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Critical Magic Theory: An Analytical Harry Potter Podcast
Prof Responds- Gilderoy Lockhart: Ravenclaw or Ravenfraud?
00:46:17
In this Prof Responds episode of Critical Magic Theory, Professor Julian Wamble dives into the dazzling disaster that is Gilderoy Lockhart—our favorite fame-chasing fraud. From his misuse of memory charms to his obsession with applause over...
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- [00:01]
Narrator
You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options, and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.
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- [00:56]
Professor Julian Womble
Terms apply. Lounge access is subject to change. See capitalone.com for details. 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 Womble and today we are going to be doing the Prof. Response episode for Gilderoy Lockhart. Y' all really brought it. You do. That's the thing that you do. But I really loved the conversation that came out in the post episode chat for Gilder Eyes episode. So thank you all for those of you who participated in that. You all know that before we need to get into all of the things because there are some things that we need to talk about. The first thing we need to do is bop. I feel like at this point bopping is like stretching before exercise, right? Like it's you've got to get your muscles warmed up, your brain, your legs. I don't know what you're using your legs for when you're listening to this, but whatever it is, you've got to get yourselves prepared. And so again, as always, because I'm magnanimous and generous, I'm giving you this time as I fill so that you can get yourselves ready to bop along to the theme song. Okay? Because that's what we're doing in three, in two, in one. Let's bop. The whisper is saying, I guess we need to talk about Harry Potter. Sam, I hope, sincerely hope that you danced, y' all. I love when we have characters that we don't get throughout the series that we really get to dive into because I feel like it's there that we really kind of strike gold as a community because we just dive in in a way that feels so much in line with what it is that we're doing here. I think this episode on Gilderoy Lockhart really for me was just. I had a blast doing it because he's such a mess. But then it also brought up a lot of really interesting things for us to talk about and also gave me an idea that some of you kind of prompted me to think about in the post episode chat. So again, I want to thank those of you who participated in the post episode chat for this episode and it was so good and some of you really brought some amazing thoughts that we're going to be talking about. The first thing that I want to talk about and something that came up quite a bit was this notion of kind of fame, fraud and this performance of masculinity, of competence. It strikes me for Lockhart that he didn't just want success, he wanted applause, right? Really did so many things that were driven by such a crazy amount of insecurity. And it's one of those things where it's like you're watching it all go down and in retrospect, right, you're like, oh, you elevated yourself to a place that you couldn't maintain, right? Like you took yourself to a place of like, I'm so famous for all of these things. And so now I believe that everyone is going to expect more from me as a result, which obviously isn't grounded in any reality because no one expects anything from him other than what he kind of brings to bear, where he shows up and he's like, oh, I can do that, I can do that. And I know in the episode I said, I think he begins to believe his own hype. And maybe that's true in part, but the more I thought about it and the more I read through your comments, the more it kind of occurred to me that perhaps this is the byproduct of him really feeling like he had to over perform and overcompensate because he thinks that everyone else expects this of him, right? Because he doesn't know how to be famous. Like I said in the episode, he doesn't know how to be famous. And so, like, it's so insane to watch because so much of it is like, why are you even doing this? Like, why are you trying to heal Harry's arm? Like, it just seems like such an unnecessary thing. And I think, yes, some of it is insecurity, but I think it's both insecurity in terms of his ego, but also he's insecure insofar that he thinks that everyone has these expectations of him and expects him to do these things and so he just does them. And so many of you brought some things to bear here that I think are really fascinating. Carmen wrote, he suffers from tech bro syndrome. Doesn't think to question if he should just because he can. He's lazy, entitled and fraudulent. He's a glorified grifter. Nico wrote, he has some serious self image issues and needed control over how people perceived him. He created the