Episode #691: I Declare Loyalty! (OOTP Chapter 13, Detention with Dolores)

On this week’s episode, bust out your day planner because we’ve got plenty of classes, loads of homework and a few detentions! And keep your hands off of the knitted hats, those are for the House-Elves!

  • Welcome Quizzitch master and winner, James!
  • In the middle of this winter season our Comfy Cozy Combo Pack is nearly sold out! Containing our MuggleCast show beanie and our specialty throwback socks, grab these soft and warming items before it’s too late at the MuggleMillennial Etsy store!
  • Chapter-by-Chapter returns with  Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 13: Detention with Dolores. Our Time Turner segment has us spinning an old recording from past discussions! Be sure to check out Episode 449 for our prior Chapter 13 analysis!
  • Could there be a common theme running through the Chapter 13s of the Harry Potter series?
  • Main Discussion #1: Radical Hermione
  • Spin Cycle: Have the hosts ever gotten caught up in the news and believed something that turned out to be false?
  • Why is Umbridge allowed to teach the students during their O.W.L.s year?
  • Could Hermione be working smarter, not harder, by threatening to write to Mrs. Weasley about Fred & George? We debate the ethics of them testing products on first years! And did the Twins drug Hermione later in the chapter?
  • Should Hermione be tricking House-Elves into freedom by hiding knitted hats beneath bits of rubbish? Would she even have the authority to free the Hogwarts House-Elves?
  • Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Unite: Luna and Ernie show support for Harry!
  • Main Discussion #2: Detention
  • Our initial reactions to one of the most cringe-worthy moments in the Harry Potter series!
  • How is The Black Quill legal? Does it have any relation to the Quick Quotes Quill?
  • Why is Harry suffering in silence? Could past abuse and trauma be at play?
  • How much is Dumbledore to blame for Harry’s resistance to go to an authority figure?
  • We discuss the significance of Umbridge giving Harry his second permanent scar!
  • Quidditch Tryouts: is Ron a nepo baby?
  • When Umbridge touches Harry, his scar burns. Should we assume she’s connected to Voldemort or was this pure coincidence?
  • Odds & Ends cover Hagrid’s absence, McGonagall’s confidence in Neville, angry bowtruckles and more!
  • MVP: What would we have thought if we’d been onlookers at the Third Task in Goblet of Fire and seen Harry return from the maze clutching Cedric’s dead body?
  • Lynx Line: Our patrons weigh in on what they would do to resist the Umbridge regime at Hogwarts.
  • Quizzitch: In this chapter, Harry is tasked with completing an illustration of a Bowtruckle. What English children’s book author started out as a biological illustrator, a subject matter which certainly influenced the animal characters of their books?
  • Don’t forget you can support the show over at Patreon.com/Mugglecast! You’ll get great benefits such as Bonus MuggleCast, live streams, yearly stickers, Lynx Line participation, a physical gift, a video message from one of the four of us made just for you, our private Facebook and Discord groups where you can hang out with fellow Potter fans, and so much more!
  • On this week’s Bonus MuggleCast, we have a blast re-sorting the Weasley family! Percy to Slytherin? Ron to Hufflepuff? Splitting up the Twins?
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