Alohomora!: The Original Harry Potter Book Club

On Episode 326 we discuss... → The only chapter 2 that's not from Harry's POV → What line of work was Snape's father in? → Possible early clues that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince → So much booze in this book! → Humanizing Narcissa - the Lady of the Lake → Bella's scrap of love → Who is the spinner and what is their end? → The unbreakable vow: manipulation or desperation? → Sev and Pete, the expe...

On Episode 325 we discuss... → Why are they called Death Eaters? → The lack of math strikes again → Death Eater dynasties → Irvin's Death Eater essays - 1 | 2 | 3 → Picking things up and putting them down → The Battle of the Department of Mysteries: An Analysis of the Chase and Battle, June 1996 → Oh baby, baby Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/alohomora-the-orig...

On Episode 324, we discuss… → OotP has the best chapter titles → The five stages of grief in ONE chapter → Bargaining flipped: We start with a death and end with a life → Voldy was right about Dumbledore's willingness to sacrifice Harry! → Harry feels love most acutely through overwhelming grief → Movie adaptations... the good, the bad, the terrible → One character reaches acceptance - Fudge! → Be...

On Episode 323 we discuss... → Fairy tales, fairytales, wonder tales, magic tales, fairy stories, and Märchen → "In the old times when wishing was still effective"... and how → The Dewey Decimal System for fairytales is... woah → How many of these classifications match up with Potter? Hint: a lot! → Motifs which are the foundation for all fantasy → Why do fairytales endure? → Could we call Harry P...

On Episode 322 we discuss... → "Those who ask will always be given help... I think... maybe..." → Why does a second year discover what the beast is when nobody else can? → It must be nice, it must be nice... to have Ernie Mac on your side → Does anyone actually feed Fang while Hagrid is gone? → Aragog is sending mass emails "on the web" → Spiders and House Elves are besties → Sycamore and redwood...

On Episode 321 we discuss... → Our podcast is old enough to have a drinking game → Slughorn wins the name game: Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn → Aurelia is the author of the Harry Potter books now → Armando Dippet is how old?! Aging in the wizarding world is confusing → We love old Pottermore → Is Slughorn the master networker? Hogwarts should have a careers day! → Felix Felicis fan theory: Did Sl...

On Episode 320 we discuss... → Descriptive dialogue and how to write it → Exam study stress is REAL → Is the Hogwarts' school calendar indicative of the UK's schedule? → #FantasticBeastsRightToLive → Are the tortoises alive?? The Rock Kittens return! → Katy, say no to drugs! Can Cheering Charms be as addictive/harmful as Felix Felicis? → Humidifier humans are so hot → The worst test by the worst t...

On Episode 319 we discuss… → Does Dark Magic only depend on the intent of the witch or wizard using it? → Dark Magic is magic for which there is no good use → All dark magic are curses, but not all curses are dark magic → Knockturn Alley... the black market that everyone knows about → Snakes are given a bad rep → "Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can’t see where it keeps its...

On Episode 318 we discuss… → First all-male episode?!? → The chapter that inspired the book's cover art → Young Tom Riddle was incredibly focused and powerful → Everyone agrees... Half-Blood Prince is THE BEST → Has Dumbledore been to the cave before? → Quality quotes comin' at ya! → "Really? You're one of the most powerful wizards of all time and you went with a blood door?" → The cave = the next...

On Episode 317 we discuss... → Localization of the Harry Potter text (British vs. American English) → Why butcher cultures for the sake of ethnocentrically Americanizing text? → Hooray for fans fighting back! → Folklore and Fairytales - "The Boy Who Lived" is already a living legend → Are there similarities between Potter and other epic tales? → Enter the Cinderfellas: Voldemort, Lockhart, and Sna...

On Episode 316 we discuss… → Would aqua lungs have functioned at Hogwarts? → We need more info regarding the limits of transfiguration → Madam Pince is THE WORST librarian → Powers you never knew you had and how to use them → Where are card catalogs/CTRL-F/Google when you need them? → This task is MESSED UP and Alison can't even → Crackpot theory: Viktor fell in love with Hermione at the World Cup...

Created and hosted by Kat Miller, Alohomora!: Full Circle is a re-read of the Harry Potter through the lens of Ring Composition. Enjoy this sneak peek from the show featuring clips from Books 1 - 4 and an exclusive clip from the yet-to-be-released Book 5! Can you guess who the voice belongs to? Featuring book-long cohosts of past and present Alohomora! hosts and other special guests, Full Circle i...

On Episode 315 we discuss… → Love types: Agape, Philia, Eros, Storge, Xenia, Philautia → From Lily to Narcissa, mothers' love is everything in Potter → A child's love for their parents is not to be ignored → Everyone in Harry Potter needs to have a therapist → Does Hermione love her friends more than her parents? → The Golden Trio - ride or die → Fred and George are the best of best friends → Is R...

