MuggleCast 106 Transcript
Show Intro
[Intro music plays]
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Andrew: Today’s MuggleNet podcast is brought to you by Borders. In May, thousands of Harry Potter fans descended upon New Orleans for the Phoenix Rising Conference. Borders was there to take in the sites and share a lively discussion of the series that has bewitched the world with some of Harry’s most dedicated fans. Listen in and watch the action yourself. Check our The Phoenix Rising Borders Book Club discussion at BordersMedia.com/HarryPotter, or click on the Borders banner at the top of the MuggleNet page.
[Show music plays]
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Oh-ho-ho! Hey! Wow!
Mikey: Hey, thanks! Welcome!
Andrew: Geez! Oh man, guys, geez, wow. Thank you, thank you, thank you. [laughs]
Mikey: All right!
Andrew: What a big surprise! Hi, everyone, welcome to MuggleCast Live in Pittsburgh!
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Thank you, everyone, for coming out. You’re in store for some good Deathly Hallows discussion and some awesome Wizard Rock from The Remus Lupins.
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: [laughs] We’re also celebrating a couple of birthdays today! Does everyone know? Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling! Brandon, can you do me a favor? Can you give me that Target bag over there? We were just at Target shopping for birthday supplies, and there’s a few birthdays today. Thank you. Would anyone like some hats or some streamers?
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Well, we have one little bag. We didn’t really buy for everyone. I was sort of addressing the panel.
[Murmur from the audience]
Mikey: It’s her birthday.
Andrew: It’s her birthday? What’s your name? Oh, it’s not? Oh, okay. Is there someone named Zoe here? Zoe? Is that you? Can you come on up?
Jamie: Andrew, why don’t you card her just to make sure, because everyone’s saying it’s their birthday now.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can we see some identification, please?
Audience Member: I have my student I.D.
Andrew: No, no, no! I trust you, I trust you, I trust you! I’ve been talking with your mom. You didn’t know that, but I was. [laughs]
Audience Member: No way!
Andrew: Yeah, way! I have her number! We call each other all the time! [laughs] Anyway, it’s Zoe’s birthday today! It’s also Harry Potter’s birthday today. It’s also J.K. Rowling’s birthday today. So to kick off the show why don’t we have a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday? I’m sure we’ll do it again later with The Remus Lupins, okay? So on three, guys.
Jamie: What are we doing?
Andrew: Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday song. Is it in the U.K.?
Mikey: This is going to be bad.
Jamie: No, I’ve never heard of it!
Emerson: I’ll do it!
Andrew: We’ll teach you.
Mikey: We can’t sing.
Andrew: Okay, we’ll all do it!
Emerson: Okay, good.
Andrew: Okay, on three. One, two, three.
MuggleCasters: [singing] Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear…
Andrew: Zoe, J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter!
Mikey: Harry Potter!
[Audience cheers]
MuggleCasters: [singing] Happy Birthday to you!
Andrew and Mikey: Yay!
[Audience cheers]
Mikey: Party hats, everybody! Whoo!
Andrew: Wonderful! Wonderful! I guess.
Mikey: Fine, Emerson, just take my party hat.
Andrew: There we go. Yes! Okay, anyway, we’ll get to the rest of the party stuff later, but has everyone read Deathly Hallows, first of all?
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: All right. That’s good.
Audience Member: No spoilers allowed!
Andrew: I’m sorry.
Emerson: We’re going to spoil the heck out of you if you stay here.
Andrew: We’re going to be discussing the book today.
Emerson: So…
Andrew: We’re going to be talking Deathly Hallows today because the book’s been out for like a week now.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: We can’t speculate anymore. There we go. I said a week! Sorry, a week. Seven days. Something like that. Anyway…
Emerson: It came out on the 21st, guys.
Ben: I’d say a week and a half.
Andrew: A week and a half.
Mikey: Ten days.
Andrew: Sorry!
Mikey: Came out on the 21st, it’s the 31st…
Andrew: Sorry, sorry, everyone.
Mikey: I can count.
Andrew: Okay, so anyway, let’s get on track here. We’ve been having a main discussion at all these shows that we’ve done. We’ve talked about Snape, Dumbledore, Voldemort, Ron, Hermione. So who better to talk about today than Harry Potter?
Jamie: I agree.
Mikey: Woo!
[Audience cheers]
Jamie: But before we get there, I just want to say that after doing…
Audience Member: Let’s talk about Fudge.
Andrew: No.
Jamie: No.
Audience Member: That’d be so cool. I dress up as him.
Jamie: I just wanted to say that after we’ve been to all these Borders and all these libraries, this is such a nice change for doing a podcast inside one of these things. This is very cool, don’t you agree?
Ben: We do like the outdoor…
Jamie: We do like the outdoor.
Mikey: It’s very pretty. It’s pretty.
Main Discussion: Harry Potter
Jamie: But on to the main discussion. As Andrew said, we’ve been taking one character for each stop on our podcast tour. We’ve covered Snape, Dumbledore, Hermione, Ron, and I think someone else who I can’t remember.
Mikey: Voldemort.
Jamie: Yeah, Voldemort. So now we’re going to take everything to its culmination and discuss Harry, since, obviously, Harry Potter and everything – he’s the main character. So, what we wanted to talk about is how he’s changed in the first six books and then how the seventh book has completely changed our perceptions of him, whether we think he’s more angsty, more brave, all those kind of things, or not. So, why don’t we start with a few points here from the panel.
Harry’s Growth
Andrew: Mikey?
Mikey: Well, I think Harry definitely kind of grew up in Book 7. Definitely. He kind of figured things out. Hermione was – louder? Stand up for people to see us as we talk. Okay. Anyway, Harry definitely…
[Andrew laughs and audience applauds]
Mikey: …grew up quite a bit during Book 7.
Andrew: We [unintelligible] book tour-ish.
Mikey: Yeah. It’s been a book tour, so we’ve been sitting down in the lounge area relaxing and talking about books. But Harry grew up in Book 7, I think, especially when it came down to he realized he had to kind of die, which was nice. Yeah? Maybe? But he came up and he realized – he grew up there, versus Book 5, The Order of the Phoenix, where it was all caps Harry, very angsty and angry, like: “I’M ANGRY AT YOU!”
Jamie: But, Mikey, I’d like to disagree and say that Harry hasn’t grown up because you keep making the point that any grown mature man would not jump into a pool of icy cold water with a Horcrux around his neck.
Emerson: Completely naked.
Jamie: Completely naked, yeah.
Mikey: You speak for yourself, sir. You speak for yourself!
Jamie: I personally would.
Emerson: Mikey, just because you’re a nudist doesn’t mean all rational people do that.
[Andrew laughs]
Mikey: Ah, you know…
Emerson: See, you mysteriously find Godric Gryffindor’s sword laying at the bottom of this ice freezing cold pool…
Jamie: No, no, but it could not be a sword as well. He thinks it’s his sword, but he could be wrong.
Emerson: This is after chasing this mystical, ghostly animal through the forest. You see this sword at the bottom of this freezing cold pool. So what do you do? You strip naked and jump in.
[Audience laughs]
Emerson: No, you go back, you tell Hermione what happened, you let Hermione, the adult, figure it out, sort it out, be rational.
[Audience chatter]
Jamie: I’m sure there’s a spell he could have used.
Mikey: You know, I think he just wanted to take a dip. He was kind of hot.
[Audience laughs]
Mikey: Just cool himself off. He saw something in the water. Who knows?
Jamie: That’s very true.
Harry’s Narrow Escapes
Mikey: Anyway, Jamie, what do you think about Harry?
Jamie: What do I think about Harry?
Mikey: Has he grown?
Jamie: I think he’s grown up a bit, but I think he’s realized what he can and can’t do now. So he isn’t clever like Hermione, and he’s actually pretty dumb, to be honest, isn’t he?
Mikey: [in high-pitched voice] I’m Harry Potter!
Emerson: I think Harry Potter is innately talented, but I think – and I’ve made this point a couple times before – Harry is given this quest by Dumbledore in the sixth book where he has to track down all these Horcruxes and ultimately kill the greatest wizard alive. And so what does Harry do in his free time? He just kind of sits around and goes with the flow, whereas Hermione uses all her time and energy to read books and to further her skills, and learn more magic, and Harry just takes everything completely for granted, and he gets lucky over and over and over, and I love the kid. We really do. We love Harry Potter. We run a Harry Potter website. But if it weren’t for Hermione saving his butt over and over and over again in that last book…
Jamie: He’d be dead by now, so easily.
Emerson: Yeah.
Jamie: And we’ve been talking about – throughout every stop, we’ve been talking about…
Mikey: These are fun.
[Horn sounds]
Jamie: We’ve been talking about how Harry will wake up completely not knowing where he is – probably camping again – and there will be Hermione standing next to him all bushy haired saying, “Wow, Harry! That was a close one again.”
Emerson: Yeah, he has a near-death experience every three pages in that book.
Andrew: Well, that was the thing we were talking about. One of the things we sort of speculated about in the first 100 episodes of MuggleCast. I mean, Harry has made so many narrow escapes. I just said now it’s time for him to bite the dust. I mean, he’s missed out too many times. And J.K. Rowling has even said that she has considered having the trio – one member of the trio dying. So it’s not that absurd of a statement to make.
Harry Did Not Die
Jamie: Well, he kind of died, didn’t he?
[Horn sounds]
Jamie: Or did he?
Emerson: No! [sighs] No, I’ve been making – this is another one of those points I’ve been making. Harry Potter did not die in that book. He absolutely did not die. You cannot die and come back to life. J.K. Rowling has been very, very clear about that in the past. She said in the interview that we did, or – sorry – the transcript on Monday that Harry was not dead. She said he was in a limbo between life and death, and we had a theory before, which was confirmed, and she said that the fact when Harry, when he was having this – when he was lost in his mind somewhere, and he’s at King’s Cross Station, that was sort of the purgatory when he has to decide whether, you know, which direction to go, to get on the train or not to get on the train, to choose between living or dying.
Jamie: Okay, but…
Ben: He kind of died. He kind of died though. Sort of.
Emerson: No, you can’t kind of die!
Andrew: Well, okay, but…
Emerson: You’re either alive or you’re dead.
Andrew: Yeah, J.K. Rowling said he was in limbo.
Emerson: Yeah, limbo. But you can’t be half dead.
Andrew: So…
Mikey: Guys, guys.
Andrew: I think the answer is…
Emerson: Harry Potter is not Jesus.
Andrew: Emerson, I think the answer is he wasn’t alive, he wasn’t dead, he was just in limbo. He was sort of between the two.
Emerson: He didn’t die, though. Because in order to die he would have actually had to get on that – to choose death – he would have had to get on the train…
Andrew: Right.
Emerson: …and he would’ve had to choose to end his life. Because in so many interviews, J.K. Rowling has made it very clear that when a wizard is dead he does not come back. And Harry Potter was clearly alive at the end of that book.
Jamie: Who was Dumbledore then?
Emerson: Thus he did not die.
Jamie: Who was Dumbledore at King’s Cross? Was he a real Dumbledore come back to talk to him or was he just a part of Harry’s brain telling him things he already knew?
Emerson: It was probably – well, he was in limbo, so somehow Spiritual Dumbledore, who was already dead, was able to communicate with Harry while he was in that kind of purgatory.
Jamie: I think that’s pretty good.
Andrew: Fair enough.
Mikey: Maybe, maybe. We’ll see.
Andrew: Anything else you want to address about Harry before we call up the audience members up?
Mikey: Well, what about Ben Schoen? I haven’t heard from him yet.
Andrew: Ben?
Ben: It’s really hot in here.
[Andrew and Mikey laugh]
Mikey: “I’m Ben Schoen. I’m hot.”
Ben: I don’t know. The rest of them pretty much covered it. I think that he’s still kind of an idiot, even after seven books, but he started to figure out a little bit more, which is more than you could say for most people, so…
Jamie: But has he really though?
Harry is Only Human
Andrew: Someone was kind of angry at Jo at the web-chat. During the web-chat, someone said to Jo, “Well, why on earth did you have him use the Cruciatus Curse? Why would you make him do that? He’s Harry, he wouldn’t do that.” And Jo said he’s just as – I can’t remember the exact words she said…
Ben: He’s human, so he’s mortal, basically…
Andrew: Yeah.
Ben: Like the rest of us, like Dumbledore.
Andrew: Right.
Ben: He has his own set of problems. And it was an…
Jamie: He has weaknesses.
Ben: …extreme circumstance, too. I mean, he needed to do it in order to control the situation, so it wasn’t like he just did it out of cold-blood and trying to hurt somebody. He did it because he had to.
Andrew: Yeah.
Mikey: Yeah. Harry’s not perfect, and Jo said that. So his two biggest fallacies is his anger and kind of his pride at certain times.
Harry was Helped
Jamie: But do you think he won because of himself, or do you think the entire battle was won because of Hermione and his friends and the people who helped him?
Mikey: I think it was Harry himself. Like I said, Harry, I think, matured a little bit. He realized he had to die, and by him giving up himself for his friends and family, that was still – actually, there was no family left anymore – but for his friends, it kind of put it so that way he grew up, and it was him that gave them the extra protection and everything.
Jamie: But he got so much help throughout the entire books; Dumbledore telling him what to do, Snape then led him.
Mikey: Oh yeah.
Jamie: Without these people, Harry would not have had any idea where to go for the Horcruxes or anything like that.
Emerson: Is everybody able to understand – like, follow all of this – understand what we’re saying? Because I’m hearing a lot of feedback, and I’m just not sure if you guys in the back can hear us okay. So give me some heads or some…
Mikey: Yeah? No?
Jamie: Okay, good.
Mikey: Thumbs up? All right!
Andrew: We’re good, Emerson. We’re good, Spartzy. So you want to open it up now for feedback?
Jamie: We can talk about it there, yeah.
Andrew: Does anyone have any thoughts about Harry, say, like any problems you have? Raise your hand if you do.
Jamie: We’ve got people right here.
Mikey: Or favorite scenes with Harry. You know.
Andrew: Any thoughts?
Mikey: Did he say something funny? Come on up here and say your name.
Andrew: Harry Potter had two semi-naked scenes in the book.
Jamie: Yeah!
Andrew: And someone came up to me yesterday and was like, “I think I know exactly why Jo did that.” And I said, “I think I know, too.” It’s probably because J.K. Rowling went to see Dan Radcliffe in the flesh again…
[Audience cheers and laughs]
Andrew: Exactly what I was thinking.
Jamie: Did she say that? Did this girl say that?
Andrew: Yes.
Jamie: Oh, wow.
Harry’s Ability to Speak Parseltongue
Andrew: So anyway, what’s your name? Where are you from?
Audience Member: Kate, from Pittsburgh. When the part of Voldemort that was in Harry got killed, did Harry lose his ability to speak Parseltongue? Did he lose…
Ben: Yeah, she said that.
Audience Member: …any greatness that he had? So he’s just the dumb guy he would have been without Voldemort to begin with?
Jamie: Yup.
Audience Member: So he’s even worse than through the seven books?
Mikey: Yes.
Ben: I wouldn’t say he’s even worse. I mean…
Mikey: Well, no, he just doesn’t have the powers…
Ben: He just doesn’t have the ability to speak Parseltongue anymore. I mean, it was never really explicitly stated in the books what powers Harry – there wasn’t a list of powers that Harry got from Voldemort. I’m sure he’s still pretty adept magically. I don’t think you have to worry about that.
Mikey: Plus I’m sure Harry’s happy not to be able to talk to snakes anymore. It’s kind of something from his past he doesn’t want to bring up. I don’t know, I just would – I don’t picture Harry wishing he still had the capability to talk to snakes later on in his life.
Andrew: Yeah, he’d just want to move on.
Mikey: Move on, touch his scar, go, “It’s not hurting anymore.”
Andrew: Any other thoughts? Questions?
Mikey: Anybody want to come up and tell us about Harry?
Andrew: If you do have something to say…
Mikey: Come on up.
Andrew: …come up, make a line on either side.
Harry Using the Unforgivable Curses
Mikey: We have somebody right here. Name, where you’re from…
Andrew: Come on my side to win…
Audience Member: I’m…
Andrew: …a free party hat.
Audience Member: …Zoe. I’m from Pittsburgh.
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Yes! Yes! Pittsburgh!
Audience Member: And we were talking about Harry using the Unforgivable Curses, but he used – yeah, he used the Imperius Curse, but Griphook told him to, so – yeah, but…
Jamie: So he’s even more useless than we thought, first of all. [laughs]
[Everyone laughs]
Audience Member: But Griphook – Griphook…
Jamie: Yeah.
Audience Member: …told him to, and it was an extreme circumstance because he was going to get killed by the Gringotts people, and yeah. But – and then he did use the Cruciatus Curse. He used it in the sixth book too. He tried to use it on Bellatrix. Or the fifth. The fifth! Sorry! He tried to use it on Bellatrix but it didn’t really work. He wasn’t mean enough. He didn’t mean it. Then he did. Like he took her advice, which is a little weird.
Jamie: Yeah, obviously, there are separate circumstances and when he used the
Imperius Curse, I think the war had gone so far then that, you know, everything went. Voldemort would use them. Harry has to beat Voldemort, so Voldemort should have the same powers that – sorry, that – so Harry should have the same Vol – powers that Voldemort has the entire way. So I think everything went by then.
Mikey: Do you want to go on this side?
Jamie: Should we take another point?
Andrew: Yeah. Hi. What’s your name where are you from?
Harry’s Trust in Neville
Audience Member: I’m Claire from D.C. And I was wondering…
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: D.C., yeah!
Emerson: Wait, did you say, D.C., as in Washington, D.C.?
Audience Member: Yeah, as in Washington, D.C. [laughs]
Emerson: That’s…
Mikey: Wow. Five hours?
Audience Member: It’s five hours.
Emerson: Five hours? Yeah? Ben and I made that drive…
Jamie: Wow.
Emerson: …in the middle of the night about a month ago. Lesson – was anybody – did anybody come and see Ben and I when we were here in Pittsburgh?
[A few audience members cheer]
Emerson: About a month ago? Got some hands up. Cool. Cool.
Andrew: MuggleCast brings out the real crowds though…
Mikey: Yep. I think Remus Lupins do.
Claire: Okay. So why do you think in the last scene, Harry chose only to talk to Neville? He didn’t talk to Ginny, he didn’t tell Ron or Hermione where he’s going, he didn’t tell any of the Weasleys where he’s going. He talked to Neville. Why did he trust Neville?
Jamie: Because they shared the connection. It’s sort of – it could have been Neville who was in Harry’s place, I think. And Harry trusted him because Neville has never ever led him astray. He’s shown him loyalty unlike people like Seamus who have once in a while said, “Well, I don’t think you’re telling the truth.” But Neville has always been there for Harry, even through Books 1 – even in the first book he was his friend straight away.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: And he’s still his friend now, so that’s probably why he trusted him.
Andrew: And Harry saw how much he changed in the book. I mean, Harry – Neville really did a full 180, which is one of the reasons why I sort of assumed he would be one of the people who was going to get knocked off.
Jamie: But instead he knocked off the snake.
Andrew: Mikey?
Mikey: I…
Andrew: Yeah.
Mikey: …also think it was kind of convenient that Neville was just right there as he was…
Andrew: Exactly.
Mikey: …walking away.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: That was the whole thing.
Mikey: So I think that’s probably why.
Andrew: Yes.
Mikey: I don’t know.
Andrew: Thank you for playing.
Mikey: I was just…
Jamie: So if – so, Mikey, if Voldemort had just been standing there, would he have entrusted it to him?
Mikey: Maybe. It’s like, “Hey, Voldy. You need to kill that snake because – yeah.”
Andrew: Mikey…
Mikey: Maybe not.
Andrew: Mikey…
Mikey: Who knows.
Andrew: …for one more final time…
Mikey: Everybody, let’s…
Andrew and Mikey: Give it up for Molly Weasley!
Mikey: Seriously!
[Andrew laughs]
[Audience cheers]
Mikey: …how cool was that?! How cool was that?! Yeah, Ben Schoen. Yeah. Yeah, Ben Schoen. Molly Weasley everybody. It just – come on. Can you not imagine the movie? You know, you got – you got Hermione, you got Ginny, and you got Luna dueling Bellatrix in like a triangle formation. It’s going all cool. And then Bellatrix is like, “Avada Kedavra,” and misses Ginny by like just a hair. And Molly Weasley’s like, “Get away from my daughter, you witch!”
[Audience laughs]
Mikey: Yes, we replaced the “b” with a “w” on MuggleCast because it’s still a kids’ show.
Jamie: I love how you act it out…
Mikey: I always…
Jamie: …as well.
Mikey: …act it out!
Jamie: It’s brilliant.
Mikey: It’s amazing! It’s just like – it’s going to be so cool! I get a little excited…
Jamie: Ben…
Mikey: …when I talk about books…
Jamie: …wouldn’t you agree that it was Mikey’s choice to act it out? And there’s one character in the Harry Potter series – okay.
Mikey: So why – why would Molly Weasley do such a thing, Ben Schoen?
Jamie: There is a reason, I’m sure.
Mikey: I’m sure there is.
Jamie: Dum…
Ben: No idea.
Mikey: [laughs] Aww! I think Dumbledore may have said it best, Ben Schoen.
Ben: [as Dumbledore] “It is our choices, Harry, far more than our abilities…”
[Audience cheers]
Ben: “…that determine what we truly are.”
Mikey: He goes to work into every show. Ben Schoen, everybody. How amazing is he?
Jamie: We have a lot of questions. Should we send it off?
Andrew: The thing is, though, now that J.K. Rowling has said that “b” word, I think that means we can.
Mikey: I don’t know. I feel – that’s kind of a potty word.
Ben: So can I call you that on the show? I mean…
Andrew: No.
Ben: …is that cool?
Andrew: No, that’s still offensive, Ben. The Alcatraz shirt on today. Anyway…
Mikey: I’ll still call him a witch.
Andrew: Here’s a party hat. What’s your name? Where are you from?
Mikey: We have people over here.
Andrew: Oh, sorry. Let me give you a mic because that’s important.
Ben: Name…
Rowling’s Forgotten Character
Audience Member: All right.
Ben: …age…
Audience Member: I’m Elizabeth.
Ben: …where you’re from.
Audience Member: From Pittsburgh, here. And…
[A few audience members cheer]
Audience Member: …I…
Mikey: Pittsburgh.
Audience Member: My question is, if you guys have figured out who learned magic later in life. Like, have you…
Ben: She…
Audience Member: …thought about that before?
Ben: …brought that up on the web-chat too. She said that – yeah, she forgot about that and just sort of…
Andrew: No, no, no…
Ben: She changed her mind basically.
Mikey: By Book 3 she decided, “Ah, it’s over. I don’t need to put that in anymore.”
Andrew: Yeah. Which doesn’t make sense. I mean…
Mikey: Yeah.
Andrew: Didn’t she say that after Book 3, or is that just a quote everyone’s been dwelling on?
Mikey: I don’t know. She can do whatever she wants. She’s Jo Rowling.
Andrew: Yeah. Her excuse is that she said that before Book 3, but then she changed her mind, so whatever. Luckily someone brought that up in the web-chat, because otherwise we would’ve been like: [speaks nonsense in deliberately clueless voice]
Mikey: I think it was Andrew Sims who got magic, everybody. Anyway, we have some people over here. What’s your name, where are you from?
Harry Was a Horcrux
Audience Member: I’m Marissa from Pittsburgh and my question was, do you think the only reason that Harry was going to be sorted into Slytherin was because a piece of Voldemort was in him?
Emerson: Yes, we do, actually, and that brings me to another point, that, yes, I have been making for the past several events, because you have to understand, Ben and I spent the entire summer – every single city we went to – we spent probably about half each trip defending a certain theory that was not popular. Extremely unpopular actually.
Mikey: He’s right though.
Emerson: It actually got lots of nasty looks and lots of nasty arguments over, that we were suddenly found to be vindicated over in the seventh book. We proposed that Harry was a Horcrux, and we were laughed at.
Mikey: Over, and over, and over.
Emerson: Over and over.
Mikey: I believed them though.
Emerson: So now we take a moment here to toot our own horns. [blows party horn]
Andrew: He’s waiting for an applause, folks, so if you just give it to him, you’ll make him happy.
Mikey: Toot our birthday horns for Harry Potter, everybody.
[Audience cheers, horns toot]
Jamie: We also…
Mikey: I’m having fun.
Jamie: We also offered odds that Dobby wasn’t going to die at a 100 to 1, so that kind of gets away from that, but I think we did well.
Emerson: Okay, we didn’t accurately predict the death of every single one of the thirty-five million characters who died in the book. I apologize for that.
Jamie: Yeah, all thirty-five million. [sighs]
[Audience laughs]
Ben: There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes.
Andrew: What were your odds for somebody stabbing him in the chest?
Jamie: Like quite high. If you’d put money on that, you’d be a millionaire by now.
Andrew: Two to one.
Mikey: How sad was Hedwig’s death? Really. That was sad.
Ben: A moment of silence for Hedwig, please.
Mikey: It’s a bird.
Ben: Okay, that was good.
Andrew: I like how J.K. Rowling explained that, though, in the web-chat. She said that that marked the end of his childhood, which I thought…
Jamie: The symbolism’s all there, with the pure, brilliant, white snowy owl and that dying, and the animal symbolism, so I guess that’s pretty good.
Andrew: Yeah.
Mikey: I guess that’s good, Andrew.
Jamie: Should we take the next question?
Mikey: Let’s take another one.
Andrew: Sure. Hi, what’s your name and where are you from? Where’s the party at? Oops, sorry.
Mikey: I guess that’s the better line. They get free gifts when they go to that side. I’m sorry, guys. Andrew doesn’t give me stuff.
The Secret-Keeper Discrepancy
Audience Member: I’m Caitlin and I’m from Kane.
Andrew: Yes, Kane. Woo!
Audience Member: That’s in Pennsylvania, by the way.
Mikey: Wow, give it up for Kane, Pennsylvania.
[Audience cheers]
Audience Member: Four thousand people in Kane.
Mikey: Yeah!
Audience Member: Going back to the Secret-Keeper thing on her website, the discrepancy, do you think she just changed her mind or did she forget that she wrote that?
Jamie: It’s to do with Dumbledore dying and it going into his – do you want to explain it a bit more, because I’m not entirely sure.
Andrew: Yeah, what are you…
Audience Member: On her website she said that when the Secret-Keeper dies, the secret dies with him so no one else can find the place but the people that were in on the secret. But in Deathly Hallows, when the Secret-Keeper dies, everyone in turn becomes a Secret-Keeper. So…
Jamie: I think she probably just…
Ben: I think it makes sense. I think what she said on her website was that the secret dies with him, but if they share the secret with other people, she never specified on her website whether or not that makes them a Secret-Keeper, which is what she cleared up in the book.
Andrew: Wasn’t that explained in the book though?
