Philosopher's Stone-Lethal White Connections, Part 4: Rule-breaking, Catullus, asphodel and the ICU

The connections between Philosopher's Stone and Lethal White are becoming more and more tenuous as we move into the story proper: in which a bad-tempered government minister in charge of a major international sporting event gets murdered by the son that he had previously gotten out of prison. It is only natural that the many, many Goblet of Fire parallels start taking precedence.  Still, as I reviewed the part of the story between the Hogwarts/ Parliament arrival and what I consider the turning points of both books (the Great Troll Knock-out, Chiswell's murder), I saw a few points of connection.  

Philosopher's Stone-Lethal White connections, Part 3: The adventure begins with nightmares, open-sky ceilings and lots of corridors.

This section picks up with Chapter 6 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, "The Journey from Platform 9 3/4," and Chapter 12 in Lethal White. In the last installment of this series, I reviewed the similarities between Harry's trip to Diagon Alley and Strike's visit to Pratt's. What struck me in this section is how similar Harry's first view of Hogwarts is to Robin's first visit to the House of Commons.

It starts with a bit of domestic tension for both our protagonists. The Dursleys, of course, are furious that Harry is going to Hogwarts; Matthew is equally angry that Robin is going undercover in Parliament, considering it tantamount to treason. Both Harry and Robin wind up isolating themselves in their bedrooms as they prepare, Robin by practicing her disguise and reviewing Chiswell family trivia with Strike, and Harry by perusing his books. Both approach the big day with a combination of excitement and nerves. Robin has two panic attacks on her first day; Harry also gets a little panicky, first when he can't find Platform 9 3/4; second when he is thinking he would have to do magic for the Sorting. And, just as Robin awoke with a nightmare on her first day at Parliament, Harry awoke with a nightmare on his first night at Hogwarts. 

Philosopher's Stone-Lethal White connections, Part 2: Moving forward, looking back and why Sam Barclay is Hedwig.

One challenge in working through Harry Potter and the Philosopher's  (or Sorcerer's) Stone and Lethal White for start-of-ring connections is trying to figure out where to divide the book sections.  For the first post, it was logical to do the opening chapters, but that 1-to-1 obviously cannot continue, given how much longer LW is than PS. Just taking a guess, I'm going to next look through the part of the story that occurs after the time-jump, but before the major adventure (Hogwarts/Robin's undercover mission) begins. For Harry, this is Chapters 2-5: the zoo trip with the vanishing glass, the letters from no one, the Dursley's flight to the Hut-on-the Rock, Hagrid's rescue of Harry on his 11th birthday and the subsequent trip to Diagon Alley to prepare him for Hogwarts. For Strike and Robin, this is Chapters 1-11: beginning  with Strike's hiring of Barclay and going through Billy's arrival at the office, Robin's ending of her therapy and move to the new house, Strike's visit to the CORE meeting, Robin's housewarming party, Robin's return to the office and the unexpected calls from Billy and Chiswell, Strike's lunch with Chiswell in Pratt's, followed by his meeting with Robin, overnight with Lorelei and his delivery of listening devices to Chiswell's London House. 

A Return to Blogging with a New Test of the Double Wedding Band Model: Looking for connections between Philosopher's Stone and Lethal White.

 Greetings to my readers and other Strike/Potter fans! I am back from the longest blogging break I've taken in a while. I am happy to announce that I return with the new title of Granny to CJ, the, in my unashamedly biased opinion, the most perfect and beautiful granddaughter ever born. Since I have chosen to keep her full name private, and respect her parents' wishes not to display her face on social media, you'll simply have to take my word for it that she is absolutely and completely adorable. 

During my break, I've been mulling over what to blog about as we continue to wait for Sleep Tight, Evangeline. I finally drew inspiration from:

• first, the new series of Three Broomsticks podcasts I've been doing: looking at connections between the Strike books and the corresponding Potter books, so starting with Philosopher's Stone and Cuckoo's Calling and
• second, the Double Wedding Band model for the Strike series, which hypothesizes that tha last seven books of the series will form a ring structure, much as the first seven did, and as the seven Harry Potter books did. See here, here and here for more information. 

