MuggleCast 47 Transcript
Show Intro
Andrew [Show Intro with music in background]: Because you’re still waiting for that Hogwarts letter (thank you, Ally, 14, of Virginia) – this is MuggleCast Episode 47 for July 09th, 2006.
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Ben: Hello, everyone and welcome to MuggleCast Episode 47. I’m Ben Schoen.
Jamie: I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Laura: Jamie?
Ben: Silence.
Jamie: Sorry, I said my name. Ben start it.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Okay. I’m Laura Thompson.
Greg: And I’m Greg Porter.
Ben: Before we go any further, let’s go to Micah Tannenbaum for a look at this past week’s Harry Potter news stories.
News
Micah: A Canadian court ordered The Wyrd Sisters band to pay back WB’s legal fees incurred while fighting the original court case. The band says they are appealing the court’s decision and will continue to push their $40 million dollar lawsuit against Warner Bros.
A spokesperson from WB says that they are extremely hopeful that they will continue to prevail in this case.
Fans have speculated that HP 7 will hit shelves on July 07, 2007, and now an article by CNN Money describes how a 2007 release for the final Harry Potter book is just what the struggling American publisher needs. The company is optimistic that its profits won’t completely flat-line following the publication of Harry Potter 7.
And given Scholastic’s relationship with her, they should be in good position to work with her in the future.
Warwick Davis has let us know about a charity auction he’s holding in Peterborough, UK on Sunday, July 16th. The auction line up includes many exciting pieces of Harry Potter memorabilia, with the star item being a very rare, original “Quidditch World Cup Programme” as seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. What makes this one extra special is that it has been signed bye Daniel Radcliffe. Warwick will be personally auctioning off the items and complete information on the auction is available over on MuggleNet.com.
In the latest edition of Entertainment Weekly, the magazine offers their odds on various characters perishing in the final Harry Potter book.
Ron comes in at a modest 20-1, Ginny’s looking grim at 6-1, Hagrid isn’t getting any love at 3-2, Hermione seems safe at 50-1, Snape is in serious trouble at 2-1, Harry is in danger at 9-2, and Voldemort, well, has little chance with even odds. Wasn’t that a really feel-good segment?
ComingSoon.net has posted a new interview with M. Night Shyamalan, director of great thrillers such as The Sixth Sense, Signs, and more recently The Village. Now partnered with Warner Bros, Shyamalan was asked if he’s been approached to direct one of the last two Potter films. To hear his response, be sure to check out the full interview over on MuggleNet.com.
Speaking of the movies, more Order of the Phoenix set photos surfaced earlier this week. You can check out brand-new shots of Privet Drive, Hagrid’s Hut, and the Hogwarts Express over on our Main Page.
Finally, JK Rowling, president of the Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland (say that five times fast), was presented Thursday with a Doctorate of Laws by Aberdeen University for her generous and philanthropic work aiding Multiple Sclerosis research. So, congratulations are in order to Jo for this very prestigious degree!
That’s all the news for this July 09th, 2006 edition of MuggleCast. Back to the show.
Ben: Thanks, Micah. Before we move on to this week’s listener rebuttals let’s take a look at few announcements.
Announcements
Ben: By your MuggleCast t-shirt. Jamie, why should they buy a MuggleCast t-shirt?
Jamie: Because, because we haven’t ever told them before. So, I doubt many people would have bought those, you see.
Ben: Mhm.
Jamie: So, I thought we’d provide one new announcement so everyone can get their’s in time for Lumos and New York, which leads smoothly into our next announcement, doesn’t it Ben?
Ben: Yes, it does. We need you, if you’re going to be attending either LIVE podcast, either in New York City or in Las Vegas for Lumos, you need to visit LeakyMug.com and RSVP. Jamie, what does RSVP stand for?
Jamie: Right. My French accent is going to be ridiculously rusty. It’s “Repondez S’il Vous Plait!”, which is “please reply” or “reply please”.
Ben: Mhm. So, please reply. Let’s move on to our next announcement. Everyone, everyone, everyone please vote for us in the 2006 Podcast Awards. We are going for “Best Entertainment Podcast” and “People’s Choice”. So, you can do that by going to PodCastAwards.com and remember – announce us once every 24 hours so we have a chance to win a podcast award.
Laura: And go to California. [laughs]
Ben: Yeah, we want to go to California. Yes, that is what… [laughs]
Greg: Wait, wait, didn’t you forget “The Best Podcast Called MuggleCast Award”?
Jamie: Oh, yeah.
Ben: Oh, yes.
Jamie: Please vote for us in that category.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: It’s…
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Jamie: We really hope to win.
Greg: Vote against the others.
Jamie: Yeah, it’s going to be a… Yeah, but Greg, it’s going be – our main contender is that one called MuggleCast.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Jamie: It’s sort of – it’s between us and them.
Ben: We want to – there are some people over at this podcast called “Nobody Likes Onions” that I heard they really, really want to see us win the Podcast Awards.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: So, so please, please go ahead and vote for us at the Podcast Awards.
Another thing that you should vote for us for is vote for us on Podcast Alley because right now our friends over at PotterCast are beating us. So, we need you to vote, okay? So, please got vote for us at Podcast Alley. Right, Jamie?
Jamie: Yes, please do. Please do.
Greg: Remember if you vote for PotterCast it means you hate us.
[Laura laughs]
Greg: You don’t hate us, do you?
Jamie: And also, every time you vote for PotterCast, God kills a kitten.
[Laura laughs]
Greg: Yes, twice.
Ben: So, no voting for PotterCast. Vote for MuggleCast people. So, that wraps up this week’s announcements. So, in short, by your MuggleCast t-shirt, RSVP for Lumos, vote for us in the Podcast Awards and Podcast Alley. Here are this week’s voice rebuttals sent in by listeners who have feedback to give us on the past week’s show.
Voice Rebuttals
[Audio]: Hi, my name is Cheryl and I am calling from Santa Clara, California. And I’m calling as a listener rebuttal for MuggleCast #26 in reference to the Occlumency. And I side with Ben regarding the Pensieve and the memories are still stored in your brain. It’s just maybe the details of these memories are what you store in the Pensieve. The reason why I mention this is if you listen or re-read the chapter in Book 5, it does not clearly say that Snape is removing those memories from his brain for the lesson with Harry. He’s just doing it. Maybe he’s saving it to look it over the discussion they just had. But, nor does it state that he has to do it so that Harry doesn’t see. Otherwise, why would Harry suddenly see all his past about him being as a child, being beaten and all that. I’m sure Snape wouldn’t want him to see that, so either way, I just wanted to say I side with Ben on this and I do not think that just because you put it into the Pensieve you have no memory of it. Otherwise, how do you know what’s even in the Pensieve? You don’t even remember it is there. So, okay. Bye!
[Audio]: Hi, this is Christina. I’m in Pennsylvania. I actually have a listener rebuttal. You were saying how Dumbledore’s memories are in the Pensieve and you were talking about whether or not it is a copy or the actual memory. I think it’s more of a copy because if you remember his memory of the prophecy is in both the Hall of Prophecies and in his own Pensieve. So, what about that? I think it’s more of a copy and a compression inside your brain. Okay, keep up the show. It’s great! I love it!
[Audio]: Hello, this is James. I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and I was just noting on Episode 46 how you were talking that Jo do not want to leave it open for a sequel after Harry Potter 7. That could mean that Harry is going to die, however it could also mean the epilogue could take place far in the future with Harry looking back on his adventures and how he took down Voldemort and how he lived a happy life since then. That’s all! Great show! And I will talk to you.
Listener Rebuttal – The Final Battle
Ben: Okay, now it’s time for this week’s listener rebuttals – one’s that are sent in via e-mail by several visitors. I first listener rebuttal comes from Taya, 19 years old from Louisville, Kentucky.
After listening to you and the guys talk about the possibility of Snape saving Harry’s life in the final battle, I came up with a theory of how I think it’s all going to go down: There are lots of us out here who do not want to see Harry kill Voldemort with Avada Kedavra. One reason is because it would be rather boring. But another is that we just don’t want Harry to have to kill anyone…ever. So, here’s the solution.
During the final battle, Snape blocks a killing curse sent at Harry by Voldemort. He dies to save Harry. This then offers Harry the same protection that Lily provided him back at Godric’s Hollow. Thus, when Voldemort sends another Avada Kedavra at Harry, it rebounds once again…this time killing Voldemort, as he no longer has any Horcruxes.
I just think that there would be something very poetic about the story ending the way it began. I would love to know what you guys think. Thanks! I love the show!
Jamie: She… I really. Sorry.
Ben: Jamie, what do you think?
Greg: That’s why fan fiction exists.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs] Jamie, what do you think?
Jamie: I was going to say I really like the idea about poetic justice and the story ending the way it begun, but I think that is why Harry should kill Voldemort with Avada Kedavra. It would be a bad ending, but a good ending because of that. So, he’d have spent ages doing all his Horcruxes and then he’d just kill him quickly and it would be like – you would think, “Is that it?” But then, I just think it would work really well. Like Voldemort tried to kill Harry with the Killing Curse and it didn’t work, and but Harry kills Voldemort in the end. So, it kind of shows an inferiority on Voldemort’s part, whereas Harry can do it. I just think it will be nice.
Ben: Well Jamie, I just don’t think – I think there has to be something more to it than Avada Kedavra. I mean I agree with him, you really don’t want to see him kill anybody, but he is going to have to find a way to kill Voldemort anyway. And so…
Jamie: You have to remember that Avada Kedavra isn’t just Harry killing Voldemort. The killing process started ages ago when the prophecy was first told and doing the Horcruxes.
Ben: Right, right. Mhm.
Jamie: All that kind of thing.
Ben: I just can’t see when Voldemort dies or if he dies in the books, I just can’t see it ending that way.
Laura: Yeah.
Ben: I don’t know. Just, it doesn’t seem right to me for it just to be Voldemort misses a curse that is shot at him and he dies because… You know? I just think there has to be something more to it. And the theory that this person presents about Snape dying to save Harry, I don’t think that that can happen because the reason Harry survived when his mother died to save him was because of love. And it was out of his mother’s love.
Jamie: Harry, yeah. And Snape doesn’t kill him.
Ben: And Snape doesn’t love Harry.
Jamie: Yeah.
Ben: Snape’s doing it because he owes him a debt because of his father. So, I don’t think that is going to happen, but I do think there is something more to it than Avada Kedavra. Laura, did you have some thoughts on it?
