So I feel like I'm lacking a bit. But I do agree that Luna is a whole complete character and she does have everything figured out, like I do admire her so much and I do, I do think that still she's mostly supporting Harry, but it's so interesting what you said at the beginning. She was a little oddball and she was a little weird and people were kind of ,you know, icked out by her like, she's weird don't come close to her and I think, that's how he felt most of his life, you know, people thought of him being weird and they were icked out by him and wouldn't talk to him so that's why he indulges her like he doesn't make fun of her weird stuff. He just he just goes with it. He's like, "Yeah, the Narlges. Yeah, of course."
M: Especially like when the whole school turns against him after the tri-wizard tournament and everything. Like I think that's really, she I think becomes important to him especially after that. But I I think it could have gone further. Like I'm not, I'm not I would say a Harry Luna shipper. I'm not really a shipper in Harry Potter. That's not really what I'm there for. But I do really like the Harry-Luna relationship and I wish that they could have been, I don't know if 'greater friends' is the right word since he names his daughter after her, but like more I want to see more of their interactions. I want them to hang out more.
H: Yes, that would be amazing. And also, I wanted to say the reason why he feels so much affection when he sees that wall with the portraits. I do think that a lot of people today would just feel an ick because you know, that's that's so unusual and to not know that someone has such great affection for you, they have like a portrait in their room. But I feel that to him it it's just so extremely lovely to know that he made a positive imprint on someone's life, that someone considers him a friend. I think that's so very valuable to him and that's why he reacts positively immediately.
M: Yeah, I definitely agree. Um, I think we could talk about Harry Potter for a really long time and maybe we, maybe we should, but I know we've been going for about an hour, so I think I think we should maybe talk about one or two more things and then wrap it up and then do a part two.
H: All right. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.
M: Okay. Cuz I don't want to rush it. I'm seeing all of these wonderful notes you have here.
H: Yeah. Okay. Now I'm looking at them and I feel like I love the way we started talking. I think I'm going to skip all the notes and I think we should just, oh, I do want to say the notes about Voldemort.
M: Okay. Where is that? Okay. Oh, okay. I have a very different take. So, tell me tell me about yours and then I'll tell you about mine.
H: No. Okay. mine is just a joke thing because I thought it was so funny because Voldemort, um you know he gets in a lot of power and he wanted power all along and usually when men are in power they usually assault women about it and he doesn't. So I was like hm who is the person that he does torture the most after he gets in power and I think it's Draco Malfoy.
M: Oh, that's a direction.
H: So, I'm thinking maybe he's gay. Maybe he just tortures people about it. But, um, I also think the story was never going, it's a kid story, so, JK Rowling didn't really intend to go that much in that direction. Um, that kind of thing was just not a part of the story. I'm just comparing it to reality because every man that I know is in power, he does assault women about it. So I was thinking like, uuh, this is one unrealistic detail and then I think oh wait but he's torturing, well males very young males sometimes. So that's why I was wanting to make a joke about Voldemort being gay. Okay but that's my very jokey take. You can go now.
M: See you're you're a funny and interesting person because you can make jokes and I just come back with my dry analysis. Um, it's all I have.
H: No, we need that. That's what we want.
M: So, to me, I do think that Voldemort and Bellatrix were sleeping together. I think that that's implied.
H: Okay, that's possible.
M: But I I do agree with you. Like, it doesn't really come up as an implication anywhere else of torturing women, which I appreciate that. I didn't want that in my story, but I do agree with you. like it doesn't we know what these groups in real life are like.
H: Yes.
M: His torment of his followers. I do think that's really interesting, it kind of makes me think a little bit of like Remus Lupin because remember he was attacked by a werewolf when he was like five or six to punish his parents.
H: Yes.
M: Um and so Draco Malfoy for sure is being used to punish his parents. I think that's explicit.
H: Yeah, of course.
M: Yeah. And it's just like it's one of those things where she does such a good job of portraying like, these hateful groups do not take care of their own people. They will eat you, you can give them everything. They will drain you dry and step over your body. Which like a lot of the analysis around like people are so mean to Slytherin. Stop bullying the Slytherins. I'm like, okay. Uh first of all, the Slytherins are a metaphor. Uh this is a kids book. You know, it's simplified because it's for kids. Uh, the whole point is that that's the house, the school house that is associated with fantasy racism. And so that's where all the fantasy racists choose to go, right?
H: Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
M: And then like to say that people are bullying them for not liking them for being fantasy racist is crazy.
H: Fantasy racist is such a funny term. Like I've never heard it before. I'm enjoying it so much.
M: I know. It's so funny.
H: Did you Did you make this up or what did it say before?
M: I think I've heard it before, but I don't I don't remember.