perfect image out of bare faced lies. The insecurity is the story which, like, yeah, right. Like there's so many things of, like the smoke and mirrors of his existence really led him to believe the hype, but also to believe that other people believed the hype, right? And so he's like, oh, like you think that I'm so competent, so I've got to, you know, cosplay competence, which is a crazy thing to think when you know that you're a liar. And again, like, it just strikes me as so odd that he would not try to keep a fairly low profile and just kind of like eat his food and go home, right? Like, he wouldn't just do the thing he needs to do and be done. The idea that, that he would turn around and be like, I'm gonna do all of these things and just insert myself. I think it's more than insecurity. I think it speaks to a different kind of delusion, right? Like it's not even just him buying into his own story, but it's the belief that other people have and his kind of deeper delusion that he now has to meet the expectations of other people that no one has actually ever given voice to bear. Wrote Lockhart would fit right into consulting style over substance. Delusions of grandeur, no follow through. That's why he's a compelling villain. And Charlie wrote, the colonialism analogies here are spot on. He's not just stealing knowledge, he's erasing people, rewriting stories and branding the truth as his own. And it's so fascinating because what Lockhart really forces us to confront is how easily performance can substitute, can be a substitute for substance, right? Especially when the person performing it is an attractive white guy, right? So much of the way that we're meant to understand Gilderoy is through this kind of like, you know, act the part you want people to believe about you, right? So, like, he's not a person who actually comes with anything meaningful. He's an individual who is just like, if I look the part, people will think I have the part. And I think it's so fascinating. As a person who, you know, absolutely is a fundamental believer in the notion of fake it till you make it, I can understand to a certain degree what Gilderoy Lockhart is doing. Like, I'm a person who I very rarely feel competent to do some of the things that I do. Like when I teach, for example, I just always joke like, he's a character that I play on tv. Even when I do this podcast, it's so funny because there are moments when I will kind of go off on a tirade and then finish it and be like, wow, that was really good. Like, who's that guy? Who is he? You know what I mean? Like, there are moments where I feel like. And I'm sure that I'm not alone in this. I think we all have our fake it till we make it moments. But the difference is, is that Gilderoy Lockhart is a fake it till you make it life, right? And the difference between him and Voldemort is that at least Voldy V had the wherewithal to kind of build a lore around himself so that everyone else actually did buy into it. He created a mythos that believed so that even though he was faking it till he could make it right, even though he was cosplaying pure blood supremacist, even though he was cosplaying someone who came from a certain heritage everyone already bought in, no one's buying into what Gilderoy Lockhart is putting down, right? Like, no one is buying it, partially because he's so bad at the cosplaying part, right? Like, it's kind of obvious that things are not right. He is so bad and Voldemort is so good, right? And he did the time to study. I think this notion of laziness and entitlement and the belief in everyone else's kind of absurdity and willingness to believe whatever is put in front of them kind of led him to not try hard enough, right? Like, I mean, even Umbridge, right, Who we are going to be talking about in the next episode, if you haven't done the survey, do it. But even Umbridge, when she's kind of cosplaying a pureblood, she does a good job. Like, she is not someone. I mean, she kind of goes a little bit overboard, but it's believable. Gilderoy Lockhart just thinks everyone else but him is stupid. And I think that there is something so kind of familiar about that particular idea, right? Like, we are surrounded by leaders that have this belief that the populace is kind of stupid. And to his credit, to Gilderoy's credit and the credit of some of the people who I'm alluding to, right? Like, there are people who buy it without any sort of provocation, without any sort of need to convince them. Like, there are people who believe this. And so I think that, you know, that's when you start to get lazy. And I think that that was one thing that Voldemort and Umbridge never took for granted. Right? They never believed that their performance was already gonna be just believed. And I think that that's the byproduct of, you know, Gilderoy's pretty privileged. I think Tom Riddle, when he was younger, definitely also did something like