Three Broomsticks Podcast

April 3, 2023 by Leave a Comment

It is no secret that I am a bit of a podcast junkie, listening to over fifty different ones regularly, and for me this has largely replaced live radio. The launch of a new podcast centred around one of my passions and led by the insightful Irvin Khaytman was therefore a cause for celebration in the Jeffery household this February. Irvin is the author of Dumbledore: The Life and Lies and has writes under the name “hpboy13” in the Three Broomsticks column covering not just Harry Potter but also Strike, The Christmas Pig and The Ickabog. The Three Broomsticks podcast bills itself as:

A Harry Potter podcast that dives deeply into the seven books and the wider Wizarding World to find new insight and discuss the tiniest of details.

Irvin was a host of the Alohomora! podcast from 2019 to 2022, a fun and slightly anarchic look at the Harry Potter books. Generally one chapter at a time, and featuring many Mugglenet contributors. I had hoped that The Three Broomsticks would follow Irvin’s interest in the post Potter, and so I was delighted when along with Dr Beatrice Groves and Mugglenet contributions editor Sophia Jenkins, I was asked to participate in episode five, looking at the parallels between the villains in Half Blood Prince and The Ink Black Heart. Irvin had previously written on this very subject and more generally and of course Beatrice has also published The Ink Black Prince in The Rowling Library magazine and Ink Black Vampires in Bathilda’s Notebook. These formed the basis of what was a very fun discussion, which at over two hours form, with Alohomora, the longest podcasts that I subscribe to. Talking with Irvin, Sophia and Beatrice was such a pleasure it certainly didn’t seem that long when we were recording.

In this episode:

  • Draco parallels ALL the characters!
  • Why Death Eaters never wear t-shirts
  • Peaches are dumb. So, so dumb.
  • Will Charlotte be redeemed? You heard it here first!
  • Do we like Madeline or no?
  • Is Harry actually a villain?
  • RIP the Farting Sofa

You can listen to the episode here, or subscribe on Apple, Google or Spotify. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

 

Filed Under: Beatrice Groves, Cormoran Strike, Nick Jeffery

Beatrice Groves – The Lion’s Mouth

April 2, 2023 by 3 Comments

On the 30th March J. K. Rowling changed her Twitter header to give us another clue about the upcoming Strike instalment The Running Grave, cleverly identified by @CormStrikeFan as Lion’s Mouth Aylmerton. Beatrice Groves, Research Lecturer and tutor at Trinity College, Oxford, and author of  Literary Allusion in Harry Potter, has written a Hogwarts Professor Guest Post: ‘Save me from the lion’s mouth’: Rowling’s new header and the Norfolk location of The Running Grave. Join Prof Groves as she looks at the historic and literary parallels in this quiet corner of Norfolk, after the jump:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Beatrice Groves, Cormoran Strike

Greatest Rowling Autograph Yet? Visitor Book at Aylmerton St John’s Parish

April 1, 2023 by 1 Comment

 

Outrageous_Tomato_71 was visiting the St John’s Church in Aylmerton, Norfolk, and decided to check out the parish visitor’s book. And there it is — J. K. Rowling’s autograph, Edinburgh, 18 May 2022. Tomato shared this fun find on the Cormoran Strike Running Grave Reddit page.

My first thought was, “Of course she signed the book!” In her ‘Year in the Life’ BBC video filmed in the madness surrounding the publication of Deathly Hallows, she visited the church next door to her childhood home. They filmed her looking through the parish visitor book to find where she had signed it back in the day, which she had.

So… we know that she visited Aylmerton. Has she been to Cromer? All we need now is a selfie of The Presence in the Lion’s Mouth. Hat doffed to Outrageous_Tomato_71 for this great catch!

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike

Troubled Blood: The True Book’s Celtic Cross Tarot Card Spread, Part 2, Card 2

March 31, 2023 by 2 Comments

The Two of Cups, the second or “crossing” card of the Talbot Celtic Cross tarot spread in the ‘True Book’ of Troubled Blood, is a big deal, both with respect to its placement and its stand-alone meaning. Having listed all the cards that appear in Strike5, at least in spreads, in search of any pattern in their appearances, it’s time to review what Crowley and Waite say about the Two of Cups as well as how it is most often read today, take a longish look at what the second card in a Celtic Cross spread means, before offering my conclusions about its importance.

If you need an incentive to join me for that discussion, I’ll remind you that the Two of Cups is the only card to appear three times in Troubled Blood: in the crucial point of the Celtic Cross spread and as the final card in both of Robin Ellacott’s readings. I think Rowling uses it to point simultaneously to the Whodunnit of Strike5 and to the nature of Cormoran and Robin’s relationship. Stay tuned! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike

New Rowling Twitter Header: Aylmerton Country Road in Vicinity of Previous Pic

March 30, 2023 by 1 Comment

 

If that village name seems familiar, the Aylmerton parish church is an old friend: the round tower aedifice of St John the Baptist’s. See Beatrice Grove’s Round Tower Churches and Rowling’s New Twitter Header for information about this church, the history of the architectural style, and a little about the region, the North Country of Norfolk.

Great work, @CormStrikeFan, in finding the exact location of this image!

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike, Twitter