I just wanted to comment on the release date. I know that 7/7/07 would have been an awesome release date but that was crushed by the movie premiere. But I think that 7/21/07 is a good release date. Seven plus seven plus seven equals twenty-one.

Laura: Oh geez.

Andrew:

Just wanted to bring that to your attention.

See, people start looking into that.

Laura: That’s not the first time someone’s done that.

Micah: Where’s K’lyssa?

[Laura and Andrew laugh]

Andrew: Yeah, K’lyssa’s that person.

[Laura, Andrew and Kevin laugh]

Andrew: That’s clever, though.

Eric: It is clever.

Andrew: It’s probably not the reason, but…

Eric: So, it’s five sevens?

July 21 is NOT the Summer Solstice

Kevin: Oh, you have to mention the summer solstice.

Andrew: No! Summer solstice – Oh, yeah.

Laura: It’s not the summer solstice.

Kevin: No, no, no, that it’s not the summer solstice, please.

Andrew: Oh.

Laura: Yeah.

Kevin: Please. I went through like ten e-mails…

Laura: Ten million e-mails, yeah.

Andrew: June 21st…

Eric: June 21st…

Andrew: …everyone.

Eric: And that was when Book 5…

Laura: When Order of the Phoenix…

Eric: …was released.

Laura: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah. And that was 2003.

Listener Rebuttal: Release of Title and Release of Book Connection

Micah: The next one comes from Charlotte, 15, of Wisconsin. She says:

Today in history, I was thinking about the Book 7 release date and then I realized that it’s on my half birthday, July 21st, of course. That made me realize that it was exactly six months after my actual birthday, December 21st, which was the date we found out the name of Harry Potter 7. I’m sure other people probably realized the connection already, but if not, I’m letting everyone know now.

Andrew: I’ve just found out from Charlotte. [laughs]

Kevin: Six months…

[Everyone talking at once]

Eric: Exactly six months then? Because we found out…

Mikey: Wow.

Andrew: Right, exactly. You have to wait exactly six months.

Eric: Oh, wow!

Andrew: I think that’s kind of cool.

Listener Rebuttal: Release Dates in South Africa

Andrew: Next email, Lindsey, 16, of Capetown, South Africa. She writes:

Hello, MuggleCast, I just…

[coughs] Oh, excuse me, I just choked on nothing.

I just wanted to say that the 21st of July for the ‘Deathly Hallows’ release is just great. Usually the HP film comes out a week after the U.S. and U.K. release. If this…

In South Africa, she’s talking about.

If this pattern continues it means that I can go see the movie on Friday the 20th, read the book on the 21st, and then cry my eyes out on the 22nd…

[Eric laughs]

Laura: Ohhh!

Andrew: …because there will never be another HP book again.

Eric: Ohhh!

Mikey: But you’ve still got two more movies.

Andrew: The date won’t stop me from seeing the movie at least twice in the cinema and I think most HP fans from South Africa would agree. Thanks for the great show and I hope you don’t stop MuggleCast after July.

So, see, it’s not – Some people enjoy that sort of thing. You’ve got the movie and then the book the next day. [laughs]

[Kevin laughs]

Andrew: That’s crazy. Or vice versa, whatever she said.

Book Versus Movie

Micah: That was one thing we didn’t really talk about, that we mentioned on the last show, was the book versus the movie.

Andrew: Oh yeah, Laura, what do you think about that? I mean, does that play – Is that a big deal to you?

Laura: Ummm…

Andrew: What’s…

Laura: It doesn’t really bother me…

Andrew: Yeah, someone…

Laura: …but, I don’t know, it does seem kind of weird, I guess, because they’re two different stories. I don’t really think – I don’t think it’ll hurt either or, but I think it’s not the best marketing I’ve ever heard of.

Andrew: Who was it that pointed out on the last show – Well, we did talk about marketing and I thought it would be great cross marketing, media-wise with the news outlets.

Eric: Harry Potter month, etc. is what you said.

Andrew: Yeah, what Eric pointed out on the MiniCast was that it’s better that the book comes after the movie. Rather than…

Laura: Oh, yeah.

Andrew: …the movie come after the book.

Laura: It is better.

Kevin: Oh, yeah.

Laura: That would be awful if the book came before the movie.

Andrew: Right. Yeah, so I think I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.

Micah: I think that second weekend, though, is going to suffer in sales because people are going to be completely focused on the book.

Eric: Yeah.

Mikey: Yeah.

Eric: Well, that’s what I wrote. I mean, people who wanted to see the movie a second and a third time, unless they do it in the first week they’ll have a book to occupy them, obviously so…

Kevin: Yeah, but, honestly, I don’t see it suffering that much.

Eric: Well, right.

Kevin: I mean, like I said, quite a few people like to pace themselves with these books, and why not see one of the movies in between? It’s – There’s no reason not to, you know?

Listener Rebuttal: Marketing Techniques

Andrew: Right. I have another email, Joe, 24 of Tampa, Florida, talks about marketing, sent me an email about the marketing:

There was some disagreement on the MiniCast as to whether releasing ‘Deathly Hallows’ a week after the release of the Order of the Phoenix movie was A) incredibly smart or B) incredibly stupid. Purely from a marketing stand point this move was genius…

Joe thinks.

As was pointed out on the MiniCast, the potential for cross-marketing is amazing. You could literally have leaflets for the movie placed into each copy of the book during production which would be instant advertising to potentially tens of millions of fans for the cost of basically your average daily newspaper.

Now, before we get to the rest of his email, I don’t think they’re going to be doing that. [laughs] Throwing a flyer…

Micah: There’s no need to do that.

Andrew: …in the book. Yeah. [continues laughing] Yeah, but he goes on to say:

Despite all the debate it’s important not to forget one thing: This is Harry Potter. Scholastic could literally release the book in the dead of winter, only in bookstores above the 40th parallel, in the middle of a driving snow storm, and people would still buy this book. It’s the biggest series to come out in at least the last 50 years and this is the last book. No one who bought the last six books are going to pass on this.

Of course, of course. So, I mean…

Laura: Yeah, the thing is, I mean, it’s Harry Potter. It’s going to sell no matter what you do with it.

Andrew: Right. And it’s not so much the selling for us, I don’t think. I think it’s the hype and the build-up…

Kevin: Yeah.

Andrew: …that we’re all a little disappointed about because the book comes so soon after the movie. And the movie build-up can’t compare to the book build up. The book build-up is so much bigger. I mean premiere-wise, the premieres are great, and they’re a lot of fun, but there’s so much more anticipation for the book, it…

Laura: Well, yeah, I think that’s the one thing – I think I was actually talking to you, Micah, about that, was that the second I found out the book was coming out, that became my priority. Like, you know, I’m thinking about – we’re going to go to New York for the premiere and stuff, at least that’s what I am planning to do.

Andrew: Mhm.

Laura: And I was thinking if I had to cut one trip out of my entire summer, that would be the first thing to go, because I would much rather do a book release than a movie release.

Mikey: Right.

Kevin: Yep, absolutely.

Laura: I think the book definitely trumps it in the aspect.

Andrew: Yeah.

The Spacing Between Book and Movie

Micah: I just think spacing out a little bit could have made a difference for a lot of people if, say, the book came out in the middle of August as opposed to sort of the end of July.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah. It could have, but then there just would have been such a long break. I don’t – well, I mean, at least for us it would be like, “Okay, movie, let’s go back to our homes for two weeks and then fly somewhere else.”

