Crooked Table Podcast: ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ (featuring Kai Yaniz)

The end is drawing nearer as our ill-timed Harry Potter series trudges ahead. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince may opt for love-potion hijinks over grim flashbacks. But the movie still gives audiences a delightful turn by Oscar winner Jim Broadbent, potions galore, and a taste of the Harry-Dumbledore buddy movie we could have gotten instead.

Kai Yaniz returns to the show after reading the books for the first time just a year ago. As a result, she has some thoughts on how director David Yates adapts the source material. We’ll cover Draco Malfoy’s moral dilemma, Voldemort’s dark past, and how Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince keys up the epic two-part conclusion to The Boy Who Lived’s magical saga.

SYNOPSIS

As Death Eaters wreak havoc in the Muggle and Wizard worlds, Hogwarts is no longer a safe haven for students. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) suspects there are new dangers lurking within the castle walls. Meanwhile, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is more intent than ever on preparing the young wizard for the final battle with Voldemort. Meanwhile, teenage hormones run rampant through Hogwarts, presenting a different sort of danger. Love may be in the air, but tragedy looms, and Hogwarts may never be the same again.