Prof Responds: Dean Thomas- An Unnecessary Digression?

Summary

Critical Magic Theory: Prof Responds – Dean Thomas: An Unnecessary Digression?

Podcast: Critical Magic Theory
Host: Prof. Julian Womble
Date: April 29, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode is a "Prof Responds" installment in which Professor Julian Womble dives into community reactions and deeper analysis following the previous focus on Dean Thomas, a minor but compelling character in Harry Potter. The episode explores listener questions and commentary on Dean’s identity, heroism, the erasure of Muggle-born history, "bro code" in romance, and the implications of what the text leaves unsaid—specifically regarding Dean’s omitted backstory. Womble invites listeners to critically balance love for the Wizarding World with honest, sometimes uncomfortable analysis, believing "it is in this navigation of the positive and the negative that we find true magic" (01:23).

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Dean Thomas as a Bridge: Navigating Half-Blood and Muggle Identity

(Starts ~11:56)

• Dean is highlighted as one of the only characters of color who routinely returns to the Muggle world and maintains those ties, unlike notable characters like Hermione, who increasingly stays with magical friends.
  • "Is Dean the only person of color that we know of in this story who is going home to a Muggle life over the summer?" – Listener Kim C (13:18)
• Bringing Muggle culture—like his West Ham poster—into Hogwarts is an act of resistance against the subtle pressure to erase non-magical identity.
  • "Dean did not even know that hanging the poster in his dorm was a soft social taboo by bringing his Muggleness into Hogwarts. And he kept it up because supporting West Ham is a big part of his identity." – Listener Bear (13:54)
• Professor Womble notes that readers are often conditioned (through Harry’s perspective) to devalue the non-magical world—wanting to escape to magic. Dean’s embrace of his Muggle upbringing contrasts sharply with this norm.
  • “When we're introduced to a character like Dean who...had a really good experience in the non-magical world...it is a very...jarring experience.” – Prof. Womble (17:02)
• Dean’s experience as a black Muggle-born wizard brings up unique intersections of structural bias—he faces racism in both worlds.
  • “It is wild to believe that he would not experience that [racism] in the magical world.” – Prof. Womble (20:32)

Memorable Quote:

"To me, there's no way you could know that [racism doesn’t exist in the magical world] because contrary to what the people on the Internet are saying about whiteness in the magical world, like, these are still white people that you're dealing with." – Prof. Womble (20:05)

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2. What Makes a Hero? Dean’s Bravery at the Battle of Hogwarts

(Starts ~24:31)

• Debate centers on whether Dean is a "hero" for returning to fight without a wand, after being on the run for months.
  • “Dean is the only character who is left wandless and just expected to ‘figure it out’ without outside help.” – Listener Rachel P (26:48)
  • “Not only does he choose to show up to the Battle of Hogwarts, but then, like a badass, he wins a wand off a Death Eater.” – Listener Rachel P (27:01)
• Prof. Womble challenges why Dean’s heroism feels "not enough" for some fans.
  • “What more do we want from Dean? What more do we need to see from him that would make us say ‘that guy, hero’?” (27:47)
  • He notes the Wizarding World is constructed so that most characters, especially purebloods, can’t function magically without their wands. Dean’s choice to fight wandless is unprecedented.
    • “I'm just wondering...we would not expect this [from anyone else].” (32:11)

Notable Quote:

"Dean's bravery had none of that architecture behind it. He had an exit and he didn't take it." – Prof. Womble (64:30)

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3. Structural Erasure of Pre-Hogwarts (Muggle) Identity

(Starts ~35:24)

• Discussion draws a parallel between Hogwarts and historical residential schools, arguing the school structurally encourages students (especially Muggle-borns) to erase their pre-magical identities.
  • "You get no skills or experience on how to successfully live in the world you came from...It's forced erasure of their identity." – Listener Kim C (36:34)
• Dean is contrasted with characters like Hermione and Colin Creevey, who are rapidly absorbed into magical culture.
  • “Dean is so interesting because the Kool Aid he's drinking is sugar free...” – Listener Keisha (36:37)
• The educational, legal, and cultural apparatus of the Wizarding World incentivizes disconnection from Muggle existence, but Dean resists: he stands out for retaining and celebrating Muggle interests.

Memorable Reflection:

"The system is set up in a way where he is supposed to not want to go back home. It's set up in a way where he is supposed to want to stay and never leave." – Prof. Womble (43:37)

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4. Patriarchy, Bro Code, and Ginny’s Lack of Agency

(Starts ~46:19)

• Multiple listeners are incensed by the suggestion that Dean should've asked Ron for permission to date Ginny, or that any "bro code" should dictate her romantic choices.
  • "Every mention of permission, allowing, letting, stealing, girlfriends, bro code, wtf? ... had me furious." – Listener Stacy (46:57)
  • "Ginny is a fully-fledged human person with agency. And we never...think about this in the inverse." – Prof. Womble (49:16)
• Womble connects these traditions to patriarchal origins, noting that reframed "chivalry" often masks systems of gendered control.
  • "The requesting permission...is based on...men's ownership of women's bodies." (49:40)
  • He encourages listeners to question traditions that don’t have a reversed version.
    • "If the inverse isn't true, we're dealing with structural inequality." (49:32)

Painfully Funny Commentary:

"My permission? What do I have to do with it? How did I get in it? I'm not part of this relationship. I have nothing to do with that." – Prof. Womble (52:34)

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5. The Power of Omission: Dean’s Father and What the Text Leaves Out

(Starts ~57:31)

• The episode pivots to the impact of what’s left unsaid—specifically, that Dean’s rich and heroic family backstory was written by J.K. Rowling but omitted from the published books.
  • In the backstory, Dean’s wizard father refuses the Death Eaters and is killed, leaving his family for their safety. Dean grows up thinking he was abandoned.
  • "A black child who doesn't know his father. No context, no explanation, no counterweight. Just the absence sitting there on the page doing what absences do when they go unexplained." (59:52)
• Womble draws a pointed contrast to how maternal sacrifice (Lily Potter, Narcissa, Molly Weasley) is venerated in-text, but Dean’s father’s sacrifice is virtually invisible.
  • "Lily gets the incantation. Narcissa gets the whispered question...Molly gets the line. Dean's father gets a tweet, a wiki entry, a narrative that was cut." (66:56)
• He highlights how the narrative’s silence invites racist stereotypes to fill the vacuum, reinforcing implicit bias.
  • "A black boy without a dad. Well, we've heard that before. That feels very on brand. We'll think nothing of it and we'll keep it moving. That is how these structures persist." (72:13)

Notable Quote:

“Dean's father's refusal made Dean possible. Dean's presence makes his father's refusal mean something. Neither of them would ever know the full shape of what they built together. That is the thing Rowling decided was surplus to requirements. And I want to name what that cost, because it didn't just cost Dean a backstory, it cost the series.” – Prof. Womble (66:56)

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6. Whiteness, Structural Inequality, and Inviting Critical Engagement

(Starts ~73:22)