Laura: Yeah, I think it’s been made pretty clear that Harry is the one that has to kill Voldemort and it would be kind of like Voldemort killing himself with his own curse if he shot it at Harry and it rebounded on him. I think that whatever curse or anything that happens, goes on, has to come from Harry. I don’t think rebounds count.
Jamie: I think that’s right. But, Ben, you talking about that Snape doesn’t love Harry so he couldn’t do it, I think that’s right. And, I mean, this is to digress slightly, but I think it brings up sort of important points in the books, that there are some things that even magic can’t change. Like, you can’t fake the love, so you can’t provide that type of protection to Harry if you don’t really love him, which is why it’s such a powerful charm.
Ben: Definitely.
Jamie: I mean, I like this theory, in that it provides a nice end for Voldemort, but I think even Avada Kedavra could be a nice end because that would sum up the entire killing process. It would just be the final step and I think it will kind of wipe out all the emotions that have been developed throughout the entire series.
Ben: Thanks to Taya for sending that in to us.
Listener Rebuttal – Voldy’s Upbringing
Ben: Now, moving on to our next Listener Rebuttal, which comes from Rose, age “Ahhh!” from Jacksonville, Florida.
[Laura laughs]
Laura: Last week whenever I was talking about Voldemort having inherited some kind of mental problem from the inbreeding of the Gaunt family, I wasn’t talking about him being less intelligent than anyone else. I was actually talking about that somewhat contributed to his deranged outlook on life. Because, if you look at it, serial killers tend to be very intelligent people, so just because someone has an issue in their head doesn’t mean that they’re stupid. As for you talking about Harry’s life versus Voldemort’s life, I agree with you completely and I’m not sure if this got thrown in last week, but I remember in Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore said, “How can you really feel sorry for Voldemort?” because he did have this predisposition to be evil and he did have a bad upbringing, but he could have overcome it, and he chose not to.
Ben: That pretty much sums up my thought on it. Jamie?
Jamie: But, could – I mean, the two things that I first thought when I read this was, Dumbledore talking about choice: that, even though Voldemort’s had the worst time ever, so has Harry. One chooses a different life to somebody who chooses another life.
Laura: Mhm.
Jamie: So, I think choice has to come into it. I just, I mean, this is really going in circles to what we talked about last week, but I just don’t think you can be born evil because it just completely destroys any chance of choice in the world and just suggests that fate and destiny take over everything, which doesn’t really seem to be a theme in the Harry Potter books. Well also, I was going to talk about that they mentioned that Dumbledore said that Tom Riddle was one of the brightest students ever. And the brightest, most evil people are the most dangerous people. If you look at, I mean, if you look at Hitler, he was absolutely terrible, but he was exceptionally clever, you know?
Laura: Mhm.
Jamie: Politically, financially, everything. He was one of the greatest public speakers ever, so I think that it’s all about choice, really.
Ben: It’s like Dumbledore said, “It is our choices far more than our abilities…”
Jamie: Exactly, yeah.
Ben: “…that shape who we are.” So, regardless to how they were raised they both chose their own paths and that’s how they ended up.
Listener Rebuttal – Mirror of Erised and Horcruxes
Ben: Our next Listener Rebuttal comes from Travis from North Carolina.
Jamie: Hmmm.
Laura: Hmmm.
Ben: No. I’m going to say no because the reason that he got the Stone was because…
Laura: Dumbledore made it that way.
Ben: Yeah, Dumbledore made it that way. So, if Dumbledore wouldn’t have made it that you could get the Stone from the Mirror, then it wouldn’t have happened. Now, unless Voldemort made the Mirror a Horcrux… I don’t know.
Laura: I don’t think so because, that would also require Dumbledore knowing – or whoever created the Mirror – knowing where the Horcruxes were, and I don’t think Voldemort would want to use something that Harry already knew how to use, clearly, from the first book.
Jamie: But, isn’t there a difference between using the Mirror to find the Horcruxes and using it to get the Horcruxes. So, he could look into it and see himself. If his deepest most desperate desire was to see where the Horcruxes were, he could see himself finding it. But, I think that it must take a lot to change your greatest desire from seeing your family, who he hasn’t ever known, to finding the Horcruxes. And also, surely, however much he wants to see where the Horcruxes are located, his deepest desire is always going to be over and above that, say, to kill Voldemort.
Laura: Mhm.
Jamie: So, even though he really wants to find the Horcruxes, he wants to kill Voldemort more. So, it could be like – it’s a Catch-22 situation with the Mirror. I think it’s possible, though. There’s got to be a loophole somewhere that allows him to do it.
Ben: Well, okay, the thing is, Jamie, is that – the thing is that if Harry looks into the Mirror and his greatest desire is to have all the Horcruxes, it’s not going to show him where the Horcruxes are. It’s going to show himself holding all the Horcruxes.
Jamie: No, no, no, because if his greatest desire was to know where the Horcruxes were located, not for him to have them all, then it would do. If his greatest desire – I mean, it depends on the wording and what his greatest desire is. If he really, really, really wants to be with the Horcrux, then it could show him with it, so then he’d know where it was. I think it depends on how you interpret a greatest desire like that.
Ben: That’s definitely true. But I just can’t see the Mirror being able to guide him to it because then the Mirror would have to have some innate knowledge of where it actually is located.
Laura: Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. You would kind of have to have a different point of view on what the Mirror can actually do. I mean, can it show you something that you don’t know? I mean, something that you have absolutely no knowledge of?
Jamie: Like, if you…
Laura: I mean, like if…
Jamie: …like if your greatest desire was know what the meaning of life was, could it tell you the meaning of life? I mean…
Laura: Yeah, along those lines. Or, if someone went and buried something, like a Horcrux, and you had no clue where it was, could it show you where that is? Because it’s not like it’s programmed into the Mirror to know everything. It’s not God.
Jamie: No, but I mean, I assume the Mirror hasn’t seen Harry’s parents before, but they obviously look like, I mean, I assume they look like what they look like.
Laura: Well no, I’m talking about – I’m talking about the Mirror reflecting things that you know.
Ben: Right.
Laura: And obviously, I think Harry must have some kind of knowledge of his family.
Ben: A recollection of what his people looked like. Well, that’s not true, though, because, don’t you remember Harry looking into the Mirror and saying he saw people who looked like him and who had eyes like his…
Jamie: Oh yeah, that’s true. That’s true.
Ben: …and had hair like his.
Laura: Yeah…
Ben: So, is it, but I don’t think – was that actually images of his family members or…you know? It’s all hard to explain because we don’t know the magical process that goes into actually propagating images to be reflected on the Mirror.
Laura: But, Ben, I think it was you…
Jamie: It’s a contradiction in terms, though. Sorry, go on.
Laura: I think it was you that said it a few episodes ago. That everything that happens when you’re a baby you can remember it, it’s just in a different part of your brain that’s pretty hard to access. So, what if Harry had recollections of these family members that he saw as a baby?
Ben: That’s true. That could be possible, yeah.
Jamie: But the thing is, it’s a contradiction in terms if Dumbledore says that the Mirror shows nothing less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. But then we say that it can’t show things it doesn’t know. It can’t do both. You know? If your greatest, deepest desire of your heart is to find out the meaning of life, it has to show it to you. But, that’s where magic comes in. We can’t explain this.
Laura: Mhm.
Ben: Right. Well, that was an interesting discussion. But do you guys – the final thing he addressed – do you think that we’ll actually be able to see the Mirror again?
Jamie: We do, don’t we?
Ben: And do you think that…
Jamie: Doesn’t Jo say it’s going to make another appearance?
Laura: No, that was the car.
Jamie: Oh really? You sure it wasn’t the Mirror?
Laura: The Ford Anglia. I’m pretty sure.
Jamie: Oh, okay.
Ben: Because I recall – I don’t know. Maybe, Jamie, you read the Galadriel Waters books…
Greg: Oooh.
Ben: …because she says, she says, “I think we’ll be seeing this Mirror again.” Except she had it backwards, kind of clever, like the Mirror of Erised has on it…
Jamie: Yeah, yeah. I remember something like that.
Ben: “I show your…I show not…’whatever’…but your heart’s desire…” Yeah.
Jamie: Why do we always ask questions on here that we don’t find an answer? We give one side, then we do the other side, and then we say, “Yeah, well it could be either way, really, couldn’t it?”
Ben: Yeah. [laughs] We need to start making bold predictions.
Laura: [laughs] Well, I’m kind of the opinion that you have to have some kind of knowledge of what your desire is. I mean, or at least some kind of opinion because, what if the Mirror reflects – if it reflects what you want, couldn’t it reflect your opinion, as well?
Ben: That’s true. But, Jamie…
Jamie: Yeah?
Ben: Jamie, how could the Mirror show you the meaning of life because if the Mirror could show you that, then you wouldn’t have the purpose of discovering the meaning of life.
Jamie: But, no…
Ben: The Mirror reflects your heart’s desire, and Dumbledore said that many of many men have wasted away before it.
Jamie: Wasted away before it, yeah. Entranced by what they see.
Ben: Yeah, so…
Jamie: But, if they are entranced by what they see, then it must be pretty damn powerful, the stuff that it can show. But I don’t see how it can show nothing less or more than the deepest, most desperate desire in your heart if it’s got limitations.
Ben: That’s… Yeah, good point.
Jamie: Yeah, yeah.
Laura: I think the limitations are based on the person looking in the Mirror, though.
Jamie: What? You mean it’s sort of…
Laura: I don’t they’re based on the Mirror, I think they’re based on the person looking in it.
Jamie: But, clearly from what Dumbledore says about that people have wasted away before it, it will show you whatever you want as long as you’re not – sorry, even if you’re not worthy of it. It will always show you your deepest, most desperate desire in your heart, even if…
Laura: Yeah, but couldn’t it show you the deepest most desperate desire in your heart as you would want to see it?
Jamie: Well, if…
Laura: Not as it would be, but as you would wish to see it?
Jamie: Well…
Ben: This is getting confusing, guys.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: It’s interesting, though.
Jamie: But, if your deepest, most – I’m trying to think about this while speaking, so sorry if it sounds stupid.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: If the deepest, most desperate desire in your heart is, say you – is say, a subjective view of yourself, then I think it will show you like that, but, I mean, obviously… Yes, of course, because, it shows Ron. It shows Ron…
Ben: As Quidditch Captain.
Jamie: Yes, Quidditch Captain. I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Laura: Mhm.
Jamie: So, it obviously shows stuff that can’t have a chance of happening, as well because if it’s what you desire most, it’s going to show it to you because…
Ben: Right, Harry sees his parents again.
Laura: Yeah, so…
Jamie: And…
Ben: And he’s not going to see them in real life ever again.
Jamie: But, as Dumbledore says, it shows neither truth nor something. So, it simply just shows what you really, really want.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Laura: Yeah. So, it shows it from your point of view.
Jamie: As the Spice Girls point out, the Mirror says to you, “So, tell me what you want, what you really, really want.”
Spice Girls [Musical Interlude]: “Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want what you really, really want. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really, really, really, wanna zig-a-zig ah…”
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: Jamie, Jamie, Jamie when I look in the Mirror, I see you.
Jamie: Really? Well, I see you as well, Ben. So…
Ben: Awww. Awww. Okay, well, thanks to Travis for that. That sparked a very interesting discussion.
Jamie: And we still haven’t come to a conclusion.
Ben: Yeah, we still haven’t really come to a conclusion. E-mail us your thoughts.
Listener Rebuttal – Does Alchemy Spell Hagrid’s Doom?
Ben: Our next Listener Rebuttal comes from Serenity – I like that name – age 16sixteen from Virginia.
Jamie: “Boil the land and burn the sea. You can’t take the sky from me.” Sorry.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Actually, around Book 5, Hagrid – all the bookies were taking bets.
Laura: Yeah…
Ben: …and I think Hagrid was the…
Jamie: They were. I was going to say that, yeah.
Ben: He was the number one person to go.
Jamie: He was number one, I think.
Ben: He had the best odds of dying.
Laura: He was.
Ben: So, it has been discussed before. So, I don’t know. I think the alchemy point about the red, white, and black…
Laura: Yeah.
Ben: …black, white, and red is very interesting.
Jamie: I think it’s interesting. It is very interesting. I don’t think we can depend on that as a main clue, though. I think we can look elsewhere to see it. Hagrid’s clearly part of Harry’s life now, and I’d like to think he’s going to be there when Harry has to do everything with Voldemort, but it obviously takes a lot to hurt him, as we see from the battle in Half-Blood Prince. So, I don’t see – I don’t know. It could be that Voldemort kills him personally to, you know, I don’t know…
Ben: I don’t think that…
Jamie: …just to like incense Harry.
Ben: Well, you see, she mentions how JK Rowling says she wants to kill off everyone who’s close to Hagrid so he’s left alone facing Voldemort? I don’t think she would have to kill Hagrid to accomplish that because what aid would Hagrid provide if he was battling Voldemort directly? You understand what I’m saying? If it was the case where he was battling Voldemort and Dumbledore was still alive, then Dumbledore would be able to assist him, and Sirius would be able to save him, because they’re both trained and qualified wizards. Hagrid was expelled in his third year, so what’s he going to do? Run at him with his…
Jamie: Exactly, yeah. He could hide behind him, and then sort of rugby tackle his legs and take him down so that Harry can…
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: Yeah.
Laura: But I don’t think that helping Harry defeat Voldemort necessarily means actually facing Voldemort.
Ben: You mean emotionally?
Laura: He could… Well, not just that. He could help Harry in so many other ways. He could hide him, he could travel with him. He could do so many things. He has such a vast knowledge of magical creatures. So, I think that…
Jamie: Yeah, exactly. He could help him, definitely, but I think it depends on… I mean, they make the point that Jo wants to get rid of all those people who Harry could depend on, but does that mean that she actually has to kill them, or that Harry just thinks that they aren’t there, at the time for him, that he’ll be better at facing Voldemort.
Laura: Well, I don’t think she literally means she’s going to kill everyone that he depends on because then…
Ben: That would mean Ron…
Laura: Yeah.
Ben: …Hermione, Ginny…
Jamie: Yeah.
Greg: Well, I don’t really see a reason to kill off Hagrid. Besides what you guys are mentioning, I just don’t see it.
Ben: I don’t think there’s a purpose in killing off Hagrid, personally.
Jamie: Of course they… Well, the one purpose, I mean, the main purpose for all these deaths is to show that it is a war and there are going to be casualties on both sides. You can’t just have Voldemort and all his Death Eaters dying, and everyone going home holding up Butterbeers shouting, “Hooray, we won the war!”
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Yeah, all right, but okay! In every book I think… I don’t know, I just enjoy… I just always… Like at the end of Goblet of Fire, after you know the climax of the book and the denouement – I think that’s what it’s called. Is that right?
Jamie: The what? Sorry?
Ben: The denouement?
Jamie: The what?
Laura: [laughs] Oh!
Ben: Have you heard that term, Laura?
Laura: Yeah. I think that’s right.
Jamie: What the hell is…
Ben: Denouement. It’s like after the climax, the sort of ease down.
Laura: Hang on, I’m going to look it up. [laughs]
Jamie: How do you spell that?
Ben: Dee-now-ment?
Laura: It looks like de-now-ment.
Jamie: Oh, denouement! [pronounced like de-now-ment] Yeah. How did you…
Ben: Denouement. [pronounced like de-new-MA]
Jamie: [laughs] How did you say it, Ben?
Ben: It’s denouement! [pronounced like de-new-MA]
Jamie: It’s denouement, [pronounced like de-NEW-ma] isn’t it?
Laura: Hang on, I’m looking it up in my dictionary. [laughs]
Jamie: It is de-new-mont. [pronounced like de-NEW-ma] No, no, no. It’s D-E-N-O-U-E-M-E-N-T. It is not definitely de-new-ma, or however you pronounced it.
Ben: It’s denouement! [pronounced like de-new-MA]
Laura: How’s it spelled?
Jamie: It sounds like – It’s D-E-N-O-U-E…
Ben: It’s D-E-N-O-U-N…
Jamie: No, O-U-E. O-U-E.
Ben: …M-E-N-T. No, it’s not.
Jamie: It’s de-new. D-E-N-O-U-E-M-E-N-T. Denouement.
Laura: Yeah! It’s denouement! [pronounced like de-NEW-ma]
Greg: Oh, wow.
Ben: Hold on.
Jamie: Ben, she’s the one checking it.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: See, this is what happens – this is what happens when you go to Moundridge High School, okay?
Jamie: [laughs] Ben, trust me, it’s right. I studied it a couple years ago.
Laura: Yeah, he’s right, Ben.
Ben: Denouement.
Laura: Denouement. Denouement.
Jamie: Isn’t it like a dead pan?
Ben: Denouement.
Jamie: Isn’t it like dead pan purging?
Ben: It’s the unraveling of the plot.
Laura: Yeah.
Ben: But anyway, in every book during the denouement… [pronounced like de-new-MA]
[Laura and Jamie laugh]
Ben: …Harry always goes and talks to Hagrid, and I just can’t see Hagrid not being there, you know? It just always seems like Hagrid’s the control throughout the entire series. He’s always there. It stays the same with him. And I just can’t see him dying. If he dies, I’ll be sad.
Jamie: I’ll be sad, too.
Laura: He’ll cry.
Ben: I’m sure Jo’s counting on that. She’s making sure she won’t kill anybody that will make me sad.
[Jamie and Ben laugh]
Laura: We’ll have to send tissues to the P.O. Box so that Ben can cry.
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah, and shoulders. And shoulders. If you can send some shoulders so that Ben can cry on them. [laughs]
Ben: Yeah, does anyone else have any thoughts about Hagrid dying?
Laura: I’m neutral.
Jamie: Please don’t let it happen.
Laura: I think it can go either way.
Greg: Yeah, I’m neutral, as well.
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah, same.
Ben: Me, too.
Jamie: I’ll remain neutral. So, again, one more point where we haven’t even nearly reached a conclusion.
[Jamie and Laura laugh]
Ben: Sorry about that. There’s so much evidence pointing both ways that it’s hard for us to pull it off.
Listener Rebuttal – Nicknames For Micah
Ben: Okay, well this is sort of a… This thing is… This next listener rebuttal-type thing has sort of turned into its own segment each week. People keep sending in new nicknames for Micah and, so, here are a few of them. We have Micahangelo, like either the Ninja Turtle or the artist. That was from Ryan, 18 of Virginia. And then there’s Mr. Baum-bastic or the Baum-ba-deer (Jordan, 15, Windermere)…
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: And then here’s my personal favorite: Micahphone. [laughs]
Jamie: Hey!
Ben: This is from JP, 16, of New Zealand. So yeah, send in your new Micah nicknames. Everyone, keep sending them in.
Greg: I still like La-baum-baum.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: [sings] La la la la baum baum. Sorry.
Jamie: Micahangelo is good. I like that.
Ben: Yeah, that is a good one. [laughs]
Jamie: He paints enormous frescos of Harry Potter news on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs] Well…
Jamie: Actually, I don’t even know if that was Michelangelo.
Greg: I better look it up.
PO Box Update
Ben: A little update on the PO Box. We have received one letter in the past week, and you know what, guys? Everybody? I blame myself for not acknowledging you enough on the show. So, as a result, sometime between the release of this episode and our Las Vegas podcast, I’m going to make a list of everyone who has ever sent in a letter to the PO Box, and I’m going to post that on the website. I have all the mail somewhere, so it’s just a matter of digging it out. And…
Laura: So Ben, are you going to have two separate lists? One for the stuff that you’ve actually sent and…
Jamie: Which would be – which would have nothing on it.
Laura: …and the stuff that’s still sitting in your closet?
Jamie: Ben? Ben?
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Ummm, no. Yes?
Jamie: Can I blame you, as well, on air? Because Ben hasn’t sent us anything that’s come into the P.O. Box.
Ben: No, I have! I’ve sent Micah his stuff, I’ve sent Eric, I’ve sent Laura, I’ve sent Andrew, I’ve sent Kevin.
Laura: Yeah, he’s sent me two Christmas cards and…
Jamie: Wait, so wait, you sent everyone’s except mine?
Ben: Yes, because I don’t feel like paying post to Britain.
Jamie: Ben, it’s not going to cost much for one letter.
Laura: Buy your MuggleCast T-shirt so that Ben can pay for the postage. [laughs]
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah. Please, yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: Well, the thing about the P.O. Box – I don’t have the letters in front of me, but thanks to Joel from Emmawatson.us for sending me some Subway gift cards.