Mikey: No, no, no, what was said on the website, because I actually was reading the website today for some reason. It was actually that the curse, or the protection charm, does not get lifted, but she never explained how it went on beyond that. She said that the charm still exists, and then in Book 7 she explained that everybody who knew who was in on the secret becomes the Secret-Keeper. And now with the thirty-some odd people from the Order and the kids and everyone, and they knew the secret, they all were kind of at risk at revealing their secret. I think so.
Jamie: Sounds about right.
Andrew: Yeah, thank you.
Mikey: Okay, we have some people over here. What is your name?
MuggleCast 106 Transcript (continued)
No Offspring Named After Sirius
Audience Member: Maddy from Pittsburgh. My question is, why didn’t Harry name a kid after Sirius?
[Audience cheers]
Audience Member: I mean, he named one after every single person in the world except for Sirius.
Jamie: She actually posted on her website that Albus Severus – she missed out his third middle name. It was Albus Severus Sirius.
Mikey: And didn’t they get a black dog named Sirius too? I’m making that up.
Jamie: We’re joking, by the way, yeah.
Mikey: I’m sorry, they made that up. They didn’t call it Padfoot or Sirius. It’s called Ben Schoen.
Foreshadowing in Movie 3
Andrew: Next question? Hi, where are you from? Here’s a party hat. Let’s all celebrate the festivities today!
Audience Member: Hi, I’m Spencer from Pittsburgh. I was wondering, I don’t know how long ago it was that J.K. Rowling said that she saw something in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie that she thought people would look back on and think was foreshadowing something from Deathly Hallows. I was wondering what it was and if it could be that she thought people would think Snape conjured the Patronus…
Jamie: Yeah.
Audience Member: …at the lake with the Dementors. Because he has a doe Patronus and it might be mistaken for a stag.
Jamie: Oh!
Mikey: Huh.
Andrew: That’s an interesting question, because…
Emerson: Something someone else pointed out at another event we did was maybe it was when – it was either Fred or George was joking about after Harry falls off his broom, that they made a joke about falling off of the Astronomy Tower, which then in Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore obviously falls off of. So they were saying maybe that’s the foreshadowing that they did unintentionally.
Jamie: That’s quite a small hint, though. That’s like…
Emerson: Yeah.
Jamie: I know what you mean, though, yeah.
Emerson: But if it was unintentional, then it probably wasn’t anything major.
Jamie: I like the doe thing, though.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah.
Jamie: I think that’s a good idea. Very good idea.
Andrew: Yeah.
Mikey: He thought it was his dad, though.
Jamie: It was the Shrunken Head!
Andrew: Someone’s got to ask Jo.
Jamie: That was…
Andrew: Yeah, the Shrunken Head.
Mikey: Shrunken Head’s like a Horcrux. [imitating the Shrunken Head] “Take it away, Ern!”
Jamie: Take a question from that side.
Mikey: Yeah, a question from this side.
What If Snape Had Died Sooner?
Audience Member: Hi. I’m Katie from Pittsburgh, and my question was just – Harry seemed to be in the right place at the right time when Snape died. And what do you think would have happened if he had gotten there after Snape died?
Jamie: He’d be covered in the memories and he’d just have to scoop it up off his body and put it into a glass.
Mikey: Wow.
Jamie: Sorry.
Mikey: That’s kind of gruesome, Jamie.
Ben: Had he not died, I think – had Harry not been there, I mean. He probably would’ve faced Voldemort and – I mean, he never would’ve known Snape’s true loyalty, obviously, and he wouldn’t have known that he was a Horcrux, but – I mean, I don’t know if it – would it have changed the outcome, you think?
Jamie: Yeah, because he wouldn’t – he wouldn’t have found out everything about him, so he wouldn’t have wandered into danger knowing he had to die and all that kind of thing. It was instrumental, but it was just luck, as you say, that Harry was there at the right time.
Mikey: Yeah. He also wouldn’t have known he was a Horcrux, too. So he wouldn’t have been able to open the Snitch and all those wonderful things…
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah.
Mikey: …that just coincidentally happened because Harry is so lucky as the Boy Who Lived and gets everything handed…
Emerson: The Boy Who Lucked Out.
Jamie: Yeah, that’s his new name.
Mikey: Yeah, he has a murderer after him. He’s a very lucky boy.
What Happened to the Resurrection Stone Ghosts?
Andrew: What’s your name, where are you from?
Audience Member: Oh, it’s my turn? My name’s Mary and I’m from Pittsburgh. Do I get a party hat?
Andrew: Sure.
[Audience laughs]
Audience Member: Sweet.
Mikey: That’s why she came up here. She just wants a party hat. I still got the blow thingys, though.
Audience Member: Okay. Did anybody else wonder what happened to the people that the
Resurrection Stone was used on? Because it said that they came back sort of as ghosts, but do you think they stayed like that, or they went back to being dead? Because as…
Ben: I think that they went back to being dead.
Audience Member: Because everybody’s argued…
Jamie: Yeah. I agree.
Audience Member: …”oh, he didn’t actually die, he was in limbo.” But he assumed that they would go away after he sacrificed himself and died. So what happened to them then?
Mikey: They went away when they dropped the Stone. So the Stone itself is what gave him the power to bring them back, but he doesn’t actually bring them back to life. And since he dropped the stone – Jo actually answered in her transcript what happened to it – since he dropped it somewhere in the Forest, she’s like, “I imagine one of the centaurs stepping on it, and it getting buried, and no one ever finding it again.” So I hope that kind of answers your question where it’s like, the Stone is what has the power, because it’s one of the three Deathly Hallows.
Jamie: I always imagined it like a Priori Incantatem thing, when they came out, but they were vapory, and they didn’t last long, and you knew they weren’t real, but then they went away, you know.
Mikey: I thought of them as like pudding because it’s kind of tasty.
[Audience laughs]
Emerson: By the way, that hat looks a bit like…
Mikey: Bad joke.
Emerson: …a bit like an erumpent horn. And those are bad news…
Jamie: Yeah, they are.
Emerson: …so be careful with that thing. Be careful with those.
Jamie: That’s very true.
Back to Harry Using Unforgivable Curses
Audience Member: Okay. Hi, my name’s Josh from Pittsburgh, and I’ve sort of have a question and a sort of thing. And I sort of agree with you guys when you said that Harry was a Horcrux, because technically he does follow the definition of one. Part of his soul cut out into something.
Jamie: Are you going to “but”?
Audience Member: Huh?
Jamie: But…
Audience Member: No, I’m not going to say “but.” I’m just agreeing with you guys.
Jamie: Oh, okay. [laughs]
Ben: Okay, good. Well…
Jamie: Thank you.
Audience Member: Well, also, she said that Harry didn’t mean the curses in the books. And that just sort of, kind of, makes me confused. Because when he did the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix, I think he would have meant it because his godfather had just died and she had killed her. I don’t really know what’s up with that.