• Prof. Womble addresses online pushback received when naming whiteness in the Potter universe, and how fans resist talking about implicit bias and structural racism.
  • “What if we just named our white characters white?...What would it change? Nothing. Maybe something.” (74:03)
• He argues that the cultivation of "not knowing" is a central mechanism for how oppressive structures endure.
  • “Not knowing is how structures of inequality are maintained.” (72:13)
• The omission of Dean’s fuller backstory is thus both a narrative loss and a social loss—leaving us less equipped to disrupt harmful patterns.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If I'm crying, you’re crying. Okay? That's what Community is.” – Prof. Womble (02:00)
• “Dean is an excellent half blood in the bridging the gap sense, not in the upholding pure blood supremacy sense.” – Listener Bear (14:13)
• "I think that's what they call leading from behind." – Prof. Womble (02:14)
• "Dean's bravery had none of that architecture behind it. He had an exit and he didn't take it." (64:30)
• "We are so conditioned by these books to see the non magical world as a bad place so that we want to get away from it very quickly. And it's because of Harry's perspective." (21:51)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------|------------| | Introducing the Dean Thomas “response” episode | 01:23 | | Dean as bridge & "good half-blood" discussion | 11:56–23:46| | The question of heroism, Dean & Battle of Hogwarts | 24:31–35:24| | Erasure of pre-Hogwarts/Muggle identity | 35:24–46:19| | Bro code, romance, and Ginny’s agency | 46:19–57:31| | The meaning of omission – Dean’s father | 57:31–73:22| | On whiteness, naming, and structural knowing/not knowing | 73:22–77:54|

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Tone and Language

Professor Womble blends warmth, humor, and rigorous critique. He often transitions between friendly banter and deeply analytical commentary, keeping the conversation accessible while not shying away from complex social critique. Listeners are directly invited to contribute further thoughts and keep the conversation alive both inside and outside of the podcast.

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Closing Thoughts

Womble closes by urging listeners to see how filling in narrative gaps—especially around characters of color like Dean Thomas—can enrich both the text and our engagement with it:

“I think that Dean helps us do that in no uncertain terms. So thanks Dean, and thanks Dean’s dad.” (77:54)

Listeners are welcomed to continue the conversation and join community chats for upcoming episodes, with reminders for the Seamus Finnigan survey and calls to be both critical and magical.

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For more discussion or to contribute your thoughts:

• Instagram: @prof.jw
• TikTok: @ProfW
• Email: criticalmagictheorymail.com
• Website/Patreon: criticalmagictheory.com

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“Loving something doesn’t mean we can’t be critical of it. That’s where true magic lies.”

Transcript

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[Professor Julian Womble]

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[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Welcome to Critical Magic Theory, where we deconstruct the wizarding world of Harry Potter.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Because loving something doesn't mean we can't be critical of it. I'm Professor Julian Womble, and today is our Prof. Response episode on Dean Thomas.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Now listen to me when I tell you this.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Lend me your ear.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I wasn't ready for that episode. Yes, I wrote it. Yes, I read through it.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Apparently, recording it is a very different thing.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I was emotional and I wasn't ready. I wasn't prepared. And I'm so glad to hear from many of you that you weren't either. Because one thing for certain, two things are for sure.

[Professor Julian Womble]

If I'm crying, you're crying. Okay? That's what Community is.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I've heard. And so if my emotions get me, you better bet your bottom dollar I'm gonna make sure yours get you. I don't know.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I think that's what they call leading from behind.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I made that up, but it sounded good. And that's what we're going with.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Friends, I was really moved by that episode.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

And I don't even know now.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I'm excited for the Seamus episode.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I am terrified for the Harry Potter episode. Geez Louise, that's gonna be a time and a half.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And if I wasn't ready for Dean y' all. How am I gonna be ready for Harry?

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Oh, just lift me up in your thoughts and in your prayers as we prepare for that particular endeavor. That said, I wanna thank those of you who spent time in the post episode chat who wrote comments to me on Instagram in your DMs, who wrote comments on the Spotify. On Spotify. The conversation was really, really great. And so this episode was.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Is going to be really insightful and interesting and a lot of things that came up. And listen, y', all, we're getting into

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

it as we do and so I'm so excited.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Okay, okay, everyone, everyone just focus for a quick second.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Picture it. It's the year of our Lord 2026.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I am in Oak Park, Illinois, because

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I am singing at a concert in Chicago and was visiting some friends who work in Oak Park. I'm wandering aimlessly, just like lost in the thoughts of life. Looking very much like Hermione did after they left the Three Broomsticks in Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince, the film. I was not drunk though, but I was aimlessly wandering, looking for food to eat.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And I hear Julian Womble and I'm like, no. No one knows me here. Who knows me here? It turns out someone knew me. And it was one of us. Friends. It was one of us. One of us, one of us.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

And it was the most surreal experience I've ever had because I was like, this is what happens to people with fame. And I'm not a person with that fame. And yet it happened to me. I had an out of body experience. I wasn't quite prepared. I wasn't ready. And it was so lovely and just such an amazing moment. I met Alyssa and her husband and it was just phenomenal. So if you're listening, it was so wonderful meeting you. It was so cool. I bragged to everyone about it because I was like, guess what? You'll never guess what. Guess what. You'll never guess what. Also, the day that I'm recording This, which is April 27, is also Keisha's birthday. Keisha is a chronic overthinker who has spent a considerable amount of time. She's an A one Day one. Okay. And she has a very, very, very strong affinity and relationship with the one and only Dean Thomas. So it's only fitting that we would celebrate this episode by celebrating her. So happy birthday, Keisha.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Um, and I think that that's it.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Don't forget the Seamus survey. I'm gonna send it out to the listserv. Yes, this weekend. You all will get it. I promise you that.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I've also been thinking about the fact that, like, I feel bad for people

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

who are still catching up, right? Life has been lifing people. It's been hectic, and I completely understand.

[Professor Julian Womble]

But now I'm like, well, we're getting close to Harry, and I want us

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

all to kind of be as caught up as we possibly can be before we get to the Harry episodes. And so I'm trying to think of, like, if there's a cute little way for us to have maybe a stopgap after Seamus and figure out something to talk about that we can use to

[Professor Julian Womble]

kind of give people a little bit

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

of time to catch up for Harry, so that when it's time to do the survey, because people like to do the survey when they're all caught up. So if you have any ideas, any thoughts, let me know. Patreon, Instagram, Roff, JW, TikTok, ProfW. Just let me know. Let me know what your thoughts are on that. If you want to just keep going and have people just catch up when they catch up, that's also totally fine. But I've heard from many people that they're in the process of getting themselves, you know, back from when we came back from our hiatus.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And I think it would be nice

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

for us all to be on the same page when we get to the titular character. Anyways, this has been too long. People are mad at me. Get ready for the bop, friends.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Get ready for the bop. Cause it's coming to you in three, in two, in one, let's bop.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

That might have been ALF key

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we

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use on Harry Potter.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Sa. I hope you danced. I hope you danced.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Many of you said that you didn't

[Professor Julian Womble]

ever hear me be off key, and

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I appreciate that because I know that it's not true, but maybe I'm just being too hard on myself.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Either way, I'm going to endeavor to

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

make sure that my vocals are vocaling today for the sake of vocaling.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Okay, y', all, you know that we don't dilly.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

We don't dally. And I just want to say a quick welcome. A welcome back. A. Yeah, that's it. Just a welcome to everyone. And because I had the intro be so much longer than normal, I. I tried to do the things, but I

[Professor Julian Womble]

had things to tell you.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I had.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I had stories to tell. All right, so, um, I was a celebrity for a moment, and you had to hear about that because who knows if it'll ever happen again. I also want to again remind us

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

that the Seamus Survey is up. It will. It is on Patreon. Patreon.com criticalmagictheory I'm excited for Seamus because

[Professor Julian Womble]

I think, listen, if we can make these Dean, the Dean episodes this good, if we can make the Patil twin

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

episodes this good, then we can work with Seamus.