Jamie: Ben! That’s your site! Ben! [laughs]
Ben: And I’ve gotten… I know! That doesn’t matter! That’s where he’s from, and he sent me Subway gift cards, okay? In the MuggleCast box…
Jamie: That’s like me saying thanks to Jamie Lawrence for sending me a Subway gift card. Thanks very much, Jamie, that’s really nice of you.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs] Any of your Subway gift cards are very accepted. They’re very much appreciated. The battle against childhood obesity for me continues to be waged. I’m now 15 lbs. lighter than when I started, so…
Jamie: Nicely done.
Ben: Applause! High five!
Laura: Yay!
[Everyone claps and cheers]
Greg: Yeah, those gummy bears that you were eating before the show.
Jamie: Yeah.
Greg: Those were definitely helping.
Ben: Hey, hey. Don’t talk about those. I know, those were. Okay.
Laura: Yeah, so…
Ben: Now it’s time… Well, go ahead, Laura.
Laura: No, I was just going to say, if you want to send your Christmas cards, send them now and they might get to us on time.
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: Yes. [laughs] So go ahead and start sending.
Jamie: Christmas cards for Christmas 2015. Send them now.
[Greg and Laura laugh]
Ben: Yeah, you guys are just a riot.
Greg: By that time we’ll be at MuggleCast 436.
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah.
Ben: Wow, did you figure that out, Greg? You’re good, Greg.
[Greg and Laura laugh]
Greg: I did that all in my head.
Main Discussion – Prisoner of Azkaban Foreshadowing
Ben: Now, it’s time for this week’s main discussion. An interview with David Heyman, Steve Kloves, Mark Radcliffe, and JK Rowling on the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD extra, November 23, 2004, JK Rowling had this to say:
[Audio]: “Alfonso had very good intuition about what would and wouldn’t work. He’s put things in the film that, without knowing it, foreshadow things that are going to happen in the final two books. So, I really got goose bumps when I saw a couple of those things, and I thought people are going to look back on the film and think those were put in deliberately as clues.”
Ben: What do you guys think that Prisoner of Azkaban foreshadowed in Half-Blood Prince, and what do you think it’s going to foreshadow in Book 7?
Ron and Hermione
Greg: In Half-Blood Prince, the obvious thing there was the relationship between Hermione and Ron, or the love there.
Jamie: Oh yeah.
Laura: Oh yeah.
Greg: That’s been foreshadowed everywhere just because it’s funny.
Jamie: That’s been – That was foreshadowed before the first book was even released.
Ben: Yes. [laughs]
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: Everywhere.
James and Lily
Jamie: Jenna wrote a really good editorial on MuggleNet. It was really good reading. I really enjoyed it. One quote particularly stood out. One from Sirius:
[Audio]: “It’s cruel that I got to spend so much time with James and Lily, and you, so little. Know this: The ones that love us never really leave us, and you can always find them in here.”
Jamie: I mean, have you read this editorial? It was really, really interesting.
Ben: Well, in the editorial, she brings up the fact that Sirius himself said this to Harry and it could be a huge clue. “Not only that, but it could easily be added into the film as a nice emotional line without knowing that it could serve a greater purpose. Not only do I think it could possibly foreshadow something to do with finding Sirius after his death, but we know that Harry’s heart is essential to power he must use to vanquish the Dark Lord.”
Jamie: Yeah.
Ben: So, what Jenna’s trying to point out here is that it foreshadows, perhaps, Sirius dying and then- I don’t know, I think it just…
Jamie: It’s to do with love, though. It’s clearly got something to do with the weapon that Harry uses against…
Laura: Yeah, it has to do with Harry’s power over Voldemort. Yeah.
Jamie: I just don’t know if he’s talking – I mean, obviously, he isn’t talking literally. Harry can’t open up his chest and find his parents in there.
Ben: Yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: But, I just – you know, it depends if it means he can find them; he can feel them saying, “Come on, Harry. You can do it.” Or if he can get some actual kind of power from them that helps him defeat Voldemort. I just don’t know if she’s talking literally – sorry – as in figuratively, or if she’s talking magically. You know?
Three Turns
Ben: I don’t know. In the movie, Dumbledore tells Harry and Hermione to retrace their steps when they go back in time.
[Audio]: Three turns should do it, I think. Oh, by the way, when in doubt, I find retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin. Good luck!
Ben: In the book, he says nothing of the sort. Could this be how Harry tracks down the Horcruxes, by retracing Voldemort’s steps that he’s shown in the Pensieve? What do you guys think?
Laura: Eh.
Greg: That’d be cool.
Laura: I just think it was an easier way to explain it on screen.
Jamie: Yeah, I agree.
Ben: Yeah, that’s definitely why. I don’t know, some people – I’ve brought this up before. It just seems like anytime that there’s something – people overanalyze stuff. I mean…
Laura: [laughs] Because we don’t.
Ben: They always take things…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: Ben, Ben, Ben! That’s a bit…
Ben: I know. It’s a podcast.
Jamie: That’s a bit hypocritical, isn’t it?
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: You’re in a podcast that is committed to overanalyzing every single theory on Earth.
Ben: Yeah.
[Greg laughs]
Ben: So, sorry about that. Don’t mail-bomb me, please.
[Ben and Laura laugh]
Ben: Okay. In…
Jamie: The thing about…
Ben: Go ahead.
Jamie: Go on.
Ben: Go on.
Jamie: No, you go if you want. Okay.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: The thing about this, is that I think it seems a bit too logical that Harry’s going to track down the Horcruxes by retracing Voldemort’s steps. We know logical is good because it gets you there, but Harry isn’t always the most level-headed, logical person. I don’t think he’d want to do that. You know? I just don’t think that’s the kind of thing he would do. Obviously, he has to find a base to go, but I think he’ll find that from asking people.
Ben: And I’m not quite sure how he can do it, how he can track people down through the – how he can track down the Horcruxes in the Pensieve because or, I don’t know. Maybe – I think he could utilize the Pensieve…
Jamie: Oh yeah.
Ben: …especially with the memories of Voldemort.
Jamie: It’ll help him, definitely.
Ben: Mhm.
Jamie: But, I just don’t know what…
Ben: In a way, I think that…
Jamie: …or how much is going to go into…
Ben: …I think Dumbledore’s lessons that he gives Harry in Book 6 are the way of – I think he had a feeling that he may not be around much longer, so he says, “Oh Harry, we need to… I need to give you as much knowledge as possible.” And that’s why the lessons were focused more on filling his head with knowledge rather than, “Hey, let’s go out, I’ll show you all these new advanced magic and advanced spells.”
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: It’s like, “Hey man, look at this! I just got this from a Toys R’Us! It’s the best spell ever!”
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Jamie: Okay, okay. This is going completely off on a tangent here, but I was – do you know Dumbledore – and I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, bless Dumbledore’s soul, but the thing that really annoyed me in Half-Blood Prince was how he seemed sort of holier-than-thou all the time with his… When they were on the boat across to the island, and Dumbledore said that Harry’s powers wouldn’t register compared to his, you know, and just stuff. And when they left Privet Drive and he said that he didn’t think he would be attacked because he’s with him. I don’t know. Those things just kind of got me.
Ben: What was interesting was…
Jamie: I don’t think Dumbledore…
Laura: He did that through the whole book.
Ben: Right, but what I thought was cool was that towards the end, he sort of… When he was – when Harry was transporting Dumbledore back to the castle shortly before Dumbledore was killed, Dumbledore says, “We’ll be all right…”
Greg: “I will be with you.”
Laura: Yeah, he was like, “I’m with you.”
Ben: …I’m with you.”
Laura: That made me cry! [laughs]
Jamie: But, why do you think, why do you think Dumbledore said all that throughout the entire book? Do you think it was to inspire Harry and trying to get him to better himself.
Ben: Well, confidence is everything in most situations.
Laura: Mhm.
Ben: You don’t want to be overconfident, but I don’t think Dumbledore is really being overconfident because…
Laura: I think he’s being honest.
Ben: Mhm. I mean, I don’t think… Would you have any… Put yourself in Harry’s situation. Do you think there’s anything to worry about when you’re with one of the most powerful wizards in the world? I wouldn’t be scared.
Jamie: Yes – no! No, but, no, but there is. That’s the point. Now of course there is. It’s got to a – it’s got to a point now where this war can’t be won by one man. Of course that’s something to worry about. I would not – even considering how powerful Dumbledore is, probably one of the greatest wizards ever to have lived, I would still feel vulnerable considering all that Voldemort’s done, everything he can do. In that cave, I don’t think it’s possible to feel safe, even if you’re with a million wizards with a billion wands each. [laughs]
[Ben laughs]
Jamie: And that kind of thing.
Ben: Yeah, you’re probably right. But, moving back to the topic at hand.
Jamie: Ben, can I just go back to that quickly?
Ben: Okay, go ahead.
Jamie: I think, also, it’s to tell Harry he isn’t even nearly ready to battle Voldemort. Because even though he has love and all these things, he’s simply not powerful enough magically. I think Jo would be doing an injustice if Harry fought Voldemort now and won. He simply can’t do it. I know in… It’s like in Star Wars – in Star Wars: Episode II – and I don’t want to draw a parallel to Star Wars as I’ve done before. I do obviously prone to draw parallels with Star Wars. [laughs] But it’s like when Count Dooku fights Anakin in Star Wars: Episode II. He isn’t powerful enough to beat him then. It doesn’t matter that it’s a film. He just isn’t powerful enough to beat him, and I don’t think Harry is now. And I think it could be Dumbledore telling him he’s powerful and he has what it takes, but he needs to improve slightly. He needs to get in gear.
Ben: Yeah, he does. [laughs]
Protector Snape
Ben: Okay, moving back to the main discussion about Prisoner of Azkaban foreshadowing things. We see towards the end of Prisoner of Azkaban where Snape stands in front of Harry, Ron, and Hermione to protect them from the werewolf Lupin. Do you think that Snape could some way sacrifice himself, especially with the new vicious werewolf that we get introduced to in Half-Blood Prince, Greyback. Do you think that it’s likely or a possibility that Snape could get in the way when Greyback is attempting to attack?
Jamie: Couldn’t that just have been adult instinct, though, to protect them from – it’s just his instinct to jump in front of children and protect them from an evil. I mean, I know what you mean, that the way he did it – he put his arms around them and tried to protect them. But it could be his instinct as a teacher taking over, you know?
Laura: Mhm.
Ben: Yeah, that’s true, too. Laura, do you have any thoughts on it?
Laura: I think it’s possible. One thing that I think is probably important to point out was in the book, Snape was knocked out, and in the movie they had him wake up. So I don’t know if they did that for the specific purpose of maybe kind of symbolizing the life-debt that he feels like he owes to James and, therefore, onto Harry, or if it’s some kind of foreshadowing for Greyback. But I don’t know. I think that it would be…
Jamie: Yeah.
Laura: I think it would be more of a poetic justice type of thing if it were Remus that saved them from Greyback than Snape.
Jamie: Yeah, I agree.
Ben: Especially since – wasn’t Lupin bitten…
Laura: Yeah, he was bitten.
Ben: …by Greyback?
Jamie: Greg, do you have anything to say?
Greg: It could go either way.
Laura: [laughs] Again.
Greg: It’s an interesting concept.
Ben: I love – Greg is Captain Obvious.
Jamie: Yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Every week.
Greg: I am.
Ben: “You know, I think something might happen with that, you know?”
[Everyone laughs]
Greg: “I think it’s possible that something is possibly going to happen in Book 7…
Jamie: Hey, guys. [laughs] Yeah, that’s a…
Greg: …involving a werewolf in general.”
Jamie: That’s a…
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: That’s a pretty solid theory there, Greg.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: And grounded in significant evidence. That’s definitely going to happen.
Greg: Hey, I go about these things with the hope that nobody will ask me any questions.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Greg: Then I’ll just be able to make jokes and laugh.
Jamie: It’s a good way of doing it. It’s a good way of doing it.
Lupin and Harry’s Conversation
Ben: We all know that love plays a central theme in the books, and Harry’s mother’s love for him is what saved him in the beginning, back when Voldemort showed up at his house that night. But in Half-Blood Prince, we learned that everyone – pretty much everyone had a crush on Lily Evans. And in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie, Harry has a conversation with Lupin about Lily.
[Audio]: Oh yes. I knew her. Your mother was there for me at a time when no one else was. Not only was she a singularly gifted witch, she was also an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in others, even and, perhaps, most especially, when that person could not see it in themselves. And your father, James, on the other hand, he [laughs] – he had a certain, shall we say, talent for trouble? A talent, rumor has it, he passed on to you. You’re more like them than you know, Harry. In time you will come to see just how much.
Ben: And do you think that this was foreshadowing Slughorn saying that “to know Lily was to love her” comments in Half-Blood Prince?
Jamie: I don’t think it specifically foreshadows that. I think that it could definitely be foreshadowing something because they clearly overemphasize – well, not overemphasize, but really emphasized it in the film. Lupin’s conversation through the forest and on the bridge. I mean, it’s clearly – the thing about Lily, is that, it’s clearly an important thing that’s going to prove really, really significant in the seventh book. I don’t think it’s foreshadowing anything specifically. I think it’s just again emphasizing how important Lily was, and the color of Harry’s eyes, obviously.
Laura: I think it was just going off of what we knew about Lily from previous books.
Jamie: Yeah, I think that’s right.
Laura: Because especially in Order of the Phoenix, we saw that even though she wasn’t particularly fond of Snape, she still stood up for him. And I think they kind of took that in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. They kind of enhanced the perception of how gentle she was.
Jamie: Yeah, I think that’s right.
Ron and Hermione…Again
Ben: You guys mentioned this earlier, but the Hermione-Ron relationship definitely gets foreshadowed in the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Greg: It’s foreshadowed everywhere in every movie, though.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Yes, Jamie said that it was foreshadowed before the start of Book 1. [laughs]
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah, it was.
Greg: [imitating Hermione] “Grab on! Oh my gosh! I just grabbed your arm!”
Jamie: I think it’s…
Greg: [imitating Ron] “Quit touching my arm!”
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: Do you think it’s less foreshadowing now? I mean, I personally think, especially from the third film, it’s less foreshadowing and more actually getting into it. Because there’s a point when things are actually happening and it’s not foreshadowing anymore. You know?
Laura: Mhm. Because, I mean, especially now, Jo doesn’t really have time to foreshadow things. Things have to either happen or not.
Ben: Right.
Jamie: So, I think it’s more getting into it.
Ben: Well, Book 7 can’t foreshadow anything more [laughs] unless it happens later on in the book, if you understand what I’m saying.
Jamie: Yeah, oh yeah.
Ben: Definitely. Because I was just reading Half-Blood Prince not too long ago, and I noticed that in the early on, you can definitely tell the romance stuff that is going to happen because…
Laura: Oh yeah.
Ben: …you see Harry get jealous of Ginny; he starts thinking about Ginny a lot more. You see Ron and Hermione. I don’t know. You see Ron trying to show off in front of Hermione a lot more, and…
Jamie: But, also…
Ben: …it’s definitely…
Jamie: But, also, they had time to do that kind of stuff then. Now, it’s either fight or flight. They either get married – oh wait, this is a bit, sort of ultimatum-like. But they either get married or they don’t because the seventh book, they can’t say, “Well, let’s see how it goes.” Because A: there’s a war going on, and one of them could not be there right at the end. And also, Jo doesn’t really have time. She’s got to tell us what’s happening with them. So…
Ben: Do you guys think that Ron and Hermione might actually get married, or do you think they’ll just be together?
Laura: Well…
Ben: Could you see a marriage actually happening in the early parts of Book 7?
Laura: [laughs] I don’t think if anyone gets married it’s going to be during the course of Book 7. I think we’ll see it in the epilogue. I think that…
Ben: Well, you see…
Laura: …getting married at 17 would be…
Ben: …it’s kind of like war.
Laura: Yeah, but getting married at 17 – can you even do that?
Ben: People went off to World War II for the draft – of course you can. In the magical world, you become of age at 17. And when people were leaving for the draft for World War II here in the US, we heard about all these marriages; people barely even knew each other, they get married before they left, and…
Jamie: Wait, exactly. And it has to be…
Ben: …you know, because it was their only chance.
Laura: That’s like what Bill and Fleur did, though.
Jamie: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Laura: That’s what they did, and I don’t think that she’d need to show us that again. She’s already shown us that aspect of the war, and I just don’t think that if Harry and Ginny or Ron and Hermione were going to get married, we’d see it until that epilogue because she said that everyone who lives, we’re going to find out what happens to them after the final chapter of the war.
Jamie: Yeah, that’s true. That’s true.
Ben: Good point, Laura. Good point.
This Week in Potter: The Goblet of Fire Book Release
Ben: Now it’s time for this week’s This Week in Potter. On July 8th of 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released. It’s weird to think that it was six years ago.
Jamie: It is.
Laura: I know.
Ben: Jamie Lawrence, where were you? On July 8th – July 7th at midnight.
Jamie: Where was I? Goblet of Fire… Well, it’s quite shameful for me to say this, but I was probably tucked up in bed, thinking ‘I’ll buy my copy tomorrow, there’s no rush at all.’ How wrong I was, of course. Now, it’s all about getting the book first, reading it first. You know? Those kinds of things. It’s not, it’s not. But, yeah, I think I was tucked up in bed, thinking about anything but Harry Potter, which I’m ashamed to say.
Laura: Blasphemy.
Jamie: It is blasphemy.
Ben: Where were you at, Laura?
Laura: Well, I was 11 years old, and I had just moved to Georgia. So, I was lonely and I had no friends, and I was at…
Ben: That’s still the same, in a way.
Laura: Shut up! No, I was at Zany Brainys. Zany Brainy is this – for those of you who don’t know it’s this huge toy store – and I don’t know where all they have them, but they have them here. And some of them have multiple floors, and I went, and they just had a huge Harry Potter party, and that’s where I was.
Greg: Awww.
Laura: I know, all dressed up.
Greg: I was at…
Ben: Where were you, Greg?
Greg: I was at the Borders in Beldin Village Mall or near Beldin Village Mall.
Ben: How old were you then, 11?
Greg: I forget – yeah, it was something like that. But, I had just read the first three books within three weeks before the Book 4 released.
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: My story is not very exciting. I had not read a single Harry Potter book then.
[Everyone gasps]
Greg: Oh my gosh. We have to kick you off MuggleCast, you’re not allowed on here anymore.
Laura: We’ve got to stone Ben, now.
Ben: Hey, hold on. Hold on, though. I do remember July 7th at 11 PM. I was sitting in my living room watching Nightline with Ted Koppel. It’s A good American TV show on ABC. Anyway, there was a big story about the Harry Potter phenomenon, and it showed people lined up at Barnes and Noble, getting ready to get the books and stuff.
Jamie: And Ben thought, “You sad, sad people, why would you ever line up?” And then one year later, it was him.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Yeah, yeah, kind of. It was almost that way. And then my mom leans over – my mom was watching TV with me – and she says, “Hey, are these books really that great?” I was like, “Oh yeah, I’ve read them all.” I just lied to her because I don’t know why I did. But I told her I read them all and I really hadn’t. And so yeah, that was before I even got into Harry Potter. I didn’t get into Harry Potter until December 2002. So, it was almost two-and-a-half years after the release of Goblet of Fire when I first picked up a Harry Potter book.
Jamie: You shouldn’t be telling people these things; they’ll lose faith in us.
Greg: You’re a horrible person, Ben.
Ben: No, they won’t. I went all out, though. I joined right up at MuggleNet.
Jamie: You got right in there.
Ben: Joined the Executive Committee.
Greg: Ben, I don’t think I can talk to you anymore, I have to go. I mean, my entire opinion of you has changed.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Oh, Greg.
Warwick Davis Interview
Ben: Earlier this week, Jamie, Andrew, and myself sat down with Warwick Davis, who plays Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films, and here’s the interview that we did with him.
Andrew: So, we are now joined by Warwick Davis, who as many of you know plays Professor Flitwick, and several of the Gringotts goblins in the Potter films. And, recently, he’s played roles in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Ray, and will reprise his role as Flitwick in Order of the Phoenix. So, welcome, Warwick. How are you doing today?
Warwick: Thank you very much, I’m doing well, thank you.
Andrew: Okay, good. Thanks for joining us on the show today.
Warwick: It’s a pleasure.
Andrew: And Jamie, want to get right into the questions?
Character Change
Jamie: First question: I know quite a few people asked you this, Warwick, especially at Collectormania – I know you got a lot of people who came up and just asked you this straightaway – but can you elaborate on why Warner Brothers changed the appearance and clothes of Flitwick between films?
