MuggleCast 62 Transcript
Show Intro
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[Show intro music]
Because life takes MuggleCast, this is MuggleCast Episode 62 for November 5th, 2006…allegedly.
Eric: Remember, remember, the fifth of November. The Gunpowder Treason and plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.
Ben: What is that – what is that from?
Eric and Jamie: V for Vendetta.
[Jamie laughs]
Eric: The quote is V, with the Guy Fawkes mask on, because, Jamie?
Jamie: Well, because a few years ago – quite a few now – Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament just like V did in the film, and he didn’t succeed, unlike V in the film, and he got caught, tortured, sentenced to death along with his fellow conspirators. And so we celebrate – I don’t know why we [laughs] celebrate it, actually.
[Eric laughs]
Jamie: But yeah, we do, every single November 5th, by setting off loads and loads of fireworks, basically. That’s it in a nutshell.
Ben: Because he tried to blow a building up?
Jamie: Yeah, I know.
[Ben laughs]
Eric: Well, he’s not…
Jamie: It isn’t just a building, to be fair. That’s like, you know, it’s quite an important building. But, yeah, basically, because he did that.
Eric: It was like – they were against the Catholics, were they? The – there was like oppression.
Jamie: Yeah, I can’t remember the King’s name. I can’t believe, this is so bad, I don’t know this.
Ben: Was that – was that the start of the show, or what?
Jamie: Yes.
Eric: That’s why it’s MuggleCast now. So, it’s 62.
Ben: Oh, so it’s MuggleCast now..
Eric: For November 5th, 2006.
Ben: [laughs] Oh, well, welcome back, everybody. I’m Ben Schoen.
Kevin: I’m Kevin Steck.
Jamie: I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Micah: And I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
[Intro music continues to play]
Halloween Recap
Ben: This is the show where we bring you Harry Potter news, theories, discussion, you know, all that good stuff. This is the first episode after Halloween.
Jamie: Actually…
Ben: How is everybody? What did you end up doing, Jamie?
Jamie: What did I end up doing? I stayed at home, waiting by the door, with my steel-toed shoes on so I could dropkick pumpkins…
[Ben laughs]
Jamie: …and not break my toes, but it turns out that no one…
Ben: And kick little kids in the side of the head, right?
Jamie: Exactly. Specifically that.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Jamie: But no one turned up, no one knocked, so I think they must have heard the show and got worried and not turned up. So, yeah, I had a boring evening in.
Ben: Aw, that’s too bad. What about – what about you, Micah?
Micah: Actually, very similar. Nobody came to my door at all for trick-or-treating. I was kind of disappointed.
Ben: [laughs] We hope that everyone else had a good holiday, too. Without further ado, let’s go to Micah Tannenbaum for a look at this past week’s Harry Potter news stories.
News
Micah: [in chipmunk voice] At 5:30 PM on November 16th, Bonnie Wright will switch on London’s Marylebone High Street Christmas lights as part of the seasonal festivities. The event will include various live music acts, food and drink, shopping stalls, an appearance by Santa, and a fireworks display.
The team at MuggleNet Fan Fiction has posted the winners of their first annual Quill Awards, which recognizes excellence in fan fiction writing. Congrats to all the winners, and we hope everyone enjoys the stories!
Access Hollywood via Dark Horizons is reporting that Michael Hoffman is in talks with Warner Brothers to direct Half-Blood Prince, which is due for release in November 2008.
An official announcement is expected by the end of the year, and we’ll let you know of updates as we hear them!
HBO on Demand will start airing “a sneak preview” of Order of the Phoenix on November 20th. Right now there are no other details concerning what will be included in HBO’s preview, but our guess is that it might include clips from the trailer, which will be released on November 17th before Happy Feet.
As we reported in October, Goblet of Fire will make its television premiere on November 19th. In association with the movie, HBO is holding a contest to win tickets to the Order of the Phoenix premiere.
Finally, be sure to check out a brand-new interview with David Thewlis (who plays Professor Lupin) where he discusses the fifth Harry Potter film.
[changes to normal voice] And just so you know that that was legit, that’s all the news [changes to chipmunk voice] for this November 5th, [changes to normal voice] 2006 edition of MuggleCast. [changes to chipmunk voice] Back to the show.
Ben: [laughs] Thanks for that, Micah. See…
Eric: [laughs] Micah Tannenbaum!
Ben: See, for those of you who don’t remember, Micah made a bet that if she did not release the title on Halloween, that he would have to say the news in a chipmunk voice and so [laughs] there you have it.
Eric: What?
Jamie: Nice one.
Micah: I kept up my end of the deal, though. So…
Title of Book Seven
Ben: So, Micah, why didn’t she release the title? Do you think she’s not ready? I mean, she did talk about the title, right?
Micah: She did talk about the title.
Kevin: I think she did that just to taunt you.
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah. I agree.
Ben: [laughs] Just to taunt Micah.
Micah: I didn’t pay her enough, actually.
[Kevin laughs]
Ben: Well, speaking of which, that’s something we want to discuss, is she said she has a third title for Book Seven. We were all there at Radio City Music Hall the second night – well, some of us were. And she said how that morning, or that day during the – while she was in the shower, she thought of a second title for Book Seven, and now she has a third one and she said that it is ahead by a short nose, or “perhaps that should be a vowel and two consonants.” So, what do you guys think about the whole title stuff?
Eric: I think she added three letters.
Kevin: I think she’s teasing us.
Micah: Yeah, I mean, now there’s not just two, now there’s three. She just
likes messing around with us.
Jamie: Oh, I feel…
Ben: I know. Hopefully, hopefully we’ll get to know what the other two
titles are.
Jamie: I know what it is. It’s…
Ben: What?
Jamie: She’s just added the word “the” to it. That’s two consonants and a
vowel.
[Eric and Kevin laugh]
Jamie: I bet it’s something, something, and something, and then… Oh, sorry, Harry Potter and something, and then she’s added “the” into it. I bet that’s it. In fact, I will eat…
Eric: You know what that…
Jamie: Actually, no I won’t.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: You stop right there.
Ben: [laughs] “I will eat.” I love those bets.
Eric: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah. Although, I just think it means that she favors this title above the other two and that it’s just got a few more letters than the other two, as well.
Time on Book Seven Title
Ben: Right, but if she didn’t release the title this – on Halloween,
when do you think we can see it? I mean, when do you think we will see it?
Jamie: Christmas, maybe?
Eric: I don’t want to wait that long.
Ben: I don’t know.
Jamie: It’s like a month.
Eric: I think maybe something like this. Guy Fawkes Day.
Jamie: Huh?
Ben: Yeah, but what about…
Eric: It’s Guy Fawkes Day today.
Ben: Today?
Eric: Maybe by the end of the night she’ll release the title.
Ben: I doubt it.
Kevin: Maybe Christmas?
Ben: So, what do you think this means for the timing of Book Seven? I still
think it’s going to be 2008.
Jamie: Yeah, I agree.
Kevin: Yeah, I do, too.
Jamie: Of course, all the way, 2008.
Ben: But don’t you agree that’s kind of cool because we get to do this for a whole other year?
Isn’t that awesome?
Eric: I don’t know, why don’t we ask the audience? Do you guys want to sit
through this for another year?
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Jamie: I can’t hear them right now, I must admit.
Ben: More cities. More cities, more…
Jamie: More continents.
Ben: Yeah, more continents, more…
Jamie: More planets.
Ben: Yeah, for you it’s continents, yeah.
Jamie: More planets. We’ll go to Mars next, Ben.
Ben: Yeah, we’re going to podcast – we’re going to podcast…
Kevin: More planets.
Ben: We’re going to podcast from the moon.
Jamie: Yeah.
[Jamie and Kevin laugh]
Ben: Certainly, I don’t think, the fact that she didn’t release it probably means that she’s still working on it and probably has quite a bit left to go. So…
Jamie: Oh, yeah.
Ben: Sorry for those of you who were counting on 2007. I don’t think it’s
going to happen.
Eric: But something that Ben said about us knowing the other two potential
titles, too. I don’t know if we will or not, because there’s definitely
people who are like, “Oh, I prefer that title better.” You know? And I…
Ben: Well, maybe, maybe they give away too much, like…
Jamie: Yeah, they probably do.
Ben: Besides the title, maybe the other two would add – give us more information.
Jamie: Harry Potter and the Death of Harry Potter.
Ben: She definitely wouldn’t release… Yeah, The Death of Harry Potter. [laughs]
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: She definitely wouldn’t release the other two until after Book Seven is already done.
Eric: Yeah, I would think so.
Jamie: Yeah. And people have read it.
Eric: And after everybody is used to it.
Ben: I just don’t think it’s possible.
