MuggleCast EP23 Transcript
Show Intro
Andrew [Show Intro with music in background]: This is MuggleCast – Episode 23 for January 09th, 2006. MuggleCast is sponsored in part by GoDaddy.com. See why GoDaddy.com is the No. 1 domain registrar worldwide. Now with your domain registration you’ll get hosting, a free blog, complete e-mail, and much more! Plus, as a MuggleCast listener, enter the code “RON.” That’s R-O-N, when you check out, and get your dot com domain name for just $6.95. Get your piece of the Internet today at GoDaddy.com.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the show! I’m Andrew Sims.
Kevin: I’m Kevin Steck.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Emily: I’m Emily Ogle.
Andrew: And this is the show where we bring you the latest in Harry Potter news, theories, discussions, cooking recipes, laptops, pizza…eh, whatever I can see in my view right now. But before we go anywhere, first let’s go over to Micah with the past week’s top Harry Potter news stories.
News
Micah: Thanks, Andrew.
Cambridge University’s annual science festival will this year examine the science behind the Harry Potter stories, focusing on broomstick flight, the Invisibility Cloak and whether owls could deliver the mail. The festival will run from March 15-26.
In movie news, MyMovies.net has posted two great video interviews with some of the Goblet of Fire cast and crew including one with Katie Leung (Cho Chang) and Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory), and another with Stanislav Ianevski (Viktor Krum), Clemence Poesy (Fleur Delacour) and David Heyman (producer).
SoundNet has released the list of the best ten soundtracks for the past year with Patrick Doyle’s score making the list for his work with the soundtrack for the fourth movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
And, BBC viewers recently voted on their favorite films of 2005, with Goblet of Fire coming in at No. 6.
The Internet Movie Database is currently asking visitors to vote on their favorite movies and actors of 2005. The film and its actors are either at #1 or close to in every category… including Best Foreign Language (non-English) Film, Best Independent Film, Best Documentary and Best Animated Feature! So keep voting.
The latest installment in the Potter movie series also became the UK’s most successful film of 2005. To date, Movie 4 has collected $812 million worldwide.
Warner Bros. has announced that the Goblet of Fire High-Definition DVD will be released on April 11th.
Along with twenty-three people who were victims of the London bombings last summer, Robbie Coltrane (who portrays Hagrid), has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). These honors are given to those who have done something special in life. They are nominated by the Queen of England with advice of the Prime Minister.
Moving on to book news, the Italian version of the sixth novel in the Harry Potter series was released on January 06th. (You can check out the cover right here). The initial print run totaled 750,000 copies and midnight parties were be hosted throughout Italy.
And in absolutely stunning news, selling over 4.1 million copies on the day of its release alone, Half-Blood Prince topped the list of the best-selling novels of 2005 in the US. According to a report released today by Reuters and Nielsen’s BookScan, the sixth adventure beat out every other book that was on sale for the entire year.
Sales totaled over 7 million copies for the entire year, and they only started in July.
Be sure to check out our brand-new MuggleCast website as well and head over to JK Rowling’s official site, as she continues to update her Diary Section.
That’s all the news for this January 08th, 2005 [Note: Yes, I know it should be 2006] edition of MuggleCast. On with the show.
Andrew: All right, thank you Micah.
Micah: You’re welcome.
Emily
Andrew: Well, we’re missing a couple of people this week – Ben, Eric, and Jamie. They are all out and about. Except for Ben, who is…what was doing Laura?
Laura: He was sleeping. [laughs]
Andrew: Oh right, right. I could have guessed that. [laughs] But we do have a new MuggleCaster this week who has decided to join us – Emily. MuggleNet editor extraordinaire.
Emily: Yep.
Andrew: Can you tell us a little bit about what you do around the site.
Emily: I think probably the better thing to say is: What don’t I do?
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Well, you do do a lot.
Emily: Well, I guess maybe the better thing to say is: What don’t I edit?
[Andrew laughs]
Emily: There are only two things that I don’t edit.
Andrew: Which is what?
Emily: That would be Editorials and Graphics.
Kevin: How about Wall of Shame?
Emily: No, I don’t, because it doesn’t really need it. You know, if I wanted to edit, it would take… If I wanted to edit the actual e-mails, it would be an absolute nightmare, but that would be the whole point. So…
Kevin: Yeah.
Laura: She would spend the rest of her life doing it.
Emily: Yeah.
[Emily and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Yeah, but you do do a lot of work around the site, which we do appreciate because we all stink at English. Especially me. So, you’re always there…
Laura: Yeah, Andrew “D-I-E-I-N-G.” Cough, cough.
[Andrew, Emily, and Laura laugh]
Andrew: I don’t know what you’re talking about, Laura.
[Laura laughs]
New Website
Andrew: Okay, so one quick announcement and then we will move along. As most of you know by now, we have a brand-new website over at MuggleCast.com. We completely revamped it. It looks really great.
Laura: It looks really does.
Andrew: Yes, wouldn’t you all agree?
Laura: I do.
Andrew: For those of you who haven’t been there yet, you should definitely check it out. It’s basically an iPod. And you can browse around and do kinds of things. We have new stuff. We have a new transcript directory. You can play the show right through the website by clicking “Play/Pause” on the iPod. And we know everyone has enjoyed it. We’ve gotten some great reviews. So, so go check it out. And be sure to vote in the “Poll.” We’re going to put a new poll up every single week with the release of each new show. So, that’s about it.
Main Topic – Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Andrew: So, let’s get in to the main discussion of this week, as promised, as we told you last week, Dumbledore. A very, very, very interesting character, who we can talk about for very long periods of time. Hopefully we can cover as much as we can right now, but of course the main question on most peoples’ minds is: Is he dead? Now, of course…
Laura: I think so.
Emily: I think so as well.
Micah: I don’t.
Andrew: Laura thinks so as well.
Laura: Yep.
Andrew: Micah doesn’t. Good. I got Micah on my side.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Andrew: Yeah, I don’t think he’s dead either, and I was convinced by Dumbledoreisnotdead.com. So, first let’s give everyone some basic information about the good guy. Oh, I can’t even… His full name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Not exactly sure where he got that whole name from. Voldemort refers to him as “That Champion of Commoners, of Mudbloods, and Muggles.” So basically, he’s the Voldemort of the good side. Right?
Kevin: Right.
Andrew: I think that’s a good way to put it.
Kevin: Yeah.
Andrew: Yes?
Laura: Ehhh…
Andrew: Yeah? Well… Well, I don’t know.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: He’s got blue eyes. He’s got white hair. He of course died in Half-Blood Prince towards the end.
Micah: Or did he?
Andrew: Or did he? [does a little humming] Thanks to HP-Lexicon for that information. There’s not really… I mean there’s tons of information on him, but there is no basic info about him.
Kevin: Yeah. They really don’t talk about his background.
Andrew: Mhm.
Kevin: And I think that is what adds to the mystery of Dumbledore.
Laura: Mhm.
Andrew: You got to love the guy. Who does not love that guy? (who reads the books anyway)
Laura: Oh, I bawled at the end of Half-Blood Prince. I was in tears. I was so upset. I was really ticked off too. Unfortunately, the lovely Jess, from MuggleNet Fan Fiction has photographic evidence of my temper tantrum. So, yeah.
[Andrew laughs]
Kevin: Oh geez.
Andrew: Can we see that, Laura?
Laura: No!
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: In fact…
Kevin: So, we’re actually going to be uploading those images to MuggleCast.com.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Yeah. We should check them out.
Laura: No actually, if you find Jess bound and gagged in a closet somewhere unconscious, you’ll know it was me.
Andrew: Oooh.
Laura: Yep. No, I love Jess – she’s wonderful.
Kevin: Okay. So, we’ll inform the proper authorities. So…
[Laura and Kevin laugh]
He’s Dead…Or Is He? Why The Phoenix?
Andrew: So, as we said, Micah and I are pretty, pretty decided that Dumbledore is not dead. I mean of course, when you first see the death, you know, “Oh he’s dead.” And this happened with Sirius too. And people still think that Sirius is alive. But Dumbledore is different because there is a lot more evidence that shows that he could possibly be alive. Is this correct, Micah?
Micah: Yep. And you mentioned it before. Dumbledoreisnotdead.com does a great job of just kind of going through the whole series of events leading up to his death.
Andrew: Right.
Laura: Mhm.
Andrew: You want to start us off with some, you know, clues?
Micah: Well I have something of my own.
Andrew: Okay.
Micah: I don’t remember everything exactly from Dumbledoreisnotdead.com, but…
[Micah and Andrew laugh]
Andrew: All right. How many times can we possibly plug Dumbledoreisnotdead.com?
Micah: [laughs] I don’t know.
Kevin: Dumbledoreisnotdead.com?
[Laura laughs]
Kevin: What are you talking about?
