#jk rowling hate club of one

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Grief Episode Script

Grief – Depression & Repression

This is Harley – and Alexis – and today we’re going to talk about how Cho Chang and Harry experience grief in very different ways during the Order of the Phoneix.

Firstly, we’ll discuss how Cho handles it. Throughout the Order of the Phoneix, Cho is seen crying many times – Cho’s main sign of grief is depression - which is often ridiculed – though it shouldn’t be. But she is also seen trying to talk to Harry – which he takes as her finally reciprocating his crush. But I honestly don’t believe she wanted to be in a relationship with him at all. Cho just wanted somebody to talk out her grief with – and who better than the boy who witnessed her boyfriend’s death – and who she suspects is experiencing the same grief that she is – she’s sad all the time and she doesn’t know how to handle it. I mean, what sixteen-year-old girl is prepared to have her boyfriend murdered right after their six-month anniversary?

And then, whenever she does talk about Cedric around Harry, he closes off or gets angry or treats her like she’s a whiny burden, and the only person Cho has to lean on is her best friend – Marietta Edgecombe, the only one of her friends who has not left in her time of need. Which, by the way is the reason that Cho defends Marietta to the DA after Marietta turns them in. She wants to be there for the friend who was always there for her.

And now, it’s time to discuss how Harry discusses his grief. At the beginning of the book, we see him having nightmares about Cedric’s death – a clear sign of PTSD, which could be classified as the depression stage of grief. Then, throughout the book, we see him get angry at many people – at Ron and Hermione, for not telling him anything in their letters, at Cho, for talking about Cedric, and finally, at Dumbledore for keeping things from him and not being around the entire year. The most heartbreaking moment though, in my opinion, isn’t about Cedric at all, it’s about Sirius, when he has just fallen through the veil and Harry is in complete denial, trying to convince himself that he can just pull Sirius back from behind the veil – that everything will be alright, that Sirius will be alright.

But the clearest and most abundant sign of Harry’s grief is not one of the five stages at all – it’s repression. Harry is repressing his grief throughout the entire book – denying his nightmares, not wanting to be around Cho when she’s talking about Cedric, and getting angry all the time – so basically, the signs of repression are the same as the signs of grief. Absolutely! Repression is just grief that you’re trying to keep in – except Harry definitely can’t. And he really shouldn’t. Yeah, Harry really just needs to talk to someone who has gone or is going through the same things he is going through – like Cho or Ginny – but unfortunately repression means not talking to people about it.

And that’s all for this episode of JK Rowling Hate Club of One.

I’m Alexis – and I’m Harley – and we’re here to remind you that you should always try to handle your emotions correctly – and we’re also signing off.

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Oh, and one more thing. Because International Women’s Day is tomorrow, I figured y’all might want some suggestions on how to lowkey celebrate. If you want to read something, I suggest The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed or Amelia Westlake Was Never Here by Erin Gough, and if you want to watch a movie, I suggest The Sisterhood of Night, an indie film directed by Caryn Waechter (I apologize if I mispronounced the name). All of these stories are heavily based around the theme of girls supporting girls. And what will I be reading? A book off my TBR list – Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake. Quick note – content warning for all media I listed – there are also heavy themes of sexual harassment and assault and for at least one – suicide.

[jkrhateclubofone]

Ron Weasley Episode Script

Ron Weasley – Chivalrous and Caring

This is Harley, and today, for Ron’s birthday, I will be talking about seven times where Ron was Harry’s BEST friend – one from each book – because some of y’all say some crazy stuff, saying that Hermione is Harry’s real best friend? Yeah, okay, movie fans.

Philosopher’s Stone is a bit of an obvious one. During the chess game obstacle, Ron not only saves Harry and Hermione from danger twice during the game but in a moment of pure bravery, decided that the only way his friends could on was to sacrifice himself. And then he told them not to worry about him – that catching Snape – who they believed was the one they would be facing – was more important. This is something I cannot imagine doing for any of my friends, but Ron does it without a second thought and that is a defining moment for him.

