Transcript for MuggleCast Episode #288, The “Eighth” Book
Show Intro
[Show music plays]
Andrew Sims: This is MuggleCast, your Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts podcast, covering everything about J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. This week’s episode is brought to you by Audible.com. Audible is the leading provider of audiobooks, with more than 180,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, nonfiction, and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast. This is MuggleCast Episode 288, our once monthly podcast… for now. I’m Andrew.
Eric Scull: I’m Eric.
Andrew: Micah is not here this week, believe it or not, but we had to record to talk about the big breaking news that is happening this week, and Micah is traveling for work. So we said, “Well, sorry, Micah, we’ve got to talk about this, and we can’t wait around for you.”
Eric: Right.
Andrew: But I’m happy to say we have on two people – MuggleCast virgins – Jeanna and Pam.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Welcome to you both.
Jeanna and Pam: Hello.
Pam: We’re a dying breed.
Andrew: You know, this actually works out nice because we’re coming up on Valentine’s Day, and Jeanna is the other half of Eric, which I just think is beautiful. So it’s nice to have you on.
Jeanna: Aw, that is a nice tie-in. I like that. [laughs]
Andrew: And you guys met through Harry Potter, right?
Eric: We did.
Jeanna: Yeah, through our Chicago Harry Potter group.
Andrew: Oh, that’s so nice.
Eric: And Andrew, you and Pamela are going steady now?
Andrew: Yeah, we’re going steady. [laughs]
Pam: Yeah, sorry.
Jeanna: Aww. [laughs]
Andrew: Actually, I am seeing Pam this weekend.
Pam: You are!
Eric: You’re “seeing her.”
Pam: Yeah, it’s so romantic, isn’t it?
Andrew: It is. It will be. I’m going to buy you a drink to thank you for coming on MuggleCast.
Pam: Thanks. [laughs]
Andrew: So yeah, we’ve known Pam for a while. She’s written for Hypable. She’s a cohost on Hypable’s Hype, and she did Twilight Source and Imprint with me back in the day. So Pam, it’s good to have you on as well.
Pam: Well, thanks for inviting me. It’s nice to be here.
The Cursed Child script book
Andrew: Yeah, so like I said, very, very big day. I hate to say “I told you so,” but I knew 2016 was going to be a big year because we had Fantastic Beasts, we had the Cursed Child play, and to make it even better, we’re now learning that the Cursed Child, the script, will be published as a book on Harry and J.K. Rowling’s birthday this year, July 31.
Eric: Ahh.
Andrew: So basic details, and then we’ll get into some discussion.
Eric: Sure.
Andrew: It will be released July 31, which is a Sunday, by the way, so we’ll have to talk about that because of delivery and whatnot. It’s going to be $14.99 for the digital version, $29.99 right now for the physical version. I bet that will come down in price a little bit. And then this is the Special Rehearsal Edition, by the way, so a final edition will be released some months later. But the Special Rehearsal Edition means that they have this script that they’re using for the Cursed Child right now. Once they finalize the script – because they make changes during practice and whatnot – they will release the final edition after making all those changes.
Eric: Well, hold the phone. I did not realize that this book was coming out before the play airs? Before it actually…?
Andrew: No, no, so previews begin in June.
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: June 7 and 9 are the first two performances in London. So there will be a full month and a half-ish, but I guess because the Special Rehearsal Edition will probably have to start printing by end of June? Early July?
Eric: Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, I can kind of see that.
Andrew: And this is the eighth story. That’s what this has been marketed as; that’s what they’re calling it again this time. But actually, Jeanna, I saw an interesting Facebook post from you; you were actually wondering if we could really count this as the eighth book.
Jeanna: Yes, I had a friend on, actually, Twitter. My friend Andrew posed this question, and I discussed it a little bit with him on Twitter, and I was like, “Huh, I’m going to check out what the masses say on Facebook, and see what a different kind of sect of friends say.” And overall, most people said no.
Andrew: Hmm.
Eric: So the question was, “Can it be an eighth Harry Potter book if J.K. Rowling didn’t write it?”
Jeanna: Yes, that was the question posed. Sorry.
Andrew: I mean, on one hand, the eighth book, it was co-written kind of by J.K. Rowling, but yeah, she didn’t come up with the story at first. It was Jack Thorne and the other dude who I’m forgetting, and J.K. Rowling produced it. And I think it’s fair to say that everything that happens in the play will be canon, right?
Eric: Well, yeah, it’s been approved, so to speak, by J.K. Rowling. I’m looking at this post – it’s from Scholastic’s Facebook page – and it’s “The eighth story – 19 years later.” There’s fire and a Snitch, and it’s all crazy, and they have a picture of the book. And then at the bottom, where it would normally say, “By J.K. Rowling,” it says, “Based on an original story…” No, “Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany.” And then below that, it says, “A new play by Jack Thorne.” So they’re quick to call… actually, notice how they say it’s the eighth story, not the eighth book, because it’s actually a play, a screenplay or a script for a play that we’ll be getting in book form. I bet it just burns them to no end that they can’t call it the eighth Harry Potter book; they have to say “story.”
Andrew: But I think it’s still going to sell just as well. So okay, I guess it sounds like we’re in agreement, then, that we can’t really call this the eighth book. We’ve got to call it the eighth story, and we’ve got to call it based on… or a script. [laughs] The eighth script.
Jeanna: I think once you call it a new play by someone other than J.K. Rowling, it negates the “eighth book” title.
Eric: Because it’s… right. So it’s just floating in some kind of nether middle space.
Andrew: But it’s still really exciting, right? I mean…
Eric: Yes, yes, it is exciting. I’m really… there was no way, going back to our discussion on the… I think it was probably the December MuggleCast that we did? But we were talking about this at length, the Cursed Child, because we had just gotten some news, and there’s no way they weren’t going to do this eventually. I think we all agreed at the time that it made the most sense to at least eventually release the Cursed Child script as a book or a novelization of the play, or something like that. But I had no idea it would be this soon.
Andrew: I think one of the most exciting aspects about this is that it’s coming so soon. Nobody was expecting this to be released this summer, and I think what this says is that they completely understood that there was a lot of demand to get this in the hands of people as quickly as possible. But not just that; like I said last episode, I think, they need to get the story out there, because they can’t have details leaking through Tumblr unofficially. They need them to come out officially, and that’s why they’re releasing this Special Rehearsal Edition. Otherwise they would just wait till the final edition to release everything.
Eric: Well, and it seems inconvenient to have… and it seems like a money grab, frankly, to just be like, “Oh, this is a book that we’re releasing, and it’s Harry and Jo’s birthday – it’s special – but it’s only part of the story, because we’re going to make some changes and an update of…” It’s like, just wait and release the final version when you can. But actually, that insight that it’s to help circumvent spoilers, that makes a lot of sense.
Pam: Isn’t it kind of a moot point, though? Because the previews open in June, so you’re still going to have people that are talking about it that have already gone to see the play a good month before this even comes out.
Andrew: Right.
Jeanna: I’m also kind of wondering – sorry to cut you off – if someone… because the rehearsal script has to get sent to the publisher at a certain point, and there’s going to be rewrites after it. What I’m wondering is if people will have the book, go to the play, and make edits in the book as they see the play.
Pam: That’s really smart.
Eric: Oh, I love that idea of just having blank pages, or having… every copy of this comes with a red marker. [laughs]
Pam: Choose your own adventure.
Eric: You can update as you watch the play with the current version, so you don’t need to buy the new, finished version. But a question I had coming out of what you were saying, Jeanna, is will people even be watching the same play that they can read at home by the time…? If you were to buy the book and the next day go see the play, what you’d be getting, essentially, would still be very potentially different.
Andrew: And what also is scary about this is what if they cut out crucial scenes? Do we have to take them out of canon once they’re…?
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Pam: See, that’s the thing that confuses me, because I was talking to my brother about this, who is a big fan, but more casual than I would say I am, and he was like, “How much are they really going to change between the Special Rehearsal Edition and the definitive actual edition of this play?” I was like, “Well, you never know,” but that’s the most confusing part. It’s like, how can you say, “Oh, yeah, this and this happens. It’s printed; you have it. Oh, but we changed our mind, actually. That doesn’t really work, so we’re taking that entire chunk out, and you guys can just disregard.”
Andrew: I’m hoping there aren’t big scenes that are cut.
Eric: No, fortunately, it’s far enough along in production, it’s very unlikely they would… because they built a set. They’ve probably blocked every scene by now, or at least by the time the copy gets sent to the publisher. You’d have to think they’d have a really pretty good idea of…
Andrew: But even if it’s just a line.
Jeanna: It depends on the line.
Andrew: Yeah, so what if it’s Hermione being like, “Oh, I hear Ron is gay now,” and what if they cut that?
[Jeanna and Pam laugh]
Pam: And that’s why they divorced?
