Blood! The Crimson Thread

Nick is joined by John Granger and special guest star Guido in their temporary headquarters as they await the move to Granger Towers. We discuss the revelation that J. K. Rowling has an inherited blood clotting disorder, and speculate that this could be von Willebrand Disease, and discuss what this could mean for a Golden Thread that John first explored more than five years ago. Nick surveys the instances of blood in all her published work, and John identifies a theme that Nick has missed - the Eucharist. Could this be the key to understanding the final narrative arch of the Strike series?
Links Discussed in this Episode:
The revelation of J. K. Rowling’s condition:
hogwartsprofessor.com/j-k-rowling-and-the-roy-…
John discusses the Golden Thread on the Reading Writing Rowling Podcast in 2020.
audioboom.com/posts/7566531-episode-37-trouble…
John Granger’s book How Harry Cast his Spell exploring the Christian content and meaning in Harry Potter.
amazon.com/How-Harry-Cast-His-Spell/dp/1414321…
John’s visit to Denmark Street and St Giles-in-the-Fields in 2016.
web.archive.org/web/20171130161236/https://www…
Victor Turner - Colour Classification in Ndembu Ritual (1966)
gwern.net/doc/psychology/vision/1966-turner.pdf
The Blood Survey:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
The word “Blood” appears 33 times.
dragon’s blood
The Bloody Baron
Harry thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him.
One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood.
That’s unicorn blood.
It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The word “Blood” appears 46 times.
not a drop of magical blood in their veins
‘Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere –’
No Malfoy’s worth listenin’ ter. Bad blood, that’s what it is.
‘No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood,’ he spat.
who think they’re better than everyone else because they’re what people call pure-blood.
Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway.
‘… I smell blood … I SMELL BLOOD!’
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The word “Blood” appears 21 times.
‘It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. Now, I’m saying nothing against your family, Petunia’
Ron and Hermione were standing underneath it, examining a tray of blood-flavoured lollipops.
‘BLOOD!’ Ron yelled into the stunned silence. ‘HE’S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?’
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The word “Blood” appears 37 times.
Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep, blood red.
‘B-blood of the enemy … forcibly taken … you will … resurrect your foe.’
I wanted Harry Potter’s blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago, for the lingering protection his mother once gave him, would then reside in my veins, too …
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The word “Blood” appears 85 times.
‘Yoooou!’ she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of the man. ‘Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!’
‘Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal
‘The pure-blood families are all interrelated,’ said Sirius. ‘If you’re only going to let your sons and daughters marry pure-bloods your choice is very limited; there are hardly any of us left.
‘Terrified? I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! The noble blood that runs in my veins –’
Again and again Harry wrote the words on the parchment in what he soon came to realise was not ink, but his own blood.
‘It seems there was some rather unusual kind of poison in that snake’s fangs that keeps wounds open. They’re sure they’ll find an antidote, though; they say they’ve had much worse cases than mine, and in the meantime I just have to keep taking a Blood-Replenishing Potion every hour.
‘While you can still call home the place where your mother’s blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The word “Blood” appears 105 times.
‘If I had murdered Harry Potter, the Dark Lord could not have used his blood to regenerate, making him invincible –’
Harry had never hated Malfoy more than as he lay there, like an absurd turtle on its back, blood dripping sickeningly into his open mouth.
‘My daughter – pure-blooded descendant of Salazar Slytherin – hankering after a filthy, dirt-veined Muggle?’
It was as though something large and scaly erupted into life in Harry’s stomach, clawing at his insides: hot blood seemed to flood his brain
I’ve learned more from the Half-Blood Prince than Snape or Slughorn have taught me in –’
‘Harry, I’d like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old student of mine, author of Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires – and, of course, his friend Sanguini.’
Blood spurted from Malfoy’s face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backwards and collapsed on to the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.
‘Payment?’ said Harry. ‘You’ve got to give the door something?’ ‘Yes,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Blood, if I am not much mistaken.’ ‘Blood?’
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The word “Blood” appears 125 times.
As I reveal in chapter sixteen, Ivor Dillonsby claims he had already discovered eight uses of dragon’s blood when Dumbledore “borrowed” his papers.’
MUDBLOODS and the Dangers They Pose to a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society
‘Splinched,’ said Hermione, her fingers already busy at Ron’s sleeve, where the blood was wettest and darkest.
Was it his own blood pulsing through his veins that he could feel, or was it something beating inside the locket, like a tiny metal heart?
‘Drop your wands,’ she whispered. ‘Drop them, or we’ll see exactly how filthy her blood is!’
Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.
‘Precisely!’ said Dumbledore. ‘He took your blood and rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, Harry, Lily’s protection inside both of you! He tethered you to life while he lives!’
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
The word “Blood” appears 11 times.
The Kappa feeds on human blood but may be persuaded not to harm a person if it is thrown a cucumber with that person’s name carved into it.
Re’em blood gives the drinker immense strength, though the difficulty in procuring it means that supplies are negligible
Salamander blood has powerful curative and restorative properties.
Quidditch Through the Ages
The word “Blood” appears 6 times.
The first Bludgers (or ‘Blooders’) were, as we have seen, flying rocks
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
The word “Blood” appears 5 times.
There is not a witch or wizard in existence whose blood has not mingled with that of Muggles
Casual Vacancy
The word “Blood” appears 97 times.
Then pain such as he had never experienced sliced through his brain like a demolition ball. He barely noticed the smarting of his knees as they smacked onto the cold tarmac; his skull was awash with fire and blood; the agony was excruciating beyond endurance, except that endure it he must, for oblivion was still a minute away.
All they could get out of her at first was, ‘The Fields, the bloody, bloody Fields …’
‘Mrs Weedon’s new pills are upsetting her stomach,’ said Parminder calmly. ‘So we’re doing your bloods today, aren’t we?’
Sharp, hot pain and the blood came at once; when she had cut herself right up to her elbow she pressed the wad of tissues onto the long wound, making sure nothing leaked onto her nightshirt or the carpet.
Some of her self-hatred had oozed out with the …