Harry Potter and The Sacred Text 1.09- The Midnight Duel: Betrayal
Vanessa- Chapter 9: The Midnight Duel
‘Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy. Still, first-year Gryffindors only had potions with the Slytherins so they didn’t have to put up with Malfoy much.’
(Quote continues, fades into intro music)
I’m Vanessa Zoltan
Casper- And I’m Casper ter Kuile
Vanessa- and this is Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.
Casper- Although I grew up in England, my parents are both Dutch. So, they were born and raised in Holland and moved to the UK just before I was born. And we spoke Dutch at home and celebrated Dutch festivals. I support the Dutch soccer team, in fact, I'm wearing an Oranje jersey right now. But, you know, growing up in England, I was shaped by its culture, its education system and I feel more English in lots of ways than I do Dutch. I feel both, so I really feel European.
So, when there was this big vote last month about whether Britain should leave the European Union, you know, to me it seemed like an obvious question, like no, (laughing) of course we’re part of a European project, I’m European, breaking that off feels like breaking two identities, that I hold equally, in half; it's just not something that’s possible. So when the result came in, and it looked like a majority of my fellow countrymen and women had decided that they wanted to leave the European Union, that felt like a real betrayal, not only of my dual identity, my two passports, but also, like, within the line of my family, that people like my parents, who were from other EU countries, shouldn't be at home in England as they were before. It felt like a place that I loved and respected and was proud to be a part of had kind of betrayed an essential identity that we shared. So that theme of the betrayal is one that I'm really curious to look for in this chapter cause it speaks so deeply to who we are, the identities we hold, the stories we tell about ourselves and the way that other people can exercise power over those identities.
Vanessa- Casper, I love that story. I think it points out something that I hear a lot in my chaplaincy, which is betrayal has this word that, at least for me, often connotes an adulterous husband or some sort of individual betrayal, but I do feel that most of the betrayals that I hear about are institutional or power-dynamic betrayals. I think that those betrayals can often be the biggest ones because we think of these institutions as being, like, a priori, as being just like gravity; they’re just there. And so when they can disappear on us it's really a deep betrayal, and I'm excited to learn from that point of view while reading this chapter of The Midnight Duel.
Casper- Before we dive into the themes, it's time for our thirty second recap. Vanessa, it's your turn to go first. Let’s see what you got.
Vanessa- I’m going to try a different strategy.
Casper- OK!
Vanessa- Watch. Learn.
Casper- Three, two, one, go.
(tick-tocking sound)
Vanessa- So two main things happen in this; one is that we see Harry fly for the first time and two is this whole duel thing that happens with Draco. So what happens is that in learning to fly for the first time, which is amazing and so exciting, Draco steals something from Neville, and Harry shows off that it turns out that he is going to be an amazing Seeker. McGonagall is like, “Oh my god you’re going to be an amazing Seeker!” Draco gets mad about that so challenges Harry to a duel, but it turns out that challenging Harry to a duel was just a trap to get Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and Neville caught by Filch!
(angry buzzing sound- 119 words in 30 seconds!)
Casper- Thirty Seconds!
Vanessa- God, I did horribly!
Casper- Yeah, new approach is a thumbs down.
Vanessa- Fail! (laughing) I know, but, you know it’s good to experiment and I think that you should congratulate me on trying new things.
Casper- (sarcastically) Good for you! Means I get to win this week.
Vanessa- Really?
Casper- If I do well.
Vanessa- Yeah, so much happens, best of luck to you. On your mark, get set, go!
(tick-tocking sound)
Casper- Neville gets sent a Remembrall by his gran, a little thing that turns red if you forget something and, so, he's excited. Draco steals it and then they have their first flying lessons and Madam Hooch is weird, um, and, um, Neville goes off uncontrolled, falls down, Draco takes the Remembrall, goes up into the air, Harry challenges him. They like, um, he catches it, very amazingly. McGonagall sees it, tells him he should be a Seeker on the Quidditch team. Sexy Oliver Wood is there; he’s the captain. Um, Draco challenges him to a duel, they go, Filch is there, then they find a dog in a trapped door.
(angry buzzing sound- 110 words in 30 seconds!)
Vanessa- Time! Wow! That was, (laughing) I did better!
Casper- I talked about the trapped door!
Vanessa- Ok.
(Casper laughing)
Vanessa- You know, I love that we don’t actually have to figure out who did better because the voters will decide.
Let’s make a quick announcement. So we have now done nine thirty second recaps and what we've decided to do is that after every ten thirty second recaps were going to add up all of the votes and the loser is going to have to somehow humiliate him, or her, but himself on our website in a photo of acquiescence to the winner.
Casper- I just want to say that all humiliation will be consensual.
(Vanessa laughing)
Vanessa- So next week will be the last one of those and then in episode 11 we will announce.
Casper, I really love the way that you framed this conversation about betrayal and Draco is where I see it, and he does it twice. So first, he does it when he steals Neville’s Remembrall, and Harry chases him around on the broomsticks and it turns out that Harry’s a great flyer. And as soon as it looks as though Harry is going to beat Draco at his own game, Draco completely betrays the rules of this little challenge that he had set up and just drops the Remembrall, literally just drops the rules of the game on Harry. And, then again, Draco challenges Harry to a duel; Harry doesn't even know what a duel is! This is all Draco’s, like, “Oh this is a great wizarding tradition,” and then just doesn't show up for the duel and instead, you know, sics Filch on Harry.
And because of your story, Casper, I’m seeing this differently than I did just a few moments ago. Which is that, yes, it's infuriating because this is the power of bullies just to change the rules on a dime, when somebody has all the power in the room they can be, like, “Oh it’s not about that anymore, it's now about this totally different thing,” but I think that Draco’s also a symbol of power in the wizarding world and how systems of power can just change the rules. And, like, one day you can qualify for certain kind of healthcare and then, the next day, you just don’t. And how the rules just change entirely and how that affects everything about your life. And Draco offers two examples of that type of betrayal this chapter.
Casper- I hadn't thought about it in that way. You're so right the way that a bully can use their power and influence to avoid any sort of shame for not showing up to a duel and just totally change what the game is about and maintain face and maintain power without any consequences. It’s so frustrating! (laughing) You know, if you’re not the bully you’re just completely powerless and the bully’s able to do whatever they want.
Vanessa- If Harry hadn't shown up for that duel, it would've been a totally different story, right?
Casper- Like he’s afraid, he’s weak, whatever.
Vanessa- Yeah, it's a lose-lose. And, so, I'm just trying to think, how do you usurp the power of a bully? How do you prevent a bully from betraying you? And I think what it is, and this gets to your story, is that power dynamics, when there is a huge power dynamic, that in and of itself is a betrayal, and so betrayals are just going to keep being enacted. Like, there's no way to avoid a betrayal when one person or one institution has all the power and the other doesn’t.
Casper- This is why I love Ron. Because when they're preparing for that duel, Harry’s, like, “I don't even know how to use this wand, let alone send a curse, what do I do if I can't do any magic?” and Ron just says, just go and “punch him on the nose,” because that, is in my experience, (laughing) that is how you beat the bully! You know, like, you take away their power over you by just hitting them in the nose!
Vanessa- I, well, no, can we draw this out for a second? I think that that’s exactly right! It’s saying, like, “I'm not gonna play by your rules,” and, yeah! You hit him; you do something unexpected.
You know, the image that comes to mind to me is of the bodies going slack of the protesters, who sat at the lunch tables, at the lunch counters, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The bully muscle that was being flexed was a literal one, of batons, of police officers, and by saying, like, “Here, we will slacken our bodies, go ahead, it doesn't matter,” right, like, that is a way of subverting the power.
