The One Who Got Away: The Search for Nymphadora Tonks

Summary

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Critical Magic Theory: An Analytical Harry Potter Podcast

Episode: The One Who Got Away: The Search for Nymphadora Tonks
Host: Professor Julian Wamble
Date: February 18, 2026

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Main Theme & Purpose

Professor Julian Wamble dedicates this lively, heartfelt, and “quite chaotic” episode to analyzing the character of Nymphadora Tonks (“Tonks” for short), inviting listeners to confront their love, disappointment, and lingering questions about her trajectory in the Harry Potter series. Through an in-depth survey and passionate community responses, Prof. Wamble explores Tonks’s unique qualities, the drastically shifted representation of her character, and the broader implications of how women are portrayed in literature.

“Because loving something doesn't mean we can't be critical of it.”
— Prof. Julian Wamble ([00:56])

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Initial Reception of Tonks

• Tonks as a Palate Cleanser: Tonks is described as a “palate cleanser” after heavy episodes, someone listeners often adore while also feeling frustrated with her ultimate portrayal ([01:12]).
• Episode Structure: Prof. Wamble draws on survey responses from the podcast community, noting that some unexpected, even “spicy” perspectives emerged—especially about Tonks’s relationship with Lupin and their power dynamic.

2. Tonks’s Characterization: From Order of the Phoenix to Half-Blood Prince

• The Two Tonks Dilemma:
  “Have you ever wondered whether the clumsy, quirky Tonks we fell in love with in Order of the Phoenix and the heartbroken, muted Tonks of Half Blood Prince are the same person?”
  — Prof. Wamble ([03:28])
• The Disappointment: Listeners and the host repeatedly return to the feeling that Tonks, as initially introduced—vibrant, funny, autonomous—was not the Tonks the series ultimately delivered.

3. Favorite Tonks Moment

• Heroics on the Train: Prof. Wamble singles out Tonks saving Harry from the train compartment in Half-Blood Prince (reassigned to Luna in the films) as a demonstration of her “deductive queen” skills and professional competence—even as she is written as emotionally distressed.

  “That is legitimately an Auror doing her job. ... I love the juxtaposition of this woman who we are taught by society when ... women are emotional, can't do their job. And Tonks is like, no, not only did I do my job outrageously well, ... I also used deductive reasoning.”
  — Prof. Wamble ([14:51])

• Patriarchal Logic in Play: Wamble contrasts Tonks’s professionalism despite emotional turmoil against Snape’s perennial emotional dysfunction and lack of compassion.

4. Tonks in Three Words

• Survey Highlights: “Loyal,” “Quirky,” “Brave” were the top descriptors from the community, landing Tonks firmly in a Hufflepuff mold but with her unique flavor ([21:33]).

  “She marches to the beat of her own drum. ... Outrageously brave.”
  — Prof. Wamble

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Tonks Through the Lens: Survey & Arithmancy Lesson

Prof. Wamble summarizes and reacts to community insights from 305 survey responses, delving into several key questions:

5. Is Tonks a Good Person? ([26:19])

• Overwhelming Support: 93% said yes.
• Qualities Cited: Kindness, courage, loyalty; willingness to defy pureblood expectations; fundamentally good.
• Quote:
  “Tonks is deeply undervalued by the narrative and by the fandom, and many criticisms of her seem rooted less in her actions and more in the discomfort with a woman who is emotional, imperfect and still courageous.”
  — Listener Survey ([26:58])

6. Tonks as Partner & Power Dynamics with Lupin ([32:47])

• Divided Reactions: 61% think she’s a good wife; many are uncertain—citing the ambiguous nature of their relationship.

• Discussion Points:

  • Her unwavering loyalty, even after Lupin’s abandonment.
  • The fandom’s sense that Tonks “lost her personality” in service to Lupin’s arc; frustration that her devotion seemed excessive.
  • Notable Insight: A listener introduces a reversal of power dynamics: as an Auror (and “cop”), Tonks has societal power over unemployed, outcast Lupin, challenging traditional readings.

• Wolfstar & Heteronormativity: Fandom lore suggests Tonks was introduced to disrupt a popular (queer-coded) Lupin/Sirius (“Wolfstar”) pairing, raising questions about narrative cost—especially to Tonks’s character.

  “There's a world where we have to grapple with the Tonks we thought we were gonna get and the Tonks we end up getting and who we blame for these things.”
  — Prof. Wamble ([41:56])

7. Is Tonks a Good Mother? ([46:37])

• Fraught Responses: Only 31% yes, 52% uncertain.
• Central Tension: Was her decision to leave her child to fight at Hogwarts a mark of bad parenting or heroic self-sacrifice?
• Critical Reflection:
  • The host highlights the double standards applied to Tonks versus other mothers in the series (Lily, Narcissa, Molly).

    “How is it and why is it that we are totally cool with rewarding Narcissa with, like, the Best Mom Award? ... But Tonks does it, and many of us are very, very, very dubious.”
    — Prof. Wamble ([48:42])

8. Tonks as a Half-Blood ([51:25])

• Her Rebellion: Marries a werewolf, takes her Muggle-born dad’s last name, actively rejects pure-bloodedness.
• Limits: While not a bridge to the Muggle world per se, Tonks’s life is an ongoing rejection of blood-supremacy ideals.

9. Is Tonks a Good Auror? ([53:40])

• Yes (75%): Listeners praise her skills, adaptability, respect from peers, and persistence despite her “clumsiness.”
• Lost Potential: Disappointment that the narrative overlooked Tonks’s Metamorphmagus abilities in favor of less competent characters for key missions.

  “She is goofy and she is clumsy, but she's also a good Auror and I think that that matters.”
  — Prof. Wamble ([59:09])

10. Heroism, Arc, and Narrative Grief ([61:22])

• Is Tonks a Hero? Most say yes (80%), but Wamble complicates: if heroism is simply doing one’s job, does Tonks qualify?

• The Real Issue:

  • Tonks’s “arc” is read as a narrowing—autonomous, joyful, and powerful to partner, wife, mother, then “maternal martyr.”
  • Grief for Lost Potential: The community grieves the loss of a “fully self-directed” female character, recognizing that much of their disappointment is directed not at Tonks, but at what the series did to her.

