Critical Magic Theory: An Analytical Harry Potter Podcast

Turn to page 114 of every Harry Potter book, plus Behind the Cloak, as Professor Julian Wamble celebrates 114 episodes of Critical Magic Theory and extends the

In this Prof Responds episode of Critical Magic Theory, Professor Julian Wamble returns to listener comments on the lesser known Muggleborns of Harry Potter and asks a question few fans raise: did these characters ever have a choice? Moving character by character, he revisits Moaning Myrtle and whether her bullying can be separated from her blood status, Justin Finch-Fletchley a...

Hermione is the most famous Muggleborn in Harry Potter, but she was far from the first to walk into Hogwarts without a map. This episode turns to the Muggleborns who flit in and out of the series: Myrtle Warren, Ted Tonks, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Colin and Dennis Creevey.

Drawing on comments from the Critical Magic Theory Patreon community, Professor Julian Wamble...

Kendra Dumbledore has always been the Dumbledore we know least, mentioned mostly as the mother who dies protecting a magic she couldn't control. This episode goes looking for who she was outside of that role, and finds a Muggle-born woman living almost a century before Voldemort ever rises, in a wizarding world with no social cost yet attached to open prejudice against people li...

Professor Julian Wamble returns to respond directly to listener reactions from the Lily Potter episode of Critical Magic Theory. Pulling from Patreon and Spotify comments, this Prof Responds episode tackles three flashpoints: why fans blame Lily for Snape's fall to the Death Eaters, whether her sacrifice for Harry counts as heroism or "just what mothers do," and why Lily remains...