Outrage: The Seven Potters (Book 7, Chapter 4)
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Hey everyone, this is Cory and Carly, the hosts of the Surviving Sister Wives podcast. Sister Wives returns at last, and while the Browns have gone their own separate ways, that doesn't mean they're done with each other. Mary and Janelle form an unlikely alliance, Christine is off living in newly married bliss,

And Cody and Robin are left wondering, can they be happy in a monogamous relationship? And after all the joy and drama, they hit the hot seat and answer the questions we've been begging to know. Sister Wives returns Sunday at 10 on TLC. Chapter 4, The Seven Potters. Harry ran back upstairs to his bedroom, arriving at the window just in time to see the Dursleys' car swinging out of the drive and off up the road.

Daedalus' top hat was visible between Aunt Petunia and Dudley in the back seat. I'm Vanessa Zoltan. And I'm Kasper Ter-Kyle. And this is Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.

So, Casper, we have two announcements today. The first, of course, is our Every Flavored Bean conversation. In this chapter, six people have to drink polyjuice potion in order to look like Harry. And you and I are going to spend some time imagining if we could drink polyjuice potion to look like anyone for a day. Who would we want to look like? I don't know.

I'm suddenly realizing I could look like you. And I actually think that's genius. I will share more in the. Yeah, my first instinct is Beyonce because I just imagine, but I'm not going to go for that. I'm not. That's too low hanging fruit. So if you want to hear us talk about that, you can hear that at Patreon dot com slash Harry Potter sacred text.

course, everybody, if you are interested in our class, What Matters, a season of spiritual discernment through sacred reading and community and self-exploration and storytelling, you can find out more about that at notsorryworks.com. So Casper, we are telling a story on the theme of outrage today. When is a time that you have been outraged, my friend?

Vanessa, I'm not gonna lie to you. I had a whole story prepped. I'd written it down, I'd made notes, and then I took the train to suburban Connecticut on Monday, just a few days ago. Now, let me set up...

the story, which is that this is entirely my own fault and therefore I deserved what came at me. But I was taking the train. I meet a dear friend who lives in Boston and I live in New York and we meet halfway between our two homes in the delightful environ of suburban Connecticut.

So there's a train line that runs beautifully between our two cities. And so we find a spot halfway between there and we spend a few days together. And it's a wonderful tradition. So I was really looking forward to seeing her. And my train, as it is so often, was delayed.

And we were traveling along slowly and finally arrived at our station in New London, Connecticut. But because the train seems to have never been to New London before, apparently only two doors open on this platform because the platform is very small. Now, it so happened that there was a large conference of some kind. There were many, many ladies all wearing green and pink uniforms.

I think it was a kind of reunion of one of the Divine Nine sororities. So literally about 150, 200 women getting off at the same stop as I was. Now, let me stress again, it's a small platform and it is also raining. So it takes a good 20 minutes for us all to get off the train.

And it's raining. People are standing there and it's nothing's moving. And I'm curious about why that is. And I finally get off the train and see that the crossing barriers are down. So no one can get from the platform, which is not connected to anything else, to the town where everyone is going. Again, it's raining. There's like 200 ladies and me. I'm also wearing a green coat. So I kind of look like I belong to the crew, which made me feel very cool. And I got some compliments for it, which was nice.

But we're all standing there in the rain and no one can cross. And clearly there's no other train coming. Like our train is stationary. And so I asked the folks from Amtrak, I'm like, hey, do we know what's going on? They're like, oh yeah, sometimes it happens. The barriers are just down. And I'm like, well, is there a train coming? Because there's not a train coming. And they're like, yeah, we don't know.

And I look opposite on the other side to the town side where we all want to go. And there are three police people, like railway police, and they're looking directly at me. And I decide this train was half an hour late. We've all been waiting in the rain for 20 minutes. I want to go see my friend. And like an entitled little so-and-so, I'm like, you know what? I am going to cross the tracks. I just want to go see my friend.

I just ducked under the barrier, walked across the single track and ducked under the barrier on the other side. And what happens next? Yes, the three policemen approach me and write me up for a ticket. And while they're writing me up, the barriers lift and everyone else crosses the tracks into the town. And even though I know it's entirely my own fault, I am outraged. I'm outraged at the dumbness of the situation. I'm outraged at the lack of like

access from a station. Like this is what happens every day. How can you have not designed a tunnel or a bridge? All of these things cross my mind. And now I owe the Connecticut police $181. And I have thought about contesting it, but my outrage will not make a compelling argument for a very, very clear choice that I made for which the consequences were then applied. But all of which is to say, I feel like as we read this chapter through this theme of outrage, at least in this case for me,

My outrage was kind of non-rational. Like I made a choice. The consequences literally were standing in front of me and they were then applied. Like how could I be outraged? And yet I was. So maybe it was about the underlying situation. Maybe it was the rain, you know, but nonetheless, like there's something non-rational about the outrage that I felt in that situation. And I wonder if we'll see that in this chapter too.

both irrational and rational, right? Because you're annoyed at this country for having bad infrastructure. I feel like this country is still designed for like, if you can tie a horse up in front of it, then the infrastructure is there. And it's like, well, that's not how we've

we've been getting around for a long time. So can we build infrastructure for the country we live in? Right. And then it's this idea that a bunch of reasonable human beings can't look around them and have people safely be crossing five at a time and just like have a human response to a computer glitch. Right. I think that it could look in that moment like you are just someone who's like, brain,

brain and nah. But like, I do think that often our outrage explodes when there are a million things under it that

then project into outrage or when something finally big happens, right? Sort of the inverse of, you know, Voldemort has been trying to kill Harry, trying to kill Harry, trying to kill Harry. And like now there's the big outrageous moment where he's going to be able to maybe hit kill Harry. But to me, outrage is,

almost always has simmering before it. We don't go from zero to outrage. The other thing I will say is that nothing outrages me more than when somebody says to me, I can't do something about that. And I'm like, no, you won't do something about that. You could do something about that, right? Like those cops could find an imperfect solution and they weren't.

And that outrages me. And that outrages me because I'm like, Nazi collaborators, right? I'm just like, you're following orders instead.

human, right? Like that is just like a primal wound in me. And so it is also funny to watch what outrages other people and what, you know, like what it is. I've traveled a lot with other people and it's funny to watch what outrages them and then what outrages me. And it's totally different. The orders are dumb. Be smart. I even had an umbrella, Vanessa. Like there really was no excuse. There really was no excuse. It's annoying. It's annoying.

I'll tell you what else has no excuse. Anyone not knowing what happens in this chapter, because something very important happens in this chapter, Vanessa, will you give us your 30 second recap? I will. Three, two, one, go.

So everybody shows up and there is a plan to get Harry out by having seven potters and someone with each of them because they're pretty sure that the Death Eaters are going to know about this. And then they get in the air and pew, pew, pew. And people are getting shot and scary things. And Harry's like, Expelliarmus, Expelliarmus. And then Hedwig dies.

And Hagrid and Harry, it becomes really dangerous. And like they like hit a fire thing. And then they crash land. And Hagrid and Harry are probably safe. You know, my highlight of that was pew. I mean, there is some pew pew in this chapter. It's true. There's a lot of pew pews.

Will you count me in? I'll add a little flavor. Thank you. On your mark, get set, go. Okay, so everyone arrives at the house and Mad-Eye's got a plan. And he's like, there's probably a few people circling, but we're going to go earlier than when the curse breaks because, you know, the ministry is watching everything. So into the night sky they go and suddenly they're surrounded. And everyone's flying everywhere. And Mundungus is obviously not trustworthy. More on that story later. Okay.

Harry is with Hagrid in the sidecar so as not to be assumed to be on a broom. And so, and there's Thestrals and they're flying, flying, flying. Voldemort comes face to face and is like, oh my God, I've got you. And then suddenly they escape. Yeah. Harry's wand somehow like does its own thing. There's a lot happening. He gets separated. The little sidecar falls off from the motorbike and Hagrid's magic buttons. Those are fun.

Vanessa, I want to start somewhere maybe a little unusual in this chapter. Because obviously we're going to talk about Hedwig. Don't worry, we're going to talk about it. But I want to start with a character that's only getting a couple of mentions on the page, but it's Mundungus Fletcher. Mundungus is one of the, I guess, 13 people who showed up. You know, Tonks is there. Obviously the twins are there. Ron and Hermione are there. Like Mad-Eye's there. The crew is there to help rescue Harry. But one of them is Mundungus.