this. But I also think that he was hell bent on creating a narrative that was strong enough that he could fundamentally believe it as well, in a way that Gilderoy Lockhart seems to not necessarily be as. You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options, and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com convinced that he needs to do. And so it's really fascinating to think about the notion of fame. I was watching this interview with an actor. I can't remember which one it was, but he was saying, like, actors are the worst people to actually become famous because their whole, like, shtick is not being themselves. And then to be famous and have to do all of these interviews and all of these press junkets and all these things, you're then inviting them into a space where they have to be themselves and they don't really know how to do it particularly well. And so that there's something about the idea of fame and the disassociative nature of it that I think is really fascinating. And I think we've watched a lot of celebrities kind of, you know, rise and fall because fame is actually truly a fickle friend. And it is something that takes time to kind of cultivate and to learn. And I think Gilderoy wanted to be famous so bad. I mean, you know what? He kind of reminds me of some of the influencers that live in our existence right now, right? Where it's like, you can tell that what they want is fame. They want to be famous. And so they basically pretend that they already are famous in order to get famous, but they don't actually know what fame does to a person or what it means to be famous. And so then they flame out, like, spectacularly because they say something crazy or something for their past life comes up and they end up getting canceled, right? Like, we've seen this time and time and time and time again. And I think that that's really kind of. I think if I had to really think about Gilderay Lockhart, he is absolutely an influencer. Like, he is a YouTuber. Oh, my God. He could. He would have a YouTube channel and it would be all of his exploits and all of the things that he's done. That is. That's why he feels like he feels vaguely familiar to me. And it's because of that. It's because so much of his existence is basically played for the camera. Like, he would be a YouTuber. He would be a reality TV star. You hear me? Like, someone who just wants fame so bad that they're willing to do whatever it takes, and they don't really care about the cost or the harm. And that feels very on brand. And his pretty privilege plays a really big part in this because. Because he is so beautiful, people are willing to look past anything. They don't really care about the accomplishments. They just want to see the face. And so they're not really paying that much attention, right? Like, even our Queen Hermione, right, who is reading these books and knows all of these things, has a complete blind spot when it comes to Gilderoy Lockhart. Even though Ron and Harry are like, girl, something is not right. She's like, shut up. You don't know anything. Pretty pillage wins again. And it makes it easier to fake it till you make it. The next thing that I want to spend some time talking about is this notion of villainy and the question of whether or not Lockhart is a villain. Because, you know, a lot of people had this kind of idea, like, he wasn't a villain in Harry's story, but he was a villain in other people's, right? And how do we kind of reconcile him with some of the people who we absolutely recognize as being villainous, right? You're Voldemort. You're Umbridges, right? And I think that Lockhart is a reminder that harm doesn't always come cloaked in darkness or noseless or covered in pink with bows and cats. Sometimes it is sparkly robes and perfect teeth, right? Sometimes it's pretty. And I think that what makes Lockhart so dangerous, even though he's stupid, is that people are willing to believe him because he is pretty. And that makes him even more villainous. It makes me think of a lot of these wunderkind people who are running around here, right? Like I'm thinking of Elizabeth Holmes. I'm thinking of the guy who did the Fyre Festival, even the guy who did OpenAI, right? Like all of these people who may not necessarily be pretty conventionally, depending on what your taste is, if you think they are, I love that journey for you. But they are. They do have a prettiness in terms of their intellect, right? Able to kind of wow people with their vision, with their ambition, with their whatever. And so then people just throw money at them and then turns out they bring absolutely nothing to the table other than schemes, scams, plots and plans. And so they're able to kind of bamboozle people as a result of making people believe them for one reason or another. And like fully buy in, like literally invest millions of dollars into a thing only for it to end up stolen. And the product that they were hoping to get is a complete and other utter sham, right? And so it's really fascinating because when we think about Lockhart, right, we talk about this fake it till you make it, which can be a thing that is fairly innocuous. But when we look at what Lockhart does to make it, right, like the way that he fakes it, he doesn't just make up stories, he steals them. He doesn't just kind of concoct, you know, a narrative about himself or reinvent who he is. He literally goes and steals memories, changes stories, takes people's like minds and thoughts and memories away from them for the sake of being seen as someone of substance, of consequence, right? Lady Danbury wrote, this isn't a series of quote unquote bad choices. It's a consistent decision to elevate his status by any means necessary, including attacking children. That's a villain. Keisha wrote, he's a genius, just not a genius. People appreciate his actions reveal the gullibility of the wizarding world and the power of propaganda. Now, that's it. And I think that, you know, in some ways, villains are only as good as. As the people who allow them to persist. And I think that that's true for Voldemort. I think that that's true for Umbridge. I think that's true for Gilderoy Lockhart, right? The wizarding world is a place where it is so easy to get up to villainy because everyone there is willing to simply believe or not say anything if they don't or go along with the status quo. And I think that we're going to talk a lot about that in Umbridge's episode. I've been reading through your comments already and I've been preparing and I think that there's something to be said about this notion of gullibility in the wizarding world and the way that in some ways it's institutionalized and so that it's easy to exploit. And I'm not giving Gilderoy a pass here, but what I'm saying is that it is a lot easier to get away with things when people want to believe it than it is when people are predisposed to not believe in. Aiden wrote he was stuck in St. Mungo's probably forever. If there was a real world equivalent to what he did, we'd absolutely call it villainy. I think that this is right, right? Like, I think what's so fascinating is that he doesn't end up in Azkaban, but he ends up in the kind of Azkaban of his own creation, right? Like he goes by his own sword, right? Which is what Dumbledore says. And I think someone brought this up and highlighted the reality that Dumbledore must have known that this was all a lie. I don't even know what to make of that. I'm sure that it'll come up in the post episode chat, but we're not talking about Dumbledore right now. Okay, I keep priming you all, I keep priming you all with that. But I think that what's so fascinating about the notion of Lockhart as a villain, I think it is undeniable that he is one. And I know that it's not the kind of villainy that furthers our, our plot towards the Big Bad, right, towards Voldemort. But he does, he introduces the notion of villainy that, again, doesn't have to exist as part of the overarching understanding of what it means to be a bad guy in this world. And introduces the reality of how easy it is to be a bad guy in this world and fly under the radar, right? And I'm not even talking about flying under the radar a la Lucious, right? I'm talking about flying under the radar as someone who has actively stolen people's, like, memories and is living a life that is completely fabricated. And he's doing it and everyone is simply believing it because, like, there's no sort of checks and balances. No one. There seems to be very few skeptics, at least that we see, right? And maybe it's partially because we're getting this from Harry's perspective. We don't get the kind of broader bird's eye view of people. But what's true is that he's winning those Witch Weekly awards, huh? His books are selling out. And maybe, yes, you know, it's presented to us that this is a lot of, like, witches and women who are buying these things. And so maybe, you know, that works for him. And that tracks in terms of the way that we understand, even in our own world, you know, how people can rise to fame. But, like, it's fascinating because if he was, in doing this in the year of our Lord 2025, in the world of social media, like the number of TikTok accounts, that would literally be just trying to debunk his entire existence, right? Like, he, he benefits from a society that doesn't question authority, it doesn't question narratives, it just goes along to get along, all under the auspices of, like, maintaining a level of peaceability that then makes it easy to be exploited and easy to be manipulated and into believing certain things. And I think that no villain is a true villain if society doesn't allow for them to be.
- [22:59]
Narrator
You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options, and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.
- [23:27]
Professor Julian Womble
And I think that that's why he's able to fly under the radar. Because the other thing about villainy, right, is we create a narrative for ourselves about what it means to be a villain. And in this, in the wizarding world, it is Voldemort, right? Like he's the bad guy. It's Dark Wizards, it's Death Eaters. So that when you see other people who don't have a dark mark, who are not espousing, you know, radical pure blood supremacist ideologies, it doesn't always hit the same. And so then in your society, when you've defined it in such a very specific way, you miss all the signs. You completely ignore all of the evidence and you are looking at someone who's like, well, he can't be a bad guy, right? Look at him. He has a nose. Look at him. He wears beautiful robes, gowns, beautiful gowns, right? Like, he looks good. And that's not what evil looks like. Evil doesn't get to be pretty and evil doesn't get to be charming and evil doesn't get to be any of the things that we associate with, you know, good things. And it only works. And he's only successful at it because he is able to manipulate a society that is already predisposed to like him. They're already predisposed to want to believe him. And in that way, he's successful at making them feel like he's a good guy, even though he is not. He is a villain. And I think a question that I would kind of pose for us to think about is, you know, what, in our own societies, what do we think a villain looks like? And are there ways in which those definitions are too stringent or maybe too broad? And how are people kind of flying under the radar of our villain detector? One of the things that I said in the episode was about Memory Charms and talking about the fact that they are not illegal, right? Like, we see people use them all the time. And many of us had lots of thoughts on this, right? Like whether or not they are kind of a tool or a violation. And how do we understand the ethics of Memory Charms? And you know, asking larger questions about, like, what does it say about a society when one of its most casually used spells can erase someone's entire identity? Right. We tend to excuse right. Hermione's use of Memory Charms because her motives feel pure. But should intent matter more than outcome? How do we understand this idea of memory modification as it pertains to how ethical it is? Does it always contain this notion of control and domination? And I think people had a lot to say about this because I kind of give us this illegal versus legal dichotomy in terms of our understanding and how do we map that on with whether it's right or wrong? And many of you had some really great things to say about this. Matthew said the Memory Charm's usage by Lockhart is so egregious because it was used against wizards. Most of the time it's used against Muggles. And even then it's for protection. We're going to come back to that. Nadia says Memory Charms shouldn't just be illegal. They should be amongst the unforgivable curses. They all remove agency and none of them are okay. I think that this is a really fascinating way of thinking about it, right? Because some of you did present the idea that Memory Charms are okay. When we think about their usage on non magical people, we tend to believe. Or some of us, I should say, I won't put it on all of us, but some of us have the belief that if it's used against non magical people, it's fine because it's for the sake of protection, but when it's used on magical people, that's when we have to start seeking out some sort of regulatory practice because that's when it becomes an issue. And the reason why that's the case is because memory charms on non magical people are for the sake of protection. Here's the thing though, and this is where I get a little uncomfy when it comes to the usage on non magical people is that the effects that they have on magical people are the same that they have on non magical people. Right. And we are assuming that the usage is for protection and thus used with some level of discretion, however, simultaneously, concurrently. And I'm not convinced that that's the case. What we see, and we have a number of cases, but the one that always stands out to me the most is the Roberts family. In Goblet of Fire at the Quidditch World cup we see that they have absolutely addled the minds of these individuals. One, because they kept doing the Memory Charm on him throughout the registration for the Quidditch World cup when they were coming onto the campground, and two, because they had to do it on their whole family in order to remove the memories of what had happened the night before with the Death Eaters March. And so what we're able to see in this moment is that the usage of Memory Charms on anyone has really, really significant implications and impact on their lives. And if we're talking about doing things in the form of protection. Right. Like we can see how that's so easily abused those of us who are old enough to remember a world, particularly in the United States. But I think probably around the world Right after 9, 11, there was a lot of, like there were a lot of governmental regulatory practices that were put into place for the protection of American citizens that were and continue to be abused a lot. Right. And so that the idea then that, you know, in the name of protection we forego certain aspects of people's humanity, I think is something that is easily, easily corrupted. And the reality is, and I, you