← Critical Magic Theory: An Analytical Harry Potter Podcast
Critical Magic Theory: An Analytical Harry Potter Podcast
The Tale of the Three Hierarchies
00:30:57
For personal reasons, Professor Julian Wamble is taking a brief detour from the regularly scheduled programming — which also means listeners who haven't caught the Cho Chang episode yet have an extra week to do so before the Prof Responds follow-up...
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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 pivot. So not to bring down the mood, but I a dear friend of mine passed away last week and grief is a strange thing and it takes time. And to that end, I didn't have it in me to do a prof Response for the Cho Ching episode. Which means a couple things. One, if you have listened to the episode and wanted to share your thoughts, you have an extra week to do that. And if you haven't listened to the episode and you are catching up, you've got extra time. So it all works out in the end. But it also means that today's episode is gonna be a little different. When I expressed this in the Discord to the Chronic overthinkers, many of them were like, dude, shut up. Sit down, live in your emotions and feel the things which we love. And it's important. And you're not gonna try to make me out to be a Severus Snape, okay? So don't even try. Cause how I feel about him, but this isn't a Severus Snape episode. But then I thought about my friend and I thought about the reality that she would probably be very upset with me if I threw off my routine in a meaningful way because of her. And so she was also a person who was very big into community and community building and creating space for people. And so I, to that end, thought, what better way to build community than by laughing at me through the listening of what was the first, like, trial episode I ever recorded for this podcast. When I first started Critical Magic Theory, I was very unsure about what the heck it was going to be or any of the kind of facets of the of of the podcast. And but my therapist was like, you've got to do it, because if you don't record it now, then you'll just keep chickening out. Which was probably right. He knows all things. Is he Dumbledore? I don't know. And oh my God, imagine if my therapist was Dumbledore. Oh my God, what a horrific thing to even think about. But I digress. And so I recorded this episode where I outline the three different hierarchies within the magical world. This is something that I do at the beginning of every class that I teach at gw. And it kind of structured the way that I thought about this podcast and why we have it set up the way that we do with the Purebloods, Half Bloods, Mocha, Born Squibs. And I don't know that I ever actually introduced the idea of these three hierarchies formally on the podcast. I just kind of dove in because I was afraid that you all would be like, this isn't what we signed up for. But now that I've got you here, trapped in my web, am I Aragog? Okay, only time Will tell. I thought to myself, now's the perfect time. And so it's very short. It is a short mini episode because at the time I thought to myself, no one's going to want to listen to me that long jokes on me. And so I haven't really even listened to this episode all the way through in years because I recorded this in 2023, six months before I actually dropped the first episode of Critical Magic Theory. And so that's what we're going to do today. That's what you're going to listen to. You're going to listen to me try to sound very professional, which is going to be lol. Lol. Funny, I guess. And anyways, you get it. Don't do this. Okay? I tried to do a thing. It didn't work. It's fine. Everything's fine. We're all fine. We're fine. And so, yeah, I'm actually excited to hear you all listen to this. There's a part where I rant a rapid rant, which now is just basically the entire episode in general, but I actually had a designated moment for it. So enjoy that and enjoy this episode. And we will be back to our regularly scheduled program program next week. Until then, be critical and stay magical, my friends. Enjoy. And now get ready for the bop. You thought I was signing off, but I'm really signing you on to bop. We do talk about Harry Potter, Sam. Welcome to Critical Magic Theory, where we deconstruct the wizarding World of Harry Potter so that we can reconstruct our understanding of our own. I'm Professor Julian Womble and this is an episode that I'm making right now because my therapist said that I should do it because I've been feeling very anxious about this entire ordeal. And so this is an exercise in pushing through anxiety and feeling ridiculous. So here we are together. Thank you for being here. Am I excited? Well, I am here and honestly, that's gotta count for something. And in my book it does. Today I'm gonna walk us through the breakdown of the wizarding world and thinking through the different hierarchies that take place in the wizarding World. For those of you who aren't familiar with Harry Potter or it's been a very long time since you all have read the books. Basically what we do here is we are going to do deep dives into characters, into structures, into the world of Harry Potter in order to better understand the world that we live in. So today we're going to do a deep dive into the structures and the hierarchies that exist within the Wizarding World in order to better understand what motivates the characters that we love so much. So so often we live in spaces and places and act autonomously to a certain degree, but so much of the way that we're raised and understand ourselves and the world around us is through the lens of these hierarchies that tend to be these kind of invisible boxes that exist in the world. And oftentimes when we think about oppressive structures and all of the isms and the phobias that exist in the world, they're all existing in a space of hierarchy. And so what I want us to do is to kind of do a dive into these hierarchies within the Wizarding World, because there are lots of them. And in order for us to move forward throughout this podcast, we have to first understand what is guiding and structuring the lived experiences of people within the Wizarding World. And so in order to do that, we have to first understand what those structures are. But before we do that, let's get into a segment that I like to call a Rapid Rant. What's up Foos? Main Event J uso here from the wwe when it's just me between matches, it's day one ish. And that means it's Chumba time. With hundreds of casino style games and new titles arriving weekly, there's always something fresh to try at Chumba Casino. The daily boost make it even more fun and have me bout to get em all during my downtime. Ready for a fun way to chill out and enjoy a few minutes for yourself? Let's Chumba. No purchase necessary. VGW Group voidware prohibited by law CTS and C's 21 sponsored by Chumba Casino with VRBoCare. Help is always ready before, during and after your stay. We've planned for the plot twists so support is always available because a great trip starts with peace of mind. Coffeegenius Here most people see a busy cafe, but I see precision at every step thanks to genius From Global payments transactions, Instant inventory, precise operations in sync. Absolutely Genius. From sold out crowds worldwide to managing the morning rush, genius keeps operations running smoothly. One cortado flawless pour, perfectly timed. Just beautiful big league reliability for any business. That's genius. All right, so Rapid Rants are a two minute segment where I'm basically just going to rant unedited about something that either is a suggestion from one of you all. So I will open the floor to you all to send me suggestions about things to rant on and send them to me via email or DM on TikTok or something that I just noticed as I was, I don't know, reading through the books or, you know, I teach Harry Potter class or things that just stood out to me. We're gonna start now. So I was watching the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie, or as I like to call it, Harry Potter and the Year that Everybody Needed a Haircut. And in thinking about that very thing, I thought to myself, so wait a second, are there barbers at Hogwarts? Like, who's doing everyone's hair for six years? Harry is going to Hogwarts and everyone's talking about how messy his hair is and yet no one is there cutting it. Now, we know that there are ways obviously to magically cut one's hair, but I highly doubt that, like, anyone is doing that. Are there students who are there who are just adept at cutting hair? And, and to what extent is this, like, an important part of this, right? I mean, not only just for Harry, but for other characters. Are they all just walking around for what, nine, ten months not actually getting their haircuts? Or are they, like, what's happening here is what we saw in that movie the truth? Because if it is, somebody needs to do something because that's unacceptable. They look crazy in that movie. It's outlandish how long their hair is. But it really does make me think about not only just like haircuts but all sorts of other kind of, I don't know, human maintenance. The idea of who is taking care of, you know, haircuts? Are the girls getting their nails done? Are they allowed to bring nail polish? Do, like, at a certain point you don't have the magic to be able to just do these things yourself. So who is taking care of these other students? And just the kind of general grooming of things, it just seems bizarre to me. And I can't tell if this is another one of those moments where, because magic is magic, people just don't care about these things or if this is like actually, like a worthwhile thing that should be invested in amongst a host of other things at Hogwarts because it strikes me as so odd that no one is getting their hair cut. That's two minutes. I'd say that it's one short step from wizards first to purebloods first and then to Death Eaters, replied Kingsley. We're all humans, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same and worth saving. So let's get into the Nitty gritty. Part of the reason why I chose that quote from Kingsley was because it really speaks to the number of ways in which hierarchies govern the behaviors within the wizarding world. And in that, what we hear is this idea of wizards first. So let's start there. Wizards first tells us a very specific kind of narrative within a hierarchy of humans where wizards are ostensibly on top and non magical people are below. And this is a dynamic that we see throughout the series where non magical people are seen as inferior by a lot of magical people. Sometimes that manifests in terms of just overall general prejudice towards non magical people. Sometimes it is just a general disdain, sometimes it's just an ambivalence about these individuals who don't have magic. Sometimes there's a bit of curiosity about, you know, how it is that they're able to survive without having magic in their lives. But at the root of a lot of this is the belief that because they don't have magic in their lives, they are not on the same level as magical people. And during this particular moment when Kingsley is making this quote, this is in a moment where Voldemort has come back and non magical people are being attacked by Death Eaters. And as a result, he's kind of petitioning two magical people to protect them. And now we're talking about a society where magical people have very much kind of segregated themselves away from non magical people. And that this particular issue of Voldemort returning is at least by some counts very kind of insulated into the magical world. But what we also know is that because of this perceived inferiority, this kind of wizard's first mentality, what we're witnessing is this idea that it doesn't matter what happens to non magical people, because that's not our problem. And there are lots of reasons why this segregation exists the way that it does. Some people date it back to kind of the persecution of magical people during, you know, the 17th and 18th centuries, and that this kind of led kind of the magical elites, if you will, to separate themselves because they didn't want to be persecuted themselves. What this then led to, though, is a kind of rampant level of ignorance about non magical people. And so that when we think about the hierarchy that exists that might promote the idea of a wizard's first, what we are seeing is this idea that non magical people, because they cannot do magic, are not worthy of protection in moments where the enemy Voldemort is attacking everyone. And Kingsley's petition speaks to something very specific because it's A very kind of NIMBY or not in my backyard mentality that he's discussing for magical people who may feel that they need to protect themselves over non magical people. One thing that I think this kind of within the human realm of the magical world, this kind of magical versus non magical dichotomy presents to us is the reality that it's very simple and easy to forget the humanity of another person. Particularly when your society has told you that that group is not the same as you and that you are better off because you are not with them. And we see this, we see this idea kind of promoted in the way that magical people interact with non magical people. The educational system does nothing to educate magical youth about non magical society or culture. That there is this sense of you don't need to know that because it is not important. And what this does is it promotes the idea of wizards. It promotes this hierarchy and structure that then guides the way that these individuals see non magical people. And we even see this manifesting in how people who are coming from non magical communities, like Harry, like Hermione, are then kind of conditioned to see themselves even though they've come out of those communities as better. And we see throughout the books, you know, Hermione and Harry abandoning certain kind of Muggle conventions, if you will, for the sake of magical ones that are not inherently more efficient, but are perceived to be better because they're coming from magical spaces. And so the one hierarchy that we have is this kind of within humans, this magical versus non magical. He then says it's one short step from wizards first to purebloods first. So now he's moved us into another hierarchy and that's within the wizarding world where blood status matters now. So within the wizarding world you have pure bloods who are individuals whose heritage is solely magical. So everyone on both sides of their families are all magical people. Then you have half bloods, which is a much more kind of catch all category. If your parents are not pure bloods, but you have some kind of combination of magic and non magical heritage in your family, or it's not even not magical, it's not pure blood really in your parentage, then you are considered a half blood. It's very complicated insofar that because of the way that the wizarding world constructs identity, there are a lot of people who are half blood. And the combinations that make that up are varied and various. And so that's a whole nother episode, a whole nother thing to get into. And then you have muggle borns who are magical people who have been born to non magical people. And those individuals are kind of a more unknown population within the magical world. No one knows how they're getting magic. There are lots of theories, but on the whole they are at the bottom of this hierarchy. And then you have non magical people who are born to magical people. And the wizarding world calls them squibs. And those individuals are people who, whose magic is not inherently gone per se. So to call them non magical is a bit of a misnomer. But they're not as magically abled as other people. And those individuals are people who are absolutely kind of ridiculed and tend to be kind of exiled and sent to live in the non magical world. And we have a number of examples of this, but one particular one is Ronald Weasley, who was Harry Potter's best friend, who comes from a pure blood family, whose second cousin I believe is an accountant and they do not speak to him. And so this is an example of kind of the way that we understand within the hierarchy how squibs are viewed now within this hierarchy, right, Pure bloods are the ones who hold most of the societal power, they hold most of the wealth within the wizarding world. And we get to see a lot of those individuals kind of be much more prejudiced towards anyone who is not pureblood. So we have the Malfoys, we have the Weasleys, we have other groups of people, the Gaunts, who all serve as examples of kind of varying levels of prejudice against non magical people. And Muggle borns, they also tend to be at the upper echelons of the wizarding world. And so within this particular hierarchy, right, there is this belief within magical, within the magical world that purebloods are the best and that Muggle borns are a problem. And squibs are even worse because it seems to be suggested that there's nothing worse to a lot of magical people than to be born to a magical person and not be magical. And so what we see here within this hierarchy is that there are privileges bestowed upon those who are in the upper levels. So those individuals who are pureblood, so your Malfoys, your Weasleys, that there are kind of socioeconomic benefits, there are structural benefits, there are occupational benefits that all kind of manifest when one is a pure blood. And sometimes they trickle down and sometimes they do not. We also see that there is a sense of superiority as a result of being a pure blood. We see that with Harry Potter's father James, we see that With Harry Potter's godfather Sirius, we see that with Draco Malfoy and a lot of other pure blood Slytherins that society as them, that they are better than everyone. And so then within this hierarchy we can see there is a sense of superiority that manifests for these people. And so that when we, when we return back to this quote from Kingsley about, you know, wizards first to purebloods first, when Voldemort returns, he is only really going after Muggle born individuals again, those individuals who were born to non magical parents but have magic. And so it's, one could easily imagine why then pure blood individuals or even half blood individuals would not be concerned. And again we see this kind of hierarchy structuring the way that these individuals understand who they are. And not only that, but how they relate to other people and how they relate to not even just people, how they relate to other magical people. And so it's important to understand the way that this particular hierarchy is structured. And then there's one more that I want to talk about that Kingsley doesn't talk about. And I think that it's very interesting that he leaves it out because I think again it speaks to the implicit wizards first mentality that even the best and most well intentioned magical people have. And that is the human and creature dynamic. And it's ironic to me because as they're going through in this particular chapter and naming those individuals whose lives have been lost, they name goblins. So they're naming magical creatures who have lost their lives in the same way as wizards. And yet there seems to be no petition here to protect other creatures. And some of that is born out of the belief that these creatures don't need wizards protection. And yet why not highlight this reality? Why not speak to the fact that no, actually it would be beneficial to help creatures like goblins in ways that that one may not in other contexts. And so what we have here, right, is in addition to this perceived superiority over non magical people, there is a superiority or there's a perceived superiority over creatures. So we're thinking about house elves, we're thinking about goblins, we're thinking about, you know, giants, we're thinking about all kinds of creatures within the magical world. Centaurs, where magical individuals believe themselves to be better than them. There's a statue in the Ministry of Magic called the Statue of Magical Brethren where we can see this kind of hierarchy played out in very clear ways. And I think that this is another important hierarchy when we think about how people's perceptions of the Wizarding world are guided based off of these invisible hierarchies that are kind of just passed down from generation to generation without much questioning. And what we see is in specific moments, this hierarchy jumps out again, even of the most well intentioned individuals, like Kingsley, Shackabol, or I'm thinking specifically about Ron, when he finds out that his friend, who he has known for a very long time, Hagrid, is part giant, or even Hermione, our kind of advocacy queen, but only when it's house elves, when she is discussing goblins or centaurs, she has very particular views that are not the greatest. And so that within these hierarchies, each of them plays a very integral part in informing the way that the characters move and behave within the world. And that in fact it's important, because what we can realize is that so much of this is not necessarily given the valence of good or bad, but rather just those with magic and those without, or humans and non humans or purebloods and everybody else. And that in that way, some of this is not inherently made to be bad. And that is the insidious nature of structural oppression. That some of these structures are created in such a way where it just feels normal to think that you are better than another group, or to have stereotypes about another group, or to believe that somehow you deserve more than another group for whatever reason, whether it be because of your identity marker, whether it be because of your magical ability. And so that what these hierarchies kind of help us better understand is the reality that within the wizarding world, there are many countervailing and overlapping structures at play that inform even the best and most good. I put air quotes up most good characters to be problematic. That no one is unscathed from structural oppression. Some people are more scathed. But no one is untouched by this. Everyone feels it. And that, if not brought to one's kind of recognition, can operate in spaces in ways that are outrageously problematic that I hope we get to get into in the future. Hey, it's Cole Swindell. And when I spend 200 days a year Rolling down the highway the bus can start to feel smaller than a guitar case Everyone wonders how I stay chill while the hours crawl by Truth is one good luck spent on Chumba and suddenly the trip feels a whole lot shorter Finding your space even when there isn't much to spare need some chill? Let's Chumba. 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This coffee shop running smooth, thanks to genius from Global Payments, Instant transactions, effortless inventory and synchronized operations. Big league reliability for any business. That's genius. So this section would be a section where I kind of engage with the listeners. What I think I want to do is actually kind of go just to kind of pantomime what it would look like, which would be a moment of me kind of answering questions, thinking through some things that people have maybe based off of the last episode. But what I think I'll do today is go through and look at and look at questions that someone ask. Okay, so here's one from TikTok. That is. What's your take on dementors? I think that Dementors, which for those of us who don't know, are unaware, are the guards that the guards of the wizarding prison Azkaban, and they are notorious for sucking all of the life and happiness out of the space that they're in and out of people. And that the only way that you can kind of repel them is using what's called a Patronus, which is a magical light force, if you will, that comes from a charm that is used to. That derives its power from things that make you happy. And I think my take on these creatures is that they are the worst and that they, the fact that the Ministry of Magic uses them to as kind of police speaks volumes about the way that we understand criminality within the wizarding world. The fact that they don't actually take care, they're not guarding you, they're mostly just keeping you in. But that they are able to just SAP the life out of individuals. It feels like that's in some ways a fate worse than death. And we know that more often than not, the individuals in Azkaban lose their minds. And we also know that it really doesn't take that much to end up in Azkaban. Because we know that Hagrid was sent there because he was presumed to have been the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets despite being exonerated from that very thing decades before. But because the Ministry of Magic wanted to look like it was doing something, they took him back. And the idea then that you would take someone who you already know is innocent and put them in a cell in Azkaban with these creat who are taking the life out of them. And the joy and the happiness speaks volumes about the governmental structure with which the wizarding world operates, the legality and the legal structure with which it operates, and the little regard that it has for those individuals who it believes are rule breakers. And the fact that this, this is the kind of first and only defense that we see in terms of kind of the carceral state within the wizarding world tells us a very specific kind of story about what justice looks like. All right friends, this has been another episode of Critical Magic Theory. Again, I am Professor Julian Wambal. Please feel free to follow me on TikTok ProfWProfW where the conversation is always happening and please feel free to email me at insert whatever email I come up with later. As always, stay critical and be magical. Tyler redick here from 2311 racing another checkered flag for the books. Time to celebrate with Chumba. Jump in@chumbacasino.com let's Chumba. No purchase necessary BTW group void where prohibited by law. CTNC21+ sponsored by Chumba Casino if you
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Whoa. So much has changed. But what hasn't changed is that this was an episode of Critical Magic Theory and I am Professor Juliana Womble. And if you liked this 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. What a journey that was. 2023 is when that was recorded three years ago. How far we've come together and I am so grateful for all of you who have helped this podcast grow. Please feel free to do all the things to help it continue to grow. If you would like to send me an email, I have an email address now. It's criticalmagic theorymail.com you can follow me on social media at profw. On TikTok and Prof. JW on Instagram. The post episode chat for show is still there and I am still ready to hear what you have to do to say until the next time my friends, be critical and stay magical. Bye. Step into the world of power, loyalty and luck. I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse with family. Cannolis and spins mean everything. Now you want to get mixed up in the family business. Introducing the godfather@champacasino.com test your luck in the shadowy world of the Godfather slots. Someday I will call upon you to do a service for me. Play the Godfather now@Champacasino.com Welcome to the family. No purchase necessary. VGW Group void we're prohibited by law 21 terms and conditions apply.
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