Eric: Yeah, Ron’s sexuality hangs in the balance between different…
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: I can totally see this happen.
Andrew: It’s like Lavender Brown’s death. Is she dead? Is she alive? What is it?
Jeanna: We will never know.
Eric: Oh, God. Let’s refer to the Pottermore Insider for that. [laughs]
Andrew: They haven’t been helping.
Jeanna: But I have to say, Eric and I have the privilege… being in Chicago, we can see some shows during what they call a pre-Broadway engagement, so that’s when rewrites are happening pretty much every hour on the hour for the show. People can go on stage and they will have just been handed a new script, so there is the possibility that huge chunks and big things could be changed. However, I feel like with a massive show like this, where the impact of this show is so large and global, that by the time it is ever put in front of any type of audience, they’re going to have the meat of it already figured out, and the things that will be edited are non-canonical. They’re minuscule things. That’s my hope. [laughs]
Pam: They’re just going to change parentheses and transitions. [laughs]
Andrew: Right.
Jeanna: And just order of words, but not the general gist, if that makes sense.
Andrew: Yeah, no, I think that’s totally right.
Pam: I feel like that’s the only way they could do it, but yeah.
Eric: Shows that open in Chicago first are the ones that they really don’t think are perfect yet, and so they open here and then they get audience feedback, and then they change… The Addams Family with Nathan Lane opened here first, and then they changed the entire show before it went to Broadway. But I think with something as high profile as Cursed Child, you won’t get that at all.
Andrew: So here’s a question: I wonder if this will change people’s plans to see the show.
Eric: It certainly is a weight off my shoulder. I had no plans to see the show. I didn’t wait in that line that one morning like you did.
Andrew: Yeah. So I have tickets before the book comes out, so it’s still…
Eric: Special?
Andrew: I’m still excited about it. But if I was seeing it, say, at the end of the year, I’m not sure. But then people are kind of in a conundrum, because it’s like, okay, let’s say you’re seeing it in December of this year. That’s a good four or five months after the book comes out. If this story was written for the stage, to get the best experience, you want to see it on this stage, but can you resist the book long enough? You know what I mean? It’s going to be really hard for people to avoid that book. [laughs]
Pam: And you know what? I don’t think you do; I think that you just enjoy it in different ways. So for example, I read The History Boys screen… no, not screenplay, but script for the actual play before I saw it.
Eric: Oh, that’s such a good play.
Pam: Isn’t it so good? It’s one of my favorites. So I read the script for that, and then I saw the movie, and then I saw a stage production of the play, and with all of those different things, you pull something out of it that’s completely different every time. So I don’t think that’s…
Jeanna: They’re like three different people. It’s like meeting three different people from the same family.
Pam: Exactly. Yeah, or having somebody with split personality disorder, and then you just meet the same person.
[Jeanna and Pam laugh]
Andrew: So I am glad that they’re releasing it for people who just can’t get there because it’s too expensive, too far, whatever reasons you’re unable to travel. So I am glad that they have decided to release this so soon. Now, here’s another question: midnight release parties.
Jeanna: Yay!
Andrew: Can booksellers please do midnight release parties? All over the country. All over the world!
Eric: It’s a foregone conclusion. Of course they will.
Andrew: You think it’s definite?
Jeanna: Yes.
Pam: Why would you release a book on a Sunday and not do something on a Saturday? That’s prime party day.
Andrew: That’s true.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Jeanna: Wasn’t that how Book 7 was? Was Book 7 a Saturday?
Eric: Well, Book 7… the highly interesting thing about Book 7: Some countries like New Zealand, where I was at the time, released at 11:00 a.m. because it was midnight GMT.
Jeanna: Ohh.
Eric: And so it was midnight into Sunday or into Saturday, but it was really the same time London got it, and then the East Coast of the US was five hours later. But at least 10 or 12 different countries had whatever time it happened to be when it was midnight in London was when they got it, so it was 7:00 a.m. in Sydney or something like that.
Andrew: Yeah, I remember that as well.
Eric: It’s weird, but they did it that way.
Andrew: So July 21, 2007 was a Saturday, so the midnight release parties were obviously Friday night.
Eric: Friday night into Saturday, but it was Saturday morning everywhere east of London.
Andrew: I actually saw a tweet from somebody… I was tweeting up a storm on the Hypable and MuggleCast Twitter accounts today, and somebody said they work in a bookstore and they’re already planning their midnight release party!
Eric: There you go.
Andrew: Yep.
Pam: Is it Barnes & Noble? Because that’s the only thing I care about since it’s a national brand. [laughs]
Andrew: I know.
Eric: Oh, what, you won’t go to somebody’s rinky-dink…?
Pam: I’m just saying, I don’t have money to fly to middle of nowhere America. [laughs]
Andrew: Well, I’m hoping local bookstores do the midnight release parties as well, and I think a lot of people would prefer to go to support local bookstores instead of Barnes & Noble when buying this book. But the person… I’m trying to find the tweet, but I know they were in Canada, because I thought the same thing, Pam, that that person may have been working at a Barnes & Noble. But so then, like we said, the book comes out on a Sunday, and as we know from Mr. Dursley, there’s no post on Sundays.
Eric: Yeah, he taught me that important life lesson too.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Jeanna: I’m already expecting Amazon to release a statement saying, “Yes, you will be getting your book on Sunday. Don’t worry. Our minions will be out.”
Pam: Amazon will deliver on Sunday, though. If you have Amazon Prime, and they guarantee you two-day shipping, that thing will be there on Sunday.
Eric: I foresee a new sales pitch to get Amazon Prime. “You want the Cursed Child the day it comes out? Okay, join Amazon Prime.”
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, but the post office is closed on Sundays and UPS and FedEx are as well, so I’ve noticed – because I have had some Sunday deliveries – they hire these third party shipment companies, and it’s these people who just pull up in their personal vehicles and drop off your packages!
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: They’re not safe at all!
Pam: Oh my gosh.
Jeanna: Well, these people better get big vans, because they’re going to be dropping off a lot of books on July 31. [laughs]
Eric: A lot of books, oh my God.
Andrew: Exactly. But so if you go to preorder Cursed Child right now on Amazon, you can do it for $29.99, but… now, this may change – it’s very likely this will change – but for right now, it says, “Estimated delivery: August 1.”
Eric: Wow.
Andrew: And then it says in parentheses, “(The day it’s released.)” So I think they just need to change around some information in their system to make this correct.
Eric: Maybe right now it’s like… yeah, because of that.
Pam: I mean, if they don’t, though, this is a great thing for bookshops that decide to stay open.
Andrew: Exactly.
Pam: Everybody’s going to run out to their local one.
Eric: Maybe Jo did this for that reason. Give the bookstores…
Pam: Oh, look at her giving back.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Give the brick and mortar stores a leg up.
Pam: Yeah, exactly. How sweet.
Eric: Of course, they have to work on Sunday to get the leg up, but what are you gonna do?
Jeanna: Hey, you do what you gotta do.
Pam: Exactly.
Andrew: I do hope that most Harry Potter fans will try to find a midnight release party, because this may be the final time that we do a midnight… well, unless they…
Jeanna: Never say never.
Andrew: Never say… I guess I can’t anymore.
[Andrew and Jeanna laugh]
Eric: No, the ninth Harry Potter story is just a year away.
Andrew: Right.
Pam: You have to prepare just in case, though.
Andrew: Exactly. And I mean, come on, this will be the first midnight Harry Potter release since 2007; that’s for sure. So it’s been nine years.
Eric: It would be really nice to relive some of that magic.
Andrew: Yeah. So let’s hope lots of bookstores do it. I think Barnes & Noble will do something, and hopefully local stores do too. I would support them. So anything else to say about the Cursed Child book? Very exciting day in fandom.
Eric: I hope that a couple of friends of mine can get together and just cast ourselves in it and then do a read-through of it. [laughs] That would be something really fun to do with a… if you have a Harry Potter book club, or just a group of Harry Potter fans, is to each pick a role. Who knows what the roles will be? We don’t know.
Jeanna: I was thinking that earlier, because they’re giving what I’m assuming is the script, rather than just a novel of it.
Eric: Yeah, I don’t…
Jeanna: Are they going to give the rights out? Are the rights going to be available?
Eric: Oh, I doubt it. Certainly you will never be… or you will not be able to put on a production that sees the public eye and charges people until way after…
Andrew: Yeah, I agree.
Eric: … because it’s illegal to do that until way after the show has exited the West End.
Jeanna: No, not way after it’s exited. Usually if it’s been a long run, it will, but I’m not entirely sure about exited.
Andrew: Well, they have to decide when they’re going to sell the rights for people to use the play, so that’s what it’ll come down to.
Jeanna: I’m just wondering, will they even ever do that? Especially if they’re giving the script. Because if you’re giving the script to people…
Eric: It’s very easy.
Jeanna: Before Newsies was on Broadway, I saw a lot of underground productions of it.
Andrew: Well, right. Yeah, so people will do it, but you best not let J.K. Rowling or Warner Bros. find out. [laughs]
Eric: I just see it as something fun and new to do with your friends. I don’t know.
Andrew: Yeah, I mean, do it in your home. [laughs]
Eric: Because you can get together and read the book, but a play is designed to be performed in two or three hours tops. I guess with Part 1 and Part 2, it’s probably, what, six hours? So that might complicate things.
Andrew: It’ll be an interesting reading experience for sure, because I’ve read scripts before, and I don’t love it.
Eric: It can be fun. If you get the right play and there’s humor, it’s almost as though you’re reading a book. They’re different, though.
Andrew: Yeah, the way it’s formatted… maybe I just haven’t read enough of them to get used to it. We will continue with today’s episode of MuggleCast in just a moment, but first, it’s time to remind you that today’s episode is brought to you by Audible.com. They are the Internet’s leading provider of audiobooks, with more than 150,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including audio versions of many New York Times bestsellers. For listeners of MuggleCast, Audible is offering you a free audiobook to give you a chance to try out their great service, and today I’m going to recommend another book-to-film adaptation. This one is coming out pretty soon. It’s called Me Before You, and it’s by Jojo Moyes. We wrote about the trailer for the adaptation the other day on Hypable, and people were freaking out. Not only is the story, is the book so beloved, the movie is starring Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones and Sam Claflin from The Hunger Games. And not just that, here’s probably the best part about the movie: The screenplay was written by Jojo, by the author, which is just fantastic. And to make it even better, guess who helped her? The two screenwriters who adapted The Fault in Our Stars. I mean, enough said. This is going to be a great movie. I don’t have to convince you any further. But you’ll want to read the book first, so go to AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast, and you can get a free audiobook, including this one – you can grab one of the Harry Potter books, you can grab another J.K. Rowling book, whatever you want – for free. Give it a try. AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast. We thank Audible for their support of the show.
Updated Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Philosopher’s Stone in House Colors, and Chamber of Secrets Illustrated Edition
Andrew: So believe it or not, that wasn’t the only announcement that was made today. They kind of really set the future of the Harry Potter books in stone today. So in addition to the Cursed Child being published, we also found out that a new edition of Fantastic Beasts is going to be published in 2017 with new writing from J.K. Rowling. This is something I was gunning for leading up to Fantastic Beasts; I thought maybe J.K. Rowling could write maybe a prequel to the Fantastic Beasts movie to get everybody excited for the movie, or to just introduce people to Newt better, because the Fantastic Beasts book as it exists now doesn’t really do that.
Eric: Right.
Andrew: So it’ll be interesting to see what is coming in this new one. I guess it could add in the supporting characters that are introduced in the movie?
Jeanna: More beasts.
Andrew: More beasts? Yeah, the beasts in the movie, right? I guess that would make sense.
Eric: Yeah, because I think ultimately they would want to do a beast that’s not in the book already for the movie’s sake.
Jeanna: I would assume there’ll be at least one new beast. But I would like them to give me more background information on the new characters we’re meeting.
Andrew: Yeah. So yeah, not much else to talk about there, but it is good that they’re doing that.
Eric: Yeah, I like that.
Andrew: I mean, who knows what other…? They did also mention other Fantastic Beasts movie tie-ins, so we’ll see what happens there. Good news for everybody who loves the illustrated editions: We found out that the Chamber of Secrets illustrated edition will be published this October.
Eric: Oooh.
Andrew: Yeah, I’m so excited. I haven’t read the first one yet, but I’m going to really soon, especially now that we’re doing MuggleCast more regularly.
Eric: Oh, yeah. Jeanna, you’re going through it, right?
Jeanna: I’m currently reading it. I got it for Christmas from Eric, and as soon as I opened it up, my entire family stopped opening their presents and just looked and they were like, [gasps] “Can we see that?” And I opened a couple of pages for them, and I was like, “I don’t want to spoil myself, because I haven’t really looked at this yet.” And I was just kind of flipping through some things for them, and my dad was like, “Where can I get that, and are the rest of them available?” [laughs]
Andrew: That’s awesome.
Eric: So you just got it back from your family.
Jeanna: I did.
[Andrew and Jeanna laugh]
Eric: But how far are you in the book?
Jeanna: I’m just at Christmas. We just got to the Mirror of Erised.
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: So Scholastic did previously announce that they would be releasing one each year, so it’s good that that plan is still in action, although it’s…
Eric: You know what? I agree about that.
Andrew: What?
Eric: That it’s good that it’s in action.
Andrew: Oh, yeah.
Eric: Because certain things fall by the wayside. Didn’t the extended editions…? There was a period of time when… or not extended editions; the special edition DVDs were supposed to be on a yearly schedule, and then they weren’t for a little while.
Andrew: Yeah, well, and the one example I always go back to was Scholastic released that 10th anniversary edition of Sorcerer’s Stone…
Eric: Ohhh.
Andrew: … and it had this beautiful new cover by Mary Grand-Pré…
Eric: Well, yeah.
Andrew: … and I thought they said that they were going to release more anniversary editions for the other books when they hit their ten year, and they never did.
Eric: Right. Well, then instead they gave… Kazu Kibuishi’s new… they just redid all the covers and released them at once.
Andrew: Yeah, but it was cool to have Mary Grand-Pré… the new cover was Harry and the Mirror of Erised, which I thought was really cool.
Jeanna: I still have the pin they gave out with that.
Andrew: Oh, really?
Jeanna: With the Sorcerer’s Stone. I think I got it off eBay for ten bucks. It wasn’t expensive.
Eric: What does the pin say?
Jeanna: I think it’s just the HP logo, “HP” with a lightning bolt, and it kind of looks like a Snitch.
Eric: Ooh.
Andrew: Oh, cool.
Jeanna: I can tweet a picture or something, or I’ll send it to you so you can tweet out a picture. But I was so excited, because I was like, “Oh, I want to collect these all,” and then they never came out with anymore!
Andrew: [laughs] Aw. Yeah, that would have been cool to have a whole collection.
Eric: But yeah, these illustrated editions, they contain so many images that it must be daunting. They have to take a year off when Order of the Phoenix comes out. There’s no other way… [laughs] The guy cannot literally paint that fast, I don’t think.
Andrew: Right. So yeah, I mean, I guess… maybe Chamber of Secrets is going to be finished soon, and then he’ll move on.
Eric: Right.
Andrew: I don’t know. Who knows? We’ll see. So anyway, another big announcement: Philosopher’s Stone – meaning this is just in the UK for now – is going to be rereleased in four different versions. Each one will be themed with a Hogwarts House with the Hogwarts House colors, so there’s going to be a Gryffindor edition, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw. [laughs]
Eric: I hope there’s new writing from Jo and I hope that the Philosopher’s Stone Hufflepuff edition actually is from the perspective of a random Hufflepuff in Harry’s first year.
[Andrew and Jeanna laugh]
Eric: I want to see that.
Andrew: It’s cool. I feel like they were inspired by fans, because there have been… I’ve seen slip covers you can purchase with the House colors for each of the books, so you can buy the set of seven for Gryffindor, for Slytherin…
Eric: Oh, interesting.
Andrew: Yeah, which is cool, so… and then the other big question marks are, will they release these worldwide? And also, will they release the other books? But I don’t know. Do you need a whole other set with your Hogwarts House colors?
Eric: Oh, no.
Andrew: I’m sure some people are screaming “Yes,” but… [laughs]
Jeanna: A ton of people are jazzed about this.
Andrew: Yeah?
Jeanna: I was shocked at how many people on my feed had the “Just take my money” image up because they were just… this was all they had wanted in life.
Andrew: Oh, wow. Okay. Well, there you go, then.
Eric: It is the furthest thing from that for me. And I love…
[Andrew laughs]
Jeanna: Agreed. We are in the minority.
Eric: I own at least two or three copies of Philosopher’s Stone.
Pam: But see, that’s why you don’t want it, because I’m the same way. I own… my grandparents bought me them all in Spanish, so that’s a complete set that I have, and then I have the original, and then at some point the illustrated will be complete, but I don’t have room on my shelf for another set.
Eric: Yeah, I stopped having room on my shelf several editions ago.
Pam: [laughs] Exactly. I’m just like, “Sorry, Jo. You can’t take any more of my money because there’s no room. I will be piled under books.”
Eric: We as Harry Potter fans have to put our foot down. Do not kill any more trees.
[Jeanna laughs]
Pam: But the thing that I’m interested in is if they’re going to lose money at all, because if you just mass print equal amounts for each House…
Andrew: Oh, right.
Pam: … nobody’s going to buy four different sets, right?
Eric: I don’t know. If everybody… oh, yeah. Well, they’re kind of dividing the market into four.
Pam: Right, exactly. So I would be interested to find out what the final sales are like. I’m assuming Gryffindor will be popular, just because that’s the go-to if you’re not super analyzing your own House, but it’s just going to be interesting to see if they lose money at all in the initial print.
Eric: It might be impossible to find the Hufflepuff copy after a few… because the Hufflepuffs get the shaft.
[Jeanna laughs]
Pam: I mean, Hufflepuffs are super in right now, so you never know.
Eric: Oh yeah, Hufflepuffs are in right now, I guess.
Pam: Yeah, they’re super… they’re the cool kids.
Eric: Yeah, you’re right, you’re right. You’re so right. God, it’s a good day to be a Puff. But if everybody goes by what their first Pottermore Sorting was, everyone will…
Pam: That’s right.
Eric: It’ll be equal parts of each House. All the copies in England will sell out based on perfectly equal proportions.
Pam: What if that’s a constituency? You have to prove what your Pottermore Sorting is in order to get your copy.
[Jeanna and Pam laugh]
Jeanna: You need to show on your iPhone what you were Sorted into Pottermore; otherwise you cannot check out or buy these books.
Pam: No Hatstalls allowed.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: I’m thinking what they’ll do is once you get Sorted, they’ll be like, “Hey, why don’t you go ahead and buy the Gryffindor edition of Philosopher’s Stone now?” Because I bet a lot of people would do that as soon as they got Sorted.
Pam: That’s really smart, actually.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Jeanna: I have to say, I could have used this the first go around with Potter, because everyone in my family wanted their own copies of the books because we all wanted to read it at the same time when it would come out. So if they had come out in our own House colors, that would have made life so much simpler.
Andrew: Yeah, and it’d be kind of a nice gift. Like, “Here, you get the red one, you get the green one, you get the blue one…”
Eric: So this would have been a good marketing campaign for 15 years ago.
[Andrew laughs]
Jeanna: Yes.
Eric: For them to have done this. I like the idea of Pottermore, though, basically being able to Sort yourself on the website first – maybe not even knowing anything about Harry Potter, Sorting yourself – and then going and getting the book that corresponds with your House. That’s kind of interesting. But it doesn’t change the story; all we’re doing is putting different covers on the same books. Granted, the books are timeless. They’re amazing.
Andrew: They’re okay.
[Eric and Jeanna laugh]
Eric: Thank you. Thank you so much.
Andrew: So those were all the announcements that were made today.
Eric: Big day.
Andrew: Again, it was really interesting to see J.K. Rowling and Pottermore make all these announcements basically setting up the next couple of years in Harry Potter publishing. We’re going to talk about Pottermore in a moment, but first, I just wanted to remind everybody about our Patreon, which we launched a couple weeks ago. The goal of this… we’re trying to raise money to spend more time in the wizarding world and less time in the real world, and we are currently about halfway towards our goal to beginning to do two episodes of the show a month, and then at our next goal, we will do a show weekly, returning to weekly. And as the past month has told us, it’s a really exciting time to be a Harry Potter fan; there’s so much to talk about. And even though this episode and recent episodes have been news, once we begin doing more episodes of MuggleCast, we’re going to get back into the books, we’re going to explore other areas of fandom… so it’s going to be really awesome. And the people who have pledged so far, thank you to those of you who have. We’ve gotten some amazing letters from people saying you’ve been listening since the beginning and all that, and it’s just been really nice to read, and we’ve got some great questions from patrons, which we’re going to read a couple of later. So visit Patreon.com/MuggleCast. You can pledge either $2 or $5 a month. At $5 a month, you will get a signed album art signed by Eric, Micah, and myself, and also a MuggleCast T-shirt, plus we will be releasing bonus MuggleCast segments exclusively on Patreon.
Eric: That’s right.
Andrew: So check it out. Check out Patreon.com/MuggleCast for more information, and thank you to everybody who does pledge. We are very excited about what’s ahead.
Eric: I completely agree. Thank you so much.
Pottermore’s new Sorting quiz
Andrew: So moving on to our Pottermore discussion now… [laughs] This was going to be the big news of this episode.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: And we were going to do some other stuff.
Eric: Oh, what would have been.
Andrew: We were like, “Let’s show people what we can do as a weekly podcast. We won’t do only news.” But then all this big news happens. So anyway, first of all, Pottermore finally brought back the Sorting Hat quiz. Did y’all take it?
Eric: Yeah.
Jeanna: I refuse to retake it because I like my original.
Andrew: I like you.
[Jeanna laughs]
Eric: Because it gave you the option to restore, if you could log into your old username. Because I was having fun taking it, but I forgot my original password. I still remembered my username for some reason, but I forgot my original password. I didn’t want to reset it; it was too much work. Basically, the day that the old Pottermore was going away, and they told you that it was going away, you could go in and screenshot your homepage, and it showed you what your wand is and what your House was. So I still have that screenshot somewhere of what my wand was and stuff. You can restore it if you remember your password. But for me, I just decided to take it again. I also wanted to see if I would get Gryffindor, because I always thought I was kind of a Gryffindor/Hufflepuff combo, but I got Hufflepuff the first time. So I took it again, but I had to sign up with a new account because I couldn’t remember my old one, etc., etc. Got Hufflepuff again, and then, because it was so easy to just make a new account again under the new Pottermore, it was even less work… because remember, you had to go through the first few chapters originally under a new account before you could Sort? So with it just being a regular website now, I could log in and sign up and do it right away. So that was really handy. So in ten minutes, I took the new Sorting quiz twice, and I actually got Hufflepuff both times.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Jeanna: Aww.
Eric: So I have to give up… my robes are being auctioned off over on Patreon.com/MuggleCast.
[Andrew and Pam laugh]
Jeanna: Those robes…
Eric: Those robes are the best robes ever, and I’ve had them since 2004.
Jeanna: They’ve been through some times.
Andrew: Jeanna, do the robes smell?
Eric: No, they don’t smell. You can dry clean them. That’s a thing that people do with things that get worn today.
Jeanna: I plead the fifth.
Andrew: You plead the fifth? Did you hear that, Eric? They stink.
Eric: They don’t smell. Stop it.
[Andrew and Jeanna laugh]
Eric: They have been to England and Scotland, and they smell like both.
Jeanna: They are well traveled, I have to say. Though, they also have been patched several times.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Eric: Once. By your mom.
Jeanna: Shout out.
Eric: Tell everybody how good a job your mom did on the armpit of the left arm. But anyway, these robes I have to get rid of because I’m actually just three times a Hufflepuff.
Andrew: So I had a similar experience. As listeners of the show know, I’ve always been very skeptical of the Pottermore quiz Sorting Hat quiz, the original one, because I thought it was weighing results to make sure that the people were Sorted into Hogwarts Houses equally. And by that, I mean the House is populated roughly equally. That seemed to be what was happening, in my opinion. Some people disagreed; that’s fine. So I got Gryffindor back when I took the quiz in 2011 or 2012.
Eric: Congrats.
Andrew: [laughs] Thank you. I took it this time: Ravenclaw. Freaking Ravenclaw. All these years, I thought I was a Gryffindor. I’ve been betrayed by Pottermore. I don’t like it. I wrote a thing on Hypable saying you all need to take it again, and a lot of people had the same results, just like you, Eric!
Eric: You had a different result!
Andrew: What?
Eric: You had a different result.
Andrew: Yes! I’m not happy. Let me clarify something: There’s nothing wrong with Ravenclaws; it’s just that I have identified as Gryffindor for a while. I received Gryffindor socks for Christmas. It’s my very first Gryffindor merchandise ever.
Eric: So you had just committed. You had just committed to Gryffindor, and then the socks have been pulled off your feet…
Andrew: [laughs] Exactly.
Eric: … because now the new Pottermore says that you’re Ravenclaw.
Andrew: Well, I didn’t even get the chance to wear them, and now I can’t wear them. I would be so disgusted with myself.
Pam: [laughs] Well, it’s okay. You can send them to me, because I get Gryffindor every time I take a Sorting quiz.
Andrew: Oh, lucky.
Eric: Okay.
Pam: I know.
Andrew: So some people are speculating – and this is a valid point – you may get Sorted differently as you age because you answer different questions, but I just still… and like I said, people have been running into the issue where they’ve been Sorted differently. Pottermore is claiming, “Well, it’s just because maybe you grew up. You changed a little bit.” Do you guys buy that theory?
Eric: No, I don’t buy that.
Pam: I do, actually.
Jeanna: Oh, yeah.
Pam: Yeah, it’s like the Myers-Briggs personality test. I remember the first time I took that I was a freshman in high school, and I got something completely different, and then I took it again not very long ago, and it’s just… yeah, you just change. You grow up, and yeah.
Andrew: They relaunched the Sorting Hat quiz at A Celebration of Harry Potter in Orlando, where Rupert Grint was, and he was Sorted into Hufflepuff. [laughs]
Jeanna: I felt so bad for him.
Eric: What? Why? That was awesome.
[Andrew laughs]
Jeanna: Because he’s known as one of the true Gryffindors, and he’s probably identified that way forever.
Pam: But you know what? But Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors… you guys, people forget that there’s a lot of overlap in terms of the basic qualities.
Eric: That’s true.
Pam: There’s so much overlap with Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. That’s why I always tell everybody I’m 70% Gryffindor and 30% Puff. It’s a thing.
Jeanna: I have to say, Pamela, I totally agree with you, because I have a theory that of all the Houses, there is a fine line between one House and Hufflepuff. Every House and Hufflepuff.
Pam: Hufflepuff is the glue that holds everything together. It’s so true.
Eric: Yes!
Jeanna: I don’t know about that…
[Andrew laughs]
Jeanna: I think there’s a fine line…
Pam: They can go in between all the people. They’re just there to have a good time, they’re there to make all the friends, and that’s why it works.
Jeanna: True. I get that. To me, it’s just how you use your powers. Do you want to use it for this way or this way?
Eric: So I want to ask… because you guys obviously took the Pottermore quiz the first time. Did you feel like it was the exact same quiz? Because I was shocked, actually, about… because I remembered questions that I had forgotten that were on the first quiz.
Pam: You know what? My whole thing was I feel like I answered four questions on this new one, and I swear to God, I was there for a half hour the first time around. Did it seem shorter? I wonder if it’s just dependent on what you say…
Eric: It’s the artwork, isn’t it? It’s the way that… it’s the feel and the mood, because the way you’re answering questions, it was almost like… it wasn’t a drop down list, but it felt much more website-y and it felt much quicker this time.
Jeanna: Wasn’t the last…? The first quiz, wasn’t it seven questions?
Eric: Was it?
Jeanna: Did I make that up?
Pam: No way. It had to have been way longer, unless I sat there for way too long thinking about it.
Eric: I think we all sat there for way too long, reading the…
Andrew: I think so too.
Eric: Aside from everything else.
Jeanna: I feel like it may have been between seven to ten questions, depending on if you were kind of in the middle and they needed a couple more, but – I could be way wrong on this – I think it was supposed to be seven questions. But yeah, and like I said, I haven’t taken the new quiz, but I think it was the artwork and you had to pick things out of a picture on certain ones.
Eric: It was interactive, the way Pottermore used to be.
Andrew and Jeanna: Yeah.
Andrew: And I mean, the reason that this one looks more bare bones – and like Eric was saying, not exactly drop down, but it kind of had that feeling – is because they want it to work on the phones too now and tablets and whatnot…
Eric: Right, so you can get Sorted on the phone.
Andrew: … so they just wanted to make it more accessible, yeah.
Eric: I will say, though, there were more questions this time around, and it’s not that they are new questions; it’s just that every person… you would get all different questions if you could actually sit through taking the old test, starting a new account, taking the old test twice, because I think I did that. I was in denial about being a Hufflepuff. You get pretty much all different questions, but this time they’ve sort of given any one person more of those questions, I think, if that makes sense. So I do think that it’s… but still, ultimately for me, both times when I was taking the new quiz still came down to at the very… the very last question either is a double… there’s only two answers. It’s “Right or left?”; it’s “Black or white?” Both times, that was the last question, and I chose right and light, I think. But I always wondered, did it really come down to that? Could I have gotten a different House end result if I had just chosen the other path? And I guess we’ll never know. I want to bring up: Do you think it’s a little bit sad or ridiculous that it’s permanent on Pottermore?
Andrew: What’s permanent? Your House Sorting?
Eric: The House Sorting, yeah. Because it was before, and I understand that’s tied to the common room that you used to be able to hang out in, so I understand that completely. But under the new Pottermore, it’s less that way, but it’s still something that is, in fact, permanent, and you can’t take the quiz again once you have already taken it. I feel like…
Andrew: I think it’s just like the books. I mean, that’s how it is in the books. And I think it loses its specialness – is that a word? – when you do have the option to retake it, because if there was a big retake button right there, that would be sad.
Eric: Would it? Because for me, as an educational tool, though, I would spend so much more time on Pottermore taking that quiz over and over again, trying to get other Houses, not because I have an identity crisis, but because…
Andrew: You said yourself, it’s possible.
Jeanna: Just make a new email address.
Eric: I already have five accounts on Pottermore. But no, I…
Jeanna: Then if you get Hufflepuff on all of them, I’m sorry. You don’t know how to play the system.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: But I want to know… I’m just that much a Puff! What I’m saying is I would learn a lot more about Ravenclaw and Slytherin and Gryffindor, objectively, if I could take the quiz and choose, maybe, and play around. I would workshop it. I’d choose only one question, give a different answer to, and figure out, “Oh, so that’s what makes a Gryffindor a Gryffindor.” You see what I’m saying? I would really want to…
Andrew: I got you.
Eric: Because I’m really into that dynamic, so I would want to play with it a little bit more. I think as an educational tool, only being able to take it once is more gimmicky still.
Worldwide Wizarding Schools
Andrew: So let’s move on. Still a lot to talk about.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: The other big announcement from Pottermore was – and by the way, they did this at A Celebration of Harry Potter as well – they revealed four new wizarding schools in the world, including the one in the USA, which was big news, because we’ve always heard… we heard these Salem talks, but J.K. Rowling later said that was just a joke in Goblet of Fire, which misled a lot of people, by the way.
Eric: People were very upset.
Andrew: Yeah. So the American wizarding school is named Ilvermorny…
[prolonged pause]
Andrew: … and it’s a weird name.
Eric: The silence is palpable.
[Jeanna laughs]
Eric: That’s the nicest thing you could have said about Ilvermorny. [laughs]
Andrew: Well, that’s the only thing we know right now about it. So we know it’s going to be mentioned, at least, in Fantastic Beasts this November. The other four schools that were revealed were Uagadou in Africa, Mahoutokoro… I’m just reading the pronunciations, by the way. That one’s in Japan. And then in Brazil is Castelobruxo. [pronounces ending as “bro-shoo”]
Jeanna: I think “broo-shoo.”
Andrew: “Broo-shoo.” It’s not “bro”?
Jeanna: I think it’s “broo” because there’s two O’s.
Andrew: No, you’re right.
Eric: I can tell you’re a Gryffindor, Andrew, because you very boldly attempted those pronunciations.
Andrew: Oh, thank you. Thank you for making me feel better about wearing the socks.
[Andrew and Jeanna laugh]
Eric: Don’t listen to new Pottermore. Put those socks on right now.
Andrew: My feet are getting cold.
Pam: You can keep your socks.
[Andrew and Pam laugh]
Andrew: So I guess let’s start at Ilvermorny. Unfortunately, we don’t have much information. They have a page for it on Pottermore, but it just says, “Coming soon.”
Eric: Augh.
Andrew: But we do know it’s in the Northeast US, it looks like.
Eric: Oh, actually, I heard it looked like it was in Canada. I didn’t actually look at the map. Some people… yeah.
Andrew: Well, yes, it does look like it’s touching Canada, but in Pottermore’s press release, they themselves say, “It looks like.” “It looks like it’s in the Northeast US.”
Eric: [laughs] That’s interesting.
Andrew: So they confirmed it, but they didn’t.
Jeanna: I remember being very on top of their Twitter that day because I wanted to see more of this map, and I swear either Pottermore or even J.K. Rowling said it’s not in Canada. It looks like it’s in Canada, but it’s not Canada. Because so many people tweeted about it and said, “That’s not in America; that’s Canada.”
Eric: Well, it’s in North America. That’s the whole thing, is… and I think it was maybe a tweet from J.K. Rowling, or the way Pottermore phrased it, but they said, “The North American school is Ilvermorny,” but the continent of North America includes all of Canada.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: So they were like, “Well, wait a minute. Do the Americans not get a school for just the United States?”
Jeanna: We’re so greedy.
Andrew: Yeah. “The US deserves their own school!”
[Andrew and Jeanna laugh]
Eric: Well, no, I mean… well, yeah, it’s interesting that there are… how many schools are there worldwide? Is it said? We just got the other ones. We just got this information on these other schools, which is really cool, but then it’s like, “Why isn’t there one in the US? The US is the best.” So I do get that, but I will say, I do remember before… this was probably having something to do with Fantastic Beasts and J.K. Rowling on Twitter, but somebody asked a question about Native American magic, and Jo commented a little bit on it, but then said, “I don’t want to comment further, because…” something like the name would give it away, or she said something to the effect of, “The more I tell you, the more it’ll spoil the surprise.” But essentially, it was confirmation that some of old Native American history would come into play in the type of magic that’s taught at the American wizarding school. So I still want to know… and I’m very surprised that there hasn’t been sort of an etymologist who’s been like, “I can decode what ‘Ilvermorny’ means,” for five minutes of fame.
Andrew: Actually, a friend pointed out to me – this may just be coincidence – but if you look at the letters, “IL” could mean Illinois, “VER” could mean Vermont, “MOR” not sure about, but “NY,” New York. I mean, it could? [laughs] He may have been overthinking it.
Jeanna: “M” I don’t know, but “OR” could be Oregon. And New York…
Andrew: Yeah, but why Oregon?
Eric: “Verm…”
Andrew: At least the others are in the Northeast, kind of.
Eric: Well, Oregon is beautiful. [laughs]
Jeanna: Yeah, Oregon is the outlier.
Andrew: So we were hoping that Jo would have released more information by the time we recorded, but again, we recorded earlier than expected because of Cursed Child. So who knows when she’s going to release more? But there was a tweet she sent out about… somebody asked her about Sorting in Ilvermorny and a Sorting quiz, and she hinted that there’s going to be a Sorting quiz for Ilvermorny. That’s the impression I got, so hopefully that’s true. But so the three other schools… we don’t want to spend too much time on these this episode.
Eric: I do love these. These are all very interesting.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s cool. So Africa, we learn, has a small number of wizarding schools, but “there is only one that has stood the test of time,” and that’s Uagadou. And it’s “achieved an enviable international reputation. The largest of all wizarding schools, it welcomes students from all over the enormous continent. The only address ever given is ‘Mountains of the Moon’; visitors speak of a stunning edifice carved out of the mountainside and shrouded in mist, so that it sometimes appears to float in mid-air.”
Jeanna: Like Brigadoon, but in Africa.
Andrew: [laughs] And with each of these, Pottermore has an illustration, which is pretty cool as well.
Eric: Yeah, that is cool. I have to say, even in this write-up, it is said that… let’s see. “Much (some would say all) magic originated in Africa, and Uagadou graduates are especially well versed -“ and it gives their specialties “- in astronomy, alchemy, and self-transfiguration.” And putting Africa on this pedestal as being the origin – I mean, it’s the cradle of life – but the origin of magic kind of puts the magical arts of astronomy, alchemy, and self-transfiguration, I think, above all other practices of magic, wouldn’t you agree?
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: It kind of just makes… if those people, if that’s what they’re good at… well, then again, also it’s stated in this article that the wand is a European invention, so actually, these wizards aren’t using wands, so perhaps it’s that alchemy and astronomy are basically disciplines you can study without needing a wand or without using a wand. So maybe it’s just that.
Andrew: So the school in Japan, Mahoutokoro… this one little interesting tidbit from the Pottermore writing: “Students are presented with enchanted robes when they arrive, which grow in size as they do…” So Eric, just like you, they hold on to their robes for a long time.
[Andrew and Jeanna laugh]
Eric: I bet their robes smell more than mine do.
Andrew: [laughs] “… and which gradually change color as the learning of their wearer increases, beginning a faint pink color and becoming (if top grades are achieved in every magical subject) gold. If the robes turn white, this is an indication that the student has betrayed the Japanese wizard’s code and adopted illegal practices (which in Europe we call ‘Dark’ magic) or broken the International Statute of Secrecy. To ‘turn white’ is a terrible disgrace, which results in instant expulsion from the school and trial at the Japanese Ministry for Magic.”
Jeanna: I’m so intrigued by this. I have so many questions about these robes. If they’re white ones, are they always white? Do they have Houses at the school, or is it just different colored robes? I want to know. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, and it’s also just…
Pam: It’s such an invasion of privacy, though. What if I don’t want you guys to know?
Eric: Yeah, your robes are betraying you!
Jeanna: I have to agree with that, yeah.
Pam: You’re like, shaming the students.
[Jeanna laughs]
Andrew: I mean, can you take the robes off? Or are they stuck with you? [laughs]
Eric: You can never take the robes off.
[Pam laughs]
Eric: I wonder if it’s like if the robes turn white, you can’t hide it by jumping into a pool of black ink. [laughs] It’s just non-staining robes.
Andrew: Probably.
Jeanna: Students are trained to change their robes back. Like, “No, it’s yellow! It’s yellow!”
Eric: Also, it’s very superficial status. Like, “Oh, these are the elite; they’re in gold,” that kind of thing. But it’s not any different than any other culture anywhere. I just think it’s an interesting facet to have these enchanted robes and how that organically came to be as something that these students are known for, or that the school has decided to enforce is actually just really kind of brilliant in its total uniqueness.
Andrew: Yeah. And then the final school, Castelobruxo. This is “the Brazilian school for magic, which takes students from all over South America,” and it’s “found hidden deep within the rainforest. The fabulous castle appears to be a ruin to the few Muggle eyes that have ever fallen upon it (a trick shared by Hogwarts). Castelobruxo is an imposing square edifice of golden rock, often compared to a temple.” These students “wear bright green robes and are especially advanced in both Herbology and Magizoology; the school offers very popular exchange programs for European students who wish to study the magical flora and fauna of South America.” So it just… these are also great reminders of how creative J.K. Rowling’s mind is.
Eric: 100% agree.
Andrew: And then you also wonder, how long has she had all this info?
Eric: Oh, that’s a good question. Well, what I like about Castelobruxo…
Andrew: You pronounce it so much better.
Eric: I just said it faster. That was all. That was the only difference. [laughs] The important thing… the cool thing about [says it slowly] Castelobruxo…
Andrew: Thank you.
Eric: … is the tie to Hogwarts. I think this is a brilliant rounding out of us learning about other schools. Not that this isn’t completely different, because it is, but there’s both the shared trick of the eye for Muggles, which is connected to Hogwarts; I like the idea that some of these magic schools have something in common with one another! Because this is the one where it’s like, “Oh, that also shares that.” And there’s a story about Headmaster Dippet complaining to the Headmistress, Benedita Dorado, that Peeves was a problem, to which I believe – oh yeah, Headmistress – she replied that he should experience the Caipora, who are “small and furry spirit-beings that are extraordinarily mischievous and tricky, and who emerge under cover of night to watch over the students and the creatures who live in the forest.” So there’s these little, tiny spirit creatures that are mysterious that surround Castelobruxo, which is amazing, I think.
Andrew: The other thing that… I kind of had a big change of heart about the encyclopedia when I was reading all this. I think the fact that J.K. Rowling debuted all this information on Pottermore – and she’s going to debut all this information about Ilvermorny on Pottermore – confirms… I hate to say it, but it confirms that J.K. Rowling is all in on digital now, and there won’t be an encyclopedia.
Eric: Augh.
Andrew: I think this is the encyclopedia.
Jeanna: Boo.
Andrew: We have it here! We just don’t know it, because they’re not calling it that. [laughs]
Eric: I love how invested you are in talking about the encyclopedia. [laughs]
Andrew: Well, the one thing that did it for me were these amazing illustrations of the schools. They commissioned these for Pottermore.
Eric: They’re pretty good, yeah.
Jeanna: I want more, though. I want a better picture of these schools. I doubt we’ll get it, but I mean…
Eric: I want video games set at these schools.
Andrew: I mean, some people also argued, “Well, maybe this all will just be printed in the encyclopedia,” but I don’t know. I think this is the biggest Pottermore info drop yet, and I think it means that there won’t be an encyclopedia anytime soon, at least.
Eric: I don’t know. If Pottermore reforms itself four more times and overhauls itself four more times, I think it might be a little bit more suitable.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: They just need…
Jeanna: I think…
Eric: Go on.
Jeanna: No, I was just saying, I think in 30 years, she would say, “All right, I’ve given you all I have, or all I’m going to give you. Put out the book. Here’s your encyclopedia. It’s actually just Pottermore.” [laughs]
Eric: Oh, yeah, I guess it would be like a Cursed Child book thing all over again, right? If she wants to add more details, they have to put out a new edition of the encyclopedia.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: But then again, encyclopedias exist to be added to. History is always moving.
Andrew: Pam, any closing thoughts on the wizarding schools?
Pam: I just want to know more, like you guys. So hopefully that comes soon, because these descriptions are… they’re like a little tease, so you just want to know what else is going on in Rowling’s mind. And I don’t even… has she even made it up yet? Or is she just going as…? So it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of months, and then what we learn also in Fantastic Beasts when that comes out in November.
Andrew: Yeah, I have a feeling there’s not going to be too much in Fantastic Beasts about it, because I think what they’ve said so far is that there will be mentions, but we’re not going to the school. Newt is not going to the school.
Eric: No, no, but we’ll have met wizards in that film that have gone there, which is awesome.
Andrew: Yeah, that is cool.
A Celebration of Harry Potter
Andrew: So there was a behind-the-scenes featurette released at Celebration of Harry Potter as well, and there’s a lot of cool… no new footage from the actual movie, but cool behind-the-scenes footage. We see J.K. Rowling meeting with the lead cast, including Eddie Redmayne. We get some nice interviews from David Heyman and David Yates, the producer and director. Just a couple highlights from this: Eddie Redmayne said on the film’s plot, “This one catalyst sets in motion this insane amount of events that just cause chaos.”
