The Parody That Broke the Spell

Coldmirror is a German comedian who at some point decided that Harry Potter needed to be thoroughly and systematically destroyed, and she did it across a YouTube series called Harry Potter und der Plastik Pokal—roughly, Harry Potter and the Plastic Goblet—a revoiced parody of Goblet of Fire that turns the whole thing into something completely deranged. If you grew up speaking German and spent any time online in the late 2000s, you’ve seen it. If you didn’t, just know that it’s the kind of parody that rewires how you see the source material. You cannot go back.

A friend named André showed it to me and an ex one night—we burned through every part he had, sitting there while he narrated the best moments before they arrived. I laughed until something hurt. At some point in those hours I understood that I would never be able to watch Harry Potter again with a completely straight face, and I made my peace with that.

Part five is out. That’s basically the whole post. It’s Sunday, the sun is back, and I’m going to the lake.