Quantum Harry Discussion Group

Join the new Quantum Harry discussion group on FaceBook! General HP discussion also welcome.



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Essay: JK Rowling's Own Private Tarot Game

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JK Rowling never tells her readers about Harry Potter learning about Tarot, nor is it ever mentioned during his Divination lessons. Despite this, Professor Trelawney abruptly reappears in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince , even though she is no longer Harry’s teacher by the time he’s in his sixth year. In just about every appearance she makes in the sixth book she is raving about the Tower , also called The Tower of Destruction , or La Maison Dieu ( The House of God ) in French, the sixteenth card in the Tarot Major Arcana. Trelawney ranting about this card is the first overt mention of Tarot in the seven books, and it is a virtual throwaway. It is not, however, the first mention of the name of a Tarot card in the series . In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , Rowling calls the Little Hangleton pub frequented by Frank Bryce, the caretaker at the Riddle House, The Hanged Man. This is the name of the twelfth card in the Tarot Major Arcana. JK Rowling has also invente...
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Quantum Harry: The Episode Guide

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SPECIAL EPISODE: JK ROWLING AND THE ESSAY OF DOOM Blog version This episode guide provides links to the blog posts for each episode (where the links to the mp3 files are) plus helpful information about which Harry Potter book is linked to each episode. To see the episodes arranged according to which book in the series goes with which podcast episode, go to Quantum Harry: By the Book . To discuss Quantum Harry episodes and other general Harry Potter topics, join the discussion group ! Pro tip: To listen to all of the episodes in order on your computer, go to the Quantum Harry Castbox page  and click on the word "Reverse" right above the list of episodes to put them in order (since they're usually listed most recent to oldest). If you're on a cell phone, download the Castbox app first (clicking on the above link will prompt you to do this, and it's really fast) before selecting the symbol on the right above the listed episodes--that will reverse them ...
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Essay: Blood Sport

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When Harry first enters the wizarding world, where someone stands on Quidditch is a metaphor for how well they fit into that world. That Harry takes to flying immediately clearly delineates him as a soldier, a warrior. It also contributes to the animus between him and Draco Malfoy, who first mentions the word “Quidditch” to Harry. For Harry to join the Gryffindor house team as a first year and actually be good at it cements the separation between them. In addition to there being an archetype aligning with each book in the series (see QuantumHarry, the Podcast, Episode 2: This Old Man ), JK Rowling has also engaged in a clever bit of self-referential recursion. Each of the seven obstacles to the Philosopher’s Stone also aligns with one of the seven books in the series, and links to a significant theme in each book. The first obstacle to the Stone is “Fluffy”, the three-headed dog Hagrid loans Dumbledore to guard the trapdoor leading to the Stone. Harry initially sees Fluf...
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