And I love Ron’s “punch him in the nose,” not because it's violent, but because it's a Muggle tactic. Draco puts all of the emphasis on pure blood and wizardry and magic and Ron is saying, like, “Hey if you can't beat him at that game, just use an old Muggle tactic,” which is the place where Draco is weak. I love that.
Casper- Absolutely. I remember we talked about last week how Snape has this promise of being a great teacher and then really lets Harry down, and it really struck me in this chapter that McGonagall is doing exactly the same thing in a different way. You know. Harry and Draco are outside, Madam Hooch is helping Neville to get to the hospital wing, and Harry is incensed and jumps onto his broomstick and heads off into the sky. And McGonagall sees this, you know, she sees him breaking school rules, she sees Draco breaking school rules, but instead of punishing him, she takes him and is, like, “You are going to be the best Seeker for Gryffindor House that we’ve ever had,” and takes him immediately to meet the captain, Oliver Wood, who she takes out of a classroom!
Vanessa- (laughing) I know!
Casper- Like, there is, her house pride is coming so far ahead of the rules of the school, of the education of these children, it showed me a different side to McGonagall.
Vanessa- Absolutely, and I was half expecting her to justify this in a meaningful way, of being like, “Well it’s important for us to have Gryffindor be on top again for you all to believe that bravery matters and not just ambition,” but, instead, all she says is “I couldn't look Snape in the face for a month, so we can't lose again.” She's completely demonstrating to these children that her own pride is what matters more than their education or more than rules or, yeah, it’s a complete betrayal of her role.
Another example of betrayal here is something that happens with Hermione. And Hermione is easy to tease, right? And easy to see as out for herself, that, like, she wants to be the best. But she overhears that Harry and Ron are going to meet Draco for a midnight duel and she immediately tries to stop them from doing it. And certainly she doesn’t seem concerned about them getting into trouble, she mentions that as one of the risks, but what she’s really upset about is that it’s going to lose points from Gryffindor. And so I think that Hermione is really showing herself as a team player here she wants Gryffindor to win.
Casper- That is not about being a team player, she wants Gryffindor to win! It’s about herself! She is totally still being, like, no critique, but I still see this as totally Hermione being selfish. She’s self-interested that her house wins. She doesn't want other people to break the rules.
Vanessa- But, if she was entirely self-interested, wouldn’t she just let everybody self-destruct around her so she could ascend individually? She wants to be a part of a winning team, but she sees herself as part of a team.
Casper- That's true, that's true, because she doesn't have any friends.
(Vanessa laughing indignantly)
Vanessa- But, um, I think it's interesting that Hermione still lets herself become friends with Ron and Harry because I think that she's already seeing that they're going to put themselves and their own pride above what's best for the whole.
That gets to the next phase of betrayal, to me, which is how do you get over a betrayal? You know, Hermione, you know, stands up for herself and sort of puffs off and then eventually becomes friends with Harry and Ron anyway and I'm curious as to, you know, what we can learn from watching how Harry, Ron, and Hermione and all of these characters learn from their betrayals and what they do in order to heal after them. Because you can very justifiably become bitter or become dejected or lose faith and lose hope or you can sort of pick yourself back up.
Casper- One small place where I think we can learn about overcoming betrayal is, um, Neville. He ends up in the hospital wing after his fall and at, um, at some point Mrs Pomfrey must send him back to the Gryffindor tower, but sends him unaccompanied, which, hello, this is still week one, an 11-year-old child, probably at, like, midnight. And when, um, Harry, Ron, and Hermione find him he’s sleeping, like, outside the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room because he can’t remember the password! And I can just imagine him feeling so betrayed by Mrs. Pomfrey who just, like, released him into the night. But he settles in he’s, like, “Oh well, let's just have a little nap here, I'm sure someone will find me,” and they do! So, there's something about Neville's willingness to trust again which I think is actually really touching.