MuggleCast 198 Transcript
Show Intro
[Intro music begins]
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[“Hedwig’s Theme” plays]
Jim Dale: [as Professor McGonagall] This is Professor McGonagall welcoming you all to MuggleCast hoping you enjoy – Dobby! Dobby, come here! Here! Dobby! [as Dobby] Yes, I’d just like to say how very pleased I am to introduce MuggleCast to all of you! Thank you! Thank you!
[Show music begins]
Andrew: Because Micah cannot contain his excitement, this is MuggleCast Episode 198 for May 12th, 2010.
[Show music continues]
Andrew: Welcome back to the show everyone! It’s Micah, Eric, Matt and I here this week. Hello, gentlemen.
Matt: Hello.
Eric: Hello.
Micah: Hello.
Andrew: And we are here to discuss Harry Potter as we have for the past five years. And we’re going to go at it for another five years, and we are quickly approaching Episode 200. It’s very exciting. So exciting that we only have two news stories this week.
Eric: Ooh.
Andrew: Which is amazing. Thank God we only do this every other week now, because if we did the show every week we’d have like half a news story to discuss.
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: Or none.
Andrew: Or we’d just be pulling nonsense news stories out. That’s why we do it every other week now, so we give you quality news stories to discuss, each and every episode. Anyway, let’s get the show started. I’m Andrew Sims.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Matt: And I’m Matt Britton.
[Show music continues]
Andrew: Micah Tannenbaum, what’s in the news this week?
LEGO Harry Potter
Micah: Well on Tuesday I got the chance to go and check out LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4. There was a press event in New York City and…
Andrew: Oh, look at you.
Micah: Yeah, well you sent it to me, so…
[Eric laughs]
Micah: …you shouldn’t be too surprised.
Andrew: Look at Micah, he gets to be press!
Micah: Press, yes.
Andrew: So, how was it?
Micah: It was a cool event that they set up there and it was at this really fancy – I don’t even know what you would call it, but it was the housing for the Council on Foreign Relations…
Eric: Oh.
Micah: …and it was a really interesting set up. They had one floor that was dedicated to LEGO Harry Potter, there was one room for – really, the kids, to go in and play the game, they could get their pictures taken. They had these life-size posters set up of LEGO Harry Potter characters and I think there was Ron, Hermione, Harry, Dumbledore, and Hagrid. Then in the other room, it was kind of the adult room, with the bar.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: [laughs] And adult LEGO figures of Ginny and Hermione and McGonagall, right?
Micah: [laughs] Yes! No.
Andrew: Was there really a bar?
Micah: Yes, there actually was a bar.
Andrew: Oh my.
Micah: And you could get alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages, depending on…
Andrew: Wow.
Micah: …your age.
Andrew: And that was just for the LEGO Harry Potter people?
Micah: Yep.
Andrew: Geez…
Matt: Wow.
Andrew: Some party.
Matt: They go all out.
Andrew: Was there a contest to see how many drinks you could have and then properly build a LEGO set?
[Eric and Micah laugh]
Micah: No, no, that was in the kids’ room and they gave them chocolate milk, so…
Andrew and Matt: Ahhh.
Micah: ..see how much chocolate milk you could drink, I guess without throwing up while building a LEGO Harry Potter set.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: So, you got to play the actual video game…
Micah: I did.
Andrew: …which is, I think, the first time anyone’s been able to play it, all complete. How is it?
Micah: It’s really great. I’ve – obviously on this show I’ve trashed the EA games many, many times…
[Eric laughs]
Micah: …because while they do have a great design team that put the games together, the gameplay is never very good. It’s a little too simplistic and there’s not enough for the crazed Harry Potter fan. But I think everybody will enjoy this game…
Andrew: Cool.
Micah: …because there is just so much to do. I got a chance to speak with Arthur Parsons, he was there. If anybody has seen the videos and the vignettes, I guess you call them, that have been done on the LEGO Harry Potter site, he’s the guy who kind of walks through a lot of them – a lot of the creative end of things. And he was there, he was kind of the one person that Warner Bros. had brought along for the media to speak with and the sites to speak with. You could tell how passionate he was about this game. He was the lead, and he wanted to show literally everything that they created. He did this special cheat code that brought up all the different levels and places that you could go to, Years 1, Years 2, Years 3, Years 4. It was just unbelievable the amount of stuff they had created in this game. And really this game in particular is much more close to the books and the story that takes place in the books as opposed to the movies, which we know that’s where the EA games are based on.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: Mhm.
Micah: So, I think you get over 140 playable characters. I mean when I was there playing the game – just in Year 1 I played as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Scabbers, Hagrid…
Andrew: Cool, cool.
Eric: Scabbers?
Micah: Scabbers, yes, you do need Scabbers at times in this game. You have to change, it’s not just a matter of being able to use Harry. You have to use these other characters because only their abilities will allow you to get through different stages of the games, so I thought that that was really cool and we got to see a lot of different areas. Warner Bros. was really hesitant about this guy showing us too much, especially with…
Andrew: Really?
Micah: …Goblet of Fire, because that hasn’t been really displayed yet to…
Andrew: Oh brother!
Micah: As you can see they’ve been releasing things in stages to kind of build up momentum into this game, but we didn’t get to see anything Goblet of Fire-related other than Mad-Eye Moody walking randomly around Diagon Alley.
Eric: Did they comment on the delay at all and is that why – to sort of give this game the proper marketing, is that why the game was delayed a month?
Micah: You know, I didn’t ask them about that. The game will obviously be released at the end of June, I’m not going to say what date yet because they haven’t officially released that, I mean I can obviously tell you guys what date but I can’t say on air what the date is…
Andrew: Micah was too busy at the bar to be asking the proper questions…
Micah: [laughs] Yeah, exactly.
Eric: I was going to say, did you write down those cheat codes?
Andrew: Micah, did you even play this game or were you just watching someone from your barstool?
Micah: [laughs] Ah, you caught me. No, what was cool was watching Arthur go through and you could tell he must have played this game thousands of times by now…
Andrew: Yeah, yeah.
Micah: …just how he was able to do everything. Because every time a new group would come over from the press he would explain really from the beginning but I think what makes this game so unique though is that it’s so true to the books but it’s so funny, there’s these cutscenes that are, for example – and Eric, you’ve played these LEGO Harry Potter games before – what’s kind of the command center of things like the Cantina in Star Wars, they talked about also the bat cave in Batman, and this will be done in Diagon Alley…
Eric: Oh awesome!
Micah: …that’s going to be the command center. And one of the main areas is Madam Malkin’s, so you can go in and – talking about humor, if you accidentally go into the wrong dressing room, you see a wizard in the middle of changing. They’ve – just the humor that they’ve built into this. Like I said, there’s a number of cutscenes that we saw at the beginning that – just very, very true to the books, but also there’s just endless amounts of comedy, and I think that’s what LEGO has been able to do that makes it so much different. We got to see a couple of different areas of the world. I mean, the forest, we got to see Hufflepuff’s common room, which was never in the books, but they built with approval from J.K. Rowling.
Eric: We talked about this, Micah. You said that they had already coded in, sort of the other common rooms as part of the gameplay, so they decided to go ahead and do the Hufflepuff one?
Micah: Yeah.
Eric: How did that work, did they say?
Micah: Yeah well, they – as you said, they had built in all these common rooms because I guess there’s tasks in each that you associate with them, and they felt as if they couldn’t leave out one of the Houses, so they went ahead and they built Hufflepuff’s common room. It has in it things that would be specific to that House. So, because Professor Sprout is the Head of House, they have a lot of Herbology that is taking place in those rooms and…
Eric: That’s awesome.
Micah: …also a lot of food-related stuff because I guess Helga Hufflepuff was a big-time cook. That’s why they were so close to the kitchen, but…
Andrew: All right.
Micah: Yeah, I mean – go out and buy it.
Andrew: All right. Calm down, Micah, geez.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Micah’s so excited. I’ve never seen him so excited about something. He texted me after he got out of the event. He couldn’t stop talking about it. He was like, “You will not be able to put this game down.”
Micah: Well, you won’t!
Andrew: “It is a game-changer.”
Micah: They said – Arthur said that for people who know how to play this game, the people that have spent all this time making it – from start to finish, it will take them 30 hours to complete it.
Andrew and
Eric:
30?
Micah: 30 hours.
Eric: 30?
Andrew: I don’t have that kind of time!
Micah: Sure you do.
Andrew: Micah, play it for me. Let me know how it is.
Micah: Okay, I will. [laughs] But that’s somebody who knows what they’re doing.
Andrew: Yeah, so it’ll take longer for an average person, right?
Micah: Right, and that’s just walking through the storyline. There’s obviously a lot of other stops…
Eric: There are always collectibles.
Micah: …adventures.
Eric: There are always awards. Yeah.
Andrew: Cool. Well, we reported the game would be out end of June. That date came out a couple of weeks ago. Micah cannot confirm or deny at this time, but…
Micah: Well, yes, it will be out at the end of June, I just can’t say what day.
Andrew: Oh, I see. Okay. [laughs]
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: So look for it at the end of June. What else is going on in the news, Micah?
Ultimate Edition DVD Release Dates
Micah: Well, we – speaking of release dates – for Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire Ultimate Editions…
Andrew: Yes?
Micah: They may be out, according to the Germans, on…
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Do we trust the Germans, Micah?
Micah: …November the 25th. I don’t know, they always seem to be one step ahead of the game. They’re the ones who always put these release dates out. I think they did it for the LEGO video game too, didn’t they?
Andrew: Maybe – well, the release dates were posted on Amazon Germany, and they’re not posted on the U.S. Amazon site yet, but I think it’s pretty reliable. It makes sense because Deathly Hallows: Part I comes out November 19th, so the DVDs coming out the following Tuesday would make a lot of sense.
Micah: Right.
Andrew: I assume that’s a Tuesday.
Matt: Well, the Germans have said it, you know.
[Micah laughs]
Matt: They’re responsible for all the prophecies that’ve happened in the past few decades.
Andrew: That’s actually a Thursday, so it may come out here – it may come out in the U.S. on November 23rd, because that would be the Tuesday following the movie release.
Matt: Oh.
Andrew: But it makes sense. They want to release these DVDs when Harry is hot. They released Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets Ultimate Editions with the Half-Blood Prince DVD. So, this makes sense. If I – I’ll put my money down on this release date.
Micah: All right.
Andrew: If I was a betting man. I don’t know for sure. Just saying.
Micah: I mean, there’s really not much more to say about that. It’s just that we have a tentative date.
Andrew: Right. Start saving now. They’ll be 30 bucks a piece – around that.
Matt: I’m excited for the extra features, though. I mean, the first two were awesome.
Andrew: Yeah, they’re really nice sets. They really are, and I can’t wait to have a complete collection – all those. Like I said when we were talking about the Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets ones, I can’t wait to have them all on my shelf next to my book collection. Ah.
Eric: It’ll look nice, but it’s like twice as many movies as you need, because each set contains a Blu-ray and a DVD version of the film.
Andrew: No, no, no – it’s just – no – it’s one or the other.
Eric: Oh – or – but the extended version is on a separate disc.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. So you get four discs per film.
Eric: Yeah, yeah. It’s kind of ridiculous.
Andrew: It’s a lot, but…
Eric: Too much plastic.
Andrew: [laughs] Too much plastic.
Eric: