0:00

Hi listeners, before today's

0:02

episode I want to tell you about this really

0:04

exciting program that Not Sorry is hosting

0:07

in December. It is called A Quick

0:09

and Dirty History of Queer Representation

0:12

in TV. Participants will meet

0:14

for three Saturdays starting December 2nd

0:17

to talk about the history of queer characters

0:19

in the shows like Bewitched, Will and Grace,

0:22

Our Flag Means Death, and Heartstopper.

0:24

If you are a fan of any of these series or

0:27

you're someone who likes to think about media in

0:29

the context of changing political and artistic

0:31

landscapes, then this seminar is definitely for

0:33

you. Plus, the program is

0:36

facilitated by guest faculty Hope

0:38

Prehak, a writer and adjunct

0:40

professor who has written extensively about

0:42

TV and film. We are so excited

0:44

to be collaborating with her. And

0:47

as someone who obsessively watches

0:49

Heartstopper and has followed Hope's writing

0:51

for a while now, I can tell you that she is

0:53

exactly who I would want to

0:55

nerd out with about television. Head

0:58

to notsorryworks.com to learn more

1:00

about this seminar today and choose

1:02

what class rate works for your budget.

1:05

The holidays are coming. Find a gift for someone

1:08

special with jewelry from Blue Nile. Right

1:10

now, Blue Nile is offering special Black

1:12

Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Save

1:15

up to 50% on the season's most

1:17

stunning trends. Blue Nile offers

1:19

an endless selection of bold gold styles,

1:21

gemstone jewelry, and classic diamond

1:24

pieces. And now, for a limited time,

1:26

get 36-month special financing

1:28

on minimum purchases of $1,000. Restrictions

1:31

apply. See bluenile.com for details.

1:33

That's bluenile.com.

1:35

Let's be honest. The days of only dating

1:38

one person at a time feel a little old

1:40

school. In the recent Dating Diaries report,

1:42

eHarmony found that 45%

1:44

of Gen Z singles are comfortable dating

1:47

more than one person at the same time. But

1:49

while dating multiple people at the same time

1:51

is fine when you're honest about it, it can

1:54

be exhausting constantly searching

1:56

for that special connection. eHarmony

1:58

can help you find someone who gets it.

1:59

you. Their well-rounded personality

2:02

quiz and expansive profiles help

2:04

to show the real you, and can lead to

2:06

that genuine connection you've been searching

2:08

for. So, join the dating app that helps

2:10

you find someone who gets you and see for

2:12

yourself. eHarmony. Get who

2:14

gets you. Start free today.

2:19

Chapter 16. In the Hog's

2:22

Head. Hermione made

2:24

no mention of Harry giving Defense Against the

2:26

Dark Arts lessons for two whole weeks

2:28

after her original suggestion. Harry's

2:31

detentions with Umbridge were finally over.

2:34

I'm Casper Terkile.

2:36

And I'm Vanessa Zoltan. And

2:38

this is Harry Potter and the Sacred

2:40

Text.

2:42

For our Every Flavored Bean Bonus Patreon

2:45

conversation, we are going to talk about our

2:47

favorite version of the Hog's Head. We

2:49

go to the Hog's Head, which we will find out is

2:52

Aberforth's Bar, and it's got

2:54

some character. So, you and I are just going to talk

2:56

about some favorite holes in

2:58

the wall that we engage with. And

3:01

everyone, you can listen to that conversation at patreon.com

3:04

slash Harry Potter Sacred Text. And you can

3:06

review us on Apple Podcasts and

3:08

subscribe there ad-free.

3:10

And, you know,

3:11

just spend more time with us and support

3:14

the artists who you love.

3:16

Casper, you have a story for

3:19

us on the theme of satisfaction.

3:22

What story do you have?

3:24

When I was like a young

3:26

professional, you know, that age, like

3:29

maybe you've graduated college, you've been in the

3:31

workforce for a couple of years, and suddenly

3:33

you're like, I go to

3:36

work and I get a sandwich at lunchtime.

3:38

And look at me, I know what a mortgage rate

3:40

is. Not that I have a place to live,

3:43

that is mine. But one day I might learn

3:45

about it. So in my kind of young professional

3:47

hood, I was like, wait, maybe one

3:50

day I will write a book. And it became

3:52

kind of like one of those totems

3:55

of success. Like, oh, imagine

3:57

if one day I get to write a book. Wouldn't that be great?

5:00

assembling

6:00

desire just seeps into

6:02

every nook and cranny of the city. And

6:05

so I've really had to try and train

6:07

myself when I end up in that

6:09

kind of grasping, climbing,

6:12

desirous state of mind.

6:15

However much I'm feeling that, I really try and practice

6:17

an equal amount of gratitude for the things

6:20

I already have to try and

6:22

be satisfiable. And so even

6:24

if it's like, okay, this museum

6:27

exhibit was not the best I've ever seen,

6:29

but like some of it was nice or like this

6:31

subway ride I saw an interesting cute

6:33

couple that I enjoyed watching or like this

6:36

weather may not be the nicest weather ever, but like

6:38

there's something to appreciate. And

6:40

so I think this is a real practice

6:42

of being satisfiable. And that's what

6:44

I want to look at in this chapter is how

6:47

are our trio especially satisfied

6:50

or not satisfiable?

6:51

I love that reframe is to satisfiable.

6:55

And Casper, the etymology of this

6:57

is, I would say mildly interesting, satisfied,

7:00

hasn't moved far from the original

7:02

Latin, but it was too

7:04

content, but it also meant

7:07

enough or to make enough.

7:10

And so what if we reframed that

7:12

idea of like truly satisfied with

7:15

enough? Yeah. Casper,

7:18

I am going to try to recap in a satisfactory

7:21

manner. Can you please count me in?

7:22

Here we go. 30 second recap. Three,

7:25

two, one, go.

7:27

So they're like, oh, we're not even talking

7:29

about you teaching. What? Let's talk

7:31

about you teaching. There's going to be a Hogsmeade

7:33

weekend and Hermione has already

7:35

told like 30 people about

7:38

this meeting. And she's like, oops, I don't know. They

7:40

overheard. And so a bunch of people come and they

7:42

meet at the Hogshead and it's just so many

7:44

more people than anybody thought. And

7:46

Hermione is like, uh, hi, sign

7:48

this piece of paper. You don't know what you're signing.

7:51

And people are like, wait, but Harry, what happened?

7:53

And he's like, things happened. And if you don't

7:55

think that I'm the right person to teach you, then go

7:57

along. I

8:00

don't even care. I don't even care. Do

8:02

you even deserve me? Yeah. Do

8:04

you know who I am? Stop looking at me, but look at me. Capfir,

8:07

are you ready for your 30 second

8:10

recap? Yes, my 30 second

8:12

recap is starting in three,

8:14

two, one, go me.

8:26

So everyone's coming into

8:30

this very dodgy bar because they don't

8:32

usually go there and everyone's still worried about,

8:34

well Harry's still worried about Sirius and like there's

8:37

all sorts of drama and then everyone gathers

8:39

and there's a lot of people there and at first they're

8:42

like, well show us you can do it and Harry's like, you don't

8:44

even want to learn. You just want to see tricks

8:46

and learn about Cedric Diggory's death and then he's

8:48

like, okay, fine, I'll tell you and then

8:51

they realize that he can do a full body Patronus and they're like,

8:53

wow, that's incredible and Susan Bones is like, my

8:55

mom or my auntie said you were cool, so I'm

8:58

here too and then they all go like, wow.

8:59

Yeah.

9:02

Pretty much. That's for Zachariah Smith. He

9:05

has a lot to say in this chapter

9:07

and I am looking forward to getting

9:10

into it with him. To getting

9:12

into it with him. Zachariah.

9:15

Casper, before we start our theme conversation,

9:17

we want to talk about an organization

9:19

that we are sponsored by this week. We

9:22

are sponsored by Crunch Labs.

9:24

Crunch Labs is a STEM monthly

9:26

subscription build box for kids, which means

9:28

that you get a really fun toy

9:30

in the mail every month and you put it together by watching

9:33

a video from former NASA

9:35

engineer turned YouTuber Mark

9:37

Rober, where he teaches all of the juicy physics

9:40

that makes the toy work.

9:42

80% of the kids who try the build box

9:44

say that they gained a new passion around

9:46

STEM and engineering. I

9:49

know that my younger stepdaughter just

9:51

did something like this and she

9:53

had a crash car and her egg

9:56

survived and she's so obsessed

9:58

with hearing.

9:59

By building these kinds of interesting

10:02

toys with Crunch Labs, it encourages

10:04

young ones to take a break from screen

10:06

time and focus on a hands-on activity that's

10:08

both fun and educational.

10:10

Crunch Labs is great for gift giving,

10:13

the perfect gift for a young one in your life, whether

10:15

that's your kids, your nibblings, friends' kids,

10:17

whoever it is. Go to crunchlabs.com

10:20

slash HPST and

10:22

get your kids Crunch Labs today.

10:24

So Vanessa, let's start

10:27

this chapter's conversation about Zacharias

10:30

Smith. He's not a usual headliner

10:32

in our conversations, but I feel like he really

10:34

is the standout performer from chapter 16. And

10:38

he kind of represents, I think, the best of

10:40

this gaggle of Hogwarts students

10:42

from different years, from different houses,

10:44

who've come at Hermione's

10:47

invitation to learn from Harry. And

10:49

he is really not satisfied

10:52

with Harry's first couple of protestations,

10:56

explanations, denials,

10:59

angry outbursts. He's like, no,

11:01

I came here to learn. Don't just

11:04

belittle me by saying, oh, you're

11:06

not interested, you're not here to learn.

11:09

I guess what I love about the moment is seeing Zacharias

11:11

Smith not taking no for an

11:13

answer and taking really seriously

11:16

the invitation of what becomes Dumbledore's

11:18

army. Because it illustrates that these other

11:20

students also have a fight in

11:22

this moment, right? Like they're not just extras.

11:25

They're the main characters in their own story in

11:27

what is going to become the fight against Voldemort.

11:30

Yeah, I have mixed feelings about the way that Zacharias

11:32

is portrayed here, because I see myself

11:34

in him, right? He's like, prove it. I

11:37

don't know what happened. Dumbledore is saying one thing,

11:39

the newspaper is saying another thing. You're the only

11:41

person who says that this thing happened. I

11:43

like that he's questioning what's happening. And

11:45

he is being given a lot of misinformation.

11:49

People who ask a lot of questions are important

11:51

in our society. And yet

11:54

we know that Zacharias is going to end up sort of being

11:56

on the wrong side of all of this. And

11:58

I wish that we saw a question. a question-asker

12:01

who ends up being satisfied by

12:03

what he is seeing right in front of him. But I

12:05

do really appreciate those people

12:08

who want more information and feel as though they deserve

12:10

information before they do things that are

12:12

going to put them at a tremendous amount of risk. I

12:14

think a high satisfaction level makes

12:17

sense here.

12:18

Well, and it's interesting because I feel like Luna, who

12:20

also shows up for this meeting, is kind

12:23

of the exact opposite of Zacharias because she's

12:25

not really asking questions. She's just

12:27

like, oh yeah, I just instinctively

12:29

trust Harry. And of course this invisible

12:31

magical creature exists. And Hermione's

12:33

like, no, they don't. You're dumb.

12:37

Luna's not asking any questions. And Zacharias

12:39

is asking a lot of questions. But

12:41

what's interesting, as you said, is that Zacharias

12:43

runs away at the Battle of Hogwarts. And of course

12:46

Luna is part of the fighting. And so, yeah,

12:49

I'm wondering what to make of that. Is that

12:52

an insight about asking questions or not? I don't

12:54

think so. I think that just happens to be these two

12:56

particular individuals. But

12:58

I think it's important that Harry is being

13:00

tested by his peers

13:03

in a context that isn't controlled

13:06

by the Hogwarts faculty. They

13:08

are finally getting to ask him

13:10

questions to satisfy, yes, their own curiosity,

13:13

but also their own sense of is this person

13:15

trustworthy? Is this someone who should be our

13:17

leader? Because that's what Hermione

13:20

is inviting us into.

13:21

I just really feel for Zacharias in this moment

13:23

where you're like, well, I'm getting different information

13:25

from two different sides. And I don't

13:28

know who to believe. This source,

13:30

the Daily Prophet, who we all

13:32

agreed was the number one source, is

13:35

now saying things that my headmaster,

13:37

who I've been taught to respect, is

13:39

saying the opposite of. And now the ministry,

13:42

who I've always been taught to respect, has

13:44

sent this woman here and she's saying something

13:47

different. And so, yeah, his

13:49

lack of satisfaction with any

13:51

narrative, I have a

13:54

tremendous amount of compassion for

13:56

his lack of satisfaction. I actually think that there's something

13:58

meaningful and lovely.

13:59

about it.

14:02

What do you make of Hermione?

14:05

Because I feel like she wasn't satisfied

14:08

with Harry's initial rejection, right? She

14:11

invited him to teach and she's let it

14:13

go for a couple of weeks and now she's pressing him again.

14:16

That's why we end up in this situation that the Hogs said. Do

14:19

you think Hermione as a character generally

14:21

is satisfiable or is she

14:23

always one step ahead trying

14:26

pushing, you know, getting us somewhere else?

14:29

I mean the question

14:31

first of all feels like a question within me. Do I want

14:33

people to be satisfiable? I

14:36

do, right? I want people to be happy.

14:38

I want people to be grateful for what they have but

14:40

I also want people to always be pushing for more. Yeah.

14:44

And since I believe that Hermione Granger is perfect, I think

14:46

that that's what she's doing. Is

14:48

that an answer? I've just projected

14:50

what I want most from everyone

14:52

to be true for Hermione

14:55

but it's not really text-based.

14:57

Well, I mean, let's look at some of

14:59

the stuff that is in the text because- Do we actually

15:01

look at the text? Okay. We've

15:04

done a character study in the abstract.

15:07

The thing that I really noticed with Hermione in this chapter

15:09

is that she is not satisfied in

15:12

her trust of other people, right? And

15:14

it's not just Luna and Ginny and like some of

15:16

the nearest and dearest who are here. There's like

15:18

random people, right? Cho's random

15:21

Ravenclaw friend who clearly doesn't

15:23

want to be there and is just a chaperone for Cho. And

15:26

so Hermione creates not just a promise

15:29

at the end of the chapter. She's like,

15:31

you have to sign your name, right? You

15:34

have to promise your ultimate fidelity

15:36

and inviolate trust that you

15:38

will not talk about what has happened here tonight. And

15:41

what I love in the text is it says, there was an odd

15:43

feeling in the group now. It was

15:45

as though they had just signed some kind of

15:48

contract and that is what she does.

15:50

Like, she gets them to sign this

15:52

super intense NDA, right?

15:55

And that is a sign.

15:56

I mean, it's an NDA with a punishment

15:59

and they don't.

15:59

Seriously lying to them.

16:01

Yeah, they don't know there's a punishment and

16:03

so like she's not satisfied by people's

16:06

promise of like yeah Yeah, I won't tell anyone so

16:09

there's something about her which is not Satisfiable.

16:12

Yeah. No, she's not trusting. Yeah, I

16:14

love that idea that she's not satisfied with people's

16:17

promises I think that this is

16:19

also just like her knowing human nature Because

16:22

I do think that if if Harry and Ron

16:25

promise to keep this a secret or even

16:27

like Ginny right like Neville Right, like

16:29

this circle gets bigger and bigger right that

16:32

order of the Phoenix Like I do think that there are a lot of people

16:34

who She would be satisfied

16:36

with a promise and it comes down to trust and

16:38

she this is too many people It's it's

16:41

gotten too wide and

16:43

I mean the mistake here is that

16:45

she doesn't do this at the very beginning of the meeting

16:47

and say Hey, if you sign

16:50

this if you want to know what's up here

16:52

You have to sign this piece of paper and then you are

16:54

sworn Secrecy and like

16:57

and that is often a difficult position, right? It

16:59

is a position that I've put other people in where

17:02

I've said to them like I have something to tell you But it's

17:04

private. I would like to tell you but you are

17:07

not allowed to tell other people Do you want me to tell you do

17:09

you want to be a secret keeper? But as soon as I

17:11

tell you I'm gonna need you to be a secret keeper like

17:14

it's a really Tough moment

17:16

where I think we are asking

17:18

for a lot of maturity from people to

17:21

know themselves know their other Relationships

17:23

know I am gonna want to tell my

17:25

mom my spouse my dog Whatever it is

17:27

and I don't have the information yet But

17:30

her main is mistake here is a strategic one

17:32

where she only at the end

17:35

of the meeting Sort of admits that

17:37

she's not satisfied with their promises

17:39

and it's like actually psych I

17:41

need you to sign this like very

17:44

binding Piece of paper

17:46

that if you

17:47

break it the spell will be that

17:49

you are horribly disfigured for the rest

17:51

of your life

17:52

Without you knowing that that's the consequence.

17:54

Thank you so much for coming. We'll see you next week. I

17:58

Do think she's also

17:59

just conflicted, right? Like on

18:02

the one hand, she wants as many people there as possible,

18:04

and she doesn't try to undo the fact

18:06

that word spreads and random show up,

18:09

right? But then she also wants it to be a really

18:11

closely kept crew with this binding

18:14

contract. And for me, I think

18:16

that reveals that Hermione doesn't quite know what she

18:18

wants this group to be. Is it

18:20

an intimate high trust, like,

18:23

guerrilla army small

18:25

crew? Or is it a big broader

18:28

movement of people where there's less

18:30

relationship, less trust, less shared context

18:32

and history, where she just wants

18:34

as many people on board as possible? And I think

18:37

maybe for her, she doesn't quite know what

18:39

Dumbledore's army is going to be yet. Obviously, she

18:41

doesn't know what's going to be called the DA. But like,

18:43

that's what I noticed in this chapter two was just like,

18:46

I always think of Hermione as this mastermind, which

18:48

she is. But here she's still like, I

18:51

don't know, is this a big meeting? Is it a small meeting?

18:53

I'm not quite in control.

18:56

I'm reading my brilliant friend, the

18:58

Elena Ferrante novel with our What Matters

19:00

class. And Elena

19:02

Ferrante, who writes under a pseudonym,

19:05

has sort of famously said, like, as soon as the book

19:07

is out, its author has nothing to do with it, right? Like,

19:09

it is its own thing. And

19:11

like, that can only be said from a position

19:14

of someone who's very satisfied with their book. Like,

19:16

I don't care what you make of it. Here

19:19

it is. But in

19:21

the process, I don't think that that is something

19:23

that you can say. And Hermione

19:25

is, as the sort of cliche goes, building this

19:27

plane as she's flying it, she's not fully

19:29

satisfied with what it is as she's sending it

19:31

out into the world. And so she's moving it into

19:34

a co creation space, because she

19:36

has to because that's the way that movements work,

19:38

but before it's fully formed. And

19:41

so of course, she's always going to be walking this line

19:43

of like,

19:44

I want to control this more than I can in order

19:46

for it to stay up to the standard that I would satisfy

19:49

me. But I also have to let go because otherwise

19:51

it'll never become the thing that it needs to be as

19:54

a controlling maybe

19:56

person. I really feel

19:59

for her.

20:01

I'm so glad she has Crumb to talk to about

20:03

all of this. You know, it's important that

20:05

you have someone to chat with.

20:10

Let's be honest, the days of only dating

20:12

one person at a time feel a little old

20:15

school. In the recent Dating Diaries report,

20:17

eHarmony found that 45% of Gen

20:19

Z singles are comfortable dating

20:22

more than one person at the same time. But

20:24

while dating multiple people at the same time

20:26

is fine when you're honest about it, it can be

20:29

exhausting constantly searching for

20:31

that special connection. eHarmony

20:33

can help you find someone who gets you. Their

20:35

well-rounded personality quiz and expansive

20:38

profiles help to show the real you and

20:40

can lead to that genuine connection you've

20:42

been searching for. So join the dating

20:44

app that helps you find someone who gets you

20:47

and see for yourself. eHarmony,

20:49

get who gets you. Start free today.

20:51

This episode is brought to you by Progressive.

20:54

Most of you aren't just listening right

20:56

now. You're driving, cleaning, and

20:59

even exercising. But what if you could

21:01

be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers

21:04

who save by switching save nearly $750 on average, and

21:06

auto customers qualify for

21:09

an average of seven discounts.

21:11

Multitask right now. Quote

21:13

today at progressive.com. Progressive

21:16

Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month

21:18

savings of $744 by new customers surveyed

21:20

who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential

21:24

savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.

21:29

This week's episode of Harry Potter and the Sacred

21:31

Text is brought to you by Prose. Most

21:33

of you have probably already heard me sing the

21:35

praises of Prose, and they're truly custom-made

21:38

to order hair care. But Margaret H.

21:40

Willison, our communications coordinator

21:42

and faculty extraordinaire, I hear that

21:45

you also love Prose. Yes,

21:48

I turned to Prose after I started dyeing

21:50

my hair purple. All of the stuff I was using

21:52

on it, now that the base of it is bleached,

21:54

was just leaving my hair really dry.

21:57

And it was very scary for me. You know, I had a routine

21:59

that worked for...

21:59

and then suddenly it didn't. I've now

22:02

been using it for about a year and

22:04

my hairdresser was gobsmacked

22:06

when he saw my hair again. He's like, you're the first person

22:08

I've ever seen whose hair has been healthier

22:11

after they started dyeing it. And I think that

22:14

credit has to go to Proz. I would imagine that

22:16

it's because they analyze over 85 personal

22:18

factors, so they handpick clean and

22:20

sustainably sourced ingredients that

22:23

get closer to your hair goals with

22:25

every wash. Custom made to

22:27

order hair care from Proz has your name all

22:29

over it. Take your free in-depth

22:31

hair consultation and get 50%

22:33

off of your first subscription order

22:34

today, plus 15% off

22:37

and free shipping every subscription order after that.