know, I'm a firm believer in this, I understand the notion of needing to be protected in the 1600s during the witch hunt. I am not convinced though that in the 90s when these books are taking place canonically, that the need for protection warrants the usage of magic against non magical people in the way that we see it used. And I think that the belief that it's okay to use it on non magical people even in the name of protection is outrageously problematic. One because they don't use it on everyone so often. We realize that, you know, Hermione's parents don't have it used on them until Hermione does it at the end. The Dursleys have all kinds of magical things happen in their home. They are never having their memories modified. So there are clearly a lot of people in and around the space who have a lot of awareness of magic and nothing is done to them. And I find it strange that in the name of protection these things are occurring and yet somehow there is a level of discretion that they're clearly having which means that there are alternatives to using Memory Charms and so they don't need to do it. And they do. And I just, I don't know. I don't know. It strikes me as really, really problematic the usage of them at all anywhere. And I agree with the belief that they are wrong and I agree with the idea that, you know, just because they are seemingly legal that doesn't mean that they should be used just whenever a person wants it. I, I think that this is true across the board though. I don't think that they are a necessity for protection. I think that there are other ways. Like we see Rufus Scrymgeour and Cornelius Fudge, just Gaslight the Prime Minister. There are clearly other Prime Ministers who are running around. I mean, they can't be that worried about it. They reveal themselves left and right. I mean, think about the very beginning of the series when they're all just running around apparating in and out celebrating all of these things and not even seemingly worried about non magical people noticing them. There are owls running around, shooting stars, all kinds of things are happening and they don't do anything. They basically just gaslight the Muggle world into just being like, oh, you're being silly. You know what I mean? They don't have to do this. And I think that if we are going to argue that Memory Charms are not okay to be used against magical people, I think we have to invite the reality that they shouldn't be used on anyone. And part of the reason is, is that because there is seemingly no difference in terms of, you know, the effect that they have on magical and non magical people. If they can be, if they can lead to what was done to Bertha Jorkins in Goblet of Fire where she literally is unable to function because of the Memory Charm placed on her by Barty Crouch Sr. Then there is no reason for us to believe that that couldn't be the case for other people. And if those are the true dangers that are faced by Memory Charms, then we have to acknowledge the fact that the notion of protection does not preclude the dangers. And it seems like this is one of those things where, you know, J.K. rowling writes these books and she really does kind of lead us to be fairly callous about non magical people. And part of the reason why is because the ones that we meet the most are the Dursleys. And we all have very, very strong feelings about them. And so we don't really care that much about what happens to them. Right. We don't care about Aunt Marge. And so I think we have to be mindful though that these things, these charms are dangerous. They're dangerous for magical people. They're dangerous for non magical people. And I think we have to be truthful and we have to acknowledge that Savannah wrote he being Lockhart, was going to Memory charm them so bad that he himself was adjacent to a dementor's kiss when it backfired. Attempting to harm children. Nope. Right. I think that what we ultimately see the Memory Charm do to Lockhart is such an indication of how dangerous these charms are and the fact that there seemingly is no regulation on them. Right. Like he's doing them and nobody is any the wiser about it. Right. Like they're not tracking it, they're not trying to figure out what's happened. These people who he has, you know, modified their memories are just running around here. Right. Earl Earliest he said, if someone could do wrong against you and then wipe your memory like a file off a flash drive, that would be way too many horrible possibilities. No way. This isn't villainous. I agree. I agree. And I also agree that if we are going to take this hard line against them, we have to take the hard line against them.
- [34:49]
Narrator
For you can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.
- [35:20]
Professor Julian Womble
