Dr. John Granger and Nick Jeffery explore the theme of pregnancy traps and coercive love as a golden thread running through all the published works of J. K. Rowling. After detailing the number and importance of this plot point in everything from the Harry Potter series to the latest Cormoran Strike novel — even the Christmas Pig and The Ickabog! — John and Nick explore the possibilities of what this means for understanding Rowling’s artistry and meaning from a ‘Lake and Shed’ perspective.

The seven Hogwarts Professor weblog posts that John and Nick reference in their conversation can be found here:

Rowling Pregnancy Traps: Merope Gaunt

Rowling Pregnancy Traps: Casual Vacancy’s Krystal Weedon, Kay Bawden

Rowling’s Pregnancy Traps: Bellatrix Lestrange and the Cursed Child Delphini

Rowling’s Pregnancy Traps: Leda Strike

Rowling’s Pregnancy Traps: Four Strikes

Rowling’s Pregnancy Traps: Last Strikes

Rowling’s Pregnancy Traps: Fantastic Beasts, The Ickabog, The Christmas Pig

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe