Dean Thomas: We're Fighting Aren't We?

Summary

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Critical Magic Theory – Episode Summary

Podcast: Critical Magic Theory: An Analytical Harry Potter Podcast
Host: Prof. Julian Wamble
Episode: "Dean Thomas: We're Fighting Aren't We?"
Date: April 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode delves deeply into the character of Dean Thomas from the Harry Potter series, exploring not just his limited textual representation, but also what is left unsaid about his identity, agency, and impact. Prof. Julian Wamble challenges listeners to reconsider what makes Dean “radical,” brave, or even heroic, especially as a Black, working-class, secondary character navigating systems of power, race, and marginalization within the Wizarding World. The discussion also touches on the power and limits of representation, the importance of fan engagement, and the ongoing conversation about identities—not just as they’re written, but as readers experience them.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dean’s Place in the Narrative

• Opening Reflections

  • Prof. Wamble notes the careful planning to cover lesser-explored characters, especially after focusing on Cho Chang and the Patil twins. The episode was highly requested by listeners ([01:04–03:00]).
  • “We took some extra time to make sure that Dean got the love that he deserved. You all demanded these episodes for him.” (Prof. Wamble, [01:48])

• Why Dean?

  • Dean’s minimal page time is contrasted with the depth he brings as a character, especially through what the text doesn’t tell us about him.

2. The “Horcrux Hunt” and Dean on the Run

• Analysis of Dean’s Decision to Flee ([13:01–19:44])
  • Dean flees because he cannot prove his wizarding parentage.
  • This lack of “institutional documentation” is profoundly symbolic, paralleling real-world situations for marginalized people.
  • “His ability to do magic is not enough... There’s no benefit of the doubt.” (Prof. Wamble, [14:30])
  • Dean’s intuition and survival skills demonstrate a nuanced understanding of oppressive systems.

3. Community Survey Results: Dean’s Traits

Top Three Words ([20:37])

• Loyal
• Brave
• Kind

Loyalty and Bravery

• Examples from Order of the Phoenix (standing by Harry even as Seamus doubts) and Deathly Hallows (returning to fight without a wand).
• “In no uncertain terms… Dean is better than me by a lot.” (Prof. Wamble, [21:59])

Kindness

• Early acts, such as making Harry a Quidditch banner, show meaningful gestures of friendship ([22:30]).

4. Is Dean Thomas a “Good Person”?

Survey Results ([23:00])

• 97% Yes
• Notable Quotes:
  • “There is not one [reference] that paints him in a bad light... Not one.” (Listener response, [23:38])
  • Dean shows regret when he accidentally insults Firenze, contrasting with Ron’s lack of remorse about elves ([24:20]).

Critical Reflection:

• Is Dean too flawless? Does the narrative afford Black characters like Dean or Kingsley Shacklebolt three-dimensional flaws?
• “If his biggest crime is being too chivalrous... then wow.” (Prof. Wamble, [26:30])

5. Dean as a Friend and Gryffindor

Is Dean a good friend? ([33:02])

• 93% Yes, 1% No, 6% Don’t know
• Examples:
  • Supports Harry and Seamus simultaneously during order 5 disputes.
  • Remains kind, even after Harry “steals” his girlfriend.
  • Bro code debate: does Dean owe Ron a conversation about dating Ginny? Wamble pushes back on the concept (“Bro code is bleh.” [34:00]).

Is Dean a good Gryffindor? ([36:00])

• 92% Yes
• Defends teachers, stands up to authority, volunteers early for DA and the Battle of Hogwarts, goes into battle without a wand.
• “There’s very little that’s more reckless than showing up to a war... and needing a wand.” (Prof. Wamble, [41:20])

6. Dean’s “Half-Blood” Identity

Less Consensus: 58% Yes, 4% No, 37% Don’t know ([43:00])

• Highlights complexity: Is Dean even a “half-blood” if neither he nor others know it?
• “Weirdly, the one half-blood whose experience may be similar to Dean... would be Voldemort himself.” (Listener response, [44:50])
• Dean bridges muggle and magical worlds by carrying his own background (West Ham poster, teaching football).
• His blackness and muggle upbringing shape his perspective differently from other half-bloods.

Key Insight:

• Unlike others, Dean does not feel pressured to resolve the tensions between the muggle and magical world—he exists in (and with) both.

7. Is Dean Thomas a Hero?

69% Yes, 10% No, 20% Unsure ([59:19])

• Everyday heroism is highlighted: returning to fight despite being traumatized, wandless, and endangered.
  • “He’s a testament to the idea that heroism doesn’t require a prophecy.” (Listener response, [59:32])
• “By our working definition… the wandless return to Hogwarts is the clearest data point we have… It’s giving heroism.” (Prof. Wamble, [61:03])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On marginalization and survival:
  • “It speaks to the mindset that marginalized people have to have about the societies into which they enter... You have to have a backup plan, a fail safe, and a clear understanding of who and what you are dealing with so you can optimize your positionality, but also optimize your chance of survival.” (Prof. Wamble, [16:20])
• On loyalty and friendship:
  • “He is above reproach in this regard because he didn’t do anything wrong and didn’t have any ill will toward Ginny or Harry. Justice for Dean.” (Prof. Wamble, [36:00])
• On bravery:
  • “There’s very little that’s more reckless than showing up to a war… and being like, ‘We're fighting, right?’ And then being like, ‘Oh… I need a wand, though.’” (Prof. Wamble, [41:20])
• On wandlessness as metaphor:
  • “To be a wizard with a wand is to be fully yourself in the magical world. To be a wizard without one is to be diminished and present, but unable… And yet, Dean shows us it really isn’t the wand that chooses the wizard. You have to choose yourself.” (Prof. Wamble, [65:44])

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Detailed Timestamps

| Time | Segment | Highlight | |-----------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:04 | Episode Introduction | Prof. Wamble’s excitement at finally reaching Dean Thomas, setting the tone for a rich character study. | | 13:01 | Favorite Dean Moment | Analysis of Dean’s decision to go on the run and what it says about marginalization and self-defense. | | 20:37 | Listener Survey: Dean’s Defining Traits | Community highlights Dean’s loyalty, bravery, and kindness; discussion of his friendship with Seamus and Harry. | | 23:00 | Is Dean a Good Person? | 97% say yes; discussion of how rare and significant Dean’s near-flawless reputation is in the text and fandom. | | 33:02 | Is Dean a Good Friend? | Community debates “bro code” and Dean’s navigation of romantic entanglements and friendships; generous reading of Dean’s choices. | | 36:00 | Is Dean a Good Gryffindor? | Examples of Dean’s willingness to fight, stand up to authority, and demonstrate authentic courage—often at personal risk. | | 43:00 | Is Dean a Good Half-Blood? | The episode unpacks identity politics, bridging muggle/magical worlds, and Dean’s life as a Black, muggle-raised wizard. | | 59:19 | Is Dean a Hero? | Analysis of the difference between “soldier” and “hero”—Dean’s wandless return to Hogwarts as the marker of his heroism. | | 65:44 | Reflection: Dean, Identity, and Wandlessness | Deep dive into the metaphorical and literal power of wands, and what Dean’s actions say about self-definition and resistance. |

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Final Reflection (Prof. Wamble, [65:44–end])

• The absence of Dean’s wand is not just a plot point—it’s a symbol of external definitions and power structures.
• “Dean doesn’t buy into the ministerial logic that your wand makes you magical… He doesn’t need to know his magical roots to know who he is and what he’s fighting for… If you have a solid foundation, if you know who you are, it doesn’t matter whether you have the piece of paper, the piece of wood, the magical piece of hair or heartstring or whatever. All you need is you, space, opportunity, and a little grit, and we’re fighting, right?” ([69:43])

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Tone & Style

• Warm, witty, and participatory; Prof. Wamble playfully frames difficult questions, often with a touch of humor and song.
• Community-driven: frequent references to listener comments, survey results, and post-episode chats.
• Deeply analytical but accessible, attentive to social context and representation.

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Key Takeaway

Dean’s story exemplifies how the Harry Potter series sometimes offers, and often withholds, depth for its marginalized characters. Through critical analysis and vibrant community discussion, Prof. Wamble uncovers radical potential even in characters the text sidelines. Dean Thomas’s quiet acts of resistance, empathy, and courage demonstrate that heroism includes surviving, showing up, and refusing to let oppressive systems define your worth—wand or no wand.

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For more conversation, listeners are urged to join the post-episode chat and prepare for the next character deep dive on Seamus Finnegan.

Transcript

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[Professor Julian Wamble]

Welcome to Critical Magic Theory, where we deconstruct the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Because loving something doesn't mean we can't be critical of it. I'm Professor Julian Wamble, and today is finally the day. We're talking about Dean Thomas, y'. All. We made it. We did it. I have to say that even though the ordering was a little bit off from what I had planned, I'm really glad that it went this way because I think now the flow is flowing. We did Cho Chang, and then we got to move from Cho Chang into the Patil twins, which I think was really worked well in terms of topic and things of that nature. And now we're moving on to Dean, and then we're going to go on to Seamus. And honestly, that feels right to me. And I like that we were able to have conversations about women because we haven't had that many conversations. Because when you stop to think about it, you realize that there really aren't that many women and girls in the series that we've spoken spend a considerable amount of time with, which is something to think about. Anyways, I'm really excited about this episode. We took some extra time to make sure that Dean got the love that he deserved. You all demanded these episodes for him. And I said, I will be damned. Did I curse? Oh, God. Is this episode explicit? Probably not as explicit as you all want it to be, but I would not allow for Dean to not get his due. And so thank you to those of you who filled out the survey. Thank you for those of you who did it more than once for reasons that are either just dedication or because I screwed up and sent out the survey more times than was necessary. Either way, thank you so much. I am really excited to have this conversation about Dean. There are a couple of revelations that I had as I was doing research for the episode, and I don't think we're ready for this episode on Dean, y'. All. I think that we might be surprised, as per usual, when it comes to our conversations surrounding some of these kind of secondary and tertiary characters. There's a situation for Dean that I wasn't ready for, that I'm like, wait a whole minute. This is kind of a game changer for me. And I already enjoyed Dean, but now I'm like, oh, wait a second. So I can't wait to get into that with you. Have you ever wondered whether the kid who hung his West Ham post during year one and never took it down was doing something slightly more radical than it looked? Or whether a boy, young man who survived Snatcher's Malfoy Manor and a year on the run and then showed up at the Battle of Hogwarts was a hero? Or whether that word was ever going to be made available to him. Whether the most interesting thing about Dean Thomas isn't what the text gave us, but what it didn't. And why, y', all, we are getting into all of it, every single bit of it. But first, you know, the chronic overthinkers get the episode like two days or a day and a half early. And I forgot to give them the bop last week, and I had to go back in and give them the bop and they were not having it. But I wouldn't do that to you again twice. So get ready for the bop, because it's coming to you in three, in two, in one. Let's bop. We do something. Sa. I hope that you heard the bop and that you danced to the bop. Welcome back, everyone. I realized listening back to a couple of episodes that, like, I'll do a vocal and it's in a completely different key, whatever the music is doing. And I can't abide by that. That's not acceptable behavior. And the fact that you all have allowed me to get away with that is really insane. You guys have to hold me accountable. Friends, if I'm off pitch, you have to say something. Welcome back. Welcome back to those of you who have taken a hiatus and are making their way through the episodes. Welcome to those of you who have been with us, our A1s and Day Ones. Welcome back to those of you who have been experiencing the ups and downs, trials and tribulations, whims and woes of life and are finding your way back. I'm glad you're here. We're glad you're here and however you find yourself in this episode is okay friends because because life is a crazy place. I want to thank those of you who participated in the post episode chat for the Patil Twins Prof. Response episode and just in general, for those of you who went on that journey with us. I as always learned so much and I really felt like, I don't know, it just felt like we were expanding in ways that I really really appreciated. And just maybe it's just because I'm a nerd and I like learning new things and pushing us, but I really appreciated you all's willingness to go on that journey with me on the Patil Twins. Speaking of going on journeys and post episode chats, join us on the Patreon patreon.com criticalmagictheory where you can join for free and join in those post episode chat. You can also get access to the surveys earlier. You can also join with a paid subscription and join as an outstanding owl a Deep Diver Chronic Overthinker we just had our Chronic Overthinker monthly meetup on Saturday where one of our listeners, Laura, had gotten married the day before and still showed up to the meetup. And that is dedication of the high. It's more dedication than I have cause. Let me tell you something, if someone put the ring ring on the fing fing for me, I'd be like friends, I'll see you on the next go round. And that's just the kind of community that we have at Chronic. Well within the Chronic Overthinkers but also within the Chronicle Magic Theory community broadly and it is so appreciated. And also congratulations to Laura. We gotta give her a special shout out because what do you mean

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[Professor Julian Wamble]

Patreon is just as a paid subscriber is not in the budget situation for you and maybe you're shy and you are like I want to be a part of the conversation and I want to contribute in some way. You can do that by rating and sharing and doing all the things. You can also feel free to send me DMs on social media, Prof. JW on Instagram, Prof. W on TikTok. You can also comment if you are a listener who listens on Spotify, you can comment on the episodes and I've started including those comments on the post episode chat conversations and the Prof. Response episodes because why not? As always, there is merch in the merch store. It's Good stuff. In fact, I've got a couple things that I need to get. There's a couple people who are asking for. My dad wants a hat and he wants another mug and then another one of my friends who lives in the be critical, stay magical T shirt. I also saw in our Chronic Overthinkers that Stacy had taken it and cut it and kind of gave it a, like, little retro off the shoulder moment. I might get myself one of those so that I can do that, too. Or maybe like, a crop top for the summer. Anyways, we have to be creative and we have to find joy in the little things. And that is something that you can do with the Merchant. So if you can go to criticalmagictheory.com, you hit the merch store, and the world is indeed your oyster. There's everything there. And the next episode, the next character that we're going to be diving into is the one and only Seamus Finnegan. And I figured that I couldn't do a rant and rave about him if I was doing a full episode on Dean. And so we're going to get a full episode on Seamus. And I'm kind of excited. You all have really spoiled me now. And so now you can't let me down. I won't let you down. I'm gonna get this survey out to you. When I say I'm gonna get it out. My semester ends this week and I couldn't be happier. Thank goodness. That's from Wicked. If you don't know it, look it up. Okay. Uh, and so we will be talking about Seamus. And then after we do our Seamus episode and the Prof. Response episode, then, y'. All, I don't know if you can believe it, but we will have made our way through all of the Half Bloods except Harry James Potter. And we're going to do two full episodes. Two Prof. Response episodes on Harry. I'm telling you now because I know that many of you are going to want to get your thoughts together. You know the questions we're going to be asking. I might throw in a curve ball just because I'm messy, but you know what we're going to be dealing with. Don't get too excited that you skip the Seamus and get only ready for Harry. I want you to be live and ready for both. But I also wanted to prepare. Those of you who are ready to write up these essays for Harry, I wanted to give you a fair warning. He's coming in a couple of weeks. Friends, you've got three weeks. So Buckle up, get ready. But before we get into Seamus or Harry, it's time for us to talk about Dean. So let's do it.

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[Professor Julian Wamble]

When I had to think about my favorite moment for Dean, a couple of things came up. But the one that I really stuck with was a moment where Dean is in the scene bars. But it's the trio when they are on the Horcrux hunt in Deathly Hallows and they hear voices and then they realize that it's Dirk Cresswell, Dean, Ted Tonks, Griphook and Gornok. And this moment really stands out to me because I think there are lots of things that we can say about Dean and I think we don't really get a good sense of like how his intelligence, how his intuition. We don't get a lot of that right from the moments that we do have him in the books when Harry is at Hogwarts. And that's probably because Harry just has to pay attention to those things. But in this moment, what really stands out to me is a number of things. And it's both about Dean, but also what it reveals about the magical world. One, I love that, like, Ted Tonks is like, I knew they were gonna come for me. I'm on the run. And Dean is like, I cannot prove that my father is a magical person. So I'm on the run too. Like, I gotta get out of here. And I think there's something really fascinating about the kind of recognition that he has to have had about what that means, right? That, like, there's no benefit of the doubt given to him. Right? His ability to do magic is not enough to be able to say, well, hey, you know, I don't really know or, you know, he recognizes that this is a society where he will be punished for not having the information necessary to be able to prove his magical genetics and history. And so he goes on, or he leaves, he goes on the run, right? And I think that there's something so interesting about that because I. It speaks to the mindset that marginalized people have to have about the societies into which they enter, right? Same thing with TED talks, right? Where it's like, you know full well that you being married to a pure blood woman isn't going to protect you, so you got to go. Dean is like, I can't prove it. And I'm not going to wait around to see whether or not people are just going to buy into this. I'm going to go. And there is something so specific about that because it reveals to us an understanding that the social construct of blood purity, even though it feels grounded in, you know, what's the composition of your parentage and their magical prowess and ability, right? Like it feels grounded in genetics. The reality is, like most social constructs, it absolutely isn't. And it becomes even more complicated because magic is the tell, right? Like, if you can do magic, that clearly means that there's magic somewhere, right? But Muggle borns, it can't be explained. So then that disrupts that particular premise. And so then you have to then figure out how you can prove yourself. And if you cannot do that, if you can't prove it, right? Which I think is such a fascinating facet of the world as well. Fascinating facet of the world because it's like. But what I mean, Dean is probably not the only person who has a single parent, you know, like a single parent who isn't the magical parent. And so there are undoubtedly a number of people who are running around like, I have no idea if I'm half blood. I have no idea if I'm Muggle born. I simply do not know. But what I do know is that my not knowing means that I'm at the bottom of the totem pole. It means that if I can't prove that I am Muggle, if I. If I can't prove that I'm not Muggle born, then for all intents purposes, I am. Which means it has nothing to do with family. It has nothing to do with genetics, has nothing to do with anything. Because you can't. If you can't prove it, then no one is assumed to be half blood, right? Like, they don't just say, oh, well, you know, you've Been here for a while. You're probably half blood. Like, it's like, no, no, you are Muggle born. And his understanding of that and that being the impetus for why he then goes on the run, tells me so much about how intuitive and smart Dean is. Because especially when you're growing up in a society like the magical world where Hogwarts basically doesn't really talk that much about blood purity outside of like the Chamber of Secrets and the internal social politic of the space is kind of part of the school's culture amongst students, but not in any sophisticated way that would promote the idea of an understanding of how the system works. No, that is learned behavior. That's Dean being able to read the writing on the wall and saying there is no benefit of the doubt here for someone like me who's in the position that I'm in. And to me, as I was thinking about it and reading that moment over again, I thought, oh wow, this is really fascinating because it speaks to what so many people in marginalized positions have to understand, which is you've got to have a backup plan. You have to have a fail safe and you have to have a very clear understanding of who it is and what it is that you are dealing with so that you can optimize your positionality but also optimize your chance of survival. And like, that is a learned skill that people who are at the top who are in privileged positions don't necessarily have to learn at all. And we see that with Lucius, right, who has absolutely no sense of what to do when everything goes left. But Dean at 16, 17 years old, was ready and that is very telling and it tells us something very specific about him and his understanding of the world that he is in.