Kevin: I think it will work out in the end.

Laura: Well, at least it would give us a break. [laughs]

Andrew: It would give us a…

Kevin: A lot of people…

Andrew: See, but people are saying, “Oh, we need a break.” No we don’t! It’s…

[Everyone laughs]

Kevin: Exactly. That’s what I’m saying. I think…

Andrew: Come on! Give me a break.

Mikey: It’s going to be an awesome month.

Kevin: Exactly. Yeah.

Mikey: It’s going to be back-to-back-to-back-to-back. Everything’s going to fall like dominoes. It’s going to be the movie, the book, then Prophecy. It’s all going to fall together and it’s just going to be…

Andrew: Yeah.

Mikey: …a crazy ride for all of us.

How Will Prophecy Change?

Laura: Yeah, what does everyone – what does everyone think Prophecy is going to be like now, since we will have all read the book by the time we go?

Eric: Well, they…

Andrew: Well, they’ve got to seriously change – look into their programming…

Laura: [laughs] Change their panels.

Andrew: …and start some – yeah.

Mikey: “Is Snape good or bad? Well, that we don’t know.”

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: Yeah.

[Kevin laughs]

Andrew: Well, no offense to the Harry Potter conference in England, but that’s over the book release.

[Everyone laughs]

Mikey: Something’s happened…book release…

Eric: It’s quite a shame to have – yeah, Prophecy was lucky that Jo didn’t throw a date right in the middle of their conference because there are these other conferences. Well, what – Enlightening catches the movie, but misses the book? Is that how that works? Or…

Andrew: Basically, yeah.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: It’s right over the movie.

Eric: Catches the movie but misses the book.

Andrew: Which was planned.

Eric: Oh, it was planned? Okay.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: But then, but they missed the book and so – and then the conference…

Andrew: Oh…

Eric: …in England – what is that Sectus?

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Is right over the book, so…

Andrew: So, I mean, honestly, if you’re looking at all three of these conferences, Sectus is going to be interesting because you’re going to be right there for the release, but Enlightening there can be, there’s much more potential for the Book 7 theory discussion because that’s all off in Prophecy now. [laughs]

Laura: Yeah. [laughs]

Andrew: And Sectus is pretty much in… [laughs] What is everyone going to be doing at Sectus when the book comes out? They’re going to be reading it. I don’t think they’re going to be wanting to go to panels. [laughs]

Laura: Panels. [laughs]

Andrew: So…

Laura: Well, it could work out in their favor, though. I mean…

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: MuggleNet had – we had Spellbound in 2005 for Half-Blood Prince.

Andrew: Well, that was planned, that was designed for…

Laura: Yeah, it was, but…

Andrew: It was a one-night thing.

Laura: …at the same time, I think it goes to show that you can have a large meeting of people and have a book come out.

Andrew: Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Plus, that’s in England and we’re going to be stealing – well, we want to do a podcast over there. So…

Kevin: Yeah.

Laura: Yes!

Listener Rebuttal: Cover Colors

Andrew: Next email, Jessicagoingcrazy, 16, of California. She writes:

First off, I’d like to say that I love you all so much. You make me get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside when I listen to you guys.

Thank you, Jessica.

Laura: Awww.

Andrew: Okay, so the seventh book coming out in July freaks me out. I thought I would be excited, but now that we have a date, I’m scared and upset. Upset because I agree about how close it is to the movie. Scared because I might end up killing myself [laughs] at the end of the book.

Laura: [laughs] Oh my gosh.

Andrew: A note to all of our listeners: She’s not serious.

I also don’t want to know what happens. I don’t want anyone to die. I’m glad that the movie is coming out first, though, but it’s just too close to the book. I think the book is more money because it is – it’s a bigger book than the sixth. I personally want it to be bigger than the sixth. I will be disappointed if it isn’t. I don’t think J.K. Rowling is being rushed. For some reason, I feel like she wants to just get it out.

[laughs and clears his throat]

I mean, we got the name of the book and the date on when it comes out. I feel that soon we will know what the cover will look like. You never know.

She wraps up her email by saying:

What do you think the color/colors of the seventh book will be?

Did we talk about this on – when we did favorite book cover?

Micah: No, we actually didn’t talk about it.

Laura: No.

Andrew: Oh, okay. What do you guys think? I mean, is there a pattern here? We had – it was sort of green-themed…

Laura: Ummm…

Andrew: Well, it’s going to be a solid color, I think. Right?

Laura: Well, I think also, she’s talking about when you take the jacket off, you have two colors like…

Andrew: Oh, yeah.

Laura: …the color on the spine and the – yeah.

Andrew: Well, I think it’s going to be black.

Mikey: I agree with that. I think it’s going to be black.

Laura: But Goblet of Fire was already black.

Andrew: Nooo.

Laura: Yeah, when you took the jacket – when you took the cover art off Goblet of Fire, it was orange and black.

Andrew: Oh, yeah. No, but I’m talking about the actual – the – where the hard part is.

Laura: Yeah, the actual cover?

Andrew: No, no, no, no. I’m – it was orange and black, but the colors – it’ll be black and…

Laura: And something else?

Andrew: …gray, maybe? Because…

Laura: But wasn’t Half-Blood Prince black and purple?

Andrew: It is, but why I’m saying it – it’s going to be black, that main part of it is going to be black…

Eric: No, Half-Blood Prince was purple and green, I believe. Half Blood Prince was…

Andrew: No, no, no.

Laura: No, no, no.

Andrew: The…

Laura: The… [laughs]

Andrew: Inside the binding of the book.

Eric: The binding? No, that’s what I’m saying. If you take the cover off, it’s…

Andrew: It’s black. But it’s purple. It’s black and purple.

Eric: Oh, black and purple?

Andrew: I’m looking at it right now, dude. It’s black and purple.

Laura: Yeah, me too. [laughs]

Andrew: [laughs] Ummm, what was I going to say? Yeah, but the – you might remember that the placeholder art for Half-Blood Prince was purple and…

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: …this one – and for Order of the Phoenix it was blue, I think. Because we were all confident that the theme of the book was going to be purple because Order of the Phoenix matched the color – the color of the placeholder with the color of the actual cover. So, I could be completely off on this, but why would they make the placeholder art black unless the…

Laura: Yeah, it could be.

Mikey: I…

Andrew: It just seems – there just seems to be a pattern here.

Mikey: You know what? It’s black because the word “deathly” is in it. It’s kind of a dark color…

[Kevin laughs]

Andrew: Do you think that could be true?

Laura: Yeah.

Mikey: It could be that, because it just looks good, also. So…

Andrew: But I mean, black? What does black represent? The end.

Eric: Death?

Andrew: But the end, too, so I think it’s…

[Laura laughs]

Eric: Well, the end. Death. Yeah, the end.

Andrew: Yeah. But actually, I mean, completely contradicting myself, I don’t think that a black – that the actual cover would be good black. I don’t think a Harry Potter cover could be black.

Eric: I don’t know.

Micah: Probably be gray.

Mikey: It could be green.

Eric: It could be like a gray-scale type…

Andrew: But that’s so blah. It’s like, blah. [laughs]

Laura: What if it’s like…

Andrew: [laughs] What if it’s just solid black?

[Everyone laughs]

Andrew: Harry Potter… That would be awesome.

Mikey: With a seven on it?

Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.

Eric: The book is so dark that the cover is pure black.

Andrew: It’s got a picture of a marble bust on it.

Kevin: Death? Yeah.

[Everyone laughs]

Micah: What about red?

Andrew: Maybe that’s the key to the book.

Laura: I was thinking red, too.

Kevin: That makes sense.

Andrew: Red? Yeah.

Laura: I think red would be cool.

Mikey: Red and black?

Eric: Red is interesting.

Andrew: Like a Chamber of Secrets red?

Eric: Or red and black.

Mikey: Like a Fawkes red?

Laura: Well, Chamber of Secrets wasn’t completely – well, yeah. Fawkes, but – yeah, like that kind of color. Like a blood red.

Mikey: What? Wow.

Andrew: Laura, I don’t like blood.

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: Well, it’s supposed to be a dark book!

Andrew: Yeah.

Micah: Do you think Mary Grandpre…

Mikey: It’s going to be blood red and the darkest black they can find. It’s going to just be dark and scary.

Andrew: I hope…

Micah: Do you think she gets locked in a room somewhere and for weeks on end and she’s not allowed to go anywhere?

Andrew: Well…

Eric: Who?

Micah: Mary Grandpre.

Andrew: Dang. I don’t think so, but… [laughs]

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: I hope they – I want a big reveal, like with the Half-Blood Prince cover. They did it on the Today Show. They had a little handkerchief over it and Katie Couric was like – no, it was Arthur Levine, and they pulled it off and there was the cover! We were like, “Wow!” That’s the final step. These things come in three steps. You – we get the title, we get the date, and then the cover. And then the…

Eric: Maybe some excerpts.

Andrew: …countdown’s going to be on!

Listener Rebuttal: Movie Release versus Book Release

Andrew: And we have one final email here. Yeah, one final email here from Mary, 31, of Michigan. She writes:

Hey, love the show. Regarding your mini-podcast about the release of Book 7, I think that your conspiracies regarding the timing of Book 7 versus the movie release are a bit too dramatic. I think it’s as simple as J.K. Rowling was very close-mouthed about her process of finishing Book 7, and never fully revealed the speed at which she was writing. I think she finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel and did not want to jinx herself. I also think that if she feels the book is ready, it’s ready. This is not a woman who can be pushed around by her publishers. She keeps them in the dark just like the rest of the world. Remember also that she willingly sold the movie rights to Warner Brothers and does not have control over when the movie is released. As for taking more time to make Book 7 better, how would we even know if it could have been better unless J.K.R. admits it? She did admit that ‘Goblet of Fire’ could have been better, but if she’d never told us that, we would not have been – we would not have been the wiser. Who really cares? I think most fans are excited, but also sad the adventure will come to an end. Have a great day.

I wanted to get as many different perspectives from the listeners as possible on this show.

Micah: Well, when she says “bit too dramatic,” I think it’s really – that’s what we do, though. [laughs] We examine it from every different angle, and we bring up as many different things…

Laura: Yeah.

Micah: …as possible.

Andrew: We do need to complain, because if we agreed with everything, then [pauses] there would be nothing to talk about.

Micah: Yeah.

[Andrew laughs]

Laura: No show. It would be boring.

Andrew: But with that said, let’s reiterate again: we are very excited about this. It’s sort of setting in for me today; it’s not fully set in.

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: The final book is coming out, people. There’s a 160 plus eight days until the release. So… [laughs]

Laura: There is a certain amount of trepidation involved, too, I think, because part of me is so, so excited that it’s coming out, and then again, I’m like, wow, in six months, it’s going to be done. And we’re going to know everything. And, you know, we’ve been reading these books since – I was 11, so it’s been a long time.

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: I’ve basically grown up with these books.

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: It’s kind of sad, but exciting, too.

Listener Rebuttal: Horcruxes

Andrew: Okay. Well, I think that wraps up our release date discussion for now. But changing gears here, we’re going to get into some book discussion now. Last week, we asked everyone to send in their ideas on the Horcrux discussion that we had last week, because we were sort of getting all caught up in a tizzy over – we were confusing ourselves, I think. [laughs]

Micah: We got a lot of good response, though.

Andrew: We did, Micah. So, you want to get us through it all?

Micah: Sure.

Andrew: I’m still confused by it all! [laughs]

Micah: [laughs] Well, Sarah, 18, from North Carolina, said that she was re-reading the series and when she was re-reading the beginning of Goblet of Fire, she came across this passage on pg. 10. Wormtail says:

“My lord, I must speak,” panic in his voice now.
“All through our journey, I have gone through the plan in my head. My lord, Bertha Jorkins’ disappearance will not go unnoticed for long, and if we proceed, if I murder…”

And then Voldemort says, “‘If?’ whispered the second voice. ‘If?’ If you follow the plan, Wormtail, the Ministry need never know that anyone else has died. You will do it quietly and without fuss. I only wish that I could do it myself, but in my present condition… Come, Wormtail. One more death, and our path to Harry Potter is clear. I am not asking you to do it alone. By that time, my faithful servant will have rejoined us.”

And she goes on to say that:

Obviously, they’re talking about making the final Horcrux. I had just noticed that for the first time, and I was just wondering if y’all had noticed it, or if this had been brought up already. If it has, sorry.

Andrew: I understand that they’re making the final Horcrux, but what does Bertha Jorkins have to do with it?

Eric: Well, no, it’s the fact that they said one more murder, and then the path to Harry Potter is clear, but did anybody die in Book 4? I don’t think this is talking about the Horcrux at all.

Laura: Yeah.

Eric: I think it’s talking about Dumbledore.

Kevin: Well, I don’t think it’s talking about the Horcrux.

Eric: Yeah.

Kevin: At the very least, I don’t think it is.

Laura: No, I really don’t think so. I mean, I’m not ruling it out completely, but I always took it to mean that they were trying to go after Dumbledore or somebody who could protect Harry.

Eric: And Voldemort says, “I only wish that I could do it myself.” Well, obviously, if he’s – he has to do it himself if he’s making a Horcrux.

Andrew: So, you’re saying they’re not talking about killing Bertha Jorkins? They’re talking about killing Dumbledore or someone?

Eric: Well, no. There’s…

Laura: No, no, no, no. That’s just part of the quote where…

Eric: Yeah. That’s just part of the quote.

Laura: … Wormtail is saying that her disappearance is going to…

Eric: Not go unnoticed. And if I murder this other person…

Laura: Kind of make – yeah.

Eric: Right.

Andrew: That’s what I’m saying.

Eric: And then he says, “If you murder this other person,” blah, blah, blah. So, there’s another person, and he says, “Come, Wormtail. One more death, and our path to Harry Potter is clear.” So, I wonder – well, Barty Crouch, Sr. died? But who was – who do you think they’re planning the death of, is what I’m saying? Like, could it be that they were planning Dumbledore’s death in Book 4, or – in this scene, or what?

Laura: Possibly. I mean, who else…

Kevin: Yeah.

Laura: …does Voldemort really see as the person protecting Harry?

Kevin: Yeah.

Andrew: How would Voldemort expend – expect Wormtail to kill him, though? If Voldemort’s feared of him?

Eric: That’s true, too.

Andrew: That’s…

Eric: So, it’s interesting to see who they killed. Because nobody – who died in Book 4 besides Barty Crouch, Sr.?

Andrew: Well, there was Cedric.

Laura: Yeah, but I don’t think they were planning to kill Cedric. [laughs]

[Everyone laughs]

Andrew: No. No, no, no.

Laura: Well, that’s kind of interesting, though.

Eric: They were really planning on…

Laura: Because looking at this, apparently there was a murder that was supposed to occur in Book 4, and it didn’t happen.

Mikey: [laughs] He was the spare.

Eric: Well, maybe it did. It said, “If you follow the plan, the Ministry never need to know that anyone else has died.” So, maybe we don’t need to know, either.

Mikey: Well, hold on. Couldn’t it be that Barty Crouch, Jr., wasn’t with them yet? And the other person that died would be his mother, right? Could they have put Barty Crouch, Sr. under the Imperius Curse to get Barty Crouch, Jr. out? You know what I mean?

Eric: Voldemort says, “By that time, my faithful servant will have rejoined us.” So, by his faithful servant, that kind of goes to the graveyard scene, where he is talking about his faithful servant, and is it Snape, or is it Barty Crouch? You know, “By that time, my faithful servant will have rejoined us,” you know?

Laura: [laughs] Yeah.

Eric: Yeah.

Mikey: I think it’s because you don’t know. So…

Laura: Interesting.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: It’s just a very weird scene.

Eric: It’s an interesting passage, because it could – it should, actually, matter. I’d be surprised if it didn’t, but it should actually matter. So…

Mikey: Well, couldn’t it be – it would matter if they found out that Barty Crouch, Jr. broke out of Azkaban, you know what I mean? So, if they put Senior under – Barty Crouch, Sr. under the Imperius Curse, there is… He did it right this time, and his faithful servant, Barty Crouch, Jr. is going to be able to break out, impersonate Moody…

Eric: Well, no, the…

Mikey: …and get in.

Eric: …storyline is coming back to me. What actually happened was Barty Crouch, Sr. took his wife to see their son, swapped bodies with their wife and his son, took his son back home under the Polyjuice Potion as his wife. Dementors didn’t notice, but then Bertha Jorkins came by the Crouch household, and kind of got the – got the idea that Barty Crouch, Jr. was kept in the basement, and that’s when Wormtail ran into her, when she went to Albania, and she said, “Yeah, you know, it’s kind of weird, but I really think that they are hiding his son down in the basement or something.” And that led Voldemort to the Crouches – to Barty Crouch, Jr. That’s actually what…

Micah: Well, I thought Wormtail killed her because Wormtail is supposed to be dead.

Laura: Yeah, that’s what Voldemort said.

Eric: Well, that, too. But she… But I heard, I thought that Wormtail got the information about Barty Crouch being alive through Bertha Jorkins.

Laura: Yeah. I…

Micah: That’s possible.

Laura: Yeah.

Mikey: That’s a possibility. I think I need to re-read the end.

Eric: And I – and by the time all the memory spells are gone, they…

Laura: That’s right, because they…

Eric: … her mind…

Laura: Yeah.

Eric: …would have been a mess, anyway. So, they just killed her. So, but – I don’t know. But it’s an interesting passage, and I’m glad it was caught, because we’ll have to see what it means.

Andrew: Now that we’re discussing…

Eric: Now that Book 7 is coming out.

Andrew: …it, it doesn’t seem like it could mean Horcruxes.

Eric: No.

Laura: No, I don’t think so.

Andrew: When I first read that, [laughs] it kind of sounded convincing, but…

Listener Rebuttal: The Seventh Part of Voldemort’s Soul

Andrew: Next one comes from Chris, 21, of Georgia:

In ‘Half-Blood Prince’, page 497 in the American hardback, Slughorn says, “Even if one’s body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged.” Also, Dumbledore says, when speaking about the number of Horcruxes, page 503, “Not seven Horcruxes: six. The seventh part of his soul, however maimed, resides inside his regenerated body. That was the part of him that lived a spectral existence for so many years during his exile.”

So, we’re only looking for two, right? Because last week, we were saying we were looking for three. There are still three unknowns.

Laura: Oh.

Micah: The whole argument last week was that Eric was saying one thing and Ben was saying the other and Eric basically is proven right by this. [laughs]

Kevin: Yeah. Yeah, I think Eric was right.

Eric: About whether dying uses up a Horcrux.

Laura: What was the argument? I wasn’t here. [laughs]

Kevin: No, okay, see this was the argument. The argument was that when Voldemort dies, like in the case of Harry Potter when his spell rebounded, does he loose a Horcrux or do the Horcruxes remain and his soul just wander?

Eric: The existence of his other Horcruxes…

Kevin: Correct.

Eric: …hold him to the earth.

Kevin: Right.

Laura: Mhm.

Eric: Which is exactly this quote that Slughorn says. And Ben was thinking, well, when he died…

Laura: No.

Eric: …one of his Horcruxes was used up, like his pieces of soul just…

Mikey: I don’t think it was Horcruxes. I think Ben was thinking more that one of the pieces of soul was used up.

Eric: Yeah, that’s what a Horcrux – a Horcrux is a piece of soul.

Mikey: Right. But the Horcrux inside – the soul inside of him is not considered a Horcrux. It’s considered his soul. So, I think what Ben was thinking was when he died – when he lost his body, that piece of soul was lost also. I think that’s what Ben was thinking. But from the quote, I think it’s more that that soul piece stays and that’s what…

Kevin: Yeah, but either way, I think this quote confirms that the Horcrux isn’t used up in any way. It’s just…

Eric: Yeah.

Kevin: …a single piece of soul that remains in his body that – and the Horcruxes bound him to the earth.

Eric: The existence…

Kevin: Right.

Micah: Right, the Horcruxes anchor him.

Mikey: Yeah, that’s kind of what the quote says.

Micah: As long as the Horcruxes are there, his soul can’t be destroyed.

Eric: But, we still do not know if Voldemort successfully made – or had seven pieces of soul before he died.

Andrew: I think he did – he must because that’s Dumbledore’s mission. Well, it was.

Eric: Well, I mean, actually, I just wanted to point that out we still don’t positively know that because what Dumbledore said was, you know…

Andrew: That’s true.

Kevin: I think it’s pretty much a given.

Laura: Yeah. Well, it would be kind of…

Eric: Because the number seven would be…

Laura: Yeah, it really would be.

Kevin: Anti-climatic. Disappointing, yeah.

Eric: Right, but it hasn’t been confirmed by anybody that he actually made, or had seven pieces of soul at the time of his downfall.

Laura: Yeah, but I think it is something that can be safely assumed.

Andrew: I mean…

Eric: No, because even one Horcrux, actually – by this description that we got-even one Horcrux should tie you to the earth if you die. Voldemort just went all out and wanted seven pieces of soul to exist because he killed so many people.

Mikey: Now…

Laura: Yeah, but then, what would be the point of going on about showing Harry that Voldemort wanted to make seven Horcruxes if there wasn’t going to be seven of them?

Kevin: That’s true, yeah.

Laura: I’m talking about it from more of a literary standpoint.

Eric: Well what they say…

Laura: Like Kevin said, it would be anti-climatic.

Eric: Well, when Dumbledore – well, when Dumbledore talked to Harry about it, he says two or three more remaining. And he’s very, I mean, everybody wants to say, “Okay, we need the wand, the locket, the cup and everything else,” and think of it like that, but I think the actual scene, if we looked at it again, Dumbledore is not sure if Voldemort has six or seven.

Kevin: Yeah, but, but, what we’re saying is, although it’s not confirmed, the fact that she mentioned it – J.K. Rowling that is – mentioned seven Horcruxes, it would be somewhat disappointing not to see seven. There’s no reason not to include seven in the book.

Mikey: Yeah.

Andrew: Well, except for a huge plot twist. But, I mean, Jo has said on one occasion in an interview that Dumbledore is not usually far off the mark. So…

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: Mikey, what were you going to say?

Mikey: My question is the memory that Harry got from Slughorn, how many Horcruxes did Tom Riddle say would make him magically powerful? Seven Horcruxes? Or seven pieces of soul? Because, I think that’s the big question. If you make seven Horcruxes, there are eight pieces of the soul. Seven Horcruxes and the piece of the soul that’s inside him.

Kevin: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah, yeah. So, that would mean seven…

Mikey: If it’s – you see what I mean? I think it all goes back to that memory and that’s the key to kind of find out and sadly, I haven’t read the book recently to tell you exactly what the quote is.

Eric: Yeah. Well, you know, “‘Seven, seven, sir, isn’t seven the magical number? Wouldn’t it be possible to have seven?’ ‘Seven?’ said Slughorn. ‘My goodness, Tom, just to commit such an evil deed against nature, it’s an act against nature, it’s an act against everything. You’re insane! You want to do seven?’” And then Voldemort was all like, “Sorry, sir.” So, but yeah…

Mikey: So, yeah, it would be…

Kevin: Yeah, but in that scene, they were referring to Horcruxes. I believe they weren’t…

Eric: Seven Horcruxes or seven pieces of soul. So, there might be what? Eight pieces of soul, do you think? Mikey?

Mikey: It would be like eight – because again, we’re saying that the Horcruxes are separate pieces separate from what is bound to Voldemort himself.

Eric: Right.

Mikey: So, there’s seven separate Horcruxes plus the eighth piece of the soul that’s inside of himself. So there’s seven Horcruxes total…

Kevin: Yeah, but…

Mikey: Then, Voldemort himself.

Kevin: But, exactly, I think Voldemort places the significance in seven Horcruxes, not eight pieces of soul, or seven pieces of soul. If that makes sense.

Mikey: Yeah, that makes sense.

Kevin: Yeah?

Micah: Well, Dumbledore even said that, though. Andrew just read the quote that there’s not seven Horcruxes, there’s six plus Voldemort. “The seventh part of his soul, however maimed resides inside his regenerated body.”

Andrew: Yeah.

Kevin: Oh, okay.

Mikey: Could he actually have made seven and Harry be a Horcrux and Dumbledore just didn’t want to say it? We’re back on that.

Eric: Well, that would suck.

Mikey: That would suck. I don’t want that.

Laura: I don’t think Harry’s a Horcrux.

Eric: There is some support for that at the end of Book 2 when they’re talking about all the similarities between breaking rules. But what’s interesting in that scene, just thinking about that is that Dumbledore was comparing Harry to Voldemort saying, “You want to break the rules.” But yet Harry’s own father broke the rules, too. That’s why that’s so confusing, because we find out that James was a rule breaker, yet Dumbledore’s talking about the similarities between Harry and Voldemort, even though his father was a rule-breaker, too. He’s comparing his rule breaking-ness to Voldemort saying that Voldemort transferred part of himself into Harry the night he died.

Laura: I don’t think he’s talking about rule-breaking. I think he’s talking about stuff like being able to speak Parselmouth.

Eric: No, the exact – well, it was that and the exact words were a “certain disregard for the rules, if I may say so.”

Laura: Yeah, but, I don’t know. I think that’s kind of a generic thing because there’s more than one student that has a disregard for rules.

Eric: It’s true.

Mikey: Yeah, but Harry also has that connection with Voldemort too, so that leaves a little something there.

Laura: Yeah, but…I guess but I think that part of the reason Harry does disregard rules is because he feels a responsibility to defeat Voldemort. I don’t know.

Listener Rebuttal: Hufflepuff’s Cup

Andrew: Let’s move on to another email from Edna, 62 from Atlanta about the cup.

The cup is found and Arthur has it in his shed…

This one I’m not too sure about. Chamber of Secrets page 31.

Ron tells Harry about what his dad does in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. “Like…”

And this is Ron saying.

“Like last year, some old witch died and her tea set was sold to an antique shop. This Muggle woman bought it, took it home and tried to serve her friends tea in it. It was a nightmare. Dad was working overtime for weeks. They – he and Perkins had to do Memory Charms and all sorts of stuff to cover it up.”

Hepzibah Smith, perhaps? Or, well, of course, Ron must have meant “last year” to be when the nightmare happened, not when the old witch died. Fred says “Dad’s crazy about anything to do with Muggles. Our shed’s full of Muggle stuff.” Now, somehow the tea set is brought to the wedding celebration either as a gift to the young couple or included as part of the table setting. But, will Harry recognize it or remember it later? Will harm come to the Weasley family and, if so, will that allow Ron to go with Harry driven by his own personal vendetta?

Is there enough evidence here to conclude that?

Laura: I don’t think so. The thing is if you look back at Book 6 and you read the specific chapter where Tom Riddle was coming and meeting with Hepzibah Smith and she shows him Hufflepuff’s cup, it is described as being heavier, it’s gold…

Kevin: Yeah, yeah.

Laura: …it’s got handles on either side and a badger on the front of it. That does not strike me as something that would come in a tea set.

Mikey: Yeah, I thought it was more like a goblet or something.

Laura: Yeah.

Eric: Or let alone be unrecognized as something of high value.

Mikey: Yeah, I don’t think so.

Eric: Yeah. But it wouldn’t be fun – okay, the locket I can understand and I really hope that the locket that was mentioned in Book 5 is the locket Horcrux that’s in Grimmauld Place or wherever Kreacher would have put it if he had his hands on it. But not all the Horcruxes… What I’m saying is not all the Horcruxes can have been found. I mean, I think that part of Book 7 should be Harry looking for the Horcruxes. I mean, if they are all…

Laura: Yeah.

Eric: …in a building or dusty shelves then that’s kind of anti-climactic considering Dumbledore had to go all the way to the old Gaunt house and then sort through, sift through the rummage just to find the ring. You know? But that was… So, there’s got to be some kind of test. They can’t just be – you can’t say that, “Okay, the cup was found.” I think the locket is a once and done thing. I think that fact that R.A.B. took the locket is significant, but everything else should be wherever Voldemort put it. Which would not be out in the open somewhere…

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: …or on a shelf or on a tea set.

Laura: Yeah.

Listener Rebuttal: Headmasters Buried at Hogwarts

Andrew: Micah, we got some clarification from Kristie, 18, of Chicago?

Micah: Yeah, she says:

On the show you guys mentioned about other Headmasters being buried at Hogwarts. However, in ‘Half-Blood Prince’, on pg. 629 in the American version, it says, “I-I know that it was Dumbledore’s wish to be laid to rest here, at Hogwarts…”

I believe that’s McGonagall speaking.

“Then that’s what’ll happen, isn’t it?” said Harry fiercely. “If the Ministry thinks it appropriate.”

[pauses] Sorry.

“If the Ministry thinks it appropriate,” said Professor McGonagall. “No other headmaster or headmistress has ever been…”

And then Harry says…

Andrew: Hagrid.

Micah: “No other Headmaster or Headmistress has ever been…” [makes tongue-tied sound and laughs]

Harry says, “No other headmaster…”

Andrew: Hagrid!

[Kevin laughs]

Micah: Oh, Hagrid.

Hagrid says, “No other Headmaster or Headmistress ever gave more to this school.” Therefore, although there might be a graveyard at Hogwarts, there are no other headmasters or headmistresses buried there, just Dumbledore.

And that is in response to last week’s show.

Andrew: Oh…

Laura: Well. That’s also…

Eric: That’s a good quote. Thank you for finding that.

Andrew: Seriously.

Laura: That’s also – I mean, I think that you can think of the founders a little differently than you think of a headmaster or headmistress.

Kevin: Yeah.

Andrew: But we’re not…

Laura: Because while they were effect – they did effectively serve those roles …

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: …they were still the founders.

Andrew: But we still add…

Laura: Yeah, but it’s not like McGonagall is saying not even the founders are buried here you know. She’s just saying…

Andrew: No, but it’s partly answering her question because we did ask, “Are the former headmasters and headmistresses are buried here?” But…

Micah: Good find.

Voicemail: Status of J.K.R.’s Door After Book 7

Andrew: So, yeah – thanks, Kristie, for that. Okay, we’re going to get to a few voicemails this week. We haven’t done in awhile, so let’s hit up the lines now.

[Audio]: [laughs] You guys make me laugh so much. Well, I just realized something after reading about the new release date. I wondered if you thought that – what the status of J.K.R.’s door would be after Book 7 comes out and the 5th movie comes out. If she’ll keep it closed all the time, or if she’ll open it up every so often. Love the show. My name is Cory, I’m from California, and I didn’t mention that in the beginning, but anyway, I’ll keep this under 30 like you want. Thanks for an awesome show and hope to be hearing from you pretty soon. Thanks! Bye!

Andrew: I think it’s going to turn into an area for maybe cool new facts.

Kevin: I think so, too.

Andrew: Like she won’t post everything in the rumor section. It’ll be like…

Laura: Yeah, but she said that she wasn’t going to take the site down. She said she was going to keep it up.

Andrew: I didn’t say she was taking it down.

Laura: I know, but I think that – I don’t think that she would leave it up if she wasn’t going to keep it active.

Kevin: Updated, yeah.

Laura: Yeah. And I think – I mean, she is still a writer even though Harry Potter is over. She is still going to write other stuff.

Andrew: Yeah, but that Room of Requirement. It seems…

Laura: And she could use… Yeah, I know

Andrew: …to me that – well. You know what I’m saying.

Laura: Yeah, but that could become a tradition. You know, of her site. It doesn’t necessarily have to close…

Andrew: Well, it already has.

Laura: …forever just because -I know, but she could use it for other books. That’s what I am saying.

Mikey: I think…

Micah: No.

Kevin: I don’t see her using it.

Laura: Why not?

Micah: I don’t think so. I don’t like that idea.

Mikey: Well – like, there is all those little fun things you can get on her website. I’m sure, like, we talked about a possible encyclopedia – what if she starts releasing information. Back story and stuff like that.

Andrew: Well, she already has. But, yeah, she can channel more of that through the Room of Requirement. Because after Book 7, all the extra facts about book – the series is going to be like special content, special tidbits that are going to have more value to them, I think. Since there is not another book to get a boat-load of new information.

Laura: Yeah. In short, I think that the site will definitely stay active and I don’t think that she’ll shut the door forever.

Will MuggleNet and MuggleCast Continue?

Andrew: Definitely. Which actually brings up a question that we’ve been getting asked a lot is MuggleNet and MuggleCast: are they going to be closing once Book 7 is out?

Laura: Yes.

Andrew: The answer to that is, “Yes.”

[Kevin and Laura laugh]

Andrew: So, next voicemail please.

Laura: All right.

Andrew: No! I’m kidding, I’m kidding

[Laura laughs]

Eric: However, at that time I will have my own Harry Potter Podcast.

Andrew: No, no, absolutely not. We’re going to keep…we’re going to keep – trust me, the site is going to be here through…

Laura: Forever.

Andrew: …the third remake of the Harry Potter series.

[Laura and Eric laughs]

Andrew: The podcast? We plan on doing though the book. We are going to keep doing it until we run out of stuff to discuss. That’s really what it comes down to. And that’s for Deathly Hallows, we are going to be able hopefully discuss stuff for another like 30 episodes, after the release. Am I right? Or am I…

Laura: Well, don’t say that because you never know. You don’t want to get people’s hopes up.

Andrew: Well…

Kevin: That’s true. Yeah.

Andrew: Basically, what I am saying is we love doing this we don’t want to stop doing it once the book comes out.

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: So, whether we make the show shorter or do them every other week or something like that. You know? We’ll come up with something good. A podcast…

Laura: Well, I think it also safe to say that even if MuggleCast ends, we all really enjoy doing this podcast thing and I’m sure we can find something else to talk about.

Kevin: It’s true, yeah.

Laura: [laughs] Definitely.

Eric: Like fish.

Kevin: Another book.

Laura: Yeah. [laughs] I’m sure we can do that.

Kevin: Another author.

Eric: Narnia.

[Mikey laughs]

Eric: MuggleCast: your leading Narnia podcast.

Laura: Yeah, we’ll just move on.

Andrew: I’m looking at my calendar right now and episode 99 – if we keep doing shows every week – will be released on July 22.

Laura: Oh, weird.

Andrew: So, maybe we should do two shows in one week.

Laura: So, it’s episode 100.

Eric: The 100th episode. Go out with a bang.

Andrew: Yeah and we’ll release it on a Saturday. But, of course, there is going to be Leaky Mugs and stuff. So…

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: …this schedule might get thrown off entirely, I don’t know. But, anyway, let’s move along here.

Laura: Next voicemail.

Voicemail: Magical Dudley?

[Audio]: Hey, MuggleCasters, this is Jason from California. I love the show, especially Laura and Jamie. They are my favorite. And I was listening to episode 57 where you talked about Petunia and Dudley Dursley and this spawned a theory in my mind about Book 7. Someone is supposed to do magic very late in life in Book 7 and we are also suppose to learn what Dudley’s worst memory is. Is it possible that Dudley has and will do magic inadvertently and visit his worst memory? I’d love to hear what you have to say. Keep up the good work. Later.

Micah: But is it his worst memory or is it his worst fear?

Andrew: I think it is his worst fear.

Laura: Yeah. I mean, they could be the same thing though.

Micah: See, I always had the theory that – it depends what you define as “late in life.”

Laura: Yeah. That’s true.

Micah: Because Dudley, I guess, is later in his life.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: But when you’re talking about somebody doing magic in Book 7, is it Filch; is it Mrs. Figg?

Eric: Or Petunia?

Micah: But, I think it would be kind of cool if Dudley’s greatest fear is his parents finding out that he can do magic.

Laura: That would be interesting. And I mean…

Andrew: Yeah. Micah, was it…

Laura: Okay, I’m not sure how I feel about it, but when you think about Muggleborns and stuff, Dudley would be a likely candidate considering his aunt was one.

Eric: Well, I think that where the dementors are an effect on Dudley too – it makes you relive your worst memories, is what it does. Not necessarily your worst fear and you don’t really necessarily relive it. When Harry came across the dementors, he would always hear his mother screaming, so I think it is the worst memory as opposed to worst fear.

Micah: Well, no. Lupin says to him, it’s wise because what you fear most is fear itself.

Kevin: Yep.

Laura: Well, that was when he was dealing with the boggart.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: Oh, okay, yeah. You’re right.

Andrew: I mean, does Dudley know if he has magical ability? Because don’t you think we would have seen it by now? like, when he was faced with the dementors?

Eric: Yeah, I think he would have warmed up to Harry a little bit.

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: I don’t think he would have warmed up to Harry.

Andrew: When he was…

Micah: Andrew – I talked to you about it though, didn’t I?

Andrew: Yeah, yeah. I was going to say that. But I’m saying when he was faced up against the dementors with Harry, don’t you think he would have exhibited some sort of…

Micah: Maybe he’s too afraid.

Andrew: Yeah, but when Harry was afraid of the snake, I mean, he started talking to it, so – in Book 1 – so I think maybe even if Dudley does know, he’s probably too insecure about it to tell anyone.

Micah: Yeah, but I think part of what maybe was used as evidence for that is when Dumbledore came to visit in Half-Blood Prince. He made some comment to Dudley’s parents…

Eric: Yeah.

Laura: Oh, yeah.

Micah: …about how they raised him or how they treated him. I forgot what the exact quote was though.

Laura: It was something about, “I won’t do anything worse to him than what you already have” or something along those lines.

Micah: Yeah, so…

Andrew: Oooh.

Eric: Or, “I won’t do anything. You’ve already abused him.” Or something like that.

Laura: And it would certainly…

Eric: Something to that effect.

Laura: …lead very well into that big revelation about Aunt Petunia we’re supposed to get.

Andrew: Are Harry and Dudley the same exact age? Like same school year age?

Mikey: Dudley’s a month older.

Laura: Pretty much. Like, a couple weeks.

Laura: Yeah.

Kevin: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: So, if Harry started receiving the letters from Hogwarts, wouldn’t Dudley have received them too?

Mikey: Unless they didn’t want him to go.

Andrew: Unless the one…

Laura: Unless they throw them away.

Andrew: That’s true.

Eric: But why are you guys thinking Dudley? Why can’t it be Petunia that does magic late in life?

Laura: Because – I don’t know.

Eric: We’re thinking either Mrs. Figg, Filch, or Petunia. Petunia was – the focus is on Petunia. Why would somebody say, “Why isn’t it Dudley who might do magic?”

Micah: Because we were answering their voicemail. [laughs]

Mikey: Didn’t J.K.R. say…

Andrew: There is apparently still something big to be revealed about Petunia, and we haven’t really heard anything about Dudley.

Mikey: I thought J.K.R. said…

Laura: Yeah, but it would be…it would be…

Andrew: Oh.

Laura: It would be a big revelation about Petunia that she gave birth to a wizard and then hid it from him.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: I don’t know. I don’t think they need anymore reasons to think Dudley is special.

Andrew: Isn’t this what excites you though? Like, knowing we’re going to know…

Laura: All the theorizing…

Andrew: But we’re going to have all the answers.

Laura: I know! My gosh.

Andrew: See, that’s what’s exciting. I think I’ve mentioned this before. I’m looking forward to – I’m not going to sit here and listen to all the podcasts, but reflecting back on all the stuff we’ve discussed.

Laura: Thinking about all the times we were wrong. [laughs]

Andrew: And all the times we were right. Hopefully. [laughs]

Kevin: Yeah.

[Everyone laughs]

Andrew: So – good stuff. Let’s…

Eric: Next voicemail?

Andrew: Yeah.

Voicemail: Guns at Hogwarts?

[Audio]: Hey, this is Sam. I’m a great listener and I love you guys, but I was just wondering, how come – they say in Hogwarts that Muggle things, like guns and technology, stop working around Hogwarts because of all the magic, but guns wouldn’t, would they? So, I always wonder, why doesn’t Harry come in there with a chain gun or something and just blow the place apart? I mean, it’s just a new concept. Why doesn’t anyone do that? All right. Bye!

[Everyone laughs]

Andrew: Because that would make the story really lame.

Eric: Did he mean Voldemort? Wait a minute.

Andrew: Either. Anybody.

Eric: Harry go into Hogwarts and blow everyone apart?

Laura: I quoted it. I quoted it from his voicemail.

Eric: Yeah I know, but are you sure – I think he means Voldemort.

Laura: I don’t know what he means.

Andrew: No, he could mean Harry. To kill Voldemort.

Eric: Okay.

Laura: Or he could mean Harry go into wherever Voldemort is.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Oh, okay.

Micah: Well, thank you, Laura Mallory, a.k.a. Sam.

[Laura and Eric laugh]

Eric: He’s going to blow the place apart because Harry Potter also promotes guns and weapon violence as well. Especially at school.

Andrew: Yeah. I answer one of these questions like – you know – I mean, this is the perfect example. “Why doesn’t he just shoot Voldemort?” Because! It’s a magic novel.

Eric: Okay, okay. So we’re skipping Marcy?

Andrew: Because! There’s no room for that.

Laura: No one wants to watch him go to the bathroom.

Andrew: Yeah.

Voicemail: Death Eaters Re-Group?

[Audio]: Hey MuggleCast. This is Corey, 16, from Newtown, Pennsylvania. I was just listening to your latest MuggleCast episode, episode 74. You guys were talking about what would happen if Voldemort were to die, would the Death Eaters ever re-group? If you guys have ever seen the TV show Charmed, when the source dies, all the demons or the underworld is in disarray. But slowly, a leader comes up and takes over control. So, do you think that might happen – Bellatrix might take over the Death Eaters? Or, if she does, how long do you think that will be?

Kevin: I don’t think so.

Micah: No, Bellatrix is going to die.

Laura: I don’t think Bellatrix would take over. I think she’s going to die.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah.

Kevin: No, see, the problem is that I think that most of the Death Eaters are coerced into their positions. Like, they’re not the best people to begin with, and then Voldemort says, “Hey. You have the same morals as I do.”

Eric: Right. Exactly.

Kevin: “Come into my group, otherwise I’ll torture you.” So, essentially, they’re coerced into their positions and coerced into supporting him. And once he dies, I do not see them continuing.

Eric: Also…

Kevin: I see them doing exactly what they did when he died the first time, which is try to integrate back into society and act as though nothing happened.

Eric: Right.

Micah: Well…

Eric: The few who like Bellatrix might become leaders, but the thing with Charmed, and this is kind of a good comparison, is that in Charmed once the source dies, there’s that period of disarray where nobody really knows what to do and all the demons are kind of coming back and forming, but the thing about Charmed is that there’s no overwhelming source of good, necessarily, that can actually stop things from reforming. So, I think in the Harry Potter series, the Ministry will use that time of disarray to then seek out all the Death Eaters and put them behind bars. All the ones who still pose a threat; all the ones they can find. See, in Charmed…

Laura: I think it is important that – sorry, Eric.

Eric: In Charmed there was just nothing to stop the demons from reforming…

Kevin: It’s true, yeah.

Eric: Whereas this time the Ministry can use that.

Mikey: You can also look at the time in between Voldemort’s first fall how come no one rose up, and actually in Half-Blood Prince, Snape even said to Bellatrix that they thought Harry was going to be the next dark wizard for everyone to rally behind. I think everyone that is a Death Eater is waiting for one person to rally behind, and it’s none of the current Death Eaters. So, unless something happens, I don’t think – none of the current Death Eaters would rise up and be a leader.

Laura: Yeah, and the thing is what’s important to remember is that there’s always going to be evil in the world.

Kevin: Oh, of course. Yeah.

Laura: But, as for Harry’s battle, that’s going to be done.

Kevin: Yep.

Laura: You may have some Death Eaters that continue on doing horrible things, and eventually another Dark Lord may rise and they may rally behind him. But as for the Death Eaters who are known as Voldemort’s followers, I don’t think they’re going to expand or create anything new when he dies.

Eric: Yeah. Without a leader, I mean…

Kevin: Not to mention the fact that they got away with it once. Do you think they’re going to get away with it this time?

Andrew: No.

Laura: No.

Andrew: They will…

Kevin: I don’t… I see Lucius and all the Death Eaters that are currently in the book, they’re going to get knocked off or they’re going to be captured. I mean, the Ministry isn’t going to fall for it twice.

Eric: And exactly, and when Harry came back from the graveyard and started listing Knott and Bode and all the ones…

Kevin: Right.

Eric: …Fudge just said to him, “You’re just talking about people who stood trial last time,” and who obviously got away. So, they obviously suspect a large variety of the Death Eaters who are actually Death Eaters. This time they’ll probably, definitely catch them.

Micah: Never mind the fact that the Horcrux thing is now been exposed.

Eric: Exactly.

Micah: So they’re going to have to come up with another way if there is a person that rises.

Andrew: Which could take forever. Yeah.

Micah: Yeah, to preserve themselves.

Eric: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Andrew: [strange accent] Fool me, you can’t get fooled again. [normal voice] It’s the Bush quote when he screws it up.

[Everyone laughs]

Kevin: Wow.

Andrew: All right, okay. With that said, that concludes the voicemails today. Right, Laura? I think? Yeah, if you would like to send us a voicemail you can always dial, in the United States, 1-218-20-MAGIC. In the United Kingdom you can dial 020-8144-0677. If you’re in Australia you dial 02-8003-5668. So get your voicemails in, and we look forward to playing them on a future show. Try to keep the voicemail questions general. We like to have a broad range of topics on the show, and the voicemails help keep a wide variety of stuff to discuss on the show.

Micah: If you can try doing that with rebuttals too.

Andrew: Yeah.

Micah: I know it’s hard.

Andrew: Yeah, but I mean rebuttals are rebuttals. [laughs] Most of the time.

Micah: Well, they’re not theses either.

Andrew: No, no. That’s true.

Chicken Soup For The MuggleCast Soul

Andrew: We’re going to wrap things up today with a Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul. This comes from Natalie, 21, of Baghdad, Iraq. She writes:

“Hello MuggleCast. I am an Army girl who got sent over to Baghdad for a year. The first part of my tour was going slow and lasting a lifetime. Seeing and doing the same things over and over again can drive a person nuts. Then, I started listening to your podcast. Let me tell you, you guys help me a lot. Now time goes by, and I can’t wait to hear next week’s cast. Seeing all the violence and death really brings a person’s hopes and morale down a lot, but MuggleCast made me smile and laugh. It made me happy to hear about ‘Harry Potter’ and for once something not that serious and life threatening. So again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You made a soldier’s day every week. Can’t wait for next week’s cast. Yours truly, PFC: Natalie.”

So, thank you, Natalie, very much and we’re happy to hear.

Laura: Yeah, thank you.

Kevin: Yeah, thank you.

Mikey: That’s rad.

Andrew: We’re very happy to hear it’s helping you out. Yeah, it’s very cool.

Micah: Yeah.

Show Close

Andrew: So, that does conclude Episode 75 of MuggleCast. By the way guys, Micah, earlier this week, was trying to come up with ideas on how to celebrate for Episode 75 but ended up having a long show to celebrate anyway. 75 episodes! 75 episodes!

Kevin: Yeah, no kidding.

Eric: Wow.

Micah: Jo took care of all that for us.

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: It was Jo’s gift to us.

Kevin: Not really.

Eric: She watches our back that way.

Mikey: Wow.

Andrew: Yeah. So we thank everyone for listening, and we hope everyone’s here for another 75 more. Just think, by Episode 100 you will all have Book 7. It’s a mere 25 episodes away.

Laura: Oh my god.

Micah: Wow.

Eric: Wow.

Kevin: Oh, geez.

Andrew: Yeah. It feels like – no it doesn’t actually. Episode 50 feels like a long time ago.

Laura: It does.

Eric: Wow, just 50.

Micah: Yeah, it does.

Andrew: If you want to send us some Happy Birthday cards or Happy Anniversary cards you can always mail them to the MuggleCast P.O. Box. Which is:

P.O. Box 223
Moundridge, Kansas

67107

I gave everyone the voicemail information already. Once again: United States, 1-218-20-MAGIC, United Kingdom, 020-8144-0677. If you’re in Australia you can dial 02-8003-5669. You can also Skype the username “MuggleCast” to leave us a voicemail message. Just remember to keep your message under 30 seconds and eliminate as much background noise as possible. You can also use the handy Feedback Form on MuggleCast.com. Just click on contact at the top and you can contact any one of us, or e-mail our first name, including Mikey, at staff dot mugglenet dot com. [laughs] Mikey, you a regular on this show or what?

Mikey: I have no clue.

Andrew: It seems like… Make up your mind already.

Mikey: I’ll be on if you want me to, but it’s one of those things where Andrew gives me a call. “Mikey, can you be on the show?” “Uh, yeah. Hold on.”

Andrew: Mikey’s our backup.

Mikey: I’m the backup. So when Ben’s not around I’ll be here.

Andrew: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[Show music plays]

Mikey: I’ll be Ben Schoen for the show.

Andrew: By the way guys, I got an IM from Jamie when I was away today. It said, shoot I want to quote it because it’s pretty funny. It says, “I am literally about to die. ‘Explicative’ flu.” And then he signed off four seconds later, so if you want to assume he’s under the weather right now. Send jamie at staff dot mugglenet dot com some get well cards, e-mails. Hopefully he’ll get better.

Eric: I think he’s had that since my party.

Mikey: He never sleeps, that’s why.

Andrew: He doesn’t sleep.

Mikey: No. I talk to him at all hours, of like at least California time. It’s just ridiculous.

Kevin: Yeah, it’s true.

Andrew: Yeah he’s – Durham has got him pretty screwed up.

Kevin: He’s an insomniac.

Andrew: Yeah, it’s true.

Kevin: He really is.

Andrew: Yet when he comes over to my house he sleeps for 14 hours, so I don’t fully understand what he’s trying to accomplish.

Mikey: [laughs] I was talking to him when he came over to your house and he’s just like, “Yeah, quiet. We can’t Skype right now. Andrew’s asleep. He has school in like, two hours.” [laughs] I’m like, “Why are you up then?” He’s like, “I haven’t slept yet.”

Andrew: Yeah.

Mikey: I’m like, “Wow!”

Andrew: Thanks everyone for listening.

Mikey: Jamie, get better.

Andrew: Yeah, Jamie, get better. Hopefully he’ll be back on next week.

Kevin: Yeah.

Andrew: Ben has a Forensics tournament, so that’s why he’s not on either. So hopefully, both of them will be back next week. Once again, I’m Andrew Sims.

Kevin: I’m Kevin Steck.

Eric: I’m Eric Scull.

Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.

Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.

Mikey: And I’m Mikey B.

Andrew: Thanks for listening. Bye bye!

Micah: Bye.

Laura: Bye.

Kevin: Bye bye!

Eric: Please visit >VeryDeathlyHallows.net.

[Show music ends]