MuggleCast 129 Transcript
Show Intro
[Music begins]
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[Show music starts]
Micah: Because a Pensieve can be used for just about anything, this is MuggleCast Episode 129 for January 26th, 2008.
[Music continues to play]
Andrew: Hey, everyone. Welcome to SpiderwickCast. The podcast where we bring you the latest information in Spiderwick news, theories, discussion, and much more. We have a great show today, including an interview with Freddie Highmore.
Laura: Oh, that’s exciting.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Let’s talk about everything, but Harry Potter.
Andrew: Yeah, I thought that would be a good idea, since most of our listeners believe now that we are turning into a Spiderwick program. Does anyone know anything about the upcoming film Spiderwick?
Micah: Honestly?
Laura: No.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Micah: No.
Matt: No.
Andrew: Does anyone know about anything relating to Harry Potter?
Laura: Oh, of course not.
Micah: Maybe a few things possibly…
Laura: Why would we anything about it?
Andrew: Exactly! I don’t understand why people believe that we are doing a very fine interview with Freddie Highmore, some people seem to think that we are turning into a Spiderwick podcast. But actually, no. We are sticking to Harry Potter. So, this week we have an interview with Freddie Highmore, who is starring in an upcoming film, The Spiderwick Chronicles, but that’s not all. We also have plenty of Harry Potter discussion coming up as well. So, are we going to stick with Harry Potter or Spiderwick? I’m confused at this point.
Matt: I don’t know.
Andrew: The listeners are confusing.
Laura: Yeah, me, too. Maybe we should make a Facebook group.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Let them vote.
Andrew: I’m Andrew Sims.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Matt: [hesitates] And I’m Matt Britton.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: What’s the problem, Matt?
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: Okay, okay. Have we decided that I go last now?
Andrew: Yes. No offense, but it always goes in order of seniority. Who started on the show first. Like, it’s generally the order that is always followed.
Matt: I’m second to the oldest.
Laura: And I always forget…
Matt: I’m second oldest.
Laura: …when we don’t have many people on the show, like when we have four, I usually end up being second and I am used to being like third, or fourth. So, I’ll sit there and wait. [laughs] I’m like, ‘Oh! It’s my turn.’
[Music continues to play louder]
News
Andrew: Micah Tannenbaum is in the MuggleCast News Center with the latest Spider– I mean, MuggleCast News Stories.
Micah: All right, thanks, Andrew. The Food Network’s Ace of Cakes did a special Thursday night on the Hogwarts Castle Cake from the Los Angeles Order of the Phoenix after party. DanRadcliffe.com now has the video online and you can watch it over at their site.
In a small interview with Entertainment Weekly, Alan Rickman, who plays Severus Snape in the Potter films reveals he’ll begin filming his parts for Half-Blood Prince in early February. When asked about his role, Rickman said, “Before you go any further, I never, ever talk about that character [referring to Professor Snape]. Number one, because it’s not fair on kids who haven’t read to the end. And for me to say anything, there’s a bit of it that just should be left innocent. It’s real storytelling, what she’s done, and I’m a part of that. So I just never talk about it.” He goes on to acknowledge that he does play a bigger role in this film and that it’s important stuff.
Speaking of filming, residents of the English town of Gloucester welcomed back, with open arms, crews intent on filming scenes for the upcoming sixth Harry Potter movie. Scenes from Half-Blood Prince shot at Gloucester Cathedral will include those set in different locations around Hogwarts, and quite a few of the college’s students have been cast as extras for the film. Interestingly, Gloucester has not been used as a filming location since the first two films were produced.
Gloucester City Council leader Paul James said, filming the blockbuster would pump cash into the local economy and put Gloucester on the map. He was quoted as saying:
“It brings excitement to the city. It also benefits the local economy on two levels. You’ve got the direct spend of people who come here filming and doing associated things and then when it’s aired that Gloucester is being used and people see parts of the city on their screens it puts us on the map.”
Finally, it was reported earlier this week that J.K. Rowling has halted printing of the Finnish Deathly Hallows translation due to environmental concerns. Jo insists “that it import paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as being derived from wood grown and harvested in a way that promotes sustainable forest development.” The Finnish translation is still due out on March 7th.
That’s all the news for this January 26th, 2008 edition of MuggleCast. Back to the show.
Muggle Mail: Set Visit and Cut Scenes
Andrew: You know, it’s another slow news week. There wasn’t much going on in the Harry Potter world, unfortunately. But, Micah, you did want to talk about one e-mail that we got in? I guess instead of the news?
Micah: Yeah, and I guess it’s more directed at you than anybody else. But it came from Jimmy, 15, in Toronto. And he says:
“As today many Harry Potter fans such as myself have learned that MuggleNet and other ‘Harry Potter’ sites will be visiting the set over the next week. What are you guys looking forward to in the movie? What set will you guys be most anxious to see? Also what do you think will be cut in this movie? Sorry if you have answered these questions in a previous podcast but I have just started listening since the 100 podcast, right after Deathly Hallows was released. Thanks for reading! Jimmy.”
Andrew: I think it’s a question for all of us because we’re all going to see the sets in the film. It’s not like they’re any different in person.
Laura: Except they’re in person.
Matt: Well, I think what he’s meaning is, what are you looking forward to seeing on the trip?
Andrew: I don’t know. I think the coolest set – I don’t even know if it’s built right now. I guess it is? I sort of remember an article about, I think Dan Radcliffe said it was shot, is the cave scene.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: I think that was shot already.
Matt: Well, didn’t Timothy Spall say they’re filming the next-to-the-last scene right now?
Andrew: Really?
Matt: What’s that word? Yeah. I’m so bad with grammar. What’s that word that he said?
Micah: The penultimate?
Andrew: Penultimate?
Matt: Pen – yeah. Penultimate scene.
Andrew: So which one would that be? The cave?
Laura: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
Andrew: I mean, it depends on what’s in the script, though. So, you know, it could be a few things. I know for a fact that’s not what they’re filming next week. But, I don’t know, I guess – What scenes are you guys looking forward to?
Laura: I’m definitely looking forward to the cave most of all, I think. Because that was just so awesome; the way that was written. And I have a really…
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Generally, when I read I don’t have a very detailed picture in my mind of how things are. I just kind of have a general idea of what they, what I think they are. But with the cave I just had this very detailed picture in my mind of what it is. So I’m really excited to see what they’ll do with it. And kind of see how it matches up to what I thought it was.
Matt: It’s kind of hard not to – for them to get a different vision than what most of the readers did. Because you can’t really go a different direction other than what’s in the book.
Laura: Mhm.
Matt: I mean, it’s a cave and a basin in the middle of the lake.
Laura: Yeah, I know.
Andrew: I have very high expectations for Michael Gambon, though. I mean, especially once he starts drinking the potion. Because that, that is just – I really am having a hard time picturing him portraying Dumbledore drinking that and just suffering and, you know.
Matt: I think he’ll do it.
Andrew: What?
Matt: I think he’ll be good at it.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: He’s a really good actor.
Laura: He really is. I think that he really, I don’t know. I think he takes a lot of unnecessary crap off of people. Who, just because he doesn’t play the Dumbledore they like they automatically say he’s a bad actor.
Micah: Yeah.
Laura: And I just don’t think that’s true.
Micah: I can speak as somebody who doesn’t really like Gambon in the role. But, I will also say, a lot of that has to do with the fact that it was initiated by another person. And a lot of times when you have that, it’s very hard to take the character of Dumbledore as anybody else playing him but Richard Harris. I think Harris established such a role early on, that’s it’s hard for a lot of people to move away from that.
Andrew: Mhm. See, I can’t see Richard Harris doing the cave scenes though. Like again, drinking the potion. Like, you know, even in Chamber of Secrets you can tell he was getting…
Matt: He was getting on.
Andrew: I mean, we all know he was old. But he was getting…
Matt: Weak.
Andrew: …weak. He was very soft. He…
Laura: He was very ill at that point. When they were shooting.
Andrew: Right.
Matt: Yeah, he was.
Andrew: And say he didn’t, you know, regrettably die [laughs] back in, what was that, 2002? I mean, can you imagine six years later?
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Like, you know?
Laura: Also, I think…
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: …he played a much softer Dumbledore, too. He was a lot calmer, I think.
Micah: He was calm, but he was powerful.
Matt: Do you honestly think that we would have the release being this late in the years, if he didn’t die? Like, if Richard Harris didn’t pass away, do you think they would have skipped an extra year between Movie 2 and 3?
Andrew: Why would they do that?
Matt: I don’t know. His death probably delayed the production a little bit.
Andrew: Oh, maybe. I thought you were suggesting that they wanted to rush the films out quicker.
Laura: I remember when it happened it seemed like they were expecting it, because they knew he was really sick, but I did read an interview with Chris Columbus, I believe, where he said that they wanted to take breaks between every two movies to kind of give everyone some time off. It seems like that’s been a general pattern, too.
Andrew: That’s right actually, yeah.
Laura: They take somewhat of a long break between every two movies.
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah, if you think about it, because Goblet of Fire came out in 2002.
Matt: Goblet of Fire came out in 2005.
Andrew: Yeah, you’re right. Well, that’s interesting.
Matt: Well, you can answer the other question he asked. What do you think will be cut in the movie?
Andrew: Well, what does everyone think will be cut? I mean, I don’t know.
Micah: Well, I’m kind of starting to worry a little bit about the Riddles as we get closer and closer to…
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: …I guess the movie being released, because we haven’t heard a whole lot about that, and I think it’s something that creatively they probably could cut if they wanted to, but I think it’s really integral to the story, because it’s part of the whole flashback scenes between Harry and Dumbledore.
Matt: Well, there’s a lot of casting that – I mean, there’s a lot of characters that haven’t been cast is really getting kind of scary. Like that haven’t re-casted, or they haven’t brought back, Clemence Posey, and they haven’t casted Ron’s older brothers at all.
Micah: No, and I don’t think they will.
Matt: So…
Andrew: Hmmm, yeah.
Matt: So are they even going to do the whole Fleur and – the whole wedding? In Movie 7?
Laura: Yeah, that’s worrisome.
Matt: If they’re not even casting Fleur at all?
Andrew: Wow, I never thought of that.
Micah: Well, do we know that even the Weasley twins have been confirmed for this movie? Because I thought I read something where…
Matt: Yeah. Yeah they have.
Micah: …they were not going to be in it, but if they have then okay.
Matt: I think it’s – wasn’t there an article that said they were confirmed for doing a scene, a Weasley Christmas scene and a scene in Hogsmeade with the Weasley shop?
Andrew: Oh, really?
Micah: I hope so.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: The other scene – sorry.
Andrew: Well, I just wanted to say, they’ve been in every movie thus far, so, I mean, it’d be silly to cut them out at this point.
Micah: Right. Well, the other scene that I would be afraid that could be cut, realistically, would be the opening scene with the other minister, because we haven’t heard any casting for Scrimgeour either.
Andrew: Right, right.
Laura: Yeah, I would not…
Micah: Which I think is…
Laura: …be surprised if they brushed over that completely.