22:39

Go to proz.com slash Harry Potter. That's P-R-O-S-E

22:43

dot com slash Harry Potter for your free

22:45

in-depth hair consultation and 50% off

22:48

your

22:48

first subscription order.

22:51

The big satisfaction that I see in this

22:53

chapter though, Casper, is Harry's. He

22:56

is reluctant to give this

22:59

speech, but he gets to give this

23:01

speech in front of a

23:03

group of people, most of whom are leaning

23:05

toward believing him, but several of whom

23:08

are quite incredulous and

23:10

unclear as to what he's gonna

23:13

say. And he finally gets to say

23:15

what happened. And I just

23:17

can't imagine the satisfaction of that,

23:20

the satisfaction of finally being

23:21

seen and of being in

23:23

control of your own narrative, right?

23:26

Like even just one person believing

23:28

you and really seeing you can be so meaningful,

23:30

but he has been walking around this campus

23:33

knowing that misinformation has been spread

23:35

about him, not knowing who thinks he's

23:38

just a liar with an agenda

23:41

versus like a traumatized

23:43

kid with a real truth to tell. And

23:46

the fact that like what a gift that

23:48

he gets to set it all straight, that

23:50

he gets this opportunity and that

23:52

Hermione has built it for him, that

23:54

is, I think, a breath of satisfaction

23:56

for him of like, no, I'm

23:58

gonna use Voldemort's name. I'm gonna say Cedric

24:00

died. I'm gonna say the things

24:02

that are important to say. And

24:05

like, I saw him, I saw him,

24:07

and we fought, and Cedric is dead,

24:10

and like, God, it just

24:12

must be so satisfying.

24:15

But what do you make of the fact that he says, like, if

24:17

you've come to hear, you know, what

24:19

it looks like when Voldemort murders someone, I can't

24:21

help you, I don't wanna talk about Cedric. Like,

24:24

I don't know, I feel like there's more conflict.

24:27

Like, the thing that he talks a lot about is

24:30

the answers to the questions about what he's able

24:32

to do, like his magical skill. And

24:34

I'm wondering if that's where the satisfaction

24:37

is, less about the narrative, but more about like,

24:39

this is who I am?

24:41

I just think it's not about their satisfactions about

24:43

his. It's like one of those things, like

24:45

Hermione might be frustrated with him. Hermione

24:47

might be like, ooh, bad sales pitch.

24:49

Yup. You know, it's like, well, we're

24:51

here to convince them. And

24:53

he's like, I'm not gonna tell you, right? He's

24:57

there to satisfy himself. And

24:59

I think he believes in underselling. He's like,

25:01

I'm not sure I'm the right guy for this. And so

25:04

like, it's honest, right? Like, I'm gonna tell you what

25:06

I'm willing to tell you, I'm gonna tell you no more and no

25:08

less. And like, that's it.

25:10

Yeah, it really struck me that he is not

25:12

seeking the limelight in this

25:14

moment, or at least he's a sort

25:17

of unwilling, but ultimately very compelling

25:20

teacher, because the

25:22

group is giving him credibility rather

25:25

than his own, like, it's

25:27

the opposite of Gilderoy Lockhart, right? It's

25:30

the questions that are coming from the other students

25:32

that reveal what he's capable of. Like

25:34

it's Susan Bowden saying like, hey, my

25:37

aunt told me that she saw that you could conjure

25:39

a full-bodied patronus in the trial.

25:41

Is that true? And she's like, wow,

25:44

that's amazing. And so that's where his authority

25:46

is coming from. It's not stuff that he's proclaiming

25:48

himself. So in that sense,

25:51

yeah, no, I like what you're saying there.

25:53

I mean, the other thing that struck me about Harry

25:55

is, I saw him practicing this

25:58

practice that I mentioned in my story at the time. for the episode

26:01

because as he's leaving Hogwarts,

26:04

you know, Filch is going through the list of who's allowed

26:06

to go to Hogsmeade and Harry remembers

26:08

that it's only because of Sirius that he's able

26:10

to go and it's just this little moment

26:12

where he's able to kind of practice gratitude

26:15

and acknowledge the help he's received

26:17

from other people and Sirius specifically.

26:19

So he's like, yeah, I may not be, you

26:22

know, clearly I'm not free in

26:25

my life here in Hogwarts, but like

26:27

I'm grateful for this moment that I get to have

26:30

and that's because of Sirius over the

26:32

weekend. So I like seeing him be satisfiable

26:35

in that moment himself as well.

26:37

And maybe there's something about that, you know,

26:40

Harry as a totem for satisfiability

26:43

throughout this series, right, he gets

26:45

given so much and so much is asked of him,

26:47

but there's very little when

26:50

we see him grasping for more, certainly

26:52

not for wealth, certainly not for fame, right?

26:55

Like he's actually sort of an anti-hero

27:00

in that sense of like he's not looking to

27:02

make a big impact in the world, right? Like all

27:05

he wants to do is satisfy

27:07

maybe revenge, maybe justice, but

27:09

like it's not about achievement ever

27:12

for Harry, it's about something much deeper and

27:14

so maybe he's a good totem for satisfiability.

27:18

Yeah, I really do think like that he's going

27:20

to become a middle-aged guy who looks around at a

27:22

family table and is like, look, my

27:24

family is healthy. I'm just

27:26

like, how lucky am I? And we

27:28

don't want people to have to go through such extreme

27:30

trauma in order to be satisfiable, but

27:33

I do think, right, like this

27:35

is something that people talk about after something like

27:38

cancer where it's just like, there's

27:40

just more gratitude, like this

27:42

can't be taken for granted, you

27:44

know, and it can hit people I think either way of

27:46

like, I have one life

27:48

and I have to try to do everything or I have one

27:50

life and plus enjoy

27:53

it. That's

27:55

beautiful.

