← Critical Magic Theory: An Analytical Harry Potter Podcast
Critical Magic Theory: An Analytical Harry Potter Podcast
Two Years of Critical Magic: Best & Worst Teachers at Hogwarts
01:19:28
In this two-year anniversary episode of Critical Magic Theory, Prof. takes a step back from individual character deep dives to ask a bigger question about pedagogy, power, and responsibility in the wizarding world—and beyond. Drawing on listener...
Loading summary
Transcript28 lines
- [00:00]
Oregon Veterans Support Announcer
Navigating post military challenges can be tough. Regardless of when you served, you are not alone. Connect with fellow Oregon veterans and find activities, navigate resources and join a community to help support your journey or challenges after military service. From mental health support to veteran community groups and activities, discover what's possible for you at BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com that's BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com running a.
- [00:30]
Odoo Business Software Advertiser
Business is hard enough. Don't make it harder with a dozen apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. That's software overload. Odoo is the all in one platform that replaces them all. CRM, Accounting, Inventory, E Commerce, hr. Fully integrated, easy to use and built to grow. With your business, thousands have already made the switch. Why not you try Odoo for free@odoo.com.
- [00:57]
Professor Julian Womble
That'S odoo.com this episode is brought to you by Peloton. The new Cross Training series balances your workouts with 15 plus workout types for endless movements on and off your equipment. Stay motivated with weekly personalized plans that guide you from beginner to expert and push past your goals with routines tailored to you. Get the new Cross Training Series terms apply. Welcome to Critical Magic Theory, where we deconstruct the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Because loving something is doesn't mean we can't be critical of it. I'm Professor Julian Womble and today it's our anniversary. Anniversary. That is correct. That is right. That is true. Today is Critical Magic Theory's second birthday. Happy birthday to you and me and we bars. I cannot believe that we have been at this for two years. The Technical Birthday, the date of creation, if you will, is January 24th. But we're not waiting that long. We're celebrating early and so get on board. Because we're doing it, y'. All. We are making it happen. And what better way to celebrate Critical Magic Theory than thinking about all the teachers that we've discussed? We have exhausted all of them. There are still a couple that we didn't get to talk about because we don't have that much information about them. But I will be speaking about them in this episode, so worry not. I know that some of you probably yelled out, what about Flitwick? What about Madam? Well, not a Madam Pomfrey. She's not a teacher per se. What about Professor Sprout? I know, I know. And we will be getting to them. We will be talking about them. But it felt like there were so many Kind of teachers that we know only in the capacity of teachers. And we don't really get to experience them outside of that. That making a survey for them felt like we wouldn't have a lot. And would it just be a lot of. I don't knows. And then if we had done one where we put all of them all in one, it would have been an insane amount of teachers that we haven't discussed. And so I made the executive decision, which I'm trying to practice doing more of, because I realized that I don't do it enough. And so in the spirit of practicing new things in the year of our Lord 2026, I said, I'm going to make this work for me and for you all, because that's how generous I am. Never forget. Never forget. And so we are going to be talking about the teachers today, and I'm very excited because it allows for us to kind of go back and think through some of the teachers and some of the results. Well, I have to say, I don't think you're ready for them. And we are going to even do a little subsection where we're going to be looking at defense against the Dark Arts teachers and the best and worst of them. And so, before we even start with the bop, I want to say a special shout out and a special thank you to Cassie and the Arithmancy Alcove over on the Discord, who have spent the time and the energy aggregating all of this data and keeping it all from every episode and filling it all out so that when I went and asked for it today, all she had to do was send me a little moment. She sent me a little Google Drive that had everything in it. And what a difference that made, because otherwise I was going to have to go through all the past episodes. And I did not want to do it, but I was going to for you. It's our anniversary, y'. All. And now we don't have to do that. And isn't that beautiful? But you know what we do have to do. And this bop that you have needs to be special. It's our second birthday. And when's the last time you got to turn two twice? Not me ever, you know, so it needs to be a good one. Double your bop, double your fun. Okay? Anyways, it's time. We are here. It is time for us to bop. I'm giving you a little bit of time because I know that some of you are trying to think about how to make this special for today. And so I Don't. I want you to. I don't want to get in the way of your creativity, but the bop is coming. I'm gonna start at five, four, three. In two, in one, let's bop. I hope you did a birthday bop. I miss the moment before the bop to give it a birthday bop. You know how we love alliteration. We had the beard bop. We had the bop bop. And now we have the birthday bop. And once you bop the sun, Once you bop, the fun don't stop. Yes, once you bop, the fun don't stop. W bop, W fun. Anyways, that's too long. And it doesn't always rhyme, but it's always good. Okay, welcome back, y'. All. I am so excited that we are back. I know that it's. We've had episodes here and there, but this episode feels like the true beginning of the new year for Critical Magic Theory. And so I'm so glad that we can be together again. I first want to start off by thanking those of you who joined us for the post episode chat about Ariana and Aberforth. I really do appreciate that for both the main episode and the Prof. Response episode. I know that this is a weird time of year for many of us because the holidays kind of throw us off our game. And when I say us, I really do mean you and me both. And so for those of you who have been listening, I'm so grateful. For those of you who have caught up, I'm grateful. For those of you who are catching up, I'm grateful. We are back, y'. All. We're back together. And I especially want to take a moment to thank our newest chronic overthinkers, Ray and Mills, for joining our ranks. If you'd like to join us on Patreon, you can do so for free. For in our post episode chat, Critical Magic Theory slash. Nope, that's not the. That's not it. That's not the one. You see how I said that? We're tired. Tomorrow's my first day of school and my body is not ready. Anyways, if you would like to join us on patreon, it is patreon.com criticalmagictheory. You can also come to the website criticalmagictheory.com where you can join us in going to the merch store. You just hit merch and you can get some merch. And there are many different kinds of merch. We are currently in the season of giving and we are collecting funds for for three different organizations, two of which are centered on helping trans individuals, and another one is assisted in helping children in Palestine. If you can, please feel free to go to our merch store and buy a couple things. There's a special merch that's been designed by two of our listeners, Brit and Rachel P. Um, they have some. Neville is our king. Um, we have some. This is not a Dumbledore episode. We have some. My therapist will hear about this. With Draco as a fairy and Slytherin out in Slytherin costumes, Y', all, it's all brilliant. It's all amazing. Please feel free to go and check that out. I also wanted to point something out that was brought up in one of the reviews on Apple podcasts, and it's about the volume of the podcast. I'm hoping that that issue has been fixed and that I have figured out a way to make it so that it's loud enough. As for those of you who are listening with ads, I have no control over the volume of the ads, nor do I have control over what the ads are advertising that is above my pay grade and well beyond my control. So I'm sorry in advance if any of those things are disturbing to you. Um, I hope that you can skip ahead and once you start to hear the music, you know the ads are coming. Um, also, if you want to join and have episodes without ads, you can join Patreon and join as an outstanding OWL and get ad free episodes that you can have put into however you listen to your podcast. I. I don't know if that's only for Spotify, but it's worth looking into. Um, you can also join as a deep dive or chronic overthinker. Wow, that was a really seamless transition. You see how I did that in 2026? I'm in my marketing bag. Um, what else is there? We're back on our surveys, y'. All. And so there will be a survey that will be up for everyone on Friday, and it'll be available on Wednesday for the Patreon. And we are gonna be talking about Fleur de la Cor. So get ready, get prepared, get yourselves together. The turnaround on this one's gonna be fairly fast. Actually, no, I'm lying. It won't be. You'll have the normal amount of time because we have the Prof. Response episode for this episode, so we'll be good to go on Fleur. I'm excited to start back with different characters. Um, and I know that many of us have many things to say, and it's me. I'm many of us I have a lot to say about Fleur de la Cort and I cannot wait to see what you have to say. So we are going to be getting into that. I I think that covers all of our bases. Let's get into this episode. Let's get into the teachers. Let's have a conversation about who's the best teacher, who's the worst teacher. I know many of you have thoughts and I can't wait to see what comes up.
- [11:57]
Oregon Veterans Support Announcer
Navigating post military challenges can be tough regardless of when you served, you are not alone. Connect with fellow Oregon veterans and find activities, navigate resources and join a community to help support your journey or challenges after military service. From mental health support to veteran community groups and activities, discover what's possible for you at BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com that's BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com running a.
- [12:26]
Odoo Business Software Advertiser
Business is hard enough, so why make it harder? With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you are drowning in software. Instead of growing your business, this is where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that handles everything CRM, accounting, inventory, E commerce, HR and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins. Just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business whether you are just starting out or already scaling up. Plus, it's easy to use, customizable and designed to streamline every process so you can focus on what really matters running your business. Thousands of businesses have made the switch, so why not you try Odoo for free@odoo.com that's o d o o.com your.
- [13:27]
Vanta Security Software Advertiser
Software needs to be compliant to win deals, but you also need your engineers focused on building your product, not pulling SOC2 evidence. Enter a third option. Make Vanta your first security hire. Vanta uses AI and automation to get you compliant fast. Simplify your audit process and unblock deals so you can prove to your customers that you take security seriously. Plus, Vanta scales right along with you, backed by support that's there when you need it every step of the way. That's why top startups like Cursor, Linear and Replit use Vanta to get and stay secure. Don't sock block your best engineer, set them free and get Compliant fast with Vanta. Get started@vanta.com.
- [14:30]
Professor Julian Womble
Now. It is important to note that we are reaching back into our Pure Bloods because a couple of the teachers that we discussed were Pure Bloods. That's okay. We love a crossover episode and that's what we've got going on right now. So let's get into it. When asked who is the best teacher, the number one person, I should tell you, this is how I arrived at this. This is the percent of people who said, yes, this person is a good teacher. Number one, Remus Lupin. With 93% of us saying he was a good teacher, only 4% of us saying, no, he's not a good teacher, and only 3% of us saying, I don't know. I'm bringing in some of our quotes just to remind us because it's been a while since we've spoken about Lupin. Somebody wrote, finally, Remus was a good teacher, especially in comparison to Quirrell and Lockhart. He actually taught them things they could use and didn't humiliate them in the process. It feels like the bar is so low. Someone else wrote, he was one of the few defense against the dark arts professors who actually seemed to care whether students understood the material, not just whether they could perform it under pressure. Another person wrote, remus is the rare teacher who adapts to his students. He doesn't expect them to already be confident. He helps them get there. And someone else wrote, I don't think I had any complaints about Remus as a teacher. He explains things clearly, he's patient and doesn't let his authority become a weapon directly under Lupin, with 92% of people saying yes, 4% of people saying no, and 4% of people saying, I don't know is the one and only Minerva mini McGonagall. Someone else wrote, she's a good teacher who understands the importance of her role, takes it seriously, and genuinely has her students best interest at heart. Someone else wrote, good teacher, yes, she was very, very no nonsense in classes, but you know, you always knew where you stood and that made it easier to learn. Another person wrote, her teaching style is strict but fair. She expects excellence, but she also teaches you how to reach it. Another person wrote, McGonagall is the kind of teacher who pushes you because she believes you can do better, not because she wants to feel powerful. And one last person wrote, she makes the classroom feel structured and safe, even when she's intimidating. It's never cruel. The last teacher of the top three in terms of the best teacher had 63% of us saying, yes, they were a good teacher, 27% saying, no, they weren't, and 10% of us saying, I don't know. And that person, I want you to guess. I want you to guess. Did you guess? Did you do it? Was the one and only Faux Moody himself, Barty Crouch junior. Now, I will say that that gagged me. That gagged me. But I'm also not surprised. And I think that if we had had some other teachers in there, we probably would have had some different results. However, simultaneously, concurrently. And some of us had really solid justifications. Someone wrote, while his methods were extreme, I do think Barty Crouch Jr. Was one of the most effective teachers the students had. He made sure they understood what they were up against and how to protect themselves. Someone else wrote, it's uncomfortable to admit, but as a teacher, he was prepared, engaged, and actually taught practical skills that students remembered. Another person wrote, he didn't coddle them, but he didn't humiliate them. Well, some might say that, like having you jump around the classroom under the imperious curse and, like, do cartwheels and all kinds of things that you couldn't normally do. Some might find that humiliating, but that's neither here nor there. This person goes on to say he taught them what they needed to survive. That I will give you. And one last person wrote, if we're talking strictly about teaching and not who he was as a person, then, yes, he did his job frighteningly well. It's my turn. Oh, my voice is really on. Okay, okay. Vocal. When I had to think about what these three professors have in common to kind of try to sum up why they fall into the top three of the best teachers, I think the thing that really stands out to me about all three of them is the passion that they have for what they teach. And what's interesting about that is we know from post canonical lore that Minerva McGonagall was just an excellent student altogether. We know that she was a hatstall. We know that she had always just been really, really good at transfiguration. And so she brings that passion with her. Now, the thing that makes Minerva McGonagall so fantastic is for someone who has such a natural ability for these type of things, it's sometimes very difficult for them to be able to teach. Right. I will never forget, and I think I've told this story before, but when I was in graduate school, my first couple of years taking statistics, my professor was such a sweet, nice man. I'm grateful that there's no chance in the world he's listening to this, but in the event that he is, you were amazing as a person, as a teacher. Not so much rough times, and it wasn't because he wasn't competent. But teaching is a different skill. Teaching is so different than knowing. Like, there are. We all know things, but you have to have a certain kind of ability to be able to break that thing that you know down and explain it in a way that someone who doesn't know the thing can learn the thing, which means you have to not only understand the process of explanation, but you have to understand the process of processing. Like, you have to know how your students are going to take that information and what's the best way to communicate that, particularly when you're dealing with people with different kind of learning styles and this and that. Right. And then Minerva McGonagall has, on top of all of that, the danger that comes along with transfiguration. And so I think that, you know, when I think about her in particular, there is a way that I think her passion for the subject really makes a big difference for her ability to then communicate what it is that she's trying, what it is that she wants her students to learn and know. And that's no small feat. It is certainly not an easy one. It is really difficult, I imagine, to teach something where your students could, like, I don't know, disfigure their face. Um, we. There's a lot of conversation surrounding the usage of animals and the cruelty therein. And so, like, there are just a lot of things that go on in transfiguration that I think is really tricky and scary. And you have to be strict and stern when you're dealing with a subject like this because the stakes are so high. But you also have to find a way to leverage your passion for the subject in a way that keeps the students interested. Right. And I think that the other thing for when I think about both Lupin And Barty Crouch Jr. Is they both have a lived experience that informs their teaching. Now, I'll talk about this a little later. I think that there's a way in which, you know, allowing your trauma to be the guide for your pedagogy probably isn't necessarily the best thing. Right. You know, Lupin has a lot of passion for defense against the Dark arts, and I think it comes from an understanding of the kind of socially constructed nature of dark arts. Right. Like, what is a dark art? How do we understand that? Who gets to decide? And what does that Mean when you yourself, your physical person, when you are characterized as a dark art, when you are the subject of the class. And we know that, right, because Snape teaches the students about werewolves. So in the textbook that is prescribed by the Ministry of Magic, Werewolves, Remus Lupin is part of it. We also know in the flashback when Remus is talking about in his owls, he had to write about werewolves, and he makes a joke about writing about himself. And so this is a person who was coming into this classroom as a teacher who was having to teach students about the Dark Arts. And there's a way in which I think that that is very, like, harrowing and terrifying as a person who is still kind of grappling with what it is to be in the kind of real world as a werewolf and recognizing that the prescription from the Powers that Be is to teach these kids how to defend themselves against you. And so I think what he brings to bear then is a kind of compassion for this. And I think that there's a way that all of the other teachers that we meet are either afraid of the dark arts, have been using the dark arts, are too narcissistic to care about the dark Arts. And we're gonna talk about that a little bit later, but that there's a way that Lupin's experience really does inform how he not only views himself, but views the subject. And so he's able to bring a passion to it that I think makes him so much of an effective teacher, because he recognizes that Cap Kappas and hinky punks and all that, they are creatures that have been cast, characterized as dark, but may or may not be. They're just trying to make it in the same way that he is, in the same way that anyone is. And so what he brings to bear in this capacity is, I think, something very different than literally any of the other teachers can bring, because he is the subject of the subject he is teaching. And Barney Crouch Jr. Well, he also is bringing personal experience. The notion of constant vigilance, the idea of, you know, being on your P's and Q's because you never know who's gonna try to get you right. Like, that is the life he had led for a very long time once he got sprung from the ban. And I think that that is what he brings to bear in a way that makes him effective, because this is personal for him. Like, teaching these kids how to fight the imperious curse is personal for him. And I think that, you know, there's a way that being a teacher and allowing your own lived experiences to inform, but not bias is a very thing that's a tightrope. And it's one that I have to deal with all the time. I'm a black man in America who teaches on race and politics. It's hard because there are a lot of days that I'm like, oh, and I mean, and what else is true is that I teach at a predominantly white institution, right? And so there are a lot of things at work that I have to try to navigate. And when you bring your own personal experience in, you can either go the way of Barty Crouch Jr. Which is way, way, way overboard, you can go the way of not even mentioning it at all and pretending like it doesn't exist, like it's not in the room with us, or you have to face it head on. But how you face it is tricky. And I think that, you know, while, yes, Barty Cross Jr. To me personally, pedagogically goes way, way, way overboard, I get it. He's. It's raw. It's fresh for him. Like, he literally just got exonerated or not exonerated, emancipated from. I guess both are true. From the. The imperious curse that his father placed on him for a decade. So he's not well, and now he's teaching, and he wants them to learn this. He recognizes the importance of the thing that he is teaching, and he is communicating that to them. And I think in a world where especially children can sometimes feel very coddled, and especially in a world where Harry, since the age of 11, has been fighting primordial snakes that are in the basement, you know, fighting, killing a teacher. Let's never forget, huh? And, you know, finding out that your godfather is a convicted murderer, you know, there's a reason why you would want to know how to defend yourself against the dark arts. And I think that there's a way that Harry and the experience of all of his friends, when we meet Faux Moody in Goblet of Fire, they want the real thing, and they want to know what they're up against. And he says, you've got to know. You've got to have constant vigilance. You need to be aware. And he just keeps intoning, you've got to know. You've got to know. And I think that there is a world in which I totally get that. I think part of what we do on this podcast is under the auspices, like, we've gotta know. We've gotta be able to see the world for what it is. And if we're using Harry Potter to make that a little bit clearer, then why not? But there's a world in which you gotta know. And I think that that's why he's so effective, because he cares, genuinely cares, about what it is that his students are learning the way he teaches them. I don't love it. I do not love it. But I do understand why. And I think that that's why all three of them bring a very particular and specific kind of passion. But they bring passion nonetheless, and the students eat it up. And that's why they are. That's why I think in our experience of reading about these teachers, we see them as the best.
- [29:27]
Oregon Veterans Support Announcer
Navigating post Military challenges can be tough Regardless of when you served, you are not alone. Connect with fellow Oregon veterans and find activities, navigate resources and join a community to help support your journey or challenges after military service. From mental health support to veteran community graduation groups and activities, discover what's possible for you at BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com that's BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com running.
- [29:56]
Odoo Business Software Advertiser
A business is hard enough, so why make it harder? With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other, One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you are drowning in software. Instead of growing your business, this is where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that handles everything CRM, accounting, inventory, E commerce, HR and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins, just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business whether you are just starting out or or already scaling up. Plus, it's easy to use, customizable and designed to streamline every process so you can focus on what really matters running your business. Thousands of businesses have made the switch, so why not you try Odoo for free@odoo.com that's o d o o.com RingCentral.
- [30:58]
RingCentral Communication Software Advertiser
Knows that businesses run on communication and juggling. Separate systems for team collaboration and customer service creates confusion, missed opportunities and frustrated customers. RingCentral changes everything with RingEx and Ring CX, one powerful platform that connects your entire organization. Ringex keeps your team connected with seamless calling, messaging and video meetings, whether they're in the office or working remotely. Meanwhile, Ring CX transforms your customer experience with AI powered contact center capabilities that route calls intelligently and provide real time insights. The magic happens when they work together. Your customer service agents can instantly collaborate with experts across your company to solve problems faster. No more transactions transferring customers between systems or losing context. With over 500,000 businesses trusting RingCentral and 99.999% uptime reliability, you're in good company. Visit RingCentral.com that's RingCentral.com RingCentral Voice of your Business.
- [32:01]
Professor Julian Womble
I want you to guess who you believe the number one choice is for the worst teacher. I probably should have done this in reverse and started from a third and then second and done one. Hindsight's 20 20. It's too late now, we've already done it and we're not breaking the streak. So I apologize y', all, but sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Cookies. We should have cookies. It's our birthday. Um, if I had thought about this more, I There's someone. Oh, I think she listens, but she makes amazing gluten free cookies. Anyways, that's has nothing to do with anything. I just said the word and then thought, gosh, I could really go for a cookie right now. But I actually, you know what? That was a pedagogical tool because I'm a good teacher and I just wanted to give you space and time so that you could figure out who you believe is the worst teacher. I will say that this person comes in strong with 99.1% of us saying that they are not a good teacher, 0.4% of us saying that they are a good teacher, and 0.6% of us saying that they don't know. And that person is Gilderoy Lockhart. I don't think any of us are surprised. Someone wrote he was not a good teacher at all. He did not teach them anything. Every class was about himself and his books and his stories, and the students learned absolutely nothing. Someone else wrote, lockhart actively wasted the students time. He was more interested in performing than teaching and that is inexcusable when students are supposed to be learning how to defend themselves. Another person wrote, he was an incompetent teacher. He didn't know the material, he didn't prepare lessons, and when students needed actual instructions, he turned it into a joke. Another person wrote, he put students in danger because he had no idea what he was doing, and instead of admitting that, he pretended it was all part of the lesson. My God. The next person. I want you to guess. Are you guessing the next person? Comes in with 97% of us saying they are not a good teacher, 1% of us saying that they are, and 2% saying don't know. Dolores Jane Umbridge, someone wrote Umbridge was not interested in teaching. She was interested in control. Her classroom was about obedience, not learning. Someone else wrote. She explicitly refused to teach practical magic, which is literally the entire point of Defense against the Dark Arts. She punished students for wanting to learn. Another person wrote her teaching methods were abusive. She used fear, punishment and humiliation instead of instruction and that should disqualify her from being a teacher at all. Another person wrote, she used the classroom as a weapon. Learning was secondary to enforcing the ministry's ideology and students suffered because of it. And the third person. It's time to guess we're not going to do the whole thing for copyright reasons. I'm not getting sued. This person had 79% of us say they were not a good teacher, 14% of us said that they were, and 7% of us said we don't know. The one and only Severus Snape, someone wrote. Snape knows the subject matter, but knowledge does not make someone a good teacher. He routinely humiliates students and creates an environment where learning is actively discouraged. Someone else wrote his classroom is hostile. Students are afraid of making mistakes, which makes it impossible to learn, especially for children who are already insecure. Another person wrote, he uses favoritism and cruelty instead of instruction. If you are not one of his preferred students, he makes it clear that you are not welcome in his class. Snape teaches through fear, someone else wrote, not guidance. Even when students succeed, it feels like survival rather than learning. It's my turn. I want to point this out and I'm just going to let you do with it what you will. So many of the comments about Umbridge were also said about Snape as it pertains to their teaching style. I'm throwing it out there. Do it the way you will. I'm not going to make any commentary on that. But what I will comment on is what I think that they all have in common. And I think the chief thing, the number one thing, is that they don't care about these kids. Snape, Umbridge, Lockhart, they don't care. We talked a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot ad nauseam during the Snape episodes about the fact that this man did not want to be a teacher at all. And we know Lockhart didn't and we know Umbridge didn't. Right. Like none of them actually wanted to teach. And it's Fascinating because all of them are in these positions for reasons that we can't quite understand. And it's fascinating to experience because the other thing that's true about all three of them is that they're all self absorbed. Their problems are everybody's problems. Especially Snape. It's Snape. If he was mad, everybody was having a bad day. Dolores Umbridge, she said, this is about me. I want power. This is how I'm gonna get it. Get a Ray Lockhart, please. Literally, all five of his books and all his pictures just hanging around the classroom like. And I think that this is the thing about teaching is that you have to realize it's not about you. There are times where you don't even want to be there, but you gotta be. Whether it's because it's your job or you genuinely care or both. There are moments where you have to realize, like, it's not about me today, it's about my students and what it is that I'm trying to teach them and give them. And when we think about the other people, right, who we talked about, McGonagall, Lupin, even Barty Crouch Jr. Right, there was a setting aside of self to a certain extent for Barty Crouch Jr. That allowed for them to be effective because they weren't trying to do anything other than teach the students what they believed they needed to know. Umbridge, Snape, Lockhart, not the same. They don't really care about these students and what they learn. Umbridge only wants to have power. Lockhart only wants to have access to Hogwarts for reasons unknown. And Snape is just biding his time until he can like, finish off his sentence. And so none of that is a good recipe for a teacher. I know you're surprised to hear that. I know you thought, oh yeah, that makes sense, that's how teaching should be. Turns out, no? And I think that what is so fascinating about these three in particular is, and more than anything, even less than, I mean, Gilderoy Lockhart is a complete and utter disaster. And he put the people whose stories he stole through the ringer. His worst crime at Hogwarts was just being stupid, right? And yes, his stupidity did get the pixies like sprung on them, which was bad. But when you juxtapose him to Snape and Umbridge, I think it invites us to think about something different as it pertains to teaching and why. I think in my mind they're worse than him because there are kind of two dimensions that some of us are working on, right? There is the dimension of what you taught the students, how well you taught them, and then there's the environment in which you did that. I think that on the first dimension, Gilderoy Lockhart is horrendous. And I think that. That many of us were using that as our metric, hence why he got the most no votes in terms of being a good teacher. But when we look at the secondary dimension, right, this environment, again, when we look at the comments about Snape and about Umbridge, she used the classroom as a weapon. Snape teaches through fear, not guidance. This line that really struck me, it feels like survival rather than learning. That's more than just what you're teaching. That's more than just lessons. That's the space that you create. And I think that when we think about effective teaching and the best teachers, we have to think about both of these dimensions put together. And we're going to talk about that a little bit later in my reflection. But I think when we think about why these individuals are characterized as the worst, I think that this is part of it. It's more than just the fact, because, again, like Snape is a competent teacher. He knows the subjects of both Potions and Defense against the Dark Arts. The students did learn things right, Like Harry did not do terribly on his owl. But the reality of the situation is that there's more to teaching than simply being able to communicate what you know. And that matters here. And I think that when we think about Umbridge and Snape and Lockhart, all of them know something, but none of them care to share in a way that's healthy, in a way that is informed, in a way that prioritizes the needs of the people who have been put in their charge, the children who have been put in their charge. And so there's no way that you're going to be a good teacher. You might not even be an effective teacher, because if your student is terrified of you, if a Bogart walks out of a closet and hits your face, there's no way that student's learning from you. And I guarantee you that there are other students. Maybe he wasn't their greatest fear, but they were afraid of him. And that matters because I think that there are students who are. I mean. Cause I think even if we were to juxtapose McGonagall to Snape, we know that she is stern. We know that she is someone who is very intentional about what happens in our classroom. She's very strict, she's very austere, she's not cruel. She doesn't delight in the mistreatment of her students. And what's more is that the students recognize this truth and that matters. And that's why she's the best. And that's why Snape and Umbridge and Lockhart are at the bottom. Because it's not about severity. It's not about strictness, it's not about letting students do whatever they want. It's about creating an environment that is conducive for learning. And Minerva McGonago does that. And these other ones, they just simply do not.
- [44:34]
Oregon Veterans Support Announcer
Navigating post military challenges can be tough Regardless of when you served, you are not alone. Connect with fellow organization Oregon Veterans and find activities, navigate resources and join a community to help support your journey or challenges after military service. From mental health support to veteran community groups and activities, discover what's possible for you at BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com that's BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com running a.
- [45:03]
Odoo Business Software Advertiser
Business is hard enough, so why make it harder? With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other, One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you are drowning in software Instead of growing your business, this is where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that handles everything CRM, accounting, inventory, e commerce, HR and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins. Just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business whether you are just starting out or already scaling up. Plus, it's easy to use, customizable and designed to streamline every process so you can focus on what really matters running your business. Thousands of businesses have made the switch, so why not you try Odoo for free@odoo.com that's o d o o dot com.
- [46:04]
Vanta Security Software Advertiser
Your software needs to be compliant to win deals, but you also need your engineers focused on building your product, not pulling SOC2 evidence. Enter a third option. Make Vanta your first security hire. Vanta uses AI and automation to get you compliant fast. Simplify your audit process and unblock deals so you can prove to your customers that you take security seriously. Plus, Vanta scales right along with you, backed by support that's there when you need it every step of the way. That's why top startups like Cursor, Linear and Replit use Vanta to get and stay secure. Don't sock block your best engineer. Set them free and get compliant fast with Vanta. Get started@vanta.com.
- [46:57]
Professor Julian Womble
One of the other realities that we have to grapple with in this text as it pertains to the teachers is that the Defense against the Dark Arts job is always. It's a revolving door of teachers, right? We've talked about three thus far, and we've spent a considerable amount of time talking about a lot of them. And I think for many of us, we have a very strong feeling about the importance of the Defense against the Dark Arts as a class, particularly because the backdrop of the wizarding world and the moments where we're reading these books is Voldiva is on the rise, okay? The noseless fiend is coming back, and these kids need to know how to defend themselves. And that's how we get Dumbledore's army. That's how all these things are happening, right? And so the backdrop of it is that we now need to have an understanding about what defending ourselves against these crazy, crazy, crazy people actually looks like. And so when we think about what Defense against the Dark Arts is meant to do and the different teachers that we get, it's a disaster. I mean, it's crazy to think about because it's like. So to be clear, this is probably one of the more important classes, especially once Voldiva makes his way back in Goblet of Fire. And after that, it's like. But now we actually it. The Dark Arts aren't some amorphous thing. They are a real tangible thing. And that thing doesn't have a nose, and its followers are unhinged. And so now we actually do need to know this. Before that, I could make a case for why it probably wasn't that important. And I did make that case in the bonus episode that I did on. On the Defense against the Dark Arts. If you are a deep diver or a chronic overthinker, it is available for you on the Patreon. If you do search and just search bonus, you should be able to find it. Enough marketing. Oh, my God, we get it. There's a patreon. Patreon.com criticalmagictheory Gotcha. Anyways, there is a. There's a way that I think Defense against the Dark Arts feels like super, super, super important. And I'm not convinced that it's as important as we're led to believe, but that's a story for a different day. What is true, though, is that we get a Lot of different teachers with a lot of different teaching styles. And because our Arithmancy alcove did the work as they do and looked into the top teachers that the top defense against the Dark Arts teachers and the worst. So the best defense against the Dark Arts teachers and the worst. And so we're going to start from the top. So I'm going to give you top three. Remus, Lupin, Barty, Crouch, Junior, Severus, Snape. Those are our top three for the best defense against the Dark Arts teachers. Listen, some of these people contain multitudes. And when I think about these three, I think what's striking is that they are good defense against the Dark Arts teacher teachers for very different reasons. But I think they all have something that's like kind of the glue that keeps them together. And I think that that thing is they all had something to prove, but. And this is where it gets a little dicey, but it's not to the students. They had something to prove to themselves. And because of that, what they taught went beyond the scope of the course. Right. For Remus, teaching the Defense against the Dark Arts class is not just a job, it's a re entry, I think, into the world. This is his first real public attempt to exist openly again and to be trusted, to be useful and to be seen as competent and capable. And you can feel that when he teaches, when he introduces the Boggart lesson, my take on it is that this isn't just about teaching the students how to defend. Defend themselves against fear. He's teaching them how to actually look fear in the face. And we see that he has to do the same thing, right? When he jumps in front of Harry and he sees the full moon, which the kids think is a balloon, which. Okay, I think, I think we need to start some other kind of lessons. At Hogwarts. If you looked at that and thought, why is that a. Why is that a. A glowing orb? No, no, they didn't think it was a balloon. He turned it into a balloon. They thought it was a crystal ball. All the same, I've got questions. The kids don't know anything. You mean you're going up at midnight to the Astronomy Tower? Professor Sinestra, I have some questions for you. If the kids can't tell what a moon is. But I digress. He actively steps in front of Harry and his greatest fear comes up and he faces it and he turns it into a balloon. And. And in that way he is actively modeling adaptability, vulnerability and creativity. In that lesson, he invites students to laugh at Their fear, to reshape it and to control it. And I think that that mirrors a lot of what he is doing by virtue of simply being the teacher. So he's teaching himself alongside his students. That fear does not have to define you, that being marked by trauma and stigma and your past doesn't disqualify you. There's a gentleness to the way that he teaches, but it's not, like, inherently soft. He has expectations for his students. He puts them through a very rigorous final exam. He expects for them to engage. But the authority doesn't come from a place of trauma explicitly. It seemingly comes from a place of care and preparation without intimidation. And I think that that really matters in the long run, because I feel like what he is doing is actively learning with his students. And to me, one of my favorite things about teaching in the classroom and even doing this podcast, is I learn so much from you all. I make mistakes. You all correct me without a problem. In fact, I think some of you like doing that, but that's not what we're talking about right now. I think that one of the most fun parts of teaching is perpetually learning. Like, I am a lover of knowledge, and I never delude myself into thinking that my students don't know anything when they come into my classroom. And I think that one of the things that is so much fun is learning new things. Like, I always learn new slang. Huh? That's why I'm so hip. Do they say hip? I don't know. They haven't taught me that. But that's why I'm so with it. Yes. The coolest. I'm not a regular teacher. I am a cool teacher. If you don't get that reference, it's a Mean Girls reference, and you need to go do your homework. And by homework, I mean go watch Mean Girls because it is a classic, and it's time for you to step up. All right. Bardu Crouch Jr, though, by contrast, is driven by something far darker. But I think it comes from a place that is just as personal. His teaching is shaped by an obsession and a vendetta. He teaches the unforgivable curses not as abstract theory, but as a lived reality. Right. When he places his students under the imperious curse, it's not a random cruelty. He is being so intentional and so deliberate. He wants them to know what it feels like to not be in control, and more importantly, how to fight back. And he wants them to know that because he had to know. He had to learn. He had to figure it out. By himself. And he said, if I had to, I don't want that for you. And that's the dangerous part of his effectiveness, because he teaches what he knows. And what he knows is coercion and domination and resistance. So his lessons are practical and immersive and unforgettable. And so every student leaves his classroom with skills they genuinely did not have before. And we see it come into play not too long after they learn these lessons in the graveyard as Harry is fighting off the imperious curse placed on him by Voldadi. And I think that that's why he ranks not Vuldati. That's why Barty Crouch Jr ranks so highly. But the reason I think his teaching works is inseparable from the reason it's so unsettling. Because his pedagogy is born of trauma and fanaticism. He teaches not out of care, but out of conviction. And the student's growth serves his larger purpose. But also it's interesting because it stands in the face of the ultimate plan, which tells us that the tension between what he wants Harry to be prepared for and what he is like trying to teach them kind of are at odds with one another. And I think that what this offers us is the notion that effectiveness alone is not a moral good, but effectiveness is effective, and that matters. And then, of course, there's Sebisev, Severus Snape, whose relationship to the Dark Arts is intimate and intellectual, and another moment that it is deeply personal. He is completely and utterly fascinated by the Dark Arts and seduced. He understands the power and how it operates and corrupts and how it protects and crucially, how you have to control it. His acumen with defense against the Dark Arts comes from a space of spending his entire life navigating his proximity to it, defending against it, using it, hiding it, creating it. Sectum sempera. Ever heard of it? He knows the subject, and that knowledge gives him a level of credibility in the classroom. And students learn real things from Snape, important and necessary things from Snape. But again, his failure as a teacher isn't because he doesn't no anything. It's not even that he doesn't know how to teach students. It comes because he confuses mastery with entitlement. His closeness to the Dark Arts does not make him patient. It makes him cruel. It doesn't make him protective at all. His entire pedagogical approach is shaped by resentment and favoritism and humiliation. And so, yeah, students learn. But again, the environment is what matters here. And I think that that for many of us, that's where we draw the line. And so I think when we had to think about what unites these characters that are fairly disparate Remus Lupin, Barty, Crops Junior, Severus, Snape. I think that the idea of the dark arts and defending themselves from them is very personal. They're not teaching from a distance. They are literally pulling from their own lived experiences, from fear, obsession, survival, and using that as a foundation on which to build their approach to teaching these students. I think that Lupin turns fear into empathy and Barty turns it into weaponization, and Snape turns it into control. And the way that you all respond to them tells us something about how we understand teaching. Because we don't ask whether students learn, we asked how they were treated while learning. And again, that dichotomy really means something.
- [59:08]
Oregon Veterans Support Announcer
Navigating post military challenges can be tough Regardless of when you served, you are not not alone. Connect with fellow Oregon veterans and find activities, Navigate resources and join a community to help support your journey or challenges after military service. From mental health support to veteran community groups and activities, discover what's possible for you at BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com that's BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com running a.
- [59:37]
Odoo Business Software Advertiser
Business is hard enough, so why make it harder? With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you are drowning in software instead of growing your business. This is where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that handles everything CRM, accounting, inventory, E commerce, HR and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins. Just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business whether you are just starting out or already scaling up. Plus, it's easy to use, customizable and designed to streamline every process so you can focus on what really matters running your business. Thousands of businesses have made the switch so why not you try Odoo for free@odoo.com that's o d o o.com RingCentral.
- [60:39]
Professor Julian Womble
Will completely transform the way you work. It gives you built in AI across all your business conversations. Your phone System has an AI receptionist that answers calls 24 7. Your video meetings have AI that takes notes instantly. Even your contact center has AI so you can Help customers faster. It all comes together in one reliable platform for effortless AI communications. See for yourself at ringcentral.com, ring voice of your business. Now it's time to get to the worst. And so here are our top three worst defense against the Dark Arts teachers. Gilderoy Lockhart, no one is surprised. Dolores Umbridge, no one is surprised. Severus Snape, back again. Well, well, well. Imagine being the best and the worst. He contains multitudes. When I think about these three, I think the thing that stands out to me is, and what I believe unites them and makes them so bad at this particular job is the fact that I don't think that any of them truly believe in the Dark Arts as something that has to be confronted. I think that they have very different reasons and different relationships with the Dark Arts. Some of it is ideological, some of it is narcissistic, some of it is, you know, reverent. But at the end of the day, it all boils down to the fact that they simply do not believe that the dark arts are as dangerous or as necessary to be kind of taught, or that the defense against the Dark Arts is necessary to be taught. To me, Gilderoy Lockhart is the clearest example of this self delusion, right? He is engaging in deeply unethical magic in his routine, wiping up people's memories and erasing their experiences and rewriting them as his own. And yet neither he nor the wizarding world treats this engagement as a dark art. Because memory modification isn't dark. It's bureaucratic, it's cosmetic, it's necessary. They do it all the time to non magical people. They do it all the time to magical people. And we have seen it addle the minds of many a person. And yet, and still it is just something that anyone can do without any sort of intervention on the part of the Ministry of Magic. And that framing allows Lockhart to believe sincerely that what he's doing isn't dangerous or harmful and that it doesn't require some sort of moral reckoning. So in the classroom, Dark Arts becomes theater. It's stories, it's marketing, it's branding. There's no urgency or seriousness or preparation about this. It doesn't, because to him he's like, well, yeah, like none of it is real. You can't teach students to defend themselves against something that you refuse to recognize as being legitimate. And I think Umbridge represents a different kind of denial because I don't think she misunderstands the Dark Arts. I just think that she pretends they don't exist, right? Like Umbridge is that person who is like, no, that's not real. And we literally see her say that when Harry is like, actually, Voldemort's back. She said, no. And I fundamentally believe that she believes that. I think that she. I don't think she's putting on airs about that. I think she fully, fundamentally believes that Voldemort is not back and that saying something like that is just tantamount to you being ridiculous. And so her pedagogy is built on erasure, on the idea that naming danger creates danger, that acknowledging harm legitimizes it. That theory alone is enough to defend yourself against any sort of thing that one might come up against. So instead of teaching spells, she teaches obedience. She doesn't prepare them, she teaches compliance. She doesn't give them the tools to defend themselves. She says, shut up. And I think what makes umbrage especially destructive is that her refusal is institutional. It's completely backed by the ministry, by power, by the insistence that safety comes from denial and not readiness. And so, again, we see here that, like Lockhart, what Umbridge is doing is very much in line with the government, with the powers that be. So much so that in Umbridge's classroom, students are punished not for doing magic correctly, but for wanting to learn and to know the truth at all. And that is the antithesis of teaching. It's the exact opposite. And yet it feels so oddly familiar in a way that's terrifying to me. Severus is more complicated, and I think that that's why he belongs on both lists, because I don't think he denies the Dark Arts, and I don't think he pretends that they don't exist. And I don't think he tries to trivialize them. His relationship with them is deeply conflicted. Because I think Snape believes that knowledge itself is protection, that proximity breeds control, and that if you understand the Dark Arts, you can survive them. And I think in some ways, that's pedagogically correct, right? Like, you've got to know what you're up against. But there's a difference between defense against the Dark Arts and just the dark arts. And the reality is that students do learn from him and get real skills and they gain insights into the dangers of magic. But I think that Snape fails because he treats knowledge as sufficient and students as expendable. His classroom teaches fear as discipline, humiliation as rigor. He believes that exposure alone hardens students, that cruelty prepares them, that survival is proof of success. And I don't think that that is a workable pedagogy, because learning that happens through degradation is still learning. It's just not education. And so when we look at these three things together, we see Lockhart's teaching through the lens of narcissism, Umbridge is teaching through the lens of authoritarianism, and Snape is teaching through the lens of mastery without care. And in all three cases, the students are the ones who suffer because they aren't protected. And it's not because the dark arts are too dangerous. It's because the adults responsible for teaching them refuse to honestly engage with what the dark arts actually do. And what this tells us about defense against the dark arts is that it requires more than six skill. You've got to believe in what you are teaching. You got to believe that the danger is real. You got to believe that the students need to be prepared. And you've got to believe that the protection is not the same as control. And I think that that's why Lupin is so good. Because he does that. He lives that, he embodies that. And I think his experience as someone who is blind by society helps him do this better than any of these other teachers.
- [68:34]
Oregon Veterans Support Announcer
Navigating post military challenges can be tough Regardless of when you served, you are not alone. Connect with fellow Oregon veterans and find activities, navigate resources and join a community to help support your journey or challenges after military service. From mental health health support to veteran community groups and activities, discover what's possible for you at BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com that's BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com running.
- [69:03]
Odoo Business Software Advertiser
A business is hard enough, so why make it harder? With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you are drowning in software instead of growing your business. This is where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that handles everything CRM, accounting, inventory, E commerce, HR and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins. Just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business whether you are just starting out or already scaling up. Plus, it's easy to use, customizable and designed to streamline every process so you can focus on what really matters running your business. Thousands of businesses have made the switch so why not you try Odoo for free@odoo.com that's o d o o.com RingCentral.
- [70:05]
RingCentral Communication Software Advertiser
Knows that businesses run on communication and juggling separate systems for team collaboration and customer service creates confusion, missed opportunities, and frustrated customers. RingCentral changes everything with Ring and Ring CX, one powerful platform that connects your entire organization. RingEx keeps your team connected with seamless calling, messaging and video meetings, whether they're in the office or working remotely. Meanwhile, Ring CX transforms your customer experience with AI powered contact center capabilities that route calls intelligently and provide real time insights. The magic happens when they work together. Your customer service agents can instantly collaborate with experts across your company to solve problems faster. No more transferring customers between systems or losing context. With over 500,000 businesses trusting RingCentral and 99.999% uptime reliability, you're in good company. Visit RingCentral.com that's RingCentral.com RingCentral Voice of your Business.
- [71:14]
Professor Julian Womble
We've now reached the point of the episode where I am going to reflect and the through line question that I want to think about for this reflection is what does it mean to be a good teacher at Hogwarts? Whenever we talk about teachers at Hogwarts, we almost always start with the same people. We start with the ones who loom the largest, the ones with the most page time, and the ones who shape the plot in dramatic and irreversible ways. The Albus Dumbledores, the severus snapes, the McGonagalls, the Umbridges. And obviously that makes sense. Those are the teachers whose decisions feel the most consequential. They're the ones who provoke the strongest reactions and the ones that we fight about and we have fought about, and we will probably continue to fight about. But for this two year anniversary episode, especially one that's meant to close out our long arc on Hogwarts teachers, I want us to think about something a little bit different. Not necessarily who is the most interesting teacher, but what does it actually mean to be a good teacher at Hogwarts? Because I think once you start asking that particular question seriously, the answer gets a lot less obvious. One of the things that came up again and again in the survey data, especially in the Defense against the Dark Arts results, is that people are not using a single definition of a good teacher. We're using at least two, and we talked about those two dimensions earlier in the episode. On one hand, we're asking whether the students learned what they needed. Did they gain skills? Did they leave more capable than when they arrived at the beginning of term. Are they prepared for the dangers of the world? And on the other hand, the other dimension that we talked about is how were students treated while they were learning. And there are moments where these two dimensions overlap and then sometimes they don't. And Hogwarts as an institution doesn't not do a very good job at reconciling that tension. And this is where I think Defense against the Dark Arts becomes a useful lens through which to view kind of the overall pedagogy, if that's what we can call it at Hogwarts. Because it's the only class where the teacher changes every year. It's the only class where instability is normalized and the only one where danger is assumed rather than perceived as exceptional. And so it's the only class where we're most willing to excuse harm in the name of preparation. We'd say, well, duh, of course it's intense. Yeah, of course it's scary. It's Defense Against Dark Arts. Of course students are afraid. That's the entire point. But when you line the teachers up and actually look at them, what you start to see is that effectiveness and care are not the same thing. And Hogwarts often treats them as interchangeable. And that's how you end up with someone as Snape being both the worst and the best Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. Or on the list of both, rather not because we are confused, but because Hogwarts has trained us to believe that learning through fear is acceptable as long as a student comes out the other side with a pulse. And that is a very, very like terrible outcome. You know, when you are a teacher, and I know it's truer, particularly for people who are teaching at the K through 12 level, you've got to think about tangible outcomes. And I think that what is true about Hogwarts is that the tangible outcome is literally, are you still alive? Did you have to go to the hospital way. And so I think that, you know, if we, if we were to only use Defense against the Dark Arts, we would be making a big mistake. And I think that if we were only to try to think about Hogwarts through the lens of the classes that we spend a considerable amount of time in, we might miss some things because I think if we only evaluate teachers based on the most dramatic classrooms with the curses and the villains and the trauma, then there's something that's going on that we are not paying attention to and we miss the teachers who keep this Place running. The ones who don't dominate the narrative or center themselves, but the ones who look more like teachers that we want to have, that we have had, that we want to be, that we are. For example, Professor Flitwick teaches charms. Flick Flitwick. I'm keeping that in Flitwick. Okay. Professor Flitwick teaches charms, a subject that is very technical, cumulative and foundational. Charms are the spell students use every day. They're not glamorous. They're not forbidden. They're not framed as morally dangerous. Flitwick teaches them like a craft. We don't see him unloading personal trauma onto his students. We don't see him motivating through fear. We don't see him turning the classroom into a stage for his own insecurities. He teaches his students how to do something carefully and well. And notably, Flitwick is also a head of house. He has institutional power and he doesn't wield it violently. That matters. And then the same is true of Pomona Sprout. Herbology is about growth and patience, about learning that not everything can be rushed or forced in. Sprout's teaching reflects that. She expects students to get dirty, to make mistakes. Oh my gosh. I wrote this. And thinking about my queen, Ms. Frizzle from the magic school bus. If you don't know what that is, look it up, you gen zers. Am I old now? Don't answer that. Not on our second birthday. I'm only two years old, but Ms. Frizzle used to say, take chances, make mistakes, get messy. And I think that Professor Sprout offers students that opportunity. She builds a classroom where trial and error are part of the process and they're not punishable offenses. She's rigorous without being cruel, and she demands things from the students without being demeaning. And she's also ahead of a house. Which raises another uncomfortable question for us to ponder is why do the teachers who handle authority most gently seem to disappear from the larger narrative of power at Hogwarts? And then there are the teachers that complicate things in a quieter way. We have Charity Burbage, who believes deeply in the dignity of non magical people. She challenges wizarding supremacy. She brings a personal politic into the classroom. But the version of Muggle studies that we see that we understand is grounded in this very shallow, fetishized, misinformed formed way. Burbage cannot teach what she doesn't fully know. And so our failures are not cruelty. It's just miseducation. And we know based on our understanding of Muggle studies as a joke and the Muggle liaison office that like this is not a class that is taken particularly seriously. And I think that that undermines a lot of the way that individuals operate and understand themselves in relation to non magical people. Because I think belief without full understanding can still do harm. And then we have my least favorite teacher at Hogwarts speaking of doing harm, the one and only Professor Binns, who is a ghost and a specter at the feast that is Hogwarts's terrible, terrible pedagogy as it pertains to history. He teaches history without humanity. He teaches war and trauma and devastation without reflection, without interiority, without perspective. And he doesn't yell and he doesn't threaten. He doesn't abuse students. He simply disengages. He just gives them the facts without any sort of critical anything and just says, that's true. We only deal in facts. He says in Chamber of Secrets. As if history is just factual. As if it's not written from someone's perspective, as if it is not presented to people who won whatever goblin rebellion, as if it is not the basis on which discrimination, prejudice and vitriol are built. It's just facts. He says, I have a lot to say about that, but I. We don't have time to get into it, so we're just, just, just know that I have a lot of rancor towards that person, that ghost, okay? And then we have Madam Hooch. And there's not to say a lot, I don't have a lot to say about Madam Hooch because there's not a lot to say. She oversees a sport where students are routinely injured while flying around dozens of feet in the air at high speeds. And it's normalized. In fact, like it's one of the first things that they teach you at Hogwarts is how to fly, right? And it's a spectacle. And then there's my queen, the savior of all the glue that holds this whole shebang together. And that is the one and only Madame Pomfrey who has to deal with the aftermath of everything. And so she's not a teacher in a formal sense, but she is the glue that holds Hogwarts together. She sees what happens when teachers are careless, when institutions are prioritized tradition over safety. And we get to hear her complain about it justifiably when harm is treated as acceptable collateral. And she's the one who puts the students back together again time after time after time after time after time. We often joke about the fact that Hogwarts doesn't have any sort of mental health services. And I'm like, yeah, because they all go to Madame Pomfrey and she's a listening ear. She is the one who's putting bones back together. She's the one. And yet in some ways, she never gets her due. And I could go off for days about that. Maybe I will in a bonus episode. But when you put all of this together, there's a pattern that emerges. The teachers who do the best at Hogwarts are the ones who have found ways to contain themselves. They don't ask students to absorb their unresolved trauma. They don't turn the classroom into a site of personal reckoning. They understand that teaching is not about exercising your past. It's about helping someone else figure out their future. And Hogwarts does almost nothing to help teachers learn how to do that. There's no evidence that anyone at Hogwarts is trained to teach. No pedagogy, no mentorship, no institutional reflection. It seems like people are simply placed in classrooms and expected to figure it out while being responsible for children who wield enormous power and are undergoing profound physiological and physical changes, as well as psychological ones, emotional ones, hormonal ones. It is an impossible task. And as I was putting together this episode and thinking about this being our second anniversary, I kept coming back to something that feels both obvious and easy for us to forget. All of us are teachers in one way or another. Some of us, I know, are formally teachers. Some of us are educators by trade, whether it be early education, K through 12, professors, adjuncts, graduate instructors, name it. We walk into classrooms every day with lesson plans and learning objectives and the weight of the responsibility that comes along with being trusted with other people's minds. But I also recognize that teaching doesn't stop there. For those of us who are caregivers of children, we teach them. Our nieces, our nephews, our siblings, our cousins, our friends, our partners. We teach people when we correct them, when we explain why something they said hurt, when we ask them to think again about a belief they've held too comfortably. And sometimes, most uncomfortably, we teach people simply by existing as ourselves in front of them. And that is teaching, too. One of the questions that I get asked a lot is why I use Harry Potter to talk about identity and power in the world that we live in. Why this story? Why fantasy? Why something people often want to think of as simple and nostalgic and escapist? And I've always had an answer. But it is ever changing and ever growing and continues to do so. And I think when I started this podcast, I did so one because you all made me, but also because I believed that the stories were a solid entry point, a way to kind of get people in the door and start having conversations that felt too heavy or too political or too charged. But what this podcast has shown me in the two years through your messages and your post, your reflections and our disagreements, is that what we're really doing here is practicing something so much bigger than that. We're practicing how to think. I end every episode by saying, be critical and stay magical. And for a long time, I think I thought the second part was the hook, the magic, right? The whimsy, the joy. But as time goes on, I've realized something that is a touch unsettling. The really, truly radical part of the sign off is the first half. Be critical. Because critical thinking is not passive, it's not comfortable, and it's rarely rewarded. Being critical means asking questions and sometimes asking questions you're not sure you want the answer to. There are moments where ignorance feels like peace, where not knowing feels safer than knowing listen. I feel that all the time. But what this community keeps reminding me is that we don't get to opt out of thinking just because it's hard. One of the themes that comes up again and again and again in the teacher conversation, especially when we talk about Hogwarts and when we talked about Kendra and Percival, is the idea that your secrets can raise children. They raise the people around you. They can inform all of your interactions. What we don't deal with gets passed down. What we don't interrogate becomes curriculum, and what we don't heal gets reenacted. And that's true whether you're a wizard teaching Defense against the Dark Arts or just a regular person navigating relationships and work spaces and families and communities. We are always teaching someone something, even when we don't mean to. Especially when we don't mean to. And I think teaching at its best is not about having all the answers. It's about being honest about the question. It's about being clear with ourselves about our own truths and our own traumas so that we don't confuse authority with control or knowledge with superiority or experience with entitlement. And that work is an ongoing process that is filled with imperfections and requires an immense amount of humility. And as someone who teaches for a living, I know that there are days when I walk into that classroom and I'm fully grounded and I'm ready to listen and I'm ready to guide, and I'm ready to hold space. And then there are other days where all of that is much harder. I teach a class on race and ethnicity, and, you know, they teach you. You're supposed to be impartial. But the reality is that I'm not just a professor. I'm a citizen. I'm a person living in this world, living in the body that I live in, and trying to figure out how to create a space where my students can wrestle with these ideas and even, like, have ideas that I disagree with without letting the space become harmful or unsafe or exclusionary. And that's hard work. And many phone calls to my friends, yelling and screaming and ranting and raving about the things that I heard in class that I had to let roll off my back or find really creative ways to critique or. And there's no manual for that. Lord knows Hogwarts doesn't have one. And I think part of what we have to think about and the thing that we have to navigate, and something that I navigate often, every time I deal with a rough day in the classroom, is I have to think about the why. Why do we do this? What are the reasons that we keep coming back to this? What are the reasons that you keep showing up? And I think that part of it is because in this space, in this podcast, critical thinking offers us something very rare. Solutions, possibility, hope, and solutions. Possibility, hope. It's not always easy. It's not always perfect, but it is possible. And critical thinking helps us think and see pathways where it feels like there weren't any. It helps us slow down, interrogate assumptions, and imagine alternatives, even when the world feels overwhelming. We can't think our way out of everything. Sometimes we have to feel our way through things, and that's terrifying. Listen, y' all know. I know. But there is something deeply magical about choosing to learn so that we can teach, so that we can do better with what has been handed to us. So as we move into year three, which honestly feels so crazy to say out loud, I just want to say thank you for thinking with me, for challenging me, for trusting me with your time and your attention and your questions. This podcast has changed how I understand teaching and storytelling and community. And it's reminded me that the real magic isn't spells. It's the willingness to stay curious, to stay honest, to stay critical, even when it's uncomfortable. So wherever you are or however you teach, formally or informally, I hope that you remember that what you pass on matters. And I hope you keep asking questions because more than anything else, that's how we build worlds worth living in. So as we move into year three, let's continue to be critical and to stay magical, my friends. Foreign.
- [91:25]
Oregon Veterans Support Announcer
Navigating Post Military challenges can be tough Regardless of when you served, you are not alone. Connect with fellow Oregon veterans and find activities, navigate resources and join a community to help support your journey or challenges after military service. From mental health support to veteran community groups and activities, discover what's possible for you at BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com that's BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com running a.
- [91:54]
Odoo Business Software Advertiser
Business is hard enough, so why make it harder With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you are drowning in software instead of growing your business. This is where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one, fully integrated platform that handles everything CRM, accounting, inventory, E commerce, HR and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins, just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business whether you are just starting out or already scaling up. Plus it's easy to use, customizable and designed to streamline every process so you can focus on what really matters running your business. Thousands of businesses have made the switch, so why not you? Try Odoo for free@odoo.com that's o d o o.com in the heat of battle.
- [92:56]
Professor Julian Womble
Your squad relies on you. Don't let them down. Unlock elite gaming tech@lenovo.com dominate every match with next level speed, seamless streaming and performance that won't quit. Push your gameplay beyond performance with Intel Core Ultra processors for the next era of gaming. Upgrade to smooth high quality streaming with Intel Wi Fi 6e and maximize game performance with enhanced overclocking. Win the Tech Search power up@lenovo.com lenovo lenovo. 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 almost lost it at the end and it's because I'm so thankful that we have been at this for two years. We're moving into year three and I cannot wait for what's in store. I also can't wait to see what you all put into the post episode chat for this episode. I am excited because I you know I'm really loving these Prof. Response episodes. If you have not joined us on Patreon, please feel free to do so@patreon.com Criticalmagic theory Check out the merch so that you can be part of our fundraising campaign right now. And let's do this year three until the next time, be critical and stay magical my friends. Bye.
- [94:29]
Oregon Veterans Support Announcer
Navigating post military challenges can be tough regardless of when you served. You are not alone. Connect with fellow Oregon veterans and find activities, navigate resources and join a community to help support your journey or challenges after military service. From mental health support to veteran community groups and and activities, Discover what's possible for you at BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com that's BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com RingCentral.
- [94:59]
RingCentral Communication Software Advertiser
Knows that businesses run on communication and juggling separate systems for team collaboration and customer service creates confusion, missed opportunities and frustrated customers. RingCentral changes everything with Ring EX and Ring CX, one powerful platform that connects your entire organization. RingEX keeps your team connected with seamless calling, messaging and video meetings, whether they're in the office or working remotely. Meanwhile, Ring CX transforms your customer experience with AI powered contact center capabilities that route calls intelligently and provide real time insights. The magic happens when they work together. Your customer service agents can instantly collaborate with experts across your company to solve problems faster. No more transferring customers between systems or losing context. With over 500,000 businesses trusting RingCentral and 99.0, 999% uptime reliability, you're in good company. Visit RingCentral.com that's RingCentral.com RingCentral Voice of your business.
- [95:59]
Vanta Security Software Advertiser
Your software needs to be compliant to win deals, but you also need your engineers focused on building your product, not pulling SOC2 evidence. Enter a third option. Make Vanta your first security hire. Vanta uses AI and automation to get you compliant fast. Simplify your audit process and unblock deals so you can prove to your customers that you take security seriously. Plus, Vanta scales right along with you, backed by support that's there when you need it every step of the way. That's why top startups like Cursor, Linear and Replit use Vanta to get and stay secure. Don't sock block your best engineer, set them free and get compliant fast with Vanta. Get started@vanta.com.