The Midnight Vigal and Breakthrough at the Burrow

[00:00:13] Speaker A: Hello everyone and welcome to the Disappearances of Draco Malfoy. A Pensieve read through the podcast where we explore a story that could have been in the Harry Potter universe. I'm Amy and I'll be your host and your resident fan fiction. Enthusiastic? I've been reading Harry Potter fanfiction for years now and I'm so excited to finally share one of my absolute favorites with someone very special. My sister, Holly. Now Holly is a huge Potterhead. We both grew up with the books. We each reread them once every few years. But unlike me, she has never read a single piece of fanfiction. [00:00:45] Speaker B: Not one. [00:00:46] Speaker A: So each episode we're going to be reading and discussing the disappearances of Draco Malfoy by speechwriter, a beloved Deathly Hallows rewrite that asks one simple but powerful what if Draco Malfoy made a different choice atop the Astronomy Tower? We'll be going through the story two chapters at a time, breaking down the plot, talking about characters choices, and of course reacting in real time as Holly experiences HP fanfiction. And I cannot stress this enough, she is going in completely blind. No spoilers, no expectations, just vibes confusion and probably a lot of feelings about Draco and Hermione. So whether you've read this fic before, you're a long time fanfiction reader like me, or you're totally new like Holly, you're in the right place. So grab a buddy, beer, get cozy and let's dive in. [00:01:40] Speaker B: Welcome to the show everyone. I'm Amy. [00:01:42] Speaker C: And I'm Holly. [00:01:44] Speaker B: And today we are discussing the disappearances of Draco Malfoy, AKA the dis of Draco as Holly has christened it. Chapters three and four, the Midnight Vigil and breakthrough at the Borough. In these chapters we spend a night in Hermione's Burrow childhood home and Draco discovers Horcruxes. So Polly, your your thoughts, your feelings were mixed the first two chapters. Last, last episode really liked Draco's characterization. Despise Hermione's. How are we doing now? [00:02:35] Speaker C: Look now when I finished chapter three, I was really, really excited and I was like really getting into it and I was like, okay, yeah, like this is really great. I almost texted you because I was gonna be like, oh, this is so good. Like you know, Hermione's got some dialogue so it's like showing, not telling, you know what I mean? You know, she seems more like herself. I mean the Draco stuff, I mean other than like the plot stuff, which here and there it's like, okay, does that make sense? I don't know. But just narratively, I was so much happier with Hermione in chapter three that I was, like, so excited. But I was like, I won't text you. I'll just, you know, I'll wait to talk about it on the podcast. And then I read chapter four, and I was like. And chapter four overall was really good. Again, the parts were. My issue is with Hermione, specifically because I think Draco. There's some things I don't like about how he's written, but, like, it's okay. The way chapter four ends, though, it ends with some more of this kind of similar style that was going on in the previous chapter. I was unhappy with, I guess, chapter two. And I was just like, no, please, no. I was. I was so excited and I was so happy throughout reading all the chapters. I thought they were pretty, like, pretty good. And then just that little bit at the end with Hermione, I. I did not like. So that kind of made it end on, like, a, you know, disappointed note for me. So, yeah. [00:04:21] Speaker B: Alrighty. So let us begin with chapter three, where we immediately are put into Hermione's home, which, again, is always interesting because very, again, all we really know about Hermione's parents and her home life is that she's, you know, that she's the daughter of two dentists. Like, we're not really given a lot more than that. And so it's always interesting to see different writers having differing interpretations of what Hermione's family background is. [00:05:01] Speaker C: Yeah, I liked how the previous chapter ended because again, there was, like, some action happening. Hermione kind of did the, you know, disapparated on the spot. Like, just kind of in a panic. So, like, this is the place she thought of. Like, would she have taken the Malfoys to her home? I don't know. Again, it was kind of, like a stressful moment. So, like, I was fine with all of that. So I thought this was gonna, you know. Well, this is really cool. I mean, I will say they didn't really. They gave a little bit about, like, the house, but not, like, too much, obviously. There's, like, other stuff going on here that's more important. So I wasn't expecting, like, some big, long expose about her family and home life and stuff that we haven't gotten. Not that that wouldn't be interesting, but we got, like, just enough, a little bit to, like, I don't know, again, for her as a character, she's Thinking about the things that maybe she would think about. Like, she's not thinking about, like her whole past life, but she is sort of like, you know, like there's some minor description of the house and she sort of reflects on at one point, I think, like when she went to like, modify her parents memories, like right before she left. So she's like reflecting on things that make sense for the moment as a character. So, yeah, I. I thought it was interesting to be here, plot, plot wise, you know, I don't know, like, why the Malfoys wouldn't just bounce, to be honest. I mean, I guess they have nowhere to go. [00:06:41] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. Yeah. But just briefly about the house. You know, Draco making the comment that clearly the Grangers for Muggle standards had money. That is a motif that does come up a lot in fan fictions that are specifically Dramione ship because, you know, interesting that again, it's the idea that Draco sees her mind is like, oh, she's actually kind of loaded. Like I am, just in a different context. [00:07:12] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean. Yeah, I mean, that was in obviously his point of view, which comes a bit. But, yeah, I noticed that too when it was like, huh, it's clear that Granger came from some money. Like, that's the first thing he kind of notices about the house. Which I thought. Which I thought was on brand and made sense for his character. And. Yeah, I thought. I thought that was kind of funny. Yeah. [00:07:35] Speaker B: So, yeah, so of course Lucius and Narcissa are their pissy selves, where there's like, there's nowhere else you could have taken us. And she's like, no, all the Order safe houses are in use tonight to move Harry. And yeah, to your question of the. [00:07:52] Speaker C: Yeah, why. Why don't. Why don't they just disappear? Like, go somewhere else on their own? Like, I'm just surprised why they would stay here, you know, like, why wouldn't they try to just. I don't know. I mean, I get that, like, they're under the Order's protection right now. They don't know any of the Order locations and they don't know where to go in the wizarding world where maybe they won't be recognized. But, like, I don't know. I. I'm trying to. I'm trying to weigh in at like, their hatred of Muggles and Muggle borns versus their want, their need of protection from the Order. And I'd like. I don't know where the balance is. Right. [00:08:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:34] Speaker C: So it's hard to like, really have a handle on, you know, like it, it doesn't seem like wildly out there that they wouldn't know where to go and have to trust Hermione to like help them out. But it does make me question if that makes sense, you know. [00:08:49] Speaker B: Yeah, it's the question. I guess we're supposed to believe that their sense of self preservation is greater and knowing they have than their racism. Than their racism. And I think maybe to, maybe also to a certain extent knowing how far Voldemort's influence extends at this point and not trusting to be able to evade him. [00:09:14] Speaker C: Yeah, so. [00:09:17] Speaker B: Excuse me. So, yeah, so, yeah, and then of course it's, it's not just, it's not just the Malfoys and Hermione. It's also Dumbledore's body. [00:09:27] Speaker C: Yeah, that's. This also kind of weirded me out a little bit throughout this sequence. Well, not because they just arrived here but then like later, you know, it's like so Dumbledore's just like dead, like lying his body, you know, like anyway, I mean, she moves him to like the couch, I think to like rest the body there. But again, like, not to get too scientific about it but once someone's like died, you know, things start happening. Things start happening? Yeah, like things start breaking down. Usually there's a smell. Smell, you know, like stuff like that kind of wasn't talked about but I mean, I guess it takes longer for wizards to decompose maybe, maybe, you know, who knows. And Dumbledore's, you know, very magical and very old. So maybe he has some kind of self, a different kind of self preservation going on. Some kind of biological self preservation reservation. I don't know. But yeah, I, I did note that that wasn't really referenced at all. That basically the things that kind of happen with a dead body once it's been laying for 24 hours, like. Yeah, yeah. [00:10:44] Speaker B: And then