Andrew: Yes. Dumbledoreisnotdead.com.
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Micah: How about, he’s so closely tied to the phoenix throughout the entire series. You know, it’s called the Order of the Phoenix, he has a pet phoenix, his Patronus is a phoenix, and the phoenix is a bird of rebirth.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Of immortality almost. So, is Jo trying to tell us something with that?
Andrew: Yeah, and…
Laura: Yeah, but didn’t she say that dead is dead? You know what I’m saying?
Kevin: Well, the whole reason why, well, one of the reasons why I think he is dead is because it fits. You don’t want… Throughout the series Dumbledore has always acted as though he was the protector and guardian of Harry. And I think it is about time Harry starts continuing his quest to defeat Voldemort without a protector.
Laura: Exactly.
Kevin: He needs to grow up. And I think I’d be pretty upset if it turned out he was alive, because I think he served his purpose perfectly, which was to show Harry that he’s not a kid anymore. He has this goal ahead of him and he has to do it himself.
Laura: Exactly. Harry has to walk alone. And I think with Dumbledore there, Harry would always kind of depend on him. Because we’ve seen Harry talk about how Dumbledore always has the answers. And he never until Order of the Phoenix really started seeing him as a human being who makes mistakes. And it is a recurring theme I’ve seen, that when Jo doesn’t need a character anymore, and that character has served their purpose, she gets rid of them.
Andrew: But getting back to the Fawkes thing, Micah brought up how Dumbledore… What did you exactly say, Micah?
Micah: That he is so intertwined with a bird that is symbolic of rebirth and immortality, basically.
Where was Fawkes?
Andrew: Yeah, but one thing I have noticed, and you know, that I’ve read, of course, is that Fawkes never saved him. He never tried to. But we did hear him crying…or singing. He was singing, right? He was singing for…
Laura: Yeah. “The Phoenix Lament.”
Andrew: …for, yeah…for a very long time. So Laura, wouldn’t you have to agree – or Kevin, wouldn’t you have to agree that’s a little weird?
Laura: I think it could be like a sign that maybe Snape’s not evil. That maybe Dumbledore planned to die, but I don’t think that he’s alive. Just because we saw his body laying on the ground, after he’d been thrown from the highest tower in the school. Even if it wasn’t the Avada Kedavra curse, which is something that I read on Dumbledoreisnotdead.com (there’s another plug for you). [laughs] But even if it wasn’t the Avada Kedavra curse, the fall alone would have killed him.
Kevin: And it… One thing that I always thought of when I thought of Dumbledore and the phoenix was that thing that Harry said…not Harry…actually it was Harry. When he said in Chamber of Secrets that Dumbledore is not gone so long as there still someone loyal to him in the school.
Laura: Mhm.
Kevin: Do you remember that?
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah.
Kevin: And I always thought that he wouldn’t literally be reborn, but he would never die because everyone would always remember him.
Laura: Exactly.
Kevin: You know?
Laura: That’s what I think it’s supposed to mean.
Kevin: Exactly. And I think that people are taking it as a literal he’s going to be resurrected, but he himself said there’s nothing to do about death.
Laura: Mhm.
Kevin: You know? Death is just another step, and nothing you can do can prevent someone from, you know…not dying.
Laura: Not dying.
Kevin: Exactly.
Laura: And Jo has said it too. She’s said it numerous times that dead is dead. There is no spell that can reawaken the dead.
Kevin: Right. So I don’t know why people are hoping he’ll come back to life for some reason. One thing that I have seen on the forums is that people are hoping he’ll come back as a ghost.
Laura: No.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: I don’t think so.
Andrew: Yeah, me neither. It would be pretty dumb.
Kevin: I don’t… I don’t think it’s going to happen, but I think that’s as far as it will go with Dumbledore coming back.
Laura: I don’t think it would though.
Andrew: I just think that Jo saying that, “dead is dead” is just…could be, could possibly be a scheme to throw everyone off a lot.
Laura: Yeah, but she’s always made it very clear that she doesn’t say anything to directly mislead fans. And that would be kind of like a lie, you know? And she wouldn’t want to lie to us.
Andrew: Dead… Okay. Dead is dead. But what if he never died? [laughs]
Micah: There you go. [laughs]
Laura: But how could you not die even if it wasn’t Avada Kedavra? How could you survive that fall?
Andrew: Because he’s Dumbledore.
Micah: Exactly.
Andrew: Why wouldn’t Fawkes try to save him? Why wouldn’t…you know? Harry was near death…
Laura: Maybe he meant to die.
Kevin: Because he knows he was dead. You know? It was the parting of his…
Laura: And it’s one thing for when Harry…
Andrew: Okay, there’s always…
Laura: It’s one thing when Harry is in the Chamber of Secrets and he’s fighting for time, but when Fawkes is all the way in Dumbledore’s office, there is absolutely no time for him to get from the office to Dumbledore, who is falling from a tower.
Micah: Well, that conversation went on for a while. I mean, I guess it depends if Dumbledore thought he was in trouble that whole time that he was up there.
The Unbreakable Vow(s)
Laura: Mhm. Now, do I think that it’s a great possibility that Snape was under an Unbreakable Vow with Dumbledore to kill him if the time came. Yes, I do think that’s a great possibility and that would certainly explain why Fawkes wasn’t coming to save him.
Andrew: When the time came? Why would the time ever come?
Laura: Because Draco, that was what he was assigned to do.
Andrew: Oh, because Draco had the Unbreakable Vow too?
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Oh.
Laura: No, no, no. What I am saying is that he had the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa and I think that he did it so he wouldn’t blow his cover.
Andrew: Snape, we’re talking about.
Laura: And he goes to Dumbledore and tells Dumbledore about it. And Dumbledore says, “No, your position is far more valuable than mine. So, if the time should come, you’ll have to promise me you’ll do it.”
Kevin: Yeah, that’s what I thought. Especially because a lot of people thought that it was out of character for Dumbledore to be begging Snape.
Laura: Mhm.
Kevin: And I think it would be perfectly fitting if he wasn’t begging him not to kill him, but begging him to kill him.
Laura: Exactly.
Kevin: It would meet… It matches Dumbledore’s personality perfectly. He’s, you know, he’s so… He knows what’s going on so well that he is willing to give up his own life knowing that’s better than the alternative.
Micah: Do you know that what Dumbledore says to Snape when he says, “Severus, please,” is the exact same thing that Narcissa says to Snape in “Spinner’s End” when she’s asking him to do the Unbreakable Vow?
Kevin: Yeah. And that’s one… Yeah, and that’s one of the things that I read on the forums, where people have seen that and that’s why they think that there is an Unbreakable Vow there. Although I don’t understand why if there was an Unbreakable Vow, why Snape wouldn’t have done it immediately. Because, you know, it’s sort of…you really don’t have a choice.
Laura: No, but this is actually something that I did read on yet again, another plug, Dumbledoreisnotdead.com – that we don’t really know the condition under which Unbreakable Vows work. Like if there is a time frame.
Andrew: Yeah, which is a good question that someone should ask Jo. [laughs]
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Soon, because there must be a lot involved.
Laura: Well, and it also depends, I mean are Unbreakable Vows, are they a conscious type thing? Is the Unbreakable Vow almost like a mind reader? Does it know that you’re going to fulfill it, if you’re honest? Or does it only depend on the person you’re making it with? If the person who you’re making the vow from a certain point of view, does it work out?
Andrew: I don’t know.
Laura: Yep.
The Missing Link
Andrew: But one thing I would like to point out is the missing text. Now, at first some people might just laugh it off because, you know, UK, USA, it’s always different. But, in the UK edition there were several sentences missing in the UK edition that appeared in the US edition. And these specific sentences I really think give away that there is something to this here because… Now, the question all relies on if the editors know anything about the future books. Do you guys think so?
Laura: I don’t know. Why would they?
Kevin: Yeah, I don’t think so.
Andrew: Well, that’s… Okay, but in… I’m going to read a couple of sentences to you that were not in the UK edition, but appeared in the US edition:
Now, if you read this in its context, it is very convincing that they were taking it out because it gives too much away that he looks dead, but he might not really be dead.
Laura: Well, if you look at it too, the UK publishers could have been thinking that it was repetitious. They might have been trying to shorten it. We don’t know exactly why they took that out. We just know that the US and UK edits are separate. I mean if you go back and look at – I think they started doing that with Order of the Phoenix. There are loads of different sentences and different phrase wordings. So, I just think it’s purely coincidence. Either that or they thought it was giving too much away about something else.
Micah: Yeah, that’s, that’s… I don’t know. [laughs] It certainly fuels the fire.
Andrew: Just reiterating here. Dumbledore says, “He cannot kill you if you’re already dead.” Now, to me this gives away, that now Dumbledore’s not going to kill him.
Laura: No, of course not.
Andrew: They are going to hide him. Dumbledore’s plan was to hide him or somehow make him appear to be dead.
Kevin: Yeah. Yeah, but when I read that, the impression I get was that it was cut out for two…one of two reasons. One: wordiness. It sort of dropped in the middle.
Laura: Mhm.
Andrew: I do agree with that.
Kevin: And it’s sort of off-topic. You know? It’s… There’s not much Dumbledore is going to say that can change, you know, Malfoy’s mind now. And he should have said it earlier. Right?
Laura: Well, also…
Kevin: Right?
Laura: If the editors do know what’s going to happen, then that might be giving something away with what’s going to happen with Draco. Because for all we know, if Snape’s good…
Kevin: Exactly, and that was my second point.
Laura: He could be taking Draco to hide him.
Kevin: Right, that was my second point.
Andrew: Yeah.
Kevin: I think that it’s sort of, if they do know what’s going to happen, it’s too much of a foreshadow, because that one sentence would say that Draco is going to start fighting for the Order and that is a huge, huge twist. That’s not something you want to give away.
Laura: Mhm, definitely.
Andrew: This is true. Micah, what was your theory?
Micah: No, I think this definitely lends to the whole idea that he’s not dead. I mean, I understand what Kevin and Laura brought up, but at the same time I think there are too many things they can kind of lead you to believe that there is a chance that he could come back in the Seventh Book.
Dumbledore’s Funeral
Andrew: Although it’s a weak argument, nobody saw Dumbledore’s body after his death. Now, you know, they say it’s lying under the covers and when it disappeared, did it disappear or did it…
Laura: Flames came up around it and encased it into the tomb.
Andrew: And the phoenix…
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: And the phoenix came out and all that. I don’t know, it’s…
Laura: Yeah, but I think that…
Andrew: If Dumbledore’s real body wasn’t under there, it was, perhaps, say I don’t know some kind of magic lift.
Laura: What, did they put hay under the blanket and…
[Laura and Andrew laugh]
Andrew: And sculpt it in the shape of Dumbledore. [laughs] No, I’m saying if there is some spell or something that can make it look like a body was pushing up or I don’t know. [laughs with Laura] It’s such a weak argument but it’s something to point out.
Laura: Well actually, what I’ve been waiting for you to bring up is the phoenix leaving his body.
Micah: Yeah, was that a Patronus? What was that?
Andrew: That’s just another, you know, I can’t talk today. Go ahead.
Laura: Because I know that people have taken it as sort of a sign of Dumbledore’s reincarnation. What I think it is is one of two things. It’s representing his spirit, you know, leaving and going wherever it goes, wherever dead people go. Or, it has something to do with his Patronus and Animagus form.
Micah: Yeah, was it sort of a message to the, or…
Laura: Yeah.
Micah: …last message to the Order of the Phoenix on how to proceed.
Laura: Mhm. Because what happens to people’s Patronus and Animagus forms? Do we really know if a Patronus is sort of, actually kind of like a daemon, like from The Golden Compass, what Kevin and I are reading. I mean, we don’t know how external they are, if they are more like an external portion of someone’s soul. Do they leave the body when they die?
So Many Names
Micah: The reincarnation thing though. I know this is really far out there but I’ve that Dumbledore has so many middle names because he’s been reborn so many times.
[All laugh]
Laura: That’s kind of funny. That’s funny, I mean, that’s cool.
Andrew: Well it’s a good point. Let’s see, how many are there?
Laura: Yeah, but he’s also how old? 150 people?
Micah: Those are all his nicknames. Is that what it is? [laughs]
Laura: No, people tended to have longer names.
Andrew: What’s even, Brian seems like a random mix.
Laura: Yeah, but it’s spelled differently isn’t it?
Andrew: It’s Albus Percival Wulfric, no. Not according to the Lexicon. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
Micah: I think it’s because it’s more of a Muggle name.
Laura: Yeah, but he’s Dumbledore. He’s so quirky.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: So if he’s quirky, his parents probably were.
Andrew: Yeah.
[Laughing]
Andrew: Was, let’s see, was Dumbledore a Mudblood?
Laura: I always got the impression that Dumbledore was a pureblood.
Andrew: Well you would think so because all of his power. But I’m saying, so I’m just going to extend on Micah’s theory. Say he has lived several lives. Say he was a Mudblood initially. His first name was Brian because he was born with Muggles and they didn’t know he was a wizard. Then they, that doesn’t really make sense.
Laura: Are we going with the backwards thing again?
[Laughing]
Andrew: No, it’s not a backwards thing, but I don’t know, it’s another good question.
Micah: There are so many unanswered questions about him.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: You could write a book just on him.
Laura: Well also, Emily and I were talking earlier about the one thing that really did it for us was the portrait. I mean, what did you think about that, Emily?
Andrew: Yeah.
Emily: Yeah I, the thing around that portrait is what drove home for me. Well that and the phoenix song, but also something that comes to my mind is that the spell was lifted from Harry and so the portrait is what made it all the more sadder and it, the portrait kind of just drove home with that yes, he’s passed on and it’s time for a new Headmaster, and all that.
Laura: Exactly, that’s what I thought. And the whole thing with the spell lifting, I mean, is Dumbledore actually consciously while he was falling, even if it wasn’t Avada Kedavra, and this is just assuming it wasn’t because I think it was, but as he’s falling is he really going to think, he doesn’t even have his wand, “I need to lift the spell on Harry.”
Micah: That’s another thing though, and I think that was on Dumbledoresnotdead.com too, as we plug it for the hundreth time.
Laura: I actually really like that site. I have that site on my favorites. I don’t know about everything on it…
Micah: It is, it’s a great site.
Laura: But it’s a great site. They’ve done their homework, I’m proud of them.
What About His Wand?
Micah: The thing about the whole wand thing. Remember the song that Slughorn and Hagrid were singing about how when that wizard died, they broke his wand.
Laura: Mhm.
Micah: We never saw Dumbledore’s wand snapped in half. I don’t know if that happens at funerals or…
Laura: That’s, yeah, what do they do with wands when wizards die? I mean…
Andrew: They snap them in half.
Laura: Yeah, well that was the song. We don’t know if that is actually true.
Andrew: Yeah, but maybe, it makes sense because…
Laura: What are they going to do with them after that?
Andrew: Bury it with them?
Laura: Do they bury them with their wands? I mean…
Kevin: You know what surprised me about his death? Was that I would expect Dumbledore to leave Harry something.
Laura: He might have.
Kevin: And he…
Andrew: Yeah.
Kevin: She never said. I would expect for…
Andrew: Well that’s something to look forward to.
Kevin: Exactly. I think that without a doubt he’s going to at least leave Harry some legacy, you know? Because it would be an awful waste of a character.
Andrew: Especially if he knew he was going to die, then he must have thoughtout how he can help Harry in the future with finding these future Horcruxes.
Laura: Also, I think that Dumbledore was already dying before he was AKed off the tower.
Andrew: Of course, the whole story was the guy was weak.
Laura: Yeah, and the potion, I mean even if none of that had happened, do you think that he’d be alive?
Andrew: If it wasn’t for the Horcrux search?
Laura: No, I’m talking, even if none of the things with Snape had happened, do you think that Dumbledore would still be alive?
Andrew: At that point and time, if Snape didn’t kill him, yeah, I think he’d still be alive.
Laura: But that potion…
Andrew: He was sick, yeah…
Laura: Was clearly poisonous.
Andrew: Yes, but that’s not what killed him.
Laura: Well no, but I think it would have.
Emily: I don’t know. The way he was acting as he drinking the potion was almost like he knew what kind of potion it was and how much more longer he had left to live, and that’s just kind of the impression I got.
Andrew: Yeah, but he was confident it wasn’t going to kill him.
Laura: I don’t think he was confident it wasn’t going to kill him. Dumbledore realizes that he has to sacrifice himself to the greater good.
His Role In The Final Book
Micah: If he is dead and gone, are we going to see anything from him in the next book?
Kevin: Yes.
Andrew: The actual like, you know…
Kevin: From him or – yeah, I see where Andrew wants it clarified.
Andrew: Like are we going to see the ghost of Dumbledore or the will of Dumbledore?
Micah: Ghost, portrait, I don’t know.
Laura: I don’t think it will be a ghost because it’s been made pretty clear that anyone who’s been brought back as a ghost was kind of a somber person. Like Moaning Myrtle and Nearly Headless Nick, the Bloody Baron…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: So, and I don’t see Dumbledore as the type of person who wouldn’t be willing to move on.
Andrew: Yeah, but I can picture Harry approaching the portrait for information by like discussing the past…
Laura: Oh absolutely. Yeah.
Andrew: It only gives the, the portrait is only a reflection of their…how did we put it?
Laura: Personality.
Andrew: Personality, right, right.