[Professor Julian Womble]

We can work with Seamus because at

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

least he has like, some. There's some tension, there's some madness, There's a lot for us to play around with. I know that some of us have already filled out the survey. Thank you so much. I will probably be using some of those to lure people from social media into filling out the survey as well.

[Professor Julian Womble]

So if you haven't done that, do that.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Let me tell you something. So I mentioned in passing in the last episode that I wanted to do some critical magic theory crop tops for the summertime and Cassie, our merch czar, made some and I'll let you know when they drop. And by that I mean after I get them myself.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Me.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Because you all are not going to sell it out and I just get dibs.

[Professor Julian Womble]

So I'm taking it.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Okay?

[Professor Julian Womble]

This is a dictatorship today.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

And so. But enough of that. I've done too much. I've given myself ten minutes of madness and absurdity. We're on. Nine minutes. We're done. Okay, it's time for us to talk about Dean. I'm going to play a little music just to get you all ready so that you can get your minds right. Because we have some things to talk about.

[Professor Julian Womble]

So let's get into it.

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And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson's Friend]

Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this? This your first date?

[Professor Julian Womble]

Oh, no.

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We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

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Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

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And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson's Friend]

Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Professor Julian Womble]

Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together we're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

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Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

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[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

The first theme that came up from our post episode chat was one that came out of our conversation about whether or not Dean was a good half blood. And there was this conversation about him being this kind of bridge between the Muggle and the magical world.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And I think, you know, one of

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

the things that I've said many times as we've kind of unpacked

[Professor Julian Womble]

half bloods is the reality that because of the

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

way half bloodedness works within the magical world, the social construct of blood purity broadly construed and just the kind of way that the strictures that confine you to either be a pureblood or a Muggle born, right, that there is a, what am I trying to say, a vast kind of multitude of ways that we can see one's half blood identity come to the fore. Right? And one of the big things that's different is whether or not you were living in a non magical space before you came to Hogwarts, even as a half blood person. Right? And Dean offers us the ability to kind of look at what some of this can look like. And many of us on Patreon and on the Spotify had things to say, not the Spotify. And on Spotify you get it.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Kim C wrote, is Dean the only

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

person of color that we know of

[Professor Julian Womble]

in this story who is going home

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

to a Muggle life over the summer?

[Professor Julian Womble]

He probably knows what it's like to

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

be called slurs his magical friends don't think about. He probably knows what it's like to

[Professor Julian Womble]

be followed by a security guard in a mall. No matter what that life of magic gave him it. It would be unreasonable to expect someone so seemingly observant and present would be able to forget or overlook how the world he came from saw him.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

He was always prepared for power structures to turn on him.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Bear wrote, dean did not even know that hanging the poster in his dorm was a soft social taboo by bringing his Muggleness into Hogwarts. And he kept it up because supporting West Ham is a big part of his identity. I say enthusiastically that Dean is an excellent half blood in the bridging the

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

gap sense, not in the upholding pure blood supremacy sense.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And Ryan wrote, on Spotify I kept thinking about Dean compared to other Muggle born Muggle raised characters.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

We get to know.

[Professor Julian Womble]

It seems to me that he was the only one that had a life and maybe true friends in the Muggle world. It's my turn. Yes it is. And I have some things to say. One of the things that stood out to me is the fact that as readers we are really invited to despise

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

the non magical world. I'm pretty sure I've said this before

[Professor Julian Womble]

but when we think about the fact that most of our experiences in the

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

non magical world come from Harry's perspective. And Harry has grown up in an abusive household where he is ready to escape at a moment's notice whenever he can to get back to the magical world where he can not have to deal with the Dursleys and the madness, absurdity and foolishness that they bring to bear on any given day simply because he is magical.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And as a result we as readers have also begun to feel, or not

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

begun to feel, but we as readers

[Professor Julian Womble]

feel as if we too are trying to escape. Right? And even as readers who are living in our own reality, we read these books because we are trying to escape to a magical place. And so there is this kind of presupposed mundanity, maybe even like danger or negative connotation that exists with regard to the non magical world. And so when we meet people, when we meet characters in these books who seemingly jettison everything upon entering into Hogwarts, we're like absolutely. What else would one do? That's the way that you do it.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

You just get rid of everything.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Like I'm magical now. And then we see Harry go back to the non magical world and we're

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

like oh God, this is awful.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And it is. And I think that to Ryan's point, Dean is an anomaly in this regard because we see him and obviously there

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

may be other characters who we just don't get to know well enough to be able to know whether this is the case.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Because we also know that Hermione at a certain point really stops going home. Like she is locked in through and through

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

for staying in the magical world and staying at the Burrow and really, really, really truncating the amount of time she's in the non magical world.

[Professor Julian Womble]

So from both Harry and Hermione we get this perspective that the non magical world is not it.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

This is not a place that we want to be.

[Professor Julian Womble]

We are trying to get to the place where we can do magic, where things are fantastical, where abuse is mitigated, where things are just better. So that when we're introduced to a character like Dean who Seemingly, as far as we know, had a really good experience in the non magical world. So much so that he's willing to bring something to the magical world from that space. It is a very kind of jarring experience because so much of the way that we're conditioned by the pages is to be like, no, no, no, no, no. Not only is the magical world better, but everything about this is different and separate and segregated and cloistered. Which is what has made the idea of the question about whether a specific character is a good half blood or not really fascinating. Because there's so much incentive to see the non magical world as being so inferior and so basic that why would you want to bring anything from that space into this amazing space, right? This space where magic exists and the

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

world is your oyster.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And the worst thing that you have to deal with, I don't know, is a noseless fiend trying to kill you and your friends, right? That, that is so much more appealing. And yet we get Dean coming in and bringing pieces of this world, right? Because not only does he bring the poster, he explains to them what football, soccer is. And you know, obviously some of them know this, but it's really fascinating that he sticks to it. And even I believe in. It's in the first book, as he's learning about Quidditch, he's yelling like, you know, yellow card him or red card him. And people are like, dean, that's not a thing. And Haggard's like, perhaps it should be, huh?

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Ever thought about that?

[Professor Julian Womble]

And so there are these moments where we see him kind of bringing in his world and we don't see anyone else really do that. Like we don't really see other Muggle borns or Muggle raised people making the same kinds of decisions that he's making. And I think it is due in large part to the fact that we also are exposed to people whose experiences in the non magical world are ones that are. That warrant a desire to escape. And to Kim's point, which I think is also a really, really good one, right? Like, I wonder how it must feel to be a black or brown person

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

who, who is Muggle born or Muggle raised.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And experiences like racial or ethnically. Hello, racial or ethnically based discrimination. And then enter into a world where

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

that's not a thing as much.

