MuggleCast 152 Transcript
Show Intro
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[Intro music begins]
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[Harry Potter theme plays]
Jim Dale: [as Professor McGonagall] “This is Professor McGonagall welcoming you all to MuggleCast hoping you all enjoyed – Dobby! Dobby, come here! Here! Dobby!” [as Dobby] “Yes, I’d just like to say how very pleased I am to introduce MuggleCast to all of you! Thank you! Thank you!”
[Show music plays]
Micah: Because, by the way, we’re just days away from Portus, in Dallas, Texas, this is MuggleCast, Episode 152 for July 8th, 2008.
[Show music continues]
Andrew: Well, Micah after, you know, waiting so long we’ve finally got a nice awesome batch of Half-Blood Prince pictures. Isn’t that awesome? Did you check these out?
Micah: I actually did. I did check them out.
Andrew: Yeah?
Micah: You would be impressed because normally I just complain about these photos and say, “Hey, you know, let’s just – let’s get with the teaser trailer already”…
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: And you know what was surprising, was I walking out of work, I think it was – when was this article released? Was it on Thursday?
Andrew: Well, the pictures came out – yeah, July 2, so we’ll call that…
Micah: A Thur – no, Wednesday.
Andrew: Wednesday.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Wednesday.
Micah: So I was walking out of work and one of the guys that I used to work for turns to me and says, “Hey, did you see the article on the new movie in Half-Blood Prince?”
Andrew: Woah.
Micah: And I said, “No” – in USA Today rather. And I said,”No, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” And he’s like, “Oh, well, you’re some fan.” And…
Andrew, Matt and Laura: Oooo.
Andrew: You should have been like, “Well, I happen to be the news anchor on the most popular Harry Potter podcast online.”
Micah: But no, he knows this, and, you know, he’s one of the people that likes to give me a hard time about it, but apparently he’s an even bigger die-hard fan than I am, having – having seen USA Today, but a lot of cool pictures actually, we’ll say.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Not just a bunch of, you know, ones that we’ve been getting before that you can just toss in the trash. These are actually pretty good ones.
Andrew: Right. Yeah, they’re good, they’re not like cut in half, or just black and white, or just mysteriously come out of nowhere. They exist so…
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: We’ll be talking about those today and, you know, we’ll wonder now, where does this leave us in terms of the teaser trailer? We got some hot tips on that this week and we’ll discuss that.
Micah: They’re all false.
Andrew: And – they’re all false? Oh, okay. I disagree with that, so that’ll be a lively debate, and we’ve got Chapter-by-Chapter, our final chapter discussion this week for Deathly Hallows. It’s kind of sad.
Laura: Aww…
Andrew: I’m Andrew Sims.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Matt: And I’m Matt Britton.
[Show music continues]
News: Good New Pictures
Andrew: Micah Tannenbaum, what’s in the news this week?
Micah: Well, you talked about it a little bit before, the new Half-Blood-Prince photos, and finally we get, in my opinion, a really good glimpse into what’s been going on as to opposed to these, you know, kind of half ass photos that have been coming out these last couple of weeks.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s about time. These are cool pictures. What was your favorite one? You said you were pretty happy with them.
Micah: I was. I was pretty happy with them. To me, actually, the one of Luna looked a little bit fake. It looked it was photoshopped with those glasses that she has on.
[Andrew laughs]
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah, it did.
Andrew: But they were awesome, though. I love the pictures.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: It was really cool. What else though?
Micah: I like the one of Professor Slughorn, where they’re all in the Potions classroom.
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: Hermione seems to be giving him a little bit of a dirty look there, to be honest with you.
Andrew: No surprise, though. I mean, you know, Hermione’s outsmarting Slughorn once again.
Micah: Yeah. But there really wasn’t – I don’t really think there was a bad one in the bunch.
Matt: No.
Andrew: What do you think of Lavender Brown? She was in that picture with Slughorn. I remember you said she was hoping she was pretty cute. Are you happy with the outcome?
Micah: Ah, yeah, yeah. Now is she the one standing next to Neville or is she the one behind Hermione?
Matt: Yeah, she’s got that headband kind of thing going.
Micah: Yeah, yeah.
Laura: I think she looks really good.
Andrew: Yeah, she’s cute.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: She’s cute. So there’s those pictures. Laura, Matt any pictures stand out to you guys?
Laura and Matt: Hmm…
Laura: I don’t know, I’m just kind of with Micah here. I’m kind of glad to see that they have actually been filming a movie. Because for the past couple of weeks…
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: …I’ve been doubtful.
Matt: We have evidence of a film being made.
Laura: [laughs] So, I’m just really, frankly…
Andrew: Yeah, special effects with the goggles.
Laura: Yeah. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, I love the picture of Dumbledore. I think that’s a really nice photo.
Matt: Yeah, you said that to me about the…
Laura: Yeah. His beard looks straighter, or more straight rather.
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: It looks longer.
Andrew: Yeah, it is longer. Well, he’s aging.
Micah: Well, it compensates for the rest of him, Laura.
Andrew: Hey!
Laura and Matt: Oooh!
Andrew: You know what’s interesting? You can’t see his black hand.
Matt: I was just about to say that. It’s like, it’s not in the photo.
Laura: It’s like they didn’t want to pay for the CGI.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Now what’s with the – what’s with the shot of Harry and Hermione? If it wasn’t snowing out, which what looks like what’s going on, I would say it was probably after Dumbledore had died, but…
Andrew: Oooh.
Matt: Well, see, this is my favorite photo actually, ’cause I have this on my desktop. I just – I don’t really know what scene it depicts, and I don’t even know if it’s going to be a shot in the film. It may even been cut. I just – I just – I always liked the Harry-Hermione shots, when it’s just the two of them.
Andrew: And this photo is just so high-res…
Laura: Yeah, it’s huge.
Andrew: …I could almost look in reflection in their eyes and see what they’re looking at.
Matt: I could see the stubble from Dan Radcliffe, and I could see all the freckles on Hermione’s face – on Emma Watson.
Andrew: Yeah, really nice – very nice picture.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: Yeah, I guess – what else could they be looking at besides Dumbledore’s grave? But I mean, doesn’t school end in the summer months?
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: Well, you know, maybe they’re just standing by Dumbledore’s grave after the funeral.
Laura: But…
Matt: Or something.
Laura: But it’s winter in this picture; it’s snowing.
Matt: Oh, that’s right.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Huh. I don’t know. Maybe – I don’t know. It’s Harry and Hermione, so you may have to…
Laura: I don’t know.
Matt: Harry and Hermione can have just a little bit of a feud from the Potions class, so maybe they’re like talking about it or something.
Laura: Well, I mean, I find that oftentimes what they tend to do in these movies is have them more intense conversations happen between Harry and Hermione, while Ron is off doing something else, particularly since Ron is going to be so occupied with Lavender in this film.
Matt: And Quidditch.
Laura: Yeah, exactly. So I wouldn’t – I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to foster some of the more serious plot points to be brought to the screen through conversations between Harry and Hermione. And it just so happens that they always both look concerned when they’re talking to each other.
Matt: See, this kind of reminds me of the Harry-Hermione dialogue in Goblet of Fire, when she – when they talk about the egg.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: It just, you know, it’s a really close up shot.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: And you can almost sense that Hermione is going to say [imitating Emma Watson] “I’m scared for you.”
[Laura laughs]
Micah: But doesn’t Ron get hurt at one point during this film? Or is that – I don’t remember when exactly.
Matt: Well, he gets – he takes that love potion. That love spell.
Andrew: Yeah, which is that picture.
Matt: Of him, like, “Got this heart in my hand.”
Andrew: Yeah. He does look pretty good though.
Matt: I do like the reaction face he’s got going on.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: It’s definitely not a face we’ve seen from him…
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: …so it definitely looks not Ron-ish, if that makes any sense. [laughs]
Andrew: And Tom Felton looking pretty nice there. The boy-ish hair cut, putting all of his hair off to the side there. That’s nice. And then there’s this behind the scenes picture of David Yates, Dan Radcliffe, and Bonnie Wright. And David Yates is educating the actors on how to, you know, do a scene there. You can see Hedwig in the background, which is pretty cool. There’s also that – if you look back behind David Yates, there’s the picture of the Burrow. A little, like, sketch of it.
Laura: Oh yeah.
Andrew: It’s kind of cool. Yeah.
Matt: I kind of want to go back to the Draco shot. Where do you think Draco is?
Andrew: Hmm…
Matt: I mean, at first I thought it was Dumbledore’s office in the climatic scene, but this…
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: …is during the day. And that climactic scene happened at night, didn’t it? It may be in…
Laura: Well, it looks like, if you look at the lower left-hand corner, it looks like there’s bottles. So it could be in Snape’s office, or even in the Potions classroom.
Matt: Or even in the cabinet.
Andrew and Laura: Mhm.
Matt: Because of all the nicknacks and things in the back.
Andrew: Yeah. Possibly.
Matt: You never know. You don’t see much of Draco, that’s why. I mean, there’s only so many scenes this can be in, because you don’t see much of Draco. He’s just elusive.
Andrew: Yeah. There were some other pictures also that we didn’t get in high-res, but they did show up online. There was one – there was a nice one of McGonagall approaching Harry in Dumbledore’s office, it looked like.
Matt: Yeah. I really liked that one too. It just wasn’t a high-res pic that we were talking about.
Andrew: Oh, apparently I screwed up the news post on MuggleNet. That link doesn’t work. It doesn’t go to that picture.
Micah: Oh yeah. I meant to tell you that.
Andrew: I have the links backwards. [laughs] Whoops. But…
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: …yeah. So do you think that’s after Dumbledore already died?
Matt: I think so.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah, probably.
Matt: It makes sense.
Andrew: But…
Matt: Because if you look at it, I mean, Harry’s holding Dumbledore’s wand. And Professor McGonagall is in the Head of House – I mean – the Head of Hogwarts. It’s her office now.
Andrew: Yeah, but she could still be in there.
Matt: But she’s wearing all black. I mean, it’s – it has to be after the funeral.
Laura: Yeah. It has to be. Just – you look at the look on Harry’s face, and the fact that he’s holding Dumbledore’s wand. I mean, why would they both be in Dumbledore’s office without Dumbledore?
Andrew: Right. Right.
Matt: Well, look at McGonagall now. I mean, Maggie Smith – she’s looking different. She’s looking a lot more care-worn in this.
Andrew: Well, I think she’s supposed to be looking sad in this scene. I mean…
Matt: Or probably stressed…
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: …and everything. I mean, she just came back from battle, too.
Andrew: Yeah. I can’t wait to see the picture of Dumbledore’s…
Matt: Coffin?
Andrew: No, no, sorry. Dumbledore’s portrait in his office. I can’t wait to see that.
Laura: Yeah. That’ll be cool.
Matt: I want to see the coffin.
Andrew: It should be Richard Harris. A picture of Richard Harris. Not – wouldn’t that be awesome if they did Richard Harris? It’d be kind of confusing though, wouldn’t it?
Laura: Yeah, it would be kind of confusing.
Matt: Yeah, it would be.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Well, maybe when they start their term at Hogwarts they take the picture then. Nah, they don’t do that.
Matt: No, that still wouldn’t make sense.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah. Okay, well, in other news – anything else to be said about the pictures, guys? Or is that it?
Matt: No, I think – I mean, this is very new pictures too.
Laura: Just thank you, Warner Bros., for showing that we are getting a movie.
Matt: Yes. Thank you.
Andrew: Yeah, well, like there was this big surge, and, you know, I was hoping one of the articles that came out may announce when the teaser trailer’s coming, but none did.
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News: Opening of Movie 6
Andrew: In other news, we’ve heard that Half-Blood Prince is going to be opening with a big attack. And David Yates says this in an interview with Empire Magazine, I believe it is. Now everyone may remember that back a few months ago, we reported that they were filming at Millennium Bridge. And David Yates said, “we’ll bring a major London landmark crashing down.” Well, back in March, they were filming a bridge collapsing scene at Millennium Bridge in London. So that’s probably what they were doing. I mean, this – we got a lot of information about this scene. There were 60 crew members there, 120 extras, you know, they were walking on the bridge when it collapsed and all that. So I guess that will be a cool way to open the movie…
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: …even though it doesn’t go with the book.
Laura: Well, it kind of does. I mean, doesn’t it sort of go along with everything that was going on prior to the beginning of the book, like with the whole “Other Minister” thing?
Andrew: Mhm. Yes.
Matt: Yeah. I mean, I can see, like, it opens with this unknown couple in their car, or something, and they’re just talking, and they’re just driving through this traffic-filled bridge, and then all of a sudden the bridge collapses and stuff.
News: Trailer Rumors
Andrew: Okay. Well, and then in other news, there were some trailer rumors this week. Some more trailer rumors. Earlier in the week I had gotten a couple e-mails from people saying, “oh, yeah, it’s going to be with The Dark Knight.” Someone who works at an IMAX theater heard that they were going to be receiving their print delivery for Dark Knight, and then she said in the e-mail, giving us the date of arrival, they added that we could expect our Half-Blood Prince trailer for that print to arrive two days after. So, I mean, it’s believable. And then a couple days later, we start getting these e-mails from two other people saying it’s going to be with The Mummy! And apparently one of the girls talked to a marketing representative at Warner Bros., and they said it’s coming with The Mummy. Apparently Universal knows that The Mummy‘s going to suck, so they want to – they were pushing for Warner Bros. to give them the Half-Blood Prince trailer, so that, you know, they could get more ticket sales.
Matt: I hope not.
Laura: I don’t know, The Mummy…
Matt: ‘Cause we have to wait for August now.
Andrew: Yeah. What were you going to say, Laura?
Laura: I was going to say The Mummy does look like it’s going to suck, so I certainly don’t blame them for wanting that. But…
Andrew: Plus, waiting until…
Laura: At the same time, I agree with Matt. It’s like, how long can they expect us to wait?
Matt: Well, it’s also – you get the teaser trailer, then you wait a month and get the theatrical trailer, and then a month afterward you pretty much have the movie.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Right.
Matt: That’s a lot of promos. I mean, they don’t really shoot their promos and TV spots until after the trailer. So, I mean, are they going to have, like, all this promos and TV spots and mini-trailers and all this extra stuff in, like, a 2-3 month’s time?
Andrew: Maybe they’re doing a new experiment to see how marketing goes differently. If it affects ticket sales or something. I don’t know.
Matt: Yeah, but it’s got to have a nice, you know, fluidness with the advertising to – I really hope it’s not The Mummy.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: I’m just – I’m just getting sick and tired of all this stuff, to be honest with you. I mean, how many weeks now have we…
Andrew: I thought you were just excited about the pictures? What happened?
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Well, I mean the pictures are all great…
Andrew: You’re a flip-flopper!
Micah: No! You can like the pictures, but you still want the damn teaser trailer! I mean, how many times are we going to play this game here? “Oh, it’s coming out with Kung Fu Panda,” then it’s coming out with…
Andrew: I know, I know…
Micah: I don’t know, Happy Feet. That came out a year ago.
Andrew: [laughs] Happy Feet?
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Happy Feet? [laughs]
Micah: Now it’s Dark Knight.
Laura: You know, we’ve thought…
Andrew: No, I see your point.
Laura: How many movies have we thought? It was first Speed Racer, Kung Fu Panda…
Andrew: Prince Caspian…
Laura: Get Smart. Seriously, come on.
Micah: Yeah, I mean, Andrew, how many movies have you deleted from the poll on the homepage?
Matt: Guys, guys, this actually marks – this marks the two month anniversary of us waiting for the trailer. ‘Cause this was the week of May first.
Andrew: Right.
Matt: Er – the first week of May.
Andrew: That was when we thought it was Caspian?
Matt: When we thought it was Speed Racer.
Andrew: Oh, Speed Racer. Okay. Maybe we should just stop posting. I mean, somebody e-mailed me that. They were like, “you know what? It’s not Warner Bros.’s fault, it’s your fault. You guys are the ones posting these rumors that aren’t even true.” Like, good point, sir. But I like causing the hype.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Don’t we do that in general. But we do post rumors, don’t we?
Andrew: Yeah, but – I mean, yeah, yeah.
Micah: We’re kind of in that business.
Andrew: Anyway. Yeah. [laughs] Yes, we are. Fans like to hear it too. I like to report it. I think it’s fun. I think it’s fun to mess with people. Give them lies.
Laura: Give them hope.
Andrew: Give them hope. Well, I always, like, posted them in the hopes that it actually does come true because then it’s like, “Yeah, we told you.” So eventually we’ll get it right.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Matt: If we announce it, that it’s going to be in front of every single movie, we’re bound to get it right.
Announcement: Portus Next Week
Andrew: Portus is next week.
[Music begins playing in the background]
Laura: Whoo! I’m so excited!
Andrew: Who’s excited? I’m excited!
Matt: I am so excited!
Andrew: Raise your hand if you’re excited!
Matt: Yay!
Andrew: Raising my hand. Excited!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: We will be in Dallas from Wednesday the 9th to Sunday the 13th. And Portus is from July 10th to the 13th. It’s going to be…
Micah: I will be there on the 10th.
Andrew: …an awesome time. You can still register – Micah will be there on the 10th. Portus2008.org, if you want to register. Also, we’re going to have a little MuggleCast meet-up on Saturday.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: All attendees please keep this in mind: MuggleCast meet-up, Saturday from 3 to 5 PM in the Common Room. If you forget, I’m sure you will see one of us walking around, just be like, “Hey, what’s up with the MuggleCast meet-up?” And we’ll be like, “3 to 5 PM on Saturday.”
Micah: Or we’ll just run in the other direction.
Andrew: I will run in the other direction. I’ll be like, “No pictures! I haven’t done my make-up!”
[Laura and Matt laugh]
Andrew: So, the MuggleCast meet-up will be 3 to 5 PM Saturday. The podcast will be at midnight on Friday. So technically Saturday morning, but it’s Friday night.
[Music ends]
Andrew: And then at the very beginning of the Podcast Palooza there is going to be a podcasting panel. One podcaster from each of the podcasts is going to be on this panel talking about podcast. During the whole Podcast Palooza we will be selling MuggleCast t-shirts. They’re being printed as we speak! And we should be getting them Tuesday.
Micah: Who’s printing them?
Matt: They’re really cool. Have we ever talked about what they looked like?
Andrew: No, because we just got the design a couple of days ago. Micah, I’ll send it to you now.
Matt: Oh, should it be a surprise?
Andrew: Yeah, it will be a surprise.
Matt: Or should we tell them now.
Andrew: No we can’t, we can’t.
Matt: Can we just say the color?
Andrew: There are a variety of colors. It’s going to be printed on a maroon t-shirt to m-m-m…
Matt: Match?
Andrew: [laughs] Match the Portus colors. It’s going to be cool. I’m excited. So the shirts will be on sale at the Podcast Palooza, and we’ll give a couple away at the meet-up. And we’ll also have MuggleNet stickers at the meet-up. So, fun time.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: If you would like a day pass, if you just want to come Friday or Saturday, and if you’re in the Dallas area and just want to come to see the MuggleCast meet-up, you can buy a day pass for Friday or Saturday. If you buy a day pass for Saturday you can also go to the Ball and all the Jim Dale stuff they have to offer.
Matt: And it’s not too late. If you really want to come to Portus you still have time.
Andrew: Portus2008.org for all of the details.
Matt: Mhm. They’ve updated their forums too, to answer a lot of your questions, if you have any, you know, problems getting a room or just rooming with somebody.
Andrew: Yeah. If you have a question go to Portus2008.org. You can go to the message boards, like Matt said, and they will get back to you really quick on there.
Matt: Mhm. They’re a really great group. I mean, they’re really on top of it.
Announcement: Podcast Alley
Andrew: Yeah they are, definitely. All right, well, that’s that. And final announcement for today, Podcast Alley. Don’t forget to vote for us, because it is a new month. Happy Fourth of July everyone, by the way. Micah, what did you do for Fourth of July?
Micah: What did I do for Fourth of July?
Matt: Did you see the fireworks?
Micah: Did I see the fireworks? No, I actually – I just, I hung out. I watched a little bit of baseball, took the day off. No work; it was great not having to go to work.
Andrew: Cool. Cool.
Micah: Just chilling out. Not very exciting, but…
Matt: Was it busy outside?
Micah: Was it busy outside? Well, you know, I live three blocks from the beach. There were a lot of people that set off fireworks, thinking, you know, that they’re experts. But they really – they aren’t, but, you know, you could see a couple here and there. And then I watched the Macy’s and the Boston Pops on TV. So.
Andrew: There you go. Sounds like a good time. But anyway, we are number five on Podcast Alley right now, so…
Matt: Just number five?
Andrew: Just number five. So, feel free to vote for us at PodcastAlley.com. Just one vote a month keeps us on the top 10 list.
Muggle Mail: Dumbledore at King’s Cross
Andrew: Let’s move on to Muggle Mail this week.
Matt: Our first Muggle Mail comes from Chris, 22 of Westchester, NY. Chris writes:
“Hey guys, I’ve been listening to MuggleCast since it first debuted and I love you guys. I just wanted to point out a connection you may have missed from Episode 151. In ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ on page 427 after Harry thinks he sees his father conjure up a patronus when it really – it was his future self, Dumbledore tells Harry, ‘You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?’ It seems Jo was trying to tell us that people who died live on within us and they speak to us in different times. This connects perfectly with the ‘is this happening in my head?’ quote. Looking at both these quotes, I think Jo was trying to tell us that Dumbledore, at Kings Cross is a manifestation of the real Dumbledore living within Harry. So, it’s happening within Harry’s head, but it’s still real because Dumbledore lives on in Harry. This is actually quite brilliant from an author’s perspective, too. This means that Jo’s readers don’t necessarily have have to believe in an afterlife left to realize that Dumbledore truly was with Harry at that moment, and I thought [unintelligible]. I just thought you guys might appreciate this. Sincerely, Chris.”
Laura: That’s perfect. I actually really liked…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: …that.
Andrew: Exactly.
Laura: That’s great.
Andrew: Yep. Yeah. We actually got a few e-mails like that. People pointed that out, which was really cool that people can actually remember that and it works perfectly. So, makes perfect sense.
Matt: Talking about an afterlife in the Harry Potter series is always a great subject to discuss, too.
Laura: Yeah. Definitely.
Matt: Like, with the Veil, and with – just basically an afterlife in the Wizarding World if there is one.
Andrew: Right. How about the next e-mail? Laura, or Micah?
Muggle Mail: Godric’s Hollow
Laura: Yeah, I’ll do it. All right, the next one comes from Allison, age 18, of Chicago, Illinois.
“Firstly, I would like to say that I adore the show and that, thanks to you guys, it is total OMGness that you started a podcast for ‘Twilight.’ Anyway, after listening Episode number 151, I thought that Godric’s Hollow would have been another good setting for Chapter 34 because it is where Harry was born and the place where it began his destiny as Harry Potter. Just like you all mentioned that Harry was given a choice, Harry would have either been choosing to die at the place where his parents who had died, or live and accept all the things that had happened to him and the person that he has become from the night that Voldemort gave Harry the scar.”
Andrew: Hey, isn’t that cool?
Matt: That’s pretty cool, actually.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Yep, I like that.
Laura: And I think maybe we should clarify when she’s talking about that, she’s discussing other places in the Wizarding World that would serve as a good location for exemplifying being able to move on with death, or…
Andrew: Right.
Laura: …choosing to live. Okay.
Micah: I think that’s cool. I still like Matt’s choice from last week being the Veil.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah, I do too.
Andrew: Especially since we never learned anything about it.
Matt: Yeah, that’s the basic…
Laura: I know. That ticks me off. [laughs] Anyway…
Andrew: We bring that up, like, every show.
Matt: [imitating Laura] “Ticks me off a little bit.”
Laura Vents
Laura: Well, Okay. Let me just vent here for two seconds.
Matt: All right.
Andrew: Uh-oh.
Laura: Didn’t I devote, like, three episodes worth of discussion to the…
Micah: You did.
Laura: …Department of Mysteries because I was convinced that we didn’t learn anything!
Andrew: That was an awesome three part series, though.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: That was awesome. And final email, Micah.
Muggle Mail: Wizarding Drinking Age
Micah: Final e-mail comes from Rose, 20, of Philadelphia, talking about the wizard drinking age. She says:
“I don’t think there’s a specific age where they’re allowed to drink alcohol, but I think it’s understood that somethings are appropriate later in life. In ‘Order of the Phoenix’ when the trio goes to the Hogs Head for the first DA meeting, Ron comments -said he thinks the barman, Aberforth, would serve them anything and that he wants to try Firewhiskey, and Hermione goes, ‘You are a Prefect!’ to dissuade him. Butterbeer’s probably okay because it’s so mild, but drinking something more hardcore would be unbecoming of a Prefect, but not illegal. Love the show.”
Matt: Yeah. Yeah, but he says he bets that he will allow him to get – that means he’s not really allowed to, by Wizarding law, to sell Firewhiskey to a Prefect.
Andrew: That’s just a little clarification.
Micah: No, I kind of agree with Matt. I think Ron bets that he’ll get any sort of alcohol from Aberforth probably because he is a really shady character and this is kind of a really shady place, and he can probably swing some, you know, hardcore alcohol if he wanted to.
Matt: Yeah. Exactly. I mean, that’s what a bunch of teens – I mean, I don’t know about girls, but a lot of teen boys like to do, you know – “Like I wonder, you know, if this guy is really cool and he’ll let me to get a beer or…”
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah, I agree with you, Micah.
Micah: I think there’s – but I agree with what they’re saying though too, in that there’s probably not a specific age. I don’t…
Matt: No, there probably isn’t. Do you think it might just be, you know, just by the owner of the bar and how they, you know, want to sell it to?
Micah: Could be.
Matt: Because, like, in Prisoner of Azkaban, I know in the film they have it, I don’t know about the book. It was probably because the talking heads weren’t in the book, but when the talking heads said, “No underage wizards allowed today!” So, do you think, like, certain days underage wizards are allowed to be in and others they’re not because they sell certain kinds of…
Micah: Yeah, that could be possible.
Matt: …alcohol or butterbeers or something?
Laura: Yeah, that would make some sense.
Chapter-by-Chapter: Chapter 36, “The Flaw in the Plan”
Andrew: All right, it’s time now for Chapter-by-Chapter. This week we are discussing the final chapter in Harry Potter…
Andrew and Matt: …and the Deathly Hallows.
Andrew: You know, I kind of hate saying – do you guys count the epilogue as a chapter?
Matt: Oh, sorry. Can I clarify? It’s “hallows,” not “hollows.”
Andrew: Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Finally, after like 36…
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: …Chapter-by-Chapters I get it right.
Matt: You should get it right.
Andrew: Hallows.
Matt: Hallows.
Andrew: Well, I always was going to like put a little post-it note on my screen but, like, I used to say “Hollows” all the time…
Laura: Yeah. I remember that.
Andrew: …for some reason. Yeah.
Laura: We corrected you like five times.
Andrew: No, I mean I had to use the word “hallows.” Anyway, whatever. I’m screwed up again now. But anyway, do you guys count the epilogue as a chapter? Or is it just like there, you know what I mean?
Laura: Well, it’s not really a chapter because it’s an epilogue. I mean it’s not even labeled as a chapter in the book.
Micah: Mhm.
Laura: It’s…
Andrew: Should we do Epilogue-by-Epilogue next week…
Laura: Yeah, that’ll be like…
Andrew: …at Portus?
Laura: …a one episode series, but sure.
Andrew: Exactly. If you love it or you hate it, it doesn’t matter because it’s only one.
Laura: Yeah, I mean, I definitely think it would be nice if we discussed the epilogue a little bit next week at Portus.
Andrew: At Portus?
Laura: Yeah, I mean…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: I don’t know how long of a discussion we’d need to go over the epilogue, but…
MuggleCast 152 Transcript (continued)
Voldemort Knocked Unconscious
Matt: Well, this chapter starts off with Harry awakening at the scene where he expected to be killed by Voldemort, though he does not show that he’s alive. So he listens and watches and gathers that Voldemort also collapsed and was unconscious just like Harry. So, moving off of this, why didn’t we – why hasn’t anyone ever really talked about, after Harry got “killed,” Voldemort actually got unconscious and knocked back too.
Andrew: Yeah. Well, like – and it’s described – someone even e-mailed this into us too, when we were talking so it was like, “Oh, cool. It wasn’t just me who thought this.” Voldemort also, like, seems to wake up from something.
Laura: Well, weren’t they both at King’s Cross?
Andrew: Yeah, well, that’s the thing. Was that actually Voldemort there?
Matt: I don’t think so.
Andrew: When he woke up was he like, “Whoa, I was just a little baby!”
Matt: Well, he probably got knocked back and knocked unconscious because, you know, Voldemort destroyed his own Horcrux.
Laura: And also, you have to…
Matt: And it was a living person.
Laura: …remember the discussion that we had last week about the area they were in as being in the eye of the beholder. So what Voldemort may have saw could’ve been completely different from what Harry saw.
Matt: Yeah. I mean, he obviously had no recollection of what Harry saw and Dumbledore.
Andrew: No, I don’t think he did, but I just wonder if that was actually Voldemort right there.
Matt: Mhm. Well, a part of him died pretty much. We don’t know what part of Voldemort’s soul was in Harry too. It may have been a part of a Horcrux that affected him directly, Voldemort. That’s probably why he probably passed out or something.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Well, it says here in the book, “The Death Eaters had been huddled around Voldemort who seemed to have fallen to the ground. Something had happened when he had hit Harry with the Killing Curse. Had Voldemort too collapsed? It seemed like it, and both of them had fallen briefly unconscious, and both of them had now returned.” So is Jo saying that, “Yeah, that was Voldemort right there”?
Laura: I think so.
How Long Harry was Out
Matt: Well, see, I have a question about the whole – after Harry, you know, died and came back. Do you think this all happened after a certain length of time? When Harry comes back did like a second pass or did it take like five or ten minutes of Harry discussing with Dumbledore? Do you know what I’m saying?
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Honestly, the impression that I got was the amount of time – it was a different time span. It’s comparable to Narnia, you know, where they go…
Matt: Yeah, that’s what I – that’s exactly what I was thinking, yeah.
Laura: Right.
Andrew: Oh.
Matt: So do you think like when Harry woke, or when Harry was conscious again, like a second has passed?
Andrew: Yeah, because I think – because Bellatrix says to Voldemort, right there, “My lord,” like, what happened? So it seems like he hit Harry, it fired back…
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: …and then Bellatrix would just crouch down and say, “My lord,” even though it didn’t say that there was a crowd of Death Eaters all around him. But…
Matt: Well, it seems like it’s a reaction when Bellatrix was saying, “My lord, my lord,” it seems like that just happened and she’s making a reaction to him fainting.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: When they’re actually dueling a little bit later on, when Harry tells him, like, I’ve seen what you’ll be otherwise, I’ve always thought that, you know, that implied to me that they were both out for the same period of time, and so that was in fact Voldemort that he sees in King’s Cross. He’s trying to get him to be remorseful. You know, I just thought that he was probably down for the same period of time that Harry was; otherwise they probably would have inspected him a lot earlier too.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Mhm.
Laura: Well, I agree because it even mentions a couple of pages later when Voldemort sends Narcissa to check and see if Harry’s alive, Harry gets the distinct impression that something has happened to make Voldemort afraid of approaching him.
Matt: Right.
Laura: So clearly, they were both out for the same amount of time, and while Harry was having his discussion with Dumbledore, Voldemort must have seen something that scared the living crap out of him.
Andrew: Sure. Yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Narcissa Lies to Voldemort
Andrew: So next what happens is Voldemort says, “Okay, somebody check to see if he’s alive.” Narcissa goes down and asks Harry if Draco is still alive.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: And…
Matt: Well, no, right before she asks him that, Harry feels Narcissa holding his heart.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: And so he knows right of the bat that she knows he’s alive.
Andrew: Yeah, so Narcissa could have easily said to him – said to Voldemort, “Oh my god, he’s alive! He’s still alive! Voldemort sucks.” So – but – and then Harry says that yeah, Draco is alive, and then Narcissa tells Voldemort that Harry is dead. Now, I realize Harry is in quite a crappy situation here. I mean, he has to talk, or otherwise Narcissa’s going to be like, “Nope, he’s alive.” So if you think Narcissa said that, if she did say you were alive, do you think Voldemort would just have shot the curse again? And then what if Harry had actually died?
Matt: No, because Harry couldn’t – remember? Well, as we go on in the chapter, when Narcissa says he’s dead, he uses the Cruciatus Curse on Harry, and Harry can’t feel a thing.
Laura: Yeah, because he’s master of the…
Matt: He’s protected by the charm.
Laura: …Elder Wand, also.
Micah: Right. So, basically, he’s impermeable to Voldemort, is what I – what I gathered.
Andrew: Hmm. It’s just amazing how obsessed Narcissa is about making sure Draco’s okay. Like, I understand the whole son thing, but, like, she just seems crazy.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Well, I mean, it is her child.
Andrew: Yeah, I know, but…
Matt: It’s a typical Malfoy thing, though. You’re in it for yourself.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Malfoy/Slytherin trait.
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah, I just thought it was really risky of Harry, even though he had no choice. Did anyone else think this?
Matt: If I was Harry, I would do the same thing he did.
Laura: Mhm. Well, I mean, he did have no choice.
Andrew: But – and then Narcissa basically spared him, so…
Matt: She doesn’t care. She does not care about Voldemort or anything.
Andrew: Well, no, that’s kind of important, because if – well, no, I guess not. I guess you’re right.
Matt: She cares about her son. All she’s been thinking about is her son. So has Lucius.
Andrew: Mmm.
Matt: And when she finds out that there is a way to get back to her son, the only way is declaring Harry dead, so they go back into the castle and, you know…
Andrew: Show Harry.
Matt: Yeah.
Harry Not Affected by the Cruciatus Curse
Andrew: Now, like Matt was saying, the Cruciatus Curse does not effect Harry. In the book, it says, “Yet the pain he expected did not come.” What actually goes on here? What – why did it not hurt Harry? Is there a simple way to explain this, or is it not?
Laura: Well, I think it was essentially – I mean, at least what I get from it, it’s that he’s the master of the Elder Wand.
Andrew: And that’s why?
Laura: And the wand’s not going to act against its master.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: Oh!
Matt: But, if – if he was the master of the Elder Wand would he have been able to be killed too? Just like when Voldemort…
Andrew: You’re saying if Voldemort was the master or Harry?
Matt: Well, no, if – since Voldemort killed him, and he still – and he still is the master of the Elder Wand, how did he die then? I mean…
Laura: Well, he didn’t die.
Matt: Right, but now that he’s awake and he’s still the master of the Elder Wand, he can be killed by Avada Kedavra but he can’t be touched by a Cruciatus Curse?
Laura: Well, wasn’t the point that he…
Matt: I think it has to do with the fact that he – he sacrificed himself. That’s why no one can die after Harry sacrificed himself.
Laura: Well I – I knew that everyone in the castle was protected by Harry’s sacrifice, but then if – if Harry’s sacrifice would save himself then wouldn’t Lily’s sacrifice have saved herself? I’m kind of confused.
Matt: Well, no, no, no. She sacrificed herself and she died. He sacrificed himself and was brought back, but the curse – but the charm still works.
Laura: I see. I’m still confused.
Matt: It is kind of confusing. Well…
Laura: Because the thing is – for instance, they’re able to – well, they’re not able to perform the Cruciatus Curse on him. They do it and they think it’s supposed to be causing pain, and it doesn’t have any effect on him, yet at the same time they can lift him and throw him around using their wands.
Matt: Right.
Laura: So…
Andrew: So maybe it just doesn’t work again, using curses.
Matt: Or anything that deflects pain to death, because you can die from Cruciatus, can’t you?
Laura: Mhm. Well, maybe because at this point he’s become the Master of Death.
Micah: Right.
Matt: Yeah, probably.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: Like, well – like if he wants to withstand death he can? Or it just doesn’t affect him maybe? Like if he wants to, you know, deflect anything?
Micah: Isn’t – isn’t the whole point that, like, the Elder Wand is – is not going to harm its true master? And…
Laura: Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Micah: And Harry is its true master and, you know, when Voldemort tries to place a curse on him it’s not going to have any effect.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah, I agree with you, Micah, on that.
Andrew: Okay. Well, that – yeah, I just thought it was interesting how it works. It really is interesting.
Matt: Mhm.
Hagrid Carries Harry Out of the Forest
Andrew: So moving along, Hagrid begins carrying Harry out of the forest with the Death Eater procession all around him, and this is really sad because, just imagine what Harry’s thinking. It just makes me sick to my stomach. Or sorry, what Hagrid’s thinking. It just makes me sick to my stomach to think the feelings that they’re going through.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: Imagining that Harry’s dead and, like, what Voldemort is about to do to the world.
Matt: Well, I just thought it was so sad when – when in the book it says how – how soft and, you know, how shaking Hagrid’s hands were when he was cradling Harry.
Andrew: Mhm.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: Because, I mean, you know, Hagrid brought – I mean, Hagrid had Harry cradling him as a baby, going to the Dursley’s.
Laura: Exactly! [laughs]
Matt: And now he’s…
Andrew: Oh, yeah, parallel! What’s up!
Laura: Aww.
Andrew: Aw, that’s so true.
Matt: And Hagrid was crying at both times, too, saying goodbye to Harry in the beginning and saying goodbye to Harry the second time.
Andrew: Oh yeah. I never thought of that.
Laura: Aww! That’s so sad!
Andrew: Aww, that is sad! Laura are you crying now?
Laura: Shut up, Andrew.
Andrew: You are?! You are?!
Laura: No! No I’m not. Of course not.
Andrew: Laura’s crying, add the tally up!
Matt: Laura, Laura, Laura…
Andrew: I’d like a wall the size of the Great Wall of China and I still can’t fit all the tallies.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Laura, if it makes you feel better, I cried in this chapter too.
Andrew: Aww.
Laura: I cried for like, the last four chapters of the book, so…
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Dang, we should have done this live at Portus and then we could see all the cry babies. Who are the cry babies in this group.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I bet Micah’s crying right now. Micah, do you have your mic muted or something? You’re not even talking.
Micah: No, I’m okay.
Andrew: [mocking Micah] “No, I’m okay, boo hoo hoo hoo!!!”
Matt: [mocking Micah] “No I’m good.”
Andrew: [mocking Micah] “No really, I’m fine, boo hoo hoo hoo hoo!!!” Anyway…
Matt: Well, what struck me as kind of – [laughs] – kind of funny, and I don’t think it was meant to be, was when Hagrid was carrying Harry and then all of a sudden, Hagrid just bellows out to Bane, [imitating Hagrid] “BAAAANE!”
[Laura laughs]
Matt: [imitating Hagrid] “YOU COWARDLY NAGS.”
[Micah laughs]
Voldemort Tells Everyone Harry Ran
Andrew: So Voldemort magnifies his voice so all of Hogwarts can hear that Harry Potter is dead. Now this is another thing that made me sick. I should’ve thrown up. I was reading this at Panera. I probably should have thrown up my delicious smoke house turkey sandwich.
Matt: You better not, I gave you that for free.
Andrew: It said, “He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself, while you put down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone.” It just makes me sick that Voldemort had to say he ran away trying to save himself.
Matt: It’s almost fruitless, though, like they would believe that. Like anyone would believe that Harry Potter did that.
Andrew: Yeah, do you think they did believe him?
Laura: No.
Matt: No. Not for a second. The crowd, not for a minute, believed anything, except for the fact that Harry was dead.
Micah: Well, yeah. I mean, if he ran away chances are, you know, he wouldn’t have gone through the forest where he knew Voldemort… [laughs] …was.
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: So…
Reactions to Harry’s “Death”
Matt: So moving along, after Voldemort announces that, we hear McGonagall giving a deafening shout, “Noooo!” And this was a side of McGonagall that Harry had never seen or heard before, and then afterwards it’s even a more heartbreaking cries of Ron, Hermione, and Ginny just screaming “Harry! No! No!” And this is where I started crying in the chapter. Especially when I heard – when I was reading McGonagall screaming “no,” because we all know how McGonagall feels towards Harry. She has, like, a certain kind of motherly affection towards Harry. Not as much as Molly Weasley but, you know, in McGonagall’s own certain way. I mean, she had a soft spot for Harry, and when – and when… [laughs] …she saw him, you know, her world just crashed down. I think it was a more deafening blow – a bigger blow of Harry dying then it even was for Dumbledore’s death.
Laura: Well, yeah, I mean, he is the hope for their entire world.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: I don’t – I mean, I’m with you. That whole part where it’s talking about Ron, Hermione, and Ginny running down and screaming his name, it was just utterly heartbreaking, even though you know Harry’s alive.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Just putting yourself in that position and imagining yourself running and seeing your best friend and thinking they’re dead.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Oh my God.
Matt: Well, just think – thinking of how hard this is for Harry to keep his composure, too, during this entire little, you know, episode.
Laura: Yeah, ’cause he was saying that he wanted so hard to call back to them, but he knew he couldn’t.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I think it would be so cool if this book suddenly took the perspective of Ron and Hermione, and we as readers don’t know yet that Harry actually was alive. What an experience that would be as a reader to really feel the pain and emotion that his best friends are actually feeling.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: I actually think it’s possible too, if we go from like – is it third person?
Andrew: Hmm?
Matt: Where you see everyone’s thoughts.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah. If we just see – if we read the entire chapter from a third person perspective after Harry comes back from, you know, the dead. You know, it’s a good transition.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: If that were to happen.
Andrew: Or it just leaves off at Dumbledore saying, “Well, it’s up to you whether you go or come back.”
Matt: Yeah, and then we don’t know what really happened.
Laura: Oh my god.
Andrew: Right, exactly. And then we as readers experience it. If we were reading this and we saw Harry coming up in Hagrid’s arms, we’d be like, what the hell, why hasn’t he woken up yet? And then we could see that he saves the day by, you know, coming to life exactly when he needs to.
Matt: You know, all they have to do in the movie is just cut out that part where Narcissa and Harry talk.
Andrew: They should do that. They really should.
Matt: And then, yeah, if they don’t – if they cut out that little snippet of Harry saying “yes” and the audience just knows…
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: The audience doesn’t know if he’s alive or not.
Andrew: Right.
Matt: Because Dumbledore left him a – pretty much an ultimatum. Go this way or that way.
Andrew: They’ll probably just like, adjust it in the film, though, so you know which he chooses. It’s going to be like a Door A, Door B thing.
Laura: [laughs] Oh my God.
Andrew: Like there will be signs above them. Live. Die.
Matt: And you know what? It’s not true to the book, so to speak, but I would be actually for it if they actually do that. I wouldn’t care.
Andrew: And imagine just, like, the part where Hagrid goes “Where’d Harry go?! Where’s Harry?! Where’s Harry?!” You know, where’s his dead body? That’d be so good! Why didn’t we get to experience that?
Laura: I don’t know, I think if the book had been like that, I would’ve been curled up in the fetal position on the floor.
Andrew: You were!
Laura: No, I wasn’t! [laughs]
Matt: You were already in a bad spot.
Andrew: Yes you were! I’m just kidding.
Laura: You are so mean to me.
Andrew: I love digging into Laura about that. I love digging into Laura about that. Sorry, Laura.
Matt: Moving on to – moving on from this. I don’t want to talk about this part anymore.
Neville Kills Nagini
Andrew: So Hagrid lays Harry at Voldemort’s feet and this is an awesome part, another awesome part. Neville comes face-to-face with Voldemort and rebels. Voldemort puts him in the Body-Bind curse and, in what is an amazing scene, Neville breaks free, pulls the sword out of the Sorting Hat, which comes down courtesy – does it come out of nowhere? I forget what happens.
Matt: It comes out of the hat.
Andrew: No, but how does the hat get there?
Laura: Voldemort summons it.
Matt: Yeah, Voldemort…
Andrew: Oh right, right. Okay.
Matt: Because Voldemort was going to make a little example out of him, saying from now on everyone’s going to be in Slytherin.
Andrew: Right, so Neville pulls the sword out of the hat and cuts off Nagini’s head, which is awesome.
Matt: I was kind of surprised that Voldemort gave Neville a chance to become a Death Eater right off the bat. I mean he could have just said, “You know what? Just die.”
[Laura laughs]
Matt: But no, he says, “Wow, you have really nice blood, we could use a person like you. How would you like to be a Death Eater?”
Andrew: Well, yeah, because Voldemort was like, “Here’s an – let’s show everybody an example of what happens when you rebel.” And I was like, oh, okay, death. When you go against Voldemort you die!
Matt: But no, he sets him on fire. That’s his – yeah, that’s a nice little… [unintelligible]
The Battle Begins Again
Andrew: Yeah. So the chaos begins again, and as I described in our notes, the battle of Hogwarts all over again begins because it’s just chaos everywhere.
Matt: Well, the chaos starts because the centaurs come back, or come forward.
Andrew: Right, which is really cool.
Matt: And then we get to see Buckbeak!! And the thestrals right behind him! That’s going to be an awesome scene to see. I love reading that part of the chapter. Buckbeak just coming out of the forest again.
Andrew: Yeah, that’ll be so cool. Seeing all the creatures come to life again.
Matt: Well, this whole chapter’s just full of cameos too.
Andrew: So then the classic line that was recited by Mikey B. throughout our summer tour: “Not my daughter, you bitch!” That of course was Molly Weasley saying that to Bellatrix, and Molly kills Bellatrix!
Matt: Well, God, you just, like, skipped one of the biggest scenes!
Andrew: Go ahead, set it up.
Matt: The fight ends up in the Great Hall. It ends up going to the Great Hall of Hogwarts, and it ultimately comes down to two big battles, and it’s Voldemort against three people, which is Kingsley… [sighs] McGonagall, Kingsley and Slughorn against Voldemort. And then it’s Bellatrix against Hermione, Ginny and Luna. And then Bellatrix shoots a killing curse at Ginny and just barely misses her by an inch, which to me means that if Harry didn’t sacrifice himself Ginny would be dead. The reason is, she’s protected by the protective charm. But after that happens, Mrs. Weasley comes in, takes off her cloak, pulls out her wand and goes, oh no you didn’t. And then they go on the battle. And then it’s pretty much just all the sudden everyone else who’s fighting just stops and then just moves to the walls and watches it. It’s pretty much like in those movie scenes where the two main couple are slowly dancing at prom and just everyone just stops dancing for some reason and just watches them.
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: Because they all know what’s going on.
Micah: Well, yeah, and I like the part you brought up too about the protective charms. It wasn’t just Ginny. I mean, you go through like a page of this chapter where all these Death Eaters are just getting the crap kicked out of them. Nothing is having any effect on the sort of – the good side, so to speak. Harry later explains it when he’s dueling Voldemort. He’s like “Don’t you see? My protective charm is doing its job. All your people are falling at the hands of the, you know, the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix and everybody else that seems to show up. ”
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: But what about – you know, we didn’t even talk about the House-Elves and how they entered the picture.
Matt: Have they entered yet, though?
Micah: I thought they did. I thought they come in before…
Matt: Oh yeah, they did.
Micah: …Molly Weasley thing.
Andrew: Yeah, they did.
Matt: Oh wow.
Andrew: Talk about that, Micah.
Matt: Yeah, that’s awesome too.
Micah: I just thought it was awe – this is one of my favorite scenes when you just see Kreacher running in.
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: And, you know, talking about fighting in the name of Harry, fighting in the name of Regulus. You know, I think that’s going to be an awesome scene, and I really do hope that they…
Matt: I actually giggled the first time I read this…
Micah: You what?
Matt: …part of the chapter. I giggled. I mean, I was really giddy during this part because – it’s just – you get to see the House-Elves kick butt. And it’s – I’ve always wanted to see the House-Elves in some action, and this is just… [sighs] …giving us what we want.
Andrew: It’s the Battle of Hogwarts.
Matt: And Kreacher just saying, “Fight! Fight for my master, defender of House-Elves! Fight the Dark Lord in the name of the brave Regulus! Fight!”
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: And he also says in that [imitating Kreacher] bubble voice.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Laura: I kind of see them as making this somewhat cheesy in the movie.
Micah: Yeah, but…
Matt: Even if it’s in the movie though. I mean ’cause we know that the House-Elves are really expensive.
Laura: Yeah, that’s true; we won’t have any House-Elves in the movie.
Micah: Well, not just them. I mean, this whole scene, though, it should be one of just – you know that Voldemort’s rein of terror is coming to an end. Matt, you talked before – like the centaurs, and then you have Gwarp and Buckbeak making their appearances. The House-Elves, and they even mention the shopkeepers and home owners of Hogsmeade, you know, join the fight.
Matt: You see, if they were to cut anything from this big scene in the chapter, it would have to be the House-Elves, because we really – in the movies they never really talked about it; they never talked anything about the House-Elves at Hogwarts. So, it would just probably be, like, Buckbeak and the thestrals and pretty much anything we have already seen is making a cameo. I mean, I’m sure we’ll see like Kreacher just coming out, you know, just start fighting with a big, you know, butcher knife.
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: Which, I personally don’t mind seeing.
Micah: Or a saucepan. But yeah, this should be a really cool scene, and I hope that they just do it justice.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah, I agree.
Andrew: I think they will, and now I feel like they know there’s a much bigger expectation to do it right…
Matt: Yes.
Andrew: …with the split.
Matt: Well, now they said they’re going to try and make it as right as possible.
Andrew: [mocking filmmakers] “We want to do it and we want to give it justice.” Yeah? Well, prove it too us!
Matt: Yeah!
Andrew: Give us two trailers, two premieres, two everything!
Length of the Battle Scene
Laura: How long do you think this scene is going to be?
Matt: Hmm?
Laura: How long, like – how long screen-wise do you think it’s going to be?
Matt: Well, since they’re going to be splitting it, I’m pretty sure they’re saving a lot of time for this big scene, because this is ultimately the climactic scene in the entire series. This is the death of Voldemort.
Andrew: Yeah. Well, what – are you talking about this specific part, or…
Laura: I mean the whole – the whole climactic…
Matt: This whole chapter.
Laura: …area I think. I mean, starting essentially with – from when they arrive at the Hog’s Head. I just think that that’s going to have to take up so much time, so much screen time for it to do complete justice to it, you know?
Matt: Yeah. Honestly though, I don’t really mind if they shorten any of these scenes as long as they keep this one in nice, fluid length. You know what I mean?
Laura: Right.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: I mean, I can understand if they want to take out some of the information on, like, Ariel, or – wait, what’s…?
Laura: Ariana.
Matt: Ariana. Ariana’s death and everything. I can understand that, because it’s not really relevant to Harry’s journey, so to speak. I mean, it kind of is, I mean, but it doesn’t directly affect him. So I think they might, you know, sway away from that. [sighs] I’m just – I think every single one of these – I think Warner Bros. knows that every single one of the fans of Harry Potter are really looking forward to this scene more than anything. So, they’re going to have to spend a lot of – they’re going to be really attentive to every single detail of this, even if it’s not even last – doesn’t even get on the cutting – loses on the cutting floor. They’re going to keep a lot of attention to this.
Laura: They better.
Voldemort’s Connection with Bellatrix
Matt: After Mrs. Weasley kills Bellatrix, Voldemort lets out a huge wail and attempts to kill Mrs. Weasley. However, Harry casts a shield charm on her and that’s when he reveals himself – when Harry reveals himself to everyone that he’s not, in fact, dead, but he’s alive…
Micah: Right.
Matt: …and – right.
Micah: I wanted to ask a question here, because Voldemort lets out this cry. I mean, supposedly Voldemort doesn’t feel any sort of compassion for anybody. Or do you think it’s just the shock?
Matt: Well, it said in the book that he was – it said in the book that Narcissa – Bellatrix was his, you know, last lieutenant…
Micah: Right.
Matt: …in command. Like, whether or not he had any feelings for her, she was like second in command. He trusted her and he knows that she will follow him to the end, and now that she’s gone, he’s pretty much, you know, alone.
Micah: Right.
Matt: Which isn’t really a problem for him. But, I mean, it is a blow because it’s almost like his partner in crime.
Laura: Yeah. Well, there’s really no one left who has that sort of fanatical devotion towards him, anyhow, so…
Matt: Yeah, right. I mean, there’s no one who really has his back, like if everyone’s ganged up on him, Narcissa would be there, you know, covering his back in that situation. But that’s just not the case anymore.
There Are No Accidents
Andrew: So Voldemort emphasizes to the crowd that Harry has made it this far because it’s all been a series of accidents. And, you know, Voldemort is really stunned at this point that Harry’s even still alive, so I think he’s just grasping for straws here. And Harry begins explaining to Voldemort how stupid he was and how he screwed up, the flaw in the plan. Do you guys think it was a series of accidents or do you think that – because I mean, Harry does come back and say, you know, oh, he lists all these things that weren’t accidents. Do you think they were? Because he does seem to… [sighs] …always have something there to help him out, if you know what I’m saying.
Laura: Yeah. Well, it also seems to throw – I don’t know if fate is the right word, or even faith, but it seems to kind of throw out the suggestion that he was supposed to, that there was some kind of other guiding influence, whether that be a god or any kind of other power that exists in this Wizarding World that was guiding him towards winning. At least that’s the impression that I got, because Harry’s just saying, you know, “You think this is an accident? You think it’s an accident that this happened and this happened?” So it just seems like there was some other guiding force.
Matt: Yeah. Well, I think it was an accident. I think they’re all – I think they’re both – I think both Voldemort and Harry’s right. I think it was an accident, and I think Voldemort was stupid. Because I think all the accidents are Voldemort’s fault.
Laura: That’s true. [laughs] That’s true.
Matt: Voldemort’s the one that’s had all the accidents.
[Laura and Matt laugh]
Matt: He’s the one who killed him, like, three or four hundred times.
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: And it all backfired.
Micah: Yeah, I agree with that. I think, like, from Harry, it’s a very different perspective than you get from him in Order of the Phoenix, where he’s standing in the Hog’s Head, you know, basically telling these people who want to join the fight that, you know, all this stuff was just basically dumb luck. And now here you are having him talk to Voldemort and saying, “You know what? It wasn’t an accident that this happened, that my mother protected me or, you know, any other of the events that took place.” So, I mean, it’s…
Matt: Yeah. It’s not really – I mean, if Voldemort hadn’t gone after Lily, he wouldn’t have been shut down, so, I mean, every single thing that happens is pretty much Voldemort’s fault because Voldemort’s always the instigator in these events.
Laura: He just can’t leave it alone, can he? It’s all his fault.
Matt: [laughs] He just can’t can’t go home.
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: He just can’t go home, take off his robe, and watch Friends.
Laura: [laughs] Well, it’s true though, because the prophecy says so long as one of them tries to instigate it, it’s going to keep going.
Interaction Between Harry and Voldemort
Andrew: Okay, so while reading the dialogue between Harry and Voldemort…
Matt: Oh yeah.
Andrew: It’s very intriguing, and it really makes you sit on the edge of your seat. And I think as a tribute to the books, this final battle scene where Harry keeps addressing Voldemort as Tom, Tom Riddle, Riddle – Warner Bros., I think, should use this script verbatim, because I think it would work really well in the movie.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: It moves back and forth a lot. There’s a lot of anger and emotion you can put into the actors.
Matt: Mmm…
Andrew: What do you guys – wouldn’t that be cool if it where just word for word?
Laura: That would be awesome.
Matt: It would cool, but, like, wouldn’t every single big speech be cool if it was verbatim word for word? But it never happens.
Andrew: But this is the biggest of big speeches.
Matt: But I – I don’t know. With speeches involved in the films, I don’t have any faith in, because I just know I’m just going to get let down.
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: So I’m not really going to go with high hopes for that speech being word for word.
Andrew: It would be pretty long, and pretty detailed, and pretty deep for what they usually do for a movie – these Harry Potter movies, but I just feel like it would be so cool.
Laura: Yeah.
There is Some Tension with the Films
Andrew: Just finish the movies for once with Jo’s writing instead of making it into your own.
Micah: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah. What I’m really afraid of is that they’re going to try to explain everything about the Elder Wand in two minutes. You know?
Matt: [laughs] Then they’re going to explain the – the Marauders too.
Laura: [laughs] Yeah, the – oh, by the way, my dad wrote this map.
Matt: Oh by the way, my dad’s a stag, that’s why I thought it was my dad in Prisoner of Azkaban in case any of you people didn’t really know that.
Laura: Yeah. [laughs]
Andrew: And make Voldemort throw some more water balls at him.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: And all those little sound effects [makes sound of water splashing]. Make the glass fall, all those cool like – not.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Oh and by the way, Fleur and Bill, they got married.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: [laughs] Yeah.
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: We just cut that scene from the movie, that’s why…
Laura: Oh, and by the way, I’m trying to liberate House-Elves.
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: And that locket that was supposed to be in Order of the Phoenix? Yeah, we just – we’re just going to make that appear somehow in the sixth movie.
Matt: Yeah. Oh, and by the way, Kreacher was actually cleaning the portrait of Sirius’s mom, but apparently she screams every time someone comes to the door.
Micah: That’s too much money.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: It’s not – yeah, it’s just not that important.
Laura: Oh, man.
Matt: And Dobby was actually in more than the second movie so, yeah.
Laura: The last five minutes of Book 7 – or of Movie 7… [laughs] …will be recounting the…
Matt: Oh, by the way, Dobby gave me the…
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Dobby gave me some Gillyweed but we decided to get Neville.
Micah: [laughs] Yeah, that’s right.
Laura: [laughs] Oh God.
Andrew: Funny.
Micah: No, keep it all in. That’s what I – I agree.
Matt: Keep it all in, yeah. I mean, the more the merrier, but…
Micah: Well, no, because I just think it has a cool progression to it. Like you were – Andrew was saying he refers to him as Tom a lot and, you know, he’s…
Matt: Yeah – yeah.
Micah: …like saying, “You know what? Your plan was completely messed up. Your Horcruxes, they’re gone.”
Andrew: Right – right, exactly.
Matt: Well, I do agree with you guys, though. This still has…
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: …a lot of potential, because this is really where Harry actually is more confident talking to Voldemort. We don’t really have any Harry/Voldemort, you know, dialogue in the films. It’s basically in Goblet of Fire when, you know, Voldemort was just talking, and all Harry just did was…
Laura: Is just flinch. Yeah, that’s all he does.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: You’re right! That’s true. Every bit of dialogue that we’ve had between Harry and Voldemort involves Voldemort moving around like a snake.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: And Harry flinching every two seconds. [laughs]
Matt: And crying.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: And – and yelling stuff.
Andrew: “You’re possessing me!”
Micah: But it’s just…
Matt: “I feel sorry for you.”
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Micah: It’s just a complete breakdown. I mean, he’s basically just breaking down the mindset of Voldemort. He’s like, “You know what?”
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: “Snape? He was on our side.” You know? “The Elder Wand?”
Matt: Yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: “You have no idea…”
Matt: “How ’bout that??
Micah: “…it really belonged to Draco Malfoy, so I’m it’s true master.”
Matt: Yeah. This was really fun to read. He’s like shouting – shooting down every single thing that Voldemort says.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: Doesn’t matter. “Oh, but it really doesn’t matter.” “But it kind of does. You know what? You’re screwed. Give me your wand.”
[Everyone laughs]
MuggleCast 152 Transcript (continued)
And Then Voldemort Dies
Andrew: So finally, Harry says he knows the moment’s going to happen at any moment, and Voldemort fires Avada Kedavra, Harry fires the signature Expelliarmus, and Voldemort’s spell backfires, and he’s dead.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: That’s it, it all comes down to that one spell after all this Horcrux hunting and everything else, it comes down to that.
Matt: And Voldemort’s wand flies out of his hand into Harry’s, right?
Andrew: Oh, yeah.
Laura: Yeah.
The Scene on the Cover
Andrew: So the scene on the cover occurs right here.
Laura: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: In the book it says, “As Voldemort fell backwards, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward.” Why didn’t we ever speculate that Voldemort was falling backwards? Because if you like look at the front again…
Laura: It doesn’t really look like it though.
Andrew: But it kind of…
Matt: It kind of…
Andrew: But look at it again right now. It looks like he is because he is sort of – it’s hard to tell because he is wearing a big-ass cloak.
Laura: Yeah, and he also looks like the Grinch, but I mean…
[Andrew laughs]
Andrew: [singing] You’re a mean one, Mr. Voldemort.
Laura: I hate to rant here, and we sort of talked about this on the show before, but I really feel that the American cover was extremely misleading. I really do. In terms of location, it does not look like the Great Hall. [laughs] That does not look like the Great Hall.
Matt: Yeah, but no, it actually does. It looks exactly like it was supposed to, because the sky was supposed to be golden from the sun coming up.
Laura: Well…
Andrew: Yeah, but that’s it.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: But how about the arches all around? It looks like a coliseum. We talked about that. They’re in a coliseum of some sort.
Matt: [in an English accent] “Well, it’s not real, the ceiling.”
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Matt: [in an English accent]“It’s bewitched to look like the night sky.”
Laura: No, but the thing is, isn’t the Great Hall supposed to be rectangular? It was always described as…
Andrew: Yes!
Laura: And then here you’ve got these circular walls. It makes no sense.
Andrew: Like a bowl.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: But they’re walking in a circle, maybe that’s trying to signify that they’ve been going in a circle. The Great Hall has just been changing because it’s getting kind of dizzy from the walking around in circles.
Andrew: I don’t know, but then you look at this rubble, and, like, where’d the rocks come from?
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I mean, okay, the ground is stone, but…
Laura: And the wood! Isn’t there wood, too?
Matt: It doesn’t even look like Voldemort’s flying back; it looks like he’s reaching.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: But look at the angle at the front of his cloak. See how – just look at the angle how the front of his cloak is slanted backwards.
Matt: Well, he doesn’t even have the wand in his hand.
Laura: I guess.
Andrew: But the other thing is that he’s reaching out to, like, grab it.
Laura: Well, see, what we…
Andrew: But the reason he’s reaching out is because he’s falling backwards. I mean – you know what I mean?
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: Well, I mean, Harry doesn’t even have his wand in his hand. He has no wand, period.
Andrew: He’s reaching up!