On Episode 314 we discuss... → Leaving a broken vanishing cabinet on the 1st floor... totally fine → Tragic Filch - the half-person → Fear of kittens makes a lot more sense than pigeons → What do fireworks and torture devices have in common? → Turning suffering into profit is ok when you're making bad people suffer → The Department of Mysteries appears to be a spiritual place → "We all got away, d...

On Episode 313 we discuss... → Where did the brains in the Brain Room come from? → We hope there are individual education plans for struggling students → Rex schools us on memory types, formation, storage, retrieval, etc → Memory loss, brain injuries, and diseases → Are the disembodied brains conscious? → Most wizards are too afraid to use a Pensieve → The Hogwarts Pensieve contains centuries of m...

On Episode 312 we discuss... → Why does Harry forgive Ron so much more easily than Hermione? → The Muggle Prime Minister is potentially left out to dry → It's time for Ron to shine → We need to know what a plimpy is! → Xenophilius's name is one of the best in the series → Dumbledore's gifts finally start to make sense → Ron... the third wheel during Bill and Fleur's first married Christmas → Wizar...

On Episode 311 we discuss... → Early Quidditch = animal cruelty → How does the Hogwarts House team system work? → There should be JV teams, more backup players, fun play, and more games → "That's just Jo not thinking it through." → Quidditch is the one thing that comes naturally to Harry → The 2014 Quidditch World Cup was a thing of beauty → Female inclusion in wizard sport FTW! → How much do the...

On Episode 310 we discuss... → Theory confirmed: Dumbledore is the Avatar → CoS is FULL of red herrings → Are Fred and George cruel jackasses? → What's the most terrifying sentence in the Harry Potter canon? → Everyone knows that Neville is almost a squid → Snape is such a bad teacher! For the greater good! → We want to see Flitwick killin' it on the dueling stage → Harry CAN'T EVEN with Lockhart...

On Episode 309 we discuss... → Did Dumbledore know Hagrid's father? → Mr. Dumbledore's home for Peculiar Children → Ogg was probably important to Hagrid's continued learning → Hagrid is the opposite of toxic masculinity → Hey Google, what is pedagogy? → Was the blast-ended skrewt breeding legal? → Yes, Hagrid's a bad teacher but that's not his fault → Is there any excuse for the way Hagrid treated...

On Episode 308 we discuss... → Harry & Ron = The Chaos Crew → Neville has "zero positive male role models that aren't trying to dangle him out of a window" → Harry's privileged broom → Caps lock McGonagall → We finally learn what the heck Quidditch is! → Only 28 kids per year get to play the one wizard sport at school... that's messed up → Don't judge people by their physical appearance, mkay? → W...

You asked for it, you got it! After years of requests from our loyal listeners begging us to start another re-read, we are very happy to introduce Alohomora!: Full Circle. Created and hosted by Kat Miller, Full Circle is a re-read of the Harry Potter series through the lens of Ring Composition. Featuring book-long cohosts of past and present Alohomora! hosts and other special guests, Full Circle p...

On Episode 307 we discuss… → Hagrid definitely couldn't work there → Whose brains do they have in the Brain Room?? → "Thoughts could leave deeper scars than almost anything else" → The Death Chamber - the room we know the most and least about → Are there multiple death veils? → "[Myrtle is] living her best death" → Would the veil destroy a horcrux? → The Hall of Prophecies - there's going to be lo...

On Episode 306 we discuss... → Harry reading Cliff Notes → Fandom theories from back in the day → "Eh, it's Half-Blood Prince. Things get a bit sexy." → Why did Aberforth buy a sketchy mirror? → Was Rose Granger-Weasley named after Madam Rosemerta?? → Polyjuiced Draco in Hogsmeade?? → Double Imperio! OMG! → "Katie is social distancing from the ground." → Ring composition curses → How did Draco aff...

On Episode 305 we discuss... → Cho's name... lazily written, alliteration love, and/or downright offensive? → The only girl on her Quidditch team! → Written to be a love triangle character/self-insertion mold → From cool chick to emotional, jealous wreck → Ginny vs. Cho → Teenage boys are oblivious → The Madam Puddifoot's disaster - fault on both sides → Why did Cho join the DA? → #Charry → Cho +...

On episode 304 we discuss... → What was Buckbeak's favorite part of London? → Hermione at her breaking point... crying, slapping, quitting → Hermione's slap = SO GOOD... but, don't do that → Fowl or Foul? Ron helping with Buckbeak's appeal is precious → How does the Quidditch system even work?? → Oliver legit sends his team to bed → "What a man... I love him" → Crookshanks and the "Grim" - blink a...