there's also your note, the notion of again, why don't the Malfoys just bounce? That's especially poignant in the context of like, again, the greatest protection that the Order could offer to them is Dumbledore and now Dumbledore is dead, so certainly. [00:11:00] Speaker C: Right. So that kind of makes it more, that kind of reinforces what I was thinking. Like he's dead. Like, why wouldn't they freak out and like try to leave, you know? [00:11:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:10] Speaker C: So like it's on us. Like he's, he's gone, you know, that's kind of it for us, for the protection we could have relied on. But you know, I guess, I mean, they're asking her, you know, they're kind of having a heated discussion like, so what do we do? Like, where do we go? Like, how do we contact the Order? And Hermione doesn't really know offhand. I put a note here, you know, I think Lucius or someone says, like, we have to contact the Order somehow or something to that effect. And Hermione says, yes, I know we have to, but I can't think of how. She bit her lip and began to pace across the sitting room. This is literally the first sentence I've read that sounded like Hermione to me. Yeah. Not to go off on a tangent, but just some of the previous. I was so upset with some of the previous, you know, narration of her because everything that makes Hermione, Hermione, like, she's very, like, she's information driven. She likes to do research and look things up and read books and she likes order and structure and routines and she has a strong moral center. She's actually very. Got very high, like, emotional intelligence. Intelligence, you know, like she can kind of guess what people are thinking or feeling potentially. You know, she. She has good judgments of people a lot of the time. She's a very. She's very critical. Also, like, all these things that kind of make her. Her were just completely removed from her. And the previous writings were just about her debating over two boys in her head. Which seems really. I mean, not that she can't be confused, but again, it's like it removed her character and just set her up as being a confused female character. That's. That's kind of how I thought she was being. That's why I thought she was being set up as a romantic interest character only because she wasn't written to like, be any other character way except to be worried about like, do I like Ron or do I like Harry? Which I don't think is what occupies her mind most most of the time, you know. So anyway, anyway, so here she's like kind of more of herself how we would expect her to be, you know. [00:13:37] Speaker B: Yep. Yeah. And Narcissus is like, there would be no need to get out of anything if you had apparated into our. Into our hiding place with Dollahop hanging off your robes, you stupid girl. So, yeah, Malfoy's extremely ungrateful for the fact. Yeah, it's just. [00:13:55] Speaker C: Yeah, it does. I think I was thinking about this too. It does seem dangerous to stay here. I mean, I guess because she was disguised as Harry right when this was happening. Yeah. None of the Death Eaters in the fight when she escaped know who she is. Exactly. Or. Or know who Dumbledore was with. [00:14:19] Speaker B: Right. [00:14:19] Speaker C: I guess. So you'd, like. You'd think that the Death Eaters would maybe exhaust some options in terms of searching for Dumbledore potentially, and maybe finding them here. Because Hermione, like, again, things are public record. Like, it can't be that hard for the Death Eaters to maybe figure out where one of Harry Potter's friends lives or where her parents live, maybe. I mean, maybe it's difficult to find. Yeah, but. But then she was disguised as Harry, right? So. Yeah. [00:14:52] Speaker B: So they would have another layer. [00:14:54] Speaker C: Yeah. I was trying to. I was trying to remember, in the original canon, who was she with? In the original canon, in the fight? Kingsley. Oh, okay. Yeah. [00:15:05] Speaker B: On a Thestral, still, but with Kingsley. [00:15:07] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. I just. I know it doesn't matter because this is. Now we're deviating, but I can't help but, like, make parallels. Of course. [00:15:16] Speaker B: Yep. And so they're thinking of how can we possibly contact. Contact the Order. And Draco is like, what about the coins? Like, you know, the galleons that they use during the DA lessons in fifth year. And she's like, mines at the Borough. And I don't even think Harry and Ron would think to check them at this point. [00:15:39] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I think it makes sense that they wouldn't have had some of that stuff in case they. In case things had gone awry, you know? [00:15:49] Speaker B: And then finally, finally, they. Hermione settles on. Okay, tomorrow morning, I'll all operate in front of the Ministry and. And get a hold of Mr. Weasley and we can move on from there. [00:16:04] Speaker C: Yeah. Again, my first thought was, well, I mean, Lucius probably knows the Ministry inside and out. Like, why doesn't he go. But, I mean, I guess if something happened, you know, if he got compromised somehow, like. Yeah, I get that. They're all supposed to be dead, basically. [00:16:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:25] Speaker C: So they're basically in hiding. So I think. I think the plan is the best plan. I was trying to think if I could think of some other way, but I really. I couldn't think of anything. [00:16:37] Speaker B: Yeah, because. And specifically, according to she who Must Not Be Named like, the majority of Death Eaters cannot, you know, cast Patronuses, let alone Patronuses that could send messages because they're all so unhappy. [00:16:53] Speaker C: Mm. [00:16:53] Speaker B: So it's not even a question of the Malfoys being able to do it. [00:16:58] Speaker C: Yeah, well, plus, I mean. And then. Yeah, plus they'd be recognized potentially. Yeah, go ahead, go ahead. [00:17:06] Speaker B: But yeah, and also I think the messages can be restricted to again, like a Safe Order member. But yeah, go on. [00:17:12] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. I couldn't, I couldn't really think of a better way because again, you know, you've got like the Malfoys who maybe have different ways, their own ways and means potentially of connecting to people but those ways and means are no longer available to them because they're essentially like their network. They're supposed to be pretty much assumed dead amongst their entire network. So it's really on Hermione. If she wants to help them. That's another thing that's debatable like why, you know, she brought them here. But she could just be like, you know what? I don't know how to help you. Like I'm gonna leave and you guys could go somewhere else and figure it out. You know, like she could, she could do that, but she doesn't do that. Plus she does. I mean she does have Dumbledore's body and he's been killed. So just, just whether the Malfoys are there or not, she has to con. She has to contact the Order somehow. Yeah, could just like just for herself and for Dumbledore's sake, I guess. So. I mean she has to figure out a way to contact them anyway. So. Yeah, but she's, she's wondering lots of other things here. Like similar things, you know, that we tend to think about. Like, was Dumbledore's judgment about the Malfoys good? Was his judgment about Snape good? Like she's putting protections around the house towards the end of her POV and you know, she's like questioning these things. [00:18:44] Speaker B: Yep. And you know, it goes back to a little flashback of a Order meeting where Ron is expressing concern about again, the trustworthiness of the Malfoys. And Dumbledore is very much in the camp of, you know, basically Dumbledore's in the camp of yes, the Malfoys believe in blood supremacy but they care about their self preservation more at this point and their circumstances. Like they are not in a position to, you know, go back to Voldemort. And they're. And Dumbledore thinks they're smart enough to realize this. [00:19:17] Speaker C: Yeah, basically Voldemort is so obsessed with loyalty and complete compliance and all of these things that even if they thought they could maybe bargain with information or whatever that no, he would probably punish them like, even, even more harshly. So yeah, I guess that, that fear alone like gives Dumbledore assurance that the Malfoy is like. I mean, not can be trusted per se, but like aren't gonna go seeking out Voldemort or. [00:19:53] Speaker B: Yeah, keep them in line, as it were. [00:19:56] Speaker C: Sure, I guess. Yeah. [00:19:59] Speaker B: Yep. And so Hermione goes about putting charms on the house and then we shift to, you know, Draco waking up in the middle of the night and Draco is reflecting on just the decisiveness in which his father killed Dolahov. [00:20:17] Speaker C: Yeah, that's that like again, makes sense. You know, he's always realized his father has probably killed people, but now he's wondering like, I wonder how many, you know, like he's never asked, you know, I guess it's not something you really ask your father, but. [00:20:38] Speaker B: And it doesn't seem from Draco's description that in their weeks in G place that he or his father have really discussed like, you know, anything about what happened, about how Draco failed or how Draco accepted this help. It doesn't seem to give, you know, it doesn't. We don't seem to have a sense of where Lucius stands. Like we know, or at least we think we know that he stands on again, this is the situation. So now we're in self preservation mode. But it doesn't say anything about whether is he super angry about this or is he just so exhausted with Voldemort and him being an Azkaban, like we don't know exactly, you know, what needs to be. [00:21:22] Speaker C: That's a good point. Yeah. Because Draco like basically was doing this whole plan to sort of make up for his father's failures, right? Yeah, in a sense. So, yeah. We don't know if Lucius is like not appreciative is not the right word. What word am I thinking of? [00:21:44] Speaker B: Resigned to the current circumstances. [00:21:46] Speaker C: Yeah, well, yeah, we don't know if he's maybe proud isn't the right word either. I guess appreciative is maybe the right word. You know, we don't know if he maybe is somewhat appreciative of Draco trying to like do this thing even though it like kind of failed miserably. Right. Or if he's just angry or. Yeah. Resigned that his family is involved with any of this. Yeah, we don't. Yeah, we. Again, we'd have to get it through Draco's point of view if he had had that conversation with his father because we don't really get the sense just from these interactions and yeah, yeah, it doesn't seem like they have talked at all because otherwise Draco would Maybe be thinking about it. [00:22:30] Speaker B: Yeah. So, yeah, he's reflecting on, you know, wondering how. How much. How many people Lucius has killed. And like, Dolohov was a quote unquote, you know, closer Death Eater to the Malfoys than maybe some of the others. And just the, you know, just the way that Lucius just so quickly, like, killed him. [00:22:50] Speaker C: Yeah. There's a bit of paragraph here where Drake goes like, oh, could we have obliviated his memory? Could we have done anything else potentially? And then there's a line that's just like. But there was no room for nuance or affection or protection. There was only truth and death. [00:23:08] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think, you know, Lucius's decisiveness, I think, paints a bigger picture of why they probably think that their entire network is completely shot. Because in their mind, there is no question of maybe even one of the. One of the people in their former network, you know, helping them and it. And them not in it, not getting back to Voldemort. So, yeah. So Draco gets up, goes to get a glass of water and, yeah, it's looking around the house. [00:23:43] Speaker C: I love. I love where he's like, there's an array of instruments in the bathroom. Looked like they're being used. Like, looked like torture devices or something. And I just thought that was funny because they're dentists. [00:23:57] Speaker B: Yes, indeed. [00:23:59] Speaker C: So I'm trying. I was kind of wondering what these devices possibly were, like. [00:24:04] Speaker B: Like an electric toothbrush. [00:24:05] Speaker C: Toothbrush. Like that. A hairdryer. They have toothbrushes in the wizarding world, I think. Yeah. [00:24:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:14] Speaker C: I mean, maybe. Yeah, Maybe it was like other stuff. Curling iron, who knows? Yep. [00:24:22] Speaker B: And then, you know, he's looking at some of the. The photos, you know. [00:24:28] Speaker C: Yeah. This is. This is the part where he's like, huh, Granger looks like she comes from some money. [00:24:35] Speaker B: Yes. Yep. And the kitchen was a long silvery room filled with an audible hum that made Draco uneasy. He, as he passed a large metal refrigerator, rumbled and making him flinch. Had it been hexed? [00:24:48] Speaker C: Yeah, Yeah. I was like. He calls it a refrigerator, which means, like, does he know it's a refrigerator? Sometimes it's weird to know if it's the author talking or Draco talking. [00:25:01] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I think, you know, because I. Because I think my impression is that the wizarding equivalent would be, like, enchanted ice boxes. So, like, very primitive refrigerators. [00:25:11] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't. I don't know. But, yeah, I mean, that's obviously all electricity is something that wizards are apparently not familiar with or for people who are all wizarding Families. Pure Bloods, as they say. [00:25:27] Speaker B: Yep. And so he's got. Tries to go back to his room and he finds Hermione crying next to Dumbledore. [00:25:35] Speaker C: Yes, again, Dumbledore's body. This is the part where I was wondering, like, is there gonna be a description of what is happening in this room now that the body has been here a while? But there wasn't. It was just. It was just Hermione, you know, obviously being grieved over over the whole situation. [00:25:57] Speaker B: And Draco, not knowing what else to say is just, like, I told him about Snape. Dumbledore. I said not to believe Snape, what Snape was. He didn't listen to me. And she's like, I know. [00:26:10] Speaker C: Yeah, there's some back and forth here. I didn't take notes on the exact conversation, but I think here is also where I kind of noted that sometimes it's a little hard to hear Draco's tone. Like, I think what he's saying, like, sounds like him. But I'm all. I've also realized, like, sometimes I can't tell if he's talking in a way that's sneering. Is it blase? Is it, you know, like, sometimes it's aloof. Yeah. Sometimes it's hard to sort of hear how he is saying things if it's not kind of, like, told a little. You know, if it's not kind of detailed a little bit better. So, like, I found myself kind of inventing the way he was saying things in my mind, but I'm not exactly sure, like, the tone of everything he's saying. So, yeah, sometimes that makes it a little difficult to read exactly what's happening or, you know, like, how he's saying what he's saying. But, yeah, he's very. He's very angry at, like, here's something I did write down. Draco cast a contemptuous glance at Dumbledore and in doing so, realized that he was furious with the dead man. Furious that he died uselessly at Snape's hands rather than using his legendary skill to fight the Dark Lord. Furious that he had thrown away the safety of Draco's family. Furious that he had somehow coerced Draco into believing, ridiculously, that he could have kept them safe. And even more than that, Draco was livid with himself for believing it. [00:27:48] Speaker B: Yeah, my one note I have about this interaction is Draco saying, you know, oh, you know, he was stupid to trust Snape and all these things. And the thing that kind. It's like, no, do you really think it was because he was noble. And Draco basically says the old man trusted people because he thought he knew everything about anyone. He didn't think anyone could possibly, Possibly surprise him. He wasn't being noble, Granger, he was being arrogant. And now look where it's gotten him. And my first thought was daddy issues. Like, to me, that's. To me, that's. That's thinking about maybe how Lucius sees the world. [00:28:27] Speaker C: Oh, that's interesting. I didn't think of that at all. I. I mean, I definitely caught that line, you know, because Hermione is making a case like, yeah, Dumbledore was great. Like, he believed in people and he wasn't faking being noble. He gave people chances. Even people like you and your, you know, terrible family. And yeah, Draco says this line about that's not being noble. He just thinks he knows people inside and out, which is arrogance. And that's maybe debatably a little bit true, you know. [00:29:04] Speaker B: You know, it is an interesting. If you get deeper into fan fiction. You know, Dumbledore is portrayed in a variety of ways throughout fan fiction. I've read fan fiction that has him be the normal, very benevolent. And then I've read others that kind of portray him as borderline manipulative. [00:29:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:25] Speaker B: And highly. And highly critical of some of his method, of his methods. And so, yeah, there can be a [00:29:32] Speaker C: little bit of truth to this each time. So this is actually what's very interesting about rereading Harry Potter over and over, which I've done. You know, I've read. Reread it several times, at least 10 times throughout my life. Not like every year. Maybe every year. Well, I've. Anyway, the point is, each time I read it, I think what is most interesting is how I interpret Dumbledore. Each time. Each time I read it, I feel like I think of Dumbledore differently. Which is really interesting just in myself because the way what, like, just in general, what's interesting about books is the books don't change, but as you reread them, you know you've changed. Right. So. So rereading it as, you know, we read it as a kid, it's like Dumbledore is like this great and powerful old guy and he's on the side of good and everything's great and he can do anything. And then like, you get older and it's like, oh, yeah, Dumbledore keeping all these secrets, like, that's not appropriate. Like, he should be informing people of all. Everything he knows. And then you read it a bit later it's like, well, you know, like, maybe this wasn't the best way. But he also can't just tell all this stuff to everybody all at once. Like, you