Non magical people as well. I think I understand that there is this kind of very seemingly antiquated notion of protection. When we listen to them talk about non magical people, there's a level of condescension. There's absolutely no fear. They talk about guns as if they're just like water guns. They Talk about policemen as if they are just what, like they seemingly, when we meet them, do not care about non magical people and don't necessarily believe that they pose any true threat. Amos Diggory and Arthur are talking about them as if they are nothing. Arthur speaks so like kind of weirdly about non magical people as if they're children that it seems weird to me that the justification for using them against using Memory Charms on non magical people is that they are dangerous when very little in the magical world when we meet it suggests that that is the kind of prevailing belief amongst the magical populace. And if that is the case, then what we are actually witnessing is literally just an abuse of power because you can. And if we are going to invite, if we are going to condemn Gilderoy Lockhart, and rightfully so, for his usage of Memory Charms, I think we also have to recognize that when they are used against non magical people, they are just as problematic, if not even more, because you are using it against people who cannot defend themselves. Like we can have a conversation, and I know we probably will, about what Hermione did for her parents and the justifications and the reasons why, but at the end of the day, the reality is that they had so little agency in the moment where she performs the charm on them to defend themselves. Right? Like they couldn't. And at least if you're doing it with magical people, they may be able to put up a fight. And I think that there's something to be said about that. And in addition to the broader conversation surrounding Memory Charms, I think we also have to be very clear about the dangers that they pose, broadly construed, but also the lack of agency on the part of people who are not magical to be able to go and even potentially have them repaired. Right? Like if someone in the magical world noticed that their friend was off, they could go to St. Mungo's and see what they could get done. Right? Like you can't do that in the magical world. There's no recourse for you. So if we're gonna condemn Memory Charms, which I think that we should because they are bad and are the justification for why many of us believe that Gilderoy Lockhart is a villain, then that villainy does not stop when it's only magic. The last thing that I want us to talk about is whether or not Lockhart is a good Ravenclaw. Many of us had a lot of questions about this because, you know, what does it mean to be a good member of any house? And someone brought this up to me and said that we should do like a series of episodes on the Houses. And I think, I think I like that idea and I think we're gonna do it. And I feel like what I want to do is before we get into our heavy hitters, before we really dive into the Snapes and the Dumbledores, I want us to take a little bit of a break and talk about the Houses. And I feel like that would just be a good primer. One for two reasons. One, because I can batch record those episodes because I'm gonna be going on vacation in a few weeks and I want us to still have things to be able to talk about while I'm away, but I'm not gonna have like my big fancy mic to do my recordings on. And so this would be cool to just have a couple of episodes that I can do that I can just record prior to leaving and then schedule to drop for you all. And then we can have our conversations later on our post episode chat about the Houses. And then when I get back from vacation, then we can dive into the nitty gritty, the madness, the absurdity that is some of the bigger characters that are at the end of our half blood list. So we're going to get into what it means to be a good member of all of these houses and all of you are going to be able to give your opinions and then we're going to maybe have some definitions. Probably not though, because you all never come to a consensus about anything. Nuance, nuance, nuance. But anyways, back to the task at hand. When we're thinking about the idea of what does it mean to be a good Ravenclaw. Right. There are lots of questions about whether Lockhart fits the bill and how do we understand it. And many of you came with your own definitions. And I said before that this question's a little bit difficult because we don't know a lot about Ravenclaw House. We know that it's kind of rooted in intelligence, but that can manifest in a lot of different ways, which is what we discussed when we talked about Luna. And we've also not had that mini Ravenclaws that we've discussed thus far to really get a sense of it. And the ones that we have talked about, except Luna, have all been bad guys. And so how do we reconcile that? Right? Like if Luna represents the heart of Ravenclaw, does Lockhart Quirrel, do they represent the shadow side, this notion of intelligence and brilliance without boundaries? Right. Sarah H. He had to put 10 toes down to pull off his scam. He researched, schemed, and used his wit for years. That's very Ravenclaw to me. Nadia wrote, he's incompetent and unintelligent. He's not a good Ravenclaw. He's a fraud who never respected learning. Just the image of being smart. Cassie wrote, being a good Ravenclaw doesn't mean being a good person. Lockhart fits the work, smarter, not harder mentality. And he did it with wit and charisma. And Emma wrote, he belonged there, but didn't buy into, but didn't do right by the house. He refused to put in the work of actually learning. He didn't grow into his potential. But here's the thing, y' all, he learned something. I mean, again, the magic that he had to use is hard. And what we know, right, when we talk about the sophistication of memory magic, right, when we learn in Half Blood Prince about Voldemort imprinting memories or implanting memories, imprinting memories. What is this? Twilight? Implanting memories into other people's minds to make it look like they were the ones committing the crimes that he committed. Dumbledore