[Professor Julian Womble]

To me, there's no way you could know that because like, contrary to what

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

the people on the Internet are saying about whiteness in the magical world, like

[Professor Julian Womble]

these are still white people that you're dealing with according to the People on

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

the Internet, if you don't know what I'm talking about. I posted a video on Instagram where I said what I said on here where like anyways, go look it up. It's the people are aggressive.

[Professor Julian Womble]

But like suffice it to say Dean

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

has experienced racial discrimination and it is

[Professor Julian Womble]

wild to believe that he would not

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

experience that in the magical world.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And so it's also interesting then that he would bring the magical world because one could argue, well, like wouldn't that be a thing that you would want to run away from and leave behind? And it's interesting to think about what that means for him, right? Cause in that way he is different than other half bloods and other Muggle

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

born and Muggle raised people is that

[Professor Julian Womble]

in theory, you know, he's dealing with a completely different structural experience than other

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

people who are coming from the non magical world.

[Professor Julian Womble]

But one thing that you learn, right,

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

and I can I'll say this as

[Professor Julian Womble]

a black person, is that like unfortunately,

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

and this is an unfortunate reality, like racism is everywhere. Discrimination permeates most of the lived experiences

[Professor Julian Womble]

that many people have, particularly people who

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

come from different racial or ethnic backgrounds

[Professor Julian Womble]

and whose skin color connotes difference. And so that the idea of like moving into this space, I don't know that there would be that much of a difference. And I don't know personally if I was Dean if I would believe that

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

like racism doesn't exist here, right?

[Professor Julian Womble]

Like I would just be like, yeah, that sounds fake, but then again magic

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

is real, so who's to say?

[Professor Julian Womble]

But I don't think that that would inform his decision to want to get away and forget about all the things that he does like in the magical, in the non magical world rather. And I think that that is really, really fascinating and important for us to think about because I think that we are so conditioned by these books to see the non magical world as a bad place so that we want to get away from it very quickly. And it's because of Harry's perspective. And so it really, so it means a couple things. One, the expectation that we have for people to be good half bloods is really, really, really, really, really, really hard to come by because it would mean that in order to build a bridge it means that you have to like both sides. And we see people jettisoning their non magical space left and right because that's how they're conditioned in the magical world. And so it is very possible that the only person who we see willing to kind of do that is Dean. And the fact that his racial identity doesn't complicate that reality is really fascinating

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

to think about as well. And I'm really glad that this all came up because I think it speaks

[Professor Julian Womble]

to the complicated nature of half blood

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

identity, particularly when that half bloodedness coincides with either being Muggle born, being Muggle

[Professor Julian Womble]

raised and or living in the non

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

magical world because every half blood doesn't have that experience.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And so when you couple those things together and you think about what those experiences would mean, it invites you to think about a lot of things. And that's what we like to do here. Think about a lot of things.

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[Professor Julian Womble]

The next theme that came up in

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

the post episode chat was one that was quite incendiary, if I do say so myself. It seems like people had a lot of feelings, thoughts and emotions about this,

[Professor Julian Womble]

which was the question of whether or not Dean was a hero.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

As was noted to me by some people who listened.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I couldn't get over the fact that

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

this dude showed up to a magic fight without a wand, y'.

[Professor Julian Womble]

All. In this economy, huh? With wand prices being what they are. What an insane thing that he did.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

And for many of us, that particular reality, that reminder, because many of us forgot. Cause it kind of is a throwaway

[Professor Julian Womble]

line in the midst of the madness

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

of that particular moment in Deathly Hallows.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And so this kind of served as

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

an impetus for us to really think a lot about heroism and who gets to be your hero and who was not. And there was a lot of back

[Professor Julian Womble]

and forth in the post episode chat

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

across in, in fact across many different platforms.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And so we're going to dive into it. Nadia wrote. Does a hero need to change something positive that couldn't have been changed without them? How about the fact that when Dean was captured along with Harry, Ron and Hermione, he did not give away his identity despite knowing it immediately? He could have done something right there to secure his freedom and change, dip out of there and leave Harry to fend for himself. He chose the honorable path, nina wrote. I also forgot how much he goes through in book seven and how that parallels what the Golden Trio is going through too. On the run for months, snatched, loses wand, etc. I also forgot that Luna gets a new wand and he doesn't, which is wild.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Jazz gave us an explanation for that. We can get into it, but it's a little bit more reasonable than I let on because my mind was not quite locked in on the details. But Jazz, our residential Harry Potter scholar,

[Professor Julian Womble]

expert librarian, cleared the air.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

But that's neither here nor there.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And Rachel P. Wrote, dean is the only character who is left wandless and

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

just expected to, quote, unquote, figure it out without outside help.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And then not only does he choose to show up to the Battle of

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Hogwarts, but then, like a badass, he

[Professor Julian Womble]

wins a wand off a Death Eater. Dean showing up at the Battle of Hogwarts despite being wandless and having been on the run for the majority of the year is him taking the high road. And yet we are still so quick

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

to label him not a hero.

[Professor Julian Womble]

What more do you want from him? This was a question that many people had, but it's my turn and I have some things to say. But they're mostly questions. Hey. Cause it needed to rhyme. What more do we want from Dean? How else do we expect people to show up? There's this idea that there needs to be like, skin in the game and

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

that people who have something to gain

[Professor Julian Womble]

from this can't be heroes.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Because there's kind of like this intrinsic desire.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And I think I can understand that to a certain degree. But I also find myself wondering, yeah, what more do we want from Dean? Like, when there were so many ways

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

that he could have not shown up,

[Professor Julian Womble]

there are so many opportunities for him

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

to have, as Nadia alluded to, given up Harry in hopes that he would survive.

[Professor Julian Womble]

There are so many ways that he could have been like, you know what? I'm gonna stay at Shell Cottage for a little bit, vibe out and then

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

figure out what my life is about to look like.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And he doesn't do any of that. And the options are really presented to him. And I guess I wonder, like, sure,

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

the magical world has become a place

[Professor Julian Womble]

that he cares about, but, like, what does he gain by fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts, right? Like, especially because, as we alluded to in the last conversation, like, he doesn't have at least in Theory, he has less of a bad experience in the non magical world. Right.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Obviously he understands, he understands the stakes

[Professor Julian Womble]

of Voldiva, but at the end of the day, he is not like he not only could he go back to the non magical world, but he likes

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

the non magical world. It's a place that is a home for him.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And so I wonder, given the nature of the Ministry of Magic and the way that they operate, right, they're gonna keep this wizarding war as tight as possible within the confines of the magical world, right? Like we know obviously like non magical

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

people are dying and you know, the giants are doing all this stuff and hurricanes in the, in the west country and all of this stuff, right.

[Professor Julian Womble]

So they're not unaffected. But when it comes to like a very specific understanding, I mean, I guess Voldiva could show up and just be

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

like, I'm tormenting everybody. Right?