Micah: …is an awesome scene, if they did it the right way. I don’t think it would take a whole lot of filming, to be honest.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Honestly, what I think will happen is it will start at the Dursleys’ and Harry will have a copy of the Daily Prophet or something and it’ll say, “Fudge resigned,” or whatever. It’ll…
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: I think the first scene is going to be with Snape and Bellatrix and Narcissa.
Laura: Yeah, I mean I don’t…
Matt: Aren’t the first two chapters…
Laura: Yeah, those are the first two chapters.
Matt: …not even related to Harry at all?
Laura: But I wonder…
Andrew: No.
Laura: I mean, they have to have that in. They have to do it somewhere.
Andrew: See, but that just reminds me of the beginning of Goblet of Fire the – oh, wait, no, they included that.
Laura: Yeah, but they didn’t explain a whole lot about it. That was the one problem with that scene.
Andrew: Right.
Laura: If you had never read the book, that scene made no sense.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I guess it would just get people worried. People who haven’t read the books, you know?
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: But this, but Book 6 seems to me a lot easier to cut down than Book 5 was.
Andrew: Yeah. I mean…
Laura: Yeah. There was a lot.
Matt: There’s a lot of material in Book 6, but it could be cut down a lot more cleanly than the butcher they did in Book 5.
Andrew: See, I don’t think the wedding would be too hard to get into in Book 7. I could sort of see that just coming out of nowhere because it doesn’t need much set up. It’s a wedding.
Micah: Right.
Andrew: So, I mean, it could be set up in the beginning of Movie 7. They could just be like, “Oh, and the wedding’s in a few days. Oh, yeah, better go to that. Hope there won’t be a Death Eater attack.”
Matt: But not if it comes out of nowhere.
Andrew: Well, why not?
Matt: They don’t even have anyone casted.
Laura: Well, they don’t have to cast them yet if they’re just going to make it in “seven.”
Andrew: Right.
Laura: Because all they’d have to do is have Harry get a letter or have Ron tell him or something, be like, “Oh yeah, by the way, they’re getting married.” So…
Andrew: Or I could see like Mrs. Weasley walking in while they’re talking one day and being like, “Don’t forget, the wedding’s in three days,” and then they could change it so Harry’s just finding out about it. He can be like, “The wedding?” He’s like, “Yeah, blah, blah, blah, we’re having a wedding,” and you know? It’s all set up.
Matt: That’s just going to leave more stuff in an already huge story they have to tell for Book 7, though.
Micah: Yeah, well going back to what you said, Matt, I think they can probably do more in this movie than they’ve done in previous ones, because they can cut some stuff that’s really insignificant, but they can also do a good job setting up Book 7, or Movie 7, rather.
Matt: Yeah, because they actually know how it ends now.
Andrew: And that’s true. That’s very true, yeah.
Matt: And they can – I really hope they actually put in a little thing about the locket.
Micah: Yeah, they left that completely out of Movie 5.
Matt: They left that completely out, and as we’re going to do in Chapter-by-Chapter, it’s pretty significant, and they haven’t even casted what’s his name?
Andrew: Mundungus?
Matt: Mundungus Fletcher, yeah. They haven’t even casted him. So he’s just going to steal stuff from a house that he doesn’t even know?
Laura: I wonder if they’ll change that so they don’t have to cast him.
Andrew: Yeah, that sounds like something that will be changed.
Laura: Like have Kreacher have hidden it somewhere, or something. Just make it easy.
Matt: Or given it to Umbridge or something.
Andrew: Yeah. But see, as we’ll discuss later, the Mundungus scenes in this week’s Chapter-by-Chapter are really, really – I would love to see them in the movie. Played out in the movie.
Matt: Yeah.
Announcements
Andrew: Okay, so let’s move onto announcements and then we’re going to talk a little bit more about the movies in Muggle-mail. Just an update on the Spring Break tour that we’re sort of thinking about, we’re looking into the possibility with Borders and we’ll see what happens from there. It looks like we’ll have plenty of people for each of those five stops. So right now we’re aiming for Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore or DC and then finally Richmond, Virginia. So we’ll look into that more. Again, nothing is confirmed yet, we’re just giving you a heads up and black out your calendars if you live in this area for March 15th to the 20th, and we’ll see what we can do. Hopefully we’ll have an update within a few weeks if that works out.
Matt: I’m sorry people on the West Coast. We just don’t get anything.
Andrew: [laughs] You don’t get – Matt, you could do your own tour with Mikey! The Matt and Mikey Tour.
Matt: Ahhh!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Mikey would be down with that. What was that, fake laugh? Do you not like Mikey or something?
Matt: No, no, no, that was sarcasm.
Andrew: Oh okay. So Podcast Alley, everyone be sure to vote for us over there. There is this podcast called Keith and the Girl, and they decided to take over more of the Podcast Alley top ten lists, and they have three of their shows on Podcast Alley top ten right now, which is kind of ridiculous.
Micah: Yeah, they were all in the top five but some podcast called MuggleCast knocked one of them down a spot.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Nice. So we’re number five right now, as of Thursday.
Matt: But they took the entire balcony of the New York, New York hotel in Las Vegas during New Year’s.
Andrew: [laughs] They did! Matt and I were coming out of New York, New York in Las Vegas and there was this little Keith and the Girl poster thing, and I think they were having some sort of outdoor get together right there. That was funny. We should have grafittied the sign, vote for MuggleCast on Podcast Alley.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Yeah, go vote. Otherwise we are not going to do another podcast this month.
Andrew: That’s pretty mean.
Laura: Yeah, really.
Andrew: That’s pretty demanding.
Matt: There’s something buggin’ Micah.
Andrew: [laughs] Oooh!
Micah: Guys, come on.
[Andrew, Laura and Matt laugh]
Micah: It’s the last podcast of January, get it?
Andrew: Oh, I get it.
Matt: Oh.
Andrew: That’s funny. Micah got us.
[Micah sighs]
Andrew: New segment, Micah Got Us!
Laura: Oh, can I say something?
Micah: Yeah, that’ll be up on Wikipedia after this show is released.
Andrew: Yeah, yes.
Micah: Along with all of our other useless segments.
Andrew: [laughs] Whoa!
Matt: Whoa!
Andrew: Okay we’ll move on. I’ll talk to you after the show.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: You need another spanking. Yeah, Laura.
Laura: I just wanted to address something. I’ve gotten a few e-mails about this. People who think I was mocking people who say “y’all” last week.
Micah: Oh yeah, I’ve seen those. What were you doing?
Laura: I was not – no, okay. When I was reading the e-mail…
Matt: What was going through your head?
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: A couple of weeks prior to this episode we got an e-mail…
Micah: It’s not like you live in Georgia.
Laura: I know. This is my point! People, I am from the South, why would I mock you? Anyway, okay. A couple of weeks prior to this last episode, we got an e-mail and it said, “y’all” in it, and Andrew was trying to read it, and it came out “yuh all,” and so I wasn’t really thinking about mocking anyone in particular so when I was reading the e-mail I just was kind of like “y’all,” emphasizing the fact that I knew how to say it. I wasn’t trying to be obnoxious.
Micah: So really, you were making fun of Andrew.
Laura: Yeah, and I mean I don’t personally use the word. I did when I was very young and I lived in Texas and everyone said “y’all,” but I don’t anymore, but I don’t have a problem with people who do. So please stop complaining.
Andrew: Y’all.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: You didn’t even say it right that time.
Laura: No, it was better. Y’all.
Andrew: Well, that’s how we east coasters say it. North easterners.
Matt: Oh, okay. It ain’t you all, it’s y’all.
Laura: It ticks me off when I’m up at school and all these people think that they’re southern, and they’re like, “what do y’all wanna do?” and I’m like no. Stop. Just stop. Don’t even.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Like if someone on another podcast mocked my east coast podcast, or my east coast accent, I wouldn’t be offended.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: You know, we’re just playing around. We’re sharing a few L-O-Ls back and forth.
Laura: Yeah. It’s not a big deal.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: And lastly, I just wanted to say that Eric had planned to come on the show this week, but he came down with a little flu action, so he regrets not being here, but if you want to send him some e-mails to eric at staff dot mugglenet dot com I’m sure that’ll make him feel a little better. He’s not, you know, he’s sick, so he couldn’t join us this week, but he tried. So let’s move onto Muggle-mail now. Who wants to take the first e-mail?
Muggle Mail: Movie 7 Intermission
Laura: Okay. The first e-mail comes from Rupsha, 13, of Dallas. She says:
“Dear MuggleCasters. In response to Episode 128, you were talking about how usually intermissions aren’t included in movies anymore. Actually, most all Hindi movies (movies from India) include intermissions because they are usually 3-4 hours long. These movies usually do very well in the Bollywood box office. If Warner Bros. makes the decision to make Deathly Hallows a longer film, instead of breaking it up into two movies, the prospect of having an intermission would be a good idea.”
Andrew: Yeah. This is a good e-mail. I hope Warner Bros. really takes into consideration – you know globally. They look at how other countries would do intermissions and see how successful they are. Because, like we said, it would be great for the movie theaters.
Laura: Mhm.
Andrew: They would love that, making all that extra money off of snacks and stuff. They’re doubling their income I would think.
Laura: Oh, yeah. For sure.
Matt: I honestly don’t think it’s a very smart idea to make two movies though.
Andrew: Why?
Matt: Especially – unless they release them both at the same time.
Laura: I think it would be better to make it one long movie with an intermission than to make it two movies.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah, exactly.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: If they make it two movies, if they separate it in between a month even at the least, people are going to forget the first movie.
Andrew: Right.
Matt: People are going to – once they see the part two, they’re going to forget and want to watch the first one again.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Right.
Matt: The first part.
Micah: I mean, it would be a logistical nightmare between premieres and getting the actors to get from one place to another in a short period of time, I think. And if you extend it out further you run into other people’s commitments and things like that. So…
Matt: It’s just too expensive, even just commercially.
Micah: Absolutely, yeah. No, I agree. I don’t dislike this idea. I think it would be cool to split it up and give people like a 15-minute break and then go back another two hours.
Andrew: Honestly, give us what we want for once. I mean, for how long? We’ve been saying this since Sorcerer’s Stone. Make the movies longer, fit in more, just do it.
Matt: And what part of the population would complain, too?
Andrew: What?
Matt: What part of the – how big of the population would not go see it just because of the intermission?
Andrew: Nobody, I guarantee you. Who would that affect?
Matt: It’s the last Harry Potter film.
Andrew: Right, the only concern I could see with this is parents bringing their little kids. If the parents aren’t fans of Harry Potter, they’re going to see that it’s like four and a half hours or whatever, but these days the parents will do whatever the kids want though.
Matt: It’s not a child’s film anymore though. It’s not even PG any more.
Andrew: Yeah, but there are. There are parents out there who have the ten-year olds, and the ten-year olds are like [in high voice]“Daddy I gotta see “Harry Potter.'”
Matt: Well, that’s the parent’s fault for bringing the little kids that scream during the film.
[Andrew, Laura, and Micah laugh]
Andrew: But what the kids want, the kids get. This is how America works.
Matt: You’re right, but what they fans want, they should be able to get for once.
