MuggleCast EP6 Transcript
Intro
Andrew [Show Intro with music in background]: This is MuggleCast – Episode 6 for September 11, 2005. If you haven’t finished reading Book 6 yet, then you probably shouldn’t continue listening as we do talk about several different spoilers. Hey Kids! Welcome to another exciting editions of MuggleCast. I’m Andrew.
Ben: I’m your favorite Kansan, Ben.
Jamie: I’m Jamie.
Eric: I’m Eric.
News
Andrew: And let’s get things started by first getting you updated on the past week’s top news with Micah.
Micah: Thanks, Andrew.
We begin with Apple, who on Wednesday released a special Harry Potter iPod and the first ever audiobooks in the HP series. The iPod features the Hogwarts crest engraved on the back, and sells for $299. Along with this new iPod, the Harry Potter audiobooks are available through the iTunes Music Store. MuggleCast even got a special mention in Apple’s most recent e-newsletter: “To date, customers have subscribed to over 7 million podcasts. The number keeps growing all the time. In fact, we recently added such podcasts as and (much to the delight of fans of Sir Harry) the MuggleCast and PotterCast to our growing podcast library.”
JKR has updated her site to talk about the new audiobooks and her reason for making them available.
And are you eagerly anticipating more scenes from Goblet of Fire? Well, Warner Bros. confirmed this past week that the next trailer will be released September 16th in select cities with Corpse Bride, the new Tim Burton film. Corpse Bride will be released in all theaters on September 23rd. The trailer is expected run a little over two minutes.
New high-resolution poster shots from the movie and one giant billboard of Harry hanging out in Times Square are available over on MuggleNet’s Main Page.
And finally wrapping up news on Goblet of Fire, last Sunday, Entertainment Weekly listed the midnight book release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as one of the “key events” of the past 25 years. The release is joined on the list with the movie Titanic and the launch of MTV. The list will be used for an upcoming CNN TV special.
Moving from Goblet of Fire to Order of the Phoenix, the fifth Harry Potter film is said to have a budget of at least $150 million. This however, is just speculation for the time being.
And finally, on Wednesday, not too shortly after the audiobook announcement, JKR spoke out against purchasing signatures on eBay due to the lack of authenticity. She said: “As far as I can tell from watching the ‘signed’ Harry Potter merchandise on e-Bay, for every (as far as I can tell) genuine signature there are six to ten fakes. Therefore, I am now advising Harry Potter fans in search of rare and/or signed editions and also audio digital files that it is much safer to buy from reputable/authorized book dealers only rather than e-Bay and other similar auction houses.” We have previously reminded visitors to not purchase off of eBay for these exact reasons, and we insist that you will get scammed. I keep telling myself the toast with Dumbledore’s picture on it wasn’t worth $3,000. But, it tasted pretty good.
Andrew: [Laughs] Oh, Micah.
Micah: That’s all the news for this September 11, 2005 edition of MuggleCast. Back to you guys.
Contest Update
Andrew: All right. Thanks, Micah. And Micah has also asked us to request if you have any ideas for maybe the transcripts or his news (how he does it), drop him an e-mail at micah at staff dot mugglenet dot com. Now, we have a contest update. Eric and I.
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: Isn’t that right, Eric?
Eric: That is correct, Andrew once again.
Andrew: So we are closing the contest [snaps fingers] NOW!
Eric: Yes, the contest is closed. If you can hear this, it is over.
Andrew: How many entries did we get?
Eric: Okay, as of now we have. Well, I say as of now, but…Okay, the final toll was 609 entries!
[Everybody “Ooooohs”]
Andrew: So, 3 of the 609 people will be entered into our contest. We’re going to go through and pick out the Top 20.
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: Then we’re going to put a poll up.
Eric: Right.
Andrew: So, only listeners of the show will be able to access it, and then they will be able to vote on their favorite ones. Then by I think Episode 8, we will have our winners, Top 3 Winners.
Eric: Something like that. We’ll have a question: “Do you listen to the show?”
Andrew: Right.
Eric: And if not, you can’t vote.
[All Laugh]
Eric: So the Top 20 favorites will be voted on.
Andrew: And also…
Eric: or voteable. And then the Top 3.
Andrew: And now the prizes…
Eric: Yes, we have PRIZES!
Andrew: We had to make some quick adjustments to the prizes because of some shipping, what was the word I used earlier?
Eric: Shipping constraints.
Andrew: Shipping constraints.
Eric: And we’re not talking about Emerson/Melissa or anything like that. In the nick of time, Dave over at Alivan’s has come and saved our butts and says: “You know what? We want to sponsor your contest.” So I tell you what, we have brand-new prizes for the Top 3 Winners of our contest! Third Place will receive a House Scarf of any color from the Alivan’s store depending on what’s your favorite House is, and what will look good, and what will bring out your eyes.
[Everybody “Ooooohs”]
Ben: Oh, sweet.
Eric: Yes, sweet.
Andrew: Okay, second prize…
Eric: Second Place will win a “Wizard School with Andrew Mayne” DVD from your Wizard Wares section of Alivan’s . And what it is, it is a guided instructional video for real-life magic.
Andrew: Ooooh. Snazzy!
Eric: Yes, done by this guy, Andrew Mayne.
Andrew: And what is the GRAND PRIZE?
Eric: And the GRAND PRIZE (once again this contest is sponsored by Alivan’s), and our GRAND PRIZE is a Limited Edition Padauk Wand, Michael Brolly Design. There are only 300 of these. And it’s a very nice, nice, nice looking wand. Looks very sharp, very nice. As I said, there are only 300. So, that’s it!
Andrew: Then also, First Place will get top priority in having a walk-on, co-hosting role on…MuggleCast!
Eric: Yes, MuggleCast!
Andrew: So you’ll be able to come on…
Ben: What?
Andrew: Isn’t that cool? [Laughs] I didn’t check with Ben or Jamie, but whatever.
Eric: He didn’t tell anybody this, he kind of just said that. Hold him to it. We’ll have this on audio, and Micah will transcribe this, so he’ll have it in text.
Ben: So you’ll go down in MuggleCast history pretty much.
Jamie: Forever. Forever.
Ben: Forever. Forever.
Andrew: As being the first…
Jamie: Forever, man.
Andrew: …guest co-host. So what will happen is if First Place does not want to be in it, because some people might be a little wary or nervous or just not want to do it, Second Place will get the prize. If Second Place doesn’t want to, Third Place will. And then we can also go Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and the runners-up.
Eric: In the event, that due to parental constraints or shipping constraints or whatever constraints, if you can’t do the show we will give it to somebody else. But we understand. We will credit you accordingly.
General Announcements
Andrew: Moving right along. Ben, you have a series of notes.
Eric: A series of unfortunate notes.
Andrew: And assorted announcements.
Ben: Yes, that is correct. Okay. Well, a few shows back, we mentioned that we want to know how people are listening to the show, and tons have people have e-mailed in. I have a list of people and ways they listen to us. K’Dawn, from Rio Rancho, wrote a speech about MuggleCast and delivered for her class. So yeah, we’re helping kids get good grades now. You see? You see how that works?
Andrew: Cool.
Ben: So it was an impromptu speech about our podcast.
Andrew: Hey, let us know what kind of grade you get.
Ben: Yeah. And how awesome it was. Laurel, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a sign-language interpreter and she listens to our show to practice conversations with her interpreting skills. So, she’s a signer for the deaf, and listens to our show to sign what we’re saying to practice. I thought that was pretty neat.
Jamie: That’s awesome.
Ben: A lady from the Navy listens to us while she’s cleaning…
Eric: Whoa! That’s cool.
Ben: …her boat in the morning. So we’re also helping protect our country with the Navy.
Eric [in booming voice]: IN THE NAVY!
Andrew: A lady from the Navy?
Ben: Yeah, a lady from the Navy.
Jamie: That’s really cool.
Ben: Cleaning her ship in the morning.
Andrew: Do you have her name?
Ben: Let’s see here. Marsha. Marsha, 23, from San Diego. Her IP Address is…I’m just kidding.
[All Laugh]
So Marsha is the one that listens to us. She says that she likes MuggleCast, and that all of her Navy buds laugh at her when she’s cleaning. They think she’s crazy for laughing at herself. She thinks that if they were listening too, that they would find it extremely hilarious.
Andrew: Of course, we’re just brilliant!
Ben: Okay. One final one. Mrs. Lehman’s class from Tahoka High School listens to us on Friday afternoons during their Harry Potter unit. So, if you’re in Mrs. Lehman’s class, here’s your shout-out!
Andrew: Ooh.
Ben: Mr. Nelson’s class, we have not forgotten about you. We have not forgotten about you. Remember us. Okay. Before we move on, I have some other minor announcements. If you’re on the MuggleCast section of the site (www.mugglecast.com or www.mugglenet.com/mugglecast), you can see a link to vote for us on Podcast Alley, which I recommend you do about once a month. So this way you can help us get up toward the top of Podcast Alley. Boost our popularity. That type of thing.
Andrew: Yeah. What happens is that Podcast Alley resets their votes every month.
Ben: Right.
Andrew: Come October 01, 2005, we’re going to lose all of our votes, and that is when you start voting all over again.
Ben: Exactly.
Andrew: And it is pretty easy to do.
Ben: And Andrew, what is the thing about the blog again? I’ll let you take this one.
Andrew: Oh, right! If you got to the MuggleCast Section, click on Blog, and right there we have a little button that takes you to this iPod book. It’s a free iPod book that you can download. Now, the reason we’re promoting this is not because we’re being sponsored by them. [Laughs] Despite what people may think. We’re actually recommending it because it really is a nice little book that you can review on your computer. It has a great area on podcasting and how to subscribe to podcasts through iTunes .
Ben: Right.
Andrew: So, that’s why we have it.
Ben: Download it all.
Andrew: We recommend it.