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[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson]

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Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

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[Professor Julian Wamble]

When asked what word best describes Dean, the top three words were our favorite word, loyal. The next is brave. And the Next is kind. Now, people have been talking about the word loyal and we've been using it a lot to describe many a character. And I find it fascinating because I think I absolutely see it for Dean. I think again, here's the thing. Here's the thing, y'. All, and this is a me thing. You all can disagree. If I'm on the run, it is a possibility that I saw Ted Tonks die. I then get snatched up by the Snatchers, end up beat up down in the basement of Malfoy Manor with Ollivander and Luna Lovegood. And then we get rescued and I'm down at Shell Cottage. Ollivander makes Luna a new wand. I don't get one. Let me tell you what I'm not gonna do. Can you guess? I'm not coming to the Battle of Hogwarts, friends. I'm not showing up. I'm not going to be there. No, say it ain't so. I'm not gonna go because. What do you mean? I've been through enough. I fought the good fight to stay alive and now you want me to show up at Hogwart? Baby, I'm not going. And maybe that's me. It's the Slytherin in me. I know, I know the Gryffindors are gnashing their teeth and yelling and screaming and y' all can have it because I did my brave bet I sound like a serious black. I did my waiting but I did. Huh? In the dungeon of Malfoy Manor. Listen, I did it. And I don't have a wand. We're gonna talk about that a little later. But in this moment, even if we just look at what happens in the last book, his loyalty not only to the magical world. Cause he could have left. But his loyalty to Hogwarts. And he shows back up. We see in Order of the Phoenix, his loyalty to Seamus, even though Seamus is wrong. And he's still maintains a relationship with Harry despite that. Right. And you know, one of my other favorite moments is very passing. But I think it speaks to the kindness of Dean. Which is not to be confused with the Forest of Dean. But the kindness of Dean is when Dean for Harry's first. His first Quidditch game, he draws a picture. Cause he's really good at art. And he draws a picture and Hermione bewitches it to kind of change colors. But it is like a lion and it's like you barely even know this guy and yet you are invested in not only like, you know, Gryffindor things, but also in Harry. And that to me is so amazing. And it is, I think, a testament to, like, who Dean is and the kind of person that he is. And yes, loyal, brave, kind. And better than me. And better than me by a lot. In no uncertain terms. In this episode's arithmancy Lesson, we had 246 responses. As always, the first question is, is Dean Thomas a good person? We had about 97% of us said yes, 0% said no, and about 3% of us said don't know. Someone wrote. We actually get quite a lot of references to Dean in the books. I count 210 doing the work. A lot of these are just Dean in the background, but we also get a number where we learn about his behavior and motivations. And there is not one that paints him in a bad light. He is quick to defend teachers when they are being criticized. We see him doing this about Hagrid repeatedly, but also Lupin and even Moody. Not one reference to Dean in this text paints him as a bad person. Not one. Someone else wrote, I do think Dean was a good person. He. He stood up when Lupin was insulted by Umbridge and did not need convincing to join the DA or the battle. When he accidentally insulted Firenze, he was immediately regretful. Which I don't think we see a lot from a lot of other characters. Ron doubling down on elves, liking enslavement, for example. One more person wrote, dean is a good person. The only thing that could be interpreted as him being a bad person is when Jenny says that Dean is overprotective and too gentlemanly. That is a fair reason to break up, but not like a horrible crime. I get some messed up vibes from Dean being too attached or too nice and Harry being praised for totally dumping Jenny and being stoic, yucky, toxic masculinity type of thinking. It's my turn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. At a voice lesson today. So the vocals could be great or they could be rough. My teacher put me through it. He doesn't listen to this so he'll never know that he ruined my life. But anyways, that's not what we're here for. Of course Dean is a good person, y'. All. That's why there's zero percent of us who said that he who said, who didn't say no, wait, no. There's zero percent who said that he was a bad person. And I think there is no reason, as was alluded to, that we should think that he is one. And I think I would even push back on this idea of, you know, him being too, like, overly protective and too gentlemanly. This is an interesting thing because I think there's a way in which sometimes that can come off and be a negative. But by my estimation, and I'm owning this just for me, that tends to be like. When it's grounded in a belief that, like, the other person in the relationship cannot do those things for themselves. And I just don't get that sense from Dean. I do, though, think that in some ways Jenny is kind of conditioned because she has all these brothers to. Who admittedly don't necessarily embody a lot of the, like, chivalrous things that we might expect to see from certain people. But I don't know that I would say that's a knock against Dean. I think it's just Ginny's perspective. I also think it's Harry being happy that that's the case. And we'll remember that the reason they broke up in the first place wasn't because Dean did anything. It's because Harry was underneath the invisibility cloak and hopped up on Felix Felicis and ruined their relationship. Because apparently that's what it means to be lucky. But I love these other examples of these moments, right, where we get to see Dean standing up for what he believes is right. Supporting teachers who may be a mess. And we'll remember that Faux Moody put Dean through it. I think it was Dean who was the one who was like, hopping around the classroom and doing like crazy acrobatic stuff while he was under the imperious curse, like, who wants that? Who needs that? I think that there is a world where, like, Dean is just a really solid character. Now it's interesting cause I'm wondering what you all think. Let's have this conversation in the post episode chat, right? We talked a little bit about this in our, like, Color of Magic episode. And we talked about how, like, Kingsley Shacklebolt is a character who's like, above reproach, right? Like, everything is good, everything is right. He can do no wrong. Everyone loves him. And we know that everyone doesn't love Dean, right? We know that Ron gets mad because he's making out with Jenny in public. We know that Harry kind of feels some kind of way about it because he's like, you know, gets a dragon in his stomach in the book six that like, snarls. I don't know. I don't even want to think about any of that. But I also wonder if what we're witnessing again is a character of color Particularly a black man character who is flawless, right? Like, if his crime. If his biggest crime is being too chivalrous and not coming from a place of, like, the belief in, you know, the inferiority of Ginny in any capacity, then it seems to me like, if that's the worst that we've got, then wow. And, you know, even our background characters, you know, who aren't are Seamuses and are, you know, Zachariah Smiths. They all are flawed, right? Like, Zachariah Smith is annoying. Seamus gets mad at Harry because his mom is like, you're a liar. And so there's a way that it's interesting that Dean, for all intents and purposes, seems to just kind of be above all of that. And I'm interested if you think that maybe I'm pushing that too far in associating him with the kind of flawlessness that exists for Kingsley Shackelbolt, or if you think that that fits, because I'm totally willing to be talked out of that. But I'm looking at it and I'm like, well, you know, we really don't get that much from Dean. That would suggest that. That, like, he's bad. And the fact that 0% of us said that he was a bad person, which I don't know that we've ever had that before. Cassie, who is our great records keeper, will be able to allow. Will. Will be able to tell us whether or not he's the only one who's gotten zero. I'm sure there are other people who've gotten zero, but not recently, I don't think. Anyways, we'll find out. But it just. It makes me wonder.

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The next question is, is Dean Thomas a good friend? 93% of us said yes, about 1% of us said no, and about 6% of us said don't know. Someone wrote, he is clearly a great friend to Seamus, but is also a good friend to Harry. He makes multiple magically. Why did I say it like that? Multiple magically animated banners supporting Harry and Quidditch. Balances his friendships with Seamus and Harry in Order of the Phoenix while also being in the DA and defends Harry in Deathly Hallows, calling him the real thing to others on the run even after Harry stole his girlfriend Clockett. Is Dean too nice? We rarely, if ever see him raise his voice or get angry. I have to wonder if that was intentional. Does it have to. Does it have anything to do with his race? Okay. Another person wrote, one of the things that stands out to me about Dean is that he is willing to vocally disagree with Sheamus, his best friend in fifth year. Dean remained kind and respectful, but he never allowed Sheamus opinion to change his own feelings about Harry. Even joining the DA without Sheamus at first. Considering these are 15 to 16 year olds who live to. Who all live together and exist in quite small bubbles, that's incredibly impressive. Another person wrote, dean shared a dorm room with Ron Weasley for five years and never went to Ron to make his intentions of dating Jenny clear. The fact that Dean never spoke to Ron clearly shows he didn't care about their friendship. It's appalling and going and against every Bro Code plot twist. It's my turn and I can't believe that last question. It really put me for a loop. Interesting. Let's start there and work our way back. I mean, I guess. Although to be fair, I don't. It's so interesting, right? Because I think. I guess my question becomes why does he need to do that? And by he, I mean Dean to Ron, like, the only person that he needs to be, like, making sure that everything is okay with is Ginny. No, Right. Like, it feels like I understand the logic and I don't know that. Would we say that Ron and Dean are friends? I don't know. I mean. Cause I think there's a difference between, like, being roommates, right? Which is a thing that none of them can control. And Being friends with one another. And I think we see that Dean and Harry seemingly have a bit of a dynamic that operates outside of Ron, and we don't really get that many Ron Dean moments. So I, I don't know. Is it, Is it Bro code? Is it breaking bro code? I think bro code is bleh. But I, I don't know. We'll sound off in the post episode chat. I think this will get some people. This will get some people talking. Um, I do think, again, this question of, like, we don't ever really see Dean get angry. I think there's one moment where he's kind of disappointed in book six. I think it's when Katie was it when Katie comes back and she like. And he replaces Dean from on the Quidditch team. And we see he's kind of disappointed, but he doesn't. He's just kind of like, disappointed that he doesn't get to be on the team anymore. And then there are also a couple moments that also happen in the sixth book when Dean laughs when Harry got hit in the head with a Bludger and Ginny goes off on him and he tries to, like, be very, very, very conciliatory to keep her, you know, from being too angry. And then what's more, clock this. T, he doesn't get mad at Harry. And this was one of the comments, right, about how he doesn't get mad because he stole his girlfriend, but, like, he doesn't. Because also, sorry, adhd, but let's be clear. Harry also doesn't go to Ron to ask for permission to date Jenny. So clock it. He just starts kissing her. So there's that. But also back to Dean, because this is not a Harry Potter episode. I think that there is a way that, like, Harry just is like, oh, you all just broke up. Well, I'm gonna make out with her in front of everyone, sir. That's messy. Like, let's talk. Let's have that conversation about bro code. Like, let's talk about that because you all actually do have a relationship. And again, it was actually Harry's fault that they broke up in the first place. And Dean, to his credit, stood his ground against Ginny when she blamed him for pushing him for pushing her through the. Pushing her through the portrait hole. Listen, again, I think Dean is above reproach in this regard because I'm like, you didn't do anything wrong and you didn't have any ill will for Jenny or Harry. And it's messy, though, that they would be so brazen. So soon after breaking up. Like, this is a wild time that you would to make that choice and to not even be like, give a little, like, oops, sorry, smile because you don't care. Messy, messy boots. Not you, Dean. Justice for Dean. Honestly, justice for Dean. Smiling in Harry's face because he has to. Because he's the Chosen One and the Chosen One gets what he wants. I Anyways, I would have been mad. It feels weird that he doesn't get angry. Apparently he breaks a glass, but that's in astonishment and not so much anger. Had it been me, there would have been some flying glass. Remember that time Hermione made those birds fly? Yeah, that's me again. My Slytherins jumping out. Sorry, not sorry. Is Dean Thomas a Good Gryffindor? About 92% of us said yes, about 1% of us said no and about 7% of us said don't. No, someone wrote Dean absolutely stands up for what he believes in. Often to authority figures, he defends Hagrid to Lockhart, defends Lupin to Snape, challenges Umbridge directly and argues against leaving Harry behind at Malfoy Manor. When Harry wants to just operate with Dobby, he is the one. He is one of the first to join the DA and one of the first to say he's going to fight at the Battle of Hogwarts, even though he doesn't have a wand. Someone wrote good Gryffindor. This one has given me pause. I had to put. I don't know because I just don't have definitive examples that I can point to and say, yes, that's a Gryffindor right there. But I also don't have anything that I can point to to say he's not so probably, but I'm not sure. Someone else wrote, he never hides that he is of Muggle descent. He makes an effort to teach his peers football, which does not go well. But he tries. Due to the fact that he has come from the Muggle world where he has been taught about World War II, genocide, slavery and racism, and then to now come into a world where Muggle descendants are treated as less than, it's no surprise that he joins Dumbledore's army. He didn't need to fight. He could have told his family and left the country, but he chose to stay. That is brave. It's my turn. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's getting out of hand, friends. But you all have. You all have done this. You opened Pandora's box. You let me loose on the singing. You all are talking about how much you love the song, the little song, the little ditty. And so now you're gonna get what you got. Cause you got what you get. And then that's got shall get. And then that's not shall lose. Okay. I think that Dean is a good Gryffindor. And part of the reason why I think that he is is again, one. I think the thing that really sticks with me is to the point of one of the passages he really could have left, like, he's not in the same position as a Hermione or even a Ted Tonks. Right. Because Ted obviously is married to Andromeda. And so it's a very different situation. But Dean could have done what I'm sure a lot of Muggle borns did, which is just be like, I'm out. Don't use your magic while you're in the Muggle world so that they can't find you. But once you have the trace, you're kind of in the clear. Anyway, like, the fact that he's on the run in the magical world tells us a story about where his head is at. And the thing about Dean that I find interesting is that I don't think it's because he drank the Kool Aid. So sorry to our European friends, but I don't think he's been like fully indoctrinated. Right. The fact that he has that poster of West Ham up, I really do think it tells us a narrative about the things that he finds important and that is meaningful to him. And I don't think he's like full on bought into the magical world to the degree that he is willing to like, abandon his family. And according to the post canonical lore, like, he has a really good family life and you know, his mom remarried and he's got sisters. And I think him staying on the run in the magical world is outrageously brave and unnecessary. And he does it anyway. Which is to say nothing of showing back up at Hogwarts sans wand, which again, we will talk about in a bit. I think that at the end of the day, Dean is someone who's outrageously brave. And I think when we were talking about poverty in the last episodes on the Patil Twins, and we were talking about how, how much integrity she has to stand up to people at certain moments, right? And to stand up for Hagrid and to stand up, stand up to Snape and to challenge Umbridge, like, those are not inconsequential things, right? And these are not inconsequential people that he's standing up to. And yet he's still doing it. And so I think we have to give credit where credit is due. And I think that, you know, he risks a lot and still shows up repeatedly over and over and over again when he absolutely doesn't have to. Absolutely doesn't have to. And that for me, I will give it to him. And also, you know, when we talk, when we had our episodes on the Houses, you know, one of the words that was describing Gryffindors that we didn't love, but I'm gonna stick beside him, is reckless. And to me, y', all, there's very little that's more reckless than showing up to a war and being like, we're fighting, right? And everyone's like, yeah, yeah. And he's like, oh, okay, great, I'm totally down for that. I do, however, though, need a wand. And even Seamus is like, pause, stop, roll it back. You don't have a wand. Like, that is some reckless behavior. And he's still there. And he, all the while, to be clear, kept the medallion. The galleon that they were using, hashtag bars. The galleon that they were using to just talk to the DA and communicate with one another, he had it the whole time. So he