And we have seen already in the previous chapters, like, you know, other people like Daedalus and Hestia. Like, there are a bunch of people out here to help Harry. But Mundungus is in the room for this very deadly mission, right? Like, everyone has signed up. They say so. They've signed up because they know what the stakes are. And yet...

I feel like outrage shows up in two ways. One is that Harry might be a little bit like, "Uh, Mundungus? Like, this is who you're bringing to help rescue me? The guy is not trustworthy." Like a little outraged, maybe a little offended.

But I also wonder if Mundungus feels outraged because he does not want to be there. And I found such a parallel between him and Stan Shunpike, whose kind of Death Eater hood comes off in a moment in the battle sequence up in the sky. And Harry sees kind of a dead-eyed Stan Shunpike. Obviously, he's been imperious.

And I suddenly saw the connection between these two people. Like they both being forced into a deadly mission that neither of them would have chosen. And the kind of out, the outrage of that situation, I guess. And I'm curious. Yeah. What, what, what do you see in Mundungus being there? And how, how does it relate to outrage? First of all, I just think it is such a smart observation. I think that,

crises get us to do things where our morals would not usually let us do them. And we do more and more outrageous things during wartime, right? This is something I was really following closely during the California fires. California was using imprisoned people to fight the fires. And, right, it was like, that is disgusting, right?

And there was this like conversation about, oh, there's a choice for these people. They are choosing to make more money fighting fires and like being heroes. And it's like, well, that's kind of a false choice. They're making $10 a day instead of $2 a day. And right, like, it's just disgusting. Like it is a disgusting thing to have imprisoned people go and fight fires because we don't invest in infrastructure enough to have enough firefighters. But what we do invest

And so that is where we can get our firefighters. Right. And there was this sense that like this is a state emergency. And so we are going to do things outside of the norm of what we normally do. And I do think that there are emergencies where we lower our standards in some ways.

Because the stakes have gotten higher, right? Like, I don't like to eat certain things. And if there's suddenly no food, I'll lower my standards and eat the thing, right? Like, we all do this in small ways all the time. But I think that this is really gross what they're doing to Mundungus. Like, it's not better than what the – I mean, they have an imperious Mundungus.

Mundungus, so it's probably a little bit better than what the Death Eaters are doing. But I do think that often in wartime, the people who think of themselves as the good guys start behaving in very similar ways to the bad guys. And it's just something that we all have to be really careful of and strategic about. It is entirely possible that the Order was intentional about this and was like,

This is the best case scenario. I can control Mundungus. We have to keep Mundungus close because he knows X, Y, and Z. He's actually going to be the least likely to get kidnapped, right? Like making imperfect decisions in an imperfect world is complicated. And yet you absolutely do get the sense that this man has been kidnapped and that it is not that different, right? Like we lower ourselves to the ways that our enemies behave, right?

I think that's so true. And it's interesting that there's so little reaction on the page, like how normalized it is that Mononks is there or that there's not really a question about like his interest or his loyalty or, and maybe there's reasons of like, oh, we better keep him around because if he goes to the other side, you know, he knows too much or like, but even so, like the free will angle seems missing. My,

understanding is that this is some kind of like unofficial off the books plea bargaining where they're like we know that you've stolen a lot of stuff from Sirius we know that you're fencing materials all the time we won't tell on you if you help us whereas with Stan Shunpike it has straight up just been like a kidnapping and brainwashing and

So Mundungus is like more complicit, but going to come out strong and say still a bad vibe. Still a bad vibe. Yeah. Yeah. And I think my bigger takeaway from this whole question of Mundungus is like, yeah, as you said, the way we normalize things in times of crisis and just like how outrageous things become these silent accepted things.

actions, right? Like how little it's questioned. And it puts Harry in danger. I'll say that, you know, maybe this particular moment isn't exactly that. But like, I just feel like there's a point to be made of like, the value of outrage at situations like this, that it doesn't keep happening, you know?