Ben: Okay, and I have gotten some e-mails in the past few weeks from Australian people, and they want to know…they don’t think we give enough consideration to Australians. Well, for those of you who know, Andy from Harry Potter Fan Zone was supposed to be on MuggleCast today, but right now it’s 4:00 AM there.
[Andrew Laughs]
It didn’t really work. So for those of you who know Andy, he’s Australian. He’s from Sydney or Melbourne or somewhere around there.
Main Topics
Andrew: All right. Thanks, Ben. Those announcements rocked. Now we’re going to move on to our Main Topics of the Week. Then we will get to voicemails. We have a lot of things to talk about on this show actually. So, let’s get started right now. Ben, I know you wanted to talk about Katrina.
Ben: The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet have both joined up in a drive for the Hurricane Katrina victims. We actually have some corporations that are going to match whatever donations we bring in.
Andrew: I didn’t know that.
Ben: Say we generate $10,000 in donations, there is this company – I believe in Kansas City that is going to donate $10,000 to match it. Keep your donations coming in. We’re trying to help these people. They are going to be rebuilding for months. They need all the food and water and resources they can get.
Andrew: Okay.
Ben: That pretty much covers it.
Andrew: Yeah. That pretty much covers it. We also want to talk about…let’s get to some news here. Let’s see. Earlier this week Apple announced on top of a few different things (a new iPod, a new iPod phone) that there is also a Harry Potter iPod. I wasn’t all too impressed because it just has an engraving of the Hogwarts symbol on the back. Hogwarts’ crest.
Ben: You’re trying to get us thrown off iTunes , aren’t you?
Andrew: No, I’m not trying to. I don’t think they will. On top of that, not only a new Harry Potter iPod, but JKR has released Books 1-6 in audiobook format. Digital, online, exclusively on iTunes for $50.00 apiece or all six at $250.00, I believe it is. So, this comes as a surprise to most people because JKR has said in the past that she didn’t want to do this type of thing. Or release it in e-Book format because it is too easy to get it pirated. Does anyone have ideas on why she would have done this?
Ben: She realized how’s there such a…a lot of people use iTunes . Maybe she actually saw the Harry Potter podcasts and thought if they get all these listeners and they’re all so high up on the list, why can’t we just sell these books?
Andrew: I am sure she checks iTunes all the time.
Ben: There’s obviously a large fan base. Yeah. She takes iTunes pretty seriously from what I’ve been told.
[All laugh]
Obviously, she has a very large fan base. It’s that type of thing. She realizes some fans want to listen to it on their iPod. It doesn’t have anything to do with the podcasts, but it could be they want to listen to it on their iPods, or listen to it on their random MP3 players. Or they want to listen to it on the way to work or that type of stuff.
Andrew: Yeah, I agree. And who knows? Maybe our podcast showed because we finally have some solid numbers now on download. And we have…is it okay to tell everyone?
Ben: Just say upwards of 50,000 downloads.
Andrew: Okay, I’ll say it, although you just did. [Laughs] We have roughly 50,000 subscribers – which is just awesome. That easily puts us up there as one of the top podcasts online. Right up there with “This Week In Tech” and…Hey, maybe we’re NO. 2. I can’t think of any really, really, big ones. That is really cool.
Ben: On the iTunes Music Store when you’re competing with National Public Radio it is kind of hard to keep up with millions of people who listen to them everyday.
[Jamie Laughs]
Andrew: They’re not a real podcast. They don’t count.
Ben: We’re the only unique podcast up there.
Andrew: The thing is, what kind of cut does JKR get from this? How much money does she get back for each audiobook sold?
Ben: I think if she doesn’t get at least 50% she is going to have to go on welfare.
[Andrew Laughs]
I was being sarcastic. I don’t think it matters if she got any of the money back because she’s a billionaire in case you forgot.
Andrew: I know, but obviously she gets some.
Jamie: I think it’s just her trying to spread the word of Harry Potter a bit further. There are situations where people can’t read the book. If they are going on a long drive or something, it’s just nice to put a CD in or listen to their iPod and they can hear all the books. I don’t know. It doesn’t really work for me. Half-Blood Prince and Order of the Phoenix must be like 25 hours, and I don’t think that I could listen to it for that long. I just want to sit there and read it for myself.
Ben: She’s closing the digital divide…digital divide…digital divide.
Jamie: Yeah, she is. Like Steven Frye and who does the American ones? Jim Dale.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: They do their own voices, and that interferes with my own feelings about the characters and how I think they speak. I don’t really like that. So, I prefer reading them myself. I think it is a fantastic idea because it is spreading Harry Potter further and further, and it’s giving people a chance to listen to them on the move when carrying a 25-kilogram book isn’t very practical.
Andrew: I don’t know if JKR knows this, but it’s actually relatively easy to pirate what you download off of iTunes .
Eric: Andrew, I think that is why she did it. I’d rather have her give it out than have somebody hack into it. You know what I am saying? I think she knew they were going to get it, and…
Andrew: What? You thought she knew they would be able to hack it?
Ben: Nobody cares what you’re saying, Eric.
Eric: No, but they hacked her own site, so she has to be aware…
Andrew: You hacked JKR.com! [Laughs]
Eric: What I am saying is that even before she released it to iTunes , you could get it. You could get e-Books. A lot of them were frauds, but some of them were authentic and you could actually get electric versions…
Ben: Electric? [Laughs]
Eric: By her releasing them, it is a good thing, you don’t have to..
Andrew: So, on top of that, as if it couldn’t get any better for Harry Potter fans, Steve Jobs doing a search for Harry on his demonstration computer at the keynote (where he released all of this information), our podcast was featured to the world. How cool is that?
Eric: Ooh. That was awesome.
Ben: That was pretty sweet.
Eric: Like, dude! MuggleNet, yo!
Jamie: I am sure it wasn’t quite like that.
[All Laugh]
Andrew: Apparently he’s impressed with there are even Harry Potter podcasts.
Jamie: Can I welcome…
Eric [in fake British accent]: He said: “Oh, MuggleNet mate!”
Jamie [in fake American accent]: Can I welcome Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple. Hey man, this is Steve Jobs…MuggleCast from MuggleNet. Yeah man! Dudes!
[All Laugh]
Andrew: Well, you know what? Steve actually called me. He wanted to come on the keynote and speak with him, but I couldn’t get a flight out there.
Eric: That’s really awesome.
Jamie: We only allow really successful to people to come on, don’t we? So we though he didn’t really make the cut. He’s only made like $25 million or something.
Andrew: Yeah. Only $25 million.
Voicemails
Andrew: Okay now it’s time for our favorite part of the show…VOICEMAILS! Now, Kevin picked out these voicemails this week, but he’s feeling under the weather. That’s why he didn’t show up on the show this week. We do not know what these voicemails are about exactly because he’s not here today to inform us. So, we’re just going to play them and we’ll see what we can do.
Eric: Be forewarned. If it’s really bad then we will edit it out.
Andrew: Here is the first one from “who knows”.
[Audio]: Hi, I am Ivy from Sydney, Australia, and before I continue I would like to say that your shows are great, and they’re entertaining, and you guys are really funny. My question is when Sirius died and all of his possessions (including number twelve Grimmauld Place) were given to Harry, why couldn’t anybody stop Mundungus from breaking into the house and stealing all the things? Wasn’t the Order still there? Yep. And keep up the great work, guys.
Jamie: Okay, I think that stuff was still being prepared then and they weren’t sure if it belonged to Harry. Everything was tense because Amelia Bones had been killed. Emmeline Vance had been killed. And they weren’t really concentrating on securing the headquarters at the time. Don’t forget that Mundungus is still a member of the Order of the Phoenix, so Mundungus is still a member of the Order, so he would be trusted to go into the house. I think it is just a case of him going in while Harry still trusts him and taking it, but I don’t think Harry is going to trust him after that. I would say that Dumbledore is not going to trust him after that, but he’s dead, isn’t he? So he definitely won’t be trusting.
Eric: That’s mean. That’s sad. My heart just sunk.
Jamie: I completely forgot that he died.
Eric: I think Dung is just that good. He was part of the Order as Jamie said, so he could get in. He’s just that good. Obviously I don’t think he can be trusted to do anything from now on. He’s still got that criminal output. Maybe he thinks he owes Harry for stealing his crap. Sorry, stealing his stuff.
Jamie: His crap?
[All Laugh]
Finest 16th Century goblets, Eric. Holy Crap!
Eric: Sorry, I just woke up. I’m tired! His stuff. Maybe he owes Harry for stealing his stuff. Maybe Harry can convince him that he does. If Mungus has any…
Ben: Mungus? [Laughs]
Eric: Andrew: Ooh, we’ll direct this one towards Ben because this one concerns Emma Watson. [Audio with great Southern accent]: Why Howdy everybody from MuggleCast! My name’s Billy Joe! And I was wondering if you think that there woman Emma Watson is a fine lady? Because I tell you boys, she sure does speak American with an awful funny accent, but I think she’s purtier than sun-dried daisies on a pasture in Texas. [All Laugh] Andrew: Billy Joe wants to know if Emma Watson…is good looking? [All Laugh] Let’s direct that one towards Ben. Ben: I think she is. Yes. Definitely. Andrew: All right. I think that covers that. And we thank Billy Joe for wasting our time. All right. Next question. Eric: Okay. Jamie: Ben could go on for years about this. [Audio]: Hey guys, this is Vincent from MuggleNet Fan Fiction and I was just curious about how you guys made the show? Andrew: Vincent is a fan fiction moderator over at MuggleNet Fan Fiction, where people can submit their own fan fiction to be featured on our site. So Vincent asks: “Well guys, how do we make MuggleCast?” Does anybody want to help me explain this? Basically, what we do is… Ben: First, what we do is start off by recording. Then there is a lot of editing because we don’t know what we’re doing. Jamie: Ben, Ben. Tell the truth. We’ve hired out a Concord. Everyone flies out to Andrew’s house, and we all record it there. [Eric Laughs] Tell the truth Ben. It is going to come out sooner or later. Jamie: I can’t answer what I’m thinking. Ben: We all fly to Andrew’s? Jamie: MuggleNet Concord. Andrew: Everyone flies out to my house on Saturday afternoons and we all sit around my little desk, and we just talk to each other. No, but really what we do is we all have headsets. We talk over Skype, which is an Internet telephony. So we can talk to each other in a conference call. We’ll all record our own voices. Then I’ll put it into editing, chop it up, and put it out to the world. Here’s the next question. [Audio]: Hey guys! This is Benjamin from New York. I was just wondering what you think about Florean Fortescue. In Book 5, Dumbledore talks to a man called Fortescue on the wall in Dumbledore’s office. Do you think Fortescue really is a Hogwarts Headmaster? And if he is, why do you think he was taken by Voldemort? Thanks. I love your show! Ben [in fake British accent]: I think he’s going to drown Lord Voldemort in ice cream (reference to a previous statement Jamie made). Yeah. Jamie: You’re so funny, Ben. Eric: It’s possible. I don’t know how many other Headmasters left Hogwarts to open up an ice cream shop, but I think it is more likely that it is a descendant. That Florean Fortescue is a descendant or a brother, if the Fortescue in the wall was a Headmaster. Certainly, he’s (Florean) not dead, if that’s what it takes (to be up on the wall). We also know that Dippet, Headmaster Dippet came before Dumbledore. If Florean Fortescue was a Headmaster it was a long time ago before Dippet. Ben: Or it could just be a relative. That’s a logical explanation. Eric: Well, that’s right. Jamie: No, it’s a bit of a coincidence. Ben: Yeah. Yeah. Jamie: Eric, don’t you say that there’s no such thing as a coincidence? Ben: That was me. Eric: That was Ben. Ben: That was me. Jamie: No, it wasn’t. Was it? Well, Benjamin then. Eric: It was kind of both of us. [Audio]: Hi, this is Kevin from Westland, Michigan. In Episode 1, you were talking about Horcruxes and you mentioned Harry’s scar might be one. Or that Harry himself might be one. I’d just like to contradict that theory. If Harry or his scar were a Horcrux, why in the world would Voldemort be trying to kill him? Wouldn’t it be much smarter for Voldemort to make a Horcrux out of something that he has no intention on destroying one day in the future? Thank you. Andrew: Yeah, that’s a good point. Say Voldemort put a Horcrux into Harry. Well, if he wants to kill him so bad, then why would he want to kill one of his own Horcruxes? Hmm. I like that. Jamie: No, he didn’t mean to put the Horcrux in, that’s the whole point. Eric: I don’t think he meant to either. Jamie: He inadvertantly made the Horcrux when his spell backfired. Slughorn said to create a Horcrux you had to kill, and then knowingly put the part of your soul you’ve created into the Horcrux. Why would Voldemort want to make Harry a Horcrux if he’s just going to kill him straight afterwards? The only thing that could possibly happen is that Dumbledore said that when he tried to kill him, he put a piece of him inside that he didn’t realize. The only thing that it could be is that Voldemort inadvertantly put part of his soul into Harry after he tried to kill him. And now that Harry is a Horcrux, it doesn’t really bear well for him surviving the series. Eric: Which is probably… Ben: We don’t really know what process goes into making a Horcrux. Jamie: Exactly. Eric: But Dumbledore said that he unwittingly or unknowingly transferred powers to Harry that night. That was Chamber of Secrets. Jamie: And that’s different from the Horcrux. Eric: After he finds the diary. But Dumbledore says in Half-Blood that he knew then about the Horcruxes or kind of figured it out. But Dumbledore said he transferred powers, not that he transferred his soul or anything. Jamie: Harry’s scar, Harry’s scar can’t be the powers he’s got. The scar tells him when Voldemort’s close or it did, but the power he has can’t come from the scar, so it had to be part of his soul. Eric: No. I don’t know. Ben: I don’t know about that. Eric: Just because Dumbledore said it would be unwise to trust another living thing with your soul because you could probably do something about it. But then Harry could… Jamie: Exactly. He’s a person. Eric: Now he’s been practicing Legilimency against Harry, or Occlumency. Whatever. Andrew: What about the snake because Dumbledore said it could be a Horcrux. Jamie: Well he used the snake, didn’t he? Or he apparently used the snake. I mean you can’t trust Dumbledore, but if he did use the snake then he clearly… I don’t know because I think that brings in other implications about Voldemort because Dumbledore said that Voldemort couldn’t take it that he had his trust in another living thing, in another human being. Which is why he couldn’t drink the Elixir of Life, but if he used the snake then he’d have to trust her, or he’d have to trust the snake to always be… Well, I assume that it has some kind of knowledge or power (the snake), and intelligence. It isn’t just a snake. It’s like an updated snake with consciousness maybe. So he’d have to put some kind of trust in the snake not to tell people that his Horcrux was inside it. I don’t that Voldemort could bare to be reliant on another thing. So I think Dumbledore was wrong when he said that. Eric: Yeah, but one of the things if he did put it in Nagini is that he possessed Nagini or Harry had that dream where he was part of