Laura: It’s just like the so called ghost that came out of Voldemort’s want in Goblet of Fire. They’re really only mirror images, they’re not actually those people.
Kevin: Yeah, like I said before, I do hope that we’ll see at least some of the legacy of Dumbledore.
Laura: Oh, I think we will. I think we will and I think that Dumbledore will probably have left Harry something and it’s going to be something terribly cryptic because that’s just how Dumbledore is.
Kevin: I’m fairly sure he’s dead.
[Laughing]
Laura: He’s dead, get over it.
Kevin: I’m sorry Micah and Andrew, you’re wrong.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: And what if we’re right?
Kevin: Ummm…
Laura: Then I’m going to kick myself. [laughs]
Kevin: Then…
Micah: You can’t say backwards compatible for a week.
Kevin: I was subconsciously correct without knowing it. You know, it was in my brain – I just, you know…
[Laughing]
Laura: I was actually thinking about that, I was like, “You know, all the time I go on about Dumbeldore being dead, if he turns out to be alive, I’m never going to hear the end of it.”
Kevin: The thing is that if he turns out to be alive, I’ll be very upset.
Micah: I think a lot of people will be.
Laura: Yeah me too, because…
Kevin: Just the way she did it.
Laura: Yeah, that too.
Kevin: She made it at a perfect time where Harry is, it’s about time Harry grows up and Harry has to start doing things for himself, and he has to start learning magic that’s not second grade level.
Micah: I don’t like the way she did it. He put up no fight whatsoever.
Kevin: But that’s the whole point! Wouldn’t it be a great way for him to die knowing that his death meant something more.
Micah: Crouched in a corner and, well yes.
Kevin: And begging Snape to kill him so that Snape’s postition wasn’t compromised so Harry could continue his quest. That’s a pretty noble way to die.
Micah: What if Snape’s evil?
Laura: I don’t think he is.
Micah: And what if he’s evil?
Kevin: I don’t think Snape is entirely evil.
Emily: I don’t like him either way.
Micah: Well I don’t think Dumbledore’s dead.
[Laughing]
Kevin: Well that’s your problem. I would be extremely upset if Dumbledore was…
Laura: So would I. I would too and for all the reasons mentioned, and not to mention there are pictures of me crying over the guy so if he doesn’t turn up dead…
Kevin: Which we are going to post on MuggleCast.com starting…
[Laughing]
Laura: Um, no we’re not, ha ha ha – no. So if he turns out alive, and they have all that crap on me, I’m going to be ticked off. Like I cried for nothing.
Comparison To Other, Similar Books
Micah: But what if you compare it to other books. You know, like the Chronicles of Narnia, like the Lord of the Rings where you have that main character that appears to die but doesn’t really.
Laura: Gandalf and a…
Micah: Aslan.
Laura: Aslan.
Andrew: Well I don’t see that being down JK Rowling’s alley.
Laura: He doesn’t die.
Kevin: He doesn’t die, Gandalf never…
Laura: It just makes it look like he does.
Micah: Okay, then Aslan.
Laura: I think it kind of alluded to it, sort of. But I don’t think that, I also think that she doesn’t want to make her books exactly like everyone elses books because there is a lot of influence from various and assorted books. Including on Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter, but I don’t think she would follow it that closely.
Emily: I also think that, yeah, I also think that we’re able to kind of follow the experience as the books are coming out, that we kind of see JK Rowling as God almost and we kind of appeal to her to undo death is what dumbledoreisnotdead.com does. And I think that Dumbledore is dead and JKR, this is her way of showing that.
Laura: Mhm, definitely, and also one thing that I have always thought is that Jo is always stressing that children are greatly underestimated in what they can handle in literature. And she talked about how after her mom died, death became such a real thing to her, and I don’t think she would take death so lightly as to make you think a character you loved so much is dead, and then have them come back.
Kevin: Yeah, I don’t see her decieving people like that.
Laura: Okay, I think we pretty much have…
Kevin: Killed that. We killed it.
Laura: I think we Avada Kedavred that, bascially.
Andrew: We Avada Kedavred that. [laughs]
Laura: It’s been AKed.
Andrew: All right, I think we covered that pretty well. In conclusion, Dumbledore is not dead. [laughs]
Kevin: He is dead.
Laura: Dumbledoreisdead.com.
Andrew: And the discussion will go on forever. Well, until Book 7 at least. Let’s move on to “Voicemails.” Mr. Kevin Steck.
Kevin: Okay. Sorry.
Voicemail – What If Dumbledore Never Approached Riddle?
[Audio]: Hey guys, this is Brian calling from Canada and I thought of something basically and wanted to hear your thoughts. If Dumbledore had never taken Tom Riddle to be a wizard, do you think he would have discovered his magical talent anyway and even discover the wizarding world? Or do you think he’d just be the Muggle equivalent to Voldemort? Thanks and keep up the great work.
Kevin: I think that is was apparent that he was already showing a bad side, so I think he would have most definitely showed his magical abilities. He wouldn’t have been as powerful because he wouldn’t have had the resources.
Emily: He wouldn’t have had the information about the Horcruxes either.
Kevin: Exactly. I’m not so sure he would have found the magical world. I think he would have tried to find if there was anyone else like him because he likes to gather powerful people to him, to control them. But I’m not sure about that. I say definitely he’d find his magical ability, discovering the wizarding world is a toss-up, and he would have been the Muggle equivalent to Voldemort. I think he without a doubt – by the time Dumbledore had met him he had already been well on the path to being evil.
Laura: Yeah, I agree with Kevin. I think that Voldemort is a very determined person and I think that he would have found out about his magical abilities, no doubt.
Kevin: I think they develop naturally at a point so he would have picked up something while he went along, you know.
Micah: Well, wouldn’t he have gotten a letter regardless?
Kevin: Well yeah but I think that’s the point of the question, if he had not because of living at an orphanage and all that big mix-up in his family life, if he had never gotten any indication that he was a wizard, had never have been visited by Dumbledore, would he have become what he has become now?
Micah: Right, well maybe not as much, but he certainly… I’m sure he would have used his abilities that were of use to him.
Kevin: Exactly, that’s what I said.
Laura: Also, do we know how Hogwarts finds out about students? Because it seems to me that the Gaunts would have been so upset about their daughter fraternizing with a Muggle, that they would want to keep the child hushed up and stuff.
Kevin: Yeah. That’s another good question. Voldemort discovered most of his family history in school, and that family history contiributed to his feelings about Muggles and Muggle-borns which also contributes to his Lord Voldemort persona. So just the fact that he wasn’t exposed to that information that he would have…I think that he would have become just as evil, just not as powerful.
Laura: Mhm.
Micah: This is all Dumbledore’s fault.
Kevin: And that’s why he’s dead.
Micah: It’s all his fault.
[Laughing]
Voicemail – Draco’s Destiny
[Audio]: Hey, I’m Jess Miranda from Clifton, New Jersey and I first want to say that MuggleCast is great, and when Andrew and Ben sing it’s hilarious. And I’d like to ask, if Draco was going to die, how do you think he’s going to die and by Snape? Or do you think Harry will do it? Or Voldemort? So, thanks. Bye, you guys are great. Bye!
Emily: I think he will die. But I don’t think…
Kevin: You think so?
Emily: Yeah, I don’t think that Snape would do it because if Snape was going to do it, what was the whole point of the Unbreakable Vow? I think it might be by Voldemort’s hand or it might…
Kevin: But going back to what we said before, Emily, do you think that he’s going to be dying as a Death Eater or as a member of the Order?
Emily: I think that since we don’t quite know what Snape’s doing, he’s going to end up kind of being in the middle for a while, I don’t think he can feasibly be Voldemort’s side but that’s a tough question. [laughs]
Kevin: Yeah see, I agree too because I don’t think that – honestly, after reading the last book, I think that Draco’s a misunderstood person. He’s not as evil as everyone thought he was, and I think he going to be exactly that a monkey in the middle. He doesn’t know which side he wants to be on.
Emily: I think that he’d resist Snape, if it does turn out that Snape is not a Death Eater. I think that he would resist, I’d imagine that Snape would have to explain his position, what’s happening, why he killed Dumbledore. I think Draco would be very resistant of somebody he trusted of not being on the Death Eaters side. He’d probably be relieved because Snape would probably be under orders by Voldemort or something like that.
Kevin: Yeah, and that’s a pretty good point that Draco does look up to Snape and if it does turn out that Snape killed Dumbledore at Dumbledore’s request and he’s not a Death Eater as Draco, you sort of get the impression that Draco thinks he is, I think that Draco will perhaps follow his lead in you know…
Andrew: No, I don’t know.
Laura: I don’t really see Draco as becoming a member of the Order. I think…
Kevin: I don’t see him becoming a member but I think he may become – I shouldn’t have said become a member, but I think he may be on their side.