know, it's like you get older, you kind of understand Dumbledore's actions more and more a little bit, which is a little bit concerning. [00:30:59] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I tend, yeah, I most of the time tend to be in the camp. There are very specific junctures where I will, in the canon where I will very highly criticize Dumbledore's methods. But ultimately I still for the most part view him in the very benevolent, oh, he's the Gandalf of the series. [00:31:20] Speaker C: But yeah, yeah, they're like, if you reread certain conversations that he has with Cornelius Fudge, for example, on a few occasions, Dumbledore is very condescending to Fudge. Now, does Cornelius Fudge maybe deserve it a little bit? I mean, maybe a little bit. But he is being very high and mighty. Like, no wonder Cornelius Fudge is getting like red in the face, you know what I mean? Because like, Dumbledore is very knowledgeable but he is kind of presenting himself in a way that's a little, that is like patronizing and being like, well, you know, I'm doing it in a passive aggressive way, but I know everything and you don't. And that's like, that's kind of the way like sometimes he's not very good at maybe quelling, you know, the, the tension in the room or, or, or, or whatever. You know, he could, he could be way more skilled at it. Dumbledore, I mean, but he's not, because sometimes he is being kind of arrogant, you know what I mean? Yeah. [00:32:29] Speaker B: And even Hermione says, like, there's a big pause where we get some thought process of Draco and Hermione finally says, maybe you're right. [00:32:39] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:32:39] Speaker B: Yep. And then we get a little bit of relief of tension when Hermione is demonstrating how a television works to Draco. [00:32:48] Speaker C: Yeah, I, I was a little concerned here because I was like, oh, no, we haven't instantly become buddies or something because it's like, oh, no. But yeah, it's like she's kind of just in the moment distracting herself, like maybe from the grief, you know, like, this is a tv. Like this is what it does. By the way, if you'd taken Muggle studies like everyone should, then you guys would understand these things about Muggles and not assume things about them with no information whatsoever. [00:33:22] Speaker B: Yep. And then as Draco's trying to go back to bed. You know, Hermione brings up loot that Lucius killed Dollahov. [00:33:32] Speaker C: Yeah. She's like, have you ever seen him do that before? Meaning him. Meaning his father. Yeah. That takes Draco up. That takes him off guard a little bit. [00:33:43] Speaker B: And it's like I didn't mention it. Like, how does she know that? That's what I was thinking. But yeah, he doesn't really know. [00:33:49] Speaker C: Why? Because Hermione's a really good judge of character and she can probably guess what people are worried about. [00:33:57] Speaker B: Yep. She's a very empathetic individual. [00:34:01] Speaker C: Yeah. So. So, yeah, I was very happy with her here and I was happy with her pov and I was happy with Drake. Like her through Draco's pov, I thought made sense. Yep. [00:34:18] Speaker B: So Draco goes back to bed and then we go to the next day where we totally skip over hair. You know, Hermione making contact. And we immediately jump to, you know, Hermione and the Malfoys coming to the Borough via the Flu Network. [00:34:37] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. I do wonder if something like this would be skipped over in a traditional HP book. But we are doing Draco's. We did kind of end on Draco's point of view and so I guess that makes sense. But we're starting again here on Hermione's point of view. When they arrive at the Borough, I mean. [00:34:57] Speaker B: Yep. [00:34:57] Speaker C: Draco makes some comments like, can you please save the tearful reunion for later? Oh, of course. That would require room to move. Yeah. [00:35:07] Speaker B: Yep. And then. [00:35:08] Speaker C: So snarky comments there. [00:35:11] Speaker B: Snarky comments as always. And they hold. They go up to the tree Golden Trio go to Ron's room and. And now they're just. [00:35:20] Speaker C: They leave. They leave the adult Weasleys and Malfoy's to whatever strained conversation they're about to have. [00:35:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And are conspiring on what should they do now that Dumbledore is gone. [00:35:35] Speaker C: Yeah. There's a quick line here I want to point out, especially with all the other complaints I've been doing. Is she. So she retells, like, everything that happened, you know, with Dumbledore and everything. And Ron's arm was around her shoulder and the weight was comforting. Although Hermione hadn't missed the uncertain look that Ron had shot across the bed when Harry had touched her mind lightly on the forearm in reassurance. This is like. This is a really good way of showing maybe there's something between the two boys that she or we as readers should be aware of. Like, that's a really good Way to do it, you know, like, realistically, in the moment, in conversation, other things are happening like, that I'm fine with. Yeah, I thought that was done well. [00:36:29] Speaker B: So they contemplate trying telling McGonagall and they're like, no, it's up to us now. [00:36:36] Speaker C: Yeah, they're talking back and forth about what to do because they assumed Dumbledore was maybe going to be helping them throughout this process. Something that stood out to me was. I never noticed before, but Ron does most of the talking. Ron is the one who's actually doing a lot of the talking with Hermione jumping in. Harry talks very little, you know, or most, you know, he talks very minimally, which is not something I noticed when being in Harry's pov. In fact, again, I know this is a different. Different author and stuff but I kind of see it now, now that I'm seeing it through Hermione's perspective that, like, you, like, you kind of wonder sometimes, like, how does this trio make sense? Like, you know, sometimes, like, how does Ron make sense as a friend? But, like, Ron's actually doing a good chunk of the talking. And so it's kind of like, oh, he is kind of like a. A glue that kind of keeps things together in a way. [00:37:42] Speaker B: Right. [00:37:43] Speaker C: So I thought just. That struck me here, which I thought was interesting. I was trying to remember how this paralleled the canon. So there's a discussion here about the sword, right? [00:37:55] Speaker B: Yes. [00:37:56] Speaker C: Yeah. So I was trying to remember the original sequence because what they originally find out is. So in the. In the canon, right. Scrimgeour comes. He brings Dumbledore's items and then also mentions that they were left the sword. But they can't. He can't give them the sword because it doesn't belong to Dumbledore. It belongs to the school. Right? Yeah. So that sort of implants the idea in their heads that Dumbledore wanted them to have the sword here. They know ahead of time what the sword can do because Dumbledore didn't die right after they went and tried to use the sword already on the locket. And that's when they realized it was fake. Mm. Right. So, yeah, they're here discussing now that Dumbledore is gone, do we ask McGonagall for help? Do we ask her for the sword? You know, like, what do we do? Yep. [00:38:53] Speaker B: And they're debating, like, would McGonagall, like, give us help even if we didn't tell. Tell her stuff? And then, you know, and so they decide that at some point they need to go to Hogwarts to talk to her. [00:39:09] Speaker C: Yeah, they come up with a plan. They're gonna talk. They're gonna inform McGonagall at Dumbledore's funeral. And this is scheduled for the day after Pill and Fleur's wedding. [00:39:22] Speaker B: Yes. [00:39:23] Speaker C: Yeah, Yep. Yeah. There was no discussion. Again, we kind of skipped over what Hermione did. Did at the ministry or how she got in contact with Arthur but there's no mention here of the body. As you know, it's assumed that maybe Order members were informed and maybe went and got it at Hermione. [00:39:41] Speaker B: I think. Yeah, I think that's what we are meant to infer. Alrighty. And thus ends chapter three. [00:39:49] Speaker C: Yeah, so I was, I was so pumped up at the end of this chapter, honestly. I was like, oh, like Hermione's like normal again. Like dishing out, you know, like serving it right back at Draco, which is what I expect. You know, Draco, we're getting like his POV and like he's obviously like conflicted about stuff and not happy to be in this situation but what can he do about it? You know, you've got the trio like discussing their stuff. Like, what do we do now? Like, I, I was on board for all of this. I was excited to see how this was going to unfold in this like, kind of different situation. [00:40:31] Speaker B: And then chapter four. [00:40:33] Speaker C: And then chapter four was mostly good. It's just the. How it ended at the end was again, kind of. Yeah. Again it felt like a complete deviation from Hermione's character. [00:40:45] Speaker B: Okay, so Chapter four, Breakthrough at the Borough. We go back to Draco's POV and life at the Borough was driving Draco mad. [00:40:55] Speaker C: Yeah, I love this because this makes total sense. Yeah, he didn't, he didn't know how much more he could take. [00:41:03] Speaker B: Yep. And it's all about prepping for Bill and Fleur's wedding mostly. [00:41:09] Speaker C: Draco and his parents spent their time at the foot of the gnome infested, weed ridden garden as far as they could get from the others. Again, I'm surprised the Malfoys haven't just tried to leave because it's one thing to be like we're at Hermione's house and we don't know where to go. But it's also another to be at the Weasleys who like Lucius and Arthur, hate each other. [00:41:36] Speaker B: Like a surprise. Like they're, they should have killed each other by now. [00:41:40] Speaker C: I know. I love, I love the dinner scene where Mr. Weasley announces loudly to nobody to pass the potato. Potatoes. [00:41:49] Speaker B: Yes. [00:41:49] Speaker C: Yeah, that's funny. Yeah. Again, I don't know why the Malfoys haven't just tried to leave but you know, they're presumed dead. But it's not just about why don't they leave. It's also like why does the Order continue to put themselves at risk for them? You know what I mean? [00:42:08] Speaker B: Well, at least from the Order side they want to honor Dumbledore's wishes I [00:42:12] Speaker C: guess, you know, I get. Yeah, that's a big. I guess because there's a lot of other stuff to worry about that's more important. [00:42:22] Speaker B: Yeah, well, Mrs. Weasley approaches Draco and says, you know, it's been decided that, you know, we'll transport your family out of the country. We'll start making preparations after the wedding. Yeah, they don't, don't know where they're sending them yet because again your family's so well known it's going to take a, a take a. Make it to figure out where you can live somewhat normally. [00:42:47] Speaker C: Sorry, I'm just looking through my notes. Yeah, Draco decided on a silent non aggression pact with Potter, Weasley and Granger. Okay, yeah, that's pretty much it. Molly informs Draco of the plan, Kingsley, Shackle, Bolt and then as. Yeah, again let me just check this note real quick to make sure it's nothing important. Again, Dumbledore is dead. If the reasoning is that they are as good as dead then why really care about housing them or transporting them? Let's see, the only secret they really had was Grimald Place which has been compromised. The borough isn't a secret place necessarily. Okay, I'm not sure where I was going with that thought, but okay, yeah, yeah again, you know, why would the Weasleys house them? Why wouldn't they leave? Like why wouldn't either of those two things happen, you know but anyway it's just a, it's just an odd situation for everybody so. Yep. [00:43:43] Speaker B: And as Mrs. Weasley leaves Draco, Draco hears, you know, the Golden Trio, you know again trying to, you know, hide from Mrs. Weasley so that they can further conspire their plots, you know, never got a chance to. And Draco is curious and starts to overhear them talking about back to Hogwarts and from all this Draco starting to realize that Potter's Harry is not going back to Hogwarts and he can easily assume that that means Ron and Hermione are going to follow him wherever he's going to go. [00:44:18] Speaker C: Yeah, he, like, follows them up to. Up to Ron's room. Yep. [00:44:24] Speaker B: And they're like, what did you hear, Malfoy? I'm looking for the bathroom. You think I care what you and Weasley talk about during your slumber parties? [00:44:32] Speaker C: I love this. Again, I make a note here about. It's hard to know exactly with what tone Draco is speaking some of the time. Like, apathetic versus contemptuous, you know, but one could argue that that might be somewhat the point about being in his head. We don't know how he. Like, he may not know how he sounds to other people. [00:44:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:57] Speaker C: Does that make sense? [00:44:58] Speaker B: Yeah. And one interesting thing is I actually listened to the audiobook of this that, you know, someone that another fan has, you know, done. And so they are very sarcastic. [00:45:10] Speaker C: They are very sarcastic. Okay, okay. [00:45:12] Speaker B: Because, like, that is one interpretation. [00:45:14] Speaker C: Like, blase is another way, you know, Like, I don't care what you do at your song. Well, I guess that's kind of the same as sarcastic, but. Yep. But, yeah, maybe that's also part of the point, is that he doesn't know exactly how he sounds when he's talking this way. Like, joking. I mean, obviously he's not. Obviously it's not like a friendly joke, but, like. [00:45:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:41] Speaker C: Maybe he can't hear how sneering or nasty it sounds. [00:45:45] Speaker B: Or derisive. [00:45:46] Speaker C: Or derisive it sounds. Right. Like, maybe doesn't sound as bad to him. Like, again, obviously, he's trying to be annoying. But. [00:45:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:56] Speaker C: Yeah. So maybe that's why we don't know, because he doesn't hear it. [00:45:59] Speaker B: Yeah. And then they get broken up again by whis. By Mrs. Weasley calling for Ron to clean the shed. [00:46:07] Speaker C: Mm. Yeah. And they. They get called away. Yeah. He's, like, hiding in the bathroom. Right. And then he. I think Draco going to snoop in Ron's room makes so much sense. [00:46:22] Speaker B: Yep. So he starts snooping and he comes across the locket and the letter he find. [00:46:29] Speaker C: He finds the Marauder's Map. I thought that was funny. [00:46:32] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. And he does. You know, he doesn't know what to do with it. [00:46:35] Speaker C: He takes out a parchment. He's like, huh, what's this? Yep. Yeah, that was funny. But, yeah, the locket. Yeah. [00:46:43] Speaker B: He finds the locket and he doesn't know what the hell Horcrux is, but he is very much able to piece together that, you know, that they're real, that they're doing some actual serious. Of trying in some capacity to incapacitate Lord Voldemort. [00:47:05] Speaker C: Right. He doesn't know what a Horcrux is. He's obviously very intrigued by this, however, like, so much that he's about to, like, threaten them in, like, a few moments. But. [00:47:17] Speaker B: Yeah, well, because first it's her. It's Hermione who's coming in and she originally tries to Obliviate him. [00:47:24] Speaker C: Yeah, I was a little. I was a bit confused by this sequence because she's, like, saying something. She's like, Ron. I really, like. I thought she was with Ron coming into the room and I realized, oh, no, she thinks Ron's inside the room. Yeah, I think she's, like, talking to him as she's coming inside or something. I was a little confused what was happening. It's just her. She's alone. And. [00:47:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:50] Speaker C: She sees Malfoy there, standing with the locket and they both, like, react instantly. [00:47:56] Speaker B: Yeah. And so Draco's able to get the upper hand. And there's a moment where he. He finally realizes that Hermione is afraid of him. And that doesn't feel good. [00:48:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I was. This sequence, like, this little moment bothered me a little bit because. So. So there's a couple things going on here. So after, you know, Hermione tries to Obliviate him. He protects himself, she dives, it rebounds. They both shout, Expelliarmus. But he must have done it slightly. And so, like, he's got her wand now, right? [00:48:35] Speaker B: Yep. [00:48:36] Speaker C: So that's like the mini. The mini Face off altercations. Then he's, like, asking for what? Like, what is this? What is this? So here's what I'll say. Hermione is not a great liar, but she can bullshit on the spot a little bit. Like she has done it before. Like, oh, we were. We were working on Dumbledore's weapon. It's in the forest, you know, or whatever. Like the fact that she kind of stammers here, or even just instead of saying something like, hey, that's none of your business. Which would kind of be more of her usual tone with Draco. I think what I was trying to understand is. I think the implication here is that Draco might use his dark mark. Because. Because there's a. There's a. Yeah, there's a note here where she, like, looks at his arm. She realizes he's, like, covered up his mark with some kind of, like, camouflage or glamour or something. And so she's like. It's not like, fearful of, like, him hurting her. It's more just like, oh, what he could do. Yeah. He might summon the Dark Mark. And, like. So she's afraid of that for a split second. That's what I got out of it. [00:49:53] Speaker B: Yeah, you're not. You're not wrong. And again, in terms of Hermione being able to bullshit, I tend to interpret her character. More of that. She's not as good. And, you know, even when I reread the series, like, I consider her with the whole Umbridge thing a very, you know, an outlier. [00:50:13] Speaker C: That's true. Probably just because Umbridge was so eager to, like, latch onto any story that she, like, ate it up, you know. [00:50:21] Speaker B: Yeah. So I tend. Yeah, I tend to be in third. Like, Hermione is a planner, so. So that even if disaster is happy, a disaster is happening. If it's a disaster that she has possibly envisioned and she can execute a plan. But it is. But if it. If it is not something she hasn't thought of beforehand, then, yeah, she's not as good. [00:50:40] Speaker C: Okay. Yeah. So