Quantum Harry, the Podcast

How does Draco using Harry’s signature move help Harry to defeat Voldemort? Why does Harry prefer brooms to Apparating? And is the Room of Requirement inherently good or evil? Episode 24: Disarmed and Ready Watch the Episode 24 video on YouTube. Related Essay: Mock-Wars and Anti-Warriors EPISODE GUIDE

In my previous essay ( Bonfire of the Phoenix ) I began to examine the ways in which Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix can be considered JK Rowling’s version of the Gunpowder Plot, the rebellion that resulted in the arrest of Guy Fawkes, among others, and which led to the establishment of the most widely celebrated nationalistic holiday in the United Kingdom and its Commonwealths: Guy Fawkes Day, also called Bonfire Night, a holiday distinguished by the role that fireworks and bonfires play in its celebration. The backdrop for the Gunpowder Plot is a church-state conflict. When a church and state are essentially the same it is inevitable that those following a competing system of beliefs are viewed not just as heretics but as traitors to their country. This was the case in the late sixteenth century, when the Church of England was in its infancy and “recusant” Catholics considered Queen Elizabeth I to be a pretender to the throne because Henry VIII hadn’t been legally marr...

In previous essays I’ve written about Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets being JK Rowling’s version of “Little Red Riding Hood” ( See Quantum Harry, the Podcast, Episode 12: Grow Up Now , Episode 13: Deus ex Machina  and Episode 14: The Devil’s Game ). However, Order of the Phoenix is her version of an historical event: the Gunpowder Plot, the 1605 attempt by a group of Catholic rebels to blow up Parliament and put a Catholic-friendly monarch in power. The defeat of this rebellion has been celebrated each year since, on the fifth of November, as Guy Fawkes Day, also called Bonfire Night. This might seem like a break from Rowling using elements connected to children and childhood for her underlying structure and thematic continuity. However, the most important reference point for this book happens to be the only event in British history that’s commemorated by fireworks and playful celebrations, a chance for everyone in the UK, and many Commonwealth countries, to be...