Eric: And it could be like an alternate title. Like, did you guys know – no, I’m not going to make the comparison, well, I guess I am. Star Wars: Episode VI was actually, preliminarily, Revenge of the Jedi. And there were actually posters you can get on EBay, Revenge of the Jedi, Episode VI: Revenge of the Jedi, and George Lucas, then halfway through the ad campaign, decided that Jedi weren’t vengeful necessarily in their character, so he turned it to Return of the Jedi.
Ben: Oh.
Eric: And then of course Episode III became Revenge of the Sith.
Jamie: Return of the Sith.
Eric: [laughs] Return of the Sith. Well, they were there.
Kevin: Return of the Sith. [laughs]
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Eric: But, yeah. So, that was interesting.
Announcements
Ben: But anyways, one way you can – one way you can demonstrate your support for our show, if you want us to keep doing this for years, is by voting for us on Podcast Alley. com. I have no idea, no idea where we are right now on [laughs] on Podcast Alley. Sorry, I just looked at the picture there, again.
Eric: Because truth be told we don’t even check it. We just, you know, vote for us.
Ben: Yeah, well see, it’s actually not loading right now. Oh, here we go. Oh, geez, we are number four and we are getting – we’re not even the number one Harry Potter podcast on Podcast Alley.
Eric: Great. Gee, which one?
Ben: So, go out show your support for us, vote for MuggleCast.
Jamie: Please, please.
MuggleNet Book Update
Ben: A little update on the book. We have received quite a few pre-orders
and we’re very pleased with the amount of people, the feedback on it, the
amount of people who are purchasing it, and once again, MuggleNet.com’s, What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love, And How Will The Adventure Finally End? You can purchase it – pre-order it through Amazon. I think the book’s actually going to be at retailers by the end of this month. So, you can go pick it up at your Barnes and Noble if you don’t want to pre-order it. Yeah, but if you do pre-order, it helps support the show, the site, everything, so go ahead and do that.
Eric: Ben, do you think we might be able to grace ourselves with an
interview with the authors of that novel?
Jamie: No, no, they’re untouchable, Ben, I hear.
Ben: I don’t know, they’re pretty busy.
Jamie: They are very busy.
Kevin: Yeah.
[Ben laughs]
Kevin: Very arrogant.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Well, I figure they had a show…
Jamie: And rather good-looking I hear, as well, from an unknown source.
Ben: Yeah, especially the one…
Eric: We may need to offer them a great portion of our money. You know, we
could broadcast from zero gravity if we pulled the funds enough, because
they are selling zero gravity trips now for what, $3,000?
Kevin: Where did his come from?
Eric: Because…
Jamie: Where did this come from?
Kevin: Yeah, but I think it’s coming from the topic about broadcasting from
space.
Eric: Because we could podcast from the moon.
Kevin: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Kevin: But the thing is, we said that like ten minutes ago. [laughs]
Jamie: Ten light years ago.
MuggleCast T-Shirts
Ben: Another reminder: MuggleCast t-shirts. We will end sale on them on
January 1st. So, this is pretty much your last chance to buy them, as sort
of like the big going out of business sale, but, however, you must remember
this is not like those bands that do this for sympathy.
[Eric laughs]
Ben: And then three months later they come back, you know? [laughs] We all heard of, like, I think KISS – they’re the band during the ’70s, ’80s, ands the ’90s even. They had
three different farewell tours, where they would disappear and then they
would, all of a sudden, they would come back.
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: They wouldn’t have their makeup on or they would have their makeup on, but we’re not doing that. This is seriously it. We are no longer allowed to sell them after January 1st.
Jamie: Yeah. We always record with out makeup on, don’t we, Ben?
[Micah laughs]
Ben: [laughs] Yeah, yes. But, yes, after January 1st we will no longer be allowed to sell the t-shirts, so go out and pick yours up.
Gilmore Girls
And one final thing we need to mention in the announcements this week is, last week Andrew, who is unfortunately not here to defend himself – he bashed the Gilmore Girls, the show that’s on the WB or…
Eric: He didn’t! He didn’t!
Ben: Well, he said what his opinion was.
Eric: [sarcastically] Oh my god!
Ben: And it was not very kind.
Jamie: And he didn’t prefix it with the word, “allegedly,” or, “my opinion is,” or…
Ben: Yeah. Didn’t he say that he thought it was the stupidest show he’s ever seen? [laughs]
Jamie: Apparently. [laughs]
Ben: Apparently.
Eric: Allegedly, “this is the stupidest show ever.” No. I have no problem, I’ve seen a few episodes. I have no problem.
Micah: Well, actually…
Ben: Micah, didn’t Andrew want you to say something about that?
Micah: He did. He actually sent me an official statement by him.
Jamie: From the heart, Micah, from the heart. From the heart.
Micah: [laughs] It is definitely from the heart! He wanted to communicate to the fans that he was just joking and he didn’t want to upset anybody, because we did get a bunch of e-mails from fans. Some of them were a little bit more passionate than others, I guess this is the right way to put it.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: And he also wanted to say that he’s watched a grand total of two minutes of The Gilmore Girls…
[Ben and Jamie laugh]
Micah: …so his opinion obviously was not that well-thought out. So, he does apologize to all the fans who like Gilmore Girls and…
Ben: Speaking of Andrew…
Eric: He’s hospitalized right now from passionate…
Ben: Yeah, because The Gilmore Girls fan girls came and abducted him. [laughs] No, he’s – yeah, he’s not here this week. He’s off doing a college visit. You know, he’s preparing for the next level. I don’t know. [laughs]
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: Yup. So, sorry about that.
Eric: What college?
Ben: We’ll make sure that – just realize that it’s our personal opinions.
Kevin: We’ll have to keep him in line.
Ben: We’re sorry that we offended anybody about The Gilmore Girls. We got an email from someone saying that they were deeply offended that we talked smack on The Gilmore Girls.
Eric: This is, after all, a Harry Potter podcast.
Ben: [laughs] Yeah, this is a Harry Potter podcast, not a Gilmore Girls podcast.
Micah: But we were joking, I think, and it was just taken a little bit out of context.
Jamie: Hey, I’m really, really glad it’s not a Gilmore Girls [laughs] podcast, because that show sucks!
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Allegedly! Allegedly!
Jamie: Oh, yeah, sorry. I forgot to mention it.
Eric: So, allegedly you’re really glad.
Jamie: Allegedly glad.
Eric: We’re following in the same pattern here.
Ben: See, we always make these mistakes.
Listener Rebuttal – Peeves
Ben: According to – who sent this rebuttal in? No name. They said:
“Hey, MuggleCasters! I have a comment about your discussion on the ghosts that live in Hogwarts. Laura is right. You can’t get them out of the school, at least in the case of Peeves. Here’s what I hope counts as proof. It’s from the interview between Emerson, Melissa, and Jo. Emerson says, ‘Why does Dumbledore allow Peeves to stay in the castle?’ Jo says, ‘You can’t get him out.’ Emerson says, (and this is the opinion that Jamie and I had), ‘He’s Dumbledore, he can do anything!'”
Jamie: Yeah!
Ben: “JKR says, ‘No, no, no, no, no. Peeves is like dry rot. You can try and eradicate it. It comes with the building. If you’ve got Peeves, you’re stuck.’ And then Emerson replied, ‘But Peeves answers to Dumbledore.'”
[Eric laughs]
Ben: “JKR said, ‘Allegedly.’ Melissa said, ‘Allegedly?’ JKR said, ‘Yeah. I see Peeves as like a severe plumbing problem in an old building, and Dumbledore is slightly better with the spanner than most people. So, he can maybe make it function better for a few weeks, then it’s going to leak again.'”
Jamie: Well, I’m sorry, Jo. You’re wrong. She’s wrong!
Ben: There you have it. We were wrong. Jo, she proved us wrong in this interview.
Jamie: No, she’s wrong, Ben! She’s wrong.
[Eric laughs]
Ben: Yeah, she didn’t know what she was talking about.
Micah: You know what this is?
Ben: What’s up, Micah?
Micah: I was actually reading the interview, and I sent this to Laura. So I think Laura just made up a fake Listener Rebuttal to prove that she was right and the rest of us were wrong.
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: Yeah.
[Kevin laughs]
Listener Rebuttal – More on Peeves
Ben: Alyssa, 16, from Fairfax, California, has a related message for us.
“I was thinking about Peeves as the subject was brought up in Episode 61, and it seems logical to me that Peeves is a shape taken from all of the energy from the teenagers as they run around the school. He must have appeared sometime when the first students arrived at Hogwarts, and will only go away when there are no more students with poltergeist energy left. This is why no one has ever gotten rid of him.”
Jamie: That’s a very interesting point.
Eric: That’s the best.
Kevin: It’s very interesting.
Ben: It would kind of make sense…
Jamie: Yeah.
Ben: …because he’s mischievous, and every kid – even the goody-goody kids in schools – there’s part of them that wants to rebel, even thought they may not do it all the time.
Jamie: Allegedly.
Eric: Allegedly. Yeah.
Jamie: Allegedly.
Eric: I think Alyssa has definitely struck gold as far as – because poltergeist activity to begin with is energy; usually a child’s energy, actually. And I definitely like the idea that it’s feeding off the mischievous sides of all the students. I think teachers, too. Peeves could be using some or taking some that the teachers can’t do. I don’t know. Because if you look at Book Five, they were kind of glad he was creating mischief. So, I think Peeves could feed off of everybody in the castle. Even Dumbledore.
Ben: Mhm. But I don’t think it’s the – I don’t think it’s the same way that he’s feeding like a Dementor feeds off.
Eric: Oh, no, no, no. Not at all.
Ben: It’s actually just – it doesn’t take away from the energy, it just…
Eric: But he is there because it’s there.
Ben: Of the energy, yeah. Hmmm. That’s interesting. I never really thought of that, but yeah. I think Peeves is what… He’s still good-natured, even though he does some pretty mean things sometimes.
Jamie: Yeah, he wouldn’t drown anyone or kill anyone. He’s just going to drop stuff on their heads. He’s mischievous rather than malevolent.
Ben: Right. Definitely.
Eric: I think he’s malevolent too. Just not murderous.
Character Discussion: Luna Lovegood
Ben: Pale eyes, radish earrings – Luna Lovegood. That’s what this week’s main discussion. Micah, did you want to make a few points?
Micah: Sure. Let’s see.
Kevin: Points as to what?
Eric: By the way, this is the main discussion.
Micah: Sure.
Ben: Well, points as to – like, a little bit of information about her.
Kevin: Just to introduce this?
Ben: Yeah, this is the main discussion, by the way.
Micah: Yeah. Okay. Luna Lovegood is a Ravenclaw. She’s a witch in Ginny’s year who’s considered a bit weird by her classmates. She comes by this reputation honestly; Luna simply isn’t like all the other kids. She dresses unusually, she proclaims her strange beliefs to anyone who will listen, and in some ways she seems to be completely out of touch with what’s going on around her. That was from the HP Lexicon.
Luna’s Name Connection
Jamie: Why don’t we start off with her name? Her name, Luna, obviously has…
Ben: Etymology?
Jamie: …etymology with the moon. And that begs the question, is she related to Lupin?
Ben: I don’t think she’s related in the terms of her bloodline, maybe. Not that way. But maybe JK Rowling is trying to say that there’s some kind of connection between these two.
Jamie: Yeah.
Kevin: Maybe in just their personalities.
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: Well, it could just be that – the moon could just be to perpetuate the Loony Lovegood teasing she receives. It’s all moon, moon-like.
Eric: Well, yeah. Peeves called Lupin “Loony, loony Lupin” or whatever in…
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: …in Movie Three. And that was obviously, I guess, because he was a werewolf and Peeves knew it or because of his moon significance. I think Luna has different moon significances as in she’s always visiting the moon as in she’s always in space.
Jamie: Oh, that’s very good! Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eric: Yeah, so they are both loony – they are both related to the moon for different reasons.
Ben: Right. But they’re not related, right?
Eric: Right, right, right. I don’t think the Lovegoods…
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: No, no. I agree. Yeah.
Is She Really That Loony?
Ben: But yeah, you brought up how they’re always calling her Loony Lovegood, but is she really as loony as everyone makes her out to be? What do you guys think?
Eric: Yeah. She, she actually is…
[Ben laughs]
Eric: …because… Well no, no. She’s not as – it’s not a bad thing, though. Having a little bit of…
Ben: Well, you know how she’s always believing in like the Ministry conspiracy?
Eric: Well…
Ben: Like Fudge making goblins into pies, having an army of heliopaths, [laughs] and all these – all these things.
Eric: [laughs] Being different is not a crime, necessarily.
Jamie: But it’s not being… Yeah, but it’s – there’s a difference between being different and being crazy.
Ben: But is she crazy, though? That’s the question.
Jamie: Yeah.
Kevin: Yeah, I don’t think she’s crazy.
Eric: She, she has a habit, a tendency…
Kevin: I just think she, she has – well, she has some far-out ideas.
Eric: Certain ones.
Kevin: And because of that, she’s ostracized.
Eric: But if she were…
Micah: But I don’t think she needs to be locked up in a straightjacket or anything like that.
Kevin: Exactly, yeah.
Jamie: I think she does. I’d put her in there.
[Ben and Eric laugh]
Ben: No, no, yeah. It’s definitely the – like you said, it’s more of the… Like, she’s eccentric? Is the word I’m looking for…
Kevin: Yes.
Ben: She’s kind of – she’s a little bit out there. She’s kind of like how some people perceive Dumbledore. It’s the same thing, but…
Jamie: Yeah, but it’s different, though…
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: …because it’s… It is the same, but he is…
Ben: Well, she’s not brilliant like Dumbledore.
Jamie: But yeah, he’s brilliant.
Micah: She’s very open-minded.
Eric: Well, she’s pretty smart, too. Loony has an ability – sorry, Luna has an ability to speak uncomfortable truths and things. She gets past a lot more than other people. Other people would stop short almost and fall short of expressing their mind. Luna, however, knows exactly how she feels and even if it’s crazy or a little outlandish, she is, like, an open person about it but she just gets insulted for having so many different ideas.
The Quibbler
Ben: Right. Well, you know her dad’s newspaper, The Quibbler?
Eric: Yeah. Which doesn’t help being raised by that man.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs] He’s kind of a cook, too, from the way it sounds. [laughs] But the only reliable story that we’ve actually seen The Quibbler produce was in Book Five – at the end of Book Five where they used it to publicize that, you know, Harry did all the interviews.
Jamie: Isn’t it, isn’t it just a plot device, though? It was introduced to provide a method of publishing that isn’t The Daily Prophet that allows Harry to get his story out.
Eric: Well, I think it’s – I think it’s good to know. I think it’s good to know there’s another version of publishing next to The Daily Prophet, because…
Jamie: That doesn’t have the…
Ben: Because The Daily Prophet would sort of…
Eric: Because The Daily Prophet, the Ministry is leaning on the Prophet. And it’s great to see – even if it was a plot device…
Kevin: Yeah, it’s pretty corrupt.
Eric: It’s why I’m not against the idea of The Quibbler. Because people are saying, “Okay, so the Rotfang conspiracy – and Fudge has an army of heliopaths.” Even if, even if he doesn’t, I don’t think that’s the point. The point is to question. You know? “How likely is this?” Could Fudge potentially either have an army of heliopaths or could he just be not doing his job in the other sense of the word? Could he not – could he be hiding something? Is really what that question asks. You know? And…
Micah: So, you think the stories tell something different? Is that what you’re saying?
Eric: Well, I don’t think they’re intended to. I think they’re intended. Somebody actually believes that Fudge has an army of heliopaths, just like somebody believes Sirius Black was Stubby Boardman. They actually believe that stuff, but I’m saying, what you take from it is the minor concepts. You know? Okay, we aren’t supposed to, you know?
Jamie: Some satire is like, I’m sure that The Onion realizes it’s satire. It doesn’t write it believing it. Like The Quibbler probably writes it for entertainment. It’s like, it’s like The Sun over here. It sensationalizes, it exaggerates, it puts questionable facts in, but it doesn’t pretend it’s a broadsheet. It knows it’s a tabloid and so it acts accordingly. The Quibbler probably writes because that’s what their audience wants, so even though it’s not true, they write it knowing it’s not true and write it knowing it’s just for entertainment.
Eric: I don’t know about that. I got the distinct impression that Luna actually believes in nargles and things. So, I don’t know. Like you compare it to The Onion, I would compare it to what’s our main tabloid here? The pointless one.
Micah: The National Enquirer?
Ben: Yeah, National Enquirer.
Eric: National Enquirer. About monkeys from Mars and all sorts of stuff and it’s like…
Ben: [laughs] Yeah.
Eric: In that case, I completely agree with you.
Ben: And then there was…
Eric: They can’t possibly…
Ben: No, no. There was an article in there that said the world’s fattest man has disappeared. It had like, a man that was…
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: …3,000 pounds [laughs] and he disappeared. I don’t know how that happened.
[Jamie laughs]
Eric: Anyway, people, yeah. Definitely those publications I don’t think take themselves seriously, but The Quibbler, that’s why The Quibbler struck me. Because Luna actually purports these kinds of theories, and her father apparently does, too. So, when book sales or rather, magazine sales – issue sales of The Quibbler went up due to Harry’s thing, her father was overjoyed because he could share all his other conspiracies of the government with everybody because he actually believed it.
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: So, I think this is an instance where people do actually believe what they write for it.
Jamie: Mhm.
Micah: But do you think that that hurt Harry’s credibility at all?
Eric: Mmmm.
Jamie: No, no.
Micah: Having his story published in The Quibbler?
Jamie: No, no.
Micah: No?
Eric: Mmmm. No, because the way, the way it is, is once it’s published there, everybody knows, why didn’t he do it in The Daily Prophet? Oh, because The Daily Prophet…
Jamie: Right, yeah.