Laura: Right. I think if he does, it would only be, like, Pettigrew, you know, just to side up with who was powerful.
Kevin: Do you think so? Because, I mean, Draco knows who’s having the advantage right now. I mean, it’s apparent that Voldemort is pretty much ruling the battle right now. And he still hesitated before, when killing, you know, before killing Dumbledore.
Laura: Yeah, but he, I mean…
Kevin: …before Dumbledore died.
Laura: I think anyone would hesitate before they killed someone. Honestly, I can’t…I don’t see Draco as being a good person at all. I think that he would side up to whoever would keep him protected.
Micah: I think if anything happened to one of his parents that that could have a large impact on which side he goes to or, if he stays on Voldemort’s side versus going to, maybe, at least, side with the Order for a brief period of time because I think he does care about…
Kevin: Yeah, see, honestly I don’t know which side he would…we should consider him on because I don’t see him as a pure evil character anymore. I always thought that he did a lot of things to Harry out of, you know, being much like Voldemort when he was younger, where he enjoyed it. And now you’re looking at it like that was just being childish, you know, he’s not as…he’s not the evil person everyone expected. He’s just as torn between the two sides as anyone else could be. So, I understand why you wouldn’t want…you wouldn’t see him as a good guy…
Laura: Mhm.
Kevin: But, I honestly see him, maybe in the future, being one of those characters that does something that you don’t expect it to help Harry.
Laura: I agree to an extent. I can see him going over to the good side, in essence. For something that benefits him, or because something happened to his mother…to get revenge on the people who are responsible for it, but not necessarily to side with the Order. Like, he’s never going to become friends with Harry. It’s just not going to happen
Kevin: I…
[Laura laughs]
Kevin: …I understand that, but, I do see him making a decision where he realizes the importance of fighting Voldemort…
Laura: I can see him doing something inadvertently…
Kevin: Whether it be…
Laura: …that would end up in Harry’s favor.
Kevin: Whether it be through the, you know, harming of his parents, or whatever.
Voicemail – How To Detect A Death Eater
[Audio]: Hi, my name is Claire and I’m from North Carolina. I love listening to your show every week and I just had a quick comment/question. I was wondering why, if all Death Eaters have Dark Marks on their left arm, why in the old days when they were looking for Death Eaters they didn’t just check everyone’s left arm and why didn’t they see that Sirius did not have one? Thanks! Bye.
Emily: They didn’t know about it and nobody knew about the Death Mark until Snape showed Sirius in Goblet of Fire…I can’t remember. But, the Death Mark…Dark Mark was not known…it was not an indicator of a Death Eater.
Kevin: Yeah, but the same time, they also found people under the Imperius Curse which they were acting for the Death Eaters and they said it was very hard to distinguish whether someone was a Death Eater or not. I mean, I honestly believe that not everyone has a Dark Mark, only those who are most important to Voldemort.
Emily: But we also don’t know how often Voldemort used the Dark Mark to call his Death Eaters to him.
Kevin: Yeah, and not to mention that we don’t know that he can’t hide it altogether. I mean, they did mention that it fades, so why couldn’t you just hide it?
Andrew: Yeah…[Stutters and laughs] yeah…just yeah.
Kevin: Just yeah?
Andrew: Just yeah. Yeah, yeah all around.
Micah: And it fades when he’s not powerful so if they were, sort of, collecting people right after his fall, chances are it might not have been as prominent on the person’s arm.
Kevin: Yeah…yeah!
Andrew: Alright!
[All laugh]
Kevin: And I think that, I don’t think Voldemort is stupid so I can’t see him tattooing all of his followers with something that could give their position away.
Laura: Not to mention that we know that there is spells to conceal that kind of thing.
Kevin: Exactly, yeah.
Laura: Just like in Order of the Phoenix when students were making copies of The Quibbler look like blank pieces of parchment.
Kevin: Exactly.
Voicemail – The Wand Revisited
[Audio]: Oh my Gosh, I love you Andrew! – Okay, Hi MuggleCasters, my name’s Christina, I’m from New Jersey, South Jersey. I was just wondering what you guys think will happen to Dumbledore’s wand? Was it buried with him or was it lost when he fell off the building? Just wanted to see what you guys think. Thanks! Great show.
Andrew: Well, as we mentioned before, Christina, who lives strangely close to me and loves me, umm…we think, we are pretty much all in agreement, well it definitely, from what we can tell, breaks in half from that song. But then, it makes sense that they would burry it. I don’t know what else they would do it with it. It’s not like we’ve ever seen like a shrine so to speak of all the wines of…[Laughs] of all the wands of the dead wizards…sorry got wine of the mind. [Laughs]
Laura: I wonder why…
[Everyone laughs, Kevin laughs and sighs, and everyone laughs some more]
Emily: Do you think maybe that the wand went to his brother?
Andrew: Yeah. Maybe a family member could hold on to it. That’s a good thought.
Kevin: Let’s not talk about his brother…
[All laugh and sigh]
Laura: His brother likes goats. [laughs]
Kevin: Or perhaps it was used for firewood.
Laura: Umm….
Andrew: That would be terrible. [laughs]
Kevin: Okay! Well, ummm…
Laura: [Softly] Bonfire!
Kevin: Next voicemail!
[Audio]: Hey MuggleCasters, my name is Sasha and I’m from Manhattan. I have a question for you guys. JK Rowling only kills off her characters when they have fulfilled their purpose, could it be that Harry has no more to learn from Dumbledore himself? It seems that Harry didn’t even fully grasp what Dumbledore was trying to teach him, and as Harry very wisely put it, “He will only be gone from the school when none here are loyal to him.” I would love to hear your opinions. Thanks so much, I love your show. Four last words: “Oddment, blubber, nitwick, and tweak.”
Laura: Sasha, I love you! You brought up the point that I’ve been trying to get across this whole time: It’s that when she is done with a character, when a character has pervade all information that they possibly can, anything they can do to help Harry, she kills them. I know it seems brutal, Andrew, but…
Andrew: That is a good point.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: No, I would have to agree, I think that is a good point
Micah: Dumbledoresnotdead.com.
Andrew: It just makes sense, it makes sense.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Okay, we give you all this info, well, in Jo’s mind, okay we give you all this info, now let’s go on with them.
Laura: Well I mean, just to keep a character alive that has no purpose anymore…it takes…
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: It takes up…
Andrew:
[Laughing] That seems kind of dumb!
Laura: It takes up…
Andrew: I mean…
Laura: It takes up space!
Andrew: Dumbledore would still have purpose…
Laura: Would he?
Andrew: And Sirius would too
Laura: Wha…
Andrew: yeah he would!
Laura: What purpose would Sirius have?
Kevin: What purpose, yeah?
Andrew: Finding the Hor—Okay, well I don’t know about Sirius…
[Kevin laughs]
Andrew: …but, moral support for Harry.
Kevin: No but see, that’s my point…
Laura: [Speaks at the same time as Kevin] Harry’s got moral support. He’s got Ron and Hermione.
Kevin: I believe…
Andrew: More! He misses Sirius terribly!!
Kevin: I believe that Dumbledore…Dumbledore’s death was his final purpose. It was, he served the purpose of showing Harry that he had no one else to turn to, except his friends, and he had to do it alone.
Laura: Mhm.
Kevin: I think that was THE perfect purpose for Dumbledore: it’s finally showing Harry that he has got to get his butt in gear, that he has got to do this alone and do what he is destined to do.
Laura: I think so too.
Emily: And the prophecy says if …only one can kill the other.
Laura and Kevin: Yeah.
Kevin: Exactly. It’s not Dumbledore’s fight, it’s Harry’s fight.
Laura: And the prophecy.
Kevin: And I think—
Laura: See, the prophecy needs to be like: “Harry, just do it!”
[Kevin and Laura laugh]
Laura: Stop depending on the people around you.
Kevin: “Just do it!” Okay, let’s plug Nike now.
Andrew: Put on your Nike shoes and just do it!
[All laugh]
Laura: I actually didn’t mean that, but that’s okay…
[All laugh]
Voicemail – Are There Things Worse Than Death?
[Audio]: Hi MuggleCast, this is Laura from Chicago and I’ve got a question for this week’s show. Dumbledore tells Voldemort that there are more ways to destroy a man than killing him, “that nearly taking your life will not satisfy me, I admit,” and that his failure to understand there are things much worse then death has always been Voldemort’s greatest weakness. And, it reminded me of when Lupin told Harry in Prisoner of Azkaban that the Dementor’s Kiss is much worse than death. Do you think this has any connection for how Harry would be able to defeat Voldemort? Or, what he would have to do to himself in the process if there are things that are worse than death? I love your show! Thanks! Bye.
Kevin: I don’t think Voldemort is going to die through a Dementor’s Kiss.
Laura: No.