As I have noted before, one of the strongest arguments in favor of DWB is the fact that it predicted connections between THM and Order of the Phoenix, of which there were many. This gives me hope that the final three books of the Strike series will connect to the final three Potter books both alchemically and thematically.

But, what of the earlier books of the putative second ring? That's what I have decided to explore for the next few months.

Everybody raise a glass! Two new posts with insights into the past and future of the Cormoran Strike series.

 I'm spending lots of time with my butt planted on the Farting Sofa these days, trying to get both some work for my business and some needlepoint completed before the birth of my new granddaughter, now due in slightly over three weeks.  But I had to pop in for a couple of celebratory toasts. 

First, the latest installment of the Three Broomsticks Podcast has dropped, where I had the privilege of appearing alongside my good friends and fellow Strike Scholars Beatrice Groves and Nick Jeffrey to discuss character and thematic connections between The Cuckoo's Calling and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  Even better, my trademark nickname for Matthew made it into the episode title. This is the first in a series of podcasts that will look at each of the Strike books and their connections to the corresponding volume in the Harry Potter series. 

Second, "Mr. Galbraith" tweeted the above picture today, with a notation that Robin has one in Sleep Tight, Evangeline.  The drink is called "Churchill's Courage" and is a speciality of the Rivoli Bar at the Ritz. What we do not know is if Robin has her drink at the start of STE, when she goes to meet Ryan for his birthday/potential proposal, or later in the book. JKR/RG tweeted some weeks ago that STE was 2/3's complete, and historically, tweets have come from the part of the book currently in progress.  It does seem like a pretty powerful drink to have in front of a known alcoholic who is struggling with his sobriety.  But then again, we can't deny that Robin needs one after the events of THM. 

A Serial Killer's Rebounding Spell: My talk from the 2025 Harry Potter Academic Conference.

 I've just finished up with one of my favorite weekends of the year, the annual Harry Potter Academic Conference at Chestnut Hill College. This year I hosted a panel called "The Mirror of Rettopyrrah: Wizarding World reflections in post-Potter books." 

My contribution was "A Serial Killer's Rebounding Spell: A Deathly Hallows echo in Troubled Blood." 
 It compares Strike's interview with Creed to Harry's final duel with Voldemort. 

Please check it out. 

The Hallmarked Man: The Strike series answer to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? (Spoilers for both!)

The thematic connections between the first seven Cormoran Strike books and the corresponding Harry Potter books is something I and other Strike enthusiasts have written about extensively.  Some examples include:

• My Harry Potter Academic Conference talk from 2023. 
• The Troubled Blood-Order of the Phoenix parallel noted at the time of publication. 
• Irvin Khaytman's essay on the connections between The Ink Black Heart and The Half-Blood Prince
• Beatrice Groves' magazine article on the same topic.
• Connections between The Running Grave and The Deathly Hallows
• Links to dozens of other posts on the topic. 

The thematic similarities between the first seven Strike books and the Harry Potter series makes me think it is highly likely that, as reported by UK Sunday Times Arts editor Richard Brooks in February 2014, Rowling initially planned the Strike series as seven books. The Times was, after all, the paper that used forensic literary analysis to document similarities between Cuckoo's Calling and other Rowling works, and it seems unlikely they would publish that claim unless they had reason to believe it was true, although their source of information may have been out of date  Galbraith immediately denied that seven books were planned and by July 2014, announced there would be more than seven books, perhaps even an open-ended series.  By April 2023, the author had decided the series would be complete at ten. The simplest explanation is, after being outed much sooner than planned, "Galbraith" rethought the series plan. And, as we well know, whether writing as Rowling or Galbraith, this author is selective about how much of the planning process is shared. 

So, is there any point in considering the Parallel Series Hypothesis, now that we've hit #8 in the Strike Series?  Find out after the jump. 

My Latest Three Broomsticks Appearance: The Downton Abbey Crossover

 In the excitement of the publication of The Hallmarked Man, I forgot to post about my latest appearance on The Three Broomsticks podcast, a special crossover between Harry Potter and Downton Abbey.   Please join us for fascinating discussion on a variety of topics, including classism in both series, the extent to which did the late great Dame Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess attract Potterheads to the franchise and the similarities between Thomas and Snape. 

I haven't seen the new movie yet, as my husband and I are re-watching the previous ones first, but I''m looking forward to to seeing it soon, and perhaps reviewing it here. 

On another note, I hope anyone within a decent driving distance of Staunton, VA will join us for the Queen City Mischief and Magic festival., on September 27-28. For the first time this year, I've been asked to be part of the cast of characters and will be hanging out as Professor Sprout in the Hufflepuff Greenhouse. If any readers plan to attend and would like to get together for an informal chat about Strike over Butterbrew, send a message through the contact form on the site. 

Want to comment or subscribe but having trouble with Blogspot?  Try the (free!) Substack version of this blog. 

"Why on Vulcan should that mean it is not real?" A look at mental realities in Harry Potter and Star Trek

 I got to appear on one of my favorite podcasts this week:  Potterversity!  While I've been privileged to be a guest many times over the years, this time was special because I got to revisit my first real fandom:  Star Trek and see it through the lens of Harry Potter. 

Check out the episode here.

It was a follow-up to an earlier Trek-Potter discussion, found here. 

Live long and manage mischief!

The Phoenix or the Flame? Book launch on February 24th!

 

I am pleased to announce the publication of a new Harry Potter scholarly anthology, to which I contributed the first chapter. It is available from Amazon US and Amazon UK. 

My chapter is "From Dark Dementors to Luna's Light: Brightening a nigredo through positive psychology."  This was also the topic of my Harry Potter Academic Conference talk, which is viewable here:

Update:  

The editor stitched together a free "virtual symposium" highlighting parts of the collection. 

Will Uncle Ted play the role of a Hogwarts ghost? Memory, dementia and mysteries of the past.

    Two things keep me blogging and attending events like the Harry Potter Academic Conference year after year: the scholarship and the friendships I've formed with other scholars. I'm not alone in this:  check out the latest Potterversity episode for commentary from others who feel the same.

    One such friend is David Martin, loyal Hufflepuff and retired computerscientist, who I first met at LeakyCon 2014, where we bonded over the shared experience of being several decades older than the average attendee. Since then, we've met regularly at events such as Misti-Con and on a near-annual basis at the Chestnut Hill Harry Potter Conference. Viewers of the Hogwarts Tournament of Champions will remember him as the standout player of the victorious Badger team, for which I happily cheered him on, despite my place in the Ravenclaw studio audience. 

    David recently surprised and delighted me with a charming relic from my own field of behavior analysis:  a note his mother received in the 1940's from B.F. Skinner himself, along with Skinner's own guidelines for his famous baby tender box, which would eventually be marketed as the Air Crib. 

Note:  please do not confuse this crib with the Skinner boxes developed for use in Skinner's work with rats and pigeons; they are very different things, as the link above explains. 

I will be delighted to display this piece of my disciplinary history in my office and to be able to boast of possessing the autograph of one of the giants in my field, or, at least, that of his secretary.

    Like me, David's fondness for Harry Potter led him to read the Cormoran Strike series, and he, too appreciates the connections between the two series. At the most recent HPAC. David gave me another history-themed gift in the form of his fantastic talk, "About the Hogwarts Ghosts." I had been mulling over Uncle Ted's dementia, and during Davi'd presentation, something clicked with me. The gist of David's thesis was, Hogwarts ghosts are atypical literary ghosts, compared to those seen in Shakespeare and Dickems. Rather than seeking vengance, or bringing warnings about the afterlife, "Hogwarts ghosts represent the pervasive influence of the past on the present." (You can read his full abstract at the conference program here). Once might be tempted to call them living history books, except, of course, they are all dead. But, from the literal History Professor Binns, to Moaning Myrtle, to Nearly Headless Nick to Helena Ravenclaw, the ghosts serve a function of telling Harry and friends things about the past that help them resolve their current predicament. What does this have to do with the still-living Uncle Ted? Find out after the jump. 

Potterversity Essay Volume Released: A Must-Read for Potter Nerds.

 If you don't mind a bit of a plug here, I am happy to announce that Potterversity: Essays Exploring the World of Harry Potter, edited by my good friends Katy McDaniel and Emily Strand. is now ready for purchase. I got my author's copy in the mail today, having contributed an essay: "The Weasley Witches: From Snitches to Stitches to Not-My-Daughter-You-Bitches" to the Questions of Character section. It looks great and I can't wait to read the whole thing. 

This book would make a wonderful holiday gift for your favorite Potter nerd. Not only does my own chapter address the magic of Mrs. Weasley's hand-knit Christmas sweaters, but co-editor Emily Strand has an entire chapter on the literary and spiritual significance of Christmas celebrations in the series. 

You can learn more about the book on this week's Potterversity Podcast #43, which was recorded at the Chestnut Hill Harry Potter Academic Festival. 

Enjoy!

Podcast News for Strike and Potter Fans

This week, listeners of The Strike and Ellacott Files podcast got a pleasant surprise: the hosts plan to release episodes on a weekly rather than biweekly basis. This week's episode, on Chapters 5-7 of The Running Grave, covered all sorts of topics, from the theme of parenting in the series, to the Orwellian allusions to, as always, lots of Strellacott shipping. While I've never minded long podcasts, the shorter. weekly versions will be much more convenient for many.  As one of my Twitter pals put it, "It's like having wine night with three really close friends that get me." Tune in for some great discussion. 

I also listened to the first few episodes of Harry Potter After 2020, a new podcast from two moms who are re-reading the Harry Potter series, chapter by chapter, and sharing their thoughts on how their view of the series has changed over time, both as a result of their own growth processes and also because of news evens such as the election of Donald Trump, COVID, Black Lives Matter, January 6th, and JKR's public position on transgender issues. Having enjoyed co-host Lorrie Kim's annual presentations at the Harry Potter Academic conference since 2014, I expected to enjoy the podcast, and I did. With new episodes every Wednesday and seven increasingly long books to cover, I expect to be listening for some time. 

I also recommend Lorrie's book, Snape: The Definitive Analysis of Hogwart's Mysterious Potion Master, which was updated in 2022. 

Note:  this post is also available on Substack,

Two Delectable Halloween Treats: A Super-Spooky Essay by Beatrice Groves and a Ghostly Podcast by the Three Broomsticks.

Boo to you, dear readers, on All Hallow's Eve.  This is a day important in the Harry Potter world, though, as I recall, it has only come up once in the Strike and Ellacott series. In Lethal White, Strike and Robin visit the Three Kings pub, site of Margot and Oonaugh's  would-be meeting, and note the costumed drinkers, including, interestingly, a woman in a naughty nurse costume.

Beatrice Groves has written one of the best books around for those interested in serious Harry Potter scholarship. Literary Illusion in Harry Potter.  Her work on Cormoran Strike is equally impressive.  Her most recent contribution is a post on spooky elements in The Running Grave, from scary corn dollies to Shakespearean ghosts to yet another horse connected to death, as the throwback to Lethal White.  You can find her essay here, and it's just the thing to read on a Halloween night after finishing the last Strike book. 

On the other hand, if you are looking for a cheerful podcast to listen to while waiting for your Trick-or Treaters, I recommend The Three Broomsticks Episode 20: Voldemort the drama queen, which addresses the role Halloween plays in Harry Potter.  Or, if you'd prefer a Strike throwback, you can check out their Running Grave predictions show, The Strike Agency Camping Trip, where Bea and I were both guests.  Please note that the statement I made about being Pat's age was made before the revelation of The Running Grave. I am not, in fact. 67. 

Whether you want to enjoy Strike, Harry or both, have a safe and spooktacular Halloween!

Water, water everywhere: Baptism, baths, rivers, rain and showers as unifying themes in The Running Grave.

One of the many connections The Running Grave has with Troubled Blood is the theme of water.  Troubled Blood, of course, centered around the real-life Cornish floods of 2014.  A Running Grave has its share of rain, including one real-life storm, but more of its water comes in the form of baptismal imagery, both traditional and macabre. How does this unite both the book and StrikeandRobin into a coherent whole? Find out after the jump.

Robin Ellacott and the Running Hallows: Potter Echoes in the Most Recent Strike Novel

 I'm midway through my favorite two academic days of the year, the annual Chestnut Hill College Harry Potter Academic Conference. The organizers were kind enough to be flexible with the deadlines and let me submit an abstract on The Running Grave.  Here is my recorded presentation.  Enjoy!  Spoilers for TRG. 

Chestnut Hill's Harry Potter Academic Conference Online for 2023.

Chestnut Hill College in Pennsylvania has sponsored an academic conference on Harry Potter since 2012, and I have attended and presented for eight of those years. This year, the conference is going to an online-only format, as it did during COVID and will alternate between online- and in-person going forward. This year is therefore a great opportunity for people all over to attend the conference, without the issue of travel expenses. At $15, it is far cheaper than any other academic conference you will find out there. 

You can find out more about the history of the conference and see past programs here. 

This year's schedule is available here. 

Tickets for this year's conference are available here. 

In 2020, I spoke on the psychology of humor in the Harry Potter series. 

In 2021, my talk was on the significance of knitting in the series. 

This year, I will be speak about the connections between The Running Grave and Harry Potter and the Dealthly Hallows. 

Divergent as YA Wednesday Weekend Pick, The Harry Potter Academic Conference and Author Chat on The Running Grave

 I'm still hard at work on my cratylic names post, which is taking a while, given the number of names in The Running Grave, but I wanted to share a few bits of news that I am excited about. First, although The Running Grave and other Strike posts have understandably dominated here for the last few weeks, I never intended this blog to center exclusively on Strike, or Strike/Harry Potter connections. My first love is young adult literature and, while my scholarship into psychological themes in YA literature was triggered by Harry Potter, my interests spread well beyond that series. 

I was delighted to see on Facebook that Veronica Roth's Divergent was the featured weekend pick on Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday page. If you teach YA literature or, like me, simply enjoy reading it, this page is well worth following. For Divergent enthusiasts out there, here are some links to some of my earlier posts on that series, as well as to some talks and podcasts I have done on the topic. 

Two key posts on the Divergent Factions and their connections to Five Factor Personality theory. Part I and Part II. 

Those posts became my first Hogpro material ever cited in in a scientific conference paper.  That research was eventually published in a peer-reviewed journal.

I wrote about a few other Divergent-based topics, too:

The use of mirror neurons. 

The significance of the zip-lining adventure,

The movie screening with the Mary Baldwin psychology department. 

Why Allegiant might have worked better with epigenetic rather than genetic experimentation. 

Finally, for those interested in Divergent-Harry Potter connections, I will point you to:

My Mugglenet Academia appearance:  Tris Transfigured!

And 

My Chestnut Hill presentation on Tris Prior and Hermione Granger as twin personalities. 

Speaking of the Harry Potter Academic Conference, we are only a week away!  It is all online this year and, though I will miss seeing all my favorite Potter buddies in person, it is a great opportunity for anyone to attend, without the expense of travel. For $15, you can get two days of amazing Potter and Rowling scholarship. My own talk, which, I believe, will be the first-ever academic presentation on The Running Grave, is Friday morning. 

Finally, speaking of TRG, there will be a Facebook discussion with the author on Thursday, October 19th, at 7 PM BST, (2 PM EST, for those of us in the US).  I may well be on the road from Tennessee to Virginia then, but maybe I can time lunch at a fast food joint with Wifi and tune in then, 

That's it for now; back to the name game.  

Queen City Mischief and Magic: A Must for Virginia Magic Lovers

 

Magic lovers in the vicinity of Staunton, VA should get their robes and wands ready for the 8th Annual Queen City Mischief and Magic Festival.  Staunton is one of the most beautiful small towns in the USA and for one weekend each September, it transforms into a magical village, complete with dragons, mermaids, owls and butterbrew. I have been involved with festival planning since the inception in 2016, but this year I am celebrating my first year as Professor Emerita and attending as a plain old guest, along wth a few young friends. 

I've given some Cormoran Strike talks at the festival in years past. but I am taking a break from academic programming this year. Still, if any Farting Sofa Fans are planning to drop by, drop me a private email. I'm happy to pack a flask of creosote-colored Betty's tea and some coffee-walnut cake to share. 

Food, Magical Food! Tune in to Potterversity.

Are you a Chocolate Frog or Butterbeer fan?  If so, tune in to these Potterversity Podcasts, where I was recently privileged to be a guest.  

Part One: Pondering Pumpkin Pasties. 

Part Two: Considering Cockroach Clusters.