knew everything that was going on. And that is really something. I'm going to go with yes. He's a good Gryffindor. Is Dean Thomas a good half blood? Now, this one is a little bit less consensus y, if you will. About 58% of us said yes, about 4% of us said no, and about 37% of us said don't. No. Someone wrote. The bigger question is, is he a half blood? I know what JK has said about his background and that he is a half blood, but he doesn't know that his uncertainty is such that he feels the need to go on the run. Like other Muggle borns. I feel unsure how someone can be good or bad, be a good or bad half blood when they aren't considered to be a half blood by themselves or anyone else. Someone else wrote, weirdly, the one half blood whose experience may be similar to Dean would be Voldemort himself. Oof. Oh, that's a parallel I wasn't expecting. They both come in not knowing the wizarding side of their family and are not acknowledged by their wizard, by their wizarding community, as one of theirs. And they both have to find out their connections to the wizarding world. Here is where the similarities stop. But they're not inconsequential. Oh, Goodness. Someone else wrote, I said that he wasn't a good half blood because he only cares about the issues when they come to face him straight on. Like he goes on the run because he doesn't know his blood status, but wasn't concerned with it, with what it meant beforehand. It only mattered when it happened to him and affected his privilege in the system because of a factor out of his control. It's my turn. I changed the key and made a different choice. I don't know how it works. I'm just inspired sometimes. Okay, this question is one I'm really excited to sit with for a bit because I do think that there are two things that work here and we need to unpack our normal definitions. We have two, right? The one is building a bridge between the Muggle and the magical world, and the other one is upholding pure blood supremacy. Let's start backwards. Dean is not upholding pure blood supremacy. I think the fact that he doesn't try to pass himself off as something that he's not tells us that story. I think the fact that he doesn't really even know, I think he's too much of a victim of pure blood supremacy in a way that isn't necessarily as true for some of our other half bloods that we've discussed. Right. He also seems really, really, really, really, really intent on empathizing with people from marginalized backgrounds. And I think, yeah, being a black boy in the late 1990s, or in the. Yeah, the late 1990s, or the early. Cause I guess it takes place in 91 is when it begins. So the, the 1990s, not the late, but the 1990s, where, according to Instagram, I have learned a considerable amount about the demography of the UK at this time. And it was very, very, very white. From what all of the census workers who were, in my comments, yelling and screaming at me on a post that I made have told me they're not census workers. They're just angry troll people who are all sending messages from their burner accounts. But I digress. I can't imagine walking in and that puts him in a position that is different than literally anyone else. Right. Like if we're Talking about a UK at the time which was 90, I think they were saying like 93% white, give or take, then he's not making up a massive percentage of the people. And he was living in London. That's. We know that. That's what J.K. told Chris Columbus. There is a way that he has a very clear understanding of Things. And I don't think, especially when you're socialized as a marginalized person, especially on the grounds of something that is beyond your control but is discernible visually, right? Like, it is one thing to be a Muggle born in a society where the only way that people know you're Muggle born is if you tell them or something. Like the Muggle born registry comes up and you have to prove that you are not. But the ability to do magic allows for you to be able to kind of overcome some of this, which is what we know Kendra Dumbledore does, right? Because you can pass as long as you can do magic. We even see Hermione do it when she names her, when she calls herself Penelope Clearwater, when the Snatchers show up, Right? Because magic kind of occludes the truth of your heritage, but blackness does not. And so Dean has a very clear socialized understanding in a way that many of these other people depending on where they grew up, right? We don't really know. We know that Kingsley is pure blood. We don't know any. And we know that Blaze Zabini is pure blood. So their experiences are probably gonna be different because of how closer they are. We don't know anything about Lee Jordan and, like, whether he was brought up in the Muggle ward or not or Angelina. And so. But we know Dean was right. And that tells us a very particular kind of narrative about his own understanding of self, his own understanding of, like, what it means to be a marginalized person and live in the body that he lives in around people who will not necessarily understand that, because by the time you're 11 years old, like, you're fully socialized in a space. And if indeed the UK is, as people on the Internet have been telling me it was, there's no way he hasn't experienced discrimination even as a child and watched it occur to its people around him, Right? And so when we think about what it is that he's bringing to bear when he comes into the magical world, the empathy that he has for people who are marginalized makes a lot of sense. But I also do think that. And so it's part of that empathy, I think, is the byproduct of being in the Muggle world, which I think is him kind of bridging the gap between those two worlds in, in my opinion, no uncertain terms. But I also do think that he comes in and he tries to teach them about. About soccer or football. I'm in America, friends. I'm so sorry. And he is not afraid to post up his team. And there's something that is feels so brave about that, right? Because Hermione comes in as a Muggle, born through and through. She knows this. Although it doesn't become very clear to us until later. She doesn't like speak on it until later, but she is already so kind of caught up and bought into the magical world in a way that we don't see as true for Dean, right? Like he's like, no, I'm bringing parts of home with me here. And to me that is about as like much of a bridge as I think we could expect to see. And I think it's more of a bridge than we've seen from any of the other half bloods that we've discovered. And that might be due in large part to the fact that like we are like most of the Half Bloods that we've seen have been socialized in the magical world. But I also do think that, I think it matters that Dean is a boy because I think when we think about like a Minerva McGonagall or even a Dolores Umbridge, their own understandings was mostly their moms who were magical and their dads who were, who were the Muggles and that they had to give up magic to be with their non magical fathers. Now Umbridge's father was magical and her mom was not magical. And that was a whole other thing. But I do think that Dean being a boy and not feeling the like pressure of having to like keep his magic inside for the purposes of like having fallen in love with someone A La Minerva McGonagall makes a big difference in terms of, you know, your relationship with the non magical world. Like we know that Minerva McGonagall was like, I'm not giving it up for some dude. And that's why she said no to the guy when he proposed to her even though she was in love with him. And she ultimately ended up marrying another dude who was magical. Because I think for women there seems to be a much greater pressure to sacrifice magic for the sake of being in relationship with non magical men then the inverse is true. And I think that Dean having not had to navigate that and having a mother who was non magical, thus she did not have to be the one to give up anything. He doesn't have the relationship with like magic and the non magical world that we see other half bloods have, whether like magic cost me my family, magic cost me my love magic. And so I don't think that he has the kind of internalized belief about the need to sacrifice magic for Muggles. Right. Even Snape has that dynamic. Right. And I also makes think of Merope. And so I think like, there's something to be said about the fact that he kind of is one of the better examples that we have of someone bringing in the non magical world into the magical world with no kind of reservations about it, and is trying, not even trying, but like in his own way, building that bridge. And I think there's something really fascinating about that. And I do think that the invocation of Voldiva here is also really interesting because we see what could have been, right? Like if Dean had gone and done some research, he might have been able to find out who his dad was in the same way that Voldiva did. But Dean didn't. Wasn't really that pressed to try to find out. You know, this moment is a moment that matters because the state is after him. But at the end of the day, like, this isn't that big of a deal to him. Cause he's like, I'm kind of content with the way that my life is. My sense of belonging here doesn't need to be tied to having a parent. I can do magic, thus I belong at this school. And I don't feel the need to kind of sacrifice the life that I have for a life that I want. And I think that there is a. The thing about Tom Riddle is that he didn't want to be ordinary because he thought it was like beneath him. And Dean seemingly doesn't have that same belief structure. And I think that that's what motivates him to not necessarily do the deep dive into the family history to try to find his dad. He's kind of like, it is what it is. I'm happy with the life that I have. And there's something really laudable about that. But it also speaks to his ability to serve as a meaningful bridge between these two worlds because he doesn't have the emotional hangups that we see a lot of the other people, some of whom are Muggle born, some of whom are half blood, come in with.