acknowledges that that magic is very tricky. It's hard to get around. It's very, very, very sophisticated. And I think that what we're seeing here and what we're believing, right, is just that he just obliviated all these people. And maybe he did, but even still, you know, to cast a really charm memory, Good Lord. To cast a really strong memory charm, it takes a lot of magical ability and acumen and accuracy. Because part of what we can imagine, right, is that you have to remove a very specific part. And I don't think he's just blank minding these people. He's legitimately modifying these memories. And what we know, right, from the way that Voldemort talks about memory charms pertaining to Bertha Jorkins, is that these are charms that are easily broken and people can figure out what happened to you. So you have to cast a very strong charm. So the acumen is there, the ability is there, the knowledge is there. And maybe it's like, maybe he's only good at that one thing, but he's got to be a fairly decent writer or maybe as a ghostwriter, but either way, he's selling the story, right? He had to go and find these people. I think that, you know, his incompetence comes not from his ability to do these things. It's his ability to pretend like he knows everything. That's where he fails. Right? That, for me, is where I'm like, okay, but you're not a competent person. He's not a Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. Like, he just isn't one. He doesn't know what he's doing in that domain. But I think that we. I mean, we all have our specialties. We all have things that we're good at, and then there are things that we're simply not good at, like math. For me, I'm terrible at it. I just simply can't do it. Give me a calendar. See, I don't even know the word. Give me a calendar. Give me a calculator. Like, I. I'm not good at math. I'm good at a lot of other things. But, like, I don't know that I would say that I'm that because I'm deficient in this other thing. And maybe I'm being too generous, and I'm sure that someone will tell me that I am, but I'm like, no, he's good at the memory piece. And it takes a lot of work and acumen to be that adept. And I think part of the danger of a Lockhart is the perception that he is incompetent, because he isn't. And it's the same way that Quirrel was able to kind of fly under the radar of people in the castle with literal Voldemort on his back, and nobody knew because he was cosplaying this incompetent, like, squirmy kind of person. And maybe he was actually feeling all of those things, but people were just kind of like, oh, he's dumb. He doesn't know anything. And then it turns out he's actually pretty adept. And I feel like, again, part of the smokescreen. And I'm not saying I think that Gilderoy Lockhart is actually incompetent, but I don't think that that incompetence is like. I think that there are actual places and spaces where he is good at things. And we are led to believe that he's stupid. And he's not. Like, he survived this long, sold all of these books, told this story, wiped these people's memories, did all of this stuff, and no one was any the wiser. And yes, we can blame some of that belief on the gullibility of the magical world, but some of it is also on his ability to see, sell the lie. And that takes a lot of work. Like, lying is not easy. It is not something that you can just do very well and get away with, especially when you're in the public eye and he does it. And maybe it's pretty privileged at work. But I think we have to be mindful of the fact that being smart doesn't mean that you're smart in everything. Being wise is a completely. As far as I'm concerned, being wise and being smart are two different things. And we don't necessarily get a sense that Ravenclaws require wisdom. And I think, I don't know, I mean, I hope that we can get into this when we talk about Ravenclaws in more depth in a few weeks. But I am standing 10 toes down on the idea that I think he's a really good Ravenclaw. I think he is able to pull the wool over so many people's eyes by simply just not being smart, but also being smart. And there's something to be said about the ability to pull that off and fool a lot of people. Like, I don't know, like, did he fool Dumbledore? Cause it kind of feels like he did and maybe he didn't. But then that begs a larger question about a number of things. But, like, he got the job. So I don't know. I'm going to say he's a good Ravenclaw and I know the Ravenclaws are not going to like that. And that's okay because, you know, every house has people in it that we don't necessarily like or that we are not proud of. Except for Gryffindors. But that's propaganda and I said it. 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. If you have not filled out the Umbridge survey, please feel free to do so. You can find it at criticalmagictheory.com you can find it on the Patreon. I posted it last Thursday. Y' all. I cannot wait to hear hear your thoughts. I cannot wait for the post episode chat on this episode. If you do not follow me on social media, please feel free to do so at Prof. W on Tik Tok and Prof. JW on Instagram. Y' all. I cannot wait for the post episode chat on this. I know the Ravenclaws are coming. I hear the, the wings flapping. I. I hear them and I'm ready. I'm not ready, but I'm excited, y' all. Thank you so much and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on Umbridge. Until then, be critical and stay magical, my friends. Bye.