MuggleCast 159 Transcript
Show Intro
[Intro music begins]
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[Harry Potter theme plays]
Jim Dale: [as Professor McGonagall] This is Professor McGonagall welcoming you all to MuggleCast hoping you enjoyed – Dobby! Dobby, come here! Here! Dobby! [as Dobby] Yes, I’d just like to say how very pleased I am to introduce MuggleCast to all of you! Thank you! Thank you!
[Show music begins]
Micah: Because to hang Voldemort, or not hang Voldemort, that is the question, this is MuggleCast Episode 159 for October 7th, 2008.
[Show music continues]
Andrew: All right, it’s time for another fascinating installment of MuggleCast this week. Welcome back, everyone. Thank you for still sticking with us, even though we all gave up on you and decided to not do the show weekly anymore.
Matt: That’s true.
Laura: Wow, that’s…
Andrew: We are your Harry Potter friends, and we’re back with – we’re changing up the episodes this week. We’re getting back to something we haven’t done in a while, a long while, and that is book discussions. It’s something that a lot of people have asked us to get back to, because let’s face it, we’ve been talking a lot about the movies. Micah’s been complaining a lot about movie pictures.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: And it’s just time to get back to some book stuff. So that’s what we have this week, and that’s going to be our goal through the next, you know – through MuggleCast going onward.
Matt: Ah. Makes sense.
Andrew: Yeah. Okay, so we’ve got a lot to get to this week, so we’ll jump right into it. I’m Andrew Sims.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Matt: And I’m Matthew Britton.
[Show music continues]
Andrew: All right, Micah, what is in the news this week?
Micah: Well, where do you want me to start, Andrew? There’s a lot of stuff, and we have…
Andrew: Start at the top!
Micah: The top?
Andrew: Number one!
Micah: Number one?
[Laura laughs]
Matt: And work your way down.
[Everyone laughs]
News: Scholastic’s Cover Event
Micah: Thank you. One of the big events that took place during the last couple of weeks was Scholastic held a Cover to Cover event for the release of the tenth anniversary edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, even though it seemed to be leaked out before that. And from what I read and the pictures I saw, it seemed that everybody who went had a good time. They got to sit on the throne, they got to read from the book, and the throne, of course, was the one that J.K. Rowling used at Carnegie Hall back a year ago now, I guess. Or almost a year ago.
Laura: Oh, man.
Micah: Can you believe it was that long ago?
Andrew: Over a year ago.
Laura: Oh, God. I can’t believe that.
Andrew: Oh, it was a year ago. Yeah. Yeah, it was a year ago this time we were all summoned to New York City. That was a fun trip.
Matt: It really was.
Micah: It was.
Matt: Was I there?
Micah: Yeah, you were.
Laura: Yeah, you were there.
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: Oh, I was there! I actually was there.
Micah: But I did go and purchase this tenth anniversary edition, and I know we talked about this on the last show when we had all that leaked information about what was in this book, and there really isn’t a whole lot of anything. I mean, it’s the cover, and it’s that drawing of Snape and that’s about it. Which is – I don’t know. Is that pretty pathetic for an anniversary edition of a book?
Andrew: I was really surprised that’s all it had. Because, like you said, the book leaked out really – well, not – it wasn’t leaked. Technically, they didn’t have to put it on – they didn’t have to wait until September 23rd. And, you know, if I’m a bookstore, I would put it out there as soon as I got it. But, yeah, I thought the book was really disappointing because they were sort of hyping it up. They were saying it was going to have this exclusive bonus material from J.K Rowling. And it did, but it was just a picture of Snape and it’s sort of like, eh.
Matt: It did look like Mary GrandPre’s version of him too.
Andrew: Yeah. I almost thought I’d seen that before.
Matt: Yeah. It looked very familiar looking.
Micah: You ended up with more from Mary GrandPre than you did from J.K. Rowling, because in the book there’s also, in the first couple of pages, another drawing by Mary GrandPre with Hagrid and him taking all the first years across to Hogwarts in the boats. And I had never seen that before in the original Sorcerer’s Stone, and it was a colored drawing. Overall, not enough in my opinion.
Eric: I think you guys are probably correct, or Micah, that it was possibly mis-marketed, meaning that you get more from Mary GrandPre than you do by J.K. Rowling. That’s an interesting observation. I do – I haven’t bought the book yet, because I haven’t been in a bookstore and seen it, but I did see it when the cover was shown to us, and I think it’s a cool cover and…
Andrew: Yeah, it’s very cool.
Eric: …whatever they have inside is going to be – yeah, going to be cool. I mean, it’s not a deluxe edition by way of, you know, it’s not going to be more expensive. I mean, clearly it’s something to mark the date…
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: …and the occasion. And the thing about not having too many different special features inside is that it does still have to serve its purpose as a book. You know, it still has to function as a book that people read…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …as opposed to what they collect. Maybe this will be what they read and people will start collecting the old versions once they start replacing the whole lot. Not that they’re going to replace them.
Andrew: I hope they don’t.
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah. It’ll still be – it’s an interesting alternate version of the book, and the U.S. doesn’t have enough of that. You know, the U.K. already has adult or child.
Andrew: But anyway, getting back to this Cover to Cover event itself, I thought this was a really cool event. And I watched the stream because they were streaming it live online for most of the day, and it was really cool just seeing all these people come in and read the books, and everyone – as I tweeted on Twitter, I thought it was cool seeing what every – each person was going to be wearing as they walked up and sat in the chair. And then also, the first, I think it was 100 people, got a free copy of the book, so it was a good deal.
Micah: Very good deal. So…
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: …if you were able to make it out there, write in and let us know how it went, because I didn’t go down there.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: I had work and all that fun stuff so I wasn’t able to go down there, but it seemed like it was a very successful event.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: A couple of our friends were there, too.
Andrew: Mhm. So – and then at the end they even hinted that there may be another. They said, “We’ll see you next time for Chamber of Secrets,” and I was like “Whoa!”
Matt: Do you think they’ll do it in New York? I kind of want them to just go around…
Andrew: They will do it in New York.
Matt: …the country or something.
Andrew: They did it at Scholastic headquarters, so I think they’ll keep it there.
Matt: Oh. And Scholastic only has one headquarter?
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Oh.
Andrew: That’s why it’s called the headquarters. That’s the one place. [laughs]
Matt: Oh, you’d think like quarters would be four different places, because quarters – you know.
Andrew: Four heads?
Matt: No?
Andrew: Right. Okay.
Matt: No? Okay.
Andrew: No.
Micah: Good try.
Matt: [sighs] Sorry.
Andrew: Well, what else is going on, Micah?
News: Deathly Hallows Paperback to be Released Next July
Micah: Well, speaking of books, Deathly Hallows, the paperback, is going to be released next July.
Andrew: What?
Micah: Yeah. Isn’t that a a long time?
Laura: Isn’t that really late?
Andrew: It is late. U.K. – the U.K. already has their paperback. Where’s ours? It just seems weird that, you know…
Laura: It is very bizarre.
Andrew: …there’s that long of a delay. And one could argue, “Oh, well, they want to time it with the movie.”
Matt: One could argue that.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Yeah, that’s probably a pretty good argument to make, actually. I think that that’s probably why they’re doing it, because I was listening to one of our shows on the train this past week, and we were actually discussing something related to the hardcover edition and we said, “Oh, well, this paperback is probably coming out in July, so that’s why they’re doing this.” I don’t know if they were moving the hardcover editions off the shelves at a pretty fast rate at some bookstores. I think that was the story. I forget exactly what it was. I know Laura had brought it up, but – and then we kind of surmised, “Hey, maybe it’s because this paperback edition’s going to be out in July,” and then of course…
Andrew: Mhm.
Micah: …it’s not coming out for another – about a year or so from today, so…
Eric: Yeah, guys, it says on Amazon.co.uk – yeah, paperback version July 10, 2008.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s weird. It’s like I just said that.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Matt: Yeah, but why haven’t we heard about that? I mean…
Andrew: No, we did.
Matt: I would’ve just paid for a paperback version of it than the hardcover.
Laura: Mhm.
Eric: I don’t know. I mean, hardcover – there is something about the hardcover version…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …and it is stronger. It lasts longer. I mean, all my paperbacks – paperback books are pretty much falling apart now, and I haven’t read them near as much as everyone else has. But I remember that the Goblet of Fire paperback – if I am remembering correctly – I think that I got the Goblet of Fire paperback one of the few days it came out, which – or one of the first days it came out, which could have been July 2002. Could have been out sooner. I could be completely mistaken, but if that’s the case it would be two years after release date, which would be similar to the time delay we’re seeing here with Deathly Hallows in the United States. I think it’s incredibly weird, though, that the paperback is out in the U.K., and not here for another year.
Andrew: Maybe Scholastic figures, well, you know, with hardbacks, you can make more. I’m not saying that’s what Scholastic is figuring, but that could – I mean, I imagine that they’re making a bigger profit off of the hardbacks.
Laura: No, it wouldn’t be about money at all. I mean…
[Micah laughs]
Laura: …why would you think that?
Eric: Maybe Britain represents the future. You know? I mean, they’re already five hours, six hours in the future.
Andrew: Well, yeah, but the other – with all the other paperbacks, we waited a year just like the U.K., so…
Eric: Maybe they’ll release Movie 6 out before there than they do here.
Andrew: Maybe they were thinking about skipping paperback and just going straight to anniversary edition.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Maybe.
Andrew: Two year anniversary edition.
Matt: Oh my gosh. Two years could be…
Micah: Well, that could be…
Andrew: Including a new sketch from Jo.
Micah: No actually, Andrew, you might be right, though. Anniversary editions. Maybe they didn’t want the two to sort of compete with each other.
Andrew: Oh, yes. That’s what I – that’s exactly what I meant.
Eric: No.
Andrew: That’s exactly what I meant, of course.
Eric: They’re not going to do a two year anniversary edition.
Micah: No, no. [laughs]
Eric: They’re going to wait ten years.
Andrew: No, no, no.
Micah: The Sorcerer’s Stone anniversary edition…
Laura: No, Eric, they are.
Micah: …they didn’t want the Deathly Hallows paperback to compete…
Andrew: To compete.
Micah: …with the Sorcerer’s Stone 10th Anniversary edition.
Matt: And Beedle the Bard‘s coming out, too.
Eric: Oh, that makes sense. More sense, anyway.
Andrew: That’s valid, yes.
Micah: We’ve solved it.
Andrew: That’s exactly what I meant. Thank you for rephrasing it, Micah.
Matt: Yes.
Andrew: But just for the record, I had that idea.
Micah: Yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: I think we all have the same general idea. We just said it differently, Andrew.
Micah: Yeah, I was just interpreting what Andrew was trying to say.
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: Thank you. And what else is going on?
News: David Heyman Talks Half-Blood Prince
Micah: [laughs] Well, how about you talk about this one a little bit more, because I think you know more about it. David Heyman…
Andrew: David Heyman talks Half-Blood Prince! So here’s what happened, and I’ve got a little side story about this too. So David Heyman’s got a new movie out he’s producing, and he’s promoting it, and the film production company had a good idea. Talk to – get the fansites, let them ask questions about Harry Potter, and then they can post about the movie on their sites. That’s a good idea.
Matt: Yeah, why not?
Andrew: So our own Jamie’s in touch – was in touch with the David Heyman people, and he was supposed to submit questions about Half-Blood Prince that we would post on the site once we got the answers back. Well, now Jamie claims that it wasn’t his fault, but all the other fansites had these interviews with David Heyman, and Jamie was in touch with them, and for some reason, Jamie did not get the questions in. So something tells me it was Jamie’s fault. He says it’s not, but anyway. David Heyman did talk about Half-Blood Prince and revealed some interesting things.
Eric: And MuggleNet did not have coverage…
Andrew: No. Yes, we did.
Eric: …except to say that everyone else had coverage.
Andrew: Yeah, we linked to them.
Eric: Yeah. We had coverage to say that everyone – but we did not have our own original question.
Andrew: Right. Exactly. But honestly, a couple of these questions kind of overlapped each other anyway, so…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: …we’re just going to take two. Snitch Seeker asked them – asked David Heyman, “As you know, Half-Blood Prince screenings were recently held in Chicago, which has given fans an idea what to expect come July 2009. Many were shocked to see the omission of the battle at Hogwarts and Dumbledore’s funeral. Can you explain why these scenes were left out?” Very good question. David responds, “The reason why we left out the battle of Hogwarts is because we have a battle at Hogwarts in the seventh film, and we are avoiding repetition. Dumbledore’s funeral was something that I really loved and is a fantastic part of the book, and part of me would have loved it in the film. But we decided that while we loved it, that what we came up with was the right ending for the film that we had made.” So he’s admitting here that there is no battle of Hogwarts and there’s no Dumbledore’s funeral, which is kind of crazy to even say.
Laura: That really bothers me.
Micah: He’s really behind the times, though, because I think Eric said that on last week’s show. Or…
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]
Micah: …a couple of shows.
Andrew: Well, no no…
Micah: Weeks ago.
Andrew: Yeah. Yes. Eric did tell us this when he was lucky enough to see the screening. By the way, Eric, did you catch anymore movies that are coming out in like ten years?
Eric: You know, actually, yes, but you wouldn’t understand.
Matt: Oh.
Eric: I’d have to – yeah. Give it a few years. I’ll tell you when you’re older.
Andrew: [laughs] Okay.
Eric: And then I’ll – you know.
Andrew: So, I’m not really totally cool with this reason – there’s no battle of Hogwarts because there’s another battle in Movie 7, because think about all the other movies. Think about Lord of the Rings. You know, there’s a big battle. Think about all the Harry Potters. There’s always some big sort of battle. Maybe it’s not so generic like the battle of Hogwarts, but saying that – I mean, do battles not translate well from one movie to another? Because it translates fine from one book to another.
Micah: Well…
Laura: No, I…
Micah: …it probably costs a lot of money, too.
Andrew: Mhm.
Laura: Yeah, that’s what I think it is.
Eric: Well, and not just to jump quickly to that, I think that my review on MuggleNet reflects my happiness with their treatment of the whole story of Book 6, and I think by making that decision to not do – let’s just say the Battle of Hogwarts for right now – choosing not to do that big battle of Hogwarts, they didn’t have to make the whole movie sort of lean towards – to build up to this crazy Battle of Hogwarts. Instead, they’ve made the cave scene really sort of the climax…
Andrew: Hmm.
Eric: …and Dumbledore’s death itself has been a climax. And there’s no real distraction from that, that they’re able to jump right into the emotion of everything without this Battle of Hogwarts, which, let’s face it, who died in that? I mean, Bill got his face kind of scratched pretty badly, but nothing really productive happened as far as the plot. It’s essential to the book. It makes sense in the book, and in the movie they didn’t do it. But at the same time, I thought they were able to spend that time that would have been taken up by some big battle at Hogwarts, in which no one dies, to spend more time on the plot of Book 6 and get some more of that stuff in there. In the movie.
Andrew: That make sense. Because as long as the cave scene’s the climax, that makes sense to me. Because when I think Half-Blood Prince, I think about the cave scene.
Eric: You don’t think about the Hogwarts sort of…
Andrew: No. But, Laura, what’s your issue with it? Initially, when I read this, you sort of grunted in a way.
Laura: It – well…
Andrew: Maybe not grunted, but…
Laura: I mean, I’m honestly more annoyed about the fact that they leave Dumbledore’s funeral out. I mean – I don’t know…
Andrew: There’s not a second one of those. [laughs]
Laura: Right, you don’t get another one of those.
[Eric laughs]
Laura: So it’s just…
Andrew: You only get one death.
Laura: Right.
[Eric laughs]
Laura: He can’t come back and die again so that we can have a funeral in the next movie.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: I think it’s a legitimate…
Matt: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: Yeah. But did they – I don’t know if they filmed part of it, too, because I heard a quote from Natalia Tena from the – from one of the Comic-Cons. One of the fans sent in a report that said that she had expressed her disappointment that the – it said that she expressed her disappointment that the Dumbledore’s funeral scene was cut. I guess that means that it was cut from the script and not actually partially filmed or anything.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s…
Eric: But logistically…
Andrew: …not in there at all.
Eric: This is what I said before. Logistically, getting all those actors, even many of the characters we haven’t even seen before…
Micah: Well…
Eric: It could just be extras, but I think it’s – Dolores Umbridge, for instance, will have – Imelda Staunton will have a lot more to do in Movie 7.
Micah: Yeah. And what’s the cost associated with bringing back those actors and actresses just for that one scene? I mean, you have to imagine that there’s going to be a lot of people that would have to be involved in that, and they’d have to start paying salaries to those people just to show up for that one spot.
Laura: Yeah, but you don’t have to bring all those people back, though. The whole thing is about Dumbledore’s funeral. It’s not about who’s there for it. So you get a bunch of extras, you get all the students, and you have the professors. I think that’s…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: …perfectly adequate.
Andrew: I agree.
Eric: Well, if that’s true, they have the students and the professors. There’s no need for…
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: …anything different than what they actually ended up doing in the movie.
Micah: Right.
Andrew: Really? Well, I guess we can’t really say more without…
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: …spoilers.
Micah: But, Eric, I have one more question for you, though, about this Battle at Hogwarts. You said that them cutting it out seemed to work well with the movie, but did they also leave out sort of the after effects of Dumbledore’s death, where Harry is running after Snape? Because I thought that is a crucial part…
Andrew: Ooh.
Micah: …leading into Book 7.
Eric: I’ll take the broader question on that…
[Micah laughs]
Eric: …so as not to spoil everyone. The after effects of Dumbledore’s death are not in any way skipped over. It’s still very important to the film and important to the ending.
Matt: Oh good.
Andrew: Good. That’s good to hear.
Matt: We’re not going to see another scene where just Harry just starts screaming, “He was your friend!”
[Laura laughs]
Eric: You – no, what movie’s that from?
Laura: The third one.
Matt: The third one, Prisoner of Azkaban.
Eric: That’s right, that’s right, that’s right.
Andrew: All right, well, there was more to be said by David Heyman. HPANA, the Harry Potter Automatic News Aggregator, asked him, “How are the screenplays by Steve Kloves coming along for Book 7 – Movie 7?”
Matt: Mmm.
Andrew: Heyman said, “They will be very faithful to the book. One of the pleasures of having the time to make two films means we will be able to go into more detail than we might otherwise have been able to do. If we had only done one film, we were concerned that we might have to remove the Deathly Hallows.”
Laura: What?!
Andrew: “We never went that far, but that would have been something that might have had to come out, which would have been terrible. The script is coming along well. I have read the first half of the adaptation. I have not read the second half. That should be coming in the next few weeks.” So it seems like they already know where the split is, that means.
Laura: Mhm. Yeah.
Matt: Cool. Cool, cool.
Micah: It bothers me, though…
Laura: Wait…
Micah: [laughs] …that they would even consider leaving out…
Laura: Consider – yeah.
Micah: …the Deathly Hallows. That’s the name of the movie.
Andrew: That’s so wrong!
Micah: I mean…
Andrew: Yeah, they’d have to rename it.
Laura: Harry Potter and…
Matt: Harry Potter and the Last Book.
Andrew: Harry Potter and Voldemort.
Laura: Do you think they would have renamed the movie?
Andrew: Well, wouldn’t they sort of have to if they cut out that whole plot?
Matt: They would have to if they cut out – yeah.
Eric: Well, I think what he means too, is a lot of the backstory too, and think of all the creative things they’ll be able to do with the tale – maybe even the Tales of Beedle the Bard, getting that – getting the story put to film, “The Three Brothers.”
Andrew: Mhm.
Eric: Who knows if they’ll do that? I mean – you know. So, they could have gone into elaboration. They might have the Hallows but not be able to explain it.
Andrew: Harry Potter and the Quest for the Horcruxes.
Eric: Well, it’s like having the Marauder’s Map and not learning who the Marauders are.
Andrew: Right, yeah. Or Sorcerer’s Stone not having the Sorcerer’s Stone in the plot. It just doesn’t make sense.
Micah: Yeah, and it…
Eric: No, I mean in the movie we didn’t learn who the Marauders were.
Micah: His statement here though, is…
Laura: Yeah, but the movie wasn’t called Harry Potter and the Marauder’s Map.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.
Eric: Oh, okay. Still a plot-hole.
Laura: No, it is. It’s not as significant.
Matt: Well, if you want to go with plot-holes, we’ll be here all day with the movies.
Micah: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: Oh, it’s true. It’s true. Right.
Micah: And his statement here is the complete opposite of what he answers with the other question that we just looked at earlier. He’s saying here, “Hey…”
Andrew: “It’d be terrible to cut stuff out”?
Micah: Yeah, exactly. We – this is basically him saying, “We’ve screwed up so much in the first six films that we have to go ahead and make sure we cram everything in these last two, because if we don’t…” But then, yet, you look at the fact that he goes out and leaves the Battle at Hogwarts at the end of Half-Blood Prince out. He leaves out…
Andrew: Mhm.
Micah: …Dumbledore’s funeral, and yet in the next question he’s talking about having to put as much in as possible. You know, it – which one is it? I mean, do you really care that much?
Matt: Well, what are your guys’ opinions?
Eric: Well, a lot of stuff separately happens in Book 7 that doesn’t necessarily make complete sense telling a linear story. A lot of stuff happens for a lot of separate different reasons. Sure, Harry is hunting down the Horcruxes, but all the separate scenes in that movie – I can’t imagine what it would be like cramming that all into one film, showing them here at this location and here at that location.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: The movie would’ve been a mess!
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: It would have been an utter mess. There’s a lot of stuff – guys, I should tell you now, what I did just today and yesterday, I reread the last seven or so chapters of Book 7. I loved it the second time around, by the way, guys, but I wanted to say that just reading the Battle of Hogwarts scene, it goes on forever, and that alone could be a two and a half hour movie. I would want it to be, and thinking of all the renegade plots, all the things that the trio goes through before they get back to Hogwarts, which is essentially where we left off – where I picked the book back up again, that’s a lot of stuff, and…
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: Yeah. So David Heyman is saying that he is – that they’re going to have to be totally faithful, is – may not even mean that they have to get all the dialogue right and all of everything else right. They just mean they have to show what’s actually happening in the book.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: Because of all the – because of the time freedom.
Matt: Well, they also probably – David Heyman is probably also meaning with “we have to be very faithful to the book” is that if they cut one – the scenes in the book are so crucial for the whole plot-line for the entire book. If they cut like one thing in the movie they’re going to have to cut a few other things that which will have to cut more things, because one scene leads to this or that, and then the next scene will lead to something else. It’s just – you can’t just cut one thing because then you’re cutting other plot twists and turns in the book as well.
Micah: Yeah, and not only that, you’re having to cram in whatever you left out in the previous six films. Like the fact that in Movie 5, they couldn’t take two minutes to put in something about the locket, or in Movie 6 they couldn’t put anything about the diadem that Harry had seen when he was in the Room of Requirement. So by not even alluding to those things in the last two films now, you have to go back and explain to the audience how Harry could possibly have any clue what those items are and where they are. And that’s a huge thing to undertake.
Andrew: Yeah, that’s true. All right.
Eric: It’s very true.
Andrew: Let’s move it along. What else is going on, Micah?
Micah: Oh, we’re still on news? It’s like the other episode where…
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.
Laura: It won’t end!
Micah: …45 minutes later we’re going to come back to – we’re still going to be doing the news.
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]
News: Even More Movie 6 Pictures
Micah: Oh, well, Christmas came earlier for me, and it just keeps coming every day of the week. And it’s great. All these pictures from Half-Blood Prince. I can’t get enough of them.
Andrew: It’s about quitting time now. I’ve had my fair share.
Micah: I mean, they – how many different calendars can you make here? It’s beyond belief.
Eric: Well, what do you guys mean? What do you mean, Micah?
Andrew: There’s a slew of calendars coming out, and I have to say, WB must be kicking themselves for all these, because I’m sure if they would have preferred all this stuff comes out next year, but now we’re getting all these pictures and stuff way early before the film comes out. I mean, here we are a month and a half before when it was supposed to come out, if – when in reality these are coming out, what, eight months ahead of time? If these pictures were coming out in March, WB would have had a fit! If these pictures were coming out eight months before the November release, they would have had a fit. So we saw nothing in March. We saw, I think – I think in March we had that one single picture of Harry holding the Half-Blood Prince book. Actually, no.
Matt: God, that seems so long ago.
Andrew: I think that one came out in January. But yeah, it just – you know. So I’m sure they’re really annoyed by all this. [laughs]
Matt: I think March was when we saw the trio at the fireplace, when Ron was holding walnuts or something?
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. So…
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: It’s just a lot now, so I think it’ll…
Micah: It’s just beyond at this point. There’s…
Andrew: It’s got to come to an end.
Micah: …no reason to keep releasing these. I think a lot of people are just fed up, because if you’re going to do anything from this point forward…
Andrew: Well, I don’t think anyone’s fed up.
Micah: …just release another trailer of some sort.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: I think that would be more worthwhile.
Eric: I don’t think they can control it, because they’ve licensed all these other companies to produce all these other calendars and things internationally, and all that was set for that schedule, to be released in November. It’s just like the game, the video game, you know. Everyone was pushing for it. So these calendars are produced. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were already even mass produced, that they have a bunch of them that now cannot be sold. So it’s kind of impossible for them to stifle the images that are going to come from people who see these calendars…
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: …and want to scan them for us, you know. It’s not WB releasing these images so early, it’s all these people who have access to these unreleased calendars.
Andrew: Right.
Matt: Right.
Andrew: And that’s why WB hates it so much, because they really have no control over it.
Matt: So everything is all delayed and stuff. Yeah.
Andrew: They’re out now.
Matt: [gasps] Is the yarn delayed as well?
Andrew: No, I think the yarn’s been printed. We’re safe on that.
Micah: Well, if you were one of these companies wouldn’t you be pissed off too? That you have to wait on this product now for another eight months, or…
Andrew: Who’s waiting though? Who’s waiting though? I mean, just EA is.
Micah: Well, they’re not going to sell these calendars before the release date.
Andrew: Yes they are.
Micah: They are?
Andrew: They’re coming into the hands of people, yeah!
Micah: Oh, okay.
Andrew: Yeah, they’re already – they’re going out. They’re going out, baby!
Matt: Bring it!
Andrew: Out like a dog.
Matt: Bring it.
Micah: That’s going hurt them come release date too, though, don’t you think?
Andrew: Yeah, but…
Micah: I mean, they’re not going to be able to sell as much because all the stuff’s going to be out already.
Andrew: But I think they prefer the holiday season market over the summer.
Matt: Yeah. That’s going to be kind of weird, though. I mean, has all, like – has, like, the Goblet of Fire calendar – was that released during the year that Goblet of Fire was released?
Andrew: It’s usually like a 16 month calendar where you get half the year in.
Matt: Oh. Well, we’re going to get the entire year that it’s out.
Eric: Yeah. Well, they’ll just make a 2010 calendar then.
Matt: Yeah. a 2009-2010 calendar.
Andrew: [laughs] Just rearrange the pictures. Yeah, I’m looking – the wall calendar was released October 1, the desk calendar, according to Amazon, it’s not out yet. But the wall calendar is and so is the day-to-day calendar. So…
Eric: You know, I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world to have a day-to-day calendar that you can peel back…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …and it has a slightly new image of a movie you haven’t seen yet.
Andrew: Yeah. No, it’s cool.
Eric: I mean it’s kind of cool.
Andrew: The mini wall calendar came out in September, the poster book’s coming out in November, so I think we still have – actually no, we already saw pictures from the poster book, so. It’s just a slew of Half-Blood Prince for the holidays. Okay. And what else, Micah?
News: Film Printing Press Replica of Actual 100-Year-Old Press
Micah: Well, the Daily Record reported back on Tuesday that a 100-year-old printing press is being replicated by Deathly Hallows film producers for one of the scenes.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Oh right.
Micah: And the owner of this printing press, David Phillips, was pleasantly surprised when he was invited to Leavesden Studios to help the producers come up with a design. And he’s got no idea what it’s going to be used for, but I guess some of us can offer our thoughts.
Andrew: Yeah, I think this is pretty cool that they’re actually putting this much effort into a printing press. It almost makes you think that they’re going to have a lot of focus on this scene.
Eric: Mm. Yeah, like possibly. This scene – well, what is that scene in the book? The Xenophilius Lovegood scene is what we speculate. We speculate that it’s going to be The Quibbler‘s printing press.
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah.
Eric: So that scene would only further – well, first of all, it goes to support that’s where we find out about the “Tale of the Three Brothers.”
Andrew: Right. Right. Yeah.
Eric: But also, possibly a subplot…
Andrew: I mean, there’s going to be a lot with this.
Eric: Yeah. And also, possibly the subplot that they’re taking – you know, that they took Luna and are blackmailing Xenophilius Lovegood. So two good things, two good big subplots come out of that scene that we now think that they might be paying a lot of attention to.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: I mean, they basically – I bet someone writing the thing, or the producers, had to say, well, who’s the – who owns a 100 year old printing press? You know, who’s the guy to talk to? And they called this guy up who’s never really heard about them, and never been associated with them before. He just happens to have this old printing press. They call him in on a consulting basis. It just shows the effort that they’re putting into this.
Matt: Yeah. Well, it’s a big scene. I mean, it’s the scene that we find out why the story’s called The Deathly Hallows.
Andrew: Let’s do a little math here, too. If they already are getting this printing press design, you would assume that’s for the first script if the second script isn’t ready yet. So that means…
Eric: That movie’s in pre-production. I mean – or something.
Andrew: Yeah, but, you know, you still – you would cut stuff out of the – you wouldn’t do this until after you have the final script, I would think. Maybe?
Eric: Unless you know that this will be made into all copies of the script, to show the printing press. Things like props.
Andrew: Yeah, I guess it’s important, yeah. But anyway, if we could assume that they’re doing this just because of that, just because it’s in the first script and the first script is ready to go…
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: …then we’re looking at – it’s going past “The Silver Doe,” which some speculated that might be where it cuts off.
Eric: Mmm. Interesting.
Andrew: So, just something to think about there. Eric, you could be right, though. Go ahead, Micah.
MuggleCast 159 Transcript (continued)
News: Rowling Backs Labor Party
Micah: One of the last pieces of news was that J.K. Rowling has donated close to two-million dollars to the Labor Party, saying she was motivated by Labor’s record on child poverty and opposed the conservative plan to give tax breaks to married couples.
Andrew: Ouch.
Micah: Her donation will boost Gordon Brown as he tries to calm unrest among party members at Labor’s annual conference.
[Law and Order theme begins playing]
Andrew: That’s a lot of money. We know what party she’s on.
Micah: [laughs] Yes, I have a feeling you would know who she was voting for here in the United States if she was an American citizen.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Is the Labor Party the equivalent to Democrats?
Laura: Well, they’re not, like, exactly the same, but they are the liberal party.
Andrew: Well, that’s something, because here in America you would never see a celebrity donate so much – any money to a party.
Laura: Oh no, they do. They do.
Andrew: Really?
Laura: Oh yeah. Celebrities donate tons of money. I bet you could find somebody.
Andrew: Well, yeah. I mean, a lot of artists go out and support – yeah, I guess they don’t do it as publicly, though, too. Because you don’t want people not seeing your movie because you’re, you know, Republican, Democrat, whatever. And last story of the day, Micah Tannenbaum.
News: Exclusive Scholastic School Market Edition of Sorcerer’s Stone
Micah: Well, we talked about Sorcerer’s Stone a little bit at the top of the news, but apparently they’re coming out with an exclusive Scholastic School Market Edition, that I guess is strictly for groups that are going to be ordering – or schools that are going to be ordering this special edition. Is that what it’s going to be?
Andrew: Yeah! It’s cool! Yeah! It’s the exclusive Scholastic School Market Edition, so a lot of S’s in there. But it’s a cool cover, and I’m really surprised that Scholastic is shaking it up this much with all these new covers for the first book. And this one was also illustrated by Mary GrandPre, which is cool. It’s got Harry, Ollivander, and Hagrid in Ollivander’s wand shop. So it’s cool, it’s cool! We don’t have any good sized images of this yet but hopefully we will. Somebody will get a copy and then send it in.
Micah: So a lot of schools and libraries will probably be ordering this edition, and I’m sure people are going to try and get their hands on it as well. Collectors mainly.
Laura: Doesn’t it kind of weird you guys out that when we all have kids they’re going to be reading Harry Potter in school? Like, it’s going to be an assigned book.
Andrew: I know!
Laura: And they’re going to…
Andrew: I hope it’s an assigned book.
Laura: Yeah, and they’re going to come home and they’re going to hate it by sheer virtue of the fact that they’re being forced to read it, and that’s just going to make me sad.
Andrew: Yeah. It’s amazing to think how many more generations of people still are yet to fall in love with Harry Potter. It’s just surreal. It’s generation after generation. Is that it, Micah?
Micah: That is it. I’m done. I’m leaving. See you guys.
Announcement: Podcast Alley
Andrew: Okay. [laughs] It’s time for some announcements. Don’t forget to vote for us on Podcast Alley. It is MuggleCast Moctober. It’s a very important month for us.
Matt: Yes, very.
Andrew: It’s the sweeps, so please vote for us. Everyone’s doing a great job, so thank you so much.
Announcement: Waiting for Podcast Awards Nomination
Andrew: Another thing: we nominated ourselves in the 2008 Podcast Awards. We nominated ourselves in the entertainment category, and we should be hearing soon if we got some of the top nominations so we can actually be in the running for the award. So, thank you to everyone who helped nominate us.
Micah: Isn’t it the 19th? Is that right? That we’ll know who is going to be able to be voted on?
Andrew: Did they post an update?
Micah: I think so, yeah. It says October 19th at 4PM Pacific time.
Andrew: Ooo. I’ll be tuned in.
Micah: So 7PM for you East Coasters.
Andrew: I’ll be tuned in. Yeah, so. All right, well, cool. That’s good! So just over two weeks. Two weeks from today.
Matt: Wow!
Announcement: Azkatraz Newsletter
Andrew: So, thank you for that. And, another thing, something really exciting that I was informed just yesterday; Azkatraz 2009: we’ve been talking about it a lot, and they’re going to be sending out their very first newsletter soon, and it’s going to have a very exciting MuggleCast related announcement in it. So sign up for the Azkatraz newsletter. It’s HP2009.org. And put your e-mail address in and the first newsletter’s going to have something cool that, frankly, no podcast has ever done before.
Matt: No, actually, no.
[Andrew, Laura, and Micah laugh]
Matt: That is right! No.
Andrew: So it’s very exciting, and I guess once they announce it then we’ll talk about it more.
Matt: It’s going to be epic!
Andrew: If you do want to register for Azkatraz early, which we do suggest – that’s a very good idea – under referral, put “MuggleCast” or “MuggleNet” so that…
Matt: Oooooo……
Andrew: ….way they know – no, this is serious.
Matt: Oh, sorry.
Andrew: That way they know where you’re coming from. So, thank you very much for that. And like I said, sign up for the newsletter.
Announcement: Ministry of Magic Elections Are Going Strong
Micah: I just wanted to… [laughs] …wrap up some announcements with the Ministry of Magic election, just talk about that real quick and say that it’s going strong. It seems like people are really enjoying it, and for as crazy as this whole concept is, it seems like people are getting into it, and we’re getting into our second week, actually, starting on Tuesday.
Andrew: This week is Molly versus Horace and Kingsley versus Minerva.
Matt: Ooh, Kingsley and Minerva.
Andrew: It’s good. I like these battles. It’s interesting to see how people – what people think. Next election’s October 7th…
Micah: Tuesday.
Andrew: …on MuggleNet. Tuesday.
Matt: Tuesday, October 7th.
Muggle Mail: A Person Against Seeing Movie 6 Early
Andrew: Okay, let’s move onto Muggle Mail. I hate to say it, but we’re still having feedback form problems, even using the MuggleNet feedback form. There’s something wrong with it, and Damon’s looking into it and hopefully have it fixed soon. But we have two e-mails right here and these focus on the Half-Blood Prince movie. First one from Skyler. She writes:
“Hi, I’m just giving my thoughts on the early ‘Half-Blood Prince’ screening. If I had the choice to go, I don’t think I would’ve. I would not have wanted to wait two additional years to see ‘Deathly Hallows.’ The push back of the complete ‘Half-Blood Prince’ movie is enough already. Another reason I would not go is for the imaginative part. When you see a ‘Harry Potter’ movie, you get sucked into the movie, and you seem to be right alongside the characters. See the movie go from special effect to blue screen would ruin that for me. Thanks. Love the show.”
Matt: Ehhh….
Andrew: So there’s someone saying, I don’t want to see it early. And, frankly, I agree with everything she had to say, because seeing it now is just way too early.
Matt: Yeah, but I mean, you would still see it.
Laura: Yeah, but it – okay. But if somebody came up to you on the street…
Matt: Because, I mean, if you knew…right.
Laura: Yeah. And said, “Here, I’ve got tickets to this…”
Matt: If they had the – if they originally had Half-Blood Prince in July of 2009, and the premiere for, what, Order of the Phoenix came out – so you would be going – would you wait a year after Order of the Phoenix was released because you didn’t want to wait two years for Half-Blood Prince to be released?
Andrew: No, I just think there’s something about spoiling – not having all that hype to look up to.
Muggle Mail: Optimistic About Movie Release Date Moving to July
Matt: Next e-mail:
“Hey there! In the last month I’ve been hurting like everyone else that the sixth ‘Harry Potter’ film is not going to be released in a few months. But despite the disappointment, I have to say that I’m not so angry anymore. I’m not here to rebuttal your feelings because they’re just that, feelings. But I feel that very few people are taking this in an optimistic way. However, I’m taking it in a different view. According to all the testimonies, like Eric and Jo’s, we are in for a treat. Sure, it was a major disappointment. Sure, its former release date is being replaced by ‘Twilight,’ which, sorry, is not my cup of tea. And sure, we have to wait for basically a year until we can see the finished product. But can you imagine how wonderful of a movie this is going to be after a year? I think we should sit back and look at this with excitement besides anger. Another thing: when we see the final three seconds of the final film, and the theater lights up, and the movie is over, so is the excitement felt every year throughout the fandom, whether it be for the book or the movie. Despite the disappointment we all felt to hear the movie had been pushed back, I think of how utterly abrupt the end will come, regretting it couldn’t have lasted longer. I say amen for an extra year. The anticipation lives on. Sophie.”
Andrew: Here’s an e-mail that WB knows would’ve come eventually, because, like everything, everything blows over. And here’s just a great example of a fan, who I’m sure was frustrated at first, like she said in her e-mail. But, you know, like, I’m sure they thought, “Oh, it’ll blow over. Everybody’ll be fine with it.” And she’s right. The anticipation in the fandom does last longer, which is always good.
Laura: Yeah. Well, I mean, fans are going through the five stages of grief. They’ve started with anger and now they have moved on to acceptance.
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: Well, you know what? It’s that way with a lot of the fandoms. It’s not just Harry Potter. I mean, it’s other fandoms as well. A lot of the fans get upset when things change or something just doesn’t go the way they thought of it. Their initial reaction is very, you know, extreme. And after a time it kind of boils over a little bit.
Andrew: I miss the days when we were debating when Book 7 was going to come out: 2007 or 2008.
Laura: I know.
Andrew: Let’s bring that back.
Laura: It’s such a different, like – I mean, I hate to say it – Like, I’m not saying that the fandom’s dying or whatever, but it was a very different time for the fandom. And I really do miss that, because there was an excitement that we don’t really have anymore. It’s sad.
Andrew: Yeah. Think about how much better the fandom timeline to this pique would’ve been, because we had a movie and a book last year. Imagine if, you know, we had the movie last year, the book this year, then the movie the following year, then two more movies and two more years. It would’ve been great.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Do you remember when we were debating and we were like, “Oh!” – I think it was Jamie and I, who were like, “Oh! Book 7 won’t come out in 2007. It’s going to be 2008.”
Andrew: Yeah. I remember that.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: And Jamie made the infamous, “I’ll bet you…” He’ll…
Laura: He would eat…
Andrew: …eat 50 sausages.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: I think that was it.
Laura: He never did.
Matt: Yeah. I remember that episode too. I was listening to it. Laura was like, “She can’t finish that book in a year. She can’t. You don’t understand the writing process.”
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Laura: Okay, I did not say that.
Matt: [laughs] Yes you did.
Laura: No, I didn’t.
Andrew: It’s a fair case. It’s a fair case.
Laura: No, I was just saying that I thought it was somewhat unreasonable for people to assume that she could write a 600 page book in a year. She exceeded my expectations.
Main Discussion: What Happened After the Battle of Hogwarts
Andrew: I agree. Speaking of Book 7, it’s time now to get into our main discussion. And this is a good one. I’m excited about this. Everyone is, I think. What happened after the Battle of Hogwarts in Book 7? And, you know, we’ve talked so much about the battle and everything surrounding the book, but what happened after the Battle of Hogwarts? And that’s what we’re going to discuss now. We’re going to discuss the future. And first I have to give credit where credit is due. We – this discussion idea came from the COS forums, Chamber of Secrets forums. They’re MuggleNet’s official forums. They have fantastic discussions there all the time about Harry Potter. So if you want to get in some good discussing, I would definitely recommend COSForums.com. You can try an online discussion about this too.
Matt: It’s definitely a venue for a Harry Potter fix.
Andrew: Oh Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Okay, so we’re going to start off – I mean, should we do a summary? Everyone knows what happens at the Battle of Hogwarts.
Matt: Yeah, everyone knows. We even talked about it after Chapter-by-Chapter.
Andrew: Yeah. All right, Eric, you’re back now? You’re all good now? Eric had a little fall out.
Eric: I’m back. I’m all good. I’m on my laptop now.
Andrew: Little BSOD action. So, the Battle of Hogwarts was a very happy time and it was a very sad time.
Matt: It was the best of times and also the worst of times.
Andrew: Yes.
Eric: Actually, it was lunch time.
Andrew: [laughs] No, it was breakfast time…
Eric: Oh. Psh.
Andrew: …because it ended in the morning.
Laura: Fail.
Matt: Actually, it was breakfast time in the U.S.
Andrew: Yes.
[Matt laughs]
Laura: What?!
Immediately Following the Battle: Happy or Sad?
Andrew: So first question: after the battle – and most of these questions focus, like, directly after the battle. Do you guys think everyone grieved or do you think the happiness outweighed the sadness? Because, you know, like I said, it was such a happy time and a sad time. You have to wonder what takes control. After Harry killed off Voldemort. How does everyone react? Is it just a quiet time, where everyone’s just looking around each other and hugging, or is it cheers and celebrations, or what?
Matt: I think it’s a mixture of both.
Laura: Yeah. Didn’t it say after it was all over that they all sat down at the House tables? Like, isn’t that kind of weird? They all just sat down at the tables together.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah, they didn’t sit by Houses, they were just kind of all mixed up.
Laura: Yeah. Everyone just sat down.
Eric: The point I wanted to make, too, is that everyone – during the Battle of Hogwarts there were periods of time where everyone – I mean, basically there were two separate periods of time where everyone had the ability and the time to pick up the dead and bring them into the Great Hall and do their sort of grieving. You know, I mean once – it’s sort of in between the battling there was all that time where people were taking those who had fallen in battle, and taken them into the Great Hall, which is where everyone was grieving, sort of, even during. So, at the end of the Battle of Hogwarts, it makes sense to me that – I mean, there’ll still be plenty of grieving to do, but if you’re asking whether or not it’s a celebration or not, surely with the Dark Lord’s battle and the Harry versus Voldemort, you know, final confrontation, it’s got to be an
overall – really rewarding, I would say, if anything…
Micah: Mhm.
Eric: …rewarding, you know? And can I also say that the writing around this time, the press, the newspaper, those stories have got to be sort of the best news that anyone can bring. That there were…
Micah: Mhm.
Eric: …plenty of casualties. It’s not a particularly happy time in any reason, but everyone can be relieved. I mean, there was that statement – there’s actually a statement in the book which explains how Kingsley Shacklebolt was made temporary Minister of Magic and stuff. So, all that sort of stuff is happening.
Andrew: Oh yeah, I love that kind of stuff.
Eric: Yeah, yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: So that’s in the book. So there is sort of a – it’s progress, it’s what now? You know, re-building. It’s really this big air of re-building.
Matt: Yeah. It’s also kind of – I don’t want to say grieving, though – but – and I hate, you know, really comparing it to other book series, but in Lord of the Rings, after the big battle in it – are you guys familiar with it?
Laura: Yes.
Matt: At all? Well, the characters going home after the big war was over, it was just so hard to go back to the way everything was. I think one of the characters – there was, like, a quote saying, “How can the world go
back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?” And you just got to wonder, like, what the Wizarding World was like after – really after Voldemort really
wrecked havoc. I mean, he did the first time until he was defeated, quote un-quote, but now that he’s dead – but that huge battle. I mean, just all those lives
that were affected by it. And also there were students and it affected them so young. I mean, we have to sit like – they were kind of traumatized too…
Laura: Yeah. Well…
Matt: …about the whole thing. How they view things now and what they take from what they witnessed and everything.
Laura: Yeah. Well, I mean I imagine that there would have to be a great deal of pain involved. I mean, there’s no doubt about that. You just look at examples like the Weasleys, who lost a son.
Matt: Yeah, well…
Laura: You know, it’s…
Matt: …the Weasley’s lost a lot.
Laura: Yeah. It…
Matt: The whole war – the first and second war of it, they lost a lot of Weasleys. I mean, granted they had a lot to spare, but…
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Awww! That’s terrible!
Eric: Spare your Weasleys?
Micah: Yeah. I think the grieving period would be probably pretty long and drawn out. You know, just for them to pay their respects and have all the
proper services for all the people that had gone. I don’t think there would be that sort of sense of happiness until they were maybe a couple of months
removed from everything that happened.
Eric: I…
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: I don’t know about that. See, again, they had that time to do – I mean, they really did grieve a lot during the time when Harry was in Snape’s Pensieve, and
then, you know, viewing Snape’s memories.
Micah: Mhm.
Eric: That was an hour. Then Voldemort gave him to come back into the forest. And then all that time that Harry went into the forest and had that thing with Voldemort, before Voldemort said, “Harry Potter is dead.” All that time has passed where they’re in the Great Hall. Yes, they’re waiting, scared to figure
out what’s going to happen next and when battle comes back, but they – they’re having that time, so in the end you know that the – you know that the people didn’t die for nothing, because you’ve just seen this extraordinary battle in the Great Hall between Harry and Voldemort, and Voldemort is finally dead. For good. Completely dead. His body is right there in front of you, nothing mysterious about it, he’s gone! And…
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: …there just has to be this such overwhelming – because nobody more will die, and…
Matt: Right.
Eric: …no matter who you lost, especially if you’re the Weasleys, you know that nobody more will die, and I think that good cause will completely – they’ll still
be upset, and you’re right, Micah, in mentioning that they have to have all sorts of services. That’s true and it can’t be easy and it can’t be fun or happy, but
I think, overall, they’re going to be relieved, I think.
Matt: Oh yeah, there’s a huge sigh of relief after this, but…
Micah: They were doing what they could with the time that was given, though, and there was that sense of not knowing what was going to come, so they had to
grieve as fast as possible in the sense that you were talking about, because they didn’t know if, you know, fifteen minutes from then they turned around and were
going to be dead themselves. So there was a little bit of that, but I just think that when you look at all the people who died in, you know – Matt mentioned
students before – there’s a good chance that their parents, and other siblings, and people like that weren’t there at the time that it happened, and they have to go through that whole process…
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: …of…
Matt: It’s almost like soldiers coming back from the war. You know, going back to their families that just really can’t, you know, reach out to them anymore after what they’ve seen.
Andrew: Yeah. Plus, I’m not sure how happy they may have felt, because I’d like to argue that they don’t know what could be coming. There still could be more
to come. Or maybe they could have figured that Voldemort, you know, by some really odd way actually didn’t die or had some freaky way of coming back. Because, you know, if he can split his soul into seven parts, who knows what else he can do, especially if, you know, he were to die. But…
Eric: I don’t think at that time it was any question. That’s just…
Andrew: Well – yeah, but you can’t feel totally complete because you’ve got to remember that the Death Eaters are still out there too. But, I mean, you know, I guess there is never no 100% peaceful world ever, in any world. So…
Micah: I think there would be more relief than happiness, probably.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah, I don’t think happiness is the right word.
Micah: We’re not talking party here.
Matt: Mhm. I think it’s more like relief. You know, it’s finally done and over after all the suffering, but…
The Original Weasleys
Andrew: But here’s a random stretch at one of those seven relations that I was thinking up when you guys were talking about the Weasleys. Technically, there’s like seven Weasleys, because Molly was not a Weasley originally.
Eric: But there’s not.
Andrew: No, there’s nine including Molly…
Matt: She’s a Weasley.
Andrew: …but if you don’t include Molly because she
wasn’t in the family, that means one dies so there’s seven. It’s the number seven.
Eric: No, there’s…
Matt: But she made, like, half a dozen.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: No, I don’t care if there’s nine. I’m just saying that she married into the Weasleys.
Eric: What about Arthur Weasley?
Micah: Yeah, he helped.
Eric: Ooooh.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Would you consider Harry a Weasley?
Andrew: No.
Laura: No!
Matt: He’s married into them.
Andrew: No. And I don’t. That’s why I don’t count Molly.
Matt: Even if they include him as a family?
Eric: What about Rose and Hugo? They’re Weasleys too.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: At that point they didn’t exist.
Andrew: What I’m saying is that they’re original Weasleys.
Eric: Your logic is flawed.
Matt: The original Weasleys…
Andrew: Oh, whatever.
Eric: The original Weasleys lived a thousand years ago.
Andrew: Sorry I’m thinking outside of the box.
Matt: The original Weasleys. God, we could even call the Malfoys original Weasleys because they’re related to them somehow.
Eric: Yeah, yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I’m saying they’re not – I’m saying Molly’s not related…
Matt: Nope. No, no, your argument does not hold water.
Andrew: Yes it does.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I’m sure people will e-mail in and support me.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Don’t. [whispers] Don’t do it.
[Laura laughs]
Harry and the Malfoys
Andrew: Another question: Did Harry speak to the Malfoys after the battle? And if so, what did he say? There’s only one thing I can think of. Awkward!
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: Well, yeah, because doesn’t Malfoy owe him a life debt?
Andrew: Well, yeah, there’s even a mention of that in Book 7, that – towards the end – that Draco sort of just like – he gives him a look, right?
Laura: Yeah, he gave him a nod.
Eric: Yeah, he nods curtly. That was in the epilogue.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. What do you think Draco’s feelings toward Harry were?
Matt: [laughs] Embarrassed!
Eric: Well…
Laura: I’d be embarrassed.
Eric: …the whole thing is, too – yeah, like, Narcissa Malfoy is the single reason that Voldemort was defeated. If you’re going to look at it, she could have ratted Harry out as not – you know, she said to Voldemort that he was dead and Voldemort went up to
the castle then. So Harry owes – I mean, Narcissa just wanted to know if her son was safe, and Harry said he was, and so Lucius and Narcissa – it said at some point in the battle, they’re just walking through the Great Hall calling their son’s name. They just need to find Draco; that’s all they care about. And so they get to be a family, and Voldemort is defeated, and so if Harry did speak to them – I mean, I just think the events of the evening speak for themselves, that Harry was helped by Narcissa, that Draco was helped by Harry and Ron, that in the end the evil was conquered, and it would be kind of awkward, but I think that some real kind of forced respect – you know, like in the beginning when they say when – in Book 1 when it’s – that there are a few things you can’t do without becoming best friends, and knocking out a fully grown mountain troll was one of them. Well, you have to have respect for sort of what has gone after all they’ve suffered.
Matt: Mhm. That, and also going back to when it’s about embarrassment, is that Malfoy doesn’t only owe him one, he pretty much owes him three life debts…
Eric: Yeah.
Matt: …if you think about it. They saved him in the
fire, they saved him from being killed by a Death Eater, and Harry pretty much saved his life when he told his mother that he was safe, because he was going to get killed anyway by Voldemort, because technically he’s still in the castle, which means that he’s on the other guy’s side, the good side.
Eric: Yeah, you’re right.
Matt: So he’s saved his butt three times.
Micah: Yeah, and one thing that I did was I looked up this chat that J.K. Rowling did after the book was released, and somebody asked her, did Draco and Harry lose their animosity towards each other when Voldemort died? She said not really. There would be a kind of reproachment in that Harry knows Draco hated being a Death Eater and would not have killed Dumbledore, but similarly, Draco would feel a grudging gratitude towards Harry for saving his life. So…
Andrew: Yeah. This reminds me, do you guys ever feel bad for the bad guy after they already lose at the end?
Eric: In like any book?
Andrew: In any book or even any movie.
Laura: I…
Andrew: You know, there’s this sort of just, like, eh…
Laura: I have sympathy for the bad guy who isn’t a bad guy through and through. You know? I mean, yeah, Draco, he is not a good guy, but at the same time we see that he has some moral compass, like… [laughs] …I mean, he didn’t want to be a Death Eater so I felt bad for him in the sixth book, yeah.
Andrew: Me too.
Laura: But Voldemort? Hell no.
Eric: Is it a Golden moral Compass, Laura?
Laura: Yes…
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: …Eric, that’s exactly what I meant.
Matt: It’s fun to know that…
Andrew: When you see Draco being ashamed.
Matt: …that was probably the perfect punishment for the Malfoy family, is utter embarrassment and shame.
Andrew: Mhm.
Eric: Absolutely. But gratitude that they’re still alive, you know, to feel those things.
Matt: Pretty much mercy-ed to being alive by the people that they loathe is kind of… [laughs] …I don’t know what to say.
Eric: It fits.
Matt: Yeah, it does. It’s a perfect ending for their chapter.
Did Harry Tell All?
Andrew: Here’s a question I’ve always wondered: did Harry tell anyone exactly what he had been doing for the past year?
Laura: Oh.
Andrew: Because, you know, at the end he sort of – of every book he sort – he kind of reveals what was going on. Like with The Sorcerer’s Stone, he told everyone, didn’t he?
Matt: I mean, he probably wrote an autobiographical book.
Andrew: Dumbledore did.
Matt: I mean, he had a lot of time on his hands.
Laura: Yeah, I was going to say, he wrote a memoir…
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: …like in Burn After Reading.
Matt: Harry, My History.
Andrew: Harry, A History.
Matt: Yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Well, remember, he takes Ron and Hermione aside and tells them exactly what happened in the forest right afterward, but everyone else pretty much heard what was going on in the battle, because he, at one point, says to Voldemort, “No more Horcruxes,” you know, and there are all sorts of adult wizards there who would know or have heard of Horcruxes before who can discern then that that is what happened and, certainly, somebody will tell someone, word will get out, and they’ll know sort of how exactly Voldemort had been doing everything that he had been doing. Because in that talk between Harry and Voldemort at the very end in the Great Hall, that sort of – everything is more or less given out. All of the back story, things like – even Snape loving Lily is completely made public of when…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …Harry shouts it to Voldemort.
Andrew: I would also think that the public – there would be a demand from the public about what happened. Specifically…
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: …specifically…
Laura: Yeah, there would be some kind of commission, really.
Matt: Everybody would want to know Harry’s story.
Andrew: The Voldemort Commission.
Matt: Harry’s…
Andrew: That would be published.
Laura: Yes.
Matt: Harry has to write an autobiography.
Laura: Hey! There are commissions published on national tragedies here, too.
Andrew: Yeah! No, that’s what I’m saying. The 9/11…
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: …Commission Report, specifically. That’s what I was thinking of.
Matt: The 9/11…
Andrew: Commission Report.
Matt: …Commission. Yeah, that’s awesome. Good connection.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Someone should write that – should write up, like, a report style of what happened. That would be kind of cool.
Matt: Yeah. That’s your listener challenge.
Laura: And then we should do a documentary on it.
Andrew: Documentary, yeah. Let’s see.
[Micah laughs]
Dumbledore and Snape
Andrew: What’s next? Do you guys think he told everyone the truth about Dumbledore and Snape? And if – and here’s a good point – if so, how? How the hell do you, you know, explain that to someone?
Eric: What do you mean? What is this question even asking?
Andrew: Well, because everyone wondered. I think…
Eric: What truth?
Andrew: …there was a lot of debate, even in within Hogwarts, if Snape was a good guy.
Laura: Didn’t Jo say that Harry cleared Snape’s name? I’m pretty sure…
Micah: Yeah, I think…
Laura: …she said that in an interview.
Micah: …she said that he would ensure that a portrait of Snape would hang in the Headmaster’s office.
Andrew: Oh yeah.
Micah: So I think that that would sort of…
Eric: That’s good.
Micah: …at least as far as Snape is concerned, put to rest any sort of questions that people had about him. And then Dumbledore – who knows if – I doubt he
shared – maybe with the exception of Ron and Hermione – what he went through at King’s Cross.
Andrew: Yeah. Or even…
Eric: That’s true.
Laura: Yeah, that’s private.
Andrew: …about Grindelwald and all that. Do you think Harry would’ve ever revealed that sort of information, or is that personal stuff that Dumbledore more would have appreciated?
Laura: That’s personal.
Eric: It’s very interesting.
Andrew: I mean, it’s a good question, and Harry certainly has a good book deal out of all this information if he were to do a thing like that.
Eric: Congratulations, Mr. Potter. You get a book deal.
Andrew: So.
Eric: But the Snape thing was something else that was already cleared, sort of, in the Harry/Voldemort discussion at the end. Snape’s name was more or less cleared. “He was a spy for” – you know – “He was a spy for you, but he was really Dumbledore’s” etc., etc. “You don’t know a thing, Tom. You don’t know anything. Don’t you know anything?”
Matt: Tom.
Eric: “Haven’t you been listening…”
Matt: Tom.
Eric: “…Tom?”
Matt: [sings] “Tum Tum Tum Tum Tums!”
Eric: Tom.
Time with Teddy, Time with Ginny
Andrew: Yeah. And in good Harry fashion…
Eric: Next question!
Andrew: …somebody would assume that Harry probably would’ve went to see Teddy Lupin as quickly as possible. Do you guys think that was one of his priorities or what?
Laura: Yeah, I think so. He seemed really…
Eric: Because he…
Laura: …really hyped and very honored about being a godfather.
Matt: Well, I also think that he wanted some time with Ginny, too. I mean, geez.
Andrew: Finally!
Eric: Mmm. Yeah. Where does that come on the list? Where does that come on the list? Does he visit Teddy or does he…
Andrew: Which came first?
Matt: Visit his girl? I mean…
Andrew: Well, yeah. I think his – Ginny, you know, would definitely be a quicker person to get to…
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: …you know, visiting. I mean, you know. And plus, Teddy was very young at that point, you know.
Matt: Mhm. And he has to find out where exactly…
Laura: Yeah, I mean, Teddy…
Matt: …you know, where Teddy is.
Laura: …wouldn’t – at that point, Teddy wouldn’t remember that he was second best, so…
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Matt: Do you remember you were second best?
Andrew: That’s also really one of the sadder stories, but I think, as one of us brought up on an episode a while ago, that really did bring the story full circle,
Teddy losing his parents, so…
Matt: Mhm. Teddy seemed to be okay. Wasn’t he making out with somebody?
Andrew: No. Teddy’s a baby.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Matt: Oh, no. In ten years later, I thought that Teddy was.
Laura: He was later.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Eric: No, in the epilogue Teddy was making fun of Victoire.
Andrew: Oh, yeah. Victoire.
Laura: I don’t think he was making out with anybody ten years later.
Andrew: This is after the battle discussion.
Matt: Ugh!
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Well, that was after the battle!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Right after, I said.
Matt: No, you didn’t specify the time.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: [laughs] Nineteen years after.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Yeah, this is right after the battle.
Matt: I wonder how quickly they rebuilt Hogwarts. I mean, just use a little magic wand…
Andrew: It was…
Matt: …and everything goes back, or…?
MuggleCast 159 Transcript (continued)
Did Hogwarts Finish Out the Year?
Andrew: Well, I’m glad you asked that because it goes into our next question. Did Hogwarts finish the year? Did everyone join in to help rebuilding it, or do you think they just, you know, cancelled the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s and they were, like, go home for the year?Because, I mean, in all fairness, though, the castle wasn’t in such bad shape that people couldn’t learn.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: And with magic they could have cleaned it up really quick.
Eric: There’s so much…
Matt: Well, it’s really hard to think that these students can go from this huge, epic, big battle of their time and then the next day they’re learning history of wart-remover or something. It’s…
Eric: Yeah, they’re not going to – there would’ve had to be a definite period of time. I mean, with the timeline of the film, it was towards the end of the year anyway.
Matt: Hogwarts does seem to be a little lenient, though, on like their final exams and stuff. Like, in Chamber of Secrets they cancelled their final exams.
Eric: It’s the least of their worries. If you remember, all the students, or most of the students who were underage, were sent away from the castle to escape and be safe somewhere else. You know, they’d either – you know, I think the big pull would be to get those people to their families and to get the people who were killed to their families, and, really, I think that would’ve been a massive effort. The Ministry of Magic being constantly reformed would have, you know, provided aid.
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: And all sorts of stuff would have happened. A) the rebuilding of their only school in England, you know, plus everything else. It just – it would’ve been a massive project that, even with magic, wouldn’t have been completed in a day.
Matt: You would think, though, like the students – and during that huge battle and living afterwards – that the school would at least let them not take, like,
Defense Against the Dark Arts or something. Like if they lived through that, they know what they’re doing a little bit. I mean – shoot.
Laura: Yeah, you just passed your Defense Against the Darks Arts exam.
Eric: No, you always have to teach it. Constant vigilance, Matt.
Matt: Yeah, well, I mean, History they have to teach, because no one’s going to remember that. But…
Eric: No, constant vigilance. You got to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts all the time, because they’re constantly improving. Now that the secret is out, now that everyone knows about Horcruxes, what’s going to be next?
What Harry Did Next
Andrew: What exactly did Harry do next? Did he move into Grimmauld Place, or move back to the Burrow for a couple weeks? I think he would have moved to Grimmauld
Place.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I think that’s a very special place for him.
Matt: Definitely, because he’s got Kreacher there.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: It’s his. It’s his place.
Andrew: But not just that. I mean, there’s memories of Sirius there. There’s even memories of Snape there. Even Dumbledore. [laughs] Obviously.
Matt: I like to think that Harry…
Eric: Yeah.
Math: …had a good – I mean, grew a really fondness for Kreacher and they both had a really good relationship, living arrangements.
Andrew: Yeah, obviously, yeah.
Eric: Harry says something in Book 7 about Kreacher making him a sandwich…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: …after it’s all over. It’s towards the end. Because all the House-elves come out of the kitchens with knives and things, and…
Andrew: Yeah, yeah.
Matt: No.
Eric: …attack all the Death Eaters. You guys remember that? Yeah. And Harry’s like, “After this, I hope in my four-poster bed…”
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: “…he can come and make me a sandwich.”
Matt: A cheese sandwich.
Eric: That’s what he says. It was very cool.
Andrew: Grimmauld Place is really a great place for Harry too, because he must have so much reflection there. Because so much of his life changed because of events and planning that occurred in that place.
Matt: Well, I mean, also, I would kind of like it if he had a vacation home at his parents’ house. I mean, now that everything’s okay, he can move back, can’t he? Oh,
that’s right, it exploded!
Eric: In case you didn’t know, it was kind of…
Matt: Yeah, well, he can re-grow it. I mean, geez, if they rebuilt Hogwarts, they can rebuild Godric’s Hollow.
Voldemort’s Body
Eric: Actually, that’s a question I had. Because Voldemort’s body was there, wasn’t it? Like, Voldemort says he…
Matt: Voldemort’s body’s everywhere in this book.
Eric: …was ripped from his body that night. So, I mean, it’s not enough that Voldemort – they did take Voldemort’s body to one of the towers. They separated it from all the good victims and put it somewhere. We don’t know what exactly happened to that. Which kind of leads into the next point: did everyone have a proper burial? But, you know, just finishing this thought, Voldemort’s body was at Lily and James’s house the night it – or was there some kind of – did J.K.R. say something against that? Apparently J.K.R. said his body disappeared.
Matt: Yes, his body disappeared.
Eric: So there isn’t two corpses of Voldemort hanging around.
Matt: No, no. There’s only, like, one. The other one was just like, “Okay, I’m done.”
Eric: So what do you guys think they did with Voldemort’s body then? The new body.
Andrew: Burned it.
Laura: Kicked it.
Eric: [laughs] Kicked it.
Andrew: Sent it into SVU.
Eric: Then burned it.
Matt: Had a little pinata party.
Andrew: I don’t know, you can…
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Oh, that’s sick.
Micah: Made a little sushi.
Andrew: You can…
Eric: I’m going to ask.
Matt: Ew!
Andrew: It’s a good question, though.
Eric: Pinata party, sushi…
Andrew: I mean, you can’t bury the guy. You can’t give him any sort of funeral.
Matt: I think…
Laura: They send his off Viking-style.
Matt: …with formalities they had to bury him or something. They probably just put him in the backyard, or something, of Hogwarts.
Eric: No, they stuffed it and it’s now in the Weasleys’ living room.
Matt: Ew.
[Micah laughs]
Laura: Like chilling on the couch.
Eric: No.
Micah: There’s a good Top Ten. Somebody come up with the top ten things that could have been done with Voldemort’s body.
Matt: Yeah, that’s a good idea. Yeah. No, no, no, no, send it. Send it…
Eric: Like, that leads into our…
Andrew: Actually…
Eric: …debate, actually.
Andrew: Yeah, but…
Eric: Kind of.
Remembering the Deceased
Andrew: …before we get there, I would love to see like a sketch by Jo or Mary GrandPre of a memorial that was resurrected at Hogwarts to recognize all those
who did die. Can you imagine, like, a giant – like a fountain or some sort of…
Matt: Like a memorial thing?
Andrew: Yeah, that’s what I said.
Matt: Oh. I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening.
Andrew: Or some sort of statue or something. That would be really cool to see.
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: Or they could even devote an area in Hogwarts to everybody who was killed.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Like the Dungeon.
Micah: I think that would be really…
Andrew: The Potions room?
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Another discussion, I think, that something will turn into a debate, is – maybe even as soon as next episode – is whether all the Houses should’ve become one, because there’s a question of unity after this big battle. A lot of readers and fans were saying that they should’ve all united and turned into one House, but then that raises some questions. I think it would be an interesting thing to debate. But we can save that for another time. Do any of you, wonderful MuggleCast co-hosts, have any other questions about what happened after the Battle of Hogwarts? Okay, so, listeners, if you have any ideas – if you have any questions about what happened after the Battle of Hogwarts, send them on in to mugglecast at staff dot mugglenet dot com. We’d like to know what your thoughts are. And give us your answer about some of the questions we’ve brought up, or questions you have, and we’ll read them next time in our rebuttals.
This Week in MuggleCast History
Andrew: So now it’s time for This Week in MuggleCast History. This is going back to MuggleCast 115. It was in early October. It’s just last year. Micah, you remember when it took you four months or whatever to see the film, right?
Micah: Which one? Order of the Phoenix, right?
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah.
Micah: I thought you were talking about Half-Blood Prince.
Eric: He still hasn’t seen Goblet of Fire.
Micah: This is pay back, I’m thinking. Warner Bros. heard that I didn’t go and see Order of the Phoenix when it was first released, so now they’ve delayed Half-Blood Prince.
Andrew: Well, like I said, dude, you wouldn’t have…
Eric: Eight months for your schedule.
Andrew: Yeah, you wouldn’t have seen it until July anyway. So I don’t know what your problem was.
Micah: That’s true. Yeah, that’s about right. Yeah.
Andrew: [laughs] Okay, so… [laughs] …here’s a moment from that. [makes time machine noises]
Laura: So, Micah.
Micah: So, Laura.
Laura: After Jamie and I – we railed on you a little bit last week for not seeing Order of the Phoenix, didn’t we?
Micah: Yeah, you did.
Laura: Yeah, we gave you a pretty hard time. But I have to say that after last week’s show you did the responsible thing that any MuggleCaster would do, and you went and saw the movie. So, just in a nutshell, what did you think of it?
Micah: Overall, I thought that it was done pretty well. I didn’t really like the pace of it too much. I thought it went a little too quickly, and, not that these movies don’t have to go quickly, because obviously they have to cover a lot, but I thought that…
Andrew: [makes time machine noises] Wah wah wah.
Laura: Wah.
Andrew: So, there you go. There’s Laura’s hosting skill, shining right through.
Micah: Yeah. Like any respectable host, I went and asked Kevin Steck for a copy, and he sent it over to me, so…
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: You didn’t even go to the theater!?
Micah: I didn’t go to the theater, no.
Andrew: That’s right. Can’t believe that.
The Debate
Andrew: Okay, well, up next is a segment that we have not done in a long time, and this is a segment that people have really wanted to see come back, and I think we’re very happy to bring it back now. It’s debate time! There’s not even a segment name. It’s just called The Debate. And this is a segment Ben started a while ago, and people loved it. So we’re going to get back into it. But we have a very fun topic.
Micah: Were you inspired to get back into it because of the vice presidential debate that was on Thursday?
Andrew: Yes. I want to be Sarah Palin too.
Matt: [imitating Sarah Palin] We are so excited…
Eric: All right. The debate topic for this week’s debate: a portrait of Voldemort should be hung in the halls of Hogwarts.
Andrew: Yeah! Woo!
Eric: On the side of the affirmative, saying that a portrait should be hung in the halls of Hogwarts, we have Andrew Sims and Matt Britton.
Andrew: Team Win! What!?
Matt: You going down.
Eric: On the non-affirmative, meaning negative, that a portrait should not be hung, we have Micah Tannenbaum and Laura Thompson.
Laura: Boo…for the portrait.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: Both sides…
Andrew: Wow. Good enthusiasm, Laura.
Matt: Geez.
Laura: No.
Andrew: Oh. [laughs]
Eric: Both sides have…
Matt: Take a Percocet.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: …two minutes to explain and express themselves, and then a one minute rebuttal period will be granted for anyone to say what they want to say about the other person’s stuff. Okay!
Andrew: Excellent.
Eric: With no further ado, let’s go to the affirmative, Andrew and Matt. You have two minutes. It’s on the clock. Get ready, on your marks, get set…hang on.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Get more set.
Matt: Should we go first?
Eric: Two seconds.
Matt: Or should we go second?
Eric: Are you ready? You ready?
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: You go first. Okay. On your marks, get set, go.
Matt: Because.
Andrew: All right. Well, Eric, first of all, I’d like to thank you for hosting this panel tonight, and I’d like to thank…
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: …Skype for hosting us all.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Andrew: Can I call you Eric, by the way? Just…okay.
Matt: Stay on topic, please.
Andrew: Okay.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Lord Voldemort was the greatest – was one of the greatest wizards of all time. He battled numerous people and nobody could stand in his way. Except for Harry Potter, but that’s besides the point.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: Lord Voldemort deserves a portrait in the halls of Hogwarts. That’s why Matt and I stand resolved.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: He has made such a huge difference in the Wizarding World. This guy, he changed everything in the world. It was the Wizarding World’s 9/11. And I’m not even kidding! He changed everything.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: So – go ahead, Matt.
Matt: Okay. [imitating Joe Biden] Well, Eric, I have to say that Voldemort did great things. Great things for the Wizarding World. They’re terrible things, terrible. But they were great things.
[Eric laughs]
Matt: [imitating Joe Biden] And, Eric, what we’ve got to really decide is that Voldemort did pretty much – [back to normal voice] well, he did do a lot. He did a lot of things that wizards never did, never could accomplish, and he did them. Whether they were good or bad, he did them. And whether he was evil or not, he does need some recognition for it.
Andrew: And he was a student at Hogwarts! Hogwarts taught this guy so they should recognize him. Let the students throw eggs at it – whatever! Filch will clean it at the end of the day.
Matt: And we can’t say that all the wizards that were in the portraits were good. I mean, we have Salazar Slytherin, and he was a jerk.
Andrew: Yeah. He needs to be recognized for his accomplishments.
Matt: Yes.
Andrew: And, sure, not everybody would agree with it. But look…
Matt: It would definitely need to be protected because people would vandalize it. But still.
Andrew: He changed everything. And I think Slytherins would be very happy to see his portrait hanging up there. And I think Dumbledore would be, too.
Eric: Time! Excellent. Okay, that was a bit scattered, but mostly to the point. Personally, I feel it would be a bit creepy to have a Voldemort poster, but I’m sure that the great Team 2 can say it better than I can. So we’re going to go for the negative. You have two minutes. Opening statements: go.
Laura: Okay, well, I mean first and foremost: Voldemort is a killer. And I’m going to go right out here and say, a lot of our points are interrelated, but I think this one stands for itself. There’s not one instance in which a school or any kind of institution would find it appropriate to place a portrait of a previous student who later turned out to be a mass killer. Yeah, you can say that he’s one of the greatest wizards of all time, but there are plenty of other terrible people who did extraordinary things. Remember, as Ollivander said, he did great but terrible things. And we can’t forget the severity of the situation. I think it’s also important to remember, for comparison’s sake, that the U.S. has also trained – or in this respect, taught – people who later turned out to be very evil and did terrible things to us. But we don’t have portraits of them on our walls just because they changed the world.
Micah: Yeah. And the other thing is, Hogwarts, he was responsible for deaths at the school both during and after his time as a student there. You look at Moaning Myrtle, you look at the Muggle Studies teacher that he was able to extract from Hogwarts and then torture in Deathly Hallows. I mean, he has no remorse for anybody, especially people at that school. Yes, it was a great source of refuge for him, but at the same time, look at what he did to the people who were there. He even staged the final battle on the grounds of Hogwarts.
Laura: Right. And speaking of Hogwarts, he’s against everything that Hogwarts stands for. It’s supposed to be a place where students of all different magical backgrounds are welcome to gain an education. And Voldemort was famous for promoting segregation between purebloods and everyone else. So it would really hurt the morale, I think, of the student body to give any sort of honor to this guy, who not only widely promoted ideals of segregation, but also actively pursued a course to make those ideals a reality. So…
Eric: Time! Time, time.
Laura: …yeah. Sorry. [laughs]
Eric: Excellent. Very well reasoned, guys. And now it’s time for my inquisition!
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: Don’t we get to all talk together, too?
Eric: Yeah, yeah. Okay, well…
Laura: Yeah, don’t we get a rebuttal period?
Eric: Yeah, you get a rebuttal. Okay, one minute rebuttal period. Andrew and Matt, you guys, your time starts…
Matt: Well, don’t we talk over each other?
Andrew: No, no, no, no, no. Okay, you guys brought up that Voldemort staged a battle on the grounds of Hogwarts. This is exactly why there should be a portrait! Like I said, he changed everything! Nothing will ever be the same again because of him. You guys also said that Voldemort promoted segregation. So do the Houses in Hogwarts! This guy was just promoting what was going on in Hogwarts. Hogwarts was corrupted, and Voldemort should be recognized for realizing these things that nobody else was bright enough to realize. I mean, look at these Houses! Look at the Gryffindors and Slytherins! They were at each other’s throats. Look at these Quidditch matches. All they do is promote anger within the school when one team loses to another’s team. What did Voldemort do? He was angry. He was angry at the half-bloods and the Mudbloods – well, mostly the Mudbloods. He didn’t accept this. Matt.
Matt: Yeah. I agree.
Andrew: I mean, the portrait, frankly, should be hung at the very entrance of the school. Because anyone who enters the school immediately thinks of Voldemort and what he did to this world. Remember…
Eric: Time!
Andrew: …Voldemort was segregation.
Eric: Time! Time! Time!
Matt: I didn’t get to say anything.
Andrew: You had nothing to say!
[Eric and Micah laugh]
Eric: Okay!
Micah: [laughs] All right.
Eric: Rebuttal period. Laura and Micah, you have one minute. On your marks, get set…
Micah: All right.
Eric: …family double dare.
Micah: But, Andrew, by your reasoning then, they should hang pictures of Hitler in synagogues and a picture of Osama Bin Laden at all 9/11 memorials. I mean, the idea that this guy did what he did and should be honored for it in some capacity is absolutely ridiculous. Teaching about him in the school is one thing, honoring him with a portrait is a completely different one. I mean, you look at what happened at Durmstrang when you had these rogue kids who put the symbol for the Deathly Hallows up on the wall and vandalized the school. Look at the kind of reaction that it elicited from the students over there. I don’t think that you can have that type of, you know, honoring of someone who is responsible for so much. You can teach about him, absolutely, but putting him up on the halls of Hogwarts is ridiculous.
Laura: Yeah, and I will also say that you can’t compare student rivalry to genocidal rage and murder. I think they’re two completely different things.
Eric: Five seconds.
[Laura and Matt laugh]
Laura: I’m done.
Eric: Oh, so confident! Okay. That ends both the main discussion and rebuttal period. Now it’s time for my inquisition. Yes, yes, Lord Voldemort did great but terrible things. Certainly his reign of terror has earned him status as one of the most powerful and powerfully terrifying wizards of all time. But you don’t see them hanging portraits of Adolf Hitler in synagogues, do you? And certainly his – there must be some contempt for the evilness of all of his atrocities. Certainly not in an inviting school setting such as the main entrance hall, by any means, would be appropriate, certainly considering many of the students’ ancestors, or parents even, siblings, and teachers’ children were killed in that final epic battle. So finally, I have, in fact, reached a verdict over this debate segment, and it will be right after these messages.
Laura: Thompson-Tannenbaum ’08.
Eric: And we’re back. And the verdict is: Laura Thompson and Micah Tannenbaum have won. Negative; there should not be a portrait of Voldemort at Hogwarts.
Andrew: Oh! I agree. I agree.
Laura: Thank you, Eric.
Micah: [laughs] You agree?
Andrew: You guys are right. But it was a fun topic to debate.
Laura: You know what? Yeah.
Matt: Actually, I’m on the fence now.
Micah: People, send in your thoughts.
Eric: I think you guys have won the debate, but that’s not to say I didn’t think there was something in here. When you guys first came up with this topic, or borrowed it from CoS Forums, I thought that there should be a portrait of Voldemort at Hogwarts because of studying him, and, you know, in the name of prevention, and trying to figure out exactly what made him that, and bringing people closer together as a result of what has happened, that there should be books about him and all that stuff, which there will obviously be, but I always thought that maybe a sentient portrait, you know, magical portraits that can talk and walk and think, should never be made of Voldemort, because that’s pretty creepy. He’d find a way to escape that, wouldn’t he?
Andrew: That’s just creepy, yeah. He would.
Eric: So why wouldn’t they do something like a Muggle portrait. Maybe a non-moving portrait of Voldemort that can’t be cursed.
Matt: We never said that.
Eric: Well, I mean, you think Muggles have them, so they must – just don’t enchant, whatever you do. But I always thought that would be a compromise. But, yeah, so I was in favor of something, but certainly after that great debate by Laura and Micah there, their side, they pretty much conquered it.
Andrew: Well, I still think you guys are losers, but that’s okay. We’ll put a poll on MuggleCast.com to see what everybody else thinks. I have a feeling…
Micah: But they can’t send in their feedback.
Andrew: Yeah, well, send in feedback to – e-mail directly mugglecast at staff dot mugglenet dot com. Don’t use the feedback form unless there’s an update on MuggleCast.com with an update. Okay, so that’s debate. Thank you, Eric, for moderating, and we’ll have you debating next time. Probably next week.
Micah: I’ll moderate next week.
Andrew: Oh, okay. Wonderful.
Micah: So this way Eric can…
Laura: Fantastic.
Micah: …debate.
Guess That Scene
Andrew: Okay. It is time for Guess the Scene.
Matt: Guess that scene!
Andrew: Okay, let’s get right into it, because we are very short on time.
Matt: Okay.
Andrew: It’s been a long show. Let’s hop right into it.
Matt: All right. I’m just going to introduce this because it’s a fairly new segment. Basically, Guess That Scene is that I play a snippet from the soundtrack of the already released Harry Potter films, and the entire panel will have to guess what scene in the movie this is from.
Andrew: Yeah, the rules are different this time. We’re going to do – we’re just all going to guess together.
Matt: Yes, because last time it was kind of too hard one-on-one. Too much pressure.
Andrew: Right.
Micah: Yeah. Plus, really, I’m not good, so that also…
[Song clip plays]
Eric: Room of Requirement. No, Dolores Umbridge.
Andrew: Which one was it?
Matt: He was right.
Andrew: Which one?
Matt: Room of Requirement.
Andrew: Oh. Okay.
Eric: It’s not going to be the first person who answers it, are they?
Andrew: Well, I mean, you got it, so…
Matt: Yeah. I say we see how many – who gets the most right at this.
Andrew: Okay, sure.
Matt: Okay.
Andrew: All right. Good job, Eric.
[Price is Right bell sounds]
Matt: Winner.
Andrew: Okay.
Matt: All right. That’s stupid. Okay. Here’s number two.
[Song clip plays]
Andrew: This is a fast scene. Can we have a hint? What movie?
Eric: The Hedge Maze from Goblet of Fire. The Final Task?
Matt: The what? No.
Andrew: The hedge…
[Music continues]
Andrew: It sounds POA-ish.
Eric: No, it doesn’t. It sounds…
Laura: Is it Order of the Phoenix?
Matt: No.
Andrew: Goblet?
Eric: Is it Goblet of Fire…
Matt: Yes.
Eric: …at the end? The third and final task when they’re in the labyrinth?
Matt: No.
Andrew: Oh, is it the Merpeople?
Matt: No. Oh, your time is up.
[Fail music plays]
[Matt imitates music]
Andrew: What was it?
Matt: It was the Death Eater scene at the camp in Goblet of Fire.
Everyone: Ooooh.
Laura: That’s right. I remember now.
Andrew: Okay. Let’s continue.
Matt: Here comes another one. This one better be answered in two seconds. I had to give you an easy one. Here we go.
Micah: Well, Eric’s going to get it, then.
Eric: Thank you for your confidence, Micah.
[Song clip plays]
Laura: Oh, this is Christmas from the first movie.
Micah: Sounds like Christmas.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah. Which movie?
Andrew: It’s Sorcerer?
Matt: Yes.
Eric: Good job, Micah.
Laura: First movie.
Andrew: “Happy Christmas, Harry!”
Matt: Oh, good job.
Andrew: “Happy Christmas, Harry!”
Matt: All right. And here’s the last one.
Andrew: Oh, there’s still one more?
Matt: Yeah. I did four.
Andrew: Oh. Well, hold on, we’ve got to celebrate that one first.
[Price is Right bell rings]
Matt: Yay! Okay, here goes number four and the final one for this segment. Here we go.
[Song clip plays]
Matt: This is a trick one.
Laura: Oh, that’s when the Durmstrangs comes.
Eric: It’s…
Andrew: Yeah, when Durmstrang comes in.
Eric: When Durmstrang comes in, yeah.
Matt: Yeah. There’s two. That’s the trick. There’s two.
Andrew: Two answers?
Matt: They use this in two scenes.
Andrew: What’s the other one, guys?
Eric: The dragon?
Matt: No.
Andrew: I know it, but…
Matt: You got one right.
Laura: Was it Quidditch?
Andrew: Durmstrang comes in…
Eric: Time’s up.
Andrew: The trailer? I don’t know. Why’d you bring it up? Don’t do that. I don’t know.
Eric: It’s pretty creepy, though. It just keeps…
Andrew: We give up.
Matt: All right. It’s when the Bulgarians come in during the Quidditch World Cup.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
[Fail music plays]
Eric: Oh.
Andrew: All right.
Matt: I think Eric won.
Andrew: Good enough. That’s how we play Guess That Scene! All right!
[Price is Right music plays]
Andrew: I love sound effects. Okay.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul
Andrew: All right, so we’ll wrap things up today with a Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul. This comes from Katie:
“A letter cannot even express how much you have helped me, but here it goes: I began to listen to MuggleCast about two weeks after the release of Book 7. I was hooked immediately and never missed an episode after that. At the time I was going through the stress of junior year and my grandma suffering from Alzheimer’s. My family was, and still is, going through grief. There were nights I would just go break down and cry. Every Sunday I would download the latest episode of MuggleCast and your jokes and voices would calm me down and help me go to sleep. I made it through the school year passing everything, and I always love to think I did it because of MuggleCast. Now, my senior year, I am facing the same situation, but I know that I will have 157 episodes of MuggleCast to get me through the tough time of college admissions and helping my grandmother. I truly love you guys, and I owe you my sanity. Heart heart. Love, Katie.”
Matt: Awww. Katie, that’s so sweet.
Andrew: So that’s very sweet. Thank you, Katie, for that.
Laura: Awww!
[Show music begins]
Contact Information
Andrew: And hey, there we go. It’s the end of the show. We want to remind everybody about our contact…
Laura: Yay!
Andrew: …information before we let you go. Laura, hey, what’s the P.O. Box?
Laura: It’s P.O. Box 3151, Cumming, Georgia, 30028. You should be really glad I can still remember that.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: Don’t forget, we do have a MuggleCast voicemail hotline if you want to call in your questions, comments, or whatever else. If you’re in the United States you can dial 1-218-20-MAGIC. If you’re in the United Kingdom you can dial 02081440677, and if you’re in Australia just dial 0280035668. You can also Skype the username MuggleCast, but no matter how you call us, just remember to keep your message under 60 seconds as – under 60 seconds please. And eliminate as much background noise as possible.
Eric: And, you know, it’s been forever since we’ve heard from Billy Joe, so if Billy Joe could call back…
Andrew: Why don’t we have any crazy listeners who call in a lot with crazy…
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: …statements and stuff like that?
Laura: We used to.
Eric: I don’t know. Could be because we like…
Andrew: We used to. [laughs] So they all move on.
Eric: [laughs] We used to.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: They all became normal.
Andrew: [laughs] And don’t forget, you can visit MuggleCast.com for a variety of community outlet links, including our MySpace, our Facebook, YouTube, Frappr, Last.FM, the fanlisting and the forums. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Digg the show at Digg.com, and vote for us once a month at Podcast Alley.
Show Close
Andrew: Thanks, everyone, for listening. We hope that you all enjoyed the book discussion. I think that we did a good job with that. And we’re going to stick with that for a while until ever. Forever. So thanks, everyone, again for listening. Once again, I’m Andrew Sims.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Matt: And I’m Matthew Britton.
Andrew: We’ll see everyone next time for Episode 160! Goodbye.
Matt: Bye.
Laura: Woo! Bye.
Micah: 160. Yeah.