It's just so funny. Like, you want your outrage meter to go down and up at the same time. At the same time. Right? You're like, can you not be outraged, flirt, by the fact that you look hideous right now? Like, come on, dude. I love her and I think she's perfect in the scene. But, like, who cares? But then, like, I don't want to become a nerd to the outrage of...

you know, Mundungus being kidnapped. It is hard to tell where we want

I don't know. It was something I worked in New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina. And like there were some decisions that people made that I was like, yes, that's outrageous and sort of peacetime. But it wasn't peacetime. And they made the best decisions that they could. And then there are other things where I'm like, no, we should have held on to the norms of the day. And it's so hard to tell in the moment. And hindsight. Do you believe that hindsight is 2020? I don't think hindsight is 2020. Hindsight is clearer. Yeah.

Right. It's 1812. Yeah, it's like 1020 or whatever. Yeah. But it is interesting. You know, we've talked a lot over the last 10 years on this podcast about how much I believe in emergency mode where I'm like, OK, norms have to go out of the window. We're in emergency mode now.

But emergency mode also is a place where like certain norms are more important than ever. Like no matter what, we're going to treat each other with dignity. Like I don't care how big the emergency is. Well, I feel like that brings us straight on to the second point, which is what we see with the polyjuice potion. The most obvious moment of outrage in terms of the words on the page, I feel like thunders.

is when Harry realizes what the plan is and that six people are going to take on his literal bodily form. And he says, no, he said loudly, no way. Like he's really resistant to that plan because he's so conscious of the risk that they're taking on that they're making themselves a target for him. And so there's an outrage from Harry, but there's something interesting happening with the polyjuice potion generally, I think around the theme of outrage in that like people are responding to having Harry's body in all sorts of ways, right?

What do you make of that moment? Oh my God. If I was Harry, I would be mortified. There's just this small comment about like, oh, they're just stripping in front of each other. And there's just like no respect at all.

For anything. I feel like Moody should have done just like a 10 second like sexual harassment. Like none of us are going to look down our pants. We're all going to turn into a corner and like we are going to treat Harry's body as if it is as precious as our own. Hermione saying, oh my God, your eyesight is really bad. I actually think is this beautiful moment of compassion.

But when Fleur is like, don't look at me. I'm hideous. I am hideous. Fleur, you would never call Harry hideous. Like, I think it is outrageous. I think it is outrageous that I understand that they're in a rush.

But they don't pause and give Harry a chance to warm to this idea. Harry is like, you can't have my hair. You need my consent. And they're like, I'm pretty sure we can overwhelm you and steal your hair. And I just have to tell a really brief story. So I went with a friend last Thursday for chemo treatment. Hmm.

And she, it was her first chemo treatment. And like instantly, like within 30 seconds of the chemo being pumped into her body, she had a

big bad reaction to it. She like turned bright red. So I like went into the hallway and I brought a nurse and I was like, shoot, something's happening. The nurse came in, spoke to my friend, was like, hi, I'm Rachel. I'm about to call a code. Just so you know, seven people are going to come in here all at once. It's going to look really scary, but this is super normal. This often happens during people's second session, not first.

but it's super normal and I don't want you to be scared. And then she hit a code and in under 10 seconds,

Seven people were in the room. And while Rachel was warning us about the code, I was like, stop talking. This is an emergency. Like, I don't care about being emotionally prepared for this. But then when the seven people came in and I was watching, I was like, I would be so scared if she hadn't warned us. And then looking back, I've like timed how long I think Rachel's speech was. And I think it was seven seconds. Wow. Wow.

And I think it was 10 seconds from when Rachel came into the door to when the seven nurses, definitely under 15 seconds. And I think that more importantly, the patient, my friend, would have been terrified. And so I just do think that these like 15 second interventions of like, Harry, we've talked about it a lot. This is the safest plan.

Like, we have run scenarios. We know that you don't want other people to be in danger, but this is actually the way for everyone to be in the least danger. Like, we think that that's soft or, you know, unnecessary and intense situations. And I can imagine being like, this woman is having an allergic reaction to her chemotherapy. It's an emergency. I don't care if she understands or doesn't understand. Yeah.