  “None of our feelings about Tonks are really about Tonks. This is about what was done to her.”
  — Prof. Wamble ([74:15])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tonks’s Deductive Skills:
  “Deductive queen like that is legitimately an Auror doing her job.”
  — Prof. Wamble ([15:22])

• On Navigating Emotion and Competence:
  “She does her job really, really well in ways that some of her men counterparts do not.”
  — Prof. Wamble ([18:10])

• On Narrative Disappointment:
  “She goes from self-directed power to woman waiting to be chosen, to wife, to mother, to martyr. … It’s not an arc. It’s a narrowing. And it doesn’t match where we hoped that she was going to go.”
  — Prof. Wamble ([71:50])

• Listener Reflection:
  “She feels like a person who exists for her own reasons, on her own terms, and in her own story.”
  — Survey Response ([66:14])

• Prof. Wamble’s Closing Reflection:
  “We deserved to see where she would have gone. Not the wife. Not that there's anything wrong with being a wife, but we have so many. Not the martyr. … but the woman who walked into Privet Drive with pink hair and a laugh and a particular kind of freedom that this series only gave us once.”
  — ([76:26])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:56] – Opening frame: Criticism as love, Tonks’s introduction
• [14:51] – Tonks saves Harry on the train: book vs. movie, Auror competence
• [26:19] – Survey Results: Is Tonks a good person?
• [32:47] – Is Tonks a good wife? Power, Lupin, fandom lore
• [46:37] – Is Tonks a good mother? Double standards & maternal sacrifice
• [51:25] – Tonks as a half-blood: activism & rebellion
• [53:40] – Is Tonks a good Auror? Clumsiness & lost potential
• [61:22] – Is Tonks a hero? Heroism vs. job, narrative grief
• [66:14] – The loss of unique female autonomy in Tonks’s narrative
• [74:15] – “None of our feelings about Tonks are really about Tonks...”
• [76:26] – Closing: What Tonks could have been

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Tone & Style

• Prof. Wamble balances academic analysis with humor, energy, and deep empathy for both characters and listeners.
• The episode is collaborative and community-driven, featuring listener responses and discord discussions.
• There’s a persistent undercurrent of radical vulnerability—naming both joy and disappointment in how the Harry Potter series shapes (and sometimes warps) beloved characters.

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Conclusion

Prof. Julian Wamble’s episode on Tonks is an intellectually probing and emotionally resonant exploration of character, fandom, and narrative—grounded in communal reflection. The episode honors Tonks’s initial uniqueness and mourns her remaking as a device in others’ stories, asking listeners to see their own grief and hope in the spaces between the pages.

“Be critical and stay magical, my friends.”
— Prof. Julian Wamble ([78:50])

Transcript

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We've planned for the plot twists, so support is always available because a great trip starts with peace of mind. 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. Hey, I'm Professor Julian Womble, and today we are talking about our Auror queen, Nymphadora. Tonks. Tonks for short. She does not like to be called Nymphadora. We're doing it for formality and because we've called every other character by their first and last name. But she will be referred to from here on out as Tonks. And don't you dare think of doing anything else. Y', all, I have a confession and I feel like I make this confession all the time, so you won't be surprised. But, you know, when I was thinking about, you know, who was gonna come after we were gonna do Fleur de la Cour and all these things, I said, we'll do Tonks. She's a kind of a palate cleanser, you know. So is Fleur. It'll be good thinking. Most people really love Tonks, and the reality is is that most of us do, but we do not like the way that Tonks was treated. We have a lot of questions, we have a lot of follow ups, we have a lot of concerns as it pertains to Tonks, and we are not shy about letting those things be known. And so this episode is quite chaotic. Let me tell you something, you know, if you don't follow me on Instagram, totally fine, completely understand. But whenever I try to solicit responses to the survey outside of the Patreon and the listserv, I always post on my Instagram because there are a lot of people there and people who like to fill out the surveys but may not, you know, want to commit to subscribing to things. Totally cool. And I always pick the kind of juiciest, spiciest bits to read for to get people to kind of want to fill out the survey. And you all delivered because I was shook about a couple of the comments. One of them really brought Twilight to bear, which I was unprepared for. Another one brought up a power dynamic at work between Lupin and Tonks that I wasn't ready for. You all are not feeling the Lupin Tonks moment, and you made that very clear. And so, as always, there's a lot for us to talk about, a lot of things to break down, a lot of introspection about what Tonks means to us. Because I think that a lot of the disappointment that many of us feel as it pertains to Tonks is the byproduct of not getting the Tonks we thought we were promised In Order of the Phoenix? And that is something that is going to come up time and time again, and I cannot wait to get into it. Have you ever wondered whether the clumsy, quirky Tonks we fell in love with in Order of the Phoenix and the heartbroken, muted Tonks of Half Blood Prince are the same person? Or whether going to the Battle of Hogwarts with a newborn child at home made Tonks a bad mother? Or whether fighting to end a war your half werewolf child was will have to grow up in is the most mothering thing one can do. Or whether Tonks was a woman deeply in love or a woman who simply refused to accept rejection? And whether the line between those two things is as clear as we think it is, y', all, we are getting into every bit of it in this episode. But first, but first, but first, but first, you know what we have to do you know your dreams are coming true. The bop is coming straight to you. So get ready to do what you've gotta do. Cause when the bop. No, when you bop, the fun don't stop. That's it. That's it. That's it. Anyways, whatever, it was a work in progress. It was off the dome. I don't have any judgment. The bop is coming to you in three, in two, in one. Let's bop. Sa. I hope that you dance and that you can appreciate the difficulty that is improvising a new song for you. Because I can still feel the judgment, friends, and I don't like it. But that doesn't change the fact that I am glad that you are here. Welcome to everyone. Welcome to those of you who are joining us for the first time. For those of you who are catching up or who have caught up, I know that some people are skipping ahead because they read some of those comments on Instagram and said I need to be there for the Tonks episode. Welcome to you out as well. Thank you. For those of you who participated in the survey for Fleur and in the post episode chat, I personally learned a lot. As always, the Fleur episode was another one of my favorite surprises and I think the Tonks episode is going to definitely fall into that category as well. I was talking to some of the chronic overthinkers as the in between the episodes on the Discord. Um, and there are just so many things for us to have a conversation about and I'm very excited. Speaking of chronic overthinkers, I would like to welcome our newest recruit, Keena. Thank you so much for joining us. And if you would like to become a chronic overthinker, a deep Diver or an or an outstanding owl, it's a lot of O words. You can join on Patreon for free and join us in our post episode chats and you can join with a paid subscription to become an outstanding owl Deep Diver or Chronic Overthinker. And y', all, it's a good time. And if you are a deep Diver or chronic overthinker, you can also join the Discord where we have you want to talk about the bop, don't stop. The fun, don't stop. That's where the discord comes in. And so if that is your vibe, please feel free to check it out. It is a lot of fun and there are just so many ways that we get to connect with one another. If you, if those things are not appealing to you, that's also okay. You can support the podcast in other ways, namely by rating, sharing, and doing all the things that get the name of the podcast out there. I've heard that many of you are, like, forcing people in your lives to listen good. That is what we're all about here. Forcing people to do the things that we want. Sometimes it matters, and sometimes it's important. All right. Speaking of doing important things as a community, we made our first donations from the listener merch drop to Trans Lifeline, the Okra Project, and the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. And now we have another drop right in time for. Well, Valentine's Day is over, but anyways, it's still a time of love, because, you know, love doesn't have a time limit. So we have some merch in the merch store that is up right now. There is the in my lab Lab era shir. And also mini shirts and stickers and things of that nature. And the CMT debate team merch. And also. And I'm very excited about this. I'm excited about all of it. But I love a jogger. Like, I'm a sucker for a jogger. And we have them now. We have critical magic theory joggers. And I'm beside myself. Yes, I did take executive privilege and order them for myself already because I don't want you to steal them or. Or take my size and we run out. I won't have it. So I got them myself. And I'm so excited because the merch quality is generally very good. Okay. So please feel free to check that out. Criticalmagic theory.com you click the merch button, it will take you right there. As always, a special shout out to Cassie, who has become our merch czar, which sounds ominous, but it's not. It just is also very succinct. And we are grateful to her and to our artist, one of whom is Cassie, and also Brit, who came up with these new designs. So thank you to you both. And our next episode. Our next survey is going to be on Cho Chang and ooh, my gosh, I love that this is all lining up this way. I planned it this way, but didn't think of it this way. So I'm excited. I also think I was thinking about it today. I think I'm gonna do a special episode on Dean Thomas. Cause it's Black History Month. Maybe I'll just do one on all the black characters that we get since we don't get that many of them. And talk a little bit about, like, how race operates within the wizarding world. Because it seems weird that I, a black person. Did you know that I was black? That was a joke. Unless you didn't know, in which case I am. But if you did know, then you are in on the joke and you're also laughing. It's Black History Month in the US and so I would be remiss to not take a moment to highlight some of the characters in these books and what they bring to us and what we can learn from them, since that's the name of our game. But the next survey will be on Cho Chang and I'm ready. Well, I'm not ready. I'm never ready. But I'm excited. And that will be up for you all on Thursday on the Patreon and then you will find it in the link in my bio as well as on my social media roffw on TikTok and roffjw also on criticalmagictheory.com and it will be sent out on the listserv sometime during during the weekend. If you follow me on social media, you will also see those links come up quite a bit based on whatever the people on Patreon put first because the hottest takes come from Patreon and then I use those takes to solicit more takes from the people on the Interwebs. So if you want to be among the first to get your takes taken, take yourself over to the patreon patreon.com criticalmagictheory and you will see it there on Thursday. But before all of that, before we get into any of that, let's get into talks. My shopping style is more stay at.

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When I had to think of my favorite Tonks moment, I really had to rack my brain because I was like, oh gosh, like, we don't. We spend time with her, but there's not a lot of, like, substantive time. But then I remembered this moment. And the reason why I forgot it was because it's different from the books in the movies. And so I was like, oh, right, that is a moment. And it's the moment many of you just guessed what it is, but it's the moment when Tonks goes and saves Harry from the train that is leaving Hogsmeade right at the end of Half Blood Prince, when he's left immobile under the invisibility cloak and hit with the body bind curse, thanks to Draco. And he's trapped in this compartment. He can't move, he can't call for help, and he's freaking out because he's like, I don't know what I'm gonna do. And he hadn't learned nonverbal spells. And so he's kind of like doing this whole woe is me thing. And Tonks is the one who finds him. And for those of us who are very well versed in the movies, we know that it is Luna who is given credit for that in the movies, but in the books it's Tonks. And what really stood out to me when I went and found this moment in the books today was when Harry asked how Tonks knew where he was. She doesn't say she sensed something was wrong or she just had a feeling. She says she noticed that he didn't get off the train and she knew that he had the cloak and she noticed that she was patrolling the train, that the blinds were drawn in one of the compartments, so she checked. And I thought to myself, okay, deductive queen like that is legitimately an aura doing her job. And I love that because I think it's such a rich moment, because this is a moment where we're In Half Blood, Prince Sirius has died. We've seen Tonks prior to this moment. Cause she's been to the borough and everyone has noticed just how kind of forlorn she is, both in terms of her personality disposition, but also in terms of her appearance and her aesthetic. She's depressed, she's mooted, she is struggling. And we see like, Molly is kind of trying to cheer her up a little bit, but also kind of like, girl, get it together. And no one knows what's going on. And yet in this particular moment, despite all of that, she does her job. And I think that there's a way that we can forget how good of an aura she actually is. Because, like, that kind of deductive reasoning really does mean that you are paying so much attention. And I think it also cuts directly against one of the most kind of persistent tools of patriarchal logic, which is the emotionality of women, makes them incapable of leadership, of being in power, of doing things right. That a woman, quote unquote, in her feelings can't be sharp and precise or excellent professionally. And what I love in this moment is despite everything that she's feeling, and we know that she's down because as they're walking from Hogsmeade to the castle, Harry notes, like, our good sis is not looking great. There's a lot of wear and kind of emotional distress in her appearance. And yet she still is there doing her job. And I love it because it's like, yeah, because she's competent. Ever. Ever heard of it? And then the moment with her ends with Snape, who is completely emotional all the time, despite being like, fairly withdrawn in terms of how he externalizes it. He's always so emotional and bitter and angry and petty and messy. Right? And he can't even begin to be concerned with, like, why it is that Harry wasn't on the didn't. Why he didn't take the carriages up, why he was left behind. Like, all the while he's been charged with taking care of Harry in the same way that Tonks was. And yet his emotional space doesn't allow for him to actually do the one thing that he's been charged with doing. And I love the juxtaposition of this woman who we are taught by society when they, when they, when women are emotional, can't do their job. And Tonks is like, no, not only did I do my job outrageously well because I noticed he didn't get off the train, I also used deductive reasoning to find him recognize that there's a Cloak and then expel the cloak, unbind him, and get him to the castle safely. And on top of all of it, I fixed his nose. And Snape is like, girl, girl, girl. Mumble, mumble, mumble. I'm gonna take 50 points because I'm just being a jerk. And it's like you can't get over yourself for a second to make sure that this student who's been putting your charge both because you're a teacher, but also because you're. You can't, like, set aside your messiness for just a second to make sure that he gets to the castle safely. Okay, guess who can. Tonks. And I love that because it really does stand in the face of the way that society kind of conditions us to understand how women navigate emotion. And what's more is, I think it speaks to the literal truth, which is that so many times women are not invited to. To actually emote, and so they have to internalize. And then they paid the price for it, because if it does manifest in any physical way, men and boys like Ron and Snape, in this case because he makes a comment about her patronus, have a lot to say. But nobody's saying anything to Snape. And I think that this is a moment that I really like because it's so rich, even in its brevity, and kind of lets us a lot of things about who Tonks is that she's a person who wouldn't allow for her personal circumstance to dictate her job and that she does her job really, really well in ways that some of her men counterparts do. When asked what word best describes Tonks, the top three were loyal, quirky, and brave. Yes. I mean, you all really kind of nailed it, per usual. You all are just so good. I think that the thing about Tonks that I do love, and I think that kind of sums her up and also speaks to kind of the connection between who she is and being a Hufflepuff, which, yes, we will have a issue. Good Hufflepuff question. I realize that I didn't put it on here. It was brought to my attention. I won't say I was chastised, but there was. There might have been some all caps. There might have been many messages sent to me on the discord, but it was just gentle reminding. An invitation, if you will. And so there will be a question on the Patreon before we do the Prof. Response episode that assesses whether or not we think she's a good Hufflepuff and why. So stay tuned. For that. I think that the idea of her loyalty is really important because I think when we think about her as an Auror, it really does make a difference. Not only that you are loyal, but who you're loyal to. And one of the things that I really take away from Tonks is just how committed she is to the right thing. You know, this moment with Harry and, you know, finding him on this train, that's her job. That's what she's there for. To protect him, to provide added security. And there are multiple moments in this book where she shows up and she just, again, doesn't let her personal circumstance undermine what she knows her job is. And, yeah, she's quirky, particularly when we first meet her, when we meet her in Order of the Phoenix. And she's like no other woman character that we've met thus far in the series, save who we meet later, Luna Lovegood. But even that is different, right? But there is a way that she marches to the beat of her own drum. And I think that that's something that many of us were drawn to for her. And there's a lot to unpack about that, but we'll get into that in a bit. And then, yeah, outrageously brave. I mean, brave for a number of reasons, if for nothing else, to kind of wade into this war, which, again, is her job. But there's a way that, like, I think all of the Aurors who are doing this work are brave. And so, I mean, in that way, she is like any of the other individuals with whom she shares a profession. Because I think, again, it's one thing to be a Dark wizard catcher when there are no Dark Wizards afoot, or there's one. It's a completely different thing when you know that war is coming and that, you know, Voldemort is back and you have to kind of be on the front lines of this thing, trying to protect people. It's one thing when you know that you are being put in charge of protecting the very life that the darkest of Dark Wizards is after. And to know that, you know, Voldiva has basically shown up at Hogwarts or in the Ministry of Magic or wherever for the last, at this point, five years, you just watched your cousin die at the hands of these Dark Wizards. Like, there's a way in which some of this is both professional, but it is also personal for her. And yet she's always there and ready, ready for a fight. And there's ways that we can. We're gonna unpack that in a little bit. But I think loyal, quirky and brave really do sum her up in such a beautiful, beautiful way. And I can't wait to dive into our arithmancy lesson to really get into the nuances of some of those dynamics. And so, without further ado, let's do it.