[Professor Julian Womble]

That's an option, I guess. But like the magical world at least doesn't feel to me as so is not so important to Dean that he needs to like sacrifice his life and

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

show up to a gunfight without a

[Professor Julian Womble]

gun, which is ostensibly what he's done. And I just don't know what more we want from him, what more we need to see from him that would make us say that guy hero. Because I'm looking at him and I'm like, that guy foolish. And I just, I am intrigued. And I think Rachel P's question is a really good one. What more do we want? What? And I think we've talked a lot about heroes and you know, I've always defined it as people who show up when they don't need to.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

And we talk a lot about this, especially for Pure Bloods, because so many of them, you know, are the beneficiaries

[Professor Julian Womble]

of Pure Blood supremacy.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

And so fighting in the war doesn't

[Professor Julian Womble]

really, you know, they don't need to

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

do it and yet they still do. And I stand by that for sure.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I also think if we take that logic, like Dean also doesn't need to

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

fight in the war.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Like he doesn't. That's not a thing he needs to do. And yet he does it. And I think that there is a world where like, and then it's also the way that he does it.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

And that also matters in no uncertain terms.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And so I'm kind of with Rachel on this. I'm wondering, and maybe we can talk

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

about this in the post episode chat,

[Professor Julian Womble]

what is it that those of you who didn't think he was a hero, what is it that you are looking for, like, what would have made you say. Absolutely. Because I'm trying to think of anybody else in the series who would have shown up without a wand. Anyone else. Because we can't have expected it from people who grew up in the magical world. They don't know how to function without wands at all, in any capacity. It's an extension of their ability to do pretty much anything. And when magic is your bread and butter, you're telling me that you don't have a knife to spread the butter on the bread. Right? Like, there is a way that I think. I'm just wondering, like, so we can.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

We would not expect this. Like, we would not expect Pure Bloods

[Professor Julian Womble]

to show up without a wand.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Right. Like, they just wouldn't do it.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And Muggle Borns might. But most of the Muggle Borns that we meet are so bought into the

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

entirety of the system, see Harry James Potter.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Right. That they also don't know how to function without it. And so the idea of, I mean, Harry literally, as I said in the last episode, had a mental breakdown at the destruction of his wand, even though it happened because he was being protected. So the idea then that, like, we would expect anyone, any character in this universe to do what Dean did. If you can find me one, I want to know who it is. Because I don't. I mean, King Neville, long may he reign pure blood and barely knew he could do magic to begin with and was barely. And like, I just don't imagine that he would be showing up without a wand, that all. I don't see that for him. And I'm not trying to say that Dean is a bigger hero than Neville. What I am trying to say, though, is that the idea that, like, this is a thing that Dean did, it takes such a very specific kind of understanding of self and world in order to make this particular kind of decision. Especially when the state has defined your ability through the use of a very

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

particular object that you are not in possession of at the time.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And I'm just not. I don't know who else in the series, broadly construed, and I should add this caveat, who cannot do magic without wands, right? Voldemort and Dumbledore are exceptional in this regard where they can do wandless magic. But for the vast majority, the other

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

bazillion people who live in this space,

[Professor Julian Womble]

that's not their truth, and it certainly isn't deemed. Dean didn't even get to go to school for a seventh year. There's a whole bunch of stuff he doesn't even know how to do. And he's still there. What more do we want?

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Friends, please sound off in the post episode chat for this episode.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I want to know. Me and all my followers want to know Am I Rita, Skeeter.

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[Professor Julian Womble]

Oh no.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson's Friend]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson]

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[Professor Julian Womble]

The next theme that we're going to be talking about is one that I was not expecting but was very happy

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

to see because it's something that I too have kind of understood and experienced but

[Professor Julian Womble]

I have never been given the opportunity.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Or maybe I took it. Maybe I didn't need to give be given the opportunity. I took the opportunity. But anyways, this came up in the post episode chat and it's about Hogwarts and I would actually extend extend this out of just Hogwarts, but the comment that we're gonna be discussing and unpacking is one that speaks to Hogwarts specifically. But I think that this is a byproduct of the wizarding world broadly construed

[Professor Julian Womble]

and it's about the erasure of one's

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

kind of pre Hogwarts pre magical identity.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And I think that this is important

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

and I wanna contextualize this a little bit before we get into the comments

[Professor Julian Womble]

because I think that this is something that is particularly true again for people

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

who are coming out of the non magical world. So these are for Muggle borns and Muggle raised individuals in particular. We don't see the same thing coming for people who are living in the magical world full time or socialized in that space. Okay, so that's the context.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Kim C Wrote something I've been thinking about a lot and I think Dean helps illustrate is how similar Hogwarts is to residential schools that the US and Canada used in their genocide of indigenous people. You get no skills or experience on how to successfully live in the world you came from, you are no longer being taught anything that would be useful there. It's forced erasure of their identity. And here is Dean Thomas with his West Ham poster and his refusal to forget where he came from. Our birthday girl Keisha wrote, dean is so interesting because the Kool Aid he's drinking is sugar free. While he does participate in wizarding things like going to the World cup, he has the best balance between worlds compared to any other character. He openly enjoys his Muggle things, regardless of Ron's microaggressions. It's my turn.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Ooh, that was not as good.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I had a. Anyways, I'm human and the voice sometimes does what it wants. This is really interesting because I think I've said this before and it might

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

have been in a bonus episode, but I talked a lot about

[Professor Julian Womble]

how the magical world really does invite people who

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

are not born and socialized inside of

[Professor Julian Womble]

it to jettison everything that comes from

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

the non magical space.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Right? And again, we see this kind of very well illustrated with Harry and with Hermione and even with like Colin Creevey,

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

right, where there is this kind of

[Professor Julian Womble]

enamored reaction that these individuals have to being in the magical world. And it makes sense. I'm not judging them for it.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

They're children, first off.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And secondly, it's magic. So naturally, yes, like you are going to want to be in the magical world. It's going to be meaningful to you. You are going to want to, you know, experience it to its fullest extent and like, enjoy it. And not only are you in the magical world, you get to do magic like you get to do things that were seemingly impossible. I would want that too. And we as readers do. What is fascinating structurally is that the magical world really does make it so that you never want to leave. It's giving cult, right? Because. And again, we see Hermione fall prey to this particular provocation on the part of Hogwarts and the Ministry and the magical world, broadly construed. And I think it is really fascinating to see Dean again straddling this space when everything around him is inviting him to forget the magical. The non magical world, rather, right? Like forget it. It's not as good, it's not, you know, worth it. You can't do magic there. So why would you want to give that up? Like everything that we see in the magical world really does invite this. And just the sheer lack of education on the part of magical people about non magical people, the idea that like, you have to forego magic in order to be able to be in the non magical world. And we see characters like Minerva McGonagall and others make very, very difficult, personal, heartbreaking, devastating decisions to leave the non magical world because they don't want to give up their ability to do magic because they've been socialized to see the world. This is the only way that we can live. This is the only way that we can do things. And I'm not giving that up. And I think that there is something

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

important about that idea, right, of like

[Professor Julian Womble]

you as a person, particularly as a woman.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I'm not advocating for Minerva McGonagall to give it up for some man.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I would never ever, ever, ever in a million years do that. But I do think that it is fascinating that like that choice is necessary and we've talked a little bit about this. But I'm not of the mind that

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

like the magical world is in as dire straits as we are led to

[Professor Julian Womble]

believe in terms of their like potential

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

victimhood on the part of, of non magical people or at the hands of non magical people.

