Without question, Severus Snape is one of the most intriguing characters in J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. In the beginning, he was simply a mean teacher, and obstacle for Harry; but by the end of the series, Snape became a paradigm of sacrifice for love and courage, to the point that Harry names his son after his once-despised teacher. In this episode, we take a closer look at Snape, now that we have the complete picture of his tale.

For an insightful and prescient examination of Snape’s character, check out Orson Scott Card’s essay Who is Snape? (If you haven’t already, read Orson Scott Card’s book Ender’s Game. You’ll thank me later.)

In the news:

• First British National Movie Awards nominations go to Potter cast.
• Tom Felton likes carp.
• J.K. Rowling is not writing a crime novel.

Check out our new Harry Potter t-shirt design; we call it “Always.” It looks good on most light colored tees (ignore the white background around the image; that will be removed when the shirt is printed).

Get it in white or in a vast array of colors (we prefer green).

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*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 were extremely amazing, and really helped make sense of the book. This week, we look back through the comments and pull out a few topics to discuss further: a possible relationship between Harry and Voldemort? Examples of Voldemort’s spells not working, references to Nazis, the fittingness of Snape’s death. What was the purpose of the epilogue? And what did we need the Deathly Hallows for anyhow? Of course, there’s more questions that need to be discussed (who discovered magic later in life? Where did Harry’s parents get all that money from?), but they’ll have to wait until next time.

Thanks so much for all the great comments, keep them coming, we couldn’t do the show without them!

In the News:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is breaking sales records.
• JK Rowling on the Today show: Announces Encyclopedia of characters and talks about DH.
• Naomi Watts, Joseph Fiennes, and Stuart Townsend not necessarily in the Half Blood Prince movie.

Make sure to listen to our interview on The James Madison Show from Friday, July 20. The interview can be found a the website if you click the podcast button. Special thanks to James and Frank for having us on.

Don’t forget to order your HPProgs t-shirts! Contact us if you’re interested in a red, white or black limited edition t-shirt.

Join in on the HPProgs Thank-You Book to JK Rowling!

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Those of you who tuned in to last week’s post-podcast comment frenzy undoubtedly did a head smack when reading Virigina Mama’s prognostication connecting Snape to Godric’s Hollow and the invisibility cloak. If you didn’t, you need to read it right now. Or listen to this week’s podcast, ‘cuz we took the ball and ran with it.

The news:

• #7 is #1 (on Amazon, that is).
• JK Rowling, in excitement, defaces Balmoral bust.
• Waterstone prepares for mass Potter-induced depression hysteria.
• No Deathly Hallows e-book.
• Potter wins Nick Kid’s Choice Award.
• JK Rowling not upset about release date.

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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 to protect Harry from Lord Voldemort by dying for him out of love.  In this podcast, we go into greater detail on our theory and discuss how all the pieces fit together, incorporating many loosed ends, including horcruxes, occlumency, legilimens and that gleam in Dumbledore’s eye at the end of Book 4.  It’s our theory, and we’re sticking to it!

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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 hallowing” of Harry, making him immune to Voldemort’s powers.  In Book 7, Harry will learn this magic, and devise a way to use it so that he, Harry, is killed by Voldemort.  The key: Harry’s deathly hallow will be on behalf of the entire world, rendering the entire world immune to Voldemort’s power.

The beauty of this is that, in Book 4, when Voldemort used Harry’s blood to reincarnate himself, he undid the protection provided to Harry by Lily’s original Deathly Hallow.  Voldemort can now kill Harry, allowing Harry the chance to die on behalf of everyone, leaving Voldemort helpless.  This is why Dumbledore smiled upon hearing that Voldemort used Harry’s blood:  Dumbledore understood that Voldemort, in his wanton determination to destroy Harry (mostly out of vanity), had opened the door for Harry to defeat him with the one weapon he could not wield: Love.

So that’s it.  That’s how it’s going to end.  It’s the prognostication to end all prognostications (we’ll still podcast, of course).

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 fateful night. There’s a lot we don’t know, which, of course, calls for some prognosticating.

For some background info on Godric’s Hollow, check out the HP Lexicon’s page on Godric’s Hollow, as well as this timeline of the events leading up to October 31, 1981.

A roundup of the news:

• JKRowling.com: New Title for Book 7?
• 60 Minutes: An old interview with JKR with lots of good info.
• The Leaky Cauldron: Movie 5 cut to under 3 hours.

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