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[B]

For this episode's arithmancy Lesson, we had 305 responses. As always, is Tonks a good person? Is the first question. About 93% of us said yes, about 1% of us said no and about 6% of us said don't know. Someone wrote. Tonks is fundamentally kind, loyal and brave. She fights for what is right and stands with the order and consistently puts herself in danger to protect others. Morally, she is a good person. Someone else wrote, Tonks is a good person. She shows herself to be kind and caring to others, even the people she doesn't know very well. She is loyal and fights for a better world. I can honestly not think of a single time when she does something that would make her a bad person. Another person wrote, Tongs is unapologetic for her being clumsy and marching to the beat of her own drum. She's a young auror but well respected. She bucks off the pureblood agenda and openly defies it by loving and marrying Lupin when she knows that it will be unwelcomed by much of the magical community. And the last person wrote Tunks is deeply undervalued by the narrative and by the fandom, and many criticisms of her seem Rooted less in her actions and more in the discomfort with a woman who is emotional, imperfect and still courageous. It's my turn. Did I lower the key? Anyways, you get it. I don't think that there's any question that Tonks is a good person. I think that everything that we see her do has a level of selflessness to it that I think is really only something that we should expect to see someone from someone who is fundamentally good. She is someone who, again, is willing to put herself in harm's way for the people that she loves, whether it be harm's way in terms of, you know, spells violence, reputational cost and sanctions, she's willing to make these kinds of choices. And I think there's something so beautiful about that because I think that when we think about the idea of loyalty, which was a word that came up both in terms of describing her, but also in some of the comments, I think when we think about the idea of loyalty, one of the things that stands out to me about Tonks brand of loyalty is that it seemingly is without constraint, right? There doesn't seem to be a context where we might expect it to wane or waver. Like she just gives us loyalty. Like she is simply just a loyal person. And she does that sometimes in spite of herself, right? And despite the circumstances that she finds herself in. And again, we don't get to spend a considerable amount of time with Tonks, but every moment that we do get to spend with her, it just, for me at least reifies the idea that she is someone who not only is good, but believes in good and is willing to do whatever it takes to get the world that she believes is already there. And it's so fascinating because when she is, you know, pretending to be Harry, and I guess when she sees when the polyjuice potion wears off in the battle and Bellatrix is like, gunning for her, she seems like, wow, that's really crazy. You know, like, there's also this kind of, like. I mean, I know that she's young, but there's this kind of. It's not naivete. What's the word that I'm looking for? There's a kind of like a youthfulness to her, right? Like she doesn't seem jaded by the world. And even when she is sad about Lupin, there's still this kind of like, juvenescence to the way that she operates. I think that that's a word. I think I've heard it on a beauty commercial. But there's a way that she There's a youth to, to her experience that I also really appreciate because so much of the way that she operates in terms of her goodness is through the lens of no, but like the world is. Can be a good place. We just have to fight to make it so. And I can't help but wonder about, you know, the relationship that she has with her mother and the recognition of her mother's family and what that does to kind of push her to be this person. And then we get these glimpses of her dad as well and who he is and what he's willing to fight for. And so there's something really interesting about that dynamic at work that I think really does inform how good Tonks actually is.

[A]

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[B]

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[C]

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[B]

To Geico, the next question is, is Tonks a good wife? 61% of us said yes. About 6% of us said no. And 33% of us said don't know. In many ways, this question is kind of the most ambiguous question with a third of us saying don't know. And someone wrote, Tonks loved Lupin with a level of certainty he did not initially return, stayed committed even when he doubted himself and welcomed him back after he abandoned her during pregnancy. Her loyalty was unquestionable even when he did not deserve that level of patience. Another person wrote, she stands by her chosen partner and sees him for the man he is, and not as a werewolf to be feared and ostracized. Her personality is fun and she is one of the most vivacious characters in the series, or at least she used to be until she was in love with Lupin and lost all her personality. But I blame that on the writing, not Tonks. Someone else wrote, I can't get away from the juxtaposition of what Tonks wants and how she appears and what Lupin wants after their marriage. It's Lupin who's clearly suffering and I never see signs of Tonks acknowledging this or responding to it. There's a sense of selfishness about how she is with it all. Another person wrote, her devotion is never in doubt, but I'm not sure that's enough to be confident she's a good wife. There's a sense of selfishness about how she is with it all. I can't bring myself to absolutely denigrate her for this. She's just following her heart. It's my turn. Admittedly, this question is the question that I think many people are like, struggling with. And I think part of it is because we have to grapple with the Lupin of it all and thinking about who he is and who Tonks is. And I think some of this is tricky, right? We get to spend more time with Tonks than we do with Lupin. We've established Lupin as a character much more fully in Prison of Azkaban than we get to do with Tonks, in Order of the Phoenix. So by the time we learn of their, well, at least her feelings for him and his own sense of, you know, emotionality towards her, we don't quite know what it is because the only thing that he kind of says about why he can't be with her is that he's too old for her. At least that's what I remember. Correct me in the post episode chat if that's not correct. But I think that when we think about after they get married, right, Many, many, many people had a lot to say about this dynamic. And someone wrote, and I'm only including this because I think it's really fascinating and I wanted to kind of give it a little bit of a highlight because I think it was something that got a lot of people talking and I'm hopeful that it gets a lot of us talking. In the post episode chat, someone wrote Tonks had fallen for a man she has nothing in common with and bullies him into being with her. A woman with a job that sets her in a position of Power. Yes, she's a woman and he's older, but she's a cop and he's unemployed. And also, caveat, a werewolf. So the power dynamic seems somewhat reversed, which I think is really fascinating because it invites us to think about their dynamic in a very different way that I had not thought about. Now, I'm not going to cast any judgment on, you know, the power dynamic. I'm just throwing it out there for us to kind of noodle on, because I think there's a lot of us, there's a lot of people who, you know, think about this in ways that are kind of outside the way that we tend to think about Tonks. Right. And the dynamic with Lupin, because many people have brought up the age gap, but there is a bit of a dynamic here, and I think that some people will kind of, you know, be fairly incredulous about it, and I can understand that. But I think it is important to real remember that, like, Lupin is a werewolf. He is cast out by society, and Tonks is an aurora, and that that matters. And that there is a power dynamic in this. Right. And that even though it is not explicitly stated, like, she is a person who upholds the law, and he is often cast as someone who breaks it just by merely existing. And so even if, like. So there is a dynamic at work here, like, she could ostensibly ruin his life. And I don't think that we should un. That we should ignore that potential reality, like the possibility. Now, she doesn't. She loves him. She doesn't do that. But when I posted that on Instagram, people were dubious about it because it just doesn't register in our minds that she would do something like that. And I think that there's a reason why. And I think, again, it goes back to the first question. I think it's because Tonks is fundamentally. But the reality is, is that the positions that she is in and the position that he is in societally gives her a leg up. Not to mention the fact. And this is not something that she flexes around because her family has rejected her mother. But, like, she does come from a very prominent family. And so there are a lot of things at work here outside of the fact that she just is in. In love with this man. Right. And. And then, of course, there's the age gap. Right. Which I also think does a thing to the way that we view her relationship with Lupin. Now, there's a lot of stuff that goes on, off the page as it pertains to them that we really can't speak to. I think that there is. There are a lot of reasons for us to kind of be a little bit dubious about why Tonks is into Lupin, which is a question that many of you brought up. Just like the why of it all. Like, what is it about this man that would make you do this? And I think, again, there's a world where we have to grapple with the Tonks we thought we were gonna get and the Tonks we end up getting and who we blame for these things. And I think, you know, one of the kind of post canonical lore that it's not clear to me whether it's true or not, but is that after Prisoner of Azkaban, the moment with Sirius and Lupin, the Wolfstar agenda really began to take off and that we then get a lot of fans kind of shipping these two, and the author of the text was not a fan of this particular fanship. And so as a result, kind of threw a wrench in the plans in the form of Tonks, which we can have a conversation about. Because I think, you know, if that is true, and I don't know for sure, but if it is true that this was the decision that was made, it invites us to think about the kind of the necessity to perpetuate heteronormativity and who pays the cost for that, right? And it's like, not only us as readers, but the characters do, right? Because then all of a sudden, we've got a man who's in a loveless. Well, maybe he does love her, we don't know. But he's in a marriage that he seemingly is very kind of dubious about and then also ends up with a child. And he's like, terrified. And y', all, I'm not excusing what he did, you know, in the Lupin episode, I went off. But, like, we also spend a lot of time talking about the mental state that Lupin is in more often than not, which is why many of you were like, he wouldn't be a good partner. Now, this question is about whether Tonks is a good wife. And I think that as a wife, as a partner, post marriage, she does an amazing job as a partner. Now, everything leading up to that, right? Like, this wasn't a question about whether or not she was a good girlfriend, whether or not she was, or a question that invited us to think about, you know, why she's with him, right? Like, that's post episode chat conversations, right? Like, if you have thoughts on why she wanted to be with him, which the answer could easily be, she liked him. Maybe, you know, there's something about him that kind of reminded her of her father, you know, unfortunately. Well, not me, unfortunately. Many of us, you know, are attracted to the things that we were raised around. We don't know. It's not clear. Because what's more is no one ever asks her why she's into this guy. Uh, but at the end of the day, she is. And they get married, which she could not have done if he did not ask her to. Now, some of us may introduce that power dynamic again. I'm not convinced by that. Um, there's nothing in the text that offers us the belief that that's what's happened here. But I digress. I think with what we have and the fact that, yes, Lupin tries to run out on them and then she takes him back. She is there with him when she. She's there with him during the battle. Right. That there is a world in which, like, she loves this man and is willing to do anything for him. And honestly, Lupin deserves that kind of love, and so does Tonks. It reminds me of heated rivalry when one of the characters tells another character, you deserve. He deserves sunshine, and so do you. And I think that, yes, like, there are lots of reasons why we might be dubious of the dynamic. The age, the power, the off page kind of burgeoning of the romance. The fact that it feels like it comes out of nowhere. But at the end of the day, when we look at them and we see the dynamic at work, particularly post Half Blood Prince, once he seemingly agreed to be in relationship with her, there is love. There's also fear, there's worry, there's concern. But those are relationships. Right? But she is there with him and stands by him and protects him. And I think there's a world where, like, some of his reticence is the byproduct not of not actually having feelings for her, but rather believing he's not deserving of it. And those are two different things. Now, I don't necessarily agree with the idea that, like, she should have pushed him into a relationship he didn't want to be in. I also am of the mind that I don't think she could have. He'd gone this long. Like, why would he decide that now? Because he was being pursued by a younger woman. That, like, this was the moment to kind of jettison all of the caution that he had been having and do this right. Like, it seems so unlikely that she forced him into this now. Did she browbeat him Maybe. Or maybe it's just a matter of her being like, I don't want to be with anyone else but you, and that's it. And I think that there's a way that we kind of might build a narrative about her and how they arrived at this relationship that isn't born out of what we see in the text, but rather how the fandom treats her, which I've heard a lot about. And so maybe that's what's at work here, because a lot of people love wolfstar, and so they don't like Tonks as a result. And so when it comes to this particular question, people are uncomfortable and mad. Is Tonks a good mother? 31% of us said yes, about 18% of us said no, and about 52% of us said don't. No. Someone wrote, tonks is a good mom. Maybe 10 years ago, I would have had a different answer, but with the current political climate, I've had to ask myself whether I would leave my children behind to go put my life on the line to fight evil for a chance at a better future for them and all children. I think I would. Tonks risked her life knowing she could help stop a dictator. She did it for her friends, and she did it for her kid. Tonks is a good mom, someone else wrote. I struggled with the is she a good mother? Question. Then I realized there's a gendered element to it. She dies trying to make the world a better place for her kid, and then the fact that it actually happens. In the epilogue, Ted does seem to be in good hands, but definitely missing parents, someone wrote. As a woman, I cannot imagine knowing my partner was in danger and not immediately running to their aid. She was fully aware of the possibility she might die and not seeing Teddy grow up, but she had certain assurances which made joining the battle the only option for her. She also knew that if she and Lupin had died, Teddy would be okay. Someone wrote, one of them should have stayed back with their kid. Sorry, but I will die on this hill. It's my turn. Here's the thing that I think really stood out to me, and someone brought this up to me, and I think it matters. The entire series, that is Harry Potter, is prefaced on the idea of a mom sacrificing herself for her child. A child who was marked and, like, pursued by a deranged man. And I guess my question for us to think about is, what's the difference between what Lily does, what Narcissa does, what Molly does, and what Tonks does? How is it and why is it that we are totally cool with rewarding Narcissa with, like, the Best Mom Award? The entire series is prefaced on the sacrifice that Lily makes, but Tonks does it. And many of us are very, very, very dubious. And I also think it's important for us to at least give some sense of her own understanding of what is the right thing to do. Right? Because it's also noted notable that her father left her and her mom to go on the run because he was Muggle born. And yes, of course, like, Tonks is grown and her mother but, like, this is still a parent leaving his family to protect them, right? With the premise that, like, they would be okay. And I also think that, again, one of the things that makes Tonks loyalty so laudable is the fact that it doesn't come with constraints. I think one of my best friends is a mother of two, and we talk a lot about her concerns about, you know, having kids in this particular time and what it means and what you do to try to protect your kids from the realities, right? And how do you do that? And the answer in the wizarding world is easy, right? You try to stop Voldemort. And that feels. And she's an Auror. She's a warrior. Like, this is what she does. She went. She literally trained to do this very thing. And I recognize and understand and appreciate why people are like, somebody should have stayed with Teddi. I get it. I completely understand. But we see mothers in these books make decisions that are so similar to what Tonks does time and time and time again. And so I guess my question, and I'm going to pose it again, it's like, why is it different for Tonks? Why is the sacrifice that she makes that both she and Lupin make, which in many ways mirrors the one that James and Lily had to make? Is it because they had to make it and. And Tonks and Lupin didn't? Well, Lily didn't have to, right? Voldemort invited her to step aside and she didn't. And so I wonder, you know, what happens? Like, why does this. Why is this different?

[A]

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[C]

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[B]

Is Tonks a good half blood? About 67% of us said yes, about 9% of us said no and about 24% of us said don't know, someone wrote. Born to a woman the black family labeled a blood traitor, Tonks actively chose to cement her status as a rebel by marrying a werewolf. She lived entirely on her own terms, rejecting the supremacist structures her lineage represented. Someone wrote. Tonks is the worst half blood honors her Muggle born father by going by his his last name marries a werewolf, fights in the order. Tonks is the literal embodiment of rejecting pure blood supremacy, someone wrote. If being a good half blood means politically conscious, resistant to blood purity ideology and actively fighting systems that endanger people like her, then yes, she embodies exactly what blood supremacists hate. And one more person wrote she does not actively attempt to dismantle it, it being pure blood supremacy, I believe. But she does not connect or channel her Muggle roots either. She's a strong witch, but she does lead a life of kindness. And out of everyone, she was the most understanding. It's my turn. This, that was a little. I did a little twist on that one. Is she a good half blood? Okay, we have our two options. Does she try to build a bridge between the Muggle and non mag and the the Muggle and the magical world, or does she uphold pure blood supremacy? The answer to that for to both those questions is no, she doesn't. She and part of it is because and I think I was thinking about this as I was kind of contemplating this question. It's really hard to be a good half blood, y', all, because most of the people who are in this space, even if your father is Muggle born, you are encouraged to leave behind the Muggle world. So there's no way that she was going to be living a Muggle life and kind of bridging the gap. But she does absolutely fight against pure blood supremacy. She doesn't try to Dismantle it, sure. But like she fights against it every day and she doesn't really uphold it, right? Like she's not even doing any of the more subtle things that we talked about for some of the other Half Bloods because she does marry a werewolf. She does not only does she honor her Muggle born father by taking his last name, she names her kid after him. Like there is no rejection of this. And I think, you know, knowing where her mother came from and recognizing that and still kind of being who Tonks is tells us a very particular kind of story about how she understands herself and the magical world. I think that she, like Sirius, has such an up close and personal understanding of the ills and the dangers of Pure Blood supremacy. And I think we see both through her profession, but also in her personal choices, her seeking not maybe to dismantle the system, right, Because I think that there's a resignation that a lot of people in the magical world have about Pure Blood supremacist ideology. And I also think that similar to our own world, right, like when we think about supremacist ideology, we think about things in terms of like Death Eaters and not in terms of like structural inequality. And so yeah, maybe she doesn't try to dismantle the structure, but she does take out a few Death Eaters and that has to count for something. And so I think when it comes to her being a good Half blood, there is a way in which she's kind of living in this space of there's no way that she could meet our more idealized version of what it is to be a good Half blood. But she absolutely rejects the other definition of trying to uphold Pure Blood supremacy. And I would argue that she does it to greater effect than most of the other Half Bloods that we've discussed thus far. Is tonks a good or 75% of us said yes, 9% of us said no and 16% of us said don't know. Someone wrote Tonks is highly competent, trusted by the Order and skilled enough to operate in dangerous missions repeatedly. Her earlier portrayal shows her as capable, adaptable and respected in her field. Another person wrote, the most disappointing aspect of her career was not her performance, but how she was utilized. It is a striking oversight that the Order often employed Mundungus Fletcher for undercover work when they had a Metamorphagus, a rare and perfect natural spy in their ranks. This suggests that her older male dominated leadership may have overlooked her unique talents, failing to provide the professional opportunities her skill set deserved. And One more person wrote, hell, yeah for this one. Maddie Moody is universally described as a great auror, and Tonks is openly named as his protege and favorite. She fights well and she's practical, and she leads. She calls Moody out for wanting to further lengthen the journey to Grimaud Place when they're all wet and cold. She says no, and he listens. Cause she's right. It's my turn. Listen. I think, as I said in my favorite moment, that there is no denying how good of an aura Tonks is. And I think it's interesting and weird that we are invited to kind of see her, maybe is not as competent because she's clumsy. She even acknowledges it when she talks to Harry about, you know, the. You know, that she failed the stealth, but did really well with, like, disguises or something like that. And I think it's so fascinating because, like, one of the few things that we learn about her is that she's just super, super clumsy. And I think it's presented to us as a way to kind of be like, this lady's a mess. But many of you brought to bear in your conversations with me about this, some of the comments that were made in the survey that you all love that she's clumsy. And again, I think that there's a way that we don't get to see women characters be, like, flawed in this way. In this way. Right. I mean, there are plenty of flawed women characters in the books. Right. But most of those things are things that we have to kind of conjure ourselves and create in terms of, like, calling out. They're not presented to us as flaws. That's a better way of framing it. They're not presented to us as flaws. Um, but Tonks is. And it's an innocuous flaw. It's not like Trelawney, whose, like, big flaw is that maybe she stretches the truth a little bit because she's trying to get people to be afraid of her talent and her powers. Right. But it's something so fascinating to me because I think she's so good at her job, and there's no way in the world that Moody would allow her to be on the elite force that's protecting Harry Potter and doing all these things if she wasn't good. And I think it's interesting that the text really does kind of highlight the clumsiness as a way to be like, she's great, but is she. When we get to see many moments where she is outrageously good at what she does. And so, yeah, I think she's a great aura. I think that she does her job to the best of her ability. She does it in spite of many other things and she. I think that there is a point to be made about whether or not she's actually being utilized the way that she should be. And who's calling the shots in that? I love someone else wrote, you know, Tonks contains multitudes. She is goofy and she is clumsy, but she's also a good Aurora and I think that that matters. I think that it's important that we do have someone who can be good at their job and still be human and still like be a little bit messy. Like I don't know about you, but that's definitely my story. And so I love that Tonks gives us that and I love that. Yeah, she is a good auror who is also someone who like trips over their own feet. And yes, like those two things in theory shouldn't exist, coexist, but they do in her. And she does a good job at both of them. Right? Well, I don't know. You do a good job of being clumsy, but she does a good job at being an auror in spite of being clumsy. And she doesn't let it hold her back. And even though people point it out, she still keeps going. And I think that there's something really laudable about that.

[A]

This is the story of the One as an H vac technician, he and his digital multimeter are in high demand. So when a noisy office H vac turns out to be a failing blower motor, he doesn't break a sweat. With Grainger's easy to use website and product information, he selects the product he needs to keep everything humming right along. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click ranger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[C]

This is the story of the 1. As the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant, she knows the only thing more important than having the right safety gear is having it there when you need it. That's why she partners with Grainger for auto reordering, so her team members can count on her to have cut resistant gloves on hand and each shift can run safely and efficiently. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgrainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[B]

Is tonks a hero? 80% of us said yes, about 7% of us said no and about 13% of us said don't know. Someone said she fought for love and to live on her own terms. A total hero. Someone else wrote Tonks is not only a hero within the classical definition, but she's also kind of a personal hero. At least for me. It goes beyond her death in the Battle of Hogwarts 2. As a character, she teaches us that radical, unwavering love is the only thing sometimes keeping darkness at bay. That, I think is heroics in the best way. Someone else wrote, yes, she fought in the war, risked her life repeatedly, and ultimately died resisting Voldemort's forces. Her courage was not passive or symbolic. It was active, sustained and costly. Another person wrote, taunts is not a hero. I'm sorry, but not everyone can be a hero. She will be a hero for her family and little boy, but in the scale of the story, she's a soldier. Oof. That's chaos. And now it's my turn. Is Tonks a hero? People have said to me that my definition is too lax. And I think it's interesting because so often when we think about, like, heroism, I think, you know, when we think about soldiers, so many people are characterized as heroes. And here's the thing, and I'm not, I'm not gonna say like that I don't think Tonks is a hero because I think that heroism is afoot. But it's interesting in this case because in many ways she's doing her job right? Like she is a dark wizard catcher. There are dark wizards afoot. She is catching them. She dies doing it. Yes, but that's a sacrifice that could have happened in any of the moments where she was doing it in the capacity of being an auror. Now, it's difficult to know what that capacity is, but this is kind of what she signed up for. Does that undermine the heroism? I don't know. I don't know. But I think if we're using the definition that I tend to present, which is doing something that, like, you don't necessarily need to be doing it and doing it anyway in this way. I think Tonks doesn't really apply because, like, she should be doing this. This is what her profession is and she's doing it. And so can we give half credit, half heroism? I mean, she dies, yes, but lots of people die. And are we calling all of them heroes? I don't know. I'm probably going to get in trouble for this. The girls are going to come. They're going to come in that post episode chat and rant and rave. But good, good, I'll see you there. Some people will rejoice, though. But I do think that it's interesting because, yeah, she is a soldier, but like she literally is an Auror. Like, this is her job. This is what she's supposed to do. Fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts, it's like, yeah, but like, if anyone's gonna be there, it's gonna be the Aurors, right? Like, that's the thing. So is she a hero? I plead the fifth. We've now reached the point in the episode where I am going to share a reflection on something that I've spent a lot of time thinking about as I've been reading your responses about Tonks. And one of the things that I really kept noticing in your words and your reactions to my words is that so much of what we feel about her isn't really about who she is. A lot of it is about who we thought she was going to be. And I think that those are two different feelings, right, because one is a reaction and the other is grief. And I think what we're actually doing in this episode is kind of grieving may feel like too strong a word, but I think we are trying to name what we lost. Because when Tonks walks into the series, she's pink haired and laughing and knocking things over and not particularly apologizing for it, right? Harry notes on that walk back from Hogsmeade to the castle. He notes many things, but he says Harry looked sideways at Tonks under his cloak last year. She had been inquisitive to the point of being a little annoying at times. She laughed easily, she had made jokes. Now she seemed older and much more serious and purposeful. And I think that there's a way that we, like Harry, longed for the jovial, fun loving Tom with the pink hair changing her nose into a pig snout for the amusement of others. And I think part of that is because she does something that almost no other woman in the series does. She exist without a man parallel. And I know that that might sound like an academic way of putting it, but let me explain it, right? And I've said this before, right? Almost every woman in the series, every major woman in the series is structurally tethered to a man. McGonagall to Dumbledore, Molly to Arthur, Petunia to Vernon, Narcissa to Lucius, Umbridge to Fudge, Hermione to Ron and Harry, Ginny to her brothers, and then ultimately to Harry. Luna, who feels like an exception, functions as kind of a foil, the anti Hermione, the anti rationality. She exists in relation to something. And also I think that many people in the fandom kind of put her and tether her to Neville in some ways. Right? Which is why at the end of the movies, we see them together sitting next to each other, even though the books don't give us that right, because that is kind of her man tether. But Tonks just walks in at the moment we meet her. She's not a wife, she's not a mother, she's not a counterpart, she's not someone's ideological opposite. She doesn't need to stabilize anyone else's story. She's just herself. And I think that there's such a uniqueness to that reality because it disrupts the architecture of the series. What's more is I think it's not just that she's unattached, it's what the unattachedness allows her to be. Feminine without domesticity, powerful without masculinizing herself. Clumsy at household spells that define so many of the women around her, and elite at concealment and combat. She can reshape her own body at will. And she does it for herself. Not to be desirable, not to fit in, not to please anyone. It's expressive, it's playful, it's all hers in so many ways. Her power is self directed, it's autonomous. I think that this is the thing that we hold onto the most, right, this autonomy. It's the thing that many of us like, especially as we grow older and we learn more about these books and some of the characters. But for a moment, I just want us to also think about what it means to be a Metamorphagus. She can literally alter her body at will. That is bodily autonomy made manifest, made magical. It's hers in a way that is so unambiguous and undeniable. And she uses it to make herself funny, to make Harry laugh, to lift the heaviness of Grimault Place. And she's not performing it for anyone's approval. She is just being exactly who she is, fully and without apology. And we are invited, I think genuinely invited, to recognize that she is cool. Not to observe her from a distance, the way that some of us may observe Luna. Not to tolerate her. Harry actively thinks she's cool. Then the Order treats her as capable. She jokes, she fights, she shows up. She's loyal. She finds Harry immobile and invisible on a train because she is paying attention. Because she is just that good at her job, even when, as we will get to the narrative is doing everything it can to make us forget it. Every time she's on the pageant or the Phoenix, she earns it. And your Responses reflect that someone wrote the most realistic character while still being fantastically brave. Someone else wrote she is consistently herself. Someone else called her the true definition of chaotic good. And I think what all of these responses are reaching for is the exact same thing. She feels real in a way that is so specific to her. She feels like a person who exists for her own reasons, on her own terms and in her own story. And then Half Blood Prince happens, and we meet a different Tonks, this Tonks. Her hair is dull, she's withdrawn, her magic falters. And at first, like Harry, we think she's mourning Sirius because he's gone. Because grief is everywhere in this book. It makes sense. He was her cousin. He was another black descendant who was shunting the pureblood madness. He had been wrongfully accused. It made sense that she would be sad. And then we learn actually that all of this is not because of Sirius, but rather because of Lupin and this moment right here. To me, this is an inflection point, because something shifts in the revelation that I don't think we always slow down enough to name. It's not just that Tonks is in love, it's what the text does with that love. Her vibrancy gone, her boldness dimmed, her ability to control her own body, the most fundamental expression of who she is faltering, all of it narratively tethered to whether one man chooses her in order of the Phoenix. Tonks is in control of her body in Half Blood Prints. Her heart break causes that body to lose its color, its vibrancy, its stability. And that's not a small shift, and it definitely isn't neutral storytelling. And I want to be really careful here because one of you said something in your responses that I haven't been able to shake. You wrote, I don't want to be disappointed in a choice a woman makes. And I felt that. I feel it because I'm not standing here to tell you that Tonks shouldn't have fallen in love. That's not, for me, where the discomfort lives. The discomfort lives in a different question entirely. For me. The question is, why does loving Lupin cost her herself? Because look at where she goes from here. She goes from self directed ower to woman waiting to be chosen, to wife, to mother, to martyr. And the text frames each of those moves as if they're natural progressions, as if this is just what happens, as if the tanks we met in order. The Phoenix was always destined to end up in this place. But I think the thing that stood out to me is that your responses to told a different story because I think many of you saw her and appreciated her and loved her and were paying attention to her because of how unique she stood out against the other women in the series. And you know that the woman that we meet in order of the Phoenix, the one who reshaped her nose at the dinner table to make Harry laugh and found him on that train through pure determination, deductive reasoning, that woman does not feel like she was always headed towards this. Someone wrote Tonks character has one of the most disappointing trajectories in the series. We're introduced to a powerful young witch with so much personality, then her whole personality gets shunted aside in service affording Lupin storyline. Another person wrote lost potential for a well rounded strong female character. The men get to be morally gray and have flaws and strengths, but she just gets a hair color makeover. Someone else wrote we wanted a badass woman Auror. We got manic pixie dream girl. And I think what Tonks becomes is for so many of us more frustrating. She becomes a woman whose autonomy collapses into romantic devotion and then into sacrifice and then to death. Self directed identity, romantic fixation, maternal martyrdom. It's not an arc, it's a narrowing and it doesn't match where we hoped that she was going to go. And here's where I have to name what I think is actually happening because I think your responses have been naming it all week, even when you weren't saying it directly. None of our feelings about Tonks are really about Tonks. This is about what was done to her. Again, there's that lore about what JKR did and created in Tonks for the purposes of mitigating the wolf star of it all. And so in doing so, she had to create a heteronormative story and it cost our Tonks everything. This series gives us a woman who can literally shape shift and then it quietly shapes her into something that the author prizes. Someone wrote Tonks got totally sold out after the Order of the Phoenix. She stopped being developed as a character and instead became a tool of other characters arcs. Someone else wrote she was a prop, a tool used by the author to show a message. One more person wrote she fades away, starts to resurface and get snuffed out. That's the grief. She starts to resurface. She finds Harry on that train. She comes back to herself for a moment, sharp and capable and fully present. And then she's gone again. And then she's gone for good. We deserved to see where she would have gone. Not the wife. Not that there's anything wrong with being a wife, but we have so many. Not the martyr. Not that there's anything wrong with being a martyr, but we have so many. Not the narrative instrument, but the woman who walked into Privet Drive with pink hair and a laugh and a particular kind of freedom that this series only gave us once. That's not Tonks failing us. That is the series, the authority, telling us what they believe. And we were paying enough attention to notice. And that's why we're upset. And we get to be. From Geico Subconscious News, I'm Tammy Racing thoughts broadcasting from your brain brain. Tonight's top worry. If something happens to your apartment and.

[A]

You need to like, stay in a.

[B]

Hotel and pay for it, that would be crazy, right? Art Palpitations has more. That would be crazy, Tammy. But you got surprisingly affordable renters insurance through GEICO so it could be covered, giving you peace of mind. Aw. I love a story that ends well. Next up, love stories. Are they all they're cracked up to be? It feels good to worry less. It feels good to Geico. This has been another episode of Critical Magic Theory. I'm Professor Julian Womble and if you liked today's episode, first of all, thank you. Please feel free to like, rate, subscribe and do all the things that one does where pods are cast, y'. All. I cannot wait to see what you all think about this episode episode in the post episode chat. Please feel free to join us there on Patreon for [e-mail] criticalmagictheory I know that there were some takes and I know that some of us got taken by the takes and so I want to hear your takes on the takes. So take yourself to the Patreon for the post episode chat, please. Y'. All. Do not forget the merch. We have a new merch drop. Please feel free to check it out. CriticalMagictheory.com is where you can go if you want to follow me on social media, please for free to do so at ProfW on TikTok and Odd Prof. JW on Instagram, y'. All. There are many things to say and I want the Prof. Response episode to be lit. So share your thoughts. Until then, be critical and stay magical, my friends, by.