by Dave
Since Deathly Hallows release last year, I’ve been perpetually puzzled by Voldemort’s characterization in the last two novels. Half Blood Prince humanizes Voldemort in a way that lends HBP a sophistication most of the earlier novels lack — Voldemort’s backstory both enlightens and befuddles the reader, at once shedding light on his origins [...]

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by Dave
A standard literary trope is to set characters against each other, playing one’s personna in relationship to another. Typically, we find the “arch”-nemesis, especially in adventure or heroic stories. The main character is opposed by a primary antagonist, and the juxtaposition of these characters reveals something about one or both to the [...]

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by Dave
Update: Jamie, my wife, has forwarded me a link to an AP news story on Yahoo! The revised reading has begun…
So, we all woke up this weekend with our understanding of our favorite fictional realm…”altered”. I have to admit, my first reaction upon seeing the headline on Yahoo! Saturday morning included [...]

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“Dumbledore was gay;” Christian reactions to the statement; maternal and romantic love in the Harry Potter series
You can subscribe to the Hog’s Head PubCast through iTunes.
Pub Menu:

John Granger’s response
Dr. Amy H. Sturgis’s eyewitness report of the night
The initial SoG discussion
My essay: “Dumbledore is Gay: Welcome to the Culture War”
The text of “The Ballad of Nearly [...]

 

 Hog's Head PubCast #39: "Dumbledore is Gay" [38:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2001)

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by Travis
Update: Comments at HogPro by Bob Trexler and Amy Sturgis are well worth your time.
If you’ve not been exposed to the “Culture War” before, welcome. J.K. Rowling has given you your introduction. I am hoping that after reading this post, you’ll run from the Culture War as quickly as I have. By “culture war,” [...]

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by Travis
Note:  The spam-catcher is stealing a lot of comments in this thread.  Matthew and I are trying to stay on top of it, but if your comment does not show up, please let us know, and we’ll find it!
Well, if the bombshell revelation that the Harry Potter books really were about the Christian story [...]

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by Travis
I promised folks at Prophecy 2007 that I’d get this post up before the end of August. I apologize for the terrible delay. This is the content of my discussion at Prophecy 2007.
At Lumos 2006, and in his book Unlocking Harry Potter, John Granger enumerated the evidence that J.K. Rowling has written [...]

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This essay is also available in audio form in PubCast #33.
From The Epic of Gilgamesh to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the question of death has been explored in the pages of literature, not least in mythological works. There is hardly a more universal human experience than death, and its chilling finality has caused [...]

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When Albus and Aberforth were young lads, despite Albus’s prolific magical talent, Aberforth was the better man. Albus’s heart was not with his family. The death of Ariana rattled everything for both of them.
For Albus, watching his friend cruciate his brother and (probably) kill his sister wrecked him for good. “He was [...]

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Ok, this will be my last post before Prophecy 2007.
Something struck me as I was listening to the audio version of Deathly Hallows: Auntie Muriel, 107 years old, speaks of Dumbledore’s past and the mystery of Kendra’s hiding Ariana as though she were present for the whole thing. Rowling said twice, last time in [...]

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Spoiler Alert!

If you’ve been following this blog over the past year, you probably thought I’d really hate what Rowling did with Dumbledore in Deathly Hallows. I don’t. I hate what I know Fandom is about to do to him, but I’m quite pleased with what we learned in Book 7.
The Dumbledore backstory [...]

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SPOILER ALERT!
Where does one begin a post like this? There’s so much to say in response to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I’m not even sure what issue to tackle first.
Let’s start simple: I loved the book. There are a few disappointments, perhaps, but on the whole, it’s a tremendous novel, and [...]

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After Hog’s Head PubCast #30, Reyhan wrote, “Travis, history will record you as Dumbledore’s greatest apologist.” I’m not sure any volumes of history will record me at all, but there is a certain truth here: I’ve been “Dumbledore’s Defender,” in a very stubborn and staunch way, since I launched the site.
The primary reason is a [...]

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Dumbledore as Fabius Maximus; M. Scott Peck; How should we prepare our kids to read Harry Potter?
This is (most likely) the second to last episode before the release of Deathly Hallows! Remember that you can subscribe through iTunes.
Pub Menu:

The Fabian Society
Fabius Maximus
HogPro: Will Harry Go Through the Veil?
SoG post on Fabian Society
SoG Review: [...]

 

 Hog's Head PubCast #30 [29:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1429)

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Ever since the discovery of the 2000 Rowling quote about getting “close to the dead,” two primary trajectories of speculation have been on the table: (1) that she was referring to the veil (2) that it’s a reference to Cathy Liesner’s “Stoppered Death” theory.
What if it’s both?
Let’s revisit the quote again:
“That’s a given. Without [...]

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