Eric: Interesting.
Andrew: So that should get us excited, because things will be pretty crazy, I guess. The character named Jacob, played by Dan Fogler, is just back from the war and trying to open a bakery when he meets Newt.
[Eric and Jeanna laugh]
Andrew: He’s the Peeta of this story.
Pam: Yes. [laughs]
Jeanna: I think he’s going to be the comic relief.
Andrew: Yeah, and he’s the only significant Muggle. He’s the first…
Eric: I love that. I think that’s brilliant, that they have a Muggle as a main cast member.
Pam: Isn’t Ezra Miller also going to be a Muggle? Or am I making that up? Did I get that confused?
Eric: Oooh.
Andrew: He’s the son of that woman who we just have a bad feeling about.
Pam: Oh, okay, so he’s just kind of living up in the air. All right.
Andrew: Well, we were speculating, actually, on the last episode, I think, that he is going to secretly be a wizard, or secretly disagree with his mother, who hates wizards. Something like that.
Pam: Interesting.
Eric: I think he’ll turn out to be Luke Skywalker’s child.
[Andrew and Pam laugh]
Andrew: You think he’s Rey.
Eric: No, no, no. [laughs]
Jeanna: So we’re going to find him at the top of the mountain at the ending handing off the lightsaber?
Andrew: [laughs] Yes, and then he will have a significant role in Episode II of Fantastic Beasts.
Eric: It’ll be Plymouth Rock, though, because we’re in New England.
[Andrew laughs]
Jeanna: Okay. You’re right, you’re right.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Producer David Heyman explained in this video that each of the four lead characters are outsiders who are “coming into themselves” over the course of the story.
Eric: That’s cool. I just… that was what, for me, was most moving and tear-inducing, is hearing and watching David Yates and David Heyman talk about this new thing that hasn’t come out yet…
Andrew: Right.
Eric: … as if it were currently existing, which it’s currently doing, and we haven’t… seeing those guys back, I know we’ve known for a very long time that they were, but having them talk about this new project, it’s just like the old days.
Andrew: I totally agree.
Eric: It’s just like even turning on Maximum Movie Mode with the old Deathly Hallows or Half-Blood Prince DVDs and watching these guys talk about the movie. They’re just as happy to be doing this as they were ten years ago, and it’s the coolest thing.
Andrew: Yeah. And David Heyman says one other thing: “It’s funny, it’s moving, it’s thrilling.” The moving part is what got me, because J.K. Rowling absolutely moved people during the Harry Potter books, so if she’s able to do that again in Fantastic Beasts, that’s very good news.
Eric: Yeah, I agree. The featurette and these interviews and stuff, they’re sort of turning my anticipation into genuine enthusiasm. I’m more interested in this film every time I see something new from it.
Andrew: And so again, remember, the Sorting Hat quiz and the wizarding schools, oh, a Cursed Child behind-the-scenes video of the theater, and this Fantastic Beasts behind-the-scenes video all came out at A Celebration of Harry Potter in Orlando. They are turning this into a Comic-Con for Harry Potter fans, a Star Wars Celebration for Harry Potter fans.
Eric: They really are.
Andrew: It seems like this is the fourth one, I think?
Jeanna: Third.
Andrew: Third? Future ones will probably be a destination to debut new stuff.
Eric: I think you’re exactly right. I think that’s exactly what they’re trying to do.
Jeanna: I agree.
Eric: And also, the cast this year. They killed it with getting Matt Lewis and Rupert and Evanna and Katie and Bonnie were all there. That’s the best star lineup that they’ve had so far. Granted, Robbie Coltrane did fall ill; he was supposed to be there last year with Michael Gambon and Evanna and the Phelps twins. But this year, I don’t know. It was even more magical, I think, this year.
Jeanna: I was very surprised he didn’t come this year, because he did take ill. Yeah, I think they had a really good mix of people, of main cast and the new people. I thought it was a very good mix.
Andrew: Regarding Robbie Coltrane, he’s getting old, so I don’t think traveling is that… he’s not really up for traveling much anymore. When I saw him at the Wizarding World Diagon Alley opening, he was walking with a cane, and it kind of bummed me out to see him hobbling around like that, because you picture him as Hagrid and this larger than life figure, and there’s Robbie Coltrane hobbling around. Made me sad. [laughs] As I laugh.
Eric: No, yeah, that’s sad.
Jeanna: Well, I think Maggie Smith, who is definitely…
Eric: She has to come to a Celebration.
Jeanna: She refuses to travel now.
Andrew: Oh, really?
Jeanna: I believe… she’s always, for some reason, nominated for a Golden Globe for something she’s done, and I don’t think the last seven years has come. She just… she’s done.
Andrew: She doesn’t appear at Oscars and stuff like that.
Jeanna: Yeah. If it’s an American award, she won’t come, because she doesn’t need to. [laughs]
Andrew: It’s fine. I mean, yeah. Exactly.
Jeanna: You’re Maggie Smith. It’s fine. [laughs]
Eric: There’s nothing like a Dame.
Andrew: If you want to see her, watch Downton Abbey. [laughs] Oh, wait, no, it’s ending! I’m out of options!
[Eric laughs]
Patreon questions
Andrew: So to wrap up the show today, a few questions from our early supporters at Patreon.com/MuggleCast. We got a lot of questions, and we’re going to get to more next time; it’s just that we had so much to talk about this time, we had to cut this segment shorter. We did answer a bunch of questions during this show, so that’s good, but then we also got some other questions here. Morgan asks, and this is going back to the wizarding school discussion,
“How early do you think J.K. Rowling had developed these foreign schools? I like to think that they existed in her mind as she was writing Potter, which brings up the question of why didn’t any of these schools/magical communities participate in the Battle of Hogwarts?”
Eric: Oh, there’s always that question, isn’t it? It’s the trump question. Thanks, Morgan. I don’t know. The books are the story of Harry and the story of England.
Andrew: Yeah, and you know what? I’ve seen this question come up before, regarding why didn’t other schools or foreign wizards come in to help the Battle of Hogwarts. I think just from a writing perspective, it was so busy as is, there just wasn’t room for that.
Eric: Jo was really ambitious, and early on introduced Viktor Krum and the other wizarding schools. Oh, yeah, I guess… you know what? In addition to this, let’s just put this on the record: There’s still Beauxbatons and Durmstrang as other wizarding schools. I just totally forgot for 20 minutes that they existed in the world. Sorry, that’s maybe a me thing, but if one listener benefited, great. But in general, I agree. It’s very small scale… it’s still the battle for the world. That’s the thing about the Harry Potter books; the final battle is meant to be sort of… and Voldemort, his end game is probably to take over the entire world, but he is finished when he’s pretty much just got England and maybe Europe, it’s fair to say. But he doesn’t quite get to worldwide proportions to the point where people from Brazil should be on Hogwarts grounds fighting him. I think kind of, in a way, the world was spared from that.
Andrew: Next question is from Helen. “Do you think Ilvermorny will have similar Houses to Hogwarts?”
Jeanna: I hope so.
Eric: I almost… I don’t know. The housing system is kind of… it’s very British, very boarding school-ish thing, right?
Andrew: In terms of the characteristics? The traits?
Eric: Well, no, no, not the traits, because actually, the traits are legendary and mythological and all that other stuff. But I think the system… we speculated just moments ago about Japan, and the Brazil people all wear light green robes, no matter what color, what House they’re in, presumably. I’d like to see it where it’s not broken into the House system. Maybe America is, because America and England are always very similar. But I wouldn’t be surprised if not all of the schools have the House system.
Andrew: Yeah. Jeanna, where do you fall?
Jeanna: I hope the American school has Houses. I think of any of the other schools, this one will be closest to Hogwarts. But I do think it’ll be different, and I think the House system in general will be different. I think it’ll be broken down a lot differently. I don’t know how, and I’m very intrigued. Maybe it’ll be more of a… rather than a House thing, a tribal thing, to get the Native American feel.
Eric: Oooh.
Jeanna: That would be interesting. I don’t know. I’m hopeful and intrigued, and I want more, so I don’t know. [laughs]
Andrew: I want an Ilvermorny shirt right now.
Jeanna: I do want crests for all the Houses. I mean, not all the Houses, all the schools.
Andrew: Oh, yeah, for sure. But you know what? I want an Ilvermorny shirt, because I think it’d be super cool to wear it right now out in public, and basically nobody would understand what it is, so it’d be like this secret code word that nobody…
Eric: You posted that ten minutes after she announced the name. You were like, “I want a letterman jersey with ‘Ilvermorny’ on it.”
Andrew: Exactly!
Eric: I was with you. I thought that was pretty fun.
Jeanna: You just need to take the artwork, put it on your own shirt, and just walk around and see what happens.
