Sometimes, there's a fantasy where you think, 'Well, if you could just make contact with somebody who's prejudiced and get them to see the common humanity, then they wouldn't be able to say to somebody's face, "Well, I hope you die."' But no, Vernon is fully aware of who Harry Potter is and has said right to his face, "Do your lot have the death penalty?"

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There is no getting away from knowing that for nine and three-quarter years, Dumbledore let him live a hopeless childhood with the Dursleys, never contacted him until he was eleven, never let him know "somebody knows about you," never gave him any reason to think his life would be anything other than that. When Dumbledore ignores or abandons Harry in this novel, that triggers Harry beyond anything else.

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Cedric was special, but just that Dumbledore goes into the personal... This is such an important thing to reaffirm at a time like that: the individuality of a person who's gone is important, because that's the opposite of how Cedric was treated when he was killed.

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"Snape strode forward, past Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went. He stuck out his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled." This is one of the moments in the series when Snape shows his true self. There aren't that many. This is his Time-Turner moment. We have seen throughout this entire volume how immature and unprepared he really is for this, but it's his time.For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.

When you're a child, you want somebody to have wanted you and to love you even if there's absolutely no evidence that this will ever happen for you. The need doesn't go away, and you may hate yourself for it. You may try, like Voldemort, to split your soul and deny that need and put it away from yourself so you never feel it again, but it doesn't go away, and this is the bond that Voldemort and Barty Crouch Jr. found in each other.

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He's just rebuilt his entire body with Harry's blood that has protective love in it. That is what it takes to feel human connection and empathy and grief and remorse; those are the qualities in a person that help you heal. All of the effort that Voldemort has always put into compartmentalizing his soul -- walling off his feelings -- now, those efforts are being countered and undermined by the love in his blood that's a solvent.

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I imagine that this entire series is being imagined by Tom Riddle, an orphan in an orphanage who is a brilliant and violent and lonely child, and that he's fantasizing that somewhere in the world there is a little kid like himself who has spent the exact same time suffering and can understand him, and if he finds this kid, this kid can give him some answers, put some limits on his pain, maybe help him heal. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.

No matter how potent Voldemort is, he can't make himself grow. That is magic he doesn't have and that is what he needs Harry for, because what makes you grow? Does brilliance make you grow? Does being magically powerful make you grow? No. The most completely dirty, mundane, commonplace caregiver affection is what makes babies grow.

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JC: When I think Voldemort, sexual magnetism is not the word that comes to mind.

Lorrie: I think his focus is on how he feels against people who have intact families; he is breaking apart those bonds to create people who feel more like how he does so that he's not quite so alone -- so he doesn't have to be torn apart by this death-like jealousy.

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By the end of this chapter, Harry sees how old Dumbledore is for the first time. Dumbledore ages in this chapter. He sees Dumbledore at first as the great wizard that Harry's always believed he is, and at the end of the chapter, he's looking at Dumbledore and realizing he's an old man and he looks exhausted. Maturing, looking at the adults in your life and realizing they're mortal.

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