But like really, I do think sometimes like seven to 15 second intervention can make all the difference. And the other thing...

other thing that was amazing is my friend got better medical care because she wasn't panicked. Like, they had to ask her a lot of questions. Wow. And she was just able to stay calm, right? They were like, how is your heart feeling? And she, like, paused and was like, oh, yeah, it is beating quickly, right? Like, whereas I can imagine if this had been scarier for her, she would have been having a big emotional reaction. And instead, they were asking her these isolated questions, and she was able to check in with different parts of her body. And so I just think, like, Harry would be a better...

in this moment. I think that we have started thinking about these things as like babying each other and actually just think like pausing and explaining. It's kind, but just because it's kind doesn't mean it isn't also best practice. Totally. This week's episode of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text is brought to you by Blue Lizard. At Blue Lizard, they have simplified sunscreens so that you can be fearless in the sun. Sunny!

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Vanessa, we've avoided it for long enough. Yeah. But I think we have to turn to Hedwig. I gotta say, I drove 12-year-old Amy to school today. And she was like, what are you doing today? And I was like, Hedwig dies today. And she was like, that's a bummer of a day. I'm so sorry. So yeah, it's a bummer. It's a bummer. You're right, Amy. You're right.

So in the midst of the battle in the sky, there's an abracadabra curse that's shot at Harry and it hits Hedwig. And I'm honestly impressed at how much Harry is able to take in of what's happening. Like he sees Hedwig being killed, like in the midst of so much chaos, he realizes what's happened and is just absolutely distraught.

And there's an outrage, obviously, for Harry, but it feels more like terror. He's shouting at Hagrid, like, turn back. Like, we can't keep going. Like, we have to undo this. And so there's something...

I don't know, it felt like connected to my story in that sense of like not wanting to accept reality or something non-rational in his response. Of course, like this is in some ways his oldest friend, like the person who's accompanied him in these places of solitary disconnection, right? The only part of the magical world that's with him in Privet Drive. And so as he's saying goodbye to this not home, right? Not familial loving place, he's now also having to say goodbye to the one person

being that has been his friend there. I'm trying to find the right words to describe it, and I don't know if outrage is the right one, but terror felt like it was. What do you think? Yeah, the...

And, you know, we didn't do etymology corner. I'm going to like slip it in here. It just means beyond rage. Right. Like in terms of its roots and right. Like now the definition is an extremely strong reaction of anger, shock or indignation. I mean, shock is there in the modern definition. So we could definitely say that it's shock that Harry is feeling. But if we just think about something beyond rage, right, like anger,

Pain and sadness and grief is beyond rage, right? Often we feel anger because we're not ready to feel sadness yet. And so I do think he is outraged because he's past anger. He doesn't even know what to feel because it's just such an overwhelming loss. And I know that my first reaction when something bad happens is anger because sadness is so much more painful to me.

So much worse. And also because like with anger, you still feel like you can do something, right? And that's what he's trying. He's like, we have to go back. We have to undo this. We have to change it. And it's not yet accepting or even understanding that this is real. Yeah. I think outrage to me in a colloquial way reminds me of sort of like pearl clutching. I'm like, I am outraged.

But I think that like I'm beyond rage. I don't even know what to do. I am like, I'm just beyond right. Like that outward feels so important. That outward W O R D feels so important when something's so shocking happens.

happens right like she was alive a minute ago and she was like kind of annoying me a minute ago and like now she's just dead and so at least a word that kind of starts with the root beyond feels right to me

Yeah. I also really like that you're pointing us to shock, because I think there's something about the immediacy or the urgency of the situation that brings outrage. I'm going to contrast it with the moment where Harry is walking around the house alone, right? The Dursleys have left, and it's before everyone else arrives to rescue him.

And he looks in the cupboard under the stairs and he kind of has this moment of like, wow, it was really small. He ends up hitting his head. Right. Yeah. And I mean, my God, like he's looking at the site of just awful neglect and abuse. Yeah. And his response is not outrage. Like I think with some therapy and lots of loving care, you know, I think Hestia would have been...

- Absolutely. And that's what I mean. Like for him, it was so normal that he isn't having that outraged response.