Nagini, so it kind of ties the Horcruxes together. If Harry had that dream that he was the snake when it bit Arthur… Jamie: Yeah, but that could go all wrong or something. Eric: Then Voldemort could possess all of his Horcruxes. But Voldemort could possess Quirrell without making him a Horcrux, so that doesn’t mean anything necessarily. Jamie: Yeah. He didn’t actually possess Quirrell, did he? It’s a strong word, possess. Quirrell knew all the time what he was doing. Eric: Okay. Jamie: He was doing it because he wanted to do it. Eric: Yeah. Jamie: Not because he had to. Eric: That’s a good point, Jamie. It’s a differentiation between possess and share a life with or share the back of a head. Jamie: Yeah. I think you could say that he was controlling him in some ways, but I don’t actually think he was possessing him. Perhaps then he couldn’t possess. Andrew: All right. Next voicemail. Yes? All right. I am afraid to get another one of those Billy Joe voicemails. Okay, here’s the next one. Ben: [Laughs] That was so funny. [Audio]: Hi! My name is Spencer and I would like to ask you if you think Hermione or Ron will die in the 7th Book? The reason I ask is because everyone who tried to protect or cared about Harry such as his Mom, his Dad, Sirius, and Albus Dumbledore all died trying to protect him. What do you think? And why? Jamie: I’m the strong believer in that theory that when Ron jokes about something, it comes true. In Prisoner of Azkaban, he joked that he was going to die. And I just can’t help thinking that that is going to come true. I think he has to be the closest to Harry now, especially in Half-Blood Prince when Harry was telling him what happened on the train with Malfoy. And he said it was a mark of strength of their relationship that Ron didn’t laugh. I think that was like JKR solidifying their friendship and saying how strong it was. I think if Ron died, Harry would go absolutely mad, and he couldn’t control himself anymore. I think to defeat Voldemort, he does need some anger. Ben: Yeah. Jamie: I think if Ron dies, that would completely kill him. Ben: Yeah. Jamie: But Hermione I also think, exactly the same thing. He’s a big friend, but not to the same extent. Eric: Hermione would go mad if Ron… Andrew: Ron is a very vulnerable character. And I am surprised nothing bad has happened to him. Ben: Why is he still alive? Eric: You know something else guys, the Mirror of Erised… Andrew: Yeah. Why is he still alive? Eric: The Mirror of Erised. Pretty much everything Ron saw has come true in that: Quidditch Caption, Head Boy, and all that stuff. Not Quidditch Captain. No, he’s seen himself better than the other Weasleys is what I am saying. Ben: He hasn’t been made Head Boy. Eric: If he dies. If he truly is a martyr in that sense, then he could be, he is the best Weasley son. Jamie: He’d be heroic. Eric: If he dies for something. Jamie: That’s an interesting point. Eric: Something along those lines, I think is supporting it. I don’t want to Ron to die. I really, really, really don’t. Hermione would be upset. The whole thing would suck even more. Harry and Hermione have always been close. They’ve been close, so they’d be able to share the loss. Well, everybody would. I don’t want that to happen, but that’s another thing. He could be the best of them all. Ben: I’m just curious. In Book 5, when Sirius died, or in Book 6, when Dumbledore died, did any of you guys cry a little bit? Did any of you guys tear up? Jamie: I did, and I am not ashamed to admit it. Andrew: The reason I wasn’t upset is because it was already spoiled for me. Ben: And me. Eric: I am not important enough to get a spoiler. So I was happy. I had a happy life. Jamie: I think it’s just the impact of it. Andrew: It’s so hard to avoid these spoilers. Eric: It really is. Andrew: They are everywhere. You can’t get online. We tried keeping up, but you know I was sitting here and I refused to check my e-mail that last week prior to Book 6 because I already had it, most of it. I knew Dumbledore was going to die. Ben: Yeah, same here. Jamie: Book 6, when I read the death it was about 12:00 PM and I hadn’t slept that night, so I was reading every single line three times before I realized I had read it. And I had to move on to the next one, so it didn’t really sink in until after that. I wasn’t really upset about that. Book 5 was a little better. I read some, fell asleep. I didn’t mean to. I was ashamed of myself for falling asleep actually. I woke up and read the rest and it was awful. Andrew: Well, according to your BBC Interview you read it in what? Four hours? Ben? Jamie: No, I didn’t say that. I said I was planning on reading it in four hours. [All Laugh] I couldn’t say: “Yeah, I’m going to start reading it, and then if I get hungry I’ll go and get something to eat and come back.” Andrew: You said that… Ben: The book is 870 pages! Jamie: What? Ben: The book is 870 pages! How could you read that in four hours? It’s not practical. [All Laugh] Jamie: Benjamin. Benjamin. Benjamin, haven’t you heard of speed-readers, laddie? Ben: What? Jamie: Haven’t you heard of speed-readers? You can read the book in like an hour. Ben: I know. Andrew: That’s not real reading. Ben: I know, but you’re talking out of you’re talking out of your behind. Eric: Speed-reading Harry Potter is an insult. Ben: Yeah, really. [All Laugh] Jamie: Of course it is, but