I guess what I'll correct myself in saying is she's not good at bullshitting on the spot, but she will try. She usually tries to do it. You know what I mean? [00:50:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:52] Speaker C: Even if she's not very good at it, she will make an attempt, typically. [00:50:56] Speaker B: So Draco backs away, and it's just like, what is this? [00:51:01] Speaker C: This was. And this was. The other half I thought was weird because I always envisioned Draco kind of using fear a little bit as a means to, like, control people and. And, like, manipulate his quote, unquote friends. Yep. So that's why I was like, why is he acting like someone being afraid of him is, like, this odd thing he's never experienced before? Well, I was a little confused. [00:51:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, yeah, because he does, but at the same time, he's not Azula. [00:51:36] Speaker C: That's. That's true. I guess. So, I mean, maybe we're just assuming he uses fear to control a lot of his friends. Maybe that's not the case. [00:51:45] Speaker B: Or maybe, again, he's been taught that by Lucius. But is that what he really likes to do? I don't know. [00:51:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, I didn't. I didn't quite get. I didn't quite understand why he has this sudden internal reflection on his father's words about fear, like, right at this moment. Because Draco is a bit of a bully. [00:52:09] Speaker B: Well, yeah, he is a bully. [00:52:11] Speaker C: He is a bully, but I guess people usually don't respond with, like, abject terror. [00:52:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:18] Speaker C: Which I guess is what he feels like is happening right now. [00:52:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:23] Speaker C: Which again, Is not how what I feel is happening with Hermione. I think she's just worried he's gonna do something drastic. Yeah, maybe it was a little bit weird to me is all, but you know, it was very quick. But just, just the exact nature of it was a little off to me. [00:52:41] Speaker B: And so eventually Harry and Ron come in and they're like, oh, like what [00:52:48] Speaker C: is going on here? [00:52:50] Speaker B: What is going on? [00:52:51] Speaker C: He disarms all of them. [00:52:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:55] Speaker C: Which, which is fair. I mean, you know, they were not expecting him to be there. They were surprised, I guess. [00:53:01] Speaker B: Yeah. He disarms all of them and they're like a crap. What do we do? [00:53:07] Speaker C: And, and they're like, they tell Draco, like just enough, just enough to pacify [00:53:14] Speaker B: him because he was threatening to like tell Mrs. Weasley. [00:53:19] Speaker C: Yeah, forget the Dark Mark. He was going to tell their parents. [00:53:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:26] Speaker C: Oh boy. [00:53:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And. And Draco has a little leverage because he immediately can figure out who Rab is. [00:53:37] Speaker C: Yeah, that's. This is an interesting thing for this timeline because yeah, Draco knows exactly who this person is. And you know, in the typical way, he's like, you should know, he's your godfather's brother. [00:53:52] Speaker B: Yeah. And, and it was set up in this way because it mentioned that basically during his time at Grimald place, he was staying in Regulus's room. [00:54:03] Speaker C: Yeah. So he would have probably seen the name like over and over on various, [00:54:08] Speaker B: you know, I know things and on the door. [00:54:10] Speaker C: Newspaper things in there. Yeah. He was a seeker, apparently. So he had probably some seeker paraphernalia. [00:54:16] Speaker B: Yep. And you know, Draco has this thing in his head of like drawing this parallels that like this 16 year old Regulus defected, you know. [00:54:26] Speaker C: Yeah, this is, this is actually so good because you know, Rib is this character that, you know, obviously is important in the sense that he took this one Horcrux, but you know, otherwise we don't really know a lot about him or what happened when he defect, you know, exact. We don't know exactly what happened. Right. So like now. And it's kind of one of those things that everyone kind of doesn't care about, I guess, or wonder about or at least not that I've seen. But yeah, we, we don't know if he's actually dead. We like there was no body, like it's assumed he's dead, but really we don't know. Like. [00:55:07] Speaker B: Yeah. And so Malfoy fan fiction based off that. [00:55:11] Speaker C: Oh, okay, okay. Well, Malfoy definitely latches on to this idea. Like. Wait, you mean like A young Death Eater who like got away. So like he sees the parallels for himself and finds that kind of hopeful. [00:55:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:26] Speaker C: And like, yeah. Hermione's like, he's dead, Malfoy. You know, if he were in hiding, he would have come back when Voldemort lost his body. But I put it to you, Peter Pettigrew. [00:55:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:40] Speaker C: Was also in hiding for a long time. [00:55:42] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know. In terms of motivations, the only thing magically that maybe sort of points to him being dead is that when Sirius died, a sort of conflict. A sort of conflict in terms of the inheritance of Grimmauld Place. And what magic would have been triggered if Regulus was still alive. [00:55:59] Speaker C: Oh, so wait, how does that work out? You're saying if Regulus had been alive then it would have passed to him. [00:56:09] Speaker B: Yeah. As being a full blooded black, you know? You know. [00:56:14] Speaker C: Right. [00:56:14] Speaker B: And Dumbledore was so concerned about them like that the enchantments being strong enough to supersede Sirius's will that he had Harry test Creature. [00:56:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:56:26] Speaker B: So. [00:56:27] Speaker C: But I did not. [00:56:28] Speaker B: Not 100 foolproof. But I tend to interpret that. That if regular superla live, that situation would have been complicated. Would have been complicated. [00:56:38] Speaker C: Yeah. I don't know, it sounds like there's a lot of holes here. So you've got Sirius wanting something in his will which maybe works for possessions in the house or things like Creature since unfortunately house elves are considered possessions. But maybe the house itself is like its own magical entity and passes to Regulus and that's why, you know, Bellatrix and whoever, the whole other crew who maybe would have inherited it in, in Harry's place if Regulus weren't alive, like would have been able to, to like get into the house. But it's not clear to me that they ever were able to get into the house. But so maybe Regulus is alive. [00:57:23] Speaker B: Well, and the only thing is that Kreacher said he saw Regulus being dragged into the water. But yeah, like we don't know with certainty if he like was able to get out or whatever. That's the extent of what. Yeah, that was the extent of what Kreacher saw. [00:57:39] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. So even Creature, that's. [00:57:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:57:44] Speaker C: Even his like testimony, shall we say, is not 100% conclusive. [00:57:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:57:50] Speaker C: Ooh, I do like this idea. I do like this idea because it introduces something cool that we don't have answers to from the original canon and makes a nice narrative parallel for Draco. I really like it. Yeah. [00:58:07] Speaker B: So, yeah, so. And yeah, so just Draco's like. But then Regulus Black accepted his death. Draco thought the note said it all. Black had gone after the Dark Lord's Horcrux. He brought it on himself. He had. If he had just been smarter, maybe he would have survived. And so they're starting to contemplate, like, where could the locket be? And, like, did anyone see it? Do you see it, Malfoy? And he's like, nope. And. [00:58:32] Speaker C: And then like, yeah, it's funny. I thought it was funny how when they're, like, thinking about the locket, the real one, it's like, I meant to go check one of the, you know, canon books to see how similar it was, but the language seems really similar to how they kind of remember. Like, wait, there was a locket? Oh, yeah. While we were cleaning. You know, like, the. Even how they're saying it is, like, similar to. I forget at what point they even realized that. I think it's early book seven, I'm assuming. [00:59:07] Speaker B: Yeah. And Harry, in terms of discovering who Rib was, tries to summon creature. But Draco and Hermione are like, no. Like, there's no way Creature has been compromised. Like, you cannot summon him. [00:59:19] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, gosh. [00:59:22] Speaker B: And like, what do you do? What do we do then? Search every rubbish dump in London. And Draco says, there's the Scavengers Guild. [00:59:34] Speaker C: Yeah, I was intrigued by this. It makes sense. But this is not something we've heard of before, right? [00:59:40] Speaker B: No, this. This is something totally, like, brand new. [00:59:44] Speaker C: Yeah. That's fun. [00:59:45] Speaker B: Yep. So Scavengers Guild. And so they