And so I think there's something about the shock or the newness or the immediacy in the experience that's happening that leads to outrage. Like even the difference between outrage and anger, right? Like, cause I think if Harry sat with it, he absolutely disliked and was angry at the Dursleys. Like, and for good reason. That's not, that's not in question, but it's this, I don't know, there's, there's something about the newness of the situation that feels like part of what makes it outrage in some way. Yeah. Yeah.

So Casper, it is time for Sacred Imagination. I've picked a passage that I really love. It's a moment between Harry and Hagrid. Everybody is getting on their brooms, on their festrals, etc. And there's, I think, a really

moment where Harry realizes that he's going to be in Sirius' motorbike. And so I thought I would read to us from that scene. So as always, we are trying to notice with our five senses what is going on here. Are you ready? I've got my eyes closed. I'm ready to receive.

Harry hurried into the hall to fetch his rucksack, firebolt, and Hedwig's cage before joining the others in the dark back garden. On every side, broomsticks were leaping into hands. Hermione had already been helped up onto a great black festral by Kingsley. Flur onto the other by Bill. Hagrid was standing ready beside the motorbike, goggles on. Is this it? Is this Sirius's bike?

"'The very same,' said Hagrid, beaming down at Harry. "'And the last time you were on it, Harry, I could fit you in one hand.'

Harry could not help but feel a little humiliated as he got into the sidecar. It placed him several feet below everybody else. Ron smirked at the sight of him sitting there like a child in a bumper car. Harry stuffed his rucksack and broomstick down by his feet and rammed Hedwig's cage between his knees. It was extremely uncomfortable. Arthur's done a bit of tinkering, said Hagrid, quite oblivious to Harry's discomfort.

He settled himself astride the motorcycle, which creaked slightly and sank inches into the ground. It's got a few tricks up its handlebars now. That one was my idea. He pointed a thick finger at a purple button near the speedometer. Please be careful, Hagrid, said Mr. Weasley, who was standing beside them, holding his broomstick. I'm still not sure that was advisable, and it's certainly only to be used in emergencies.

All right then, said Moody. Everyone ready, please. I want us to all leave at exactly the same time or the whole point of the diversion is lost.

Everybody mounted their brooms. Hold tight now, Ron, said Tonks, and Harry saw Ron throw a furtive, guilty look at Lupin before placing his hands on either side of her waist. Hagrid kicked the motorbike into life. It roared like a dragon, and the sidecar began to vibrate.

Good luck, everyone, shouted Moody. See you all in about an hour at the borough. On the count of three. One, two, three. Oh, it's so wonderful to be read to because...

I think reading it myself, knowing what's going to happen right at this point with the plot, it's easy to feel like I'm already on that train. And being able to close my eyes and just really see the scene, that dark backyard, the bustle of people, the Thestrals, the brooms, this motorbike. This moment where he, like, sees Ron, but Ron looks like him, but he knows that it's Ron.

Right? Like, so there must be something in Ron's mannerism that, right? Like he's saying, like, I see Hermione, I see Ron. They all just look like Harry. Well, but also they're paired with someone, right? So he knows who they're paired with. So that way you can still kind of guess. But totally, like, it's this bewildering scene. Here's what I noticed.

I was Hagrid. Ooh. And because I just spent some time with a friend and we talked a lot about her kids and we looked at photos over the years, I can just imagine Hagrid looking at Harry but also...

But also he's not just about to be 17. He's also 15 and 13 and 9 and 7 and 5 and 1 and 6 months old. Like, you know, the fact that he's so unaware of how uncomfortable this place is going to be, I think is partly shaped

because he's seeing Harry as a child again. Like he's thinking about him in the palm of his hand. He's thinking about him the first time that he brought him here, right? Just all of the connections that this bike and this moment have to Harry as a wee small baby. I think...

Hagrid is partly here and partly, you know, 16 years ago. Like this really maternal feeling. And we've talked about that with Hagrid before. So that kind of beauty, but therefore also not like quite the earnest that Hagrid is feeling. Here's the second one, which is that I felt as Hagrid so confident about the plan. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I really just was not worried. I was like, Mad-Eyes made a great plan. Yeah.