[Professor Julian Womble]

But all of that to say, right, that like the educational structure is one that literally is set up in such a way where you are punished for being magical in non magical space. Most of the times that Harry was punished prior to, you know, Order of the Phoenix was all because magic was done in a space and he is an underage person and the only person doing magic or being around magic, right? When Dobby comes in Chamber of Secrets and drops that cake on or the pudding anyways, I think it's the pudding on Vernon's potential client's wife, right? Harry gets in trouble because the law is set up so that when you are a magical person in non magical space, if you're the only one, they're going to assume it's you and you get in trouble if there are, especially when you're doing it underage. If you are a magical person in magical spaces and you're underage, then you can do magic because they can't pinpoint who it is. Dumbledore explains Dr. Harry in half Blood Prince. And what that tells us, right, is that there is a persecution.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I'm going to use that word and I don't think it's hyperbolic

[Professor Julian Womble]

against magical people in non magical spaces. And you stand to lose your ability to stay in that space if you are found guilty of breaking the law. And what we also learn is that there are a lot of extraneous details and circumstances that determine whether or not

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

you are seen as breaking the law. In that regard, right?

[Professor Julian Womble]

And so that when we think about what this means for Dean, he is invited on multiple dimensions to jettison the non magical world to leave it behind. Because he's potentially more likely to get

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

in trouble with the law if something happens. And he uses magic because he's gonna be the only one in the space.

[Professor Julian Womble]

So much of what we understand about Muggle studies and the Muggle Liaison Office is based on like Muggle propaganda. There is literal, like there are comics in the non mad in the magical world rather where they are actively talking about the mad Muggle. All of these things exist in this space where you are incentivized it to see, to be seen as more legitimate than the space you came from. And we see people like Harry and Hermione and Colin Creed, we see them buying into this in no uncertain terms, right? We see them buying into the fact that this place is better. And Dean seemingly does not do that. And he's the only one that we meet who does it. And that is not lost on me. And I think that's a really important fact to think about and to consider. Because the system is set up in a way where he is supposed to not want to go back home. It's set up in a way where he is supposed to want to stay and never leave. And so the fact that he has even this like seemingly innocuous thing, which is this poster up on the wall and he doesn't take it down is telling. Because like Keisha said that Kool Aid is sugar free. And I don't even think he's sipping it that much. When he gets thirsty and wants something a little fun, maybe, but it's not his lifeblood. He's not living on it because he's not trying to escape. And that is so fascinating to me. So fascinating to.

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[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson's Friend]

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[Professor Julian Womble]

Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson]

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[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson's Friend]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

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[Professor Julian Womble]

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[Professor Julian Womble]

The last theme that we're going to

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

be talking about from the post episode chat was one that got the girlies popping.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Okay. And it was about bro code and the idea that Dean should have asked Ron for permission to date Jenny. Stacy wrote every mention of permission, allowing, letting, stealing, girlfriends, brocrow. What? Brocrowed Bro code, wtf? And even overprotecting or chivalry or kissing

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

too soon had me furious.

[Professor Julian Womble]

All of those comments completely removed Ginny's agency. And Jenny gets to like date and kiss who she wants and she still did it all in integrity. She wasn't cheating on anyone. This whole idea that bros need to ask permission for them to date sisters is ludicrous. As Prof. That's me pointed out, Harry, who was Ron's best friend, never asked Ron for his approval for dating Jenny. It's only after they've kissed that Harry looks over to Ron for approval. And Ron making that comment about just because I allowed you to date.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Ginny was absolutely right to clock him for that.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And Catherine wrote, I love my husband with every fiber of my being.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I also told my husband before we

[Professor Julian Womble]

were engaged that if he asked my father's permission that I would have. I would say no. My husband respected my wishes while also showing respect to my parents by having a conversation with them, informing them of our intentions but never asking. Two things can be true. It's my turn. That was better than the last one. Here's the thing. I think we have to really unpack our own perceptions and understanding of where some of these more traditionally understood practices come from. The requesting permission, the asking for one's hand. It all is based on and premised on the idea that women and girls have no agency to do with their bodies and their lives what they want. And so that when we think about the practice, I think it has now become something that feels nostalgic and feels deferential and respectful. However, simultaneously concurrently and its roots are in the most like deeply seated patriarchal idea of men's ownership of women's bodies. And I'm being very intentional about the

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

gendered language there, because that's what it was.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And when we invoke that, I think we have to be so careful, because to Stacey's point, Ginny is a fully fledged human person with agency. And we never, ever think about this in the inverse, right? There's never a moment where a wife is asking a mom or a woman partner is asking a woman parent or any parent to marry their man, their man child. No, that's not a thing. And so the question becomes, is why is it that sometimes we have these beliefs about what is happening? And we always have to ask ourselves, like, is the inverse true? Because if the inverse isn't true, we're dealing with structural inequality, even if now it's being couched in terms of chivalry, respect, deference, its roots, the soil in which it was planted, the foundation on which it stands, is patriarchy in this case. And I think that there is a way that sometimes we as a society have made it so that we have transformed some of these very antiquated and frankly, in my opinion, in my opinion, it's my opinion, y' all dangerous beliefs. And we call them something else than what they were originated to be. And I think we have to use a little bit of discretion sometimes, because when we think about things like Bro Code, asking for permission, is Ron crazy like you? Ginny doesn't owe you that. And I think it's interesting because we see this happening at the beginning of

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

the books of Half Blood Prince, rather,

[Professor Julian Womble]

when Fred and George are talking to

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

her about all the boys that she's

[Professor Julian Womble]

dating, and she's like, it's really none of your business. And then we see Ginny drag Ron within an inch of his life. And at the root of it, and this is important because at the root of it is jealousy. It's envy. And yes, I think that there is a way that, like, there are moments where we do see Ron seemingly doing

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

this because he's like, I care about

[Professor Julian Womble]

Jenny, and she's my sister. But the premise behind that care and concern is that Ginny seemingly can't take care of herself or doesn't know any better or is, like, hypnotized by some man and cannot figure things out. But we never. But then again. And I can understand that, right? Like, I'm an older brother. Like, I have a little sister. I have an understanding of, like, that particular kind of mindset. But is the inverse true? In my case?

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

It absolutely is.

[Professor Julian Womble]

My sister would be dubious of anyone who was trying to date me. Now I'm that at no point ever in the history of histories in my

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

life has my sister been like, this

[Professor Julian Womble]

person wants to ask your permission. I would laugh in his face. My permission? What do I have to do with it? How did I get in it? I'm not part of this relationship. I have nothing to do with that. Now, will I have commentary? Of course it's me. I always have commentary. That's different, though. And my sister will always have commentary. But permission. She's her own person. My sister's in her 30s. Like, she's an adult. And I get that Jenny's not, but neither is Ron. So it's the blind leading the blind

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

as far as I'm concerned.