28:10

Casper, today we are going to do our spiritual

28:12

practice of par-days. It is a Jewish

28:15

four-step reading practice and I found us a

28:17

delightful sentence. Are you ready?

28:19

I'm ready.

28:20

What do you mean? Who's taking

28:22

anything badly? I'm not going to harp on

28:24

about anything.

28:30

So this, for those of you who don't remember

28:33

at home, is a Ron flipping

28:35

out because he has just

28:37

found out that Jenny is dating

28:39

Michael Corner and Hermione

28:42

is like, well she didn't tell you because she

28:44

knew you'd take it badly and harp on about it. And

28:47

he's like, what do you mean? I want to do that. Who would never

28:49

do that?

28:49

I'm not going

28:51

to harp on about

28:54

anything.

28:56

You get the sense that he's not saying

28:58

it. Like let me give you the line reading that we don't

29:00

believe he's giving. What do you

29:02

mean? Who's taking anything badly?

29:05

I'm not going to harp on about anything. Like

29:08

that is not the vibe because the next sentence

29:10

is that Ron continued to, and this

29:13

is not a word in American English, chumter

29:16

under his breath all the way down. He's

29:20

really bothered by this.

29:21

Anything you want to add to step one to shut?

29:24

I feel like it's not just

29:27

about Ginny and Michael.

29:29

Like it's also a little bit about

29:31

Hermione and Crumb, which has already come up at this

29:33

point in the chapter. Like I think

29:36

Ron is just feeling a lot of feelings and

29:38

it's coming out in all sorts of ways, which,

29:41

you know, what's new with Ron? But he

29:43

is clearly just, he has

29:45

so much more going on in his heart than

29:47

his brain and mouth are able to communicate

29:50

outwards. Bless him. And

29:53

I think there's also a little embarrassment that like Ginny

29:55

is younger and she is so much more

29:58

mature relationally. So

30:00

the fact that he's unable to have

30:03

a rational response to this in itself

30:05

is also embarrassing to him, which trips him up.

30:07

And so he ends up kind of whispering to himself

30:10

in this slightly embarrassed way. Yeah,

30:12

so I think there's just a lot of shame

30:14

in this moment for Ron, honestly. Yeah,

30:16

and that feeling of like, what? Everyone

30:19

is dating?

30:20

I didn't know that feeling of being left

30:22

behind. Like, everybody

30:24

is doing this thing without me, and I didn't even

30:27

know it was a thing we were supposed to be doing. Which

30:30

I really relate to.

30:34

So step two is remes, and we

30:36

pick a word and trace it throughout the books.

30:38

What word do you want to look closely

30:41

at? Let me read it for you one more time.

30:43

What do you mean? Who's taking anything badly?

30:45

I'm not going to harp on about anything.

30:47

Ooh, how about harp?

30:50

I think whenever anyone in these books confronts

30:53

someone else's harping on, right? Like,

30:56

in book six, Harry

30:58

is going to harp on and on and

31:00

on about Draco. Draco's up to something.

31:03

Draco's up to something. Draco's up to something, right? Like,

31:06

what is harping? It's an obsession

31:08

that is annoying someone else,

31:10

right? To talk about a subject constantly

31:12

in a repeated or annoying way, yeah.

31:14

Yeah, and so like Hermione is harping

31:17

on about how selves. And the boys are actually

31:19

calmer in this book because she's just knitting

31:22

hats, and like, that's a lot less annoying. And

31:24

so they're like, fine, at least you're not harping

31:26

on about it, right? It's a passion

31:28

that someone else has that like, you can't take on as your

31:31

own. But like, if

31:33

you have the same favorite football team, you're not

31:35

like, oh my God, you're always harping on about

31:37

that. It's just like, yeah,

31:39

we both talk about

31:40

it. This is like a legitimate

31:42

thing to keep coming back to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right.

31:45

I'm thinking about the magical creature

31:48

of the hoppy. I know that's like extending

31:50

the harp word a little bit, but the thing

31:52

that strikes me is I think it's in book

31:54

four that we learn that

31:57

vealers can transform into like, hoppy-like

32:00

when they're angry. And so there's something

32:02

about the transformational potential,

32:04

anger, like hopping

32:07

on can become something much

32:09

more intense, right? Like hopping on about

32:11

something can become something violent, something

32:13

dangerous. And so, especially

32:15

because the vealas are like so beautiful and so

32:19

deceiving, like it makes me think about

32:21

that harp word as carrying

32:24

something a little bit more terrifying

32:26

underneath, you know, it's plain exterior.

32:28

Well, great. Step three

32:30

is trash. And this

32:33

is where we ask ourselves if this was

32:35

our piece of lectionary, what would we

32:37

preach on?

32:38

And so here's a sentence one more time. What

32:40

do you mean? Who's taking anything badly? I'm

32:43

not going to harp on about anything. Well,

32:45

mine immediately came to mind. If

32:49

someone is harping on about something,

32:51

try to take them seriously, at least for a minute

32:54

and be like, what's going on here? What's

32:56

the feeling under here? Right? Like someone

32:59

should ask Ron, be like, why does this bother you?

33:01

And I think it'll take Ron more

33:03

than a minute, right? I like it

33:05

might take him a

33:06

couple weeks before he's like, whatever,

33:08

I just don't like being with my sister and making out with a guy.