Kevin: If that’s what you mean. But, I do believe that it was foreshadowing to the fact that Harry may not use, or in my opinion, probably won’t use, Avada Kedavra to kill Dumbledore.
Laura: [Correcting Kevin] Voldemort!
Kevin: I find it highly unlike…Dumble…urgh! I’m stuck on Dumbledore now…Voldemort! [laughs] I don’t see Harry casting that spell, honestly.
Laura: No, I think that Voldemort is going to have to feel some sort of…pain. I’m not sure whether that will be mental or physical but I don’t want to see Voldemort just get the easy way out, you know…
Kevin: Yeah…
Laura: I want to see something that just really gets to him.
Kevin: Well I think that, I think just the fact that, I think I said this in one of the earlier episodes, I think it would be a perfect way to finish Voldemort off just telling him that all those protections he put in place to keep himself alive were gone.
Micah: Yeah that would be a pretty good shock.
Kevin: Yeah I mean, yeah. Just that in itself would, I mean, that’s a slap to Voldemort.
Laura: Oh yeah.
Kevin: Saying…
Laura: Mmmm. Ow.
Kevin: You’re not as invincible as you once thought you were.
Laura: And it was just all taken away from you by a teenager.
Kevin: Exactly.
Laura: Ouch!
Kevin: The teenager that you failed to kill three times.
Micah: And of course there are things far worse than death. I mean, look at Harry; the life that he’s lived and losing…
Laura: Yeah.
Micah: …all those people that are close to him. That’s probably far worse than dying if you know, you go inside Harry’s mind.
Laura: Yeah. I agree, definitely.
Kevin: But…I agree, I think that he shouldn’t be killed just flat out. I think he deserves a little more…
Laura: Mhm.
Kevin: …suffering than that. If that doesn’t sound too…morbid.
Laura: Oh no, I agree. Think about him, nothing’s too morbid for Voldemort.
Kevin: True. But still…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: He’s a jerk.
Kevin: You really don’t want to wish…
Andrew: It’s like Osama.
[Kevin laughs, and then Laura laughs]
Kevin: True…true…but you never want to wish suffering on people but…
Laura: Well, there’s a difference.
Kevin: …sometimes you do!
[All laugh]
Andrew: Let’s make an exception for Voldemort.
Laura: There is a difference, there is a difference.
Kevin: And Osama.
Laura: You don’t want to wish harm on a person. Voldemort is not a person. Voldemort is a monster. And I would, I know it sounds cruel, but I would wish just absolutely, positively anything on him because he is a Grade A jerk.
Kevin: [Gasps] Laura!
[All laugh]
Spy on Spartz
Andrew: Great! Now for this week’s edition of Spy on Spartz. Emerson has been in Hawaii over the past week on vacation before he heads back to Notre Dame. He had a lot of fun.
Laura: He’s visiting Tara.
Andrew: He said he misses it already. Is he visiting Tara?
Laura: I don’t know. [laughs]
Andrew: I don’t think so.
Laura: I just made that up.
Andrew: Tara is of course, the webmistress of EmersonSpartz.net, I believe it is.
Laura: I…guess.
Andrew: …who lives in Hawaii. I really did think that she would go after him, especially since, you know, Hawaii is like, so small.
Kevin: Yeah. Maybe we should send her an email with his location.
[Andrew and Laura laugh sly, girly laughs]
Andrew: Well he’s already back now so it’s a little too late.
Kevin: Oh yeah, that’s true.
Andrew: So…
Kevin: We should’ve, we really should’ve.
Andrew: So, that’s that. Surprisingly, it’s No. 3 on the…the No. 3 favorite segment according to our MuggleCast poll. I really didn’t realize it was such…it was so big!
Laura: Oh my god.
Andrew: How about “Spy on Sims”? How about that?
Laura:Vote for something else.
Andrew: “Andrew’s recording MuggleCast right now.” [laughs]
Kevin: And you can use the same clip of audio every episode.
Andrew: Yeah!
Kevin: Because nothing will change.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Except for when I’m away. When I’m away, guys, would you do a “Spy on Sims”?
Laura: Sure.
Andrew: I’ve never been away. Over thirty shows, including…
Laura: Well guys, no, no, no. All we have to do is record two separate sets of audio. One for “Andrew’s recording MuggleCast” and one for “Andrew’s at the Jersey Shore.” [laughs]
Kevin: That’s true.
Andrew: That IS true. Especially when summer comes around.
Dueling Club – 16 Yr. Old Snape vs. 16 Yr. Old Harry
Andrew: Okay, now it’s time for this week’s Dueling Club, where Laura had received an email over the past week.
Laura: Yep.
Andrew: A suggestion…
Laura: Yep. My Mom’s friend Bert, who actually listens to this show (which is really, really cool), suggested that we do…
Kevin: Hello, Bert!
Laura: [Laughs] Suggested that we do sixteen-year-old…
Andrew: [In a funny voice] Hello, Ernie!
[All laugh]
Laura: All right, all right.
Andrew: [Singing] “Rubber ducky…” Sorry.
[Everyone laughs, Andrew sighs]
Laura: Okay…[Andrew continues to laugh] Suggested…Bert suggested that we do sixteen-year-old Snape versus sixteen-year-old Harry. And I thought that was pretty interesting so I wanted to see what you guys thought of it.
Andrew: Yes.
Kevin: Well, what do you think? To start it off…
Laura: What do I think? I think, that at first glance, because of how advanced we know Snape was, you would that that, you know, Snape would just totally dominate Harry in a duel. But, I think, while he may win overall, Harry could definitely put a hurting on him.
Kevin: I think that it’s a hard match-up because where Harry focuses more on defensive spells than offensive, Snape obviously focuses more on offensive than defensive. So I would wonder whether Harry’s knowledge of defensive spells would make it so that Snape’s offensive spells would be almost useless.
Laura: So it would be kind of like, a toss-up?
Kevin: Exactly.
Laura: Mhm. I think that’s possible.
Kevin: Depends on who trips first, you know?
Laura: Mhm. It could definitely just be a situation involving who’s on their form that day.
Kevin: I’m hoping that by next book, we’ll be able to say…
Laura: That Harry…
Kevin: …without a doubt that…
Laura: Yeah. See that’s what I was about to say. What do you think, would a “current Harry” or, you know, “Book 7 Harry?” So, I mean, I think there is definitely going to be some distinguishing traits between the Harry that we’ve known in Half Blood Prince and the Harry that we see in Book 7.
Kevin: Exactly, yeah. I…one thing…that’s one of my main concerns about Book 7. I truly hope that when Harry faces Voldemort, that he’s facing Voldemort on an equal playing field…
Laura: Mhm.
Kevin: …where both of their knowledge is somewhat equal and their power is somewhat equal and, in that case, I think that it would be obvious that Harry would just destroy Snape.
Laura: Mhm, definitely.
Emily: I think, when it comes to initiative, Snape shows a lot more initiative when it comes to just expanding his knowledge and talent. So I think that Snape would probably out-duel Harry.
Kevin: Just because of his, not only initiative, but his creative—you know, creativity in making spells and stuff. That’s true.
Laura: I mean, there is no denying he is very creative.
Emily: Harry has passion, but Snape just kinda has, I don’t know, improvisation on his side. He’s able to, I think, improvise a little bit more.
Micah: Hmm…yeah I don’t think Harry stands a chance.
Andrew: Yeah I think Emily makes a good point. She says that Snape does have a lot more initiative. Yeah, I can picture Snape as a much more…a very intense wizard compared to Harry at that age.
Micah: It’s like Kevin was saying, how—
Andrew: Sort of like Tom Riddle.
Micah: Yeah. How much would DADA really help if Snape is using all these offensive-type spells that maybe DADA wouldn’t necessarily work against. You know, he’s not going to shoot a Patronus out of his wand at some crazy spell that Snape made up.
Kevin: That’s true, that’s true. Well, hopefully…
Laura: Definitely.
Kevin: …by Book 7 we will all be saying exactly the opposite.
Laura: I do think, yeah. I think by Book 7, Harry is just going to be able to, hopefully, defeat someone like Snape. I’d be kind of disappointed if he couldn’t.
Advice With MuggleCast
Andrew: Okay so, this week we are premiering our new segment, on MuggleCast that we do think is going to be a hit. Well, I think it is going to be a hit. How about you guys?
Kevin: Well I think so too…
Andrew: If you know what I’m talking about…
Kevin: Yeah. The uh…
Laura: Oh, definitely.
Andrew: There’s been some, good amount of demand for it. Now, I’m not sure if we are going to do this every week or it’s going to be like, every other week or once a month sort of thing, but this is Advice with MuggleCast, where we give you advice on your Harry Potter dilemmas. You know, your friends don’t like Harry Potter but you do, your parents think you are crazy, the whole Christianity thing, and your life and whatever.
Laura: Oh boy.
Andrew: We are here for you. And what is different about this segment is that you actually get to talk to us because you call in with your questions. So, Ben and I hosted this week’s Advice with MuggleCast and here it is now:
Ben: Hello! MuggleCast Advice. What’s your name?
Sarah: This is Sarah from California.
Ben: Hey Sarah! How are you doing today?
Sarah: I’m good. How are you?
Ben: I’m pretty good. What’s the problem you’ve been having?
Sarah: Well, I’m thinking about going to Lumos 2006 to see you guys and everybody else, but my parents said okay, but the only thing is, if I’m going to go with my parents, then I can’t really go HP crazy because they are going to be staring at me.
Ben: Oh right.
Sarah: And you know they are going to think I’m insane because, you know, I’m obsessed; I like Harry. Yeah…
Andrew: Hmmm. So, your question is, how do you want to get rid of your parents, or distract them?
Sarah: Yeah, pretty much.
Andrew: Hmmm…
Ben: Well, the first thing I think you should do is that, instead of taking your parents along with you, I think you should find an older chaperone to go with you.
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: Someone who is over the age of 18…
Sarah: Yeah.
Ben: …who you could go with because then you can go by yourself and you can have a good time. But, if you really want to get away from your parents when you’re there, just, I don’t know, I don’t know, what could she do?
Andrew: [Laughs] Well, I hear there’s a lot of gambling…
Sarah: Ditch them?
Andrew: [Laughs] I hear there’s a lot of gambling in Vegas, so maybe if you, uh, hooked them up with some money, you could let them go gambling while you’re, you know, doing your thing.
[Caller laughs]
Ben: Or just send them to the casino, that’s what I say.
Andrew: That’s what I just said! [laughs]
Sarah: Well, yeah, I guess that’ll work.
Ben: Just don’t even worry about giving them money, just drop them off at the casino.
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: Hello, MuggleCast, this is live. What’s your name?
Tammy: My name’s Tammy from Naples, Florida.
Andrew: Hi, Tammy.
Ben: How are you doing today?
Tammy: I’m good.
Ben: Excellent. So, tell us, what’s on your mind?
Tammy: Um, all my friends and family think I’m waaaaaay too obsessed with Harry Potter. What should I do?
Ben: What I would do if I was you is I wouldn’t show the obsession so much when I’m in front of them…
Tammy: Okay.
Ben: …that’s what I try not to do.
Tammy: Okay.
Ben: What do you try to do, Andrew?
Andrew: And/Or get them obsessed, if it’s anyway possible.
Tammy: Yeah.
Andrew: You know what I mean?
Tammy: Yeah, but sometimes you just can’t help being obsessed.
Andrew: I know. Have they read the books before, or do they just think you’re out of your mind and the things are stupid?
Tammy: I don’t know, sometimes it makes sense to me, and then to them they have no idea what I’m saying.
Andrew: Oh, right. Who are these again? Your parents?
Tammy: My parents and my family and all of my friends.
Andrew: Oh jeez, no one? You don’t have any Harry Potter buddies?
Tammy: No, I do, but like most of my friends think I’m crazy.
Andrew: Oh, oh, I see.
Ben: Okay, well, first of all, don’t let them get a hold of your iPod with all your MuggleCast episodes.
Tammy: That’s a good one.
Andrew: I have friends in school too who, you know, think- well, you know, all you’ve gotta do is say how many people listen to the show and stuff, and they think the web site’s cool. But, I mean…
Tammy: Yeah.
Andrew: …I don’t know the answer. That’s a tough one because everyone’s different.
Tammy: Yeah.
Ben: Okay, well, we have about a million calls coming in right now, so I’ll…
Tammy: Okay, thank you so much!
Ben: Thank you!
Daniel: Hi, this is Daniel. I’m from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Ben: Hey Daniel! You’re our first guy on the show tonight! How you doing?
Daniel: Well, at my school, I have a bunch of people who like PotterCast more than MuggleCast.
Andrew: No way. No way!
Ben: Nah, they’re just messing with you – it must be a joke.
Daniel: Yes, it’s a dilemma. So I am wondering how to convince them that MuggleCast is the better show.
Andrew: Hmm. Well you can say that you were on it. [laughs] How many friends? I didn’t realize that PotterCast was so popular in your area.
Daniel: Well, not many, but more than one.
Andrew: Oh. Well what do they like about it so much?
Daniel: I’m not really sure, but we have big arguments. Most of them just end up like, “You suck. No, you suck.”
[All laugh]
Andrew: Sounds like me and Melissa.
Daniel: Is this Andrew? I can’t really tell your voices apart.
Andrew: Yeah, this is Andrew.
Daniel: Can I have a “yeah”?
Andrew: No!
[All laugh]
Andrew: YEAH!!!!
Daniel: Well, now I’m on it, so they’ll have to listen to this.
Ben: Also, another thing is, tell them one doesn’t have to be better than the other. We have podcast love going on here.
Daniel: Yeah, I guess. But MuggleCast is way better. I mean, I listen to…
Ben: Don’t tell PotterCast we said that! [laughs]
Andrew: We’d have to agree. [laughs]
Daniel: I loved last week’s top ten list.
Ben: Thank you! Thank you very much!
Daniel: With number one, give him a CD of PotterCast.
[Andrew laughs]
Andrew: Hello, MuggleCast advice, what’s your name?
Sam: This is Sam from Maryland.
Ben: Hey, Sam, how are you doing?
Andrew: Hey, Sam.
Sam: Good. Wow, this is cool.
[Ben and Andrew laugh]
Daniel: I never thought I’d get through.
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: Yeah, there’s about a million calls coming in… what’s on your mind?
Sam: Well, anytime I mention Harry Potter around any of my friends or anybody at school, everyone looks at me like a nerd, like “Oh, why do you have to read Harry Potter, da-da-da,” you know.
Ben: Well, I think you should be who you want to be, Sam. You shouldn’t conform to your friend’s standards, because like I told a few callers ago: if they don’t like you for you, then they’re not really your friend.
Sam: I mean, they like me for everything else besides that I, you know, actually read. [laughs]
Andrew: Well I think everyone has something that not all of their friends like, there’s always that one thing.
Sam: Yeah, you’re right.
Andrew: I don’t know, because you can’t be perfect, so… but your question was how to get them to like it too? Or just…
Sam: Well, not exactly that…it’s not, well they don’t have to read it, but to not like, you know, look down on me every time I read it or talk about it.
Andrew: Right, right.
[A pause as another caller is added in]
Eric: Hello?
Ben: Hello!
Andrew: Whoa, whoa…
Ben: Sorry about that. [long pause]
Andrew: Is that Eric? That’s Eric! [laughs]
Ben: Eric Scull! What are you calling in for?
Eric: Hi guys! I want to let you know that I’m at work right now, and that’s why I can’t do the show.
Andrew: [laughs] Oh thanks, Eric.
Eric: Yeah!
Ben: Well, we’re doing the show right now, actually. Say hi to Sam from Maryland!
Eric: What?
Ben: Oh, Sam dropped out.
Andrew: He did?
Ben: Or… Sam, are you still here?
Sam: Yeah, I’m still here.
Ben: Hey! Say hi to Eric!
Sam: Hi, Eric!
Eric: Hi, Sam!
Andrew: I don’t think anyone knows, but Eric works at a movie theater.
Sam: Really?
Eric: Yeah!
Andrew: I just wanted to point that out. [laughs]
Eric: Yeah, and they kind of won’t let me, well, my hours you know, kind of conflict with Mug- actually I’ve got to go, my boss is staring at me right now, I’ve got to get off the phone. But right now, do you have any advice for me? Should I quit my job, maybe?
[All laugh]
Andrew: Yeah, quit your job, sure.
Sam: You can’t be… yeah.
Eric: All right, all right, okay. I’m going to go quit and I’ll see you guys in half an hour, all right?
Andrew: Okay, bye, Eric.
Ben: Okay, bye.
Eric: Thanks!
Ben: Well, it was nice talking to you, Sam.
Sam: Okay. Same to you. See ya.
Andrew: See ya! Hello, MuggleCast hot line!
Julia (who sounds suspiciously like Melissa): [Very girly voice] He-hello?
Andrew: Oh, oh hi! Hi! Who’s this?
“Julia”: Is this Andrew?
Andrew: Yeah…
Ben: Ben’s here too, Ben’s here too, how are you doing?
Andrew: Who’s this?
“Julia”: Hi, Ben! Oh my god…
Andrew: What’s your name?
“Julia”: …is it really you guys?
Ben: It’s really us.
Andrew: How long have you been trying to call?
“Julia”: I’m Julia, I’ve been trying for a long time, but I’m glad you picked up.
Andrew: Yeah, well, what’s on your mind?
