I love how Vernon shouts "Do I look stupid?" in this chapter and Harry replies "Are you actually as stupid as you look?" in Deathly Hallows chapter 3.

As a European (German), Mallorca is just a nice vacation spot that Germans and Brits seem to really like. I think it is a little bit similar to how Americans go to Myrtle Beach. However, I think the main reason why they want a holiday home there is because of Petunia’s friend Yvonne who couldn’t take Harry the year before on Dudley’s birthday because she was on holiday in Mallorca. To me Petunia seems like the kind of woman who always has an underlying rivalry with any other woman even those she is supposedly friends with.

About Dudley remembering Harry's birthday: The previous year, at midnight of July 31, 1991, a giant burst into the isolated island shack, presented Harry with a birthday cake, from which Dudley sneaked a piece, and magicked a pig's tail on Dudley's behind--and then took Harry away in the morning. I think Dudley would well remember Harry's birthday the next year. Vernon and Petunia remember it as the day a magical giant sprouted a tail on their son's rear end, which tail they had to have removed surgically. They probably remember Harry's 12th birthday but don't mention it out of habit, frustration, or revenge. In fact, overworking Harry on that day, having business guests over for a special dinner, and making Harry pretend not to exist on his birthday may be a crafted, or maybe subconscious, sort of revenge for the previous year.

My headcanon for the Founders and their contributions to the building wasn't so much a single room each, more each added their own flair. Gryffindor made the great hall, and the corridors, and the headmasters offices and all the grander spaces. Hufflepuff added the kitchens and cosy places for friends to gather, common rooms, gardens and trees in the courtyards, and tbh I would credit her with the Room of Requirement. It's just so useful for so much, but also humble and personal and without fanfare, classic Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw added the towers, classic eagle's nest style and so many of them are dedicated to knowledge and wisdom, the divination classroom, astronomy? Slytherin I think added the dungeons, dark places for secrets and schemes, but safety and security too. And he just sneaked the Chamber of Secrets in there too with some doomsday prepper energy. because you just MIGHT need a superweapon someday. Best to be prepared... ;)

When I had covid, my family asked me what i was going to do during my quarantine, I kept replying, " I'll be in my bedroom making absolutely no noice and pretending I don't exist." Lol

I don't credit the Dursleys at all for Harry's glasses. I imagine it was some teacher who told them that he needed glasses, and so they were forced to concede so *they* didn't seem anything but extremely normal to others. It's more selfishness on display that just happened to benefit Harry.

I remember seeing a theory that the reason Salazar was so against bringing muggle-borns to Hogwarts was that he didn't trust them. That maybe he thought they would reveal to their muggle families the location of Hogwarts and lead to the muggles launching an attack on the castle. The theory also said the Chamber of Secrets could also have served as a final shelter with the ultimate locks and "guard dog". Then over the centuries as wizard/muggle relations cooled Slytherin's mistrust of Muggleborns got blown into the whole blood purity thing.

1:07:30 OMG, I finally figured out what vibe Godric and Salazar give off! :D Merlin and Arthur! And it fits especially well, since Merlin (in this universe) canonically is a Slytherin and King Arthur (no matter if going from the legends or my fav TV show) would totally be in Gryffindor

Andromeda Black would be a very interesting Slytherin to explore!

Regarding Harry and the Dursleys taking him to the opticians, it is not uncommon for British schools to do a sight test on kids and recommend that kids go for an appointment. Glasses are free for kids, but in the past, the free options were limited to the stereotypical unstylish "nerdy" types, and you'd pay extra for nice ones. I like to imagine that the school forced the Dursleys hand in terms of sending him to the opticians, and they made him have that style, which is that "nerdy" style, just so they wouldn't have to pay.

The party happens so late because its mid-summer. The sun would be out until quite late, and most homes in the UK dont have air conditioning. Its common to hold dinner parties later in the evening during the summer to allow the home to cool a bit.

1:07:00 I have a better example of a good Slytherin. Andromeda Tonks. She literally turned her back on her family and their pure blood beliefs and married a muggle born, Ted Tonks. And her daughter, Nymphadora, was in the Order and died fighting for it.

I don’t think Dudley remembers Harry’s birthday, I think he remembers that it was a year since he was given a pigs tale which was on Harry’s birthday. I think that makes more sense.

a founder's series would be a dream come true. I imagine seeing them go on their own adventures and create pieces of magic and enchanted places that we know today, all with the tragic backdrop of the witch trials and the conflict between the muggle and the wizarding world.

currently watching this while burning my pretty obvious candle and loving every second

Hi, listener from Sweden here! Interesting how unheard of Majorca seems to be in the states. Here (and in the UK of course) it’s a really common vacation destination. Very common for middle class people to travel to, often even going back once a year or so. To own a house there is not unheard of either, although it’s definitely more luxurious. Love the podcast!

It has now become my Sunday routine to watch/listen to these chapter analyses while I wash dishes and prepare dinner. I love it! Keep up the good work guys!!!!!

It is revealed in Hogwarts Legacy, that Salazar Slytherin had another secret chamber in the castle, that being his personal scriptorium and office, where he studied Magic. The dude was all about making secret Chambers apparently.

I love that Steven Fry pronounces Majorca differently in the UK audiobook depending on whether he is narrating or being Vernon Dursley in character. He nails how Vernon would pronounce it (as presumably someone less well educated).

I've lived in Mallorca for many years. We get a ton of British and German tourist. It's always amusing to see references to It in Harry Potter.

The sacrificial charm worked for Lily because Voldemort gave her a choice move out of the way and live, or stay in front of me and die with your son. It also worked for Harry because he had a choice to either come to the forest to die, or to run off and let the fight continue. In both cases Voldemort gave choices to the people that were putting the sacrificial charm. That is the key a choice must be given, I could have sworn this as mentioned in the book but I could be remembering something off of Pottermore

I always felt like the frying pan swipe was just lowkey attempted murder lol, even when I read the books as a kid. I don't know how to see it as anything else. Definitely worthy of a Dumbledore howler.

This episode just made me want the founders series even more(by y'all)

My head cannon is that Slytherin is just like Hagrid loves magical beasts and the bigger and scarier the better!

I'm Russian and I go back and listen to your podcasts again on a background when I need to do household chores cause you're so calming and enjoyable

I think what's funnier about the kicked off the quidditch team line is what is the plan here? Fly a broom in a muggle suburb where he can be seen?

The reverse highlighting is helpful for the kids like me who didn’t read the books in order. We were on vacation with my cousins and I had finished all of the books that I brought but my cousin had Prisoner so I borrowed it to have something to read. The recap at the beginning helped me get a little background. lol.

Maybe Dobby can keep popping over to Harry’s while technically not defying the Malfoy family is that making Harry miserable and feeling isolated would please Draco . Harry, I’m pretty sure, speculates that Draco sent Dobby.

This was actually how I was introduced to HP in the first place. My mom got into the series and was consistently trying to get me into it, but the way she described it made it seem like generic fantasy junk I had no interest in at the time. Finally she sat me down and read me this chapter, and it blew my expectations so far out of the water that I was hooked.

It's my Husband, Alex's birthday today and we are staying in a little cabin listening to this! We love all of your videos. Ive never read the books but love the films. Alex has been showing me his favourite chapters from all of the books. We are from the UK!Thank you very much for sharing!

I’m also born on the 31st of July and the first book was translated and published in my language… the year I turned 11!!!

At the end of the episode I feel like Ben and J have forgotten the negatives of Crouch because J says the wizarding world would have been better off with him as Minister of Magic because while he's severe he's also effective. Keep in mind that Crouch sent Sirius to Azkaban without a trial and he allowed the use of the unforgiveable curses against the death eaters...something that not only was Dumbledore against but also Moody. He's a very "the end justifies the means" whatever the means are, even if you become what you're fighting.

I heard somewhere in an video about "one's unpopular opinions" the theory, that Slytherin was right with his distrust of muggleborn witches and wizards, as they lived durin the beginning of the witchs's persecution.

