Episode #736: Gin and Tomic (HBP Chapter 13, ‘The Secret Riddle’)

/ Eric

This week, bring your finest gin (Andrew’s is indigo!) to a party at the Muggle orphanage where Mrs. Cole is meets Dumbledore, as our Chapter-by-Chapter series continues discussing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Our Chapter 13 discussion of “The Secret Riddle” is thought-provoking and focused largely on Dumbledore’s actions and his intentions, based on what he might have known about things way back in the early 1940’s.

  • News: We discuss two new castings for the recent Prisoner of Azkaban full cast audiobook release. Stay tuned for a review of these new audiobooks!
  • Chapter-by-Chapter continues with Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 13: The Secret Riddle
  • Is Harry treating Dumbledore differently at the start of the chapter than Young Tom Riddle treats him during the memory?
  • What changes in Dumbledore’s response to Harry if he already knows what Harry is saying about Draco is true?
  • The Pensieve memory with Burke might seem different – but we’ve actually seen something like it before!
  • A listener email asks, could Dumbledore have sent Mundungus to raid Grimmauld Place for Aberforth?
  • How is what Dumbledore does to Mrs. Cole different than what Young Tom does to his fellow orphans?
  • What made Merope still honor her father when naming Tom?
  • We discuss Tom Riddle’s mental state and one possibly identifiable diagnosis for his behavior.
  • How come Harry didn’t turn out like Tom Riddle given their similar trajectories?
  • Was Dumbledore intentionally trying to impress Tom by making fire? Is he therefore playing with fire?
  • Our MVP segment asks what the creepiest thing Young Tom Riddle does in this chapter?
  • Our Lynx Line topic this week for Slug Club patrons: Which character would you most like to Confund and get to spill all the tea?
  • Participate in our weekly trivia segment by answering this week’s Quizzitch question at MuggleCast.com/Quizzitch!
  • Coming up in Bonus MuggleCast: it’s another edition of Harry Potter Hot Takes, NSFW! Pledge to MuggleCast on Patreon to listen to this and all of our bonus episodes.

Download now | Chapter Analysis | Read the Episode 736 transcript