We're all ready. We're all prepared. Like it felt easeful. It felt like an adventure. Like, yes, we've got seven Harry's, but really everything's going to be fine. And if, you know, something happens, I've got these extra buttons, but mostly I hope I get to use them because it wouldn't be fun. Like I had that thought for sure where he was like, you know what I mean? Yeah.

Right. You went there, Arthur, but it was surely an emergency. So just like this sense of like, everything's going to be okay. And what a nice, not what a nice adventure, but like, I'm glad we're all here together. And like, isn't it nice? But it wasn't like I might die tonight. I really did not have that feeling at all. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How about you? I was hairy. Yeah.

And I just felt so stuck, you know? And it was, like, kind of chilly, and I'm just, like, watching all sorts of activity. And I'm just, like, I feel like a little kid, and I have this really uncomfortable cage between my legs, and I'm lower than everybody else. And I'm like, Arthur, you're not good at, like, setting up muggle contraptions. And Hagrid, you're not good at magic. And, like...

This just like panic and like everyone I love is on these brooms and I just feel like this is happening so fast. Like, wait, what? Like Hermione hates flying. And again, right? Like it's cold on my cheeks and I feel like a lot of panic in my chest and I'm like have cold sweat on my neck.

And you know how you like get uncomfortable in a travel situation sometimes and you're like, well, this is how I'm sitting for the next nine hours. I'm sitting with this box between my legs and like, that's fine. But yeah,

That moment of despair when you realize how long you're going to be uncomfortable. And then it's fine. You get used to it, but you're like, this is it. And just like the humiliation and everybody else is putting themselves in danger for you. Yeah, I guess I just felt a responsibility for every micro thing is like my fault. Yeah.

Like I couldn't feel any smaller. And as much as, you know, it means to the adults to be like, I remember when you were little. And like sometimes that means something to kids too. Right. I got to meet my nephew the day after he was born and he loves that, right? He's like, you've known me my whole life.

And I'm like, "That's right, I've known you your whole life." But like being told I remember when I could fit you in my hand and now being-- Like, I just found this humiliating. I found this completely humiliating, and I felt small and uncomfortable and cold and hot. Yeah. There's so little room for Harry's agency in this whole chapter. Yes! Like he's physically stuck.

He's not able to make decisions, right? He's infantilized by being reminded of those childhood moments. He sees his compatriots. I mean, there's one moment of like, oh, Hermione also is not confident on a broom, so she's getting on a Thestral. So Hermione really is the only person who feels connected to Harry in this moment. Also the moment of the bodily compassion of like, oh yeah, you really struggle to see, don't you? And he's like, yes, it's hard. I need glasses. But anyway,

But everything else, yeah, that's so striking how Hagrid, at least in our visualizations, how Hagrid and Harry's experience of this moment is so different. But that's just often true. I think that that shows the extent to which Hagrid is a parental figure. Because, right, like that's just what it's like being a parent.

You're watching your kid go through a milestone and you're forgetting how painful the milestone is, you know? I mean, it also feels like the sidecar breaking off is a kind of physical embodiment of exactly that experience. Oh, fascinating. Yes. Thank you, Vanessa. Oh, thank you. So insightful. I love that.

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The old adage goes, it isn't what you say, it's how you say it. Because to truly make an impact, you need to set an example. You need to take the lead. You need to adapt to whatever comes your way. And when you're that driven, you drive an equally determined vehicle, the Range Rover Sport. Blending power, poise, and performance, it was designed to make an impact. With a dynamic drive, refined comfort, and innovations like cabin air purification and active noise cancellation,

The Range Rover Sport is built to be as uncompromising as you. Explore Range Rover Sport at rangerover.com slash US slash sport. This week's voicemail is from Melody. I began listening to the podcast in October of 2016. I had just graduated college and moved to Germany to work with a ministry where I didn't know anyone. I was lonely. I was cold. I was uncertain, and I turned to Harry Potter for comfort.

I stumbled across your podcast and found it comfortable, interesting, challenging, and a wonderful companion as I walked through my new city. Since then, I've moved seven times, changed jobs three times, graduated from seminary, and got married. Will I admit I haven't listened to every single week. Whenever I felt lonely, stressed, or sad, your voices talking about Harry Potter made me feel better. Thank you for all of these years of comfort, challenge, and spirituality.