H: It's so good, continue.
M: So, I I just don't really care too much. Like, I remember this used to be like a whole thing of people being like very defensive around being like, I'm a Slytherin. And I'm like, you're not cuz that's made up. But, you know, sure.
H: Oh my god.
M: You can you can write your little stories about how Slytherins are actually like bad boys.
H: I think you went too far. You just you just destroyed a lot of people there. Like I don't think—
M: I know. I'm I'm ruthless. I don't care.
H: No. Okay. You are. You're ruthless right now. I I'm even feeling the pain because a second before I was going to ask you if you ever got yourself sorted and, which house were you and now you just said, you know, what you said, and now I'm feeling silly.
M: Oh no. I'm bullying you. Okay. Welcome to Hana's podcast on Hana's Tumblr where her friend bullies her. I'm so sorry.
H: Women are allowed to bully me. It's okay. But have you ever gotten sorted?
M: Yes.
H: What did you get?
M: Um, it's been a while.
H: (gasp) You forgot?
M: I think the one, here's the thing, here's the thing. It sorted me. I think it's broken. It kept putting me in Gryffindor and I don't think that's correct. I think I'm I want to be Ravenclaw like really really bad. Uh but I think I'm probably Hufflepuff.
H: Oh, okay. I like that. First time when I was getting sorted, I got Gryffindor and then every next time I got Hufflepuff and then I wasn't sure which one am I and then I decided it's fine. I can be GriffinPuff.
M: That's so cute.
H: I know. It suits me so well. Oh, that's so sweet.
M: I do want to be clear too that like I'm not I I was probably like a little a little too harsh. Like sorting yourself is completely harmless and very fun and very sweet.
H: No, I think I think when people get. sort themselves into Gryffindor or like slithering, they're not thinking, oh, I'm in the racist house. They're thinking, oh, I'm ambitious and kind of sly and I will go under the radar to get my way. I think it's more yeah, that's what we are thinking. Or like the childish concept of I'm a little evil. You know how children think they're a little evil?
M: There there is no issue with someone like you know taking one of those quizzes and being like oh I'm in Slytherin like, I want to do whatever I do about this like whatever whatever like, that's all very fun. I was specifically like talking about when you see people like write whole defensive posts about the poor maligned Slytherins in the books and how everyone is so mean to Slytherin in the books. Um, and it's like, I just don't think that that's an argument that you can make.
H: Yeah, I do agree with you and I also seen people that say that people who do vilainise slytherin are actually at fault for Slytherin and sometimes, you know, going to the dark side or something. And I think that's
M: The victim blaming.
H: What?
M: The victim blaming.
H: Yeah. I think that's a very poor argument because you don't really, in real life, you can't really force someone to become evil by just assuming they're evil. Like this doesn't happen. In fiction, it's often sold to us as a concept that if you consider someone a monster they will become a monster. But I know from my lived experience that in order to push someone to change their their perception of right and wrong, to change their behaviour, you would have to push them so far. It goes way beyond like, bullying and false assumptions. You would have to completely drive them insane, and I don't think that Slytherins are being maligned to the point where they're losing their minds and like, losing their personalities. I don't think you can really change someone by by just making wrong assumptions. People are going to be who they are.
M: Yes. And it's just it's not like, Slytherin having the reputation it does. Like this is a very insular community just coming out of a war. Like, you know where people fell in that war. Like you know where the lines were drawn. Um it's not like they were just pointing at Slytherin and being like oh evil.
H: Yeah.
M: Like that that reputation came from somewhere.
H: Exactly. Um, actually I think here, let's go out on a on a bittersweet note. Um, because speaking of the war, I have some thoughts about Lily Potter.
H: Go on. I'm very interested in this.
M: Because I think that the reason we don't really get a lot of information about the, there is so much about Lily that is just like reading between the lines. It seems evident to me that we don't get information on Lily because, first of all, we kind of know that Lily and James were great people because of how little we know about them. Because people don't want to talk about it because it's too painful. Um.
H: Oh, oh my god.
M: Which tells me like, oh yeah, they were loved. And then also, you have to remember how much of their graduating class is dead. Um, Lily specifically, how many muggleborn friends do you think she made?
H: Oh my god, I never thought about this.
M: Right. And that's the thing where I'm like, I think Lily's friend circle is either dead or there might be some survivors and like, hiding somewhere, even now. Or like who had to move away. Uh and I just that's the thing that like gets me about it. Like I'm so sad. I'm like I I had this whole thing and now I'm just like so caught up in like the sadness of it that I'm just like, "Oh, no."