some people still speed-read it. Andrew: How fast did Emerson kick it out? Him and Melissa? Jamie: Well, Melissa finished at about, she finished quite early because they got back to the hotel room before we did. Because we had to go to the bookstore and do some interviews. Ben: Oooooh. [All Laugh] Jamie: Oh yeah. I shouldn’t have said that. Eric: Ben is a Melissa/Emerson shipper. Jamie: Memerson shippers unite. Ben: Memerson. Andrew: Okay. I don’t think we need to talk about that again. Jamie: They got back to the room. Melissa finished at about 10:00 AM. Emerson finished about 1:00 PM. I finished at about 2:00 PM. It must have taken us 12 hours. We weren’t reading solidly for them, we had to take a rest and we have a cup of coffee and something to eat. We were reading, apart from that we were reading all the time. And that’s why it took me five goes to read one line sometimes. I could see the book twice. My vision was sort of hazy. But I kept going. I kept going. I was a fighter. [Audio]: Hi guys! This is Michelle from Washington. I love MuggleCast. I usually listen to it while I am at work. My question is what would stop Voldemort from creating more Horcruxes? We can assume he’s murdered a lot of people. How do we know that he didn’t shred his soul more than just seven times? Thanks. You guys rock! Keep up the great work! Jamie: You clearly can’t create an infinite amount of Horcruxes. Eric: No, because you get less soul. Jamie: You have to kill each time. You have to do the spell. And it has to weaken you every time you do it. But the thing is Voldemort could be so immersed in evil that it weakens him every time he kills somebody. Although I think it is a possibility that he’s creating more than seven, but that would severely stack the odds on Voldemort’s side. I just can’t bring myself to accept the fact that Voldemort could win. I really can’t. And I think that it would complicate things further and above how complicated they already are. I’d have to say that I think he’s made seven. Ben: We have to ask ourselves the question: Is it really possible to split a piece of your already split soul? Jamie: Yeah, of course you can. If you half something a billion times, you’ll still have half of what you previously had. So you see you can’t ever get down to zero. You can potentially split it indefinitely. Ben: Then why did you just say seven? Why wouldn’t he make a billion? Jamie: Because I just don’t think you can. You still have to have something inside you. Surely, after you get below a certain amount inside you, you just… Ben: You get below a certain amount of soul, you’re dead. [Laughs] Eric: You can’t function anymore. What I thought was interesting, according to Dumbledore, Voldemort didn’t have seven at the time of Harry’s parents murder. He didn’t. Jamie: No, he didn’t. Eric: So, if it was truly his amount of Horcruxes that stopped him from being killed, then I daresay what would happen now that there are seven. He didn’t have seven and he still survived. He only had six apparently. So with six Horcruxes that prevented him from dying from Harry. Ben: It didn’t matter if there were six. It just matters if there is one, he’ll survive. Eric: No, but he didn’t have seven. Ben: It doesn’t matter if there are seven. If there is just one, he’ll survive. Eric: What I thought was interesting was that Slughorn said: “Nobody has done more than one.” I wonder if Grindelwald or somebody had done a Horcrux in the past? Jamie: He’s so interesting. Grindelwald. Eric: They said Dumbledore was pretty fierce about Horcruxes. I don’t why, I’m thinking. Jamie: Yeah, he’s dead, but think about the date, 1945. Ben: Yeah, we know. World War II. It’s been rehashed a million times. Jamie: Yeah, but I think that’s interesting. Eric: What if the hat is another Horcrux? Jamie: Jo said it was significant as well. Yeah, but the thing is every time he creates a Horcrux he has to find another trophy to put it in. And you know, he can’t find possessions of the Four Founders over and over again. Andrew: Yeah, that’s true. Eric: Yeah, he can. He’s Voldemort. But yeah, he can’t find that many. Go on eBay and lookup… Jamie: Slytherin’s possessions. Eric: [Laughs] Slytherin’s possessions. Andrew: Somebody should sell a Horcrux on eBay. Eric: Beats Dumbledore on toast. Andrew: Be like: “I found one of the Horcruxes.” Ben: Yeah. Andrew: “I found it in my basement.” Eric: All right. I am going to do that. I’m going to find something. Ben: Sad this is, you probably will. Jamie: Good condition Horcrux. [All Laugh] Andrew: Or somebody listening to this will. Like the stupid toast thing. Remember the toast? There was one single piece of toast. Dumbledore, I think it was, on toast. Sure enough, I post it on MuggleNet. A day later, there’s like eight pieces of toast Harry Potter-related. It’s sick. And people buy them. Eric: How much did it go for, Andrew? Andrew: Oh. Jamie: It was a lot. It was actually quite a lot. Andrew: Oh, no. I’m pretty sure eBay took it down. Eric: Somebody find that out. Jamie: Really? Andrew: I’m looking right now. Jamie: Why, it isn’t illegal, is it? Andrew: No, it’s not illegal, but I guess eBay doesn’t care as long as they can take in the cash. [Audio]: Hi, MuggleNet! I’d just like to say I love the show. I have a question. How did Professor Slughorn know about Horcruxes? Do you think he received any