I don't know about England, but I'm from Sweden and I think the most common way to serve things would be directly from a pot or a pan unless you're having a nicer party. If it's just your regular everyday breakfast or dinner, why would you dirty another dish? Even if you had friends over as a kid or were the guest in a friends house that was how everyone served their food, just lift the pot or pan from the stove over to the table. Now we wouldn't place a hot pan straight on the table, we'd have a trivet, usually made of cork, but I've seen both wool and metal as well, in-between to protect the table from heat, but we wouldn't bother moving whatever from the pot itself. I could maybe see the argument for bacon if you want to have it on a piece of paper first to suck up some of that grease, but if you want greasy bacon or don't mind then there's no real reason.

One thing about the chamber of secrets is the entrance opens up a sink with snake marks on the water tap and pipes BUT there was no indoor plumbing 1000 years ago, so... you know, how did slytherin create this part? Or did Voldemort add that part when he discovered the chamber?

As you go through CoS, there are two items that I remember questioning the last time I read the book. First, I believe Ron adds no positive activities in the entire book. Every idea he has goes wrong, he is incapable of doing magic due to broken wand, and he contributes nothing to solving the mystery. Second, I find Harry's attitude towards colin out of character. Harry is one year away from feeling insecure about his place in the wizzarding world. But he scoffs at colins questions about quidich, has a complete lack of empathy for a small first year that knows nothing about wizzarding world.

I think Dudley teasing Harry about remembering his birthday is his way of saying happy birthday

We know that Draco and his parents write at least weekly, and knowing they were death eaters, it probably wouldn’t have been a secret topic for Draco to find out exactly what kind of person Harry is. Though they did try to protect their son from the messy bits, they would have been at least steering him to do certain things regarding Harry. Behind closed doors, they would have had convos about whether they try to cultivate this child and get access to him to make sure he is aligned with Voldemort’s goals. In the worst case scenario to them, where Harry does in fact prove himself to be infallible to Voldemort’s teachings, what is the best way to snuff this child out quickly to earn Voldemort’s higher favor, and possibly bring him back sooner? These were probably convos they had had in their household at least all year, and probably writing to Drsco prodding him for info. He would have written to them about EVERYTHING. I am absolutely certain that AS SOON AS, what happened with Quirrell was known, Draco would have written to his parents about it, even before the House Cup was announced. I am going to assume that Dobby had this growing fear and sense of what was happening well before the summer started. Of course he heard Narcissa reading these letters aloud all year from her son at Hogwarts to her husband, discussing what to do, how to bring the dark lord back, possibly they could use that fool Weasley’s child as bait. From Draco’s letters, Ron and Harry were described as close. Dobby would have put the pieces together and set his own plan in motion before Draco even got home, likely before they even left Hogwarts.

What a treat on the day I am finally well again after being sick all week!

I share a birthday with Neville, the best character. Also, when the books started coming out, I was the same age as Harry and friends until we got to book 5 and there started being 2-3 years between book releases

In the LatAm Spanish version, Harry says Abracadabra, pata de cabra (goat's leg), which I find hilarious

Let's go! FIRST chapter of book 2! Thanks For this Guys❤❤❤❤❤

Dudley probably remembers Harry's birthday because it was the day that he grew a tail

I think the relationship between Dudley and Harry is fundamentally different than the relationship between the elder Dursleys and Harry. They're peers. They're almost the same age. To me, this feels like a rivalry between siblings that hate each other because their parents have always pitted them against each other. There's that hate. There's the rivalry that goes along with it. But there's also a connection that comes from being part of the same familial dysfunction.

Personally I believe that Malfoy Sr was talking to Crabb and Goyal and possibly Mr Nott the death eater’s that escaped going to jail

I know it’s only a week between episodes/chapters but it somehow feels soooo much longer. It always makes me happy inside when I see a new chapter is up.

When it comes to all the information that is "withheld" I have always wondered if it was truly J.K keeping it secret or if she just kinda made it up as she wrote the books. For example with the dementors, she might have decided in the third book to use some dark creature and if they are important to the story they need a name so she made one up at that time, instead of sitting on it as a "secret" since the first book.

Who’s to say that Draco wasn’t writing to his parents about Harry during the school year?

Bold of you to assume Dudley knows where bacon comes from... He seems like the kind of kid who thinks it comes from a bacon factory.

Just started hearing “when you’re the best of friends” little song from fox and the hound while they talk about Godric and Salazar.

Russian fan here 🖐 Thought I was the one of the few, but good to know there are many of us) Great support for you guys!

Does Dudley know it’s Harry’s birthday, or is it that it’s a year ago that Hagrid gave him a tail which just happened to be on Harry’s birthday?

Your discussion about all of the founders having a special part of the castle that they designed themselves made me remember that Slytherin has 2 secret rooms. He has the Chamber, but as Legacy reveals, he also had the Scriptorium. I wonder what other secrets have yet to be revealed to us and if the other founders also had secret rooms

14:29 - Ben, for years and years, the way I dealt with my grief over the series ending, was, immediately upon closing book 7, I would open book 1 and start again.

I thought the reason they didn't try to make Harry presentable was obvious. They had tried to make his hair presentable, but it had grown back overnight! All his clothes are baggy hand-me-downs. He obviously is treated differently from his cousin in those respects, so he must not be seen by an important guest. Not to mention, he might talk about their abuse. As for Mrs. Figg, I really don't know. Maybe she's away for the summer?

Reading along wth y'all. No idea how many times I've already read & listened to these books. Such fun!

Bacon on a plate before you serve it. You have clearly never been to Europe (Germany) . We only do that if you want to impress someone. That sounds so impractical you have more dishes to clean. Just put a heat protector under the pan and put it on the table or serve directly on individual plates 😂

Hello from a long time fan from Russia lol Honestly, I remember reading the first chapter in Chamber of Secrets as a child and thinking ' I know it already, c'mon!'. But then some detail was mentioned that I totally forgot and I was like 'wait, that did happen and I forgot...'

All of the Dursley chapters get my anxiety level up. 😂

You know when hermione says “harry you eyesight really is horrible “ or something like that before the battle of 7 potters. It had to be so bad the Dursley’s simply had to take him out of convenience😂

Totally love this podcast and super interested what you will uncover in this book. As a German I can say that Mallorca is a holiday island that many Europeans love. Many come to party (bachelor parties etc.), but also it's stunningly beautiful and has many family hotels. Spending your holiday there is very much middle class, but buying a house there is something football stars do. Also I love whenever you ask yourself is it a Harry Potter or a british thing, cause I found out many things over the years that I thought were from the Harry Potter universe that in reality were just british. Looking forward to many more episodes.

it is possible that Hermione only needed a time turner because her classes had scheduling conflicts. it may have been possible for previous students to take all 12 subjects without conflicts, not requiring a time turner. especially makes sense if hogwarts students are at an all time low because of low birth rate during the War, there may have been a need for more classes to accommodate all students in previous years.

On the phenomena-ness of the books, i remember being in a study hall and having finished all my work so opted to read. I parused tge book shelf and found the chamber of secrets. Only a few pages in i realized that this was a different kind of read and decided to hunt for the first book. Thanks chamber, for opening the griffin door.

Waited for this, lol This is becoming a favorite secret view of mine, a week always seems too long

Having a rough week and watching this is my self care

I have a similar headcannon that Jay mentioned. I think the Basilisk was supposed to protect the school against dark wizards and Voldemort just assumed it was for killing muggle-borns because of his pure blood bias.

Love the show and lesson to it while I'm mountain biking every week. About the protection that Lilly put on Harry when Voldemort tried to kill him. The reason no one knows about that type of protection is because all other times it happened, the caster of the killing curse was killed in the rebound. Voldemort is a special case because of the horcruxes that kept him alive. The protection only protects against the person that casts the curse. If Valdemort let any deatheater kill Harry, he would have died, but as always, he keeps himself from winning.