Eric: You know? So they can immediately justify it. It doesn’t matter where it’s published. It was actually…
Kevin: And it was very important for The Quibbler because now they have the support of Harry Potter. Harry Potter has just said…
Jamie: Yeah.
Kevin: … “Hey, I’m giving my story to The Quibbler over The Daily Prophet.”
Jamie: Yeah, and it’s just a confidence in the publication, as well. So, I assume…
Kevin: Exactly.
Jamie: …you know?
Kevin. Right.
Eric: Don’t you just love how Rita Skeeter wrote that article? [laughs]
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: Poetic justice.
Luna and Ollivander
Ben: Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. Luna also is described as having “pale eyes,” and another character in the series who has a similar description is Ollivander, the wand maker in Diagon Alley. So, do you guys think there could be any connection between them two?
Jamie: [laughs] Well, I know we…
Ben: Those two?
Jamie: …over-analyze here, but…
Eric: I love the idea.
Jamie: …isn’t that kind of like saying that Harry has got black hair. [laughs] So…
Kevin: I have green eyes, so…
Ben: [laughs] Two people with blue eyes have…
Jamie: Yeah, yeah.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: Right.
Jamie: They have got to be sisters. Seriously, definitely.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs] They both have blue eyes.
Eric: No, but, guys…
Ben: No, I don’t really know if it’s really that, I’m just saying that JK Rowling – it’s different in a series like this when she’ll use certain descriptive words. You know what I mean?
Micah: Right, right.
Ben: I mean, it’s probably a stretch, but it’s still worth discussing.
Eric: Yeah, pale eyes…
Micah: Well, I was reading…
Eric: Yeah.
Micah: …Prisoner of Azkaban last night, and the number of times they said Lupin had pale eyes, and Hermione had pale eyes from studying so much. I mean, do you want to start making connections there, too?
Jamie: Yes, I do.
Eric: Oh, really, Micah? So…
Jamie: He’s her daughter.
Micah: You do?
Jamie: So, she’s his daughter. Oops.
Micah: She’s Hermione’s sister? Ummm…
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: Did you…
[Kevin laughs]
Ben: Yeah, that’s true.
Jamie: They’re one big happy family.
Eric: Did they actually say “pale eyes,” though, Micah? Because I was under the – I believe you, but I was under the impression that was a not widely used term like “pale eyes.” I don’t recall seeing it except for Ollivander and Luna. Did they actually say that for studying?
Micah: I don’t know. Maybe they just said…
Ben: Yeah, I don’t really recall that, but I haven’t…
Micah: …bags under their eyes, or something.
Ben: …read Book Three for a while, and it wasn’t like I was looking for it when I did read it. [laughs]
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: Well, let’s just entertain it for a second here. Luna’s mother was described as being a talented witch who enjoyed experimenting with spells, and it would make sense for Ollivander to be Luna’s grandfather in this case, since he creates wands. I’m not sure if… I’m just reading this from the Writely, but [laughs] I’m not actually sure if that makes much sense. It doesn’t really make logical sense to me. What about you guys? What about you, Kevin Steck? What do you think?
Kevin: I think it’s a far stretch, like we said before. I mean…
Ben: Yeah, I guess we’re going to start making really, really out there predictions.
Kevin: I mean, that’s like grasping at air. [laughs]
Ben: Yeah.
Kevin: There’s – it’s just a single description of a person. I mean, I’d think we would have to have…
Jamie: It’s like grasping at straws with no hands.
Kevin: Exactly. [laughs]
Jamie: At all. So, it’s impossible.
Ben: Yeah.
[Micah laughs]
Ben: Well, okay we’ve established that that is a little bit far out there, but…
Jamie: No, Ben, I think we should reinforce that point. Allegedly.
Ben: [laughs] Allegedly. No. Not only – okay, we’ve established that that is a little bit of a far stretch.
Kevin: Out there.
Jamie: It’s allegedly a bit far-fetched.
Luna’s Connection With Death
Ben: But, but something that isn’t far-fetched is the fact that she does have a strong connection with death. Which is what we saw throughout Order Of The Phoenix, because she can see the Thestrals.
Jamie: Why can she see them, again?
Ben: All those things.
Jamie: Do we know, or do we not know?
Ben: She saw her – who’d she see die?
Jamie: I can’t remember.
Ben: Do you guys know? We need to get this right.
Jamie: Did she see?
Micah: I think her mother, isn’t it?
Ben: Yeah, it was her mother. That’s what I thought, too.
Eric: Yeah, okay. I think it’s unlikely, though, that if Luna’s grandfather is Ollivander, I don’t like to think that Ollivander’s own daughter would be out there in the world testing things to make for her father’s wands. He wouldn’t send her off to go test things.
Jamie: We’ve moved on.
Eric: Blow stuff up.
Jamie: Okay. There’s…
Eric: No, that was just going into the death thing.
Jamie: Oh, sorry. Okay, go on then. Sorry.
Eric: Because her mother died.
Jamie: Okay, yeah, fair enough, fair enough.
Eric: Apparently testing things. So, if it would have been wands for her father, that would have been a little sad. Maybe that’s why Ollivander reserved himself to just phoenix tail and unicorn tail. Phoenix feather, whatever.
Ben: When Harry realizes that Luna can see the Thestrals, too, it makes him feel – it sort of establishes a bond with her, because he doesn’t feel as alone as before. So… [whispers] Yeah. [returns to normal volume] Another thing that Harry and Luna can both do, one of their special talents, I guess. It’s not really a talent, but you know what I mean; how something that they can do, their, what would you call it, Jamie?
Jamie: Uhhh…
Ben: That they’re qualified to do.
Jamie: Their similarities.
Ben: Yeah. Another one of their similarities is with the voices behind the Veil, and she makes a point of reminding him about it. But what’s the difference? I mean the fact that Ginny can hear the voices beyond the Veil, but she can’t see the Thestrals, tells us that they’re two different things.
Jamie: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, definitely.
Ben: Like, two different things qualify you for that. So, what do you think? Do you think it could be you’ve had a near death experience? Because Ginny with…
Jamie: Luna hasn’t though, has she?
Ben: …Book Two. Well, we don’t know.
Eric: Yeah, Ginny has. Well, oh, yeah, I don’t know about Luna.
Jamie: She accidentally choked…
Ben: And Harry, of course, all the time.
Jamie: …on one of her radish earrings, and had to get rushed to hospital. [laughs]
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: So, what else about her connection to death?
Jamie: It’s definitely something. That thing about the Veil, there is clearly something, some type of criteria they’ve got to meet to be able to hear the things. And perhaps, unlike the Thestrals, there are varying degrees of this. So, some people can hear them, some people can hear them and understand them, or whatever. I don’t know.
The Veil is a Lethifold?
Micah: This is sort of going off-track slightly, but we like to do that. So, I’ve gotten a number of e-mails about the Veil actually being a Lethifold. Do you guys…?
Eric: No.
Jamie: Ummm, yeah. It’s the thing – for people who don’t know, it is the creature in tropical climates that sneaks into people’s dwellings and wraps itself around their mouths and suffocates them.
Eric: Right.
Jamie: And then swallows them, leaving no trace of them, whatsoever. So, yeah.
Micah: So, that would be a far stretch?
Ben: That would be a bad way to die…
Eric: There is nothing about whispers, and there’s – if it was a Lethifold it would completely destroy the mythological…
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: …art of the Veil.
Ben: Why would the Lethifold be there for…?
Jamie: It would move as well, probably.
Ben: Yeah, hundreds of years.
Eric: Yeah, they just grabbed one Lethifold and strung it up for studying at the Ministry of Magic. It just doesn’t…
Back to Luna
Ben: [laughs] Right. It doesn’t make sense. Anyways, back to Luna’s connection to death. She has a conversation with Harry at the end of Order of the Phoenix about Sirius. She seems to be the only person who “understands” Harry, and she listens to him and then lets him be – she’s very accepting. Because, she’s probably used to having everybody make fun of her ideas and thoughts, so she kind of seems like the person that you could confide in. Do you know what I mean? Without her criticizing you. It’d just sort of be like, you say it, and she’s…
Kevin: Well that’s because she’s so open-minded.
Ben: She accepts it.
Eric: Well, and she’s been made fun of, herself.
Ben: Yeah, that’s what I said. She’s…
Kevin: Yeah.
Ben: She knows how it feels.
Eric: So she’s not going to openly criticize.
The Social Outcast
Ben: But the thing is, if she’s so understanding of all these people, why is she a social outcast? Do you think it’s because that she has all these loony thoughts?
Eric: Oh, what do you mean? No…
Ben: Or is it the fact that she’s different? It’s because she’s different, right?
Eric: It’s because she’s different, yeah. I mean, she understands people, and stuff, but who says that makes you popular or worth talking to? Usually, it’s the people who are the outcasts, who do get made fun of, who start understanding how people’s minds work. So…
Ben: Yeah, that’s true because they have a lot more time to think about it.
Eric: Well, they have a lot more…
Ben: They’re not caught up.
Eric: Yeah.
Ben: Yeah, they’re not caught up in the social scenes, and all that.
Eric: Right. Exactly.
Luna in Book Seven
Ben: You know, when we do these character discussions, our favorite thing to talk about, of course, is always their connection to Book Seven. Because a lot of the characters we talk about, it just doesn’t seem like there would be much of a connection to the last book, but what about Luna? Do you think that there’s something that she’s going to have a connection to in Book Seven?
Kevin: Well, they introduced her and they really have – JK Rowling really hasn’t told us much about her, so it tends to lead you to believe that we will see more of her, and at least she’ll play some sort of smaller-medium role in the next book.
Eric: Why smaller-medium?
Ben: Well, doesn’t it… Well…
Kevin: Because… Because…
Ben: Okay. What’s the purpose of Luna? Each character that she introduced has to have some sort of purpose, and what do you think that Luna’s purpose is? Is her purpose served already or…?
Micah: Her purpose was to call the last Quidditch match.
Ben: Oh, yeah. [laughs]
Micah: No, I think she has such a strong connection to death, and she’s not afraid of it. And Voldemort, we all know, has a great fear of death. So, I think having somebody like that on his side, Harry is sort of in a position of just having a good ally, maybe.
Ben: Yeah, because it’s like the opposite ends of the spectrum. Because deep down, I think, everyone fears death. You know? It’s like…
Eric: But some more than most. Some more than others.
Ben: Yeah, some more than most. And Harry – Dumbledore thinks death is the next greatest adventure, but maybe Harry hasn’t realized that in his mind, yet. He hasn’t come to terms with well, death is just essentially what – all it is, is just a part of life. And, he hasn’t really come to terms with that, and Luna’s helping him realize…
Micah: Right.
Ben: “Okay, if I do die, it’s going to be for a greater cause, so it’s really not that bad,” and it’s – it will be interesting. So…
Micah: Well, I think the most important thing that she said was that, at the end of Book Five, when she was talking to Harry, that she was going to see her mother again, and that’s what provided her the greatest comfort. And that was what was so important to Harry, because he said to himself, “Well, I’ll see Sirius again, and then I’ll see my parents again.” Sorry, Eric, I didn’t mean to cut.
Eric: No, when was this? I missed… That was… When Luna said she…
Micah: At the end of Book Five.
Eric: She said she’d be seeing her mother again? I forgot about that.
Micah: Right.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Eric: No, I was going to say Luna, as far as, do you guys think she’s that far in the background? I mean, I was under the impression that…
Ben: Oh, no. After Order of the Phoenix she kind of dropped off the radar. Do you think that…
Kevin: Yeah, she did, yeah.
Ben: Does that kind of prove that…
Eric: I think that…
Ben: …she’s already served her purpose? Or could she come back in Book Seven?
Eric: I think she’ll come back. I think Book Six, why everybody seemed to have fallen off, tapered off, even Tonks and most of the Order was because it was Harry and Dumbledore about Voldemort.
Micah: Yeah, I agree with that.
Eric: It’s my impression still that Luna and Neville, who fought the ending battle in Book Six, would therefore become like a semi – there’s the trio; there’s Harry, Ron, and Hermione. But then I think immediately after is Neville and Luna. Like, immediately after. Like, very close circle. I still see them as very close friends that are going to band together in Book Seven.
Ben: Right, they’re still part of the group, but they’re just not the main members.
Eric: Well, I think a significantly big part.
Ben: Right.
Eric: Well, I think they are main members. I think if there were a main five or a main six, including Ginny, it would be…
Ben: Oh yeah, they would be included.
Eric: Neville, Luna, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione. In reverse order, but yeah.
Micah: I think everyone took a backseat in Book Six to Tom Riddle, because that’s who I really think the book was about. Even more so than Snape being the Half-Blood Prince, so I think a lot of characters…
Eric: Mhm.
Micah: …just got pushed to the back burner.
Ben: Yeah, Book Six was more about us learning about who Voldemort is – that type of thing. So, because Harry has to learn those things in order to have a shot at taking him out in Book Seven, so that’s why we learned those things. That’s why it seemed like everyone else sort of became second tier or behind, like less of a priority in JK Rowling’s mind…
Micah: Right.
Ben: …and in the series.
Micah: And I think that Book Seven will start off where a lot of people wanted Book Six to.
Ben: And where is that?
Micah: Well, sort of after Harry learns everything about the prophecy, you’re sort of expecting him to want to learn more about Sirius and what exactly happened to him. And I just felt that there was a lot of stuff, sort of coming off the end of Book Five, that we thought we were going to get in Book Six and it didn’t happen.
Ben: Yeah, that was a lot of people’s main disappointment with Book Six was, you know? It wasn’t all like they wanted it to be. It was the preparing for the war, I mean there still wasn’t…
Jamie: Yeah, but it was done for a reason.
Ben: …all right.
Jamie: Which we’ll probably find out. It’s like… I mean, she could have just gone straight into the…
Eric: Yeah, and people are dying, and they had that great first chapter, “The Other Minister,: which was great.
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: Which was amazing.
Ben: Yeah. That was probably one of my favorite chapters of the series.
Jamie: Yeah, it was very good.
Eric: Honestly, it’s really good.
Ben: Just because the way it starts out is so, like, mysterious, you know? It kind of reminded me of the opening chapter of Book One, when it’s like, you know, that really sucks you in because its like, “Whoa. What’s this all about?”
Eric: Well, yeah and that’s what she said, that she was trying to do a chapter like that for quite a few books, but now we finally got the view, you know? What would it be like to be the British Prime Minister and be told about this magical world and have to keep it a secret and all that stuff.
Jamie: Oh, yeah.
Ben: Yeah.
Eric: I just love the scene where he says, you know, “All my workers are really good.” And then Fudge turns to him and says, “Well, yes they’re ours. They’re wizards; of course, they’re good.” Kingsley Shacklebolt and everything.
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: And the Ministry is taking them back. He’s like, “He’s a plant.” Yeah.
Ben: [laughs] Well, we’re digressing a bit here.
Eric: But. No. Yeah, but the inner circle of Luna and stuff, I still think that’s really good. I think it’s safe to say that Luna will play a bigger role in Book Seven and I don’t think she’s tapering off.
Ben: Yeah. I think everyone will. I don’t really think we’re really going to see the disappearance of, especially since Luna was established in Book Five as you said, you know, the next person in line to be, you know, like the main five or six that you brought up.
Eric: Yeah.
Ben: As part of their little group.
Eric: And its been said, you know JKR said that Book Six really felt like Book Seven: Part One.
Jamie: Yeah.
Ben: Yeah. The novel’s in two halves so…
Eric: Yeah. She was leading, you know, she introduced Slughorn, who was, I guess, one of the final players in this whole plot of what’s going to happen in the final chapter of the book.
Listener Rebuttals – Missing Day
Ben: Okay. Well, you guys, we keep making mistakes. I don’t know how we keep doing it. They were probably a few in that Luna discussion. Yeah, keep sending your e-mails in and tell us what we did wrong. Emery, this is from MySpace, I don’t know how Andrew got a hold of this, but last week we discussed a missing day in the series. How, between Harry’s parents being killed and him being delivered to the Dursley’s, apparently, there was a missing day, and according to Emery:
“October 31st, near midnight, Voldemort attempts to kill Harry Potter after murdering his parents, but his spell rebounds. Voldemort is defeated. November 1st, late evening, Hagrid delivers baby Harry to Dumbledore, who’s waiting at Privet Drive to leave the baby with the Dursleys. There is no missing day. After midnight is November 1st. It is just the next day.”
Jamie: How could we have possibly got that wrong? That’s so obvious. How could we have got that wrong?
Kevin: When did you say this? Last episode?
Ben: This was last week.
Kevin: I could have told you that.
Ben: I don’t know. We just don’t think logically sometimes, I guess. I don’t know.
Jamie: No, we’re just stupid. That is ridiculous. How could we have got that wrong? How could we have thought that between October 31st and November 1st there’s a…
Eric: But there is a missing day theory. There is still a missing day theory.
Jamie: No, there’s not!
Kevin: How is there a missing day?
Eric: I said there’s a theory.
Ben: Do we know when Voldemort killed Harry’s parents though?
Kevin: Yes, the 31st. It was Halloween.
Jamie: Oh yeah. We missed…
Ben: Right, it was Halloween but could it have been, like, 2 AM on Halloween? That’s the thing, because then there still could be a missing day, right?
Jamie: No, there’s not. No.
Kevin: No, because I think…
Jamie: You mean like what, October 32nd, Ben?
Ben: No, like October 31st at 2 AM. You know what I’m saying?
Jamie: I guess.
Kevin: He means it’s like, late, late at night on the 30th into the 31st?
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: I guess, but stuff must have been happening then, like, you know, Order of the Phoenix members contacting each other, stuff going around, you know? It takes a while to get everything sorted out. I don’t think we can say that they’ve missed out a day.
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: Just that we don’t know what happened during that time.
Eric: It’s interesting because…
Micah: Well, actually, there’s a whole editorial, a five-part editorial, that’s written on the lost day by Brandon Ford.
Kevin: Whew.
Micah: And I think that there is actually a day that’s missing. I don’t think he would’ve wrote an entire five-part series if…
Kevin: No, but that’s what…
Micah: in fact… Sorry.
Ben: Unless he’s as dumb as we are.
Jamie: Yeah.
[Ben and Jamie laugh]
Kevin: No. I think that’s what Ben was saying, like the only explanation for if there was a day missing is that if the murder happened at 2 AM on the 31st, meaning you had the whole day of the 31st plus the next day too.
Jamie: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: Yeah. The only thing that gets me, people say, you know, that Dumbledore would have needed a day to put all those spells on Privet Drive and definitely all that preparation and all the ancient magic Dumbledore had to invoke. But the problem is, right before Hagrid comes and delivers baby Harry, Jo writes that nothing like this man, nothing like Dumbledore had been seen on Privet Drive before, which kind of implies that he never had never even been there hours before putting up spells.
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: Or if he did, he was doing it invisibly. I don’t know.
Kevin: You see the thing is though, do you think it’s plausible that someone, that JK Rowling put in a missing day? I mean…
Jamie: Well, perhaps, and we find out in Book Seven.
Kevin: I think she…
Jamie: It doesn’t sound…
Ben: I think it’s just an oversight.
Jamie: Yeah. It probably is.
Kevin: That’s what I’m saying. I think it’s just, you know, exactly what it seems. It doesn’t…
Jamie: But Eric, going back to what you were saying putting spells on the house, I don’t think it’s the kind of magic where you put spells on it, you invoke this kind of magic so there’s sort of, perhaps, certain conditions that have to be met or, you know, certain conditions and a couple of words have to be spoken, or certain ingredients. I don’t think it’s a normal, normal spell.
Eric: Well, no. It’s just like when Dumbledore and Harry were flying back to the lightning-struck tower and Dumbledore was muttering, you know, different language…
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric:…to clear the shield for them to go in. I think it’s something like that.
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: It’s definitely not a matter of [mutters magical language] and he goes in the backyard [mutters magical language]
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: It’s more complicated.
Ben: Hmmm. There may be a quote in terms of the timeline, it may seem that there’s a day that’s missing, but I doubt anything that went on during that day is really pivotal to the series. I may be wrong, I may be eating 50 jumbo sausages with Jamie.
Jamie: [laughs] A bit like me.
[Ben laughs]
Eric: It’s just so elaborate though, and the specific stipulations and conditions under which Harry is protected from Voldemort. “As long as he can call it home?”
Jamie: Oh yeah, it’s very specific though.
Eric: “As long as they give him room space, the Dursleys?” It’s incredibly specific.
Jamie: Shouldn’t we clarify that we don’t actually mean a day missing, we mean a sort of extended period of time.
Eric: A period of time that we don’t know about.
Jamie: We don’t mean October 32nd, we just mean an extended period of time that we don’t know. Nothing’s happening. We haven’t heard anything that’s happening in it.
Ben: Right, right.
Jamie: Okay, cool.
Listener Rebuttal – Jo’s Birthday Updates Telling Us Something?
Ben: Our last listener rebuttal comes from Katie, 14, from the Czech Republic. We have listeners all over. That’s crazy. The subject is, “Who lives, who dies theory.”
“Hey MuggleCasters, I thought of this theory before but I haven’t written in until now. As I’m sure you’re well aware, Jo updates her site with birthdays. We’ve seen Harry, Hermione, Ron, the twins, Molly and many more. However, we have never seen the birthdays for the characters that are already dead in the books. Never once have we seen a birthday announcement for James, Lily, Sirius or Dumbledore. Now, if she’s going to update about Molly or Percy or someone else who isn’t exactly pivotal in the series, you’d think she’d update about these important characters, right? At first, I thought that maybe she was giving us birthdays of characters whose birthday we knew from the book or her site, but then I realized that we have never seen Molly’s birthday in the books. And we know Voldemort’s birthday, but she never updates about him. Do you think she might be giving us a clue as to who lives and who dies? I’d love to hear your thoughts.”
Hmmm. Katie.
Jamie: That’s interesting.
Ben: That’s very interesting, yeah. I mean, I don’t know if it’s really a clue, per se. Maybe she just chooses her favorite character. But she likes Dumbledore though. Hmmm. Has she ever updated for Hagrid?
Jamie: Yeah.
Micah: Yeah, she has. But not for Dumbledore. That’s what I think is pretty interesting. And the site was up before Half-Blood Prince was released, and she never once wished Dumbledore a “Happy Birthday.”
Jamie: Well, that could be why.
Ben: Well, I don’t know if this is intentional, though. I don’t know if it’s intentional that she does that because he’s going to die, you know what I mean?
Jamie: Well, it’s kind of like…
Ben: What about Ginny? What about Ginny? Have we ever seen a Ginny birthday? We have, haven’t we?
Jamie: I think we have, yeah. We’ve never seen, but it’s interesting, though, you’re right, we haven’t seen a Voldemort birthday. But if – I don’t think he’d celebrate it. I can’t see his Death Eaters waking him up with a breakfast in bed.
Ben: And a cake.
Jamie: Bringing in a cake, oh yeah.
Micah: [laughs] But she has wished a “Happy Birthday” to Draco.
Jamie: Yeah.
Micah: So… And we consider him to be…
Eric: And that’s just it. Because now we have to – that’s why I like this so much. We can go back and see whose birthdays did she put up, and does that – you guys were all there at “Harry, Carrie and Garp,” when somebody asked her – this is when she gave the Harry thing away. Somebody asked her who she’d invite to a dinner table, and she said, “Oh, wait, I know who dies,” and stuff. She judges things and she judges her own actions…
Jamie: Yeah, she does.
Eric: …and how she can answer questions and how she would do things, based on who lives. So, birthdays could be this fascinating idea from Katie, 14, of Czech Republic, who said…
[Ben laughs]
Eric: …that this is cool.
Ben: Yeah.
Eric: Now we can go back and see if it – I think it makes sense. It makes sense to me.
Jamie: Oh, it is. It’s very clever.
Ben: Yeah, very clever. I never would have thought of it.
British Jokes of the Day
Ben: Now it’s time for everybody’s favorite segment: Jamie’s British Joke of the Day. We haven’t done one of these in a while.
Jamie: English, English. English Joke of the Day.
Ben: English Joke of the Day.
Jamie: Apparently, sorry, allegedly English Joke of the Day. I have – I got an e-mail today, well, actually a while ago now, from Skylar Warren. Actually, let me do that again. I won’t say her last name. I actually got an e-mail a while ago from Skylar, which had the subject, “All puns intended.” It’s like a kind of…
[Kevin laughs]
Jamie: It’s a load of jokes disguised as puns, and I thought these were so funny. I was literally on the floor when I read some of these. Here are a few of them. “Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love, and got married. The ceremony wasn’t up to scratch, but the reception was excellent.” [laughs]
[Everyone laughs weakly]
Micah: Ha, ha.
[Jamie laughs]
Eric: God, Jamie.
Jamie: “A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, ‘I’ll serve you, but don’t start anything.'” Come on, that’s brilliant.
[Kevin laughs]
Jamie: How can you not laugh at these? These are so good.
Ben: No. I didn’t quite get it at first.
Jamie: These are – okay. [laughs] Okay, okay, okay. “Two Eskimos, sitting in a kayak were cold, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly, it sank, proving once again that you can’t have your kayak and heat it.”
Ben: Ha, ha, ha.
Eric: I don’t get that.
Jamie: Okay, there’s a phrase, “You can’t have your cake and eat it.”
Eric: Oh, okay.
Jamie: So, it’s basically. Okay.
Eric: Yeah, I just hadn’t heard that, okay.
Jamie: Okay. Okay. This is my personal favorite. “A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the front manager came out of his office and asked them to disperse. Angrily, they said, ‘Why?’ as they moved off. ‘Because,’ he said. ‘I can’t stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.'”
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: That’s funny.
Jamie: Okay, and a couple more. Finally, there was this one person, who sent twenty different puns to his friends with the hope that at least ten of them would make them laugh, no pun intended.
Ben: No pun intended, oh, that’s funny. [laughs]
Jamie: Thank you, Skylar.
Kevin: Took me awhile there.
Jamie: I thought they were awesome, so thank you.
Ben: Those were great British jokes, Jamie, or English jokes.
Kevin: Yeah.
Ben: Or allegedly English jokes.
Jamie: Allegedly English. Thank you. Okay.
Voicemails – Reader’s Perspective
Ben: Well, since Kevin finally got his stuff together, the voice mails are back this week. Woo!
Kevin: Oh yeah. The voice mails we’re using this week are the ones we were supposed to be using last week, but you guys never used them. So…
Ben: Here is our first voice mail.
[Audio]: Hey guys. This is Daniel here from Edinburgh, Scotland, and I was reading the Philosopher’s Stone again, and I was noticing that on the first page it says, and I quote, “When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on a dull, gray Tuesday, our story starts.” Now this makes me think that the Harry Potter novels are just being told by a character in the book. Now J.K. does not use this style anywhere else in the books. It seems to be hinting at the fact that a character in the novels is telling Harry Potter’s life, and we’ll find out who this is in the end. I don’t know if it has any significance, but it’s really been bugging me, and I’d like to know what you think. Okay, I love the show, and by the way, I was in the United States over the last couple weeks and I bought Lucky Charms cereal for the first time, and I can tell you, Jamie, I quite agree with you. They are an amazing cereal. I brought three boxes home with me. Thanks, very much. Cheers! Bye!
Jamie: [laughs] I have to say, Daniel, back to you, your accent’s awesome, and I’m glad you enjoy Lucky Charms.
[Ben laughs]
Eric: Well, it is in third person to begin with, but he asks if we’ll find out who the narrator is and stuff. Based on that, and how she sometimes says, “you wouldn’t think this” or comparisons. Like I said, when we were doing chapter-by-chapter, we called them “Rowlingisms” or something. Just something where she inflected herself to tell the story.
Jamie: Rowlingism, yeah.
Kevin: Yeah, it’s sort of out of context, kind of.
Eric: It’s not like an entity, you’re just supposed to, you know? Sometimes Stephen King sometimes writes like, “I think that you would have known that this person did that…” Something like that.
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: It’s not like he’s really a character, it’s like, an omniscient, is it? An ever present kind of thing that keeps a story going. I don’t think it’s like an entity we’re going to find out who is telling…
Ben: Right. I think it’s just a narrator or a main…
Eric: It is an all knowing narrator, which is what the actual tense of the books is; third person omnipresent or something.
Micah: Doesn’t that happen in the beginning of Book Six, too?
Eric: I think so. There’s all these – there are moments where she just will say, “I think he did this,” or you know, and compare things. It just keeps the story going, but it’s not necessarily like Lemony Snicket where, you know, Lemony Snicket is…
Kevin: There’s a single, yep.
Eric: …a character narrator.
Ben: And see, the way that the book begins is that’s actually where the story – like, the story is already taking place, Harry’s already 11-years old. That’s just telling you the back story of what happened. There has to be some way to explain that without having, you know, like a page that says “eleven years later,” you know? [laughs] They can’t do that, so they have to, you know?
Kevin: Yep.
Micah: Right. Harry’s not going to be able to tell what happened at that point.
Ben: Thanks for your question.
Eric: So, we don’t think she’s actually an entity that’s going to be revealed in the books, like “Oh my god, it’s Snape!” You know, telling the story.
Kevin: Right.
Ben: Thanks for your question.
Voicemail – Time-Turners
Ben: Here’s our next voice mail.
[Audio]: Hey MuggleCasters, this is Kaitlin, 15, from Maryland. This is in response to the everlasting time discussion that has been going on for the past two episodes. You said something about how technically you could go very far into the past, but then you wouldn’t live long enough to go back to your own time period. My question is, couldn’t you also go forward in time? It’s called a Time-Turner, not a “Time-Back-Turner,” so one could technically go forward in time if they were so far in the past that they would die of old age before returning to their own place. All they would need to do is turn it forward instead of turning it backwards. Just wondering what you guys thought of this? Thanks so much! You guys brighten up my day! Oh, and also, in Hercules the Fates don’t sing and dance. You probably got them mixed up with the Muses. Thanks again!
Eric: [laughs] It’s like the “Time-Back-Turners.” That’s the next band to come out; Dumbledore and the Time Back Turners. They’re going to start, the lights are going to shine, their backs will be turned, and the audience is “turn back, turn back.”
Jamie: [laughs] Funny.
Eric: She says… Her question is can you turn forward in time with a Time-Turner?
Jamie: No, you can’t.
Eric: But it’s called a Time-Turner, not a “Time-Back-Turner.”
Jamie: Kevin, you’ll probably know more about this than me, but isn’t it, it’s impossible to – oh no, wait. Sorry, I’m thinking about something else. It’s impossible to go back in time, only forward, but then we’re talking about Harry Potter here, so that theory’s completely gone.
Kevin: Right.
Eric: Well, if you look at the H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, I think how he went forward in time, he… It was just a matter of…. What happened was the capsule that he was in was protected from all things that would go on, and he was actually in some kind of hyper-space time. In other words, he actually was there for thousands of years while the buildings around him crumbled, and he actually ended up in the future underneath tons of rock.
Ben: Another correlation to time travel in the book comes in Book Four when we see Fred and George accurately predict a score. It’s really obscure. They say, “We think Ireland is going to win, but Krum is going to get the Snitch.” so we think they had a Time-Turner there to travel, too.
Eric: Allegedly.
Ben: I’m pretty sure they did. It makes a lot of sense.
Eric: But the question is did they go…
Ben: But they would have to go forward in time, wouldn’t they?
Eric: Oh, that’s true. Yeah.
Kevin: Right. So, I think it’s plausible.
Eric: Yeah, that’s true.
Kevin: There’s no real way to tell without…
Ben: Or wait, wait. Could Fred and George have gone back in time to make the bet?
Kevin: Have gone back in time to replace their bets? Yeah, replacing the bet.
Eric: Oh, that’s right.
Ben: See, it’s all confusing.
Jamie: They couldn’t have actually known unless they knew, so…
Kevin: I think we’re going to give people a headache again.
Ben: Yeah, sorry about that.
Ben: Fred and George could’ve gone back in time. I don’t know.
Eric: That’s really… But, yeah. So, once you’re back in time you have to live because we’ve only seen it on such a small scale, so would you actually have to live the time you’re in, or could you actually go back in the future again?
Ben: I don’t know.
Eric: Like say they went down a couple days…
Micah: I think you have to live through it.
Eric: Are you sure? Because “Time-Turner,” she said, it’s not the “Time Back-Turner.” I love that.
Micah: But we don’t know that it’s the “Time Forward-Turner” either. We’ve never been shown an example where it says “So-and-So went forward in time.”
Kevin: Okay, let’s go to the next voicemail.
Ben: Before I get a… Yeah. [laughs] That’s probably a good idea.
Kevin: I think we’re going to give people headaches.
Voicemail – Vernon Doesn’t Recognize It’s Not Halloween
[Audio]: Hey, MuggleCast people. I was just thinking about something, and it bugged me, so I so I decided I would call you, because I love the show. So, Voldemort was taken down on October 31st, right, and then Vernon Dursley goes about his day and we learn about his whole day on November first. He sees all these people in weird outfits, and I just realized that never once does he say anything like “Halloween was yesterday! These people are crazy!” There’s never any mention of, you know, Halloween. Which, I don’t know, maybe this is? Thanks a lot! Love the show! Bye!
Eric: Dursley – Vernon should’ve thought that it was absurd, not that they were dressed up in cloaks walking the streets. “The get-ups you saw on young people these days,” but the fact that they were late for Halloween. That should have been brought up. It definitely should have been, and especially on the news. If Dursley – Vernon didn’t say it, the news people should say. You know, people got a little after, post-Halloween kind of cheer. Jamie, they do celebrate Halloween, right, in Britain? I mean, yeah.
Jamie: Of course, yeah.
Kevin: No, they don’t celebrate Halloween.
Eric: Well, they said Burning Day, because they were even talking about Burning Day being November the 5th, and so…
Ben: Hmmm.
Eric: What the heck?
Ben: Well, maybe he doesn’t like to talk about… Maybe, like if they are the kind of people that don’t want to acknowledge the existence of these weird people called wizards, they don’t want to acknowledge anything that’s abnormal or different from them. So…
Jamie: Exactly. And Halloween…
Ben: It could make sense for them to go “Oh, Halloween is a bunch of stupid!” You know?
Eric: Yeah, but you should still recognize that it happened. Like the people like Scrooge, who knows it’s Christmas even though he hates it. He sits in the house. You have to recognize the fact that Halloween was just a few days ago, so it definitely should’ve been mentioned.
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: Because later JKR says… Do you think it was an afterthought that they were killed on Halloween, or how was that done? Because, well, they say that in Book One that it was Halloween night, don’t they? Because Hagrid tells…
Micah: But my question is, in relation to that, when did Harry show up?
Eric: Oh.
Micah: Was it the following day?
Kevin: Well, yes, because it was November 1st. It was the night of November first, right?
Eric: Well, Hagrid…
Kevin: Hagrid dropped Harry off.