think, okay, we can pay them a visit. They show up, like, their stall shows up, like, about once a month in Diagon Alley. [00:59:56] Speaker C: Mm. [00:59:57] Speaker B: Mm. [00:59:58] Speaker C: All right, so this is their plan. They're going to talk to McGonagall, but then they also have this other lead. [01:00:05] Speaker B: Yes. And I love the fact that Draco knew Potter was about to say to thanking instinctively for the suggestion. But Potter clearly could not make himself form the words. [01:00:16] Speaker C: Well, I'll leave you to your scheming then. Or whatever Draco says. And he walks out. [01:00:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:00:23] Speaker C: And Hermione's, like, asking him, like. Or I forget if it's Hermione or Harry, but, you know, seriously, you won't tell anyone about this. And he says, why would I? And Harry says, that's not really much of an answer. And he says, oh, you Gryffindors. Like, when you don't understand a motive, motives, you don't understand anything. Or something to that effect. I forget what he says, yep. [01:00:48] Speaker B: And so. [01:00:49] Speaker C: Yep. So I loved all of that. And then. And then. [01:00:56] Speaker B: And then. Albinous words. [01:01:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:01:01] Speaker B: So basically we have Draco, you know, settling in his bed, just thinking about, you know, just everything that's transpired. And then. And then that's the day of the wedding. [01:01:13] Speaker C: Yes. And now we're in Hermione's pov. [01:01:17] Speaker B: Yes. And the wedding ceremony itself was the first time Hermione had felt relaxed in days. It was a sort of catharsis. Everyone's happy. Harry, as in the. As in the canon, is disguised as Barney. Barney, Cousin Barney and the Three Malfoy. Yeah. Then the Malfoys have been polyjuiced into the butcher's family from the village. [01:01:40] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. So. So here's what I'll say. So, number one, this wedding is a whole chapter in Harry's pov. [01:01:52] Speaker B: And it's all about Harry with Alpheus Doge. Get in the tea on Dumbledore. [01:01:59] Speaker C: Right. So I accept that, obviously, since Hermione's not part of that conversation, that we're not gonna hear that. And we might skip over things, you know, just because we kind of know what's going down at this wedding. Although, again, this is a new timeline, so maybe some more description would have been nice, but. So that's fine. Like, it's fine if it's shorter because we're not having this long, extended conversation with Xenophilius Lovegood and. Or, you know, Aunt Mariel and Ophelia Stodge. But if Hermione is going to be a POV character, then she's a POV character. You know, getting more details from her perspective on the wedding. I mean, getting some intel. I mean, my gosh, Victor is here. Like, this was another chance to build upon her character and even flesh out some of. Some of that. Like, the whole Victor relationship. [01:03:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:01] Speaker C: There's not even a conversation with him or he was barely mentioned. I don't remember. That was extremely weird. You know, basically, whenever it switches from Hermione is a character and she's interacting with the other characters whenever it switches from that to some kind of introspection situation, I feel like it diverges from her character a lot. Like, she's. She's only thinking about, like, do I like Ron? Do I like Harry? Do I like either of these people? Maybe I'm just so bogged down with feelings that I don't know. Or, you know, maybe Dumbledore's death had shaken her so badly, which is fair, but that she could no longer feel excitement about romantic possibilities. I don't know. It's just. It's just not done in a way that I like. It kind of strips her character away to focus on these ruminations that aren't even very meaningful. I don't know. That's just my take on it. [01:04:13] Speaker B: I will. I will concede that it would have been nice to get a little bit again. They've already had a style. [01:04:19] Speaker C: Luna. Luna's there. Ginny, like, Rhinny has some kind of relationship with Ginny that we don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:04:29] Speaker B: It would have been nice to get maybe a little tiny flashback, a little mention in regards to, like, Victor of what their relationship used to be like versus now. Because, again, in my head, canon Victor is actually very, very smart. And that would be the only way. Because to me, that's the only way that he could attract someone like Hermione. [01:04:47] Speaker C: Yeah. Like, he was also, like, hanging around the library, like, trying to get her attention. Well, I don't know if that was because he loved books. Maybe it was just because he was trying to. [01:04:56] Speaker B: Yeah, it could have been either one. But I like. I like to interpret that. That Crumb is actually very, very smart and not so much that Hermione, you know that he was the only guy that gave Hermione attention. [01:05:10] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I mean, Harry says that himself, like, earlier when he's talking to Crumb, like, one on one. At one point, I think Harry has this sort of thought. Like, oh, like Victor is actually. Is that Harry? I mean, it must be Harry. Has to be. I think Harry thinks something similar previously. Like, oh, like, I thought he was, like, different, but he's. He's not like how I thought he was or something like that. [01:05:36] Speaker B: Yeah. So. So, yeah, so we have this dance with Ron and she doesn't feel what she thought she'd feel. [01:05:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I. Listen, either Hermione likes Ron or she doesn't. I don't think she's the type that would be like, this confused about it. I mean, I don't know. It's very passive, I guess, is my problem. Like, she's saying something like, this is it, she thought as they whirled and twirled with the laughing crowd. This is when I'll understand what I feel. This is when it all becomes clear. Like what? Like, what do you mean, understand what I feel? Either you're feeling it or you're not. Like, I, you know, I don't know. It's. It's just got some phrasing to it that is very, very. Well, it is A little misogynistic, but it's something going on here that is very like effacing of her person, of her character. [01:06:38] Speaker A: Yes. [01:06:39] Speaker B: Well, again, I never had an issue, you know, I didn't have these thoughts when I was reading the chat, reading through this the first time or in reading other, other fan fiction with Hermione having to deal with where there's a romantic component because I guess I just concede the fact that yes, Hermione is very, very intelligent but she's also a 17 year old girl. [01:07:02] Speaker C: Yeah, but she's pretty. Like she's, she's often explaining to Ron and Harry like this is probably what these other girls are thinking. You know, I mean like she's pretty. I'm not saying she can't have feelings or be confused about two, two boys. It's just, it's just done in a way that does not. That seems out of character to me a little bit. And here's the last thing I'll say so I stop harping on it. I told myself if Hermione hasn't read a book by the end of chapter four, I will be concerned. And I don't think we've had a scene yet where she's either been seen reading a book or where she's actively, from her point of view, you know, like reading. Maybe her thoughts wander off while she's reading but then she like goes back to reading or she's reading the same paragraph over and over because she's worried about all these other things going on. Just, just, just something like that. I didn't, you know, whatever. She has not been spotted reading a book yet. So I am 100% concerned. I am concerned. What is going on? [01:08:12] Speaker B: I see. Alrighty. And so she's done dancing with Ron, she steps out and she comes across Draco. [01:08:22] Speaker C: Yeah, they don't really interact at all. It's like they're like maybe gonna start to have a conversation and then, and then it's just instantly cut short. Yeah, yeah. [01:08:33] Speaker B: It's like, yeah, she's saying I expect to be glad to leave in the sober. You make it sound like a choice. Do I have a choice? And blah, blah, blah. And then it gets cut off with in the same fashion as the canon, the Lynx, you know, patronus of Kingsley Shacklebolt, saying the Ministry has fallen. Scrimsure is dead. They are coming. [01:08:53] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh. [01:08:56] Speaker B: Yep. And so all the cloaked figures start to appear. Malf, you know, spell goes for Hermione. Draco, you know, shoves them both to the ground and Then they get a hold of Ron and Harry and they Apparate. And we know the very last sentence is they were then bursting out onto a wild mountain path that overlooked Hogsmeade village. [01:09:25] Speaker C: Yep, here we go. [01:09:26] Speaker B: And thus is the end of chapter four. [01:09:32] Speaker C: So one thing I was just thinking about, the end here was so. Because Dumbledore's funeral hasn't yet happened and his, like, will hasn't been executed, they. And well, now Scrimgeour is dead, I'm assuming because that's what happened when the Ministry fell. They didn't get the Snitch, the Tales of Beedle the Bard or the Deluminator. No. Right. So they don't have any of those things. Which again. Yeah, which in, you know, in the parallel canon universe, they had those things at this point. So. Yeah, that's definitely an interesting change. Oh, and also they have some baggage. Draco Malfoy. [01:10:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:10:14] Speaker C: With them. Indeed. But he knows other things, like who Rab is. So. Yeah, I'm. I'm definitely excited to see where this is going. Again. Some of the Hermione introspection, it's written very differently than how either Harry or Draco introspection is written, which I don't like, but other than that, I'm really into it. [01:10:41] Speaker B: Yay. I'm glad you're enjoying at least some of it, so. [01:10:46] Speaker C: I am. I am. [01:10:48] Speaker B: Yeah. So we can go to our little exercises which were the Draco Redemption Tracker. [01:10:57] Speaker C: Yes, I actually, I could remember what the exercises were, but. Yeah, yeah. Draco Redemption Tracker. [01:11:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Basically just a 1 to 10 on how we feel about Draco's actions. And I gave him one to ten. I gave him a five. [01:11:14] Speaker C: Okay. Yeah, I'm actually going to give him a six. Little high. But he actively helped them. [01:11:22] Speaker B: Yes, yes, he actively helped them in a way which I think even like a few weeks ago or a few chapters ago, like, he. He would have tried to withhold any information that he could have. [01:11:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I think he maybe. Maybe a five was more deserving. He's definitely bored. Yeah. [01:11:43] Speaker B: Like out of his mind. He wants to do something exciting. [01:11:49] Speaker C: He has nothing to do but like get in on their shenanigans, you know, there's nothing else to do here. So. Yeah. But yeah, he did provide them information, so. Yeah, I'll say. I'll stick with six. [01:12:05] Speaker B: Yep. And then, then our other exercise we have is, you know, Tarot Card of the day, which again, the last card I picked was like the absolute opposite [01:12:17] Speaker C: of anything that was so funny. [01:12:21] Speaker B: Let's hope And I'm. And I'm shuffling again. The. The tarot deck that you gave me for Christmas, the fancy one was her name Stephanie? [01:12:30] Speaker C: I can't pronounce it. Stuffy. Oh. [01:12:33] Speaker B: Because she. She's like Asian law. Yeah. [01:12:38] Speaker C: So, yeah, again, I really. I really loved her artistry and, like, the. The clever things she did for. For a bunch of the tarot drawings. But I just. I don't use tarot cards, so I thought you'd enjoy them. [01:12:51] Speaker B: Yes, I do. Thank you. Oh, and I think this will be a pretty more appropriate card because I pulled the two of swords. [01:12:59] Speaker C: Ooh, the two of swords. Okay. [01:13:02] Speaker B: And so swords are a lot more about, like, intellect and like, you know, your. Your mental. The mental psychological realm. And twos often depict a sense of crossroads. [01:13:14] Speaker C: Oh, okay. [01:13:15] Speaker B: A fork in the road. So let's look more specifically at what two of swords. Okay. The upright two can symbolize balancing the right and left hemispheres of your brain, combining intuition with intellect. Drawing this card may mean you must make a decision and need to call on both. This two can also advise you to take off your blindfold and look at a situation honestly, which I think that those sentiments are captured in the interaction that Hermione and Draco had, you know, in the middle of the night next to Dumbledore. [01:13:48] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I. Yeah, I think it's good for, like, a few instances in these chapters. So Definitely, definitely that one. Like the. Again with saying things about Hermione, like, I think she's obviously very intelligent, but I think she has high emotional intelligence too. So, like, bringing those two things together to sort of try to understand Draco a little bit. [01:14:13] Speaker B: Yeah. And from understanding those and from understanding those two things, she seems, you know, I think she's just as suspicious about Lucius and Narcissa, but she's not as suspicious or as, you know, she still gives Draco crap when he's being a jerk. But she. In terms of being so, like, mistrustful of him, she's not as feeling that as, like, Ron and Harry because again, she is combining both her emotional and intellectual, you know, abilities. [01:14:45] Speaker C: Yeah, again. And maybe that's part of the problem. Again, I can't. I can't stop thinking about it. But, like, she's not applying the same sort of things to Ron. So, like, Ron, you know, like. Yeah, I don't know. It's like she's a different person anyway. Yeah. So I think. I think same for Draco also. Like, you know, there's some mixture of. He's obviously very Smart. But then, like, you know, some intuition on terms of, you know, how he should be feeling maybe about certain things, like how he should be feeling about his father, like, questioning that. Yeah. And even with the trio, like, it's a bit of a crossroads here for all of them. Right. Because they're kind of starting to, dare I say, collaborate a little bit. [01:15:41] Speaker B: Community, at least communicate and make executive decisions. [01:15:48] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. So I definitely think it's a coming together of logic and emotions just at different stages for everybody across the board and then again leading to a change in direction, which is literally kind of what this book is about. You know, we've got some similar scenarios, but every, you know, things are different. So now we're going in a. In a new direction. Yeah. [01:16:13] Speaker B: Yeah. And again, we talked about intellectual and emotional, but then said the two can also advise you to take off your blindfold and look at a situation honestly. So, yeah, I think that is. Draco symbolizes that in terms of, you know, the very simplistic view of the world that his bigoted way of the world that his parents displayed to him. He's starting to look at that. Or at least his behavior. Yeah. The extremity of Lucius's behavior. He's starting to look at that more honestly. And what other notions of taking off your rosy tint glasses? [01:16:49] Speaker C: I mean, Dumbledore's dead. None of them expected that. So that's kind of a shock for everybody. Right. You know, what are they gonna do now? Right. So, yeah, that's kind of like taking off. Not that the situation was rosy, but obviously Dumbledore being alive was a huge comfort and now is a massive loss, both of not just comfort, but of knowledge. Right. He can no longer help them with whatever they're supposed to be doing. [01:17:18] Speaker B: Yep. [01:17:19] Speaker C: So, yeah. Alrighty. Yes. [01:17:22] Speaker B: Much better card than last time. [01:17:24] Speaker C: And I was trying to think of, like, when you first said two of swords, I was kind of thinking more literally, if we, you know, we have the sword of Gryffindor was discussed a lot. And as we know, there's a fake one. Or at least in the canon there's a fake one. Right. So maybe there's a reference to the two swords here in a way, like. [01:17:44] Speaker B: Yes, indeed. Yeah. I didn't even think of the sword at Gryffindor. But you are right. [01:17:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:17:49] Speaker B: Yes. Did we do a third exercise last time? Did we do, like, vocab vigilance or something? [01:17:57] Speaker C: Maybe we did. I think I said there were a couple things that stood out, like, awkwardly. I don't. I Don't know if we need to keep doing that one. [01:18:05] Speaker B: No, no, we don't have to, because I think we. We kind of discussed it in our. Scene by scene. [01:18:11] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Basically, if something seems off, I'll just mention it. If it doesn't, then I. You know. Yeah. [01:18:17] Speaker B: All right, then. And thus concludes episode two. And so next time we will go over chapters five and six, which are called at the Hogwarts Skate and the Lost Diadem. [01:18:33] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh. At the Hogwarts Gate. Okay. And then the Lost Diadem. That's very early. [01:18:40] Speaker B: Yeah, so. So, yeah, so this is a very. You can already have a sense of where things are switching up based on those chapter titles. [01:18:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. So obviously the Horcrux order is changing [01:18:57] Speaker B: because Diadem was the absolute last one. [01:19:00] Speaker C: Oh, but the diadem, like, doesn't. Well, I guess we'll talk about the next podcast. But I'm just thinking offhand, like, the way they even came about figuring that one out was they knew it was something of Ravenclaws. There are all these hints with, like, the, like, Luna Lovegood had, like, a little funny statue. Yeah. With the hat on it. And then it was like Harry remembered the bust and the. Yeah. Oh, but you know what? Draco's been inside the Room of Requirement too. So, like, maybe somehow he knows remembers it too. Maybe he even remembers it first. I don't know. I'm. I'm just speculating. But we will talk in the next. All right. [01:19:42] Speaker B: All righty, then. So stay tuned. Catch you guys later. Bye. [01:19:47] Speaker C: Bye. Bye. Sam. Sat. Sam. [01:21:13] Speaker B: Sa. [01:21:38] Speaker C: Satan.