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[Professor Julian Wamble]

Is Dean Thomas a hero? Well, well, well, this is always a good one. About 69% of us said yes, about 10% of us said no, and about 20% of us said don't know. Someone wrote. Dean is the ultimate everyday hero. When the Ministry falls and begins hunting Muggle borns, he refuses to submit to the Muggle Born Registry Commission, choosing the incredibly dangerous life of a fugitive on the run instead. After surviving capture and imprisonment at Malfoy Manor, he still returns to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts, dueling Death Eaters to protect his school and survive in the war. He's a testament to the idea that heroism doesn't require a prophecy. Another person wrote, My definition of bravery is doing something despite being scared to do it. Him being willing to fight Death Eaters after being snatched is bravery to me. Even after he had to go on the run for most of the year, I can only imagine what he was going through at that point. But the situation with ICE today gives me an idea. Also, I'm happy a black character survived at the end, even if he wasn't a main character and another person wrote, no, I have a high bar for this and because Dean has skin in the game, I can't assign him as hero. He is Muggle born, but he does choose to fight and he fights well at the battle, taking on Dalahab and also stunning a second distracted Death Eater while doing so. He is an early volunteer for both The DA and to the fight. But I apply a higher bar and for this reason, I cannot give him the title. This is interesting. And it also highlights, I think, a really. Oh, wait, wait, wait. Sorry, it's my turn. Okay, we're back. It highlights an interesting distinction for me, right, between being a soldier and being a hero. And it seems to me the distinction that some of us have been making is that a soldier shows up, does the work, and sometimes doesn't survive or survives and isn't celebrated. Where a hero, in the narrative sense at least, changes something that couldn't have been changed without them. And by that measure. By that measure, Dean is a soldier. But our working definition, the one we've been using across these episodes, is about what it costs to show up and what you choose when you could choose otherwise. And by that measure, the wandless return to Hogwarts is the clearest data point we have. And I'm so sorry. To me, it's giving heroism. Because again, I ask you, what do you mean you showed up without a wand? You showed up without a wand to a magic fight. Like, yeah, Dean does, of course, have skin in the game, but he's wandless. He has no weapon. And what's more is that, like, he shows up and he doesn't know the rules of wands. But we're gonna talk about that for the reflection. So I don't wanna dive into that too much. I think that Dean is a person who, despite everything that he has been through in the number of months and we see Ron, like, fall apart. We see Harry have many a moment while he's on the Horcrux hunt. And obviously they're on a different journey, different battle, but, like, Dean has been battered and abused and taken and is, like, hanging on for dear life is somehow, like, lucky enough to not have been killed. And he still shows up, like. Which is so different than literally almost anyone else because the only other person who's in. In that circumstance, like, that is Luna. And I. To me, it's like, the moment that he got free from Shell Cottage, I would have been like, I'm out. I did it. Like, I fought the good fight to stay alive. Catch me when it's over. He doesn't do that. And that, to me, it's not only bravery, because I think it's kind of dumb, but again, I'm a Slytherin. Everyone relax. But it is so laudable and so incredible. And I personally am just like, you know what, Dean? Good for you. It's good. Giving hero.

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[Professor Julian Wamble]