Muggle Mail: Movie Split
Andrew: That’s, touché. Tou-frickin-ché. All right, so let’s move onto the next e-mail. This also talks about the split. This is from A. M., 13, of Chicago:
“I was listening to MuggleCast Episode 128 when you were discussing the movie being split in two parts. Number one: I personally don’t believe that the movie should be split into two parts. Number two: But I have an idea about were the movie should be split into two parts. Number three: If the ‘Harry Potter’ writers decide to split Movie 7 into two parts. Number four:I imagine that a great place to leave the first part, number five: would be when Harry is being caught by Greyback. I believe that this would create a great cliffhanger and leave the movie goers speechless as Harry is taken away by the bad guys. Love the show! Pickles, Quack!”
Andrew: I like that. You need a good cliffhanger.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: And it should be worth it. It should be a real – you’re about to explode. You want to see what’s about to happen, and then the lights come up and intermission or whatever it says.
Laura: Yeah, that would be fabulous.
Matt: Well, not only does it have to be a cliffhanger, but it needs some closure to what happened in the book.
Andrew: What are you talking about?
Matt: It needs a little downfall, but also an intent to get you to come back.
Andrew: Right, well that’s what the cliffhanger is.
Matt: Is that a good spot, do you think?
Laura: I think so.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: It’s about 450 pages into the book, so I don’t know how much that would leave afterwards, but I’m assuming the end scene with Hogwarts is going to be…
Laura: Yeah, that could give them…
Micah: …fairly long.
Laura: …extremely adequate time.
Matt: Now that I am looking at the names of the chapters, I think that is a good spot too, because that is right after they find out about the Deathly Hallows.
Andrew: Right, exactly. Yeah, you want to leave the viewers with a ton of information in their minds, but isn’t answered yet.
Matt: Oh, okay. I just read the end of right before the “Malfoy Manor” chapter. That is a perfect spot to end, cause that is right when they catch them with the taboo.
Andrew: Okay. Cool. Cool. I agree with what you are saying though. I didn’t see the point you were making at first, but when I think of Lost, how at the end of every episode there is basically a cliff hanger. It ends off right when something is about to happen. Is that what you are trying to say?
Matt: Sure.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: Right. Instead of something just happening and then ending, it is about to happen and then it ends?
Matt: Well – yeah, sure.
Andrew: [laughs] Okay. Thanks for working with me on that.
[Matt laughs]
Micah: So we don’t think that it should be split in two, but if it were this would be a good spot.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: No, no. We do think it should be split in two, just with an intermission, not with two films being released.
Matt: Well the best times when something is split into two or when there is a to-be-continued, there is always a climactic scene that’s starting to go down, a descending climax, after the climax is starting to descend and then there’s another climax that is just about to start again.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Yeah, but I think this person is saying that if the movie was split into two and it came out at two different times.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: Right?
Andrew: Right.
Matt: Right.
Micah: Which we are against that it would split.
Matt: But this would be a good spot for an intermission as well.
Micah: Yeah, exactly, yeah. I think so, too.
Andrew: All right. Let’s move on to the next email.
Muggle Mail: Tongue Tying Curse
Matt: Our next e-mail comes from Shana, 23, from Norfolk, Virginia:
“Hey guys, let me apologize in advance if this sounds ‘know it all.’ It’s not you, just how I talk and type. I have three comments and I hope they are helpful.”
Oh, you guys gave me the long one!
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: Okay. Okay.
“Number One. As it relates to the Tongue Tying Curse, you all said it happened when the figure of Dumbledore appears but it is actually when they first step in and Moody’s voice asks ‘Severus Snape?’ They say ‘We’re not Snape’ and the curse is lifted. I think this curse lasted beyond Moody’s death because he made it so. Just like Grimmauld Place is unplottable because of Sirius’s dad and the posters in his room and the Black family tree have the Permanent Sticking Charm. Even after these characters have died the spell remains. Number Two…”
Andrew: Hold on, let’s address each one at a time.
Matt: Okay.
Andrew: I think she makes a good point with point one.
Matt: Well, the whole reason why the Sticking Charm wasn’t lifted was because hence the name “the permanent sticking charm.”
Micah: Yeah. [laughs]
Matt: That’s probably why the curse wasn’t lifted.
Micah: Right. And from what I remember it wasn’t just the spell that Dumbledore had put on Harry that was lifted, it was spells that Dumbledore had put on Hogwarts that were lifted as well.
Matt: Exactly.
Andrew: Mhm.
Micah: So, I don’t really…
Matt: That is how Hermione got all those books out of his office.
Micah: Yeah, so I think it would be almost an argument where it’s just one of those situations where a spell lasts beyond the life of a person.
Andrew: Mhm.
Micah: Maybe there are certain spells that are lifted upon the death of a certain wizard as opposed to those that aren’t.
Matt: Well yeah, I am sure that there are some spells that aren’t completely permanent.
Micah: Right.
Matt: I mean… Sorry.
Micah: Well, I think her argument is almost going in the direction, well he put the spell on a place as opposed to a person, but we all know that Dumbledore also put spells on a place that at least from what I remember reading were supposedly lifted when he died.
Andrew: Right.
Micah: So, it doesn’t really hold much water this argument.
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: I am sure there are other places or other things that we’ve seen throughout the series that have had spells placed on them, then when people died they didn’t go anywhere, but it’s just a good question I think – why wasn’t the spell lifted?
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: Do we really have a good answer to it? I don’t know.
Andrew: Well, I think just like she says, just because Moody made it so.
[Matt laughs]
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: Yeah, that’s possible.
Andrew: I think it’s simple like that. It’s there for protection.
Matt: Yeah, if it’s intended to stay there then I don’t think it would have been lifted after the person dies.
Andrew: Right. Obviously. Yeah. Well, let’s move on to point two Matt.
Muggle Mail: The Fidelius Charm
Matt: Okay.
“Number two: As to the Fidelius Charm – like you all mentioned in the podcast, Wormtail would have had to tell Bathilda where the Potters were hidden for her to drop by. This could have been at the request of Lily. And Sirius might have known where the Potters were but if you check out hp-lexicon.org under the Fidelius Charm it says that ‘one could press their nose to the house and not see the Potters in it if they had not been told the secret. And when a Secret Keeper dies all those who know the secret becomes the Secret Keepers in turn.'”
Andrew: Yeah. We got a lot of e-mails about this.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: I can’t believe we didn’t make the connection between Dumbledore, you know, the whole Grimmauld Place thing…
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: You know?
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: They all were the Secret Keeper.
Laura: Yeah, I guess I just felt like the difference was that they were supposed to be under such tight security measures and it just seemed weird that they would, I don’t know, tell people where they were.
Micah: Well, I mean, part of what we brought up on last week’s show, also, and I think I read something from the Lexicon, was that anybody could know where the Potters were, but they couldn’t tell anybody else what that location was. Only Wormtail could do that.
Andrew: Right.
Matt: Right.
Andrew: Exactly.
Micah: So, a million people could’ve known where the Potters were at, but only Wormtail could divulge the information.
Andrew: Right. And those million people, if they weren’t Death Eaters, you know, and then the Death Eaters are looking for them, but they don’t know where they are because nobody could tell them.
Matt: That’s kind of, though, a little bit of a hole, though.
Andrew: Why?
Laura: I think it’s kind of a stretch.
Matt: Because if you know – I mean, just because somebody can’t tell you where they are, but you know that they know, you could probably trace how many people know and you could probably get to a certain vicinity of where the person’s hiding.
Andrew: That’s true. If you could follow – I mean, I guess the only other way would be to follow them.
Matt: If you’re a relatively good detective, you could probably figure it out.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: If that was the case.
Andrew: Yeah. I guess you would be able to follow them in, right? Because that’s why in this book, they’re always Apparating to the top step of Grimmauld Place.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Because if they were seen outside – or maybe it’s just so they know – maybe they only did that so they don’t know who’s in Grimmauld Place. I don’t know.
Matt: Well, I’m sure they all Apparate.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: I mean, the only reason why they didn’t Apparate to Grimmauld Place in that one instance was because Harry was too young.
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah.
Matt: I don’t think you could really follow someone who Apparates unless they’re holding onto you, like they say in the book.
Andrew: No, well I wasn’t saying that, I was saying if – I’m saying someone who doesn’t know the secret could just follow someone walking who does know the secret.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: You know? And just go right in. Maybe? I don’t know.
Matt: Oh, okay.
Andrew: Interesting stuff.
Matt: Yes.
Andrew: And point three.
MuggleCast 129 Transcript (continued)
Muggle Mail: The Taboo
Matt: “As it refers to Voldemort’s name becoming taboo and Grimmauld Place, I think the Fidelius Charm would hold up to it. Yes, the Death Eaters would be able to sense the name being used, but the Fidelius Charm is such a powerful spell (hiding information in a human soul), that they would not be able to see the place or go near on in it without being told of its existence.”
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah, I agree with that.
Andrew: Shana, I think you make good points.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: So, that cleared up a lot that…
Matt: Oh, wait. But that’s all she has to say, and “thanks for hearing me out.”
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Muggle Mail: Regulus Black
Micah: The next one comes from Rachel, 17, of Setauket, about Regulus Black. She says:
“Hey Guys! I was just listening to episode 128 and I started thinking about all the questions that I have about Regulus. I wonder if he knew about the prophecy and that Voldemort was planning the murder of the Potters because in the note he put in the locket he wrote, ‘I am destroying this in the hopes that when you meet your match, you’ll be mortal once more.’ I also was wondering what Voldemort thought happened with Regulus; he clearly didn’t know that he stole one of his Horcruxes but at the same time, Regulus did die at the lake, and according to Lupin, Regulus went on the run and was killed a few days after he deserted Voldemort by Death Eaters. So, I wonder if Voldemort ever cared to find out what really happened to Regulus or if maybe he knew that Regulus ran away and his Death Eaters just lied to him about killing him. Please tell me what you all think! I love the show keep up the great work, Rachel.”
Use some periods. That would be helpful.
[Matt and Micah laugh]
Andrew: That’s so mean! Sorry Rachel, I apologize on behalf of Micah.
Micah: Sorry. This is kind of interesting, I guess, because what we knew about Regulus was that he was on the run supposedly, and he was killed by Death Eaters, but that’s not the case, and I wonder if Voldemort ever did wonder about that – what happened to him or he probably just didn’t care very much.
Laura: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: I mean, at that point we know he a lot of followers and it probably wouldn’t be that unusual to have one or two of them disappear like that, you know?
Andrew: Yeah. I agree.
Micah: Yep.
Andrew: All right. Well, that’s it for Muggle Mail this week. Our interview…
Micah: Spider mail?
Andrew: [laughs] To spider mail, yeah.
[Matt and Laura laugh]
Interview with Freddie Highmore: Part I
Andrew: Now we’re going to the Spiderwick portion of the show. Now – now it’s time for our interview with Freddie Highmore. This is part one. Part two will be coming out in another two weeks. So, enjoy. Okay, hi, everyone, I’m here with Freddie Highmore who is starring in the new movie The Spiderwick Chronicles that comes out February 15th. Freddie is only 15 years old, and he’s acted among actors such as Johnny Depp and Robin Williams in the acclaimed films, Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and August Rush. His next movie, The Spiderwick Chronicles, comes out February 15th, and Freddie has agreed to be a guest host on MuggleCast, and tell us why Harry Potter fans will like it. So, Freddie, how are you doing today?
Freddie: Very good, how are you doing?
Andrew: I’m doing great. You have this big movie coming up. It’s being promoted like crazy in America, The Spiderwick Chronicles. Can you tell us a little bit about the movie?
Freddie: Yeah, I mean, it’s supposed to be about three kids that go off to the country, and – with their mom, and they discover an unseen world, with fairies, trolls, goblins, and I mean, it’s really fantastic. They are all CGI and it’s very impressive.
Andrew: Awesome. Now, MuggleCast, the podcast we are doing this interview for, has a huge Harry Potter audience, as you can imagine. So, what do you think Harry Potter fans will like about Spiderwick Chronicles.
Freddie: I think it’s amazing, you know, it lowers your defenses, almost like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. In a way, you know, there’s gentle moments where you relax and you feel comfortable, and just when you’re sort of lulled into the moment, a big creature goes crashing through the ceiling, or something like that and gives you a big fright. It’s really great. And also the way they’ve done the CGI, and the goblins and trolls, they actually look – they actually look real. That makes the unbelievable stuff, really believable.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. Cool. So, let’s talk about Harry Potter just for a minute. Have you – I’m assuming you’ve read the series before?
Freddie: Yeah, no, I’ve read the book, and, you know, I love the films.
Andrew: Cool. What’s your favorite book? Harry Potter book?
Freddie: My favorite Harry Potter book – well they are called different things over here, but I really like the first one, The Sorcerer’s Stone.
Andrew: Okay.
Freddie: And I guess you have to first at the…
Andrew: Original.
Freddie: The first one, yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, and if you were to be in one of the Harry Potter films, which character do you think you would have wanted to play?
Freddie: [laughs] I remember I actually – I guess I was a bit too young when they started to get, you know, to get together.
Andrew: Yeah.
Freddie: But I know the guy that plays Harry Potter quite well – Dan Radcliffe.
Andrew: Daniel Radcliffe.
Freddie: Yeah. I mean, we’re good friends and we’ve known each other, in fact, before Harry Potter started filming, so it’s kind of funny.
Andrew: Awesome. Yeah, I would have thought you would have made a great Harry Potter if it wasn’t for that darn Dan Radcliffe.
[Andrew and Freddie laugh]
Andrew: So, for Spiderwick, what was the audition process like?
Freddie: Well, I just basically went to Los Angeles, and had a screen test there, and they wanted to basically see if playing two people would work out – playing twins. So, I was auditioning for Mallory, as well. I remember thinking that they probably wouldn’t – they probably wouldn’t cast me, since she was so good.
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]
Freddie: I didn’t think they’d cast two non-Americans, but there you go, they did, so I’m lucky.
Andrew: Yeah, well speaking of that, is it difficult to do an American accent for this film?
Freddie: It wasn’t too bad, actually. It was tougher the first time I did it. I did it for a film called August Rush.
Andrew: Okay.
Freddie: And I guess I had already…
Andrew: You had plenty of practice.
Freddie: …knew how to do it, and had some experience with it.
Andrew: Yeah.
Freddie: We had a voice coach that was always there on the set. Make sure any slip ups we had that could try and be corrected.
Andrew: Okay, good. So, if you were to do it now, do you think you could completely pull it off? Could you completely become American?
Freddie: [laughs] I hope so. How I tried to do it when I was filming, I’d just tried totalk in the accent as much as possible.
Andrew: Okay.
Freddie: Even when I go home, or go back to the apartment we had there in Montreal, you know, just an evening with my dad and stuff, just try and just keep it going and…
Andrew: [laughs] Just try and…
Freddie: So,I wouldn’t have to think about it when I was acting. It became second-nature.
Andrew: Right, yeah. Because once you stepped out of that American accent, it’s hard to get back in, I guess.
[Freddie laughs]
Andrew: So, what’s the best part about acting in a fantasy film for you?
Freddie: I mean this one was particularly great because I got to play twins, and that’s only the sort of opportunity you get if you’re lucky. Most people never get that opportunity.
Andrew: Yeah. I imagine that would have been hard to do. Was that a new challenge for you, playing twins? Because you are essentially filming the same scenes twice. Right?
Freddie: Yeah, I mean, that’s pretty much how they did it. They do one pass with me as Simon, or as Jared, and then I’d switch over to the other character and do it again. I mean, it was kind of nice to have two because you can work out things between them both and I mean – like, for example, there’s a scene towards the start of the movie in the bedroom and we come in.
Andrew: Mhm.
Freddie: And it’s just action and we’re moving around and it took quite a while to rehearse and all, set it up.
Andrew: Yeah.
Freddie: But when you look back at it in the end, it’s kind of cool to see yourself talking to yourself.
Andrew: Right. [laughs] Yeah. I look forward to seeing that. Now, how – how does that work? Are you filming the same scenes on the same set or is there any green screen involved or what?
Freddie: Sometimes we use green screen, but I mean, I guess it complicted it further that sometimes there were ping pong balls for the goblins and trolls.
Andrew: Yeah.
Freddie: And then there’s also another one for another character of mine. But normally, I guess how they did it was they just do the scene once and film it how it was meant to be with something called motion control.
Andrew: Mhm.
Freddie: And then the camera can repeat its movement exactly the same each time, so…
Andrew: Oh! I see.
Freddie: I’d just – I’d just be one character and pretend to look where the other one should be…
Andrew: Right.
Freddie: And then they match the two images together and it seems like we’re there together at the same time.
Andrew: Oh, okay. That’s very cool.
Freddie: I mean, it’s pretty complicated.
Andrew: Oh, I’m sure. [laughs]
Freddie: But that’s just the basics, I guess.
Andrew: So, what we’re going to do now is Freddie is going to ask you guys a question related to Spiderwick and if you don’t know the answer you can always check SpiderwickChronicles.com for the answer. Freddie’s going to ask you the question and then the first 15 people to send their contact information and the correct answer to kaitlin at staff dot mugglenet dot com will receive a pair of tickets to see the movie in IMAX. So, Freddie, what is the question this week?
Freddie: The first question is, What will hobgoblin saliva give you when it applied to the eyes?
Andrew: All right, so once again, send in the correct answer and contact information to kaitlin at staff dot mugglenet dot com. That’s k-a-i-t-l-i-n at staff dot mugglenet dot com and the first 15 people to send in their correct answers will receive a pair of tickets to see the movie in IMAX. Part two of our interview with Freddie Highmore will come next week.
Micah: Who’s the person who did that interview? That – that person did a really great job.
Andrew: Oh, thank you. I’ll pass the compliments along to him. He’s a good friend of mine. He’s sort of a somebody in the Harry Potter fandom.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: It’s hard to get in touch with him. He’s very big in the…
Micah: Emerson?
Andrew: No. No. Bigger, actually.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Much bigger.
Micah: Wow!
Andrew: Yes. In more ways than one. But it’s time to move on to Chapter-by-Chapter…
Laura: Ooo!
Chapter-by-Chapter: Chapters 11 and 12
Andrew: Now. This week we’re going to discuss Chapters 11 and 12. No Eric this week, so that means Chapter-by-Chapter is going to be about 5 minutes long.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, so…
Micah: Ouch.
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: No, you can’t put that in there!
Andrew: I’m kidding.
Micah: No, you’re not.
[Laura laughs]
Laura: I know.
Andrew: No, I’m not.
Laura: That’s the best part.
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: We love each other on the show.
Andrew: No, we do. I’m just kidding.
Micah: We really do.
Matt: Of course.
Micah: Because people send in emails, “Why do you hate Eric?”
Andrew: Yeah. No, no, no, no, no.
Micah: We don’t.
Andrew: I didn’t mean that like I hate him. He adds a lot to the Chapter-by-Chapter. That’s all I mean by it.
Matt: A whole lot.
Chapter 11: The Bribe
Andrew: Yeah. So Chapter 11: “The Bribe.” I’m going to enjoy talking about this chapter because this whole situation…
Matt: I think we’re going to all enjoy this chapter. What do you guys think?
Andrew: Wow. That was – really loud.
Laura: Yeah. That was very happy, Matt.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Very positive.
Matt: I just drank a whole can of Mountain Dew in two seconds.
Andrew: Oh. I see.
Laura: Oh, wow.
Andrew: We should all drink a lot of sugar before the show. That would actually help a lot, I think. [laughs] All right, so, yeah, Chapter 11: “The Bribe.” It’s an interesting chapter. Basically, what happens in this chapter – basic summary is Remus Lupin tries to get with the trio to go along with them. He wants to join in on the action and Harry believes that his intentions aren’t for the right reasons. So, we’ll start off with the one thing that, Matt, you wanted to bring up, along with Laura.
Matt: Sure.
Andrew: Go for it.
Matt: Should I bring it up now?
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: Oh, okay cool. All right.
Andrew: It’s number one. Number one usually means the first thing.
World War II Parallels
Matt: Well, okay, thanks. Well, what Remus or Lupin or however we want to call him – he shows Harry and the trio that the Ministry has conducted a registration that is mandatory for all Muggle-born wizards to register themselves and have been written an account of being a Muggle. What is so great about this parallel is that it’s relevant to the same registering of the Jewish people during World War II during the Holocaust.
Laura: Yeah, definitely. Well, I think it’s really interesting because even though Jo has said she didn’t really base this on Hitler and Nazi Germany, because she has been asked that before, there really are a lot of parallels to the subject, like I was thinking about the kind of anti-semitic behavior that was really socially acceptable at that time. Jews would have their – had their homes and shops vandalized, they’d be terrorized during all hours of the night. I mean, not to mention the burning of their synagogues that happened before the actual concentration camps opened up. So, it’s really interesting when you look at the way Muggle-borns are treated in the Potter series even before this registration starts up.
Matt: Yeah. Well, this just proves that the wizarding world also has genocide just like the Muggle world.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Yeah, I mean…
Andrew: It’s a – this was really one of those wow moments – just to give you an idea of how badly Voldemort and the Death Eaters were taking over the wizarding world, because this is a huge punch. Especially…
Matt: Oh, this is a huge – this is a very dark, low moment for the – just for the whole government.
Andrew: Absolutely. Yeah.
Laura: Mhm.
Andrew: Micah?
Micah: I was just agreeing with Laura and Matt because that’s really what came to mind, at least when I was re-reading it. You know, maybe it didn’t catch on to me the first time I read Deathly Hallows, but I mean, there’s a lot of, sort of, World War II, Naziism undertones in this book. And I think it started – we talked back at the chapter with the wedding in it, with the mark of Grindelwald is sort of a – you know, with it being displayed on the walls as it is like that Durmstrang and, you know, it kind of resembles a swastika. And…
Laura: Right.
Micah: …throughout the series more and more, and even Gregorovitch, where he’s locked, and I forget the name of the – it sort of resembles the name of a concentration camp, and, you know, I just thought that Jo kind of did that intentionally to show the strong prejudices that exist in the wizarding world. And, you know, this is another example and another chapter. As we move on we kind of see it more and more and I didn’t pay attention to it, really, on my first read through.
Matt: Are you referring to the concentration Auschwitz – is that’s how it’s pronounced?
Andrew: I think that was it, yeah.
Laura: Well, there were multiple concentration camps.
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: But – there was – this one sounded, and I’m thinking, I don’t know why I’m thinking of Buchenwald, which was one. But the name…
Micah: Yeah. That’s…
Laura: …in the book sounded very similar to that.
Micah: And I think I said Gregorovitch and I meant Grindelwald.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: Oh, oh, sorry.
Micah: Who was locked there. I think I said Gregorovitch was locked there, but that was a lie.
Andrew: Well I think, even if Jo knew she was drawing these parallels, I don’t think she would admit it. Like, I don’t think she does it on purpose – like, obviously there’s some inspiration from there, but I don’t think she really does it on purpose. I just think she’s well-educated on Nazi Germany and used it to create…
Laura: Well, also it’s not…
Andrew: …this Harry Potter world? I don’t know.
Laura: It’s not just Nazi Germany, though, I mean…
Matt: Yeah. It’s pretty much what happened.
Laura: …countries all over the world, including our own, have done terrible things to minority groups. I mean, during the mass immigration here through Ellis Island we actually sterilized people.
Andrew: Mhm.
Laura: Who we though were unfit to breed.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: So, you know?
Micah: Right.
Laura: It just goes to show that it’s not just places like Germany that did these things, like…
Micah: Oh, of course.
Laura: It’s as near and dear as to our own home. So, it’s kind of scary when you think about it, but I think there are a lot of definite, very strong parallels and I think that when people think of these kinds of injustices they automatically think of the Holocaust.
Andrew: Mhm.
Micah: Oh, of course.
Laura: I think it stands out, so we’re automatically going to think of it in comparison to this.
Matt: Well, it’s also because it just has a lot of direct parallels to what happened back then.
Laura: Mhm.
Matt: But it’s just pretty much what happens when a totalitarian gets absolute power over an entire government.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Yeah, and, you know, it just – I think part of it is, too, what Jo had answered when a lot of people had brought up the year of 1945, the year that Grindelwald was defeated.
Andrew: Right.
Micah: And the parallels that were starting to be made and Jo basically said that you could make those comparisons, and I definitely think that in Deathly Hallows we get a better understanding of why that was, and, you know, Grindelwald himself….
Andrew: Yeah
Micah: …was imprisoned – I think the name here is Nurmengard, which was an actual prison that he built to house his opponents. So again, there’s that imagery of a concentration camp, almost. And Nurmengard sounds awfully similar to Nüremberg.
Laura: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
Matt: Oh, yeah.
Micah: Which obviously plays a very big role, at least for the trials of a lot the Nazis post-World War II.
Laura: Yeah, and you know what else I’m thinking of? I kind of compare it to this – after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, tons of American Japanese were rounded up and put into camps in America – in the Midwest.
Andrew: Mhm.
Laura: And while it wasn’t anything on the scale of the Holocaust, it was still the idea of rounding up one group of people and finding a way to get rid of them or put them away where they couldn’t hurt your society because you believed that just because a few of them might of done something wrong, all would. So…
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: It just sort of sprung to mind, too.
Lupin’s Request
Andrew: Another big point in Chapter 11 we wanted to talk about was Lupin coming to Harry and asking to be a part of his adventure. So although the trio doesn’t want to tell Lupin anything about the mission given to them by Dumbledore, Lupin still gives them reasons why he should come along. And it seems at first that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are sort of into it, until Lupin reveals that Tonks is pregnant. Then Harry has a very sudden change of heart and, you know, this big argument occurs. So, do you guys think Lupin is truly a coward concerning his family? And Tonks and his family? Because that’s what Harry calls him. Or does he really believe in helping the trio? Because, you know, Harry was – Harry overreacted mainly because he can relate to it, his situation. He wouldn’t have wanted – his parents always stuck with him, so he doesn’t believe Lupin should just be leaving his kid and his wife even though the kid’s not born yet.
Laura: I wouldn’t really call Lupin a coward per se. I think it was more of a situation of cold feet for him. Because we saw at the end of Half-Blood Prince he already had reservation of marrying Tonks because of his age and because of him being a werewolf.
Matt: Mhm.
Laura: I do think it would be very wrong to get someone pregnant and then say, “Oh, look at what I’ve done to you. Because it’s clearly better for me to leave you by yourself and raise a kid on your own.”
Micah: Yeah, well…
Laura: I think that’s a load of crap. But at the same time I think he sincerely wanted to help too.
Andrew: Yeah, that’s the other thing, he said himself, “I believe your dad would’ve wanted me to come along,” and Harry says, “Well, I don’t think he would’ve ditched his kid.” You know?
Matt: But this doesn’t sound like Lupin though – this is like a different side of him we haven’t seen before.
Micah: Right. And I think part of him…
Andrew: I think he was having a breakdown, really.
Micah: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: He was looking forward to getting out of this Tonks situation.
Matt: How long – he probably hasn’t known much about the news that his wife is pregnant, this might be just a reaction to what he’s been just told.
Laura: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
Andrew: Oh, maybe! Oh, yeah!
Matt: A lot of parents, when they find out, their whole life flashes before their eyes and they see all the accomplishments they haven’t made and the things they thought – the kind of person they were. Lupin probably thought that he would never be the type of person who would have a wife and have a kid. He’d always seen himself as the person helping out and giving his life for his friends or something.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah.
Matt: So this is probably a gut instinct of his, to come to the aid of his friends.
Laura: Well also…
Andrew: Although, you do have to keep in mind – real quick, he did say it took him three days longer because he had to knock off the Death Eater on his tail. So even if – say he heard about Tonks being pregnant and then he immediately ran away, I would’ve thought he would cool down after three days and maybe really think it through. Because he’s not selfish.
Laura: Mhm.
Matt: Well, his adrenaline is probably racing too because he has to constantly…
Andrew: Chased.
Matt: …think about dodging all these Death Eaters.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Yep.
Laura: And I guess it’s also the terrifying idea of bringing a child into the world in the middle of a war.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: I don’t know – he definitely was moving away from his responsibilities as a parent, but at the same I don’t know if he delivers the message to Harry the way that he wanted to or the way that we would have normally expected Lupin to. I think it came over to Harry in the wrong way and that’s why Harry reacted the way that he did. I’m not saying that Harry wasn’t exploitive in this particular scene because I think he cracked down on Lupin a little too hard, but I would also understand where Harry’s coming from – being orphaned himself he wouldn’t want to, you know, see the same thing happen to Lupin’s child.
Andrew: That’s exactly what I’m thinking.
Laura: Mhm.
Andrew: Because, like I said, Harry can really relate to this. He knows exactly what’s going on here which is why he picked up on it so quick. You know?
Laura: And also he would feel at fault for it because so many people have already died for him.
Andrew: Right.
Laura: And the thought of making another kid fatherless on his account.
Micah: Right, but – ironically, in the end…
Andrew: Ironically. [laughs]
Micah: …he ends up feeling bad about it anyway because that’s exactly what does happen and he ends up losing both of his parents.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Right. Another thing I wanted to bring up – if Tonks gave her permission directly to Harry – say, if Tonks was like, “It’s okay, I want Lupin to come help out you guys,” because maybe Tonks thinks they need a little help, do you think maybe Harry would have let Lupin come along then? Or do you think this is a personal issue with Harry that wouldn’t have been able to be changed?
Matt: Hmmm. No, no, no. Harry’s set in stone that Dumbledore just wanted Harry and Ron and Hermione to go along with him and Harry trusts Dumbledore’s word more than anyone’s.
Andrew: That’s not the point though, because Harry was considering taking Lupin but one of his primary reasons for Lupin not coming was because of his kid.
Matt: Well did he say he was thinking about it or did he just say it was a tempting offer?
Andrew: Well at first he was thinking about it because at first he’s like – they’re a little taken aback, I think. And then Harry or one of them is like, “What’s this all about?” and then Lupin says, “Oh, Tonks is having a kid.” So, I think Harry’s main argument wasn’t that it’s Dumbledore’s mission for the trio – that was part of the argument – but the real reason they were throwing spells at each other was just because Lupin was doing something Harry would never want to see a father do.
Matt: Well, I don’t think they probably would have broke out in a fight like they did. I know, but I’m saying if the situation wasn’t the fact that he was running away because his wife was pregnant. I don’t think it would have been a fight – I don’t think they would have had an argument like that. But I still don’t think Harry would let him in on it.
Laura: Yeah, I agree.
Muggle Mail: Lupin vs. Harry Argument
Andrew: So, relating to this, Georgia, 16, from Walnut Creek, CA writes:
“I’ve been looking forward to the Chapter-By-Chapter for Chapter 11 almost as much as I’ve been dreading it – probably because my Lupin fangirling knows no bounds. Since July, I have re-read and over-analyzed this chapter more times than I’d like to admit, and have come to several conclusions. The preeminent one being that Harry has a nasty habit of jumping go conclusions, and aught to learn to think before speaking. People leave their families to fight in wars all the time, and I can’t see how Remus is any different. He was frightened, yes, but I don’t see how he was in any way cowardly. He’s had to struggle with the prejudices against werewolves all his adult life, being shunned, subjected to poverty, and I don’t even want to imagine what sort of things he saw when he was spying on Greyback. The thought that he could have forced that sort of life onto an innocent child was just too much for him to handle. Nobody wants that for their child, especially not when the future looks so bleak already. And with all that aside, it’s obvious that he really cares about Harry, and I cannot believe that he was at all comfortable with the idea of him, Ron and Hermione running off into untold dangers all by themselves.”
That was my point.
“They might have been adults, but they were still missing an entire year of their education, and had just about no experience with taking care of themselves on their own. The notion that they were planning to do just that probably unsettled him almost as much as it did Mrs. Weasley. What Harry said to him was just awful, and I can’t help feeling that if Remus had not been trying so hard to hide his feelings, and had worded his request differently, things might have ended up much better. If nothing else, he could have at least helped prevent situations in which they’re all living off of toadstools.”
[laughs]
So, I agree with that. I agree with all the points she made. I mean, Remus wants to protect him. He wants to protect him. He wants to protect – by him I mean Harry – he wants to protect Harry for James. I mean – you know, why let three kids run off and do this huge battle that Dumbledore left them to. I mean, okay, Dumbledore left them to it but…
Matt: They’re seventeen.
Andrew: I mean, obviously they proved Lupin wrong but, I don’t know.
Laura: I guess it’s kind of like – and you consider an extreme circumstance in which your child and another child are both in danger – you know, who are you going to save first? Your kid, I mean, there’s no doubt about it. I mean, you try to help everyone you can but your kid should always be your priority.
Micah: Right, and I think, maybe him going to do this was his way of coping with the situation and I think that’s kind of what we were trying to bring up throughout this whole thing is that, this is kind of his coping mechanism. I think, for finding out – I think that’s what Matt had mentioned earlier and I guess you could argue either way. I mean, him leaving the situation doesn’t resolve the problem. I mean, the fact that his kid could grow up to be a werewolf, which I’m sure is something that he’s concerned about – you know, it’s not going to magically disappear if he goes off and gets himself killed and I think that’s probably what Harry is argument was mostly about. But I don’t think that Harry necessarily – as much as Lupin didn’t probably make his argument strong enough, I don’t think that Harry reacted the way he probably should have either.
Matt: Yeah, I just think it was just poorly delivered on both parts.
Micah: And the worst thing that I thought about was, if Lupin now goes off and got killed, that would have been the worst possible terms for Harry and Lupin to have ended on.
Andrew: [laughs] Right. Yeah.
Matt: Well don’t they mention that too? I mean, doesn’t…
Micah: Later on.
Matt: Doesn’t Harry mention that a couple of times later in the book. Yeah.
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: He just can’t – he just doesn’t want to think of how he left things with Remus.
Scrimgeour Stays Loyal
Micah: But – yeah and through all of this, I mean, one thing that kind of got overshadowed that we didn’t talk about from Lupin’s visit was, you know, the fact that he mentions that Scrimgeour didn’t give Harry away. Which…
Andrew: Is big.
Micah: Is big.
Andrew: I mean that’s….
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah. If that’s the real story, I mean, we’ll never know though. [laughs] I mean, there could have been more to it, but from the reader’s perspective, yeah it looks like he died for Harry.
Kreacher Returns With Mundungus
Andrew: All right, so let’s move on now. The part in this chapter I hope really makes the movie.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: And you know, Jo insisted that Kreacher stay in…
Micah: Some comedy finally, you know?
Andrew: Yes, exactly.
Matt: I know.
Micah: In a very dark book.
Andrew: Kreacher returns with Mundungus like he promised, at this point Kreacher is loving Harry. You know, he’s making dinners and everything for the trio, he’s so far up there that…
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: You know, everything is going well. So, Harry starts interrogating Mundungus but not too soon – not too long after that Kreacher just comes up and starts hitting Mundungus on the head with a frying pan and it’s so funny and I just really hope that makes the film.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: What did you guys think of that part?
Laura: I thought it was really funny, especially when he said like – what was it? I forget. He was like, he called him Master Harry and he was like, “One more, please, Master Harry,” or whatever.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: [laughs] It was really cute.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Oh yeah. He says, “Perhaps just one more, Master Harry, for luck?”
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah and then Harry says, “No, we’ve got to keep him conscious.” So, the best part comes on pg. 222 when Mundungus starts explaining who he – who has the locket now and the realization is hilarious. Let me just read it real quick. “‘Who was this woman?’ asked Harry. ‘I don’t know some Ministry hack.’ Mundungus considered for a moment, brow wrinkled. ‘Little woman, bow on top of her head.’ He frowned and added, ‘Looked like a toad.'”
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: “Harry dropped his wand, it hit Mundungus on the nose.” And of course that’s when they realized, it’s Umbridge.
Matt: I have to say though, the endings of all the chapters in book seven are probably the best out of the series.
Andrew: Yeah. They’re so clever, they’re so movie-like.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: They make you want to turn the page. Like, you know, I don’t know about you, but whenever I read the Harry Potter books I read so many more chapters than I intend.
Andrew: Oh, right. Absolutely.
Matt: Because each chapter…
Laura: Oh, definitely.
Matt: I just want to go, “Okay, just one more chapter,” because…
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Exactly.
Matt: …I want to know what happens now.
Andrew: Yeah, I used to do the same thing when I was reading them all for the first time. You just – and that’s one of the biggest compliments that the Harry Potter books receive. You just can’t put them down. That’s what everyone says the first time they read them, “I just couldn’t stop.” Okay, so, Chapter 12, there wasn’t as much going on in this chapter. Not really any big developments so we’re going to move through it pretty quick.
Laura: Well, hey guys, I’ve got to get going.
Andrew: All right Laura. No worries. See you.
Laura: Bye everyone!
Ron Finally Says “Voldemort”
Micah: The only other thing I wanted to note about this chapter was that it’s the first time, at least that I remember, Ron ever saying the word “Voldemort.”
Andrew: Is it the only time?
Micah: The first time.
Andrew: Is it the first time?
Micah: I thought so.
Andrew: Is it truly the first time?
Micah: Maybe I’m making this up. Somebody check me on it. It was on pg. 208, the U.S. edition. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Ron say the word. Say the name “Voldemort.”
Andrew: I could see why this would be his first time, because this is really the start of the journey. So, maybe he is running on a nice little high.
Micah: Feeling brave.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Saying, “Hey, I guess if Hermione can say it then I can!”
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. [laughs] I don’t know. But okay, let’s move on to Chapter 12 now. Ummm, who wrote the first points? Someone else start. Go ahead.
Matt: I did.
Micah: I didn’t write any of the points, so…
Andrew: Was that you, Matt?
Matt: I actually wrote the first point.
Andrew: Okay, go ahead.
Matt: I don’t want to say it.
Andrew: Why not?
Matt: Well, I don’t know how to introduce it.
Micah: Just do a summary first. That’s probably the best thing.
Chapter 12: Magic is Might
Andrew: All right. So, the meaning of Chapter 12 – they’re getting into the Ministry at this point. They’ve all taken the Polyjuice potion, and they transformed into new Ministry people. Now, they’re going into the Ministry. First thing I wanted to bring up was the new statue. They replaced the Fountain of Magical Brethren.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: I’m good.
Matt: That’s true.
“Magic is Might”
Andrew: I’m proud of myself for that. Now, this new statue that reads “Magic is Might.” I don’t have the exact description up, I don’t know if you do, Matt. But it’s described as a large black statue that has a man and a woman, a wizard and a witch, sitting on a bunch of bodies.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: All wrangled up and just – are they dead? Can you tell they’re dead?
Matt: Uh, no, they’re holding them up. That’s the way it is.
Andrew: Right, they’re sitting on top of them.
Matt: Right, but it’s the whole fact that – you know, like 300 when all the slaves were holding up the big Persian master? That’s pretty much what the statue entailing.
Micah: Yeah, I have the quote right here.
Andrew: Go ahead and read it.
Micah: It says, “Now a gigantic statue of black stone dominated the scene. It was rather frightening, this vast sculpture of a witch and a wizard sitting on ornately carved thrones, looking down at the Ministry workers toppling out of fireplaces below them. Engraved in foot-high letters at the base of the statue were the words ‘MAGIC IS MIGHT.'” And I’m looking for the other part here.
Andrew: Yeah, then they make the realization that they’re not sitting on chairs, they’re actually bodies. And what’s the quote for that?
Micah: Hermione, who says to Harry, “‘Have you seen what they’re sitting on?’ Harry looked more closely and realized that what he had thought were decoratively carved thrones were actually mounds of cared humans: hundreds and hundreds of naked bodies, men, women, and children, all with rather stupid, ugly faces, twisted and pressed together to support the weight of the handsomely robed wizards.”
Andrew: Yeah, so, it’s a very nasty sight. I mean that’s terrible.
Matt: It’s very graphic.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: And it’s supposedly Muggles, yeah? I’m guessing.
Andrew: Yeah. That’s what they realize as well. So, it’s just another sign of how the Ministry has changed, I mean, that is just a gigantic symbol of how the Ministry of Magic functions now. It’s – it’s just absolutely terrible. I mean, I don’t even see how Ministry employees could approve of that.
Micah: They probably don’t have a choice.
Andrew: Well, right but – yeah, it’s just…
Micah: It goes back to the whole Nazi Germany comparison…
Andrew: Right, exactly.
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: …that was brought up last chapter.
Andrew: Oh, here I am coming to work. Oh, what’s the first thing I see? A giant black statue that has a witch and a wizard sitting on a ton of dead Muggles and Mudbloods.
Matt: That’s sad.
Andrew: Yep.
Snape is Headmaster
Micah: One of the other big things in the chapter that we learned, which actually takes place before they go to the Ministry, is from The Daily Prophet that Harry brings home saying that Snape is now a headmaster of Hogwarts. And, you know, we mentioned earlier in the Chapter-by-Chapter a couple of episodes back that when we heard that the Ministry had fallen was kind of the “Holy *bleep*!” moment of the series.
Andrew: Mhm.
Micah: Did anybody kind of get the same feeling when they found out that Snape was running Hogwarts?
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: I mean, we don’t know yet, obviously, that he is good…
Andrew: Mhm.
Micah: But this was another moment in the series where you really start to think – and this is, of course, in addition to everything that we’re learning, that’s going on in the Ministry with all the round-ups that are taking place. But this is really one of those moments where you realize things are getting pretty bad.
Andrew: Right.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Because all of the sudden it’s like – you can’t believe – it’s like Hogwarts all of the sudden turns into a prison cell. That’s how I pictured it.
Micah: Right.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: It turned into a huge dungeon. It’s like Snape’s giant dungeon.
Micah: Yeah. It’s the big pieces that are slowly falling. You know. First it was the Ministry, now the only place, I think, that Harry has ever known to be safe, Hogwarts, is clearly not.
Andrew: Right.
Matt: Mhm. I had really mixed feelings when I read about Snape. This whole chapter – I mean this whole book even – but hearing that Snape had become headmaster, I…
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: You know, because there’s so much speculation if Snape was good or bad…
Andrew: Right.
Matt: …that you think, okay well if he’s good, then this is actually a good thing for all the students in Hogwarts – that they actually have Snape, who is really going against Voldemort, who is trying to help all the students or something.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: But…
Andrew: I guess that’s true.
Matt: But then you think if he’s bad, it’s just they’re screwed.
Andrew: But even if he is bad – I don’t know. I mean, in hindsight we all now know – I mean, Snape was doing it – Snape’s intentions were to protect the school. I mean…
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Maybe it was never stated, but obviously he didn’t want to see Hogwarts go.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: Who knows? For all we know Snape may have offered.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Maybe Snape said to Voldemort, “Let me take over. Don’t put some…”
Matt: Well I’m sure he did.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Because he’s a familiar face for the school.
MuggleCast 129 Transcript (continued)
School is Mandatory
Andrew: Right. So next point: Why are the Weasleys, the Longbottoms and the Lovegoods (their families) sending Ginny, Neville and Luna back to school knowing everything that they know? Because I mean, they’re…
Matt: Well, they know. They know that they have to go. It’s mandatory now. They can’t keep them at home.
Andrew: Oh! That’s true. Duh! Next point. I don’t know who put that in. Probably, Laura.
Matt: That’s probably her. She didn’t read Chapter 12.
Andrew: Yeah. And she left, so we can blame everything on her.
Matt: Yeah.
Flawed Ministry Infiltration?
Andrew: Next point: Is the plan to penetrate the Ministry flawed? Micah, you wanted to bring this up because…
Matt: Mikey?
Andrew: Micah, I said.
Matt: Oh, I thought you said Mikey.
Andrew: You know, they’re just walking in with Polyjuice Potion, and before the show I was saying, “You know what? There’s got to be some flaws in this plan if they’re going – if they’re knocking these people out that they’re turning into – they’re knocking them out and they’re going to come back to work the next day and be like, you know, ‘Oh, wait a second. I didn’t do this. Oh wait a second. I didn’t do that.'” I mean, there are flaws in this plan that obviously didn’t get brought up in the book, because it would have been nice to see what would have happened.
Matt: That’s the whole point though. This whole thing was rushed.
Micah: Right.
Andrew: Yeah, but you don’t see any…
Matt: They don’t really care about the consequences anymore because all they’re thinking about is going forward.
