After almost four months, I have finally gotten around to uploading the video from my round table discussion at Portus. The reason I chose to do this is three fold. Or would that be tri-fold? I don’t know. In any event….here are the reasons why I am finally posting this video:
1. This round table [...]

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Continue reading → Portus Video Here. Now.

This week, we finish up our Patterns in Potter discussion for Book 5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  This time, we focus on Harry’s visions (courtesy of Lord Voldemort) and his driving urge to understand the truth of these visions, and what knowledge they can bring in aiding in the fight against evil.  It’s quite [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #79: Harry Potter and Gödel’s Theorem

There comes a time in a person’s life when they realize, for the first time, that the world is not actually the way they thought it was.  That the picture they had in their mind about how the world works, the rules of the game, are suddenly gone.  It is the end of innocence.  When does this end of [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #63: Harry Potter and the End of Innocence

The more interviews J.K. Rowling gives, the more show topics we get. This time, J.K. Rowling spoke with the Dutch newspaper Volksrant (not to be confused with Volkswagon or Voltron) and discussed many topics. Amongst them were the issues of life after death in the Harry Potter books, as well as more details [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #58: Harry Potter Potpourri

Last week we discussed love, and focused on the distinctly maternal focus taken by J.K. Rowling.  This week, we examine the father figures in Harry’s life.  From his actual, albeit ephermeral father James, to surrogates in Lupin, Sirius and even, to some extent Snape, we take a look at Harry’s bevy or male role models, [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #57: Fatherhood in Potter

Although in English we have one basic term for love, there’s really all different kinds of love: brotherly love, selfless love, erotic love, and all make some kind of appearance in the Harry Potter novels. In this week’s show, we take a look at love in Harry Potter and how the various relationships are expressed, [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #56: Love in Harry Potter

Voldermort’s downfall was a long time coming. Despite his efforts to ensure his longevity, Voldemort’s overall approach to life almost guarunteed his defeat. By ignoring the signifcance of some very important “deeper magics,” Voldemort opened up a proverbial chink in his armor that ultimately led to his demise. In Chapter 35, King’s Cross, an etherieal [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #49: Voldemort’s Downfall

There’s no question that there are religious/Christian undertones and themes to the Harry Potter books. In 2000, JK Rowling stated that if she were to divulge her religious beliefs, it would make the ending of the story obvious. Now that we’ve read Book 7, the religious content is clear; not only is Harry’s [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #46: The Religion of Harry Potter

Ask not for whom the bell tolls, for in Book 7, it tolled for quite a few folks.  The body count in the final book gets higher and higher as the book goes on.  Some deaths, granted, were quite welcome, such as Bellatrix and Voldemort; others were tragic and shocking.  All of them, however, held [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #45: The Dearly Departed

*Deathly Hallows Spoilers Included*
It’s been less than a week since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, yet most of us have now read the book more than once; inevitably, bits and pieces need to be re-read to make sense of them. In addition to re-reading, the comments on our last post [...]

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Continue reading → Episode 43: Making Sense of Deathly Hallows

This may very well be our last full episode before the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In this episode, we discuss how we’re feeling (perhaps the five stages of loss would be appropriate), and take one final crack at a few theories before signing off and preparing for the weekend.
No news [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #41: The End of Harry Potter

What kind of a soul does a wizard have?  JK Rowling has left many hints as to the nature of the soul, as portrayed in the Harry Potter books.  In this week’s episode, we tie it all together in an attempt to figure out the true nature of the wizard’s soul.
And in the news:

HP and [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #34: The Wizard’s Soul

From last week’s episode of The Office.

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Continue reading → Harry Potter and The Office: Team Gryffindor vs. Team Voldemort

So, we know that the big task facing Harry is to find and destroy Voldemort’s Horcuxes, thereby destroying the fragments of his tattered soul and shuffling off his mortal coil. Sounds simple, right? Not quite, there’s one problem that we haven’t addressed: Just how the heck does one destroy a horcrux anyhow?!?! [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #32: How to Destroy a Horcrux

Quite predictably, ever since we were introduced to The Prophecy in Book 5, it’s been the subject of controversy.  Despite almost an entire chapter of Book 6 devoted to setting the record straight, questions still abound about what The Prophecy might mean.  Could it be referring to Neville? (No.)  Maybe it doesn’t have to come [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #29: Prophecies

Since December 21, we’ve all had pretty much one question on our mind: what is the meaning of “Deathly Hallows?”  We recorded some of our initial thoughts last time, and followed up with two blog posts with a more fleshed out theory: that the “Deathly Hallows” is the name for the magic that Lily used [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #13: The Deathly Hallows Theory Explained

I think I know how Harry Potter will end.  I’m almost 100% certain that I’ve figured it out, based on the title of Book 7.
As I said before, I think the “Deathly Hallows” is the name for the magic by which Harry became protected from Lord Voldemort when Lily died for him out of love.  Lily’s performed a “deathly [...]

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Continue reading → How Harry Potter Will End - The Deathly Hallows

After thinking about this a bit more, I think it’s likely that the Deathly Hallows refers to what happened to Harry when Lily died to save him, i.e. Harry became consecrated by Lily’s death for his sake.  Keep in mind that this took place in Godric’s Hollow, on All Hallows Eve.  So perhaps Harry is [...]

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Continue reading → More thoughts on Deathly Hallows

Nothing strikes fear into the heart of wizards like a Death Eater. These minions of the Dark Lord do his every bidding, or they suffer the consequences. The worst part is: no one knows for sure the identities of these dark wizards; shrouded in mystery, their chief weapons are fear, surprise, a ruthless efficiency, and [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #12: Vol-de-Mort - The Death Eaters

October 31, Halloween, has special significance in the Wizarding World; not only does it mark the anniversary of Nearly Headless Nick’s nearly-beheading, it’s also the date that Lord Voldemort attacked the Potter’s in Godric’s Hollow. In memory, we’ve got a special All Hallow’s Eve edition of HPProgs discussing just what went down on that [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #6: What Happened at Godric’s Hollow?

As villians go, Harry’s arch-nemesis Voldermort carries a big stick, but does he use it? Although we are admonished as to the unbelievable evilness of He Who Shall Not Be Named, for some of us, the picture painted of Lord Voldemort is not all that horrifying. Certainly he talks big, representing ideals that [...]

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Continue reading → Episode #4: Voldemort - What makes him so bad?