H: It's okay. You actually solved a mystery to me right now because I was thinking about how come when Harry goes, when Harry starts going to Hogwarts and everything, he gets almost no information about his parents. Everything he gets, he gets like, from Hagrid. And later on, Slughorn tells him a few things about Lily. But it does seem like the people who did know them are in too much pain about it to talk about them. And yet, a lot of people died in the war. I was also wondering how come there's no other like, literally no other family member or relative of Harry that could tell him something about them. But it makes sense what you said. It's most likely they all just died in the war and Harry was literally the last descendant of their family line.
M: Yes, we do know that um, James's parents had him at, kind of an advanced age. Like they were both pretty old I think. Um they had wanted kids for a long time and hadn't managed it and so he was a late baby.
H: Wait, how do you know this? I've never seen that.
M: How do I know that?
H: I don't think this is in the books. I've never seen this information. I mean, I'm fascinated, but I've never seen that.
M: But I can't remember exactly. I am 100% sure that this is like actual Harry Potter lore and like not from like fandom or something. It could be from Pottermore maybe, because I didn't read all of that.
M: It might have been. Um, yeah, his parents were both, I almost knew like where they got their money from and then I forgot.
H: It's all right. I didn't even know anything about them until now.
M: They're like they got their fortune from like some like their family line like invented something or did something. I don't remember. Um
H: Oh, weren't they connected to Pewerells? You know, let's kind of hinted a little bit.
M: It might have been. I don't remember. Um, but yeah, so they had they had James pretty old, so I think that that's how they died is just natural old age, um, which is why Harry never gets to meet them. And then I think cuz Lily's parents of course are both muggles and we don't know what happened there. I don't think.
H: Yeah. Petunia never mentions them or anything. They never come to visit.
M: Right. So, we don't know what that's about.
H: A car accident would be funny at this point.
M: Yeah, there weren't anyone else. Like, James was an only child. Obviously, Lily only had Petunia as a sister. Yeah. I don't know if there were any other cousins or anything. I don't think so. Kind of between not having a lot to begin with and then the war. I think yeah, I don't know who else there would be. Poor Harry.
H: Yeah, I do feel bad for him.
M: Okay. Um, so I think we can bring this to a close and um, next time we'll continue our usually Harry Potter talk. I'm having a good time. I hope you're having a good time.
H: No, I'm having an amazing time. I I didn't even know where we were going to go with this discussion, but I'm thrilled. I'm so happy with everything we've discussed.
M: Okay. No, me too. It's really interesting. I'm I'm glad you suggested this.
H: I think it was you who suggested this.
M: Oh!
H: Yeah. But I'm very glad, too. This is a great idea. Please bring on more great ideas.
M: Okay, I'll do my best. Uh, listeners, I have the memory of a goldfish, so we'll see. Um, yeah, I hope everyone has had fun. Um, I hope we haven't hurt anybody's feelings. Um, I'm sorry to any Slytherin listeners.
H: No. Like, sometimes you got to sometimes you got to put people back into reality, you know?
M: A little bit like it can all be fun, it can all be fun, but I think at the end of the day, it's like Harry Potter is so fun and you can have so much fun with it. Just don't make it your whole personality. We are going to record 5 million more episodes talking about it though. So, you know, maybe I'm throwing stones in a glass house.
H: Oh my god. No. No. It's fine. You're fine. You're okay. It's all good.
M: This is what happens when we record when I have a headache, I just get on here and start talking shit.
H: You still have a headache. Listeners, she was having a headache this whole time. She pushed through a headache to bring this content to you. Please thank her.
M: This is what this is what we do um for the sake of this podcast.
H: Yeah, we we have sacrificed so much for you.
M: Hana's getting over um being sick, too. So, we're both, uh this is lesbian power.
H: Yay. Okay. Okay. Thank you so much for having such wonderful, insightful thoughts here on the podcast. I enjoyed this very much. Um, I can't wait to talk to you again about this. I think we can make another wonderful episode. And for listeners, you can send us ideas. If you want us to do analysis of a piece of media, you can send comments and we will consider it.
M: Yeah, absolutely. I hope we are able to make many more episodes and just have a fun, chill time.
H: Yeah.
M: You've been listening to Lavender Lemonade, and I hope you have a wonderful night.
Join us as we talk about ancient rituals, deconstruct some Christian traditions that were taken from paganism, discuss lesbian flags, and create or reclaim five holidays!
Disclaimer: I misspoke in the episode; mormon rituals are taken from masonry, not scientology, and later I mention the 'original lesbian flag', when I mean the 'lipstick lesbian flag.' The song mentioned in the podcast is called Pyramid by Jason Webley if anyone would like to check it out.
You can send any feedback, comments, or questions to our official podcast blog @lavenderlemonadepodcast