Matt: Yeah, no, but look at his right hand.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s on a rock!
Matt: Where’s Draco’s wand?
Andrew: Oh.
Laura: Yeah, and see, this is what threw us off because initially we were speculating that this had something to do with wandless magic.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: Exactly.
Matt: Mhm.
Laura: And seeing that Harry’s not even holding a wand here, I think that fuels the fire.
Andrew: Yeah, I agree.
Laura: You have some explaining to do, Mary GrandPre, that’s what I have to say.
Andrew: Yeah, really.
Laura: What book did you read?
Andrew: No wonder she’s not doing any interviews.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: She doesn’t want to – she’s going back, “I don’t want to – I can’t – no thanks.”
Laura: You know, I wonder if they give any kind of instruction to the artists, in order not to give too much away.
Matt: They obviously give her enough information.
Laura: Well, she gets to read the book.
Matt: Well, not only does she get to read the book, but doesn’t the picture have to be approved too?
Laura: I would assume so.
Andrew: Yeah, but I don’t think they would ever tell Mary GrandPre to start from scratch again.
Matt: Well, no, they just say, “Can you just add a wand to Harry’s right hand, please, while he’s reaching up?”
Laura: Because, you know, this is the final battle scene, and generally you need a wand.
Matt: That seems kind of important. Yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: God, we are such dissenters tonight. We have trashed the movies…
Matt: I know.
Laura: …and now we’re trashing the book cover.
Andrew: I know.
Laura: What’s wrong with us?
Andrew: What’s next?
Matt: We just have high expectations.
Andrew: Yeah. All right, well, we have apologize for being so negative about the cover, but I think we do bring up valid points. I mean – and I’m sure everyone agrees, it’s not the…
Matt: Right.
Andrew: It’s not the most accurate cover; it did throw us off.
Matt: And some of our negative points, we were just trying to be funny, too.
In the Headmaster’s Office
Andrew: No, but I’m sure [whispers] people know that – no. So then, what I think – and we’ll jump back to the movies now. Awesome movie scene – that I may be crying at, if they do it – in the book it was described as, “All around the walls, the headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts were giving him a standing ovation.”
Matt: I cried here too.
Andrew: It’s talking about Harry, he’s walking into Dumbledore’s office. I’m seeing if Matt’s crying right now. I don’t think he is.
Matt: No, I didn’t cry. I did cry out of both eyes, and that’s a lot for a guy.
Andrew: Whoa, both eyes?
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I don’t know how you can just cry out of one eye, but okay.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: So he’s walking in there, and the portraits are giving him a standing ovation, and then Harry talks to Dumbledore’s portrait, and we had discussions on how much help Dumbledore’s portrait could be, because that could play a factor. And we see here what a couple of us did speculate back last year, way back when, that this is Dumbledore’s personality coming through. He doesn’t provide Harry with any new information, he – they’re just simple responses to what Harry was saying.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: And they’re kind of clever, they’re kind of funny. Not really, but…
Matt: Well, it was pretty obvious, too, because Harry had to think about how to say the words correctly, you know.
Laura: Right.
Matt: He was thinking about what to say and how to say it, so he would get the right response.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: And, well, also, he was trying to be secretive, too, to the others, but…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Right, because he didn’t want anyone to go and find the Resurrection Stone.
Matt: Exactly.
Andrew: Right, so…
Micah: Well, I don’t know. I thought the interaction between the two of them suggested that maybe there was a little bit more reality to their meeting at King’s Cross than we initially thought.
Matt: Well, maybe it’s the same thing that, you know, it’s Dumbledore’s reflection of Harry. That maybe, you know, the portrait changes manner depending on who the person – the portrait’s talking to.
Micah: Could be.
Laura: Yeah, that very well could be.
House Unity
Micah: The only other thing I wanted to bring up with this chapter was that, you know, we talked about this I don’t know how many times on different episodes, but when McGonagall goes to set all the House tables, but everybody sort of ends up sitting together no matter the House.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, that was really cool, too.
Laura: That is cool.
Andrew: Just shows the unity that was created after all that. And that was it for the chapter, unless anyone else wants to bring something else up.
Laura: Well…
Matt: We got to talk about the…
Laura: We have to talk about the last sentence of Book 7. I mean…
Andrew: Yeah.
Last Moments of Book 7
Matt: Well also, I mean, we get to see a little bit – Luna actually is in the very end of the book, almost, which I thought was kind of cute. We get to see a little bit of Luna, and we get to see some of Neville, and we get to see closure on a lot of the characters. Like, Ginny is holding her head onto Mrs. Weasley because her mother just saved her life.
Laura: Well, her mother also just lost a son, too.
Matt: Well, that too, of course.
Andrew: So, Laura, what is the last line of the book?
Laura: Well, it’s after Harry decides that he doesn’t want to possess the Elder Wand, and Ron’s actually kind of surprised by this, because of course Ron wants it, and he says, “the wand’s more trouble than it’s worth,” and he talks about wanting to go lay down in bed, and then the very last sentence is, “I’ve had enough trouble for a lifetime.”
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: And that’s just – it’s so bittersweet when you read it. It’s like, oh no! This is the end!
Andrew: Oh no, it’s over!
Laura: [laughs] But no, it’s really telling, too, because he really has.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: That’s a really good ending, though, I think.
Laura: Yeah. I think I probably cried when I read that, too. [laughs]
Matt: Well, I didn’t cry when I read that because, you know, I’m a man.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Right. Were you guys disappointed that the last word wasn’t “scar”?
Matt: No.
Laura: No. I didn’t even remember that. I didn’t even think that.
Andrew: But I was looking forward to that so much. I wanted to be able, like – I would have felt complete closure then if I read the word “scar,” because for the longest time J.K. Rowling was like, yeah, it’s going to end with “scar.” The final word is going to be “scar.”
Matt: But, I mean, if she found out that it didn’t flow as well, and she had to change it, I’d rather it end on a nice, you know, note than having her to rewrite, you know, to have it to say “scar” at the end.
Micah: Well, doesn’t it – I mean, “scar” is in the last sentence of the epilogue. Not to jump ahead, but…
Laura: Yeah, it is.
Micah: …possibly, maybe, that’s where she used it initially.
Andrew: Yeah. But then there was an interview with her about it, and I’m pretty sure she said, you know, she decided to just forget about it. So I don’t know. I was a tad disappointed. Whatever.
Matt: Some fans were disappointed and some weren’t. I mean, you can’t please ’em all.
The First Word
Laura: That kind of reminds me. I don’t know, Andrew, if you saw it, but when we were walking back from Waterstones when the book was released, these three women stopped me on the side of the street, and they go “can you please open your book?” And, you know, we had people jumping at us as we were leaving the bookstore…
Andrew: Right.
Laura: …and I’m like, “Oh God, what do they want?” They were like, “We just want to know what the first word of Book 7 is.” So I open it and the first word is “the.”
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: These poor women were so disappointed! They were like, “Oh!” Then they swore a lot. But, yeah.
Andrew: Oh, no.
Laura: Yeah. I just thought it was cute.
Jamie Almost Got Mugged
Andrew: Well, I don’t know if I ever said this story on the show, but we were leaving the bookstore and somebody tried to swipe the book…
Laura: Yeah!
Andrew: …right out of Jamie’s hands when he wasn’t looking.
Matt: That’s not cool.
Laura: I had some guy jump out of the line at me.
Andrew: Oh my God.
Laura: I was like, “Oh my God! Don’t kill me, please!”
Andrew: Yeah, that is scary.
Laura: And then we had that, what was that, German TV station? Were you there for this? Yeah! That was crazy.
Andrew: So that does wrap up Chapter-by-Chapter. Wow. I can’t believe – we’re not even finished, really. We still have the epilogue. [laughs]
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: But – huh.
Laura: It’s bittersweet, though.
Andrew: Yeah. I don’t know what to say right now.
Laura: I know.
Matt: [singing] “It’s a bittersweet…”
Songs for Bellatrix and Voldemort
Laura: Wait, we didn’t play a song for Voldemort!
Matt: [singing] “…symphony.” Oh, that’s right!
Andrew: Oh, right! What song should we play…
Micah: Or Bellatrix.
Andrew: Should we play for Voldemort?
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: Or Bellatrix!
Laura: Ding dong, the witch is dead.
Andrew: Should we do a two-for-one deal?
Matt: No. No, no, no, no, no, no. Voldemort gets his own. All right, so we’ve got a little tribute to the death of Bellatrix, and here we go.
[“I’m a Bitch” by Meredith Brooks plays]
Andrew: Who’s that song by, Matt?
Matt: All right, it’s entitled “I’m a Bitch” by Meredith Brooks.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Now, do we have one for Voldemort that’s like “I’m a Jackass”? This was Laura’s idea. Laura, let’s see what you came up with here.
[“Haha, You’re Dead” by Green Day plays]
Andrew: Laura, that wasn’t very nice. I mean…
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: The poor guy’s, well, dead.
Laura: Well, I – okay. Let me clarify. It’s not a happy song.
Matt: I can just imagine Laura coming up to Voldemort’s body.. [laughs] …and saying that. “Haha, you’re dead!”
Andrew: I’m just kidding, Laura.
Laura: I would never do that.
Andrew: He deserves that song! There’s Chapter-by-Chap…
Laura: We’re going to get so many angry e-mails.
Andrew: Oh, I hope not. If they do…
Matt: I think it’s funny, I don’t see why there’s anything wrong with that.
Andrew: If you have a problem – if you think Voldemort deserves a nice song, e-mail us with a good song to use for a nice song to recognize him. Who would want to recognize him? Ha ha!
[Laura laughs]
Favorites
Andrew: You’re dead. All right, well, in celebration of wrapping up all the chapters of this final book, we’re going to do Favorites this week. We’re going to do favorite chapter in Book 7.
Matt: Hmm.
Andrew: Now that we’re finished with it and since the epilogue doesn’t really count. Let’s just go around the table and everyone can say what their favorite chapter was in this book. I’ll go first. “The Seven Potters” was my favorite chapter, and I said during our Chapter-by-Chapter on that chapter, that just by reading the title I knew it was going to be really cool, and especially seeing the – actually, I didn’t see the chapter art for that because I was reading the U.K. edition but just reading that title, you know something cool is going to be happening.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: It was just so clever, having seven Harry Potters to screw up Voldemort and the Death Eaters in figuring out which Harry is actually the real one. I just loved how clever that was. Who wants to go next?
