Books and Butterbeer

Harry Potter didn't enter the Triwizard Tournament. So how can he be bound by a magical contract he never agreed to? This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapters 17 and 18 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire : The Four Champions and The Weighing of the Wands . Harry's name has just emerged from the Goblet of Fire, and absolutely nobody seems happy about it....

Three schools. Three champions. One Goblet of Fire. What could possibly go wrong? This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie are trying something new! We're combining chapters for the first time as we dive into Chapters 15 and 16 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire : Beauxbatons and Durmstrang and The Goblet of Fire . The Triwizard Tournament is finally here, and Hogwarts is pre...

Three curses. One classroom. And a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that raises a LOT of questions. This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 14 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , The Unforgivable Curses . Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally attend their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with Mad-Eye Moody, and it is nothing like they expected. Instea...

Draco Malfoy is a ferret. Do we really need to say anything else? This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 13 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , Mad-Eye Moody . The school year is officially underway, Hermione is mysteriously disappearing into the library despite having no homework, Professor Trelawney is back to making ominous predictions, Hagrid has introduc...

Yes! Chapter 12 finally feels like the starting gun after all that setup. You even say it near the end: now the book starts going boom, boom, boom . We are finally at Hogwarts, Mad-Eye has arrived, Hermione has discovered the house-elves, and the Triwizard Tournament is officially happening. Chapter 12-FAST We made it. We are finally back at Hogwarts. And after nearly 200 pages of setup, Goblet of...

All aboard! After 150-ish pages, we are finally going back to Hogwarts. This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 11 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , Aboard the Hogwarts Express . After several incredibly heavy chapters, this one gives us a much-needed palate cleanser. The trunks are packed, everyone is headed to King’s Cross, Malfoy is back to being Malfoy,...

The World Cup is over, but the fallout is just beginning. This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 10 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , Mayhem at the Ministry . Harry and the Weasleys finally make it back to the Burrow, where a terrified Mrs. Weasley is waiting after reading about the attack in the Daily Prophet . But while everyone is safely home, the Minist...

This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 9, The Dark Mark , a chapter that feels completely different reading it as adults than it did when we first read the book as kids. The Quidditch World Cup celebration turns terrifying when masked wizards begin marching through the campground, tormenting the Muggle family who runs it while more people join the crowd. Harry, Ro...

The Quidditch World Cup is finally here. This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 8 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , where the wizarding world gathers for one massive international sporting event complete with a stadium that holds 100,000 people, magical mascots, celebrity athletes, and some very important faces sitting in the top box. In this episode, we ta...

This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 7 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , Bagman and Crouch , and the Quidditch World Cup is finally starting to come alive. Before we even make it to the match, there is plenty to unpack. We debate whether wizard camping is the only acceptable form of camping, question the Ministry's rather questionable treatment of poo...

How can nine pages contain almost no plot... and somehow set up half the book? This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie are diving into Chapter 6 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire : The Portkey . It may be the shortest chapter yet, but there is a surprising amount hiding inside it. Fred and George are still attempting to smuggle their Ton-Tongue Toffees past Mrs. Weasley, Harry...

What’s the best way to travel in the wizarding world... and which one would you absolutely refuse to try? This week on Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie are diving into Chapter 5 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , as Harry finally makes it back to the Burrow and finds himself right in the middle of the wonderful chaos of the Weasley family. Fred and George are celebrating the success...

The Weasleys have arrived... and they immediately blow up the Dursleys' living room. In this episode of Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 4 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , where Arthur Weasley attempts to rescue Harry from Privet Drive using the Floo Network... despite one very important problem: the Dursleys boarded up their fireplace years ago. The result i...

Harry's summer is finally looking up. This week on Books & Butterbeer , we're discussing Chapter 3 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , where an invitation to the Quidditch World Cup arrives... along with one of the most heavily stamped letters the Dursleys have ever seen. As Molly Weasley attempts to navigate Muggle mail, Harry discovers he finally has a little leverage over Uncle...

What do recurring nightmares, PlayStations, Antonio Banderas with a spatula, and Sirius Black have in common? More than you'd think. In this episode of Books & Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 2: The Scar , where Harry wakes from a disturbing dream that feels far too real. As his scar burns for the first time in years, Harry is faced with an important question: Who do you tu...

The fourth Harry Potter book opens in a way no one expected... without Harry Potter. This week on Books & Butterbeer , we're diving into Chapter One of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , where we meet Frank Bryce, revisit the eerie Riddle House, and witness one of the darkest openings in the entire series. Before Harry even wakes up, we're already asking some big questions about jus...

It's finally time. After finishing Prisoner of Azkaban , Johnna and Katie are kicking off Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ... but before they open Chapter One, they're making their predictions, sharing their favorite memories, and talking about everything they're most excited (and a little nervous) to revisit. Will Goblet of Fire still hold up as one of their favorite books? Has ti...

Wait… did Johnna just say she likes Divergent ? Longtime listeners, don't panic. She hasn't been replaced, and she hasn't completely lost her mind. But after years of criticizing the series, she's finally ready to confess something surprising: She genuinely loves the first book. In this special minisode, Johnna revisits Divergent and explores why, despite her frustrations with the sequels, the ori...

Wait… Johnna chose Divergent ?! Yes, that Divergent . The same series she's spent years complaining about. The same author she's roasted more than once. So why is she dedicating a minisode to it? Because there's a confession to be made… Next week, Johnna attempts to explain how someone can dislike an entire series while still believing the first book captured something special. Come ba...

Between Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire , Katie takes a break from Harry Potter to talk about another series that has stayed with her since middle school: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. In this special bonus episode, Katie shares how she first discovered The Golden Compass while shelving books in her school library, why Lyra Belacqua remains one of her favorite literary protagonists,...

In this episode of Books and Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie review Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and ask the important question: What happened to this adaptation? From a new director and a darker visual style to missing book details, confusing character choices, and some truly questionable movie decisions, there's a lot to unpack. While the film introduced some iconic moments and bea...

After all the chaos, heartbreak, time travel, and Dementors… Chapter 22 gives us something rare in Harry Potter: Hope. In this episode of Books and Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie wrap up Prisoner of Azkaban with the final chapter, where Harry finally gets a glimpse of the life he’s always wanted—and learns that sometimes freedom looks different than we imagined. As Sirius Black escapes alongside Bu...

This is the chapter where everything clicks into place. ✨ In this episode of Books and Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 21, where time travel, Patronuses, Hippogriffs, and one absolutely exhausted Hermione Granger collide in one of the most iconic chapters in the entire Harry Potter series. After Sirius Black is sentenced to receive the Dementor’s Kiss, Dumbledore quietly gives Har...

Just when Harry’s future finally starts to look hopeful… everything falls apart. 🌕💔 In this episode of Books and Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 20, where the chaos from the Shrieking Shack spills out onto the Hogwarts grounds in one of the darkest and most emotional chapters yet. After finally learning the truth about Sirius Black, Harry is offered something he’s never truly had...

The Servant of Lord Voldemort This chapter changes everything . In this episode of Books and Butterbeer , Johnna and Katie dive into Chapter 19, where the truth about Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and the betrayal of Harry’s parents finally comes crashing into the open. And honestly? It’s one emotional train wreck in the best possible way. 🚂💥 Inside the Shrieking Shack, tensions explode as Snap...