In my opinion, Derby could be called a minor antagonist in chamber of secrets

Both Barty Crouch Jr. and Sr. are as Hufflepuff as you can possibly be. Both demonstrate that they value loyalty: Senior places abidance to the Law higher than the love for his son. Junior is notoriously Voldemort's most loyal servant. Both demonstrate that they value hard work: Senior is known in the Ministry as one of the most efficient workers: he led Department of Magical Law Enforcement during the First Wizarding War, and made a reputation for himself as one of the greatest enemies of those who practice Dark Arts. And when the war was over, he transferred to a completely different department and still excelled at his job. Junior spends an entire year disguised as different person. He managed to learn Moody's personality and mannerisms so well, that even Dumbledore didn't suspect anything. Both demonstrate that they value fair game: Senior's insistence on everything being done by the book is well known. Junior is outraged at Death Eaters who wriggled their way out of Azkaban: it wasn't just a question of loyalty, in his view if you were caught, you should be proud to go to prison. Both demonstrate that they value dedication. Senior was pretty much the only wizard at the Quidditch World Cup who managed a flawless disguise as a muggle: when Harry first meets him, he thinks that even Uncle Vernon wouldn't recognize a wizard. Junior, once again, takes part in a very long and complicated scheme, and nobody suspects him. Crouches are a pure-blood family and are listed among The Sacred Twenty Eight. But I don't think they really match Slytherin.

I’m loving this series and book two is in my top three

So, when Harry was in the hospital wing for the last game of last year, did they have a reserve Seeker, or did they just play without one?

I would genuinely love it if the brothers would do a limited series podcast talking about their ideas for The Founders TV series

Ooh, so happy to see this video! I'm down with Covid (for the second time in two months!) and listening to you makes me feel so much better! Sending you lots of love from Poland

Play it back! Did Ben say the SNAKES are down to earth hahahaha

So excited to go Through the Griffin Door into the Chamber of Secrets! Remember, this is set in 1992, things are different back then.

Ironically it's my birthday so I'm glad I get to enjoy this story with y'all once again. And no it's not the worst birthday for me thank you very much

I absolutely love this podcast. Great way to reread the books at a slow pace! I've got a question and maybe I'm being stupid but why does "neither can live while the other survives" mean one needs to kill the other? It's always bugged me. I understand it as "neither can come to full power while the other is alive"... Why does it mean they have to die at each other's hands???

Here we go lets do this

Honestly the petunia and cheese thing sounds like her way of being passive aggressive. I think it’s hilarious because my grandmother had a similar concept when she wrote people names if she didn’t like them, she used all lowercase letters. And for her, it was like a “ha! Gotcha!”

It's my birthday today! So excited for this upload, been watching since I was like 16 and I'm 25 today!

I totally forgot this was coming out today… perfect timing for the gym!

Just an idea, you could always say something like “unpacking the mysteries behind ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.’”

16:44 “Frying pans! Who knew right?” Name that movie

I feel like there was a mention sometime, maybe in the 1st book that the Dursleys used to give Harry, like, a single toothpick or something else very insignificant on his birthdays when he was considerably younger. This year likely they are especially ignoring his bday, and specifically set this dinner meet on Harry’s bday as a way to get back at him for last years fiasco of Dudleys tail. Also, the previous year they were likely too stressed and distracted by the owls to think about his birthday at all. Another thing, about Dobby intercepting Harry’s mail all year; perhaps he was able to do an ongoing interception spell for anything being delivered to Harry - cuz Hermione’s letters wouldve been sent snail mail, not via owl

I always thought Barty Jr was DEF a Ravenclaw for SURE

- In addition to what you said about it being a year-and-a-half (ish) since the last book came out when it was first published, Rowling also had to set the stage for those readers who hadn't read the first book at all. - It has literally been a thousand years since the founding of Hogwarts, *of course* new things will have been discovered since then. - Harry's iconic round glasses are and have been a staple for British culture for literally decades before Harry existed. John Lennon wore the same glasses. They were the standard glasses provide by the British NHS. The Durlsey's got Harry the cheapest glasses they were legally allowed to, short of not getting him glasses at all which was (probably) illegal -- as his caretakers they had certain legal obligations to take care of him. - Maybe Lucius Malfoy assigned Dobby to spy on Harry and then Dobby took it upon himself to intercept the letters. Plus there's a British tradition amongst the upper classes that the servants basically aren't people They're furniture. You can talk freely in front of the and they're not expected to know anything or pay attention unless they're specifically called upon to do their job. House-elves are an extension/exaggeration of that.

Love you guys from Maine! ❤ Love getting to relive the Potterworld through you guys & Thru The Griffin Door!

Ayyooo, been waiting for this one boys!!

Here's a what if idea: what if Harry killed the Dursleys? The idea here is that the Dursleys abuse of Harry would endanger his life which would endanger the horcrux inside Harry so the horcrux would activate defensively and maybe summons fiend fire or something? Or Harry's magic activates defensively when they're pushing him around,maybe it shoots out a spell that shoots the Dursleys backwards and breaks their necks or something? I think the horcrux idea is more likely because Voldemort is a dark wizard and he's also prideful,would he really except *muggles* of all things posing a threat to the boy who survived his countercurse,the only person who poses a threat to him? I don't believe any part of Voldemort (even the part as small as the one in Harry) would allow that. The question is,where would he go afterwards and would Voldemort feel this? Would his horcrux defending itself mean Voldemort would know Harry is a horcrux? It's a dark premise but very interesting, especially from Dumbledoor's perspective as Harry's soul is already torn before arriving at school so would he fear what Harry would become or would it be easier since he doesn't have to worry about Harry's soul splitting from killing Voldemort because it's already split.

Mason might actually represent a major retailer. Dursley company may be a wholesaler. Hence this may be a huge deal.

My grandmother serves from the pan on the table sometimes. She puts a special potholder that's larger to fit under it.

As I understand it, holidaying in Mallorca to middle class British folks is the height of luxury and something to brag to all the neighbours about for years to come. Mrs. Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances would jump at a chance to go, to lord it over everyone on her street.

Someone must have told Harry when his birthday is. It's not something a one year old can remember on his own. He did go to school so maybe it came up in some form there? That could explain why Dudley knows but his parents don't remember. They must have seen it on some official paper at one point but just didn't care.

Several varieties of flowers are edible, and used, usually as garnishes, sometimes candied, in cooking and baking. These include daisies, hibiscus, nasturtiums, pansies, roses and violets.

As a youth I had a lot of trouble finding a copy of Sorcerer’s Stone because the series was such a big deal. I was resistant to bandwagoning Potter back then but was very curious. While I couldn’t find SS, I easily tracked down COS. So this chapter was my first exposure to Potter. So I greatly appreciated the recap nature of this chapter. It let me know important things I missed. Funniest thing about starting with Chamber though is that I completely missed that Hagrid was huge. I just thought he was a typical older guy. My mind made him look kinda like Mark Rylance.

In book one snape tells quirell "Your little bit of Hocus pocus I'm waiting". So clearly Hocus pocus is not just a muggle misinterpretation of a spell but something used even in the magical community.

I've been subscribed to the Supercarlinbrothers channel since I first came across their "Beauty and the Beast Makes No Sense" video in 2014. They are the reason I first picked up the Harry Potter books and my life has never been the same since. This may very well be the series that finally gets me into podcasts as well. Every time an episode ends I can't wait to dive into the next. Thank you for creating such an unforgettable experience! Theory idea: how are the portraits made? Did the portrait of Dumbledore appear right when he died? We know that memories can be physical substances in this universe, so is that what they're painted with? Love to hear your thoughts!

Mallorca is exactly like Florida for retirement but it goes with the rest of Spain for either retirement or "spring break"

Majorca is the go to vacation spot here. the dursleys probably like it because its the most average and normal place to go to for vacation

Tune in every week huge fan of the books and your main channel so this podcast is awesome I notice something new each week and you guys got me reading the books and listening to the audiobooks again so thank you for the good content across all media