Andrew: Right, but what I’m saying is – in reality, that would have really posed a problem. And, I mean, Jo could have wrote in some subplot, but it’s not that necessary, it’s sort of out of the way, and it obviously doesn’t effect the ending of the book. But in all reality, that must have caused some problems, because that probably would…
Matt: It probably did.
Andrew: …have been a security breach too. But we don’t know that. You know what I’m saying? Like don’t you think it would have been a huge security breach?
Matt: Yeah, because we only know it from their perspective. It probably was going on; it just didn’t reach them by the time all this stuff happened.
Andrew: Oh that’s true. That’s – yeah. They were out of touch when they were camping…
Micah: Well, I think Matt brought up a…
Matt: And the Ministry is huge.
Micah: …good point though, that it – the plan itself was definitely rushed because you have that whole conversation between Harry, Ron and Hermione, where Harry was saying, “Let’s just do it tomorrow.”
Andrew: Exactly.
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: And you can understand that from the perspective of, well we need to start acting; we can’t just keep talking about it. We need to just do it. But the thing that really bothered me about this part of the story was, to me, if you were these three young witches or wizards and you’re going to go and infiltrate the Ministry it would seem to me that you’d need to be a little more clever than just using Polyjuice Potion. And obviously…
Andrew: Right.
Micah: …it has consequences in the following chapters…
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: …where they come face-to-face with one of the people that they took out. But it just – it seems so unrealistic that they can just walk by Umbridge or walk by Yaxley or walk by any of these people and there is absolutely no recognition on the part of these Ministry officials that something is up until, you know, a little bit later on.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: And look, I know it’s a fantasy series. I know that…
Andrew: Right.
Micah: …all of this is unrealistic, but Jo usually does a really good job making things seem like, “Hey, you know, that could actually work.”
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: And this was just one of those chapters where it’s almost like…
Matt: Everything was just coincidental…
Micah: Yeah. It’s just…
Matt: With them meeting everybody.
Micah: Like, we’re talking about the Ministry, which is supposedly under the control of Voldemort and they’re just going to walk right in disguised as other people, get the Horcrux, you know, have a little bit of trouble along the way, and get out.
Andrew: So Micah, say you were Harry. What would be your plan to infiltrate the Ministry? Say you were the James Bond of the Harry Potter world, how would you…
Micah: But…
Andrew: …get in the Ministry?
Micah: But my point is this: why would you have to get into the Ministry?
Andrew: The locket.
Micah: Doesn’t Umbridge live somewhere?
Matt: Yeah, I was just going to say, can’t you just like wait by her house?
Andrew: But doesn’t she keep the locket in the Ministry?
Micah: I don’t – there’s – is that a guarantee?
Matt: No, she keeps it around her neck.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Well, I guess in defense of [laughs] Jo, I guess, they know exactly where she works, they don’t know where she lives, and it would, you know – how would they find out where she lives? Wouldn’t they have to go into the Ministry? [laughs]
Matt: They could follow her.
Micah: Hey, hold on a second.
Andrew: Don’t say, “phonebook.”
Micah: “Kreacher, bring me Umbridge.”
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: Oh yeah, but see, somebody would notice Umbridge was missing. And then Umbridge would run back and…
Micah: Would anybody care?
Matt: Well, I thought Hermione was getting used to the Memory Charms.
Andrew: Oh that’s true too. But once Umbridge – okay, this could also be solved with the Memory Charm, but once Umbridge is in Grimmauld Place, wouldn’t she be able to tell people where it is?
Matt: She wouldn’t know where she was.
Andrew: Yeah, I guess.
Matt: Kreacher just brought her there. Kreacher didn’t say, “Oh yeah, we’re going to take you to Grimmauld Place.”
Micah: Yeah, we’re just trying to come up with other things…
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: This is all pure speculation, I guess?
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah. But look, we thought about this plan in what, five minutes? They could have done that.
Andrew: Right. [laughs] Right. [laughs again] Yeah, I don’t know. Talk to them someday.
Hermione’s Insistence
Andrew: Why does Hermione – last point we want to bring up today – why does Hermione still insist that Harry stay out of Voldemort’s mind? Because in this chapter, once again, Harry tries to hide it from Ron and Hermione. He runs up to the bathroom and then hides in there while he goes into Voldemort’s mind, but Hermione still insists that Harry stay out. Why does Hermione do that? Why can’t she just – I mean, she’s not going to be able to change Harry’s mind and, really, it does work to their advantage.
Matt: Yeah, well, in this book – in this chapter – in this book it did.
Andrew: Of course in Order of the Phoenix it didn’t, but Harry learned his lesson and, I mean, he just has to accept now that that’s a possibility, that that could happen. But really, he has nothing to lose at this point. Unless Voldemort makes up this scene where he’s about to kill Ron and Hermione, or any close Order members…
Matt: Mhm. Well, Hermione doesn’t know anything about it. That’s the whole point; the only thing that she knows is that Dumbledore told Harry that he shouldn’t be opening his mind to it.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: That’s the only thing she knows, and she’s scared about it because of all the consequences that happened.
Micah: But, in the fact is, it’s a good thing. It’s really a good thing in the end. I mean, Harry even starts to think that he should be using this to his advantage. I mean it keeps him, you know, in sync with what Voldemort is doing, and it has a huge role, you know, later on when he can feel Voldemort going from place to place looking for all the Horcruxes that have been destroyed.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: And, you know, I think it’s a connection that she should just step off on.
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: Because it’s giving Harry the clues that he needs to help solve this, you know, really complex puzzle.
Matt: Mhm. And, technically, is it really Occlumency? Because they are connected. He is part of Voldemort.
Micah: Yeah. Right, and maybe that’s the problem. Maybe he wouldn’t have been able to keep it out.
Matt: I mean, even if he tried to close his mind would it even work?
Andrew: Oh, that’s true. But, see, Dumbledore did know that he had the special connection with Voldemort, and Dumbledore still recommended that Snape teach him the lessons.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: So, I think Dumbledore would’ve had an idea whether or not the lessons would actually work. The Occlumency would really work.
Using Occlumency While Asleep
Matt: Okay, talking about Occlumency, since we’re on this subject.
Andrew: Okay.
Matt: Is it even possible to shut your mind while you’re asleep? I mean, aren’t you just vulnerable when you’re asleep? Can you use Occlumency, I mean, are you capable of doing Occlumency while you’re asleep?
Micah: That’s a good question.
Andrew: Well, I guess the question is, do we know how it actually works? I mean is it a – does it only work while you’re actually focusing on it? Or is there a way to keep it in your head somehow?
Matt: Well, it always happens when he’s at his most vulnerable point, and that’s when he’s asleep. He has a hard time doing it even when he’s conscious. So, how in the world is he going to be able to do it when he’s in a fragile, sleeping state?
Andrew: According to the Lexicon, “elementary Occlumency involves clearing the mind of thoughts and emotions so that the Legilimens can find no emotional ties to memories the target wished to conceal.” So say if you clear your mind for bed, and you fall asleep, because isn’t – aren’t there studies that say, like, you always dream about what you are thinking right when you fall asleep?
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: So right, if you have your mind cleared…
Matt: Well, is that even possible? I mean, unless you have a Pensieve near your bed…
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: …and just empty all your mind.
Andrew: Hey! That’s too much work though. It’s like taking out your contacts at night or putting in your retainer before bed.
Micah: Yeah, I mean, where would you even get one of those?
Matt: Yeah, see, I would stop doing all of those.
Micah: You would like go to Home Depot and be like, “Yeah I’ll have a Pensieve.”
Andrew: [laughs] “I want an auto-Pensieve.”
Matt: [laughs] Yeah. You go to Costco and get the 10-pack.
Micah: Yeah, exactly
Andrew: Well, it’s not like a one use only. It is not like a disposable razor. I mean, you can use the same one night to night, right?
The Multi-Purpose Pensieve
Micah: And if you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and it’s right there…
Matt: [laughs] “This Pensieve is not the same color it was yesterday.”
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: “Why is my Pensieve all yellow?”
Micah: It can be multi-purpose. I mean, if you’re sick…
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: …you know?
Andrew: “Mr. Bob: Pensieve Edition”
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: “Mr. Bob Is On The Job.”
Micah: You can wash your face when you get up in the morning. You don’t even need to go to the bathroom.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Oh, my god, Micah.
Matt: You wash your face in the morning and you’re hit with all these past aggressions and memories from your past.
Andrew: That is terrible.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Oh, my god. Brush your teeth, use it to go number two, the possibilities are endless.
Micah: I don’t know.
Matt: Okay, okay.
Micah: That’s a little too much.
Andrew: You guys don’t? I use a sink for everything. Just me?
[Micah laughs]
Matt: Yeah, I know you do.
Andrew: Hmmm, weird. [laughs] All right, well…
Ben’s Top Ten
Micah: Well, there’s a Ben’s Top Ten List: Top Ten Uses of a Pensieve.
Andrew: Yeah, there you go. Everyone submit…
Micah: Get creative.
Andrew: …not everyone. But, yeah, be creative, send in a creative list. “Top Ten Ways to Use a Pensieve.” We’ve given you some ideas, don’t copy all of them, but build it off of what we came up with.
Micah: [laughs] There’s a lot of room for improvement.
Andrew Yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Back to Harry and Occlumency
Andrew: “In its more advance form, Occlemency allows the user to suppress only feelings and memories that contradict what the user wishes a Legitamens to believe, thus allowing the Occlamens to lie without self-betrayal.” So, I don’t know. I mean, this is used to Harry’s advantage and Harry’s learned his lesson once. I think at this point he would just – since he was still looking into Voldemort’s mind, I believe that he just has to take the risk and to decide whether or not it’s real.
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah. Let’s move along.
Andrew: Yeah, that does wrap up Chapter-by-Chapter today. Chapter 13 next week, maybe Chapter 14 as well. We’ll review it at our next board meeting.
Quote Quiz
Andrew: It’s time for Quote Quiz. [echoes “quiz”]
[Matt and Micah laugh sarcastically]
Andrew: “She had to go down to the Court Rooms with Umbridge. She couldn’t refuse and…” cuts off.
Micah: Oh.
Matt: Oh.
Andrew: This has been Quote Quiz. [echoes “quiz”] I’m doing a new thing now where I move my head further away from the microphone so it’s more like, Quote Quiz. [echoes “quiz” with quieter echo]
Micah: That’s nice.
Matt: Yeah, that is sweet.
Micah: Very talented.
Andrew: Hey, I have a new idea. I have a new idea. We’ll all do the echo.
So I’ll do, “Quote quiz!” And then Matt goes, “…quiz,” and Micah goes, “…quiz.” And I go, “…quiz,” and then we all do it lower and lower.
Micah: Ummm…
Matt: Yeah, no. Let’s not do that.
Andrew: No, that’d be fun. That’d be fun. Can we try it, please? So, I’ll do it first. I’ll do, “Quote quiz!” and then Matt, you go, “…quiz.” And then Micah goes, “…quiz.” And I go, “…quiz.” Okay?
Micah: Sure, why not?
Andrew: All right. You have to do it fast. Quote quiz!
Matt: Quiz.
Micah: [pauses a long time] Quiz.
Matt: Stupid.