“Julia”: Well, um, see, I have this friend, and he sort of made fun of me… really publicly, and…
Andrew: What a jerk!
Ben: Awww.
Andrew: [In an angry voice] You know, I hate people who make fun of you in public. It is absolutely disgusting, immature, rude… [voice gets sweet again] but go ahead, Julia.
“Julia”: I know, and I thought he liked me a lot, and he instead made fun of me and I don’t know what to do, because he’s, well, I should do something bad, right?
Ben: I don’t know, I think sometimes getting revenge, really… An eye for an eye really isn’t the way to go.
“Julia”: What do you think, Andrew?
Andrew: Well, no, I’d have to disagree here, Ben. I think you just need to get back at them, you know? They did something to you, you’ve got to get back at them.
Ben: Aw, come on…
Andrew: It’s just, it’s only fair.
“Julia”: He’s a big Emma Watson fan.
Ben: Wow, I like this guy already.
Andrew: Ah!
“Julia”: And, see, he made fun of me about something really personal. So I think if I made fun of him back, it should be really personal. What do you think?
Andrew: Oooo.
Ben: Well, are you sure you aren’t misinterpreting what happened? Are you sure he was really making fun of you?
“Julia”: Well, okay, I’ll tell you what happened… I SANG A SONG, BEN SCHOEN.
[Melissa laughs after a pause]
[Andrew and Ben gasp]
Andrew: Melissa Anelli from PotterCast and The-Leaky-Cauldron.org?
Melissa: No. Yes. Hi!
[All laugh]
Melissa: Hello, Ben Schoen. How are you, my dear?
Ben: Pretty good. I thought that sounded familiar… [laughs]
Melissa: You sounded a little scared for a second.
Andrew: So wait a second, this is the first time that you guys have spoken since, you know, the big mix-up.
Melissa: Yeah, I thought I’d crash your podcast to make up for it… not that this is even CLOSE to makes up for it. Not even a little!
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: It was a misinterpretation, okay? There was no malice intended with what went on.
Melissa: Mhm…
Ben: I promise.
Melissa: Hey, Ben. Have you been walking around looking over your shoulder?
Ben: Nah, nah, I’m safe here in Kansas.
[Andrew laughs]
Melissa: Then my work is not done. [Realizes what Ben just said] You’re safe in Kansas?
Ben: Yup.
Melissa: Do you remember who you’re dealing with?
Ben: [mocking tone] The M.A.F.I.A., ooooooo… the Ben Schoen mafia can take down the mafia.
Melissa: I didn’t say anything about mafia. You’re dealing with me.
Ben: Whatever.
Melissa: Bye, guys.
Andrew: See ya.
Ben: Don’t be mad, it was not malicious! Don’t be mad at me, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!
[Ben continues to keep chanting “I’m sorry” in the background]
Melissa: He’s scared. Andrew, can you hear it?
[BEEP]
Andrew: I know he’s scared, yup!
Ben: Hung up on her. Haha.
Andrew: That’s all we have this week for advice, but next week we’ll have many more of you who called in. So stay tuned.
Andrew’s Listener Challenge
Andrew: So this week we’re bringing back Andrew’s Listener Challenge, because I missed it so much, and I know everyone did here.
Kevin: Yeah
Laura: Mhm.
Kevin: I’ve really, really missed it.
Laura: My week was not complete.
Andrew: Laura would complete the listener challenges.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: So this week, I have two. One’s a little beggy, one’s kind of beggy-lame. [laughs] Actually, it’s my New Year’s resolution. I can’t, you know, I’ve got to follow it, right? And then the other one is a call for a little bit of help.
So, first challenge is to: as you know, our new MuggleCast website has a poll that we’re going to update every week with a new question. Send in your poll questions that you want the listeners to answer on our website. So say, you know, for example, like the one that’s up right now: “What’s your favorite MuggleCast segment?” Send in questions like that and we’ll post them and use those as a poll question. Send those in to challenge@staff.mugglenet.com .
My other challenge is this. I need you, YOU – this is so easy, I can’t even express it- listen. Here’s the deal. We have over 60,000 downloads/listeners. All I need is for 80 percent of you to go out there and get one of your friends, just one, just ONE, to download/subscribe to MuggleCast – and we will have 100,000 listeners overnight. Is that so much to ask? Come on, seriously.
Kevin: I think it is…
[Andrew laughs]
Kevin: …but we can try.
[All laugh]
Andrew: We can try, and that’s the most important thing here. You all have friends who like Harry Potter. Get them into the show. It’s a fun show, we have a fun time.
Laura: Not that we’re biased or anything…
Andrew: And no, I’m not saying this because I’m like “I hate 50,000! Or 60,000!” No. I love how many people enjoy our show, and we really think it’s great. But [Starts laughing] it’s my listener challenge.
Kevin: He just wants that nice, even number.
[Laura and Kevin laugh]
Andrew: Listen. I want to be able to walk out of my home and brag that I have 100,000 people listening to the show.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I want, I want to brag that we have more listeners than CNN has watchers – CNBC, I meant. But probably CNN too. Ooo! I just bumped my head into the ending of the show. It hurt.
Kevin: Oh, that was clever.
[All laugh]
Andrew: I moved on, and I hit the end.
[More laughing]
Show Close
Andrew [Show Close with music in background]: So that does it for this week’s edition of MuggleCast. Once again, I’m Andrew Sims.
Kevin: I’m Kevin Steck.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Emily: And I’m Emily Ogle.
Andrew: Emily, thanks for joining us this week, we’d be glad to have you back again.
Emily: I’d love it.
Andrew: You gave us plenty of good input, so thank you.
Emily: Thank you.
Laura: Girls represent!
[Emily laughs]
Andrew: We’ll see you next week for Episode 24, where Jamie, Eric, and Ben should be returning.
Micah: And MuggleCast becomes older than I am.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Oh, geez.
Laura: Because, Micah, you are so old.
Andrew: We’re getting into the thirties here, we’re moving along.
Laura: [in a crying voice] It’s growing up! [cries]
Andrew: As a quick side note, I was adding up our download totals- you know, through our stats thing- we have had over 1,200,000 downloads.
Laura: Wow.
Kevin: Woo-hoo.
Micah: Nice.
Andrew: That’s a lot of downloads. [laughs]
Laura: Think about that: we’ve been listened to at least one million something times.
Andrew: Ugh, that makes me sick, actually.
[All laugh]
Andrew: It does.
Laura: I know, it’s very surreal.
Andrew: So, you know, again, we thank everyone for their support SO much. We really do. I’m not even joking for five seconds in my life. So… [laughs]
[Kevin laughs]
Andrew: …thanks everyone. We will see you next week! Bye, everyone.
Laura: Adios!
Kevin: Bye!
Micah: Bye!
Emily: Bye!
Bloopers
Laura: Okay! I think we’re pretty much…
Kevin: Killed that.
Andrew: We killed it!
Laura: I think we Avada Kedavra’d that.
Andrew: [Laughs] We Avada Kedavra’d that…
Laura: Basically.
Kevin: Uhhh.
Laura: It’s been AKed.
Andrew: Don’t say that. It’s been trademarked by Warner Brothers.
[Kevin laughs]
Andrew: Oops, now they’re going to yell at me because I said that and they listen to the show.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Oops, now [laughs] I’m going to get in trouble because I said that they listen to the show.
Kevin: And you also said Warner Brothers, so Warner Brothers is trademarked too. So now they’re going to get mad at you for saying Avada Kedavra while saying Warner Brothers and the same time.
[All laugh]
Kevin: So now, on top of saying that Warner Brothers listens to the show and their trademark and Avada Kedavra, you know, I think we’re pretty much done for.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Yeah, we’re screwed. Guys, this is the last episode of MuggleCast.
Andrew: How many Warner Brothers are there?
Kevin: I think there’s only one.
Andrew: Only one Warner Brothers? So it would be Warner Brother, then? That doesn’t make sense.
Kevin: Oh, you mean literally.
Laura: [whispers] He’s got a multiple personality disorder.
Andrew: I mean literally! How many Warner Brothers are there?
[Laura laughs]
Micah: This is definitely a blooper.
[All laugh]
Laura: Yeah. [laughs]
Andrew: I just want to know, I don’t… oh well, anyway-
Kevin: Hey, let’s visit animationUSA/WBmore2.html!
[All laugh]
Kevin: They show a picture of all the Warner Brothers! [laughs]
Andrew: Oh!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Ah, so what else… okay. Umm…
[Chair squeaks and a weird yowling noise is heard]
Micah: What was that?
[All laugh]
Laura: [still laughing] Sorry, I was stretching.
Kevin: And a dinosaur has invaded our conversation!
[All laugh]
Andrew: All right, let’s all just take a stretch and then… [yawns]. I’m cold. All right, well…
Laura: Me too.
———————–
Written by: Micah, Ally, Martina, and Sarah