Warwick: Okay, this is something that when it happened, I knew it was going to cause a lot of confusion amongst fans of the movies, and finding a very sort of straightforward and short explanation is quite difficult. When it came to the third movie, of course the looks of the whole films had changed. Alfonso really wanted to put his mark on the films. And then a lot of things altered: anything from character looks, to the actual layout of Hogwarts itself. And another thing was happening at the same time. There wasn’t really anything for Flitwick in the script at all, and I got a call one day from the producer, saying basically, “There’s nothing for you, but we’d love you to be in the film all the same. How do you fancy coming in and doing a kind of cameo in the movie as somebody else?” And I said, “Well, that’s great, thanks for asking. I’m always thrilled to be part of all of this, anyway.” So, I went in for a meeting with Alfonso, the director, and Nick Dougland, who’s the make-up supervisor, and we came up with this new look for this character who would be basically the conductor of the Frog Chorus in the Great Hall. And so, we went with that. When it came to making the fourth movie, Mike Newell really wanted to use the character he’d seen in number three for me, and I was quite a bit more on that movie. I was on it for 45 days, so there was a lot more stuff going on. So, I started to raise the question, “What is this guy called? Who is he?” He was known as the choir conductor in three, was he still that? I wanted to figure that out, and they said “Okay, now we’ll call him Flitwick.” And I said, “Well, possibly that’s going to cause a bit of confusion.” But they say, “No, that’s what we’ll go with. We’ll go with Flitwick. All the looks have changed, it’s now a bit more kind of 1950’s-styley, so we’re going to go with that.” So, hence he became Flitwick. I like to think – in my mind – that perhaps this is a relative of Professor Flitwick; this is perhaps a brother, or a cousin. He’s not a professor, either, he’s just Flitwick and he teaches magical music. That’s my justification for it, in my own mind, because it’s a question I get asked all the time.
[Everyone laughs]
Warwick: So hopefully, now, this has set the record straight there. [laughs]
Jamie: That’s cleared up, yeah. Do you prefer one to the other, or do you just see them as completely different? You can’t compare them; they’re played differently.
Warwick: I see them as being very different, to be honest. I’m very fond of the old Flitwick. It was so fun playing something that’s so – there are pluses and minuses for each one. The old Flitwick is fun to play, it’s fun playing somebody so totally different from yourself, and I was kind of fond of the old guy, really, in a way. But the new Flitwick allows me to be a lot more active and stuff. I wouldn’t imagine the old Flitwick crowd surfing, somehow.
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Warwick: I’ll tell you about the crowd surfing now, while we’re on this. That scene came about purely because I made a joke to Michael Newell. We were doing the sequence in the Great Hall; it was the best few weeks, that was fantastic. It was very near Christmas we were shooting that and it was just such a wonderful atmosphere with all the dancing and music, and we of course had Jarvis Cockerin and all the Radiohead guys there. It was really a great sequence to shoot. And I suggested, I knew they were going to do this mosh sequence. I said “Wouldn’t it be funny if as the music started, Flitwick kind of crowd surfs?” Mike Newell of course just chuckled, and said “Oh, silly stuff.”
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, definitely.
Warwick: Then he said, “Actually, leave that with me.” And I said, “What?” Anyway, on Monday, he came back in again after the weekend and said, “You know what you said? We’re actually going to do that.” I couldn’t believe it.
[Everyone laughs]
Warwick: I just couldn’t believe it. So, that’s how that got into the movie. It was purely because of me messing about. And there’s so much stuff that was never used, whether any day you’ll see it, but there’s loads of stuff of Flitwick air guitaring.
Andrew: Oh, really? Really?
Warwick: There’s just hours of stuff of me messing about, having a good time.
Andrew: Uh huh.
Warwick: So, you never know, it may come back to haunt me in the future.
[Andrew and Ben laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, it always does.
Order of the Phoenix
Ben: Warwick, Warwick, have you had a chance to be on the Order of the Phoenix set yet?
Warwick: I have. I’ve done a couple of days there. I don’t have a huge amount of work to do on this one.
Ben: Well, could you describe the atmosphere in comparison to the previous films?
Jamie: Is it darker, specifically? I mean, because the book’s obviously a lot, lot darker. I know quite a few fans are wondering, is it going to be a complete change from the other films? Because obviously they’ve got darker as the series has got darker and the content has got darker. It’s turned from a more fantasy-like story, into a real world war-type thing. So, do you think that the atmosphere on set, and the way the people are portraying their characters reflects this?
Warwick: For me, I haven’t noticed really a change in the atmosphere, to be quite honest. In all of the other movies, we’ve had very dark times, scenes that were very moving, and emotional, and dark to do. I’ve not noticed anything particularly more so on this film, certainly. We’ve got quite a few different crew on there, and that sort of thing, and that really is the only difference. We’re back in familiar surroundings, familiar sets with cast members who I’ve been working with for the past – what is it now? Six years? So yeah, it doesn’t feel that different to be quite honest. No, I wouldn’t say.
David Yates
Andrew: What’s the new director like, David Yates? Have you had much time to work with him?
Warwick: Yeah, he’s very different; again, all the directors have been a complete contrast to each other, but they all bring something very special and unique to the projects. He’s very particular. He’s very detailed. He’s very thorough in his direction as well, and so I’ve enjoyed the work that I’ve done with him so far.
Jamie: Do you like changing directors? Because they’ve clearly all got different styles. Do you like that type of thing or do you prefer sticking with one style throughout the series?
Warwick: No, I think that all the directors bring something pretty fresh to the projects, and put their own unique stamp on Harry Potter, and I think it’s all for the better that each one of them does that.
Jamie: Because, I liked the first two; I thought they were good in what they did, but I prefer the darker, more serious directing.
Warwick: Mhm.
Jamie: But, I suppose that comes with the film. The first book isn’t as dark, so then the first film shouldn’t be.
Warwick: That’s right, and all of the characters are growing up as well, so the subject matters are going to become more adult as they do so.
Jamie: Yeah, definitely.
Warwick: I think the films have grown up with the characters, and then with the actors in turn, so I think that probably will be a continuing kind of curve as we go on into the other two books, which at this point, nobody knows whether they will become films or not.
Andrew: Right.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: But, I’m pretty sure that they will though. I know nothing of that.
Filming
Jamie: Have you filmed any of your scenes? Obviously we don’t want to ask you something that you can’t answer, but if you could give us some type of insight, it would be nice.
Warwick: I can’t really say very much. I have filmed some scenes and they were scenes in the Great Hall. That’s pretty much all I can tell you at this point. [laughs]
Andrew: Okay.
[Warwick laughs]
Jamie: Oh, excellent. Okay.
Warwick: And that building is a great building, you know. It’s a set down in Leavesden Studios in London, and it’s like no other set I’ve been on because it is like it’s a real building. It has history now; it’s got six years worth of memories for me playing all sorts of scenes in there, from great banquets in the first movie, to a funeral scene, and then a Yule Ball. It’s gone through so many transformations…
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: …and has had so many different scenes played in there that, you know, itself is a historical building. It will be very sad if they don’t kind of preserve it in some way after all this is over because it’s wonderful to walk in there. It is exactly as you see it in the movie. This is what’s great about everything you do on Harry Potter. It’s as you see it.
Jamie: So, does it feel like the Great Hall to you, or does it still feel like you’re filming in a building that changes?
Warwick: No, it feels… It feels like the Great Hall to me because when you’re in there and you’re performing a scene, you very much, kind of – you’re just so into the scene and into the character and what’s going on, that’s how you see it.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: So, it has basically become that for me. You know, I go in there, I have all the memories and all the feelings, and it smells like the Great Hall…
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: …and it’s got all of that history about it. So, it’s a pretty unique place. It’s fantastic. Although it doesn’t smell quite so good sometimes, actually, now I’m thinking about this.
[Andrew, Ben, and Jamie laughs]
Warwick: On the first movie, we used these banquets in there, and we used real food. All of this stuff you see is real. There are huge turkeys and…
Andrew: Is it? Really? Is it?
Warwick: …and all of the pigs and all the things you’re eating there, it’s all real. But after, kind of, days two and three, the food is the same food.
Jamie: A week’s old! [laughs]
Warwick: Yeah. And they don’t replace it. They just kind of gloss it a bit and make it look fresh again, and they just kind of go around each scene and say, “Do not eat the food, remember.”
Andrew: Mhm. [laughs]
Warwick: And you wouldn’t anyway because the smell [laughs] is quite unreal.
Jamie: Six days. Oh, that’s good. Because, I mean, I like those kinds of grand filming locations, because in our university in Durham, we spend quite a bit of time in the cathedral…
Warwick: Mhm.
Jamie: And I know there’s been a filming done there. In one part of the cathedral…
Andrew: Oh, really?
Jamie: …I think, was used in filming the first film, was it? Or was it the second film, or something.
Warwick: I know they have been to Durham, yeah. I went down to Gloucester at one point. I know they went to Durham.
Jamie: I just think it’s brilliant how they can get all these real world churches and cathedrals and sets and just turn them into what looks like a magical place. So, I just think it’s brilliant.
Warwick: Well, absolutely, yeah. That’s right. We used the cloisters, actually, down at – in Gloucester Cathedral, and it does look like a corridor in Hogwarts, you know? It saves building a set.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: It has a certain kind of authenticity to the stone, of course, because it’s real stone, and it all works. It works rather well.
Is Professor Flitwick Your Best Role?
Ben: Do you think – is Professor Flitwick the kind of character that you would like to be remembered for, or does one of your other previous roles stand out for you?
Warwick: Well, I’ve been very lucky. I’ve had a lot of pretty good roles in my career to date. I mean, I’ve had a lot of roles that are memorable for one reason or another. You know, Wicket in Star Wars.
Ben: You were the Leprechaun, correct?
Warwick: Oh, yeah. That’s right. I’ll come to him in a moment.
[Ben and Warwick laughs]
Ben: Okay.
Warwick: We’ve got Wicket in Star Wars, who is a character that is, kind of – a character that a lot of people grew up with, a lot of kids or a lot of grown-ups now, have said, “Oh, I used to have a teddy of Wicket and loved the character,” and all those sort of things. So, he did have – he certainly made his mark there with people in the world. And then, of course, you’ve got the film Willow, which is still really, really popular.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: Now it’s come out on DVD. You’ve got people who have now grown up themselves and have kids. They’re handing on that movie to the kids and saying, “I grew up watching this. Check it out.” So, it’s becoming sort of a generational type of film, and still, but it’s more popular now than it was when it came out, so I have a huge amount of sort of recognition, still, from that.
He’s The Leprechaun
Warwick: And then, coming on now to The Leprechaun, that has sort of its own band of insane followers throughout the world.
Ben: I’ve seen a lot of those movies. Those are very good.
Warwick: Yeah, well, [laughs] thank you!