We've now reached the point in the episode where I am going to reflect on Dean Thomas. Y'. All. I completely forgot about this. Showing up to the battle of Hogwarts without a wand. And the thing is, is that the Deathly Hallows is a book that is all about wands. Not entirely. Not only, but this book more than any other book in the series, is one that is so, so preoccupied with what wands mean. The Elder Wand is literally the like crux of the plot. Ollivander is imprisoned because he is being forced to try to make Voldemort another wand that Harry can't beat. The Deathly Hallows themselves are at the center of the story. And the wand, the Elder Wand is that piece. Peace. And the Ministry's first act of magical oppression is to take people's wands. Because wands are how you do magic and taking the wand is how you take the person. We learn it in the first book. The wand chooses the wizard. It isn't just a tool, it's an actual extension of one's magical identity. It's a tool of one's belonging. You can't do magic at Hogwarts if you don't learn how to do wand. If you don't learn how to do magic with a wand. We know that in other post canonical texts and other schools and locations they do it. But we also know it's very difficult. We know that it is very unpredictable. Almost all of the magic that we learn about, defensive, offensive or otherwise, requires one. When you don't do it, you are an extremely powerful wizard. We see that when Dumbledore and Harry go to the cave, right? But for all intents and purposes, to be a wizard with a wand is to be fully yourself in the magical world. To be a wizard without one is to be diminished and present, but unable. And Harry understands this viscerally because when his wand is destroyed in Godric's Hollow by a ricocheted spell from Hermione and it breaks the Holly Wand, he has an existential crisis. And he recognizes what Hermione has done and he knows why she's done it, but he feels lost. And he has a whole moment where he sits there and he just thinks about all of the escapades and adventures that that wand has taken him on. The fact that mere months before it had acted of its own accord and protected him by shooting out golden flames to thwart Voldiva. He doesn't know what to do. Hermione's wand doesn't feel quite right. He feels exposed and incomplete, as if he can't fully be who he is. But the reality is that Dean was wandless for the better part of that same year and yet somehow managed. And which isn't to say that like Harry's feeling of inadequacy and incompleteness is bad. But it is to say that it takes a certain amount of moral. Maybe moral's not the right word. It takes a certain amount of fortitude to recognize that you don't have what you need to be able to defend yourself. And everyone in your orbit has basically made it so that without that piece of wood you are rendered helpless. And the reality is that it's not an accident for Dean. It's not because of a temporary misfortune that the plot resolves later. His wand is taken from him by Snatchers during a year when the state decided that he doesn't have the right to be magical in the first place because he cannot prove that he belongs. Sounds oddly familiar. He's imprisoned in Malfoy Manor. He escapes to Shell Cottage. He watches Ollivander make Luna a new wand. He watches Harry and Bronn and Hermione leave with wands. And he stays without one. The text gives us no interiority about what this cost him. We don't have a sense of how lost he feels. We don't know what it feels like to be a wizard in a world that you are actively being hunted in and have no means to defend yourself. And watching the instrument that makes you legible to the magical world get handed to someone else, but not to you. We don't know what he thought in the dark at Shell Cottage, how he managed to stay alive without defense. But we do know what he does next. When the D8 coin activates and the call goes out for the Battle of Hogwarts, Dean shows up. He walks into the Room of Requirement. Seamus Finnegan runs up to hug him. And then he says, we're fighting, aren't we? The message said Harry was back and we were going to fight. I'll have to get a wand, though. I'll have to get a wand, though. It is fascinating to me, this moment, because the question is never about if he will fight. It's more like a. How. Wands serve such a meaningful point within the magical world and on purpose, right? Because if you recognize that you can operate as a magical person without it, then you don't necessarily. It's harder for you to be policed. And when we think about the relationship that we see everyone have with their wands, for those of us who in the past may have gotten wands, we were picking wands that we felt represented characters that best represented us. Right. There's a personal connection that they have, and it doesn't quite feel like you're a magical person without it. But Dean shows us it really isn't the wand that chooses the wizard. Hmm. You have to choose yourself. You have to choose the battles that you're gonna fight. You're gonna have to choose when you show up. Because Dean could have had a wand and not shown up, he would have been fine. He showed up as a magical person in a magical space without the very totem necessary to do magic. Harry fought tooth and nail to get himself a wand back. Because how else was he going to be Harry Potter? Who was he without that wand that had connected him to Voldemort? All the while, Dean doesn't buy into the ministerial logic that your wand makes you magical without your wand, you're not magical. Without your Documentation. You don't belong without institutional acknowledgment that you are who you say you are. You're not you. Dean doesn't buy into that. He doesn't need his wand to know he's a wizard. He doesn't need the Ministry's paperwork to confirm it. He doesn't need the wizarding world to formally acknowledge his blood status or hand him back a wand before he recognizes himself as belonging to that fight, belonging to the da belonging as a student of Hogwarts. He is a magical person. Without documentation, he doesn't have all of the answers. But he can do magic. He knows that even without it, without knowing the full truth that he's magic, the Muggle world is there for him. He could go back. He could disappear completely. No registration, no Snatchers, no war. He could come back when the smoke clears and get another wand made for him. There's an exit and he doesn't take it. He doesn't need to know his magical roots to know who he is and what he's fighting for. And so he shows up, wandless, undocumented, unable to prove a single thing that the regime demands he prove. And he says, we're fighting, aren't we? There's something that is so important about Dean's being black. And the thing is, is that when you are constantly told by the powers that be socially and politically and legislatively who you are, who you get to be, what your future looks like, how you are expected to operate under what terms that you are allowed to be in a space when that is your existence you have to find a way to redefine yourself or to have an internalized understanding of self that isn't informed by all of these other people saying these things about who you get to be and what your future looks like. And that's the fight. Because documents can come and go and status can come and go and rights can come and go. And if you are constantly defining yourself based on all of those things who are you when they're gone? Who have you allowed yourself to become? If all of the things that define you are defined by external sources, by the Ministry, by the government, by the president, by the Prime Minister. If you allow yourself to only have those things as the defining principles of who you are as a person you are lost in the wind at any given moment. And Dean says, but we're fighting, though, right? He's fighting against Voldemort, the Death Eaters, the Ministry, the Muggle world, the predominantly white Muggle world that he's come from. Dean has to know who he is. He has to have a solid foundation on which to stand. Because if he allows everyone else to define him, who is he? Who is he in the moment when all of that stuff is taken away? That's the fight. And Dean teaches us that if you have a solid foundation, if you know who you are, it doesn't matter whether you have the piece of paper, the piece of wood, the magical piece of hair or heartstring or whatever. All you need is you, space, opportunity and a little grit and we're fighting, right? I drive my bus in a busy city. That's why road safety is so important to me. I know that I must slow down and be extra careful when I make a wide turn. Buses need more room than cars. Everyone can help keep our roads safe. Next time you're driving, remember to give buses plenty of time and space to finish turning before driving ahead. Let's all plan to share the road safely. Learn how at www.sharetherodesafely.gov. Foreign. This has been another episode of Critical Magic Theory. I'm Professor Julian Womble and if you like today's episode, first of all, thank you. Please feel free to like rate, subscribe and do all the things that one does where pods are cast, y'. All. I was not expecting to get emotional and that reflection gutted me. Unfortunately I had to go back and re record it because I was not in the state to keep going. But thank you all for giving me something to think about and just these characters have really been putting me through it and I'm so grateful to all of you and I cannot wait. I really hope that you all take the time to join us in the post episode chat because this was really everything. Thank you all so much. Just meet me in the post episode chat friends. Until then, be critical and stay magical my friends. Bye. A vocalist. That's what I am.