Eric: Yeah. In the book version, he tells Harry the whole story in the cabin of Voldemort and stuff. I think then he says “Halloween night you were…” It just seems so strange that Vernon didn’t say…
Kevin: That he didn’t mention it, exactly.
Ben: I know. I can’t think of any logical explanation of why he wouldn’t mention it.
Eric: Interesting.
Kevin: Well…
Eric: Nobody did. You know? The owls flying everywhere.
Kevin: That’s the thing. Yeah.
Eric: They could have turned it into this big “Oh, it’s a day late, Halloween.
Ben: Yeah.
Eric: Maybe we should propose the whole holiday changes a day off due to these new events.” Nobody was saying that, that we know of. That we heard.
Ben: Yeah.
Eric: But, it’s a really big thing that Halloween was a bad thing for Harry. So…
Kevin: It seems a little strange.
Eric: It seems surreal. It’s… Yes.
Kevin: But I don’t know why – I don’t know. There’s no real reason to – no real explanation to it without hearing it from Jo.
Ben: Yeah. Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm.
Kevin: Good point.
Ben: Yeah, thank you for sending that in. And we have one last voicemail.
Voicemail – Reading Book Seven
[Audio]: Hey guys, I had a question for you. I know that when all the previous books all came out, we all read them that night at midnight, and we didn’t put the book down until we finished it. But I’m thinking that when Book Seven comes out I might not want to do that. I know it would be hard for you guys because of the site and everything, but wouldn’t you want to savor the last book or would you still rush through it because it’s so hard to stop and put it down anyway? Love to hear your thoughts. Thanks, bye!
Ben: Jamie, didn’t BBC do an interview with you?
Jamie: Yeah. For anyone that’s listening and doesn’t understand this, I did an interview awhile back and they asked me how long it would take me…
Eric: We heard this story.
Ben: Yeah. Actually, Andrew put the audio in a previous show.
Jamie: Oh, right.
Ben: Anyway, anyway, they asked him – in case there’s some of you who aren’t up-to-speed with the shows.
Jamie: Okay, I had an interview with the BBC awhile back, and they asked me how long do I think it’s going take me to read Order of the Phoenix. And I couldn’t say, “Well, I might spend a couple of hours reading it, and then go to McDonald’s, then have a rest, then have a cup of coffee then take my time.” So, I just said “About four hours, maybe,” which of course was a complete overestimate. Sorry, underestimate.
[Kevin laughs]
Jamie: It took me a lot, lot longer, but yeah. Basically.
Kevin: Completely impossible. Yeah.
Jamie: And now Ben brings that up whenever he can to humiliate me.
Kevin: Of course.
Ben: Mhm.
Eric: But I don’t think anyone can – can you guys seriously, the first time you’re though it, can you speed-read the Harry Potter books?
Jamie: No.
Ben: I just can’t do it. I mean, I’d rather enjoy it and savor it.
Eric: When there’s a new book out, yeah, I’m trapped. I’m forced to go through in the pace that my mind creates the images for me. I can’t…
Jamie: But Eric, don’t forget, some media sources have to get reviews out within six hours, so they employ people who read at a million words a second.
Eric: Yeah, I get that, but it’s just complete lack of grasping any of the things she’s saying.
Jamie: Not if you – mo, if you can’t read that fast, then fair enough.
Eric: If you skim it, you get plot.
Jamie: There’s a difference between skimming and speed-reading.
Kevin: Yeah, but the question is, guys, the question is; are you going to be rushing through Book Seven when it gets released?
Eric: No.
Jamie: No, we’re going be taking out time.
Micah: No.
Kevin: Well, I’m not. I’m sure we’ll know half the book like two weeks before it’s released, but… [laughs]
Ben: I don’t know, I’d say…
Kevin: I would take my time.
Ben: Yeah, I’m probably going to…
Kevin: I took my time with Book Six. So, I mean…
Ben: I’m going to take my time a little bit more than I did with previous books. Book Five I stayed up all night. Book Six I spent…
Kevin: It will probably take me two days.
Ben: Yeah, Book Six I spent about two, two-and-a-half days. But I’ll probably, probably something familiar with Book Seven.
Kevin: Yeah.
Jamie: I usually do it in like…
Ben: What about you, Jamie?
Jamie: Just like, I remember I got Half-Blood Prince at like – it was in the evening. It was like at 8 P.M. or something like that. Then we got back and I finished it at midday, without a break.
Ben: Yeah, that wraps up this week’s voicemails. Thanks to everyone who sent something in.
Show Close
Ben: Remember you can dial 1-218-20MAGIC for you U.S. listeners and I have the UK numbers here somewhere. I’m used to Andrew just rattling them off.
Jamie: Yeah.
Ben: If you live in the United States you dial 1-218-20MAGIC. If you live in the United Kingdom you can dial 020-8144-0677. If you live in Australia [repeats in Australian accent] Australia, please dial 0280025668. And also you can SKYPE a voicemail question to us to the username “MuggleCast” you can hear Andrew’s lovely voice on there. You can e-mail us at MuggleCast dot com. There’s a contact form on there and also if you want to send us anything please dial – no don’t dial anything. Send something to…
[Eric Laughs]
Ben: …MuggleCast PO Box 223 Moundridge, Kansas 67107. I got a package this past week, from – I got another box of Lucky Charms.
Jamie: Awww, thank you.
Ben: And someone else sent in Christmas ornaments for us to put up on our trees which I will get sent out.
Kevin: Awww, nice.
Ben: So…
Jamie: What for Christmas 2015?
Eric: Next Christmas.
Ben: Well actually, actually they made that joke in the letter. It said…
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: “I’m hoping that you’ll have these by Christmas 2008.” So…
Jamie: Well, Ben…
[Kevin laughs]
Jamie: …somebody sent in a message. I can’t remember who it was, it said that when I was complaining last show that I couldn’t grow any facial hair, they said they would mail a beard for me to the PO Box but, also said that…
Micah: [sighs] Geez.
[Show music begins]
Jamie: …by the time you sent it to me I’ll be able to grow real…
Ben: Be able to grow a real beard.
Jamie: Yeah, yeah in about two days.
[Kevin laughs]
Jamie: So, yeah, it’s a pointless plan.
Ben: No, but no, Jamie, you’re still going to look like a baby forever. For life.
Jamie: Well, that can’t be bad. That can’t be bad. I won’t complain.
Ben: [laughs] Okay, well, that wraps up MuggleCast Episode… What is this now, 62?
Eric: 62.
Kevin: 2.
Eric: What are we going to call this episode? We really haven’t found…
Ben: 62? I don’t… I don’t know.
Kevin: “Allegedly.”
Jamie: “Allegedly.”
Eric: “Allegedly.” “Allegedly MuggleCast.”
Ben: “Allegedly MuggleCast” there you have it.
Kevin: Alright.
Ben: So yeah, for everyone here at the MuggleCast Central, I’m Ben Schoen.
Kevin: I’m Kevin Steck.
Jamie: I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Micah: And I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Ben: Yeah, Micah. Join us next week for Episode 63. Andrew might be back. With any luck he won’t. No, I’m just kidding. [laughs] Yeah.
[Kevin laughs]
Eric: Is this first episode he’s missed?
Ben: No, no this is like, the fourth.
Kevin: No
Micah: No.
Eric: Yeah.
Jamie: Okay.
Eric: Fourth. Got in the last five
Kevin: All right.
Ben: Yep, bye.
Kevin: Goodbye.
Jamie: Bye
Micah: Bye
Eric: Bye, everybody.
Bloopers
Jamie: I remember I got Half-Blood Prince at like – it was in the evening, it was like at 8 P.M. or something like that. Then we got back and then I finished it a midday without a break. So…
Ben: Geez. Did you think you were some bad*** or something?
Jamie: Yes, Ben that was precisely what I was thinking when I was reading it. I wasn’t concentrating on the…
[Ben laughs]
Jamie: …huge fights at the end or…
[Micah laughs]
Jamie: …the death of one of my favorite characters. I was just thinking of how much of a bad*** I was.
Ben: [laughs] How cool you were…
Jamie: Yeah, exactly.
Ben: …because you read the book.
Jamie: Exactly, because I stayed up all night. Ooh, yeah.
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: That’s exactly it. No, no, wait, in all seriousness. Yeah, yeah I thought I was a bad***.
Ben: ***
Jamie: I felt bad***.
Eric: Bad***, butt holes.
Jamie: No, no I just, you see, Emerson was up as well, so I thought well I can’t have everyone else reading it, so then they can’t talk about it. So I thought well, you know, I’ll stay up and do it as well. It was enjoyable actually.
Ben: Imagine how mad people would have been if they didn’t finish the book before they interviewed her.
Jamie: Well, exactly. They had to. They had to finish it. I thought I would as well then.
———————–
Written by: Micah, Adrienne, Allison, Amanda, Briana, Jessica, Judy, Mandie, Margaret, Martina, Matt, Megan, Roni, Samantha, Sarah, Shannon and Shelly