Chamber of Secrets is yet again, an obvious one. Ron literally stole his dad’s car with his brothers and flew it over 150 miles across the country to get to his friend – just because he was worried about him. Twelve unanswered letters and the knowledge that Harry had broken the law about not using magic outside of school and this boy went to extreme lengths to break his friend out of his house – and he was right to do so. Seriously, his instincts are great.

Prisoner of Azkaban’s moment is a favorite of mine – Ron stands on his broken leg, between Harry and Sirius – who they all thought was a serial killer – and says the words, “If you want to kill Harry, you’ll have to kill us too.” If anyone reads this scene and still thinks that Ron isn’t Harry’s best friend – you’re just an idiot.

In Goblet of Fire, it is something that Ron does – it’s something that happens to him. He is the one that the judges decide Harry should save from the lake – the one that Harry would miss most. I swear to Merlin, if I found out that I was the one that one of my friend’s would miss most – I would probably kiss them right then and there and to this day, I’m disappointed that that isn’t what Ron did.

I know I said this for Prisoner of Azkaban, but Ron’s best friend moment in Order of the Phoenix is my actual favorite moment – and it isn’t even a moment of bravery like the other ones. It’s when Ron notices the cuts on the back of Harry’s hands. He notices them right away – showing how observant he is – grabs Harry’s hand when Harry tries to hide it, and feels sick when he sees what happened – and immediately tells Harry to tell McGonagall what happened. Unfortunately, this moment was given to Hermione in the films.

In Half-Blood Prince, Ron best friend moment is again, true bravery, but it isn’t an act of bravery, it’s an offer. At Dumbledore’s funeral, when Harry is talking about going on a Horcrux hunt, Ron is the one to say “We’ll go with you wherever you’re going,” and “We’re with you, whatever happens,” both without calling Harry thick like Hermione did in the films.

And finally, Ron’s best friend moment in Deathly Hallows comes after one of his worst moments. Ron was returning to Harry and Hermione after previously leaving them alone, and the first thing he did was dive into a frozen lake after Harry – retrieving Harry and the Sword of Gryffindor, which by the way proves how much he belongs in Gryffindor. I should also note that Ron was the second one to scream when they all thought Harry was dead – after McGonagall.

In conclusion, Ron is Harry’s best friend from the moment he sat down in the same compartment as Harry. From opening his home up to Harry to saving Harry’s life, there is no better friend Ron – no matter what Steve Kloves tried to depict in the films.

Happy Birthday Ron! Good luck in your forties.

I’m Harley and I’m signing off.

[jkrhateclubofone]

Boggart Episode

The Manifestation of Boggarts –

Childhood Trauma and the Cultivation of Fear

This is Harley – and Alexis – and today we’re here to talk about the misleading manifestations of Boggarts – specifically those of Neville, Hermione, and Harry.

First of all, one of the main reasons that are given on anti-Snape posts – which we agree with completely, by the way – is that Snape is Neville’s boggart – but that isn’t exactly true. Neville’s boggart – or worst fear – was that he wasn’t good enough to be a wizard. He had been at the center of his family’s ridicule for years – and was abused to the point of being thrown out a window because of it. Yes, his great-uncle Algie claims he had no intention of dropping Neville – but that’s extremely dangerous and they had no idea that his magic would kick in – so it was basically attempted murder. Now, the reason that Snape is seen as Neville’s boggart is because Snape is the main reinforcer of Neville’s fear now that he’s at Hogwarts – he even attempts to kill Trevor, Neville’s frog and a gift that Neville got when his magical powers finally appeared. So, even though Snape isn’t really Neville’s boggart – this is still a great example of why Snape is not a good guy.

Secondly, pro-Snape fans like to accuse Professor McGonagall of being just as bad as Snape because she appears as Hermione’s boggart, telling Hermione that she failed. But again, she is not really Hermione’s boggart. Hermione is afraid of being taken away from a world that she had basically just been introduced to – many believe that she was bullied at muggle school and that’s definitely a reason to not want to go back. And the reason McGonagall is the one saying it instead of one of Hermione’s other teachers is because she’s her head of house, her mentor - and it’s been speculated in the fandom that she was the one that visited Hermione’s family – she introduced Hermione to the magical world and Hermione feared that she could also take it away – which is wildly different from why Snape appears as Neville’s boggart – so saying McGonagall is "just as bad" is simply wrong.

And finally, Harry. Harry’s boggart is a dementor, but is that all? No, definitely not. Harry’s boggart is the experience he goes through when he’s around dementors – he hears his mother’s death, for Merlin’s sake, and that is very traumatizing. Plus, if you consider the fact that a piece of Voldemort’s soul was inside of Harry at that point – the night Lily died was also that Voldemort was defeated, the night he almost died – which is Voldemort’s worst fear. The dementors were confronting Voldemort’s soul along with Harry’s, and the boggart was showing his worst fear as well – Harry and Voldemort just happened to face the same thing when they ran across these creatures – they share the same worst memory and biggest fear.

And that’s all for this episode of JK Rowling Hate Club of One.

I’m Alexis – and I’m Harley – and we’re signing off.

[jkrhateclubofone]

Love Potion/Spell Episode

Magical Interference with Love – Non-Consensual and Not Okay

This is Harley and today I’ll be talking about the use of love potions and spells in the Harry Potter universe and how it basically never discussed that any use of them is a huge violation of consent and that they’re basically date rape drugs.

Let’s begin with the first chronological known use in the Harry Potter universe: the marriage of Tom Riddle Sr and Merope Gaunt. To sum it up in a couple of sentences, here’s what happened: Merope was obsessed with Tom, a muggle, and when he didn’t return her feelings, she used a love potion on him, and consistently brewed more from the beginning of their relationship to a year into their marriage. During this time, they conceived a child, Tom Riddle Jr (AKA Voldemort), and when Tom Riddle Sr was finally released from the enchantments of the love spell, he left.

There are two problems with this situation. One, him leaving immediately after he was released from the love potion indicates that he never wanted to be in the relationship and seeing as he was intoxicated, he did not consent to anything that went on during the relationship, not the marriage, not the sex that had to have happened for a child to occur, not anything. The second problem is more speculation, but it is believed that Voldemort being born under the effects of a love potion made it impossible to ever feel love which could have been a factor in him becoming Voldemort

In addition to those two problems, there is also the fact that Pottermore refers to this as the “sad history of Merope Gaunt”. But this isn’t sad. It isn’t a story of a poor unfortunate heartbroken girl. It’s a horrifying story of a deceptive and obsessed girl who raped the guy that she was obsessed with.

My second point stems from the Fantastic Beasts franchise. In the first movie, Queenie was this lovable outcasted woman who, as far as I know, everyone was rooting for, and I was loving the relationship between her and Jacob. This all died when, in the second movie, it is revealed that after Jacob rejecting her marriage proposal, she decided to enchant him with a love spell in order for him to say yes, which is fucked up in so many ways. She literally had them get engaged and leave the country while he was under this enchantment, and I don’t remember her saying that she ever planned on taking the enchantment off of him. The only reason Jacob got out of it is because Newt suspected something was up.

Now, since Jacob wanted to be in a relationship with Queenie anyways, even if it never involved marriage, it can be said that this case might not count as a violation of consent, but it was definitely a violation of trust and I will be shocked if the movies get them back together in a way that makes up for what she did, especially since she joined Grindelwald.

And finally, my last points stem from the Half-Blood Prince.

In the 6th chapter of the book, when they are visiting Fred and George’s shop, it is revealed that they sell a range of love potions that they target towards girls, which they disguise as perfumes and cough medicine when they are owl delivering to Hogwarts to impressionable young girls who don’t know how to properly address their crushes, especially unreciprocated ones and think it’s okay to use love potions to get their way.

One of these girls was Romilda Vane, a girl two years younger than Harry, who speculated on how to slip him the potion or potions that she got at Fred and George’s shop before giving him a box of Chocolate Cauldrons with what she claimed to be firewhiskey in them but were really packed with love potions. A full two months and then some later, on Ron’s birthday, Ron mistakenly believed they were a birthday present and ate one and immediately began to obsess over Romilda, believing that he loved her despite having never really paid attention to her before. Harry immediately rushed him to Slughorn, thinking he would know the antidote, and had to convince the professor to even let them into the office.

Speaking of Slughorn, he teaches his students about Amortentia, the strongest love potion in the Harry Potter universe, and brings the brewed batch of it to class, even though love potions are banned at Hogwarts! What is he thinking?! Why in the world would he think it was a good idea to bring the strongest love potion in existence to a class full of impressionable teenagers? That’s honestly so irresponsible, and up there with giving Harry and Ron alcohol despite them being sixteen and seventeen.

To sum it up, love potions and spells are a disgusting misuse of magic and a violation of consent, so Romilda Vane, if you’re real and listening, maybe next time just try flirting.

And that’s all for this episode of JK Rowling Hate Club.

I’m Harley and I’m signing off.

[jkrhateclubofone]

Dumbledore Episode Script

Albus Dumbledore – Manipulative & Mysterious

This is Harley – and Alexis – and we’re here with J.K. Rowling Hate Club of One’s first episode, Albus Dumbledore: Manipulative and Mysterious.

Alright, let’s begin with Dumbledore’s biggest wrongdoing – leaving Harry with the Dursleys. The excuse given in the books is that Harry had to be with blood family to be safe, but if you don’t think that Minevra McGonagall or Remus Lupin would have kept Harry safe, you’re just wrong.

Plus, the Dursleys are abusive to Harry. We mostly see emotional abuse such as treating him like he’s worthless, forcing him to live in a cupboard, and not telling him the truth about his parents. But they also show signs of physical abuse such as the way Uncle Vernon manhandles him and letting Dudley and Aunt Marge torture him.

Yeah, exactly. How could Dumbledore leave Harry with them for all those years and not even check up on him, especially after everything McGonagall said to him at the beginning of the books. And then he continued forcing Harry to go back even after the distress he showed about it? What the fudge, Albus?

And if that wasn’t bad enough, he continued to mess up when it came to Harry throughout the series.

He never told Harry anything about what was going on! He was barely even there in the first book, he, one, let the Triwizard Tournament happen, and two, let a fourteen year old participate in it even though it was clearly stated that participants had to be of age, and in the fifth book, he literally spends the entire year not answering Harry’s questions, even though he has to know that Harry is grieving.

And when he finally does open up in the 6th book, it’s because he knows he’s going to die.

And in the end, it was all because Dumbledore was raising him like a pig for slaughter to fulfill a stupid prophecy that easily could have been prevented if Dumbledore hadn’t made the chronologically first dumb decision revealed in the series - letting a twisted kid like Tom Riddle go to Hogwarts even though he straight up killed other kids at the orphanage.

But all these bad decisions lead to the worst decision – Harry naming his second son Albus.

Worst decision ever.

But here on JK Rowling Hate Club, we all know – Harry’s second son is actually named Arthur Rubeus and – Cursed Child is not canon.

And neither is Dumbledore being gay, not really. It’s Word of God, something said by the author but never said in the books or movies. So, don’t go praising JK Rowling for including a gay man in the series - because let’s be honest. She didn’t.

And that’s all for this episode of JK Rowling Hate Club of One.

I’m Alexis – and I’m Harley – and we’re signing off.

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Regular Text - Harley's lines; Blue Text - Alexis's lines

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