Jamie: I actually saw them really recently. I thought they were excellent. I was sort of flicking through the films, and it said, “Warwick Davis stars as the Leprechaun,” so I thought, well, I’ll watch this. You know?
Warwick: Yeah. [laughs]
Jamie: And it was sort of 2 AM and the lights were off.
Warwick: Yeah. It… They’re just kind of crazy just kind of – I suggest people take their brain out and put it in the fridge and then watch the movie…
[Andrew laughs]
Warwick: …because it’s not a thinking kind of movie. It’s just: get on, and have fun, and enjoy it. And they are gradually becoming cult movies.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: They’re showing over here on the Horror Channel now so that people in the UK are now getting to see the movies. They weren’t released here, you see, on DVD very widely, so people here were kind of crying out to get a hold of them, but now a lot of people have seen them. I am constantly asked, especially when I go to America, to record voicemail for people as the Leprechaun.
Jamie: Oh, as the Leprechaun, yeah.
Warwick: That’s quite… [laughs]
[Andrew and Jamie laughs]
Jamie: You – the third Leprechaun film, did you actually film in Vegas? Is that right?
Warwick: That’s right. We did. We went to Vegas, just for one day though – one night shoot in Vegas…
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: …because they’re fairly low-budget movies and it’s quite expensive to shoot there, so we – the film actually licensed lots of slot machines into California and built a set in a hotel…
Jamie: Oh, okay.
Warwick: …in downtown L.A. It was actually the Ambassador Hotel. It was the hotel where one of the Kennedys was assassinated in the kitchen, down underneath? The very thing…
Jamie: Oh, okay. Yeah.
Andrew: Uh huh.
Warwick: The hotel where the very first Oscars were held, I believe. So, we shot in there, and then we went to Vegas for one night. We had no permits to shoot, and they basically walked me out into the middle of The Strip that runs through the center of Las Vegas and said, “Right. Try and pretend you’re kind of hitching a ride,” and then just shot the reactions of people…
[Jamie laughs]
Warwick: …and of what I was getting up to. They sent me walking into casinos and out again, just did all of this stuff, you know, as it was happening kind of thing. And it was – it was fun to do because by then the people knew the character, but I just thought I was going to get attacked…
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: …by some crazy man.
[Andrew and Ben laughs]
Warwick: It’s – yes, I’ve certainly done a huge variety of different things on those movies as well; it’s anything from rapping to…
Jamie: The Elvis…
Warwick: There’s the Elvis thing as well, exactly.
Jamie: Yeah, that’s right.
[Andrew, Ben, and Jamie laughs]
Warwick: So, they – they’ve been very good to me, those films, and people are crying out for a seventh one. There’s actually kind of a spoof, a little trailer, on the Internet at the moment with “Leprechaun versus Wishmaster,” which is quite amusing to see.
Jamie: Oh! Is that – is that with Andrew Divoff? Is it?
Warwick: It’s the guy – what they’ve done…
Jamie: The Wishmaster ones…
Warwick: They’ve taken clips from both the movies and put them together as if it’s a trailer for a new film, and it’s been very cleverly done.
Jamie: Oh.
Warwick: You know, you could be convinced if you didn’t know otherwise.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: But people will want a “Versus” movie. They want a “Lep Versus Chucky” or something like that. That’s…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: That would be good. That would be good.
Warwick: Whether this will happen, I’ve no idea, but we shall see.
Jamie: I suppose it’s the kind of film where there are all different possibilities that could come from it, whether it’s sequels or versus or…
Warwick: Mhm.
Jamie: Or things like that.
Warwick: Yeah, you could go on and on, because at the end of each movie, he dies, you see, the Leprechaun always dies.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: There’s no explanation at the beginning of the next on what happened [laughs]. He’s suddenly in space…
[Andrew and Jamie laughs]
Warwick: …or he’s in the hood.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: It doesn’t need explaining. It just happens.
[Andrew, Ben, and Jamie laughs]
Other Films
Jamie: Are you in the process of appearing in any other films now? Do you have any projects lined up?
Warwick: What’s going on for me at the moment? Let’s think about this… I just did my episode of Extras. You know? Ricky Gervais’s show, Extras?
Jamie: I do.
Andrew: Oh, yeah.
Jamie: I love – I love him. He’s so funny.
Warwick: It’s an HBO show in America. It shows over here in the UK on the BBC, and it’s – and for those people who don’t know what Extras is, it tells the story of Ricky Gervais’s character, Andy, who is an extra on films, and in each episode, he encounters an established actor playing themselves working on a film with them, basically. And what it does, it takes the actors’ kind of persona. It takes the view of the audience, and turns that completely on its head. So, what the audience expected that person to be like, it’s nothing like what they’re like. And I just did…
[Andrew laughs]
Warwick: …an episode with Daniel Radcliffe, which was pretty fun. And I shall not spoil it…
Jamie: How did that go?
Warwick: Oh, it went brilliantly! Oh, it was such fun to do, and Daniel is a great sport, as you’ll see when you watch the finished article…
Jamie: Excellent.
Warwick: We had a really good time. So…
Andrew: I’m not sure if it was a quote from you or – it got around the fandom the other day, that news, and it said you and Dan are a lot different from your roles in Harry Potter, so I’m looking forward to that.
Warwick: Oh, absolutely. We are. It takes our own personalities and just – it’s not what you expect, and that’s what all the actors do. In the last series, that’s what you saw. It’s Patrick Stewart doing it. It’s – yeah. We’re just very different, and people will be surprised and hopefully will just have fun with it because we certainly did doing it. It was really great fun.
Andrew: Do you know when it’s going to air? How soon?
Warwick: I’m not sure. I think it will probably be in the Fall, actually.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Warwick: Just they take too long with these things, and there’s loads of outtakes. Look out for the DVD. On the last series, there were loads.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Warwick: When we were shooting this, it was constant laughter and funny goings-on. So… [laughs]
[Andrew laughs]
Warwick: Yeah, I’m really proud of that. It was fun to do.
Warwick’s Favorite Films
Jamie: What types of films do you like, personally? I mean…
Warwick: Ummm…
Jamie: Do you like specific genres or comedy? What type of comedy do you like?
Warwick: I’m actually a big fan of ‘80s comedy: Chevy Chase, John Candy…
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: …that kind of John Hughes movies, I love all of his stuff. So, yeah. I’m a fan of all of that stuff. So, yeah, if I sit down to watch a film, I’ll normally pull something like that out that I’m familiar with.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: I’m not a great adventurer in movies. It’s very rare that I’ll – because it’s such a treat for me to sit down and watch a film anyway. I don’t get much time to do that. It sounds funny being an actor you’d think I’d always be watching movies.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: But I don’t. So when I do, I don’t want to waste that couple of hours. I think, “Well, I’ll watch something that I know I’m going to enjoy.”
Jamie: You really won’t take a chance.
Warwick: I really don’t take a chance on movies very much [laughs].
Andrew: Yeah
Warwick: So…
[Andrew and Jamie laugh]
Warwick: And having two children now, nine and three, I tend to be fed a diet of Disney films at the moment.
[Everyone laughs]
Warwick: It’s – I could answer any question about any of the recent Disney movies, but…
[Andrew and Jamie laughs]
Warwick: …ask me about the latest Woody Allen or – I can’t tell you anything.
[Everyone laughs]
Film’s From An Actor’s Point of View
Jamie: I try to ask as many people this as possible: is it different watching films from an actor’s point of view? Because, I mean, we obviously can’t seem to think what it’s like to be on the other side of the camera. So, do you – do you watch them…
Warwick: Yeah.
Jamie: …from a different perspective, would you say?
Warwick: I do. Since I became an actor, I could never watch a film the same way again. All I see is the shots, I see the performances, I see the mistakes – I just see everything in such a different way. It’s what I’m used to now. But, yeah, I won’t be watching a film like you all. It’s quite a shame, actually, because I just – I just unravel it, that’s what I’m doing all the time.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: It’s rare that I’ll get so into a film that I’ll forget that. I sometimes do, and that’s probably a good sign of a good movie, but…
Jamie: So, I mean, especially considering your work on the Leprechaun series, could you say that you could get scared by a film now, or do you think you’re so busy analyzing it?
Warwick: I don’t know. Again, since having children, I don’t watch horror movies anymore. I used to be – I used to love them. Growing up, Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween were the films I grew up with. But now, that type of film doesn’t appeal to me; although I make them. To watch them, it doesn’t really appeal to me anymore, for that very reason, having kids.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: But, yeah. If I can watch a movie and laugh… I think movies are very important that you can go in there. And that’s what’s so great about Harry Potter is it’s escapism. You go in there, you don’t want to be reminded of the world that you’ve just come from…
Jamie: The real world?
[Andrew, Jamie, and Warwick laughs]
Warwick: Yeah. It’s lovely to go somewhere else, you know, Star Wars, any of that, just escape for two hours and come out feeling kind of uplifted, you know?
Andrew: Yeah.
Warwick: Moved. But…
Jamie: That’s the sign of a good film, though…
Warwick: Absolutely.
Jamie: Isn’t it, really? You’re completely taken away from the real world where…
Warwick: Certainly.
Jamie: You have to go back.
Warwick Is Podcasting
Andrew: That’s a great point. So, we hear you’re getting into podcasting now. Is that true?
Warwick: Well, yes. I haven’t done my first one yet, but it’s certainly something I want to do. I very much admire Ricky Gervais’ podcast, again. He does a podcast with Steven Merchant and a guy called Karl Pilkington, which is basically just three kind of guys chatting about absolute nonsense.
Andrew: Right.
Warwick: And I quite fancy doing it because talk shows are an area that I really want to get into.
Andrew: Mhm.
Warwick: I did some work at the Star Wars celebration last year in Indianapolis, where I was one of the hosts there and was interviewing other Star Wars actors in my stage area, and I had to put together twelve talk shows. And it’s something, again, I went on to do at Walt Disney World this year. I spent five weeks there at Star Wars weekend acting as the host and the interviewer. And just enjoyed it so much and a lot of people said, “You should really do a talk show,” and so, that’s something that I want to get into. But I thought, well podcasting is every man’s radio. Anybody can do it.
Andrew: Right.
Ben: Yeah.
Warwick: And I thought, well, I’ll start this talk show experiment with a podcast and prove myself there, and then move into, hopefully, television.
Jamie: Talk show, yeah.
Andrew: Yeah.
Warwick: [laughs] I’ve got a great name for it: Small Talk.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Nice.
Andrew: It’s a great medium because there’s really no limits and if you go look on iTunes, or any other podcasting directory, you’ll find a podcast on every little topic you can imagine. And I know Ricky’s show has gotten huge numbers, a huge listener base, and now he’s charging for the shows, I believe. So…
Warwick: It’s record-breaking, the first one.
Andrew: Yeah.
Warwick: The second – even the charged one was record-breaking. It made the most money of any podcast ever.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s amazing.
Warwick: They’re just great. Every time I’m driving to London for work – it’s about an hour and a half in the car – I’ll download a podcast before I go and it’s better than tuning into the radio. There’s no commercials.
Andrew: Right, right.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: You can pick your topic that you want to listen to and they’re fantastic.
Andrew: Exactly.
Warwick: Fantastic things, yeah.
Jamie: I kind of see them as bringing radio to the public. It’s like amateur films, that’s to do with video. Now this is trying to bring every type of media medium to anyone. It’s just kind of like that.
Warwick: Well, anyone can have a radio show. If they’ve got a computer and a microphone, and a little bit of knowledge (because there is a little bit of jiggery-pokery to do).
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: Pretty much anybody can do it, which is what’s so great about it.
Andrew: Yep, exactly.
Warwick: So, yes, I will be attempting it. I want to do it with another actor friend of mine. He’s in London, but using the techniques that you’ve been teaching me…
Jamie: No limits, yeah. [laughs]
Warwick: Absolutely, we can do it. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah.
Funny Stories
Jamie: Finally, do you have any funny stories about people who have talked to you about your role for Potter? Or any funny stories on set? Or anything else that could give our listeners a giggle, maybe?
Warwick: Okay. This is a tricky one. I knew this one would be coming at some point because it always comes up in interviews. I should have a stash of funny moments in my mind. Let me think now. I mean, there are some – they don’t necessarily relate to Potter – but there are scary fan moments. I have fans who have tattooed images of my characters upon themselves.
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: Really?
Warwick: There’s a guy I met once and he said “Hi,” and he looked perfectly normal, and then he pulled his shirt up and had a tattoo of Willow on his belly.
[Andrew and Jamie laughs]
Warwick: It was staring me in the face, basically, and it was like, “Whoa!” That’s pretty frightening when you see yourself…
Jamie: What can you say to that, yeah?
Warwick: What do you say? Absolutely… I see tattoos of the Leprechaun on somebody’s arm; it’s me, but it’s not.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: But when it’s Willow, it’s kind of looking back at me there and then he wanted me to sign it, which was too much.
[Everyone laughs]
Warwick: And again, another really surreal thing about being an actor – and now becoming, kind of, more recognized, I suppose – is that I’ll arrive home from being out somewhere and check my e-mails, and I have a guest book e-mail that comes in from my website. Somebody would have written saying, “Hi, Mr. Davis, I’m the guy who was washing his hands next to you today in the bathroom.”
[Everyone laughs]
Warwick: “I didn’t want to bother you, but I just wanted to say hi.” Then I’ll think back, and I’ll think, “Yeah, there was a guy, and I was a bit worried about him because he was looking at me out of the corner of his eye.”
[Andrew laughs]
Warwick: So, that’s the kind of thing that…
Jamie: Glad you got away.
Warwick: That’s right, but people will often write in saying they didn’t want to bother me but they were the person that was in such a place…
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: …at such a time.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: So, that was always quite fun.
Jamie: That’s a nice story. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]
Warwick: But I’ve got nothing Harry Potter specific I’m afraid to say.
Jamie: That’s okay.
All Fun On Films
Warwick: Just to say that we do all have such a good time working on the films. The crew on that is such an efficient and professional crew, but at the same time the atmosphere is very relaxed and we’re all having fun doing that job and enjoy being part of that. We know we are only a handful of people that have the privilege of doing it, and…
Jamie: Exactly. Yeah, it sounds like – the impression I’ve got throughout all the films and all the set reports and all the info that we get, that it’s just like a whole big community you’ve got there. It’s not just…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: I don’t know if this is the case on other films as well, but it seems to be amplified on Potter especially, that everyone’s friends with everyone – you can always have a laugh.
Warwick: Oh, absolutely. It’s like a family. These people have been working together for six years now and so yeah, you know each other very well. And it is like a start of a new term.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: Each time we start a new film, it’s like a start of a new term and everyone’s grown up a bit, everyone’s a bit wiser…
Jamie: Changed, I suppose as well, yeah.
Warwick: …everyone’s refreshed at the beginning then absolutely died out at the end.
[Jamie laughs]
Warwick: So it’s pretty much like school. Except, each year you have a new headmaster, in the director.
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: But it’s good fun. I desperately feel very honored to be doing it, because what a great British cast that we have.
Jamie: Definitely, yeah.
Warwick: I’m always intrigued to see who is the next actor or actress that will be joining us. And I feel very lucky because I’m only one of a handful of actors who has come through all of the films – handful of adult actors, I should say…
Jamie: Yeah.
Warwick: …that have come through all of the films so far. I feel like part of the furniture, actually, now. A bit of the set dressing.
Jamie: Yeah.
Any More Order Filming
Andrew: Yeah. So are you going back to the Order of the Phoenix set anymore? Or are you…
Warwick: I will be, yes. I have some more time in August to do.
Andrew: Oh, okay. All right, well, that concludes our interview with Warwick Davis. Thanks very much for joining us on the show today.
Warwick’s Auction
Warwick: Very good. I’ve just wanted to say one more thing.
Andrew: Okay.
Warwick: Before we go.
Andrew: Sure.
Warwick: I know, I’m probably dragging this out, but…
Jamie: No, that’s okay.
Andrew: That’s fine.
Warwick: I wanted to let people know who are – people in the UK most definitely, if you’re not then don’t worry – but I’m holding a charity auction on Sunday the 16th of July, here in the UK. We’ve got a couple of really cool Harry Potter items in there; just wanted to let people know about it. We have an original Quidditch World Cup Program, as used in The Goblet of Fire, and it’s signed by Daniel Radcliffe.
Jamie: Nice.
Warwick: And the Quidditch World Cup Program is not just a piece of paper, it’s a wonderful kind of – it’s a booklet but it’s hugely detailed. I can’t really describe it. I was so thrilled when I received it from Warner Brothers because it’s a great prop and something that’s pretty rare. Especially now Daniel has also signed it. So, that’s a cool thing and I also have a Wand Box, which I know there are a few out there but I have one that’s signed by Daniel and myself and Devon Murray, who plays Seamus.
Andrew: Oh, cool.
Warwick: And I’ve got lots of other signed pictures from Potter people, and that’s the limelight of the auction.
Andrew: Great.
Warwick: So, if anybody is interested, go to my website, WarwickDavis.com. On there, you can read the auction catalog for yourselves. You can also get details on how you can make a telephone bid on the day if you’re interested, or details of where to come to be there as I auction these items off in person.
Andrew: Oh, very good.
Jamie: Excellent.
Warwick: So, go check it out. WarwickDavis.com. Thank you, guys.
Andrew: No problem, thank you.
Jamie: Thank you Warwick, that’s brilliant. Thanks a lot.
Warwick: Thank you very much. Good to talk to you.
Australian Phone Number
Ben: To make it so that you listeners aren’t able burn the show onto DVD, we’re going to cut things short this week and eliminate the voicemails from the show, but they will be back next week, and we have some more options for visitors who are not located in the United States. However, remember, if you are in the US, you can dial 1-218-20-MAGIC and leave a voicemail. For those of you in the United Kingdom, where good ole Jamie is, dial 020-08144-0677. And for those of you [in a British accent] in the land down under, in Australia…
Jamie: You just said that in a British accent.
Ben: Dial 02-8003-5668. And yes, I know that a British accent does not work for Australians.
[Jamie and Laura laughs]
British Joke of the Day
Ben: I’m very sorry. However, British accent does work for our good pal, Jamie. Who’s doing this weeks British Joke of the Day!
Jamie: Well, actually, I have a very sad announcement to make. After my last joke last week I got such bad comments, I just couldn’t believe it.
[Show Close music in the background]
Jamie: My computer almost said, “I’m sorry, I’m not displaying this e-mail because it’s so bad.” I got – it was a terrible joke, I must admit.
Ben: Oh geez.
Jamie: But, so instead of going on Google and typing in “funny jokes,” which I’ve never, ever done before, I might add – just to get a joke.
[Ben laughs]
Jamie: I’m going to get two excellent jokes for next week, instead of doing one bad one this week and one bad one next week. So, please tune in next week for two jokes of the day because I can’t think of any for this week. I’m sorry.
Ben: I’m going to hold you to that, Jamie.
Jamie: Yeah.
Ben: You better do that.
Jamie: I will, I will. They’re going to be so good.
Ben: You will. [laughs]
Jamie: You’re going to be laughing before I even tell them. They’re that good. You can sense them.
[Ben laughs]
Show Close
Ben [Show Close with music in background]: Well, yeah. [laughs] Well, everybody, that wraps up MuggleCast Episode 47. That’s all for us here. If you want to leave a voicemail you can call the numbers I mentioned before. Leave any feedback comments or Listener Rebuttals at mugglecast at staff dot mugglenet dot com. And by going to MuggleCast.com you can view all of our contact information and select us from a contact form. And also, finally, a low bandwidth version of the show is now available. So go ahead, and for those of you on dial-up you can download the show. It may not be as good audio quality, but it won’t take you three years to download like it was before. So, go ahead and download the show. [laughs] So, that wraps things up. I’m Ben Schoen.
Jamie: I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Greg: And I’m Greg Porter.
Ben: Join us on MuggleCast Episode 48 next week. I have a feeling Andrew will be back and some more of the regulars will be. So, goodnight everybody!
Greg: Good night.
Laura: Good night.
Bloopers
Ben: Sorry about that, guys. Did you fill him in?
Jamie: No, what happened?
Ben: My boss came in the room. I’m here at work and he came in the room and started asking me all these questions.
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: I’m like, “Man, you can leave now.”
Warwick: [laughs] Did you tell him what you were doing? You couldn’t, though, because you’d get into trouble.
Ben: Well, he probably would have – I should have said, “You know that guy from the Leprechaun,” and he would have been like, “Oh yeah!”
Warwick: Yeah [laughs], I could have chuckled. [Leprechaun laugh] And done the noises.
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: Yeah, do some of the noises man.
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Written by: Micah, Ally, Amanda, David, Jessica, Margaret, Martina, Rhiannon, and Sarah