Andrew: Yeah, maybe I’ll try that.
[Jeanna laughs]
Andrew: Warner Bros. will come down on me. “This isn’t official!” And then final question from Maggie: “Honesty hour: What was your very first impression of the Harry Potter books? And how did that perception change?”
Eric: Wow.
Andrew: Yeah. Sorry, it just got deep for a second. [laughs]
Eric: Let’s let the ladies go first.
Andrew: Pam?
Pam: I guess I’ll go first. Yeah, sure. So I was 11 or 12, and my brother bought the book home – the first one – and he was a little younger than me, and I was like, “This book looks stupid. There’s a kid with glasses on it. I’m not going to read this. Go away.” And then I read it, and I was like, “This book is awesome. What was I thinking?”
[Andrew and Pam laugh]
Pam: I judged a book by its cover.
[Jeanna laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, you didn’t have a totally positive impression at the outset.
Pam: Yeah, just because I just looked at the cover, and I was like, “No, this looks lame.” I thought I was so cool because I was reading the classics; I was trying to go through classic fairytales and stuff like that at the time, and I was like, “This is not for me.” Yeah, and then I was hooked by not even the first chapter, and that was done. That was it.
Andrew: Jeanna?
Jeanna: My mom brought the first book home for me, and she said, “This lady at work says her daughter can’t stop talking about this book,” and I think I was in eighth grade at the time, and she handed me the book. I remember going upstairs and reading a little bit before dinner, and I was like, “This book is awesome.”
[Andrew laughs]
Jeanna: And then I couldn’t stop talking about it, and my family was like, “We don’t understand what you’re saying, but you’re very enthusiastic about it, so how about we all read this book?” And then I got them all hooked, so I have a Potter family.
Andrew: That’s awesome.
Eric: Yeah, if you search on Twitter hashtag #MyPotterFamily, it’s pretty much all Jeanna talking about the crazy stuff her parents say to her.
[Jeanna laughs]
Andrew: Oh, that’s funny.
Jeanna: It’s hilarious. I think I told Eric the first time he came for… maybe it was Christmas, maybe it was a different family dinner at my house, and I was like, “I’m not kidding you. We’re going to talk about Potter at the dinner table, so please be prepared. Know that they’re not just asking this because you’re there; they’re asking this because these are the types of things we discuss.”
[Andrew laughs]
Jeanna: And it actually happened! He was like, “That really happened at the dinner table.” I’m like, “Yup, what did I tell you was going to happen?”
Eric: Jeanna’s family is wizards. Going back… I think I’ve probably told this story on MuggleCast before, so I’ll keep it short. I first read the first chapter of Goblet of Fire. I thought Harry Potter was overhyped; I thought it was a little lame, because I didn’t understand. It’s like, “Oh, there’s this boy wizard. Oh, there’s this evil man trying to get him. Oh, brother.” That was knowing nothing. That was before I picked up the book. Then I picked up Chapter 1 of Goblet of Fire, where it’s like, “Wormtail,” who I didn’t know who that was or what the significance was, so I was confused, and Big Hangleton and Little Hangleton, and it’s this third person narrative. I didn’t understand it at all, so I put the book down, and it was two years before I gave it another chance. Of course, that other chance was the movie, which changed my life. But I was very skeptical at first, so my first impression was, “Yeah, it’s kind of weird, and I don’t understand it. I don’t know what’s happening.”
Andrew: I love how the movie was your first… that’s what really got you going. That’s interesting.
Eric: It turned me around, because I was not having that first chapter of Goblet of Fire. I didn’t understand. Of course, you start with Book 4, you’re not going to understand things.
Andrew: Yeah. For me, it was read to me in fourth grade. That was what my teacher decided to read to the class.
Eric: Awesome.
Andrew: Yeah, and we read… I mean, obviously it was so long ago now, but I guess a chapter a day or a couple chapters a day. I don’t know.
Eric: Yeah, you never know.
Andrew: Yeah, and my first impression was I really liked it, and I do remember still to this day after my teacher finished reading it, sometime after that – I can’t remember what the timeline was – but I remember going into Barnes & Noble and seeing Chamber of Secrets right at the front, because it had just come out, and it was that cardboard standee promoting Chamber of Secrets with the books in it. I still remember… I still have that memory in my head. And of course, I bought it and started reading it.
Eric: The standee? You bought the standee?
Andrew: No, no, I wish.
Eric: Oh, okay.
Andrew: No, just the book.
Jeanna: Oh my God, that standee would be worth so much money.
Eric: It’d be worth a lot of money.
[Jeanna laughs]
Andrew: In a couple of my early Harry Potter books at the very beginning, I wrote the start and finish dates of when I started…
Eric: Oh, that’s awesome.
Pam: That’s so cute.
Jeanna: I love that.
Andrew: The next time I’m home…. or maybe I’ll… well, maybe I’ll ask my brother to do it for me, just to take pictures. I have considered Instagramming it before, but I put my return address sticker – I used to have those for envelopes with my return address – right above it.
Eric: Oh, cool.
Andrew: Well, I don’t know why I did that, though. So I can’t Instagram it, because I put my family’s house on it. [laughs]
Eric: You’re going to need some Photoshop work.
Jeanna: I think you did it in case your book got lost.
Pam: Yeah, I was going to say, that sounds like something your mom or dad would have told you to do.
[Jeanna laughs]
Pam: Like, “Andrew, if you take it to school, you’d better put your information on it.”
Eric: Oh, God.
Andrew: That makes sense.
[Pam laughs]
Eric: “Because you only have one copy of this book ever.”
Pam: Exactly.
Andrew: All right, I’ll have to get those and then do something with them.
Eric: You’ve got to Photoshop it out, the dangerous parts. That’s adorable. That’s better than marking your height against a wall.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: That’s cuter. You’ve trumped that. It’s so much cuter.
Jeanna: That is so cute. [laughs]
Andrew: I’m glad you guys like it.
Eric: We just got a question, real quick, I think we can address from John Curl on Patreon, who said, “Will you guys ever do a movie commentary again?” How many movie commentaries did we do ever? Do you remember?
Andrew: Just one?
Eric: I thought we just did the one.
Andrew: I think we just did the one. Yeah, we can certainly consider doing that again.
Eric: I would say it’s on the table, just in response to…
Andrew: Maybe on anniversaries or something. I feel like that’d be an appropriate time to do it.
Eric: Oh, that’d be cool.
Andrew: But yeah, if people like them, then yeah, we’ll do whatever.
Eric: Every November 16.
Andrew: [laughs] I mean the anniversary of that particular movie.
Eric: Oh, yeah. Well, actually, November 16, 2016 is the 15th anniversary of the first movie.
Andrew: So Episode 244, we did Deathly Hallows – Part 2 commentary, so it was the last movie?
Eric: Ah, okay.
Jeanna: You guys only did one movie, though.
Andrew: I know. Aren’t we lame?
Jeanna: I swore you guys did more than one.
Andrew: Thanks to Morgan May, who’s listening live and commented, “It’s Deathly Hallows – Part 2!”
Eric: Oh, thank you, Morgan May.
Andrew: [laughs] Like I mentioned, that person commented live… actually, we’re streaming this live through the Patreon right now. We just kind of did it as a little test, a last minute thing to give everybody an extra bonus. So I think it went well. I mean, we were just doing audio only, but I thought it’d be fun for our patrons to get this little added bonus. So maybe we’ll start doing that again in the future. Thank you, everybody, for listening. Jeanna and Pam, thanks so much for coming on, again. It was great to have you on. I think that’s about it. Hopefully Micah won’t be traveling next time, so he’ll be back.
Eric: He’s visiting his girlfriend who lives in Canada.
[Andrew and Jeanna laugh]
Andrew: I don’t think that’s what’s happening, but I’m sure he’ll…
Eric: He is in Canada.
Andrew: Yes, he is in Canada. That part’s true.
Eric: And his girlfriend is his job.
Andrew: Maybe he’s looking for Ilvermorny. Maybe he’s thinking it’s up there.
Eric: Oh, man! That would have been cool to lead with that, and just been like, “Yeah, Micah is searching for Ilvermorny right now.”
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: You know what? He loves tweeting fake crap like that all the time, so I’m going to tell him to start giving us adventure notes.
Andrew: Tell him to tweet that as his explanation for why he’s not on this episode.
Eric: He needs to start a documentary and include all of us in it that’s called “Finding Ilvermorny.”
Andrew: Exactly.
Eric: And travel the Canadian countryside.
Andrew: Yeah. Hey, that’d be fun.
Eric: That’s what he needs to do.
Andrew: One last plug for our Patreon, Patreon.com/MuggleCast. You can support us and help us produce more episodes of MuggleCast a month, and get extra benefits. So thank you, everybody, for listening, and we’ll see you next time for Episode 289. Goodbye.
Eric: Goodbye!