33:10

And it's like, well, that's not it.

33:11

Like, what's actually going on here?

33:14

And it's like, well, what's actually going on here is I'm

33:16

afraid of being left behind. And I feel

33:18

silly and babyish and right, like,

33:21

and so if you feel as though someone is harping on about

33:23

something, I think sometimes we just

33:25

get assessed with something

33:27

like a Taylor Swift song. And, you know,

33:30

there's no deeper meaning as to why we're harping on

33:32

and on about the song, Betty. But

33:35

often if someone is harping on about something,

33:37

it is worth really trying to dig into

33:39

why with them so that you can accompany them

33:42

in the why of it.

33:43

What about you, Casper? Well,

33:46

that's really good. What strikes me is

33:48

the kind

33:50

of denial that Ron is saying

33:53

of like, no one's thinking anything badly. And that's

33:56

what he wants to be true.

33:59

But it's never.

36:00

And that's the place where Ron,

36:03

you know, rationally, would never want to be putting

36:05

that stress and shame and

36:08

all of the gross behavior that he exhibits.

36:10

And so, I guess it's

36:12

just the cruelty of life that it's the people we love

36:14

the most who often have to deal with the worst of our behavior.

36:17

So, yeah, there's

36:19

some sadness in my soul there.

36:23

Well, thank you so much for engaging

36:25

in this sacred practice with me. Yeah,

36:28

I love holidays. It's my

36:30

favorite practice.

36:32

This week's episode of Harry Potter and the Sacred

36:34

Text is brought to you by StoryWorth.

36:36

StoryWorth is an online service that

36:38

helps you and your loved ones preserve

36:41

precious memories and stories for years

36:43

to come. It is a thoughtful, meaningful

36:45

gift that connects you to those

36:47

who matter most. Every week, StoryWorth

36:50

emails your relative or friend a thought-provoking

36:52

question of your choice from their vast pool

36:55

of possible options. I am about to

36:57

receive the end product of StoryWorth.

37:00

I gave my mother's StoryWorth last Hanukkah,

37:02

and I am gonna get this bound book

37:05

of all of her stories. And I

37:07

think it was really meaningful for her. You

37:09

know, it just brought up a lot of memories she hadn't thought about in

37:11

a while. So, I sent a question like,

37:14

what was your first road trip? And

37:16

she talked about this road trip that she took when she

37:18

was like seven with my grandparents

37:21

and her brother and sister. And, you know, just like

37:23

all of these things that, I don't know, I

37:25

never would have learned about her and I don't think she had thought

37:27

about in 50 years. I've had a couple

37:29

of friends do this, and it's really lovely.

37:32

I'm so glad you did that. With StoryWorth, I

37:34

am giving those I love most a thoughtful,

37:36

personal gift from the heart in preserving

37:39

their memories and stories for years to come.

37:41

Go to storyworth.com slash potter

37:43

and save $10 on your first purchase.

37:46

That's storyworth.com slash potter

37:49

to save $10 on your first purchase.

37:55

The holidays are coming. Find a gift for someone

37:58

special with jewelry from Blue Nile.

38:00

Right now, Blue Nile is offering special

38:02

Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.

38:04

Save up to 50% on the season's

38:07

most stunning trends. Blue Nile offers

38:09

an endless selection of bold gold styles,

38:12

gemstone jewelry, and classic diamond

38:14

pieces. And now, for a limited time,

38:16

get 36 months special financing

38:18

on minimum purchases of $1,000. Restrictions

38:21

apply. See bluenile.com for details.

38:24

That's bluenile.com.

38:29

This week's voicemail is from Sunanda.

38:33

Hello, Harry Potter and the Sacred Text team. My

38:36

name is Sunanda, and I'm reaching

38:38

out to you from Toronto. Today,

38:40

I want to offer a blessing for Hedwig. I

38:43

recently read Book 5, Chapter 14,

38:46

Percy and Padfoot, and there is a

38:48

moment in the start of the chapter where Harry

38:50

is going to the Owlery and has

38:53

a letter for Sirius. He

38:55

finds Hedwig and tells her,

38:58

I know it says snuffles on the parchment, but it's

39:01

really for Sirius, okay? And Hedwig

39:03

kind of acknowledges this, blinks at him, nuzzles

39:06

him, and then flies off with the letter. And

39:08

I was really struck by this moment because

39:11

in this book so far, we see Harry

39:13

so hurt and angry

39:15

and just navigating his grief

39:18

and trauma, and

39:20

you see how far away he feels from all the people

39:22

in his life and how hard it is for him

39:24

to let people in and let

39:27

people love him. And this

39:29

moment was really notable to me

39:31

because it felt like the first real moment

39:33

of true connection we've seen in

39:36

this book so far. And I'm

39:38

just really grateful for Hedwig and that

39:41

she was able to connect with Harry in

39:43

this moment and offer

39:45

him solace when he's feeling so alone

39:48

and far away from so many people in

39:50

his life. I too recently

39:53

went through a big life change. I

39:55

moved from Chicago where I'd been living for

39:57

the last nine years to Chicago where I'm now.

40:00

Toronto, where I don't really

40:02

know anyone at all. And in on the

40:05

days when I'm feeling kind of lonely

40:07

and far away from the people I love, I'm

40:10

really grateful for my cat Loki.

40:12

This is the first time I've ever

40:14

moved with a pet and it has

40:16

made a world of a difference to have my

40:19

companion come

40:22

up and snuggle with me when I'm feeling kind

40:24

of sad. And so with that, I offer this

40:26

blessing for Hedwig

40:28

and all the other companions out there

40:31

who are making people's lives better.