Andrew: Quiz… [laughs]
Micah: Alrighty.
Andrew: I liked it. Sorry, guys.
Matt: I’m so embarrassed right now for doing that.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Sorry. Want to have a little fun on the – Okay, you say Sweeney Todd last week. You can’t dig yourself any deeper.
Matt: Yeah, but I’m freaking awesome that way.
Make the Connection
Andrew: Hey, here’s a fun segment. It’s time to play Make the Connection. Since Jamie’s not around this week – and we don’t know when he’s going to be back, cause he’s back at school – Matt’s going to be taking over Make the Connection until Jamie returns. Matt, there’s a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure. I mean, Jamie sent you a couple of ideas, but…
Matt: Yeah, he sent me a couple things. Well, it’s pretty cool now, though. Because since Laura left – since Jamie only sent me two, I can just tell them to both of you.
Andrew: Well – okay.
Matt: Yeah. Okay.
Andrew: All right, so Micah starts first, since Micah didn’t go last time.
Matt: Yeah. All right, Micah. Make the connection between Harry Potter and writing a science fiction novel to be read only by camels.
Micah: Only by camels, right?
Matt: Only by camels.
Micah: [laughs] I don’t even know what to say to that.
Matt: [imitates Jamie] Oh, come on, Micah! It’s very simple.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Andrew: It’s right in front of you.
Micah: It’s right in front of you.
Matt: [imitates Jamie] I have faith in you, Micah. I have faith in you.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: The only comparison I can think of was those two camels that those House-elves were riding in…
Andrew: [laughs] Goblet of Fire.
Micah: …Goblet of Fire. Otherwise, I don’t know how you compare Harry Potter and a science fiction book wrote strictly for camels.
Andrew: [laughs] Well, you can say that the science fiction book told the House-elves – told the camels how to ride with House-elves on their back. Because House-elves are very light, so that poses the possible problem. Especially if they were to apparate off the back. Once that weight suddenly disappears, the camels might be thrown off balance.
Micah: Sure.
[Andrew presses the “That Was Easy Button”]
Micah: All right, let’s hear the other one.
Matt: Okay.
Micah: And I’ll help Andrew out on that.
Matt: Since I already sent you one, I’m going to think of something else.
Andrew: Okay.
Matt: All right. So – okay. Harry Potter and eating Chick-Fil-A while watching Sweeney Todd.
Andrew: [laughs] What? Okay, seriously, that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Ummm…
Matt: Do it.
Andrew: Okay, I have to admit, Sweeney Todd is one of my favorite movies right now. And Chick-Fil-A is my favorite delicacy. So…
Matt: You’re stalling!
Andrew: No, no. When I get into the movies, when I see a Harry Potter film, I love seeing the Potter films while eating nachos and cheese, which is also one of my favorite delicacies. So, the connection is that you can eat your favorite delicacy while watching one of your favorite movies.
Matt: Ummm…
Andrew: No?
Matt: Maybe I’m just not getting Make the Connection.
Andrew: You just have to make a connection between Harry Potter and item number two.
Matt: All right, okay.
Andrew: I know that wasn’t exactly what I was supposed to – and that’s impossible, Matt, that’s [laughs] pretty impossible. I don’t know.
Matt: Well, the one that Jamie gave me wasn’t any better.
Micah: What was it?
Matt: It was Harry Potter and eating antique ice cream while fighting Hercules.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Micah: What?
Matt: Yeah!
Andrew: Well, Hercules is a very powerful charactal – uhhh…
Matt: Charactal, huh?
Andrew: Charactal, yeah. Sorry, if you watch home videos – I just did it again! [laughs]
[Matt makes slurring noises to mock Andrew]
[Andrew makes slurring noises]
Micah: Well, actually, you could – I don’t know how you would spin this – but Hercules defeated what’s his name, the three headed dog – the trio got by the three headed dog.
Matt: Ohhh.
Andrew: Did he?
Micah: But that has nothing to do with ice cream and battling Hercules.
Matt: Yeah, see…
Andrew: Well, you could say that dogs like ice cream. I don’t know.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: Jamie would have to be there to moderate that, I don’t know, we’ll see. Matt, do you want people to e-mail in ideas? That’s what we used to do with Jamie.
Matt: Yeah sure, if Jamie’s not going to be on because he’s at school for the next couple of weeks, I’m perfectly okay with that.
Andrew: Okay! So e-mail in some good Make the Connections that are possible. Maybe if you have your own idea include it in the e-mail – include the connection in the e-mail and then Matt just won’t read that. He can read that after we answer ours. So yeah, answer your own make the connection so we know it’s doable, and you can quiz yourself at home. Matt at staff – no matthewb, sorry. Matthewb, M-a-t-t-h-e-w-b at staff dot mugglenet dot com. Matt, maybe I’ll make you an easier one that’s a little shorter.
Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul
Andrew: So we’ll wrap things up today, as always, with a nice little Chicken Soup that will make everyone feel good. This is a good segment we do. This one comes from Stacey B. 22, of [sings] Baaaltimooore, Maryland. She writes:
“This isn’t a normal Chicken Soup. You get letters every week about how someone’s grandmother just passed away or how stressed out they are from finals or just simply because work is torture. These people who are down and out reach out to you as MuggleCasters to help them on their way. No matter what our burden is, we can always count on you to brighten our day. Laughter is the best medicine of all. You have no idea how many lives you guys have touched. And I think I speak for the listeners when I say, ‘Thank you!’ from the bottom of our hearts. This Chicken Soup goes out to the MuggleCasters for everything they do for the fans.”
Andrew: Well, thank you, Stacey, that’s very nice of you.
Matt: Awww.
Andrew: Like I say almost every show, it’s always great to hear how MuggleCast really affects people’s lives and it’s one of the main reasons why we’ll never permanently end the show. I mean, that’s just mean! We’ll always be coming out with more episodes. We’ll aim for once a month after Chapter-by-Chapter is done. And, you know, more good things will come, more good things will come.
Matt: Yes!
Contact Information
Andrew: So, I think that’s about it for this week’s episode of MuggleCast. But right now it’s time to remind everyone about our contact information in case you want to get in touch with us.
Micah: The po box.
Andrew: If you want to send us – huh?
Micah: The po box.
Andrew: The po box, Micah. If someone wants to send something to the pickle object box, where do they do that? How do they send it?
Micah: Send it to:
MuggleCast
P.O. Box 3151
Cumming, Georgia, 30028
Andrew: Don’t forget you can also call in the MuggleCast hotline. If you’re in the United States you can dial 1-218-20-MAGIC, if you’re in the United Kingdom you can call 02081440677, and if you’re in Australia you can 0280035668. You can also Skype the username MuggleCast. No matter how you call in just remember to keep your message under 60 seconds and eliminate as much background noise as possible. Thank you.
You can also e-mail MuggleCast using the handy feedback form on MuggleCast.com, just click on “contact” at the top. You can reach anyone of us or – actually, Matt, you’re not in there, but I think it’s about time we add you in there.
Matt: Add me where?
Andrew: To the feedback form on MuggleCast.com.
Matt: Oh, okay.
Andrew: You can also contact us with our first name at staff dot mugglenet dot com, and like I said earlier, matthewb at staff dot mugglenet dot com. [whispers] Yeah! Dot com!
Community Outlets
Andrew: Don’t forget our community outlets. We got the MuggleCast MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Frappr, Last.FM, and the fanlistings and forums, which are exploding! Right now. You can also Digg the show at Digg.com, vote for us once a month at Podcast Alley, and rate and review us at Yahoo! Podcasts.
Show Close
Andrew: I think that’s about it for this week’s show.
Micah: Send in stuff for Chapter 13, because…
Andrew: Yes, send in stuff for chapter 13 that we can discuss.
Matt: Please?
Micah: And if we missed anything in Chapter 11 or 12 I’m sure we’ll hear about it, so… [laughs]
Andrew: We’ll hear about it. We’ll get a gazillion, kagillion, patrillion, apillion e-mails.
Matt: At least two.
Micah: Yeah.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Andrew: Now remember, kids, parallels.
Micah: When are voicemails coming back? Or are they never coming back? [laughs]
[Show music begins]
Andrew: No, voicemails will come back. We just have to have time in the show to fit them in. Maybe we’ll just do strictly Chapter-by-Chapter and voicemails next week with a fun segment, too.
Matt: Hopefully fun.
Andrew: If there’s no news next week. You know, we need a break because we’re trying to keep these shows a certain length each week. I mean, sometimes we go longer, sometimes shorter, but we aim for around an hour ten, an hour twenty an episode, you know?
Micah: Don’t forget the top ten.
Andrew: Top ten, vote for us at Podcast Alley too, yes, thank you, Micah.
Micah: No, I meant the Top Ten Pensieve uses.
Andrew: Oh, Top Ten list. Yes, yes.
Micah: Sorry.
Andrew: Please send in those lists. No, it’s all right.
Micah: Yeah, you can also vote for us at Podcast Alley if you want to.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.
Micah: Like I said, you won’t get another show in January if you don’t.
Matt: Uh-oh.
Andrew: Right, exactly. So look out. Ummm, all right. Okay. So that wraps up this week’s episode of MuggleCast. Once again, I’m Andrew Sims.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Matt: And I’m Matthew Britton.
Andrew: Thank you everyone for joining us and we’ll see everyone next week for Episode 130 in February. Goodbye!
Matt: Goodbye!
[Show music ends]
Blooper
Matt: Was that…
Andrew: Yeah, that’s good enough.
Matt: Was that good enough? Okay.
Laura: Yeah. Just say that, like, that there were parallels drawn between that and Nazi Germany.
Matt: Oh okay. Oh yes, because I love parallels because they never meet.
Andrew: That was so funny, by the way.
Laura: That was really funny.
Andrew: I didn’t hear that when we were recording, but…
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: …when we were editing…
Matt: I don’t even remember saying that.
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: I must have been doing something else because I was just trying to talk while Eric was talking.
Andrew: Uh-huh.
Micah: Along with my pregnant comment. Do you remember that?
Matt: Yes. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was funny, too. I missed that.
Laura: I didn’t – what – what is it?
Andrew: Sometimes Micah says things, and someone else is talking, so we don’t hear him. Say it, Micah, real quick.
Micah: Well, I think Andrew was talking about how – was it – Helena Bonham Carter? Or no, it was…
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: No, no, uh…
Micah: No, it was the other one who’s playing Narcissa.
Andrew: Helen McCory.
Matt: Helen McCory.
Micah: Yeah, she was supposed to play Bellatrix but she got pregnant, and then I just said – I guess under somebody else – I just said, “Sorry about that.”
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: And nobody noticed. Then it was on the show.
[Everyone is still laughing]
Micah: I saw people making comments about it, it was pretty funny.
Andrew: Yeah, when I heard it – when I heard it while editing, I was laughing my ass off. I IMed Micah and I was like, “Dude, I can’t believe we missed that.” It was so funny.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: He was like so straight forward, too. He was just like, [imitating Micah] “Sorry about that.”
Matt: [imitating Micah]
“Sorry about that.”
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Oh, that’s brilliant.
Matt: Okay, I’m going to bring us back.
Micah: All right.
Andrew: Okay.
Matt: Well, ummm…
———————–