Chapter 17 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, “A Sluggish Memory,” serves as a turning point in the series’ exploration of Voldemort’s past and the mechanics of Horcruxes, and we use the chapter to dig into themes of power, memory, and teenage chaos at Hogwarts.
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Listen to the episode above, and check out some of our key takeaways from the chapter and our episode discussion below.
The Fat Lady and Abstinence
The conversation opens with one of the chapter’s funniest and most provocative details: the new Gryffindor Tower password, “abstinence.” Micah points out that things are “very clearly getting a little bit out of control at Hogwarts,” tying it to the rampant teenage romance and “raging hormones” of Harry’s sixth year. Eric leans into the comedic angle, imagining the Fat Lady repeating the word to herself as a kind of self-help mantra: they suggest she wakes up and mutters “abstinence, abstinence,” forcing all the students to say it as a way to curb her own indulgent tendencies, particularly her fondness for that “500 year wine… in the picture of the monks downstairs.” Andrew adds that it’s surprisingly revealing worldbuilding that the people in the portraits are “having fun” over the holidays and even able to drink, a detail the hosts agree could fuel a whole separate episode.
Laura takes the password discussion a step deeper by wondering if all of Gryffindor’s passwords over the years might have thematic connections to the ongoing story. She muses that she wants to “do an analysis of every password the Fat Lady has set… because I want to see if the passwords are actually connected to other story.” Micah notes that “abstinence” stands out from previous passwords because it is “the first one that isn’t in that magical world” and feels more like a real-world PSA than a bit of wizarding fluff. Eric agrees, joking that it sounds like a “remember, kids don’t do drugs” slogan. The group then pivots to Ron’s failure to remember the new password; Andrew frames it as typical teenage irresponsibility, saying he reads these moments as them “being irresponsible kids and just missing it,” while Eric argues that prefects should be held to a higher standard and imagines a short “five minute sort of huddle” where they’re properly briefed.
Why Do Apparition Lessons Cost Money?
From the password and social atmosphere, the hosts segue into the chapter’s other major school-life development: Apparition lessons. Micah highlights a controversial detail in the text—the 12 Galleon fee for the course, which he converts to “just about 75 US dollars”—and asks whether those lessons should be free. Andrew suggests that because “members of the ministry teach these lessons,” it makes sense that they’re a paid, optional add-on rather than part of Hogwarts’ core curriculum. Laura and Eric both read the fee as a sly commentary on real-world bureaucracy. Laura notes that it feels like “a commentary on government corruption and, like, bureaucratic bloat,” saying that everyone has had the experience of thinking, “I really have to pay this much for this piece of paper.” Eric builds on that by connecting the Apparition fees to the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, quipping that maybe the lessons “directly finance the happily, happy crew over at the Department of magical accidents and catastrophes… working a lot of overtime for the kids.”
At the same time, the team emphasizes the emotional significance of Apparition for the students. Andrew compares it directly to getting a driver’s license, recalling how being allowed to drive himself to school felt like freedom: “I didn’t have I wasn’t stuck on the bus. I could stop at McDonald’s on the way there or back.” He and Eric agree that both learning to drive and learning to Apparate are bound up with the thrill of autonomy, but also with danger. As Eric puts it, when you get behind the wheel of a “two ton automobile… that is really dangerous,” so “you kind of got to go through actually learning how to do it,” much like the highly formalized training required for Apparition. This duality—freedom paired with risk—parallels the broader themes of the chapter, which also deals with the dangers of knowledge and the cost of magical power.
Dumbledore Brushes Off Harry’s Concerns
Once the school-life elements are established, the hosts move to the emotional core of the chapter: Harry’s meeting with Dumbledore and the headmaster’s startling dismissiveness about Draco and Snape. Micah pulls out some of Dumbledore’s most cutting lines, including “Thank you for telling me this, Harry, but I suggest that you put it out of your mind. I do not think that it is of great importance” and the self-congratulatory “Blessed as I am, with extraordinary brain power, I understand everything you told me.” Eric reacts strongly, calling the situation “completely absurd” and comparing it to a real-world principal brushing off credible concerns about a student plotting to “blow up the school.” To him, Dumbledore’s insistence that he understands more than Harry does, and that nothing Harry has shared causes him “disquiet,” is a dangerous kind of arrogance.
Andrew pushes back somewhat, arguing that Dumbledore’s opacity is strategic, especially given what we later learn about his impending death and Draco’s assigned task. He notes that Harry already has “enough on his plate,” and that if Dumbledore revealed the true plan—that Draco is meant to kill him—“Harry would totally lose focus.” Laura underscores this by pointing out that “Draco didn’t kill him… him dying and Draco killing him is the plan,” and that if Harry knew, he would do everything possible to interfere, including trying to “kill Snape and Draco.” Eric, however, continues to question the extent of Dumbledore’s secrecy, suggesting that the headmaster could have “a lot more productive conversations” if he trusted Harry more fully and stopped “playing these little games.” The tension between Dumbledore’s paternal affection and his manipulative methods becomes one of the major analytical threads of the episode.
Dumbledore’s Tom Riddle Memories
From there, the hosts dive into the two central memories of the chapter: Voldemort’s visit to the Gaunt shack, and Slughorn’s altered recollection of their Horcrux conversation. In the Gaunt memory, Harry notices he feels a “resentful admiration of Voldemort’s complete lack of fear” as Tom Riddle approaches Morfin. Andrew argues this reaction is not driven by the Horcrux fragment in Harry, pointing out that we rarely see Harry admiring Voldemort; instead, he thinks Harry is simply impressed by a “man on a mission” who isn’t intimidated by Morfin’s volatility. Eric zooms out to contextualize just how much Tom accomplishes in this sequence: he murders his father and grandparents, creates a Horcrux with the Gaunt ring, and plants a false memory in Morfin strong enough that Morfin genuinely believes he committed the crime. As Eric puts it, “the Voldemort we’re seeing in this chapter is a Horcrux making machine,” already doing with memory at sixteen “more successfully than adult Slughorn” manages later.
Micah notes how chilling it is that Riddle can manipulate Morfin so thoroughly that the man spends the rest of his life in Azkaban for a crime he didn’t commit, and he wonders aloud how Dumbledore even discovered the truth buried “so deep within Morfin’s mind.” Andrew highlights that Dumbledore at least attempts to “clear Morfin’s name,” calling that effort “admirable,” though Micah points out that Dumbledore is also bargaining: he “had to get something out of it,” namely the memory. The hosts also draw a striking parallel between the way Morfin immediately recognizes Tom Riddle’s resemblance to his father, “except his eyes,” and the way characters constantly tell Harry he has his mother’s eyes. Micah explicitly connects the two, saying that morphin’s comment mirrors how Harry is always told he looks like James “except his mother’s eyes,” which reinforces the narrative mirroring between Harry and Voldemort.
The second memory, Slughorn’s altered recollection, is where the central mystery of the chapter crystallizes: the concept of Horcruxes. Micah underscores that this is “the most important” memory in Dumbledore’s view because it reveals Voldemort’s interest in splitting his soul multiple times. The hosts agree that Dumbledore is not seeking a definition—he clearly already knows what Horcruxes are—but rather confirmation of “the number.” Andrew emphasizes that “you can’t win against Voldemort if you don’t know how many horcruxes there are,” a point the group returns to repeatedly. Laura is particularly interested in Slughorn’s botched memory modification. She finds it jarring that someone Dumbledore describes as so sharp and perceptive did such a “crappy job” altering his memory, suggesting this reflects Slughorn’s panic and deep shame at having given Tom Riddle the knowledge he needed.
Harry Gets Introduced to Horcruxes
The hosts also note how much Dumbledore withholds from Harry in this scene. Eric observes that Harry asks “0.00 follow up questions” about Horcruxes in the chapter, which the movie side-steps by omitting the explicit word. In the book, Harry simply accepts Dumbledore’s framing and goes off to retrieve the unaltered memory, perhaps conditioned by Dumbledore’s earlier brush-offs. Micah wonders why Harry doesn’t press for at least a basic explanation if he’s being tasked with such a critical mission, and Eric suggests that after a year of being shut down—whether about Snape, Draco, or Dumbledore’s injured hand—Harry has given up expecting transparency. As Eric puts it, Harry “just does what he’s told,” acting as “Dumbledore’s little puppet, through and through,” a play on Harry’s earlier line about being “Dumbledore’s man through and through.”
Near the end of the episode, Micah connects several clever structural parallels between Chapter 17 of Half-Blood Prince and Chapter 17 of Chamber of Secrets. Drawing on a previous outline, he notes that both chapters center on Tom Riddle, that Harry confronts a younger version of Riddle in each, that he “unknowingly destroys the first of Voldemort’s horcruxes” in Chamber of Secrets and learns the word “Horcrux” in Half-Blood Prince, and that both chapters feature Fox and scenes in McGonagall’s office. Andrew responds enthusiastically, saying “I love it, love it,” and joking that Micah is “plagiarizing” his own earlier work, but the team clearly admires the narrative craftsmanship behind these mirrored chapter structures.