If I'm honest, I think I have learned more about spiritual practices from you all than I did from seminary. And I have integrated Lectio Divina, Sacred Imagination, and Florilegium into the lessons I teach children and youth in my church. I will always be grateful for this podcast. And so grateful I got to go to the live show in DC a few years ago to meet you all. Thank you for your hard work and dedication all these years. I'm so glad that I have years of reruns that I can always return to. I wish all the blessings on the whole Sacred Text and Not Sorry team.

Thank you. Melody, thank you so much for sharing that. And I'm so glad we could keep you metaphorically warm in the cold of Germany when you first moved there. I'm so touched how we get to be part of your life and so many listeners lives over time. Like we,

recently posted a picture of Vanessa and I during the very first season of recording and I looked at us and I was like we were children we were babies babies now we are just bigger babies but the point stands like it has been like a nearly a decade of yeah traveling through these books together and finding new insights and and finding comfort and finding connection and finding hope

And I'm just so glad we got to be part of your seven moves and three jobs and seminary. Congratulations. Thank you so much, Melody. Well, it's now time for us to remember members of our community who have been loved and lost. And this week, we remember Mike Shirky, who was 67, a father, uncle, and a lover of knowledge. Sharon Clark, who was 85, a grandma and lover of chocolate.

And Nancy Washington, who is 96, a lover of trees and oceans. May their memory be a blessing. Vanessa, we get to offer a blessing as well. And I want to offer a blessing to Mad-Eye. We haven't really talked about Mad-Eye Moody very much. And he's not going to be around much longer. So I want to make sure we get to bless him. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. True, but mean.

I just want to make sure that we get to honor him because I feel like Vanessa, as you know, I love book four and we spend a lot of time with Mad-Eye during book four, but maybe not the Mad-Eye. And so I just want to honor his really excellent planning. Yes.

His constant vigilance is correct, right? It's so much worse than everyone had planned. There is an ambush attack. The Death Eaters are ready. They did know. They overwhelm in numbers. Like this plan only just works.

And even then, like, there's real casualties. And so just the details of the plan, the stuffed owls in cages, the fake luggage, the thought of having all these different forms of transportation, you know, just the thoroughness of his plan and his consistent excellence as a wartime leader is

I feel like sometimes, you know, if you're organizing the bachelorette party and you make the plan, you get a lot of pushback because not everyone likes your plan, but you made the plan. So thank you. Oh my God. Such attention to detail, such attention to detail. Absolutely incredible. We see you Mad-Eye as two type A planners. We see you. How about you, Vanessa? Who do you want to offer a blessing to?

want to bless Fred and George for cracking jokes. They're keeping this light. This is a very intense thing and they're not like caring if the jokes land. They're not like swapping things that matter, right? They're not like pulling pranks. Yeah. But they're making jokes and you know, one of them, George is about to get seriously injured and I think we need levity in difficult situations and so they have a gift of comedy and they bring that gift wherever they go and I love it here.

Wow. I appreciate that. Next week, we're reading chapter five, The Fallen Warrior through the theme of memory with very special guest, Mauricio Bruce. Just a few reminders before we give our thanks. You can always find ad-free episodes on Apple Podcasts and find our programming on notsorryworks.com.

This was a Not Sorry production, a feminist production company, and we are sponsored by the Fetzer Institute. Our executive producer is Vanessa Zoltan. We're edited and produced by AJ Yaramaz. Our music is by Ivan Paisao and Nick Bolt, and we're distributed by ACAST. Thanks as ever to our fabulous Minerva's Book Club members, Avril, Amanda C, Amanda S, Amber, Amy, Ashley, Danny, Emile, Esther, Gregoire, Casey, Kelsey, Kriti, Kyle, Marina, Nadia, and Sita.

We're grateful to Melody for this week's voicemail and Ariana Nettleman, Julia Argy, Nikki Zolton, Courtney Brown, Matt Potts, Anissa Ahmed and Danny Langley and our beloved Stephanie Pulsar. We'll be back next week. Thanks for listening, everyone. Our executive producer is Vanessa Zolton. Our executive producer is Vanessa... My name is Vanessa. It's nice to meet you. Yeah. Hi.

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