Laura: I’ll go. I think my favorite chapter, and this is really a toss-up, because there are a couple that I love, but it would have to be Chapter 16, “Godric’s Hollow.” I just loved actually getting to see Godric’s Hollow through Harry’s eyes. And the whole scene where he and Hermione were at the cemetery was just – it really tugged at your heartstrings and I really enjoyed discussing the different biblical quotes that were present on, I believe, Kendra Dumbledore’s grave, and then Lily and James, their tombstones. So I just – I found it a very bittersweet chapter. Just because that’s been a place we’ve been waiting to see for so long and then we ended up seeing it under those circumstances.
Micah: I actually really liked Chapter 33, “The Prince’s Tale.” Everything finally coming together, we finally get to see that Snape wasn’t the bastard that everybody made him out to be…
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.
Micah: …throughout the first six books.
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: And it was definitely a redemptive chapter for him, and it wasn’t just him. I mean you got to see the entire plot unfold that you were kind of blind to for the past seven and change, you know, or six and change books, and it’s just…
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: …you know, I thought it was a really great chapter. I thought, you know, and you didn’t know what was going to happen next, you thought that, really, Harry had to go and die for the greater good. And, I don’t know, I just liked that chapter a lot.
Matt: The chapter that I probably would say is my favorite is Chapter 31, “The Battle of Hogwarts,” only because every time I’ve read this book, that chapter has always gotten me the most excited to read. I have never been able to even take a break from reading that chapter. The adrenaline – it’s really when the adrenaline finally kicks in, it’s what every fan – well, I – I have been hoping for for the entire series, is the ultimate battle at Hogwarts. And it’s just the preparation, especially when Flitwick was getting prepared for the battle, and just the interaction between Harry and McGonagall and everything. It’s just awesome.
Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul
Andrew: Okay, well, that does it for chapters – chapters? Favorites and Chapter-by-Chapter. We’re going to do one more segment here today and then begin to wrap things up. Chicken Soup, not exactly Chicken Soup edition. Sorry I don’t have any sound effects today, my computer’s in the shop.
Matt: [imitating sound clip] Chicken Soup…for your soul.
Andrew: Not exactly Chicken Soup edition! Who wants to read it?
Matt: How about Laura, because she’s got the female voice.
Laura: So our Chicken Soup comes from Victoria, age 15, from Toronto, Canada. She writes:
“I think I submitted this to the wrong place; my apologies. My school had a talent show and I signed up to sing a song from…drum roll…The Remus Lupins. I learned the song and on the day of the show I brought my laptop into school so I could sing along to the music. But the person controlling the music accidentally clicked the song before it, which consequently was MuggleCast 58, and it skipped…” [laughs]
Andrew: No…
Laura: “…it skipped to a part where Andrew is repeatedly saying ‘pickles!'”
Oh man. [laughs]
Laura: “Everyone laughed…”
Andrew: Oh, I think it was the one where I went, “Pickles! Pickles! Pickles! Pickles! Pickles! Pickles! Pickles! Pickles!” Anyway, go ahead, sorry.
Laura: [laughs] “Everyone laughed, including some of the teachers, and it was definitely better than anything I could have sang.”
Wow.
Andrew: There you go.
Laura: Well, it’s good that you weren’t embarrassed, because I think if that had happened to me I probably would have killed Andrew.
Andrew: Oh, I get embarrassed. I can’t listen to the show around anyone else.
Laura: No, oh me neither. I hate it.
Andrew: Yeah
Laura: Oh God.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Oh, scary.
[Laura laughs]
Contact Information
Andrew: Well, thank you for that, Victoria. It’s time to remind everyone about out contact information one last time before our live show at Portus.
Matt: Laura, if anyone wanted to send anything to us, where would they send it?
Laura: It’s P.O. Box 3151, Cumming GA, 30028. Don’t worry, I am getting your stuff, and I’m going to give it to everyone next week at Portus. So they’ve all got a lot of mail.
Andrew: Word has it that there are a lot of – well, there’s a couple umbrellas for Mikey?
Laura: Yeah, one of them came the other day.
Andrew: We got that other one?
Laura: I did get an umbrella for Mikey.
Andrew: One came the other day.
Laura: Yes.
Andrew: Okay, make sure you bring that. I will bring it to Mikey and we will shoot. All right, we skipped voicemails this week, but we will try to get back to them in a couple weeks. By the way, at the MuggleCast meet-up, one of the ideas is to record some “voicemails,” you know, that we can play during the show. So, if you’re in the United States, you can dial 1-218-20-MAGIC, if you’re in the United Kingdom you can dial 020-8144-0677, and if you’re in Australia, you can dial 02-8003-5668. You can also Skype the username MuggleCast, just remember no matter how you call us, leave your message under sixty seconds and eliminate as much background noise as possible, please. Also on MuggleCast.com we have a handy feedback form to contact any one of us, or just use our first name at staff dot mugglenet…
Andrew and Matt: …dot com.
Andrew: Don’t forget, at MuggleCast.com we have a variety of community outlets, including the MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Frappr, Last.FM, and the fanlisting and the forums over at MuggleCastFan.net. You can follow us on Twitter.com/MuggleCast, Digg the show at Digg.com, and vote for us once a month at Podcast Alley.
Laura: You can also find us at TwilightSource.com. [laughs]
Andrew and Matt: Oh. Laura, no!
Laura: Just kidding.
Andrew: Laura, I’m going to cut that out now.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I’m going to cut it out.
Laura: No you’re not.
Andrew: [whispers] I won’t really cut it out.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Show Close
Andrew: Well?
Micah: Well?
Andrew: Micah, Laura, I’ll see you both at Portus next week.
Laura: Yeah. I’m so excited.
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: We’ll see everybody else at Portus, too. We will see you there.
Micah: We’ll see Jim Dale there, too. I heard he’s coming.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I heard he’s coming.
Laura: Oh, yeah. That’s right.
[Show music begins to play]
Andrew: I hear there’s never been a bigger celebrity coming to Portus…
Laura: To a Harry Potter conference.
Andrew: …or to a Harry Potter symposium.
Laura: Symposium, yeah.
Andrew: Besides us, I mean.
Matt: Yeah, I was waiting for you to say something.
Andrew: I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding. No, it’s going to be very exciting to have such an influential person in the Potter fandom there, so…
Matt: Ah, God, I’m so excited to go!
Laura: Me too!
Micah: It’s going to be a lot of fun.
Laura: I can’t wait to see you guys.
Matt: I can’t wait to see everybody. I mean… I’m so excited! [laughs]
Andrew: I can’t wait to play pranks on you guys in the hotel rooms. Like, you’ll wake up and you’ll have weird shapes on your forehead in permanent marker.
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: Remember, I can throw you across the room, Andrew. Probably with one hand.
Andrew: What? Okay. What are you talking about? You want to fight?
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: I’ll fight you there. We’ll record it.
Laura: Oh, that’ll be priceless.
Andrew: Put it on the site.
Laura: We’ll put that on Pickle Pack. The first piece of…
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: …of footage there in like, ten years.
Andrew: Yeah. Maybe we should record something new for them.
Laura: Yeah, we should.
Andrew: The possibilities are endless. So yeah, next week – next week’s episode will be a live recording from our podcast at Portus, and we don’t know what we’re going to talk about yet, but I promise you it will be fun.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: It will be a little bit about the epilogue, and I really – we’re going to do something with the audience.
Andrew: Yeah, we’ll do something.
Laura: We’ll probably decide about five minutes before we go on.
Andrew: Yeah, I mean, you’re not kidding. Like…
Matt: You know, I – how about this? How about we don’t even discuss the epilogue, we just have the audience come up and just bring stuff up about the epilogue.
Andrew: Matt, you bring up a good point. If you’re going to Portus and you’re listening to this now, come there with good questions to ask about the epilogue or just Harry Potter in general, and we’ll call people up to ask questions and such. Yeah. Good idea. All right. So with that, I am Andrew Sims.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Matt: And I’m Matt Britton.
Andrew: Thank you, everyone, for listening. We will see you next week live from Portus for Episode 153. Bye bye!
Laura: See you guys next week.
Micah: Yeah.
[Show music ends]
Blooper 1
Andrew: Laura, did you get your Internet back?
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: You good?
Laura: Yeah, thankfully. You know.
Andrew: I mean obviously you did, because you’re online.
Laura: Hopefully I don’t die tonight. Apparently…
Andrew: [mocking himself] Did you get your Internet back?
Laura: You know, I really think that there’s some kind of, like, curse out against Elysa and myself, because for the past, what, two or three weeks, we’ve both been recording in storms. It’s like…
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.
Micah: Huh.
Laura: Give me a break!
Andrew: At least you’re inside.
Micah: Well, I heard there are actually sirens in Dallas that go off. Is that true, Laura?
Laura: Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah. Definitely.
Andrew: Like tornado warnings?
Laura: Oh, yeah. We had one right down the street from us when I lived there.
[Matt imitates a tornado siren]
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: We should, like, play a fake one and scare everyone.
Micah: No. That’s not cool.
Laura: Oh no, you have no idea. Everyone will be in their bathtubs in, like, two seconds flat. You have no idea.
Matt: Why in the bathtubs?
Laura: Because…
Andrew: They don’t move.
Laura: …they don’t move. [laughs] They’re anchored.
Matt: That’s kind of silly.
Laura: You lay in the bathtub and you put the – you put your mattress or some pillows over you.
Micah: Well, that doesn’t do us any good if we’re, like, on the 18th floor of the Hilton Anatole, does it?
Andrew: I don’t think we’re that high up.
Laura: I don’t know if it’s – you know what’s great, though? One time…
Matt: Oh my gosh, we can see tornados in Texas, can’t we?!
Laura: You know what’s great, though? Okay, you know you guys have pretty much lived in your respective parts of the country most of your lives, and you have, like, various sorts of evacuation signs? Well, in Texas they have a sign that has a tornado on it and a man running from it.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: And it’s like, “Evacuation Route: This Way.” [laughs] So…
Andrew: Oh God.
Matt: [laughs] If you see this thing, run away!
[Laura and Matt laugh]
Laura: So hopefully we don’t die while we’re out there.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Anyway…
Micah: It’s just going to be hot.
Matt: Yeah. We got Jim Dale, you know? We’re…
Laura: Oh, it’s going to be hotter than the hinges of Hell. Anyway.
Blooper 2
Matt: [reading] “I just wanted to point out a connection you may have missed from Episode 151. In ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ on page 427, after Harry thinks he sees his father conjure a Patronus, I just wanted to point out a connection you may have missed from Episode…” Oh, [beep].
[Laura and Matt laugh]
Andrew: What the hell?
Matt: It’s kind of hard reading it from this angle. Okay.