[Professor Julian Womble]

It is fascinating to me that there are things that exist and that exists in our society that are now couched in very specific terms when the roots of those things are inequality or is inequality. Right. Like joint bank accounts. Well, yeah, because women couldn't have bank accounts in the United States until, like, the 70s. Right. Like, there is a way that, like, there are so and so many of the. Like, certain things are. The chivalrous things are couched in terms of, like, patriarchy. And sometimes it can be nice.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Absolutely.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And it's just kindness. And it's not rooted in a fundamental belief of the ineptitude or subjugation or inferiority of the receiving party, but sometimes it is. And I think we have to be very mindful of. Of the fact that so much of our understanding of things like Bro Code and all of these things exist in a world where structural inequality is the baseline, is the root, is the foundation. And if the inverse is not true,

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

we have to ask ourselves some questions because it suggests to us that this is patriarchy at work.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And I think that it is a very dangerous line to toe because when we start talking about asking for permission for things, well, Ginny's no longer part of the equation. Right. Because what if Ginny didn't want to date Harry and Harry asked Ron, and Ron's like, yeah, sure. Well, Ginny is not in the. Is not part of that calculus anymore. It's not about her. It's about the two dudes. Right? Like, in this context, we have to consider the party that is not being considered. And we also have to consider the fact that Ginny has a voice and is good at using it and uses it when she needs to. And that is something that we, I hope, are happy about. But it also means that we have to be mindful of what certain traditions and practices are grounded and rooted in structural inequality that have been rebranded as traditional respectful, deferential behaviors. And there are a lot of them,

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

especially as it pertains to gender. And I think the idea of asking

[Professor Julian Womble]

for permission to date someone is one of those, because never in a million years would we expect the inverse to be true. No one is coming to Ginny to

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

ask for if we Lavender's not coming to Ginny to ask her if it's okay if she dates her brother.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And if she did, we would think it was weird. We would think it was so weird.

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[Professor Julian Womble]

We've now reached the point in the episode where I want to discuss not what's in the text, but what was omitted purposefully from the text. We spend so much time as a

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

community thinking through what the text tells

[Professor Julian Womble]

us and deep diving into it. But there is also power, knowledge, magic, deeper understanding, and space for critically analyzing what was omitted. And one of the things that we understand in the post canonical space now

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

is that we have access to a lot of these things because the author of the text has made so many

[Professor Julian Womble]

things public in the many years so

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

since these books have come out.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And one of the things that was revealed was that Dean had a whole backstory and that backstory included his father, who was a wizard who had been recruited by the Death Eaters and ultimately said no, and then in so doing left his family because he knew that

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

they were gonna come after him and

[Professor Julian Womble]

they did, and he paid the ultimate sacrifice. And I think that there is something to be said about how we understand what this omission means for how we experience Dean because his dad disappeared from his family's life before Dean was old enough to really know him. Because staying would have led them directly to his door them being the Death Eaters. He was murdered. Not murdled, not again. He was murdered for his refusal. And his family never knew why he was gone. Dean grew up thinking his father simply left had chosen something else, someone else, over them. And that is not a small omission. Because here's what we get. A black child who doesn't know his father. No context, no explanation, no counterweight. Just the absence sitting there on the page doing what absences do when they go unexplained. Conforming and reshaping itself to whatever the reader already expects, if they notice at all.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

And there are readers, there have always

[Professor Julian Womble]

been readers who expect exactly this story who have been taught to read this particular absence as a pattern rather than a wound. Who don't think to ask what might have caused it because society has already given us the tools and the answer. JKR had the actual answer. She wrote it, and then she said, we don't need it. And I want to be so specific

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

about what was Lost because I think

[Professor Julian Womble]

that we owe Dean Thomas this kind of precision. And what these episodes have invited us to really think about, again is what do these omissions in the text what do the missing details, what do they offer us? And the reality is, for Dean, what was lost was not just backstory. What was Lost was a father who did exactly what so many of the celebrated figures in this entire series do who stood between his family and evil and paid for it with everything he had. And I want us to sit with that for a moment because this series has a very specific relationship with that kind of sacrifice. We know what it looks like. We have seen it rendered in the highest possible terms. We have seen Lily Potter step in front of a killing curse and turn her love into a shield that lasts for seven books. And not just for Harry. We have seen Narcissa lie to Voldemort's face in the middle of a battle because her son's life was the only thing that mattered. We've seen Molly Weasley who has spent the entire war holding her family together with both hands walking onto a dueling floor and facing the very thing that has haunted her worst nightmares because it had the audacity to threaten her daughter. These women, across houses, allegiances in every line in the wizarding world, they all do the same thing. They throw themselves between their children and evil. And the text sees them. We see Them, it names what they do. It gives their sacrifice weight and consequence and in some cases, literal magic. Dean's father did the same thing. He saw what was coming, he understood the cost and he made a choice. And it wasn't a clean one and it wasn't an explicable one. And it was one that no one would be able to make sense of. But he was trying to protect his family. He was trying to build a wall between them and Voldemort using the only material he had available to him. His life, his disappearance, his erasure. He sacrificed the possibility of being known by his family so that they could exist. So that Dean could exist. And we almost never got to know that. And this is where I want to

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

pause on Harry Potter for just a

[Professor Julian Womble]

second because I think that there's a comparison that we make between Harry and Dean

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

that's obvious.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Both half bloods, both shaped by their parents sacrifice, both caught in a war they were born into rather than chose. But there is a deeper parallel that I think we miss. And it starts with this. Would Harry have been more like Dean had he been raised in a household where he was loved? When we think about what the Dursleys actually produced. A boy for whom the magical world was the only place he had ever truly belonged. A boy who had no life worth returning to on the other side of Platform Nine and three quarters. Someone who had been told he was nothing for so long that when the wizarding world told him he was everything he had no framework to push back with.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Many of us are under the belief

[Professor Julian Womble]

that Dumbledore made a calculated decision that Harry needed to be kept small, hungry, without alternatives. Because a boy with somewhere else to go might not be willing to walk into the forest and die. Dean had somewhere else to go.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

He had a stepfather and a mother

[Professor Julian Womble]

and siblings who loved him. He had a home that was by all accounts a happy one. He had the Muggle world, the West Ham poster, the radio. The life he carried into Hogwarts and refused to put down even when he was teased for it. The magical world was not his escape. It was one of two places he belonged. And that means when he showed up to the Battle of Hogwarts wand lists and without proper documentation he was not fighting because he had no other option. He was fighting because he chose to. And that stands in the face of what some of us believe Dumbledore believed. To me, what Dean does is a different kind of bravery than Harry's. Not lesser different. Harry's willingness to die was at least in Part constructed, shaped by years of deprivation, by deliberate removal of alternatives by a boy who had been made to feel that the wizarding world was the only thing worth saving because it was the only thing he had ever been given. Dean's bravery had none of that architecture behind it. He had an exit and he didn't take it. He showed up anyway. And it's interesting because as I've been