40:33

Oh, Sonanda, that's so lovely.

40:36

And I'm so glad you have your cat with you.

40:38

And I'm so glad Harry has Hedwig.

40:40

I feel like this is one of life's

40:42

great joys that I have not yet experienced

40:45

because I didn't grow up with a

40:47

kind of like snuggle pet. You know, we had animals

40:50

in the house, but they weren't like loved pets

40:52

in that way. You know, like a

40:54

bird is not going to quite snuggle with you, at least

40:57

in my experience. But I feel

40:59

like I get to see Vanessa have that

41:01

like, Vanessa's love for Rory,

41:03

I think it's one of the beautiful things about

41:05

you. And, and it's been such a constant

41:08

in your life since I've known you, you know,

41:10

Rory's always been there through house

41:12

moves and all sorts of trials and tribulations and

41:14

joys and celebrations. And I'm

41:16

so glad that Harry has that through the

41:18

books. And of course, it makes Hedwig's death all

41:21

the more painful when it does

41:23

soon. And I'm also just so glad that you have your

41:25

cat. And I'm lucky enough, I get to see soon

41:27

on that in class tonight. So

41:29

hey,

41:31

Toronto friends, make it happen.

41:33

Yes, you know, that's so important. We have a

41:35

really active Harry Potter and sacred text community

41:38

in Toronto. So go, go

41:41

make some friends,

41:42

good peoples of the world.

41:46

It's now time for us to remember members

41:48

of our community who have been loved and lost.

41:51

And this week, we remember Kim priests,

41:53

who was 63, a jovial

41:56

artist, mother and grandmother. Mary

42:02

Alice Shasberger, who is 95,

42:04

a grandma who was generous with her knitting,

42:07

baked goods and time. And

42:13

the victims of the Lewiston, Maine shooting.

42:16

May their memory forever be a blessing.

42:25

It's now time for us to bless characters in the chapter. If

42:27

you want something to us, who would you like to

42:29

bless?

42:30

I really was thinking of Ginny this week.

42:33

You know, she is moving on from

42:36

what you can't have, right, to

42:38

find something that you can. Hermione

42:41

is explaining that, yes, Ginny

42:44

still did like Harry, but like, Harry

42:46

doesn't like her. And so she

42:48

said, okay, and is going to find

42:51

someone else who does like her. And

42:54

Michael seems to be pleasant enough, at least

42:56

for the moment. And I feel like there is

42:58

something about that theme of satisfiability

43:00

in that, right? Like the dream relationship

43:03

does not exist. It's only the real

43:05

that exists. And the real is disappointing

43:08

in a hundred different ways. And I feel

43:10

like Ginny is embracing that

43:12

in a very mature way at a very young age.

43:15

And so I just want to bless Ginny and everyone else

43:17

who is navigating the

43:19

reality of disappointment

43:22

in a relationship. And so, yeah,

43:24

blessings for Ginny.

43:26

How about you, Vanessa?

43:28

I am blessing Hermione.

43:29

I don't think there are like bat mitzvahs in

43:32

the wizarding world. So I would like to create a ceremony for one Hermione Granger.

43:36

She disappeared a cat. She's

43:38

a witch. She has skills.

43:40

She's a witch.

43:41

I am

43:42

so proud of her. Like

43:45

I know you're born a witch, but also

43:47

like you become a witch. She's a

43:49

witch. I'm so she is like conniving

43:52

and like orchestrating. And

43:57

making things happen and freeing elves

43:59

and learning. how to knit and being a good

44:01

friend to Ginny and reading the newspaper.

44:04

And also she is flipping

44:07

a witch and she's just out

44:09

there crushing it. And so a blessing for everyone

44:11

out there crushing it.

44:12

Where do the cuts go?

44:14

These are metaphysical questions

44:17

that are above my pay grade. Next

44:21

week we're going to be reading book five, chapter 17,

44:24

educational decree number 24 through the

44:26

theme of refuge. And

44:28

then Matt Potts is going to be telling that story.

44:32

Everybody just a few reminders before we give our

44:35

thanks. We have pilgrimages on sale, we have classes

44:37

on sale. Go and find out more at not sorry works.com. And

44:40

of course you can get ad free episodes on Apple

44:42

podcasts or by signing up for our

44:44

Patreon. This is the Not Sorry production. We are a

44:46

feminist production company. Our executive producer is Caitlin Hoffmeister. We are

44:49

edited and produced by AJ Aramas. And

44:51

of course, I want to thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I'll

44:53

see you next week. Bye. Bye.

44:57

Bye. Bye. Laura

44:59

Glass, Ariana Nettleman, Julia Arge, Margot

45:02

H. Wilson, Nikki

45:02

Goldhahn, Hannah Rehack, Courtney Brown,

45:05

Matt Potts, Natalie Silkert, Stephanie Paulsell,

45:08

everyone who sent in the names of their loved ones and

45:10

the love of my life, Casper Turk Kyle.

45:12

Thank you so much for being here. Love

45:14

you too. Thanks, Vanessa. Bye everyone.

45:17

Bye. Hey,

45:41

go

45:42

one, go me. So

45:46

on the guest list are Lee Jordan, Fred

45:48

and George, some Hufflepuff Quidditch player, Jiddy,

45:50

Terry Boot, Michael Korda, Anthony Goldstein,

45:53

three Ravenclaw boys. No, I just did

45:55

that wrong. Wait, is this a funny joke or not?

45:58

No. going

46:00

to list everyone who's in the room. I'll

46:03

save it for another

46:04

time.