2.8 The Deathday Party

This week’s episode of Podtrificus Totalus covers the second Halloween that Harry spends at Hogwarts, and it’s even spookier than the last! Nearly Headless Nick asks Harry and his friends to attend his Deathday Party, a celebration of the anniversary of his death. There, the kids get a glimpse into the world of ghosts, but as they leave, Harry once again hears the mysterious voice, and they stumble upon poor petrified Mrs. Norris under a message about the Chamber of Secrets being opened.

We make a number of references to outside sources, which are listed below:

• Ghost World (2001)

• Steve Buscemi, of fellow kids fame

• “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving

• Sleepy Hollow (1999)

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• Squibs on J.K. Rowling’s Official Site

• The Vanishing Cabinet on the Harry Potter Lexicon

• Dennis’s campaign speech in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

• The Skeleton Dance, a Disney short

• The Deathday Party on the Harry Potter Lexicon, which includes Nick’s cut ballad

• Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871)

• “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll

• Hogwarts Ghosts on Pottermore

• Wanda from The Fairly Odd Parents

• Moaning Myrtle’s full name on J.K. Rowling’s Twitter

• Moaning Myrtle on the Harry Potter Wiki

• Mew the Pokemon

• Moaning Myrtle on the Harry Potter Lexicon

• Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)

• Babu Frik from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

• Okja (2017)

• The Pepperup Potion on the Harry Potter Wiki

• The Potter Family on Pottermore (spoiler warning for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

• Glover Hipworth on the Harry Potter Wiki

Our Spell of the Week for this episode is the Pepperup Potion, which Madam Pomfrey administers to students suffering from colds and which leaves the drinker’s ears smoking. We also answer a listener email from Becca about Harry’s family’s fortune.