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

thinking about this after the first episode I was in the discord with the chronic overthinkers and we were kind of just thinking through some of the things that had come up in the episode.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And one of the things that came to me was a question of if Dean had known who his father was and claimed his half blood identity, would he still have been safe? On the surface we could say, yeah, right, he would have known he was half blood. He would have known a name, a history, a frame for the absence that had shaped his entire life. He would have known that his father didn't leave, that his leaving was a form of protection, that the silence was a form of love and that what felt like abandonment was actually intentionality. But here's what knowing would not have changed. I don't think the Death Eaters would have cared. His father's refusal was not a credential in their ledger. It was a crime.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

A wizard who said no to Voldemort

[Professor Julian Womble]

in this economy and then disappeared and died, was killed. That is not going to go unnoticed. Unobserved, unretaliated against Dean is on the run. Either way, wandless, either way, hunted. Either way the machinery of the magical oppression would have found him regardless of whether he knew who he was and where he came from or not. The only thing knowing would have changed is the story he told himself in the dark at night in Shell Cottage. Whether the absence felt like abandonment or like armor. Because this series does teach us over and over again that children suffer in their parents wake. Harry suffers because he has Lily's eyes and looks like James. Draco suffers because Lucia screwed up in the battle of the Ministry. Neville suffers because his grandmother is absolutely mortified at what's happened to her son and his wife. Voldemort even suffers because of the family that he came from. Parents make choices. The children inherit the consequences. They are shaped by the forces they didn't choose and cannot always name. They move through the world that their parents decisions made and that they must now navigate without a map. And I think Dean is that pattern's quietest example. His father stood in front of Death Eaters and said no. And he paid for it with his life. He paid for it with his son's understanding of who he was in the magical space. He paid for it in a currency Dean didn't even know was being spent. And Dean, who thinks his father left, who carried that story his whole life and built a sense of self on a foundation with a massive hole in the middle of it, shows up at the Battle of Hogwarts and makes the same exact choice his father made without knowing it, without knowing him, without the information that would have made him recognize that connection. Dean's father's refusal made Dean possible. Dean's presence makes his father's refusal mean something. Neither of them would ever know the full shape of what they built together. That is the thing Rowling decided was surplus to requirements. And I want to name what that cost, because it didn't just cost Dean a backstory, it cost the series. One of the only examples it has of a father doing what we see mothers do at the highest possible register. Throwing himself between death and his family, paying everything. Leaving behind a child who would one day have to make sense of a world shaped by sacrifice he was never told about. Lily gets the incantation. Narcissa gets the whispered question in the middle of the battlefield. Molly gets the line. Dean's father gets a tweet, a wiki entry, a narrative that was cut. And most readers will only ever know the surface of this story. A black child who doesn't know his dad, who's on the run, who shows up at the battle, who's quietly heroic in a way that the text never stops to honor. They will not know that what looks like absence was actually protection. That what looks like abandonment was actually refusal. That what looks like a boy with a hole in his history is actually the continuation of a legacy that began before he was born. A legacy of standing in front of dangerous things and saying, not today, not them, not my family. There's a particular kind of thing about not knowing that extends to some people and withholds from others. Not knowing is what defines so much of how we understand Dean's narrative. Not knowing is how structures of inequality are maintained. We don't know Dean's story, so we can't think too deeply about it. We can fill in the gaps with our pre existing societal knowledge, which allows for us to engage in unintentional, implicit white supremacist belief structures. Potentially, a black boy without a dad. Well, we've heard that before. That feels very on brand. We'll think nothing of it and we'll keep it moving. That is how these structures persist. The not knowing, the structurally intentional ignorance that is placed on all of us. None of us are immune. Whether it be white supremacy, whether it be cisgenderism, patriarchy, heterosexism, none of us are immune. And there's a way that the systems, like the author of this text, invite us to simply fill in the gaps with what we know, with what's comfortable, with what, what makes us feel good.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

I alluded to a post that I made the other day about how there

[Professor Julian Womble]

are no white people in Harry Potter

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

because they're never described as white, but all of the characters of color are

[Professor Julian Womble]

either described or given names that allude to some sort of racial or ethnic status.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

And I've posted this on TikTok, and I've posted this on Instagram, and people are mad.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And it's fascinating to read because what their argument is is that, well, the UK is majority white and was at the time for sure, when the.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

At the time the books were written.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And so as a result, it is not necessary to name whiteness. You don't need to know that they're white to recognize and believe that they are white. So why do we need to do that? And what else is interesting, right, is that there is this entire conversation of all these different traits. Red hair and freckles, green eyes, and all of these things are construed as belonging to white people. And I kept thinking to myself, wow, this is really fascinating because people are really upset when all I said was, what if we just named our white characters white? What if we just called them that? What if we said that that's who they were? What if the narrative included that detail? What would it change? Nothing.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Maybe something.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And I think that there is this idea that not knowing something doesn't mean you don't believe in it, because white supremacy operates from a space where we

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

don't talk about it at all. Hence the people being mad that I'm

[Professor Julian Womble]

even invoking the notion of whiteness. But these people still believe in it. Those commenters still believe in whiteness, even if they don't name it. And there is a way that even if we don't name the potentially racial thought process that we go through, and we hear in Deathly Hallows that Dean's dad is gone, there's something that feels, well, like, yeah, okay, very few of us ask any questions about that because it feels like a tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme. Dean don't know his dad anyways.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

That was a Musical Interlude

[Professor Julian Womble]

There is a way that I think we find

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

ourselves

[Professor Julian Womble]

not knowing and we like it. And I think that this entire narrative and the omission of Dean's full story and his dad not being included in the narrative because it was seen as unnecessary. What that invites me, and I hope you, to think about, is how much richer we are now for knowing that, for recognizing the amazing parallels between Dean and Harry's stories. That sometimes knowing and seeing the things that are meant to be unseen because

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

they are either cast as unnecessary or

[Professor Julian Womble]

unreliable or too heavy or too deep, can actually enrich the stories we've been telling ourselves, the stories that we seek to escape to, the stories that we tell to others, and that in a world where we are so invited to

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

do like the author of this text did, and just remove necessary and important details about characters of color because we just don't see them as necessary to the overall narrative, despite the fact that others have narratives that are included for reasons unknown.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I think that knowing these things can help us learn and grow, and seeing

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

and recognizing these things is part of that process.

[Professor Julian Womble]

And I think that Dean helps us do that in no uncertain terms. So thanks Dean, and thanks Dean's dad. 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.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Please feel free to like rate, subscribe and do all the things that one does where plots are cast y'.

[Professor Julian Womble]

All. That was so much fun.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

Thank you all so much. For those of you who participated in

[Professor Julian Womble]

the post episode chat and commented on Spotify.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

If you want to follow me on social media where people also submitted their thoughts, you can follow me @Prof.JW on Instagram or ProfW.

[Professor Julian Womble]

On TikTok.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

You can also send me an email at criticalmagic theorymail.com you can also check

[Professor Julian Womble]

out our website criticalmagictheory.com or join us

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

on Patreon for the post episode chat for this episode.

[Professor Julian Womble]

Patreon.com criticalmagictheory y', all. Seamus's survey is up.

[Co-host of Critical Magic Theory]

You will be getting it again just in case you forgot.

[Professor Julian Womble]

I can't wait to hear from you all. Until then, be critical and stay magical my friends. Byee that was on pitch.