Auror training? Do you think there were Aurors before Lord Voldemort came to power? Thanks. Andrew: Why don’t we just call this “The Horcrux Cast”? Because that seems to be the only thing we talk about these days. Ben: Well, I think it’s kind of obvious that he would know about Horcruxes due to the fact that he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. It seems logical that maybe he just read it in his studies. Thing like that. Andrew: Okay. Why would Dumbledore not know about them? Jamie: No, he does know about them. That’s just the thing. I think all witches and wizards do know about them, they just don’t talk about them. They are just not mentioned. Eric: It’s taboo. Jamie: It’s just a taboo topic. Eric: Yeah, taboo. Jamie: Every person knows about it… Ben: But they don’t like to talk about it. Jamie: They try not to tell all the children at an early age. Ben: Yeah. Jamie: Because they could grow really interested in it just like Tom Riddle did, and that’s a prime example. Eric: Well Jamie, I don’t think everybody does know about Horcruxes because Voldemort had to go really, really far to find one, to hear about them. Harry had to, especially too. Jamie: That’s true. Yeah. You have to trust them though, or they could turn him in. Eric: Tom did know links… Right, but you get the sense that Slughorn was one of the few, or at least around Hogwarts. Slughorn himself said Dumbledore himself knew about them, or at least he said Dumbledore was particularly fierce about talking about them, which means he knew about them. Jamie: Yeah. Eric: What Slughorn said what that wizards of a certain caliber have always been fascinated in dark magic. So, I’m sure there’s some people. Jamie: Exactly. Eric: But, I don’t think it’s everybody. Jamie: If Tom had talked about it to most teachers, he didn’t have a special relationship with them. They could have just told the Ministry about it. Eric: Well, you’re right. Jamie: And Tom Riddle would have been investigated, he probably wouldn’t have turned into Voldemort. The point is Slughorn liked the company of the rich and famous, and Tom Riddle knew how to flatter him. He did that so well that Slughorn didn’t even think about telling the Ministry, which is why he was able to learn all about Horcruxes from the right person. And he was able to create seven or however many he did create, and turn into Voldemort. Eric: Yeah, I like that. And Tom could really convince, and you’re right I don’t think Slughorn was the only one Tom could have probably asked without them telling the Ministry. Slughorn was a great choice, and it was a good thing. It was very lucky for Tom that he was Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Yeah. I don’t think he was the only one Tom could have went to without being reported to the Ministry. But Tom could flatter everybody, like he said in Chamber of Secrets. He said he’s always had a way of persuading people. I think it was truly that Slughorn was one of the only ones who would know, rather than the only one he could really approach. Andrew: Yeah, I agree. So that about wraps that up. Jamie, you got something for us? Jamie: Here’s my “British Joke of the Day”. A man walks into a bar with a piece of tarmac under his arm and he walks up the counter and says, “Yeah, do you think I could have a pint for me, and one for the road?” Ben: Although I’ve heard that one before. Jamie: Come on, laugh. Ben: That was stupid. Andrew: Stupid. Eric: Go on. Ben: That’s the end of the joke. [All Laugh] Andrew: BOOOO! It’s not tarmac, it’s asphalt. Jamie: Have you heard that? A man walks into a bar. Ben: A man walks into a bar with a of chunk asphalt under his arm… Jamie: ASPHALT? [Laughs] Ben: …and he walks up to the bar and he says, and he points to him and says, “I want one for me”, and then he points to the chunk of asphalt under his arm and says, “and one for the road”. Andrew: Oh, how clever. Ben: Well, that’s what you said. Andrew: Okay, I think that wraps up another exciting edition of MuggleCast. I’m Andrew. Ben: I’m Ben. Jamie: I’m Jamie, “The Man”. Eric: I’m Eric, “The Mate”. Andrew: Okay, so next week we plan on having a preview of the new Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Lego Sets, and we know a lot of you have been requesting another special edition with Leaky Cauldron’s Melissa Anelli. And our plan is to do a special mid-week episode, or I guess whenever the new trailer comes out, we’re going to do another Special Edition. Ben: Should be Friday. Andrew: This Friday? Ben: Yeah. Andrew: I guess it must be. But the problem is it has to be released online, doesn’t it? Unless we all go see it in theaters. Ben: That’s a good point, good point. Andrew: Everybody come over to my house and we’ll go see it. [All Laugh]
Andrew [Show Close with music in background]: So we’ll just have to wait and see. Once again, I’m Andrew Sims. Thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget if you’d like to contact us, find out more about the show, the hosts, check out our blog, subscribe to our feed, and do anything you can possibly imagine. Visit MuggleCast. We’ll see you next week.
Bloopers
Micah: Thanks, Andrew. We begin with Apple, who on Wednesday…I don’t know what I’m reading because I can’t see the sheet. Let’s just try and wing the news without the sheet. That’ll be a great idea.
Andrew: Micah is a feisty fellow!