Jamie: I think – I always thought the point was that you have to want to hurt them, whereas she just wanted – sorry – whereas Harry just wanted revenge. He didn’t…
Ben: Well, she said that…
Jamie: …actually cause pain.
Ben: …sheer emotion alone isn’t enough to actually make the curse work.
Jamie: Yeah.
Ben: I think it has to be something you’re conditioned to do. You have to be conditioned to be just at the art of hurting people. I mean, I really think that’s what it is.
Jamie: Yeah. And he just wanted to get her out of the way. He didn’t want to cause her pain. He just wanted to kill her. That’s probably it. But…
Mikey: Okay.
Andrew: Okay.
Jamie: Next one.
The Mandrakes
Andrew: What’s your name, where are you from?
Audience Member: I’m Lani. I’m from Pittsburgh.
Andrew: Say that again.
Audience Member: I’m Lani. I’m from Pittsburgh.
Andrew: Woo! Anyone here from Exton? Exton? Murrysville? Yes! I used to live there. All right.
Mikey: Wow.
Audience Member: When Neville and Professor Sprout and all of the people who are carrying Mandrakes to throw at the Death Eaters, they all have earmuffs on. But Harry passes them and he doesn’t have earmuffs. And all of the others on the castle and grounds, why don’t they die? Because the cry of the Mandrake is fatal.
Andrew: See, J.K. Rowling, when she writes these books, is not perfect.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: I don’t – is there a good explanation for that? I mean, I guess that’s why that chapter was called “The Flaw in the Plan.”
[Audience laughs]
Emerson: Maybe – did they cast Muffliato and he didn’t hear it perfectly?
Andrew: Do you have to really hear it?
Audience Member: The Mandrakes were in the pots.
Emerson: Oh, yeah.
Audience Member 2: They were in the pots, and they were going to pull them out of the pots.
Audience Member: Well, yeah, but when they throw them, why doesn’t everyone else on the grounds die? [laughs]
Andrew: Rar!
Audience Member 2: Because…
[Audience laughs]
Audience Member 2: Didn’t Flitwik cast the Muffliato curse – charm on the castle? Wasn’t that one of the things he was doing?
Audience Member: I don’t think so.
Andrew: I don’t know, let’s keep an eye on these two. I have a feeling there’s going to be a brawl after the show.
Mikey: I’ve got an answer. I’ve got an answer for that.
Audience Member: We know each other.
Andrew: Oh, okay. They know each other, folks. All right, I don’t…
Mikey: It’s a book. It’s not perfect.
Andrew: …maybe they were in the pot. Maybe they still were in the pot. Maybe they weren’t pulled out yet. But they did have earmuffs.
Emerson: See, I always feel like the – they’re kind of like one of those little creatures that can be used – if it was real for whatever reason – they could just throw one of them in the middle of the Hogwarts grounds, and it would be like a magical bomb. Because everybody around them would just drop.
[Andrew laughs]
Emerson: Okay.
Andrew: What’s your point?
Emerson: I’m done.
Mikey: Could you imagine just going [makes multiple sounds] and then you die.
Andrew: They were flying around his head, I’m sure.
Jamie: They should pack a hundred Mandrakes into a bomb and then just drop it. That would work. That would cover everywhere.
Andrew: By the way, this guy right here – I can’t help but notice – he’s wearing the MuggleNet shirt from the England podcast. Were you there? Yeah, you were there, yeah, I recognize you. What are you doing here? Just out of curiosity.
Audience Member: I work at the airport.
Andrew: Oh, nice. Wow. Check that out, Jamie.
Jamie: That’s pretty cool. That’s very cool.
Andrew: Waterstones called the podcast – can you turn around and show the audience? – “MuggleNet’s” – what does it say? – “biggest ever podcast event.” That was the name of it.
Audience Member: It was the 100th episode.
Andrew: Yeah, it was the 100th episode, yeah. Yeah, nice shirts. Not for sale, sorry, folks. All right. Oh, hold on. On the right there.
Jamie: Well, he can sell it if he wants to. It’s not ours.
Andrew: Yeah, he could sell his, sure. On the right.
Jamie: We’ll start the bidding at…
Andrew: On the right, Mikey?
Is Snape Still Evil?
Audience Member: Hi, I’m Allie. I’m from Manaka, Pennsylvania, and my question is, Voldemort killed Snape, but do any of you think Snape is still evil?
Andrew: No.
Mikey: He’s a jerk.
Andrew: I’m going to refer to the web-chat again. J.K. Rowling sees Snape as a hero. An anti-hero, yeah, exactly. So if J.K. Rowling doesn’t think he’s evil, then I don’t think we should.
Jamie: I agree.
Emerson: After the event yesterday, someone actually came up and asked a really good question that made me think for a second. They said, “Which character do you think had the worst life?” And I was thinking about all the characters who might’ve had bad childhoods, like Voldemort, and Dumbledore, and Harry, and I was thinking, it has to be Snape.
Jamie: I agree, yeah.
Emerson: Because Voldemort was obviously in a different kind of ball game, because he wasn’t capable of feeling love, and he didn’t feel that hurt that Snape must have been feeling every minute of everyday by not having – by never being able to get Lily, and by being mistreated, and always being an outcast.
Jamie: Voldemort enjoyed his life near the end, as well. He liked the power, he liked operating alone; whereas Snape, you know, he went from the horrible childhood that you just described into a life where he was playing double agent. He didn’t know who to trust, everyone else hated him, so – and then he died with Hogwarts thinking that he was a traitor. So I agree, he had the saddest life, easily.
Ben: What about Harry, though? I mean his was pretty bad, too, wasn’t it?
Jamie: Yeah, but at least he’s now grown up with a person he loves, and the children he loves, as well. And he saved the day.
Andrew: And not dying early at the hands of Voldemort.
Jamie: Yeah, exactly. I think Snape. I agree.
Andrew: Okay, next question.
Jamie: That was a nice moment.
Who Helped Harry the Most?
Audience Member: I’m Jess from Pittsburgh, here. And my question is, throughout the books we’ve seen so many people help Harry. Who do you guys think helped him the most? Like…
Ben: Hermione.
Audience Member: …the absolutely most?
Jamie: Hermione, yeah.
Ben: Oh, wait, Dumbledore a lot, too, though.
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: Dumbledore, too.
Ben: But he wouldn’t be able to – he wouldn’t have been able to win, had Hermione not been there, so…
Andrew: Yeah.
Ben: …I’m going to say Hermione.
Audience Member: He would be dead the first [unintelligible] without Hermione there.
Jamie: Yeah, he would.
Emerson: He would have died about ten thousand times by now without Hermione. Hermione just – she’s read so many books. She always knows the right spell for the situation. And Harry – his strategy is just to go barging into whatever house, or whatever thing he’s trying to figure – like Godric’s Hollow, whatever. Hermione said, “No, Harry, slow down. We need a plan. And make sure we cast all the right spells and we’ve covered all of our angles.” But Harry, he’s such a Gryffindor. He doesn’t really plan things out, like maybe he should. Like in the fifth book, when he gets this image of Sirius in his head, and, “Oh, I know what I’ve got to do. I’ve got to go by myself into the Department of Mysteries to go face Voldemort. And, yeah, I’m going to go take him down. I don’t know how, but I’m going to do it.”
Jamie: Well, I’ve always seen it…
Ben: And then Hermione’s like, “no, Harry, you need us,” and she was absolutely right.
Harry would have been completely screwed on his own.
Jamie: I’ve always seen it as like a triangle, so at the top you have Harry, then you have Dumbledore and Hermione. Dumbledore gives Harry the clues but he’s too stupid to figure them out, so then they go down to Hermione, she figures them out then tells Harry.
Andrew: That’s a good one.
Jamie: That about sums up every book.
Mikey: Except in Deathly Hallows where Harry figured out the Deathly Hallows before
Hermione.
Jamie: Wow, one thing in seven books.
Emerson: And Hermione kept him alive through the first 500 pages, so…
Ben: And something that’s bugging me, by the way…
Mikey: I’m just saying, Harry figured out.
Ben: Something’s bugging me. It’s Hallows, not Hollows, by the way.
Mikey: Hallows, hallows, hallows.
Andrew: I’ll never get it right.
Ben: Just to clear that up.
Mikey: I keep messing it up, I’m sorry.
Jamie: Wait, what is it? It is Hallows.
Ben: Hallows.
Mikey: Hallows.
Andrew: Hallows.
Emerson: I just feel weird saying Hallows. I don’t know why.
Mikey: Hallooows! Ha-ha, that’s a funny joke, right, everybody? No, okay. We have a few
more people.
Ben: Good one, Mikey.
Elder Wand Rules
Audience Member: Hi, I’m Justine from Pittsburgh. At the end of the book, Harry said that if he dies a natural death that the Elder Wand’s powers will go away, but Malfoy gets the wand from disarming Dumbledore and then Harry gets it from disarming Malfoy, so if someone disarms Harry won’t they get the…
Jamie: Yeah, they will.
Ben: So is it really as simple as disarming somebody though? I mean…
Jamie: Well, no, they say that wand-lore is very precise, so it might work sometimes, it might not work the next time. So I think it just depends on the context of the situation. That’s what Ollivander said.
Mikey: Really, do you guys think anyone in the Wizarding World’s going to be like, “All right, Harry beat Lord Voldemort, I want to go duel Harry,” because, come on. I’m going to be like, “Yeah, I’m going to disarm you, and…”
Ben: I’d want my shot, I don’t know about you.
Jamie: Yeah.
Mikey: You know what? I wouldn’t want to try even! I would rather shake his hand, be
like, “Good job, guy, I don’t think I could do that.” Who knows. We’ll have to see
from Book 12 or something like that to come out.
Andrew: Next question?
Emerson: See one question I’d like to ask J.K. Rowling is what happened to the wand? After he uses it to fix his own wand, would he destroy it? Would he – I wouldn’t imagine – he’s going to bury it? Like…
Jamie: That is so stupid and rash, I know.
Emerson: I mean, in the magical world, you’re just going to bury something? I think he
would like…
[Audience Member talks]
Jamie: Yeah, that’s a fair point.
Emerson: What?
[Audience Member talks]
Emerson: But I feel like Voldemort already got it out of there once, why would he really just decide to leave it in the tomb and then hope no one goes and digs up the tomb, like one person just did a hundred pages ago. I feel like Harry – I feel like he should destroy the wand.
Jamie: Hermione will be there and cast all the charms over it that protect it, and
she’ll help him out. That’s what’ll happen.
Voldemort Opening Dumbledore’s Tomb
Andrew: One thing that really bothered me in the book, that I sort of found like borderline disgusting, was when Voldemort opened up Dumbledore’s tomb to get the wand out. That was just like…
Ben: That was kind of bad, yeah.
Andrew: It was so disrespectful. Not that Voldemort cares, but still, I felt offended. I was like, “What!? Why open it up?” Not cool.
Emerson: Well, he’s Voldemort, what do you expect?
Jamie: I didn’t expect him to drop down and kneel and pray before his grave, you
know…
Ben: The point that he was trying to make is just that it was kind of like a gross
thing that happened.
Andrew: It was gross, yeah.
Jamie: Oh it was, yeah.
Andrew: Eww.
Emerson: I mean, this is the same guy who’s chopping his soul up into like – to
make a soul kind of soup so he doesn’t care about looking at another corpse. He’s already killed so many people.
Andrew: Yeah.
Mikey: He also used his Dad’s bone to come back to life, which is kind of gross too, when you think about it. Dad, bone.
Andrew. Yeah. Okay, moving on. Next question.
All Four Marauders Died
Audience Member: I’m Jordan from Princeton, West Virginia, and I know before Book 7 came out there was lots of speculation that all four of the Marauders had to die, and I wondered what you guys thought about that, especially since Lupin wasn’t originally intended to die but then he did.
Ben: And did anyone else notice that they did end up dying in reverse order? Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs? Yeah.
Andrew: They did or didn’t?
Ben: They did end up dying in reverse order.
Andrew: Yeah, that was a big theory. Everyone was really relying on that for some reason.
Ben: Who here – I was kind of disappointed with Wormtail’s death. I expected it to actually be something really sacrificial, rather than him just killing himself.
Jamie: I didn’t think you could strangle yourself either.
Ben: Well, I think it was the hand, the magic ability behind the hand, that did it.
Jamie: I agree.
Andrew: All right, two more quick questions and then we’ll wrap it up. Sorry, guys, sorry! I know, I suck.
Harry’s Ability to Get Into Grimmauld Place
Audience Member: I’m Jolie from Shaler, outside of Pittsburgh. I wanted to know how Harry was able to just get into Grimmauld Place simply by saying, “I didn’t kill you.” Wouldn’t Snape have been able to say the same thing and get in?
Mikey: Harry was always able to get into Grimmauld Place, just like Snape was, but
it was the – kind of the dust Dumbledore was the way to repel that, was to say that you didn’t kill Dumbledore.
Audience Member: Didn’t Snape say that?
Jamie: Exactly, that’s what I thought. What would Snape had said if he’d come in?
Mikey: Well, I would assume Snape would just conjure a dust buster and…. [makes vacuum noise] Bye, Dumbledore.
Andrew: Dust buster. [laughs]
Jamie: Probably, Mikey, that would be a good one.
Mikey: That would be kind of cool…
Andrew: Dust Buster!
Mikey: …seeing that in the movie or something like that.
Jamie: That would be very cool.
Mikey: But no, to get into Grimmauld Place, you just had to know where it was at, and he was able to get in, but we did find out in the chat that Snape did go back to Grimmauld Place, but right after Dumbledore’s death, to get the second part of the letter. So before Moody had…
Jamie: Had the chance to put those enchantments on, yeah.
Mikey: Yep, exactly.
Andrew: All right, last question for today from this guy right here. Happy Birthday. It’s not really your birthday. Anyway, what’s your question, where are you from?
Audience Member: Hi, I’m…
Andrew: Whoops, sorry.
Dumbledore’s Letter to Petunia
Audience Member: Hi, I’m Tyler from Bradford, and in the book we learn that Petunia wrote a
letter to Dumbledore, and Lily said that it was really kind, so what do you think his
response was?
Andrew: Lily said that it was really kind?
Audience Member: The return letter from Dumbledore. The letter Dumbledore wrote back was really nice.
Andrew: Oh, oh, so you’re asking what the response was? Any theories?
[Audience members talk]
Jamie: Actually, yeah, yeah…
Andrew: Right, because it was – her original letter was asking to go to Hogwarts,
right?
Audience Member: Yeah.
Andrew: So Dumbledore’s – okay. Maybe it was just like, “Sorry, but you’re not…”
Ben: “A witch”?
Andrew: “…fit for this.” A witch, yeah.
[Audience members talks]
Andrew: What’s that?
Mikey: No, but she didn’t have any bags with her. I wouldn’t go to Hogwarts with no
bags. Who knows? We’ll find out in the encyclopedia maybe.
Andrew: Good question, though. I’m sure whatever it was, Dumbledore was working his
magic, and he probably sent little chocolate covered frogs, or something like
that.
[Audience laughs]
Jamie: Yeah.
Emerson: So, we have a girl right here who came all the way from Connecticut, so I say we should give her a question.
[Audience applauds]
Andrew: Yay!
Mikey: One more question. Eight-hour drive. Seriously. Or Remus, I guess you should say.
Dumbledore and Aberforth Live Near Each Other
Audience Member: Hi, I’m Sarah from Connecticut, and I was just wondering, since Dumbledore’s brother, Aberforth, he didn’t like Dumbledore, why did he live so close to him? He
lived like right down the street.
Mikey: I think real estate was probably cheap in Hogsmeade.
[Andrew and audience laugh]
Mikey: He had the Hog’s Head there, plus there was probably an abundance of goats
around.
[Audience laughs]
Mikey: I don’t know. I can’t answer that. Jamie?
Ben: Maybe his job thrusted him into living there.
Jamie: Yeah. He moved away to Hogsmeade and he had to be a bartender there instead…
Mikey: Yeah.
Jamie: …of somewhere else where he was. And he just liked being there. And, on a serious note, he was part of a greater plan and I’m sure even though Dumbledore and him hadn’t reconciled, I think he probably told him a bit of stuff about the plan.
Ben: Yeah, and the distance is really as far as you make it anyways. I mean, just because they were that close to each other doesn’t mean they actually had to see each other, so…
Jamie: And distance isn’t really important in the Wizarding World when you can disappear and reappear a thousand miles away in one second.
Andrew: Yeah.
Mikey: Yeah, I guess that makes sense.
Jamie: Everyone is everyone’s neighbor.
Mikey: We do have one more person to come on up here.
Andrew: Alex, man.
Alex: Hi.
Mikey: Hi.
Andrew: It’s the end of the road for us. I’m getting a little emo right now.
Alex: Don’t be sad. It’s all right.
Mikey: We’ll see you guys in a – whoa.
Book 7 Page Count
Audience Member: I came all the way from Virginia, and I was wondering, according to your site, Book 7 is supposed to have 784 pages, but…
Andrew: I got an answer to that.
Ben: Actually, I gave you that answer, so…
Andrew: Yeah, okay. [laughs] Go for it.
Ben: When Scholastic does the page counts, they don’t do the number – the number doesn’t matter. They count every individual page, so including the acknowledgements, including the dedication, including all that, because Order of the Phoenix was originally listed as 898 pages, but the last page number is actually 870, so there you go.
Jamie: That explains that one.
Show Close
Andrew: Thanks for playing. You’re welcome. So, we’ve been on tour for the past eight shows. I got to say, we’ve all really enjoyed it. Thank you for letting us come on.
Alex: Thank you guys for coming and talking about Harry Potter.
Andrew: I’m going to cry.
Alex: Don’t cry, Sims.
Andrew: I’m not crying. Just kidding.
Alex: Okay.
Mikey: We’ll see you in two days, really.
Alex: Yeah, we’re going to see each other in a couple days. But I wanted to bring up one person, who’s a very special person who came all the way out for our last show. You guys, Sean Astin is here.
Mikey: Sean Astin, from Lord of the Rings, everybody!
Alex: Sean Astin, ladies and gentlemen.
[Audience cheers]
Mikey: Get on my back, Mr. Frodo!
Alex: And Sean wanted to say something.
[Audience applauds]
Sean: I just wanted to say that I think that J.R.R. Tolkien was the original writer of Harry Potter.
Andrew: Aw, come on now.
Sean: I mean, the whole thing with Samwise, and…
Andrew: I’m pretty sure you haven’t read the books so I don’t think you have any room to talk.
Alex: It is pretty similar. Sean, “Mr. Frodo” and “Harry.” It’s like the same exact thing, basically.
Sean: It’s the exact same thing.
Mikey: Wow.
Alex: Thanks, Samwise.
Ben: RUDY, RUDY, RUDY, RUDY! [laughs]
Andrew: Thanks for letting us come on this tour, seriously.
Mikey: Anyway…
Andrew: Brandon, thank you for your help with all the technical thingys over there that you’re doing. Also, thanks to Mikey for organizing this thing for us. Mikey, you’re the man.
Jamie: Thank you, Mikey.
[Audience cheers]
Emerson: And before we let you all go, the Remus Lupins are going to come up here in
a minute and they’re going to rock, hardcore, all you guys, but after the show we are going to have merchandise for sale. You can buy all the Remus Lupins’ CDs and buttons and t-shirts. MuggleCast tour t-shirts; you can only buy them here. And also, six months ago Warner Brothers made us stop selling t-shirts, MuggleNet
t-shirts on the website, but tonight we have a few left for sale, so after the show you’ll have an opportunity to buy those for $15 each.
Mikey: And that’s after the Remus Lupins play.
Andrew: Yeah, so stick around.
Mikey: So, after everything is done, so we don’t have to worry about missing them at
all.
Andrew: Then we’ll do the merchandise and the meet and greet, so meet and greet,
merchandise after the Remus Lupins play. They have a great show coming up. You guys
are going to love this music. It’s a lot of fun, so thank, everyone, for coming out.
Jamie: Thank you for coming!
Emerson: Thank you!
[Audience cheers]
Mikey: Yes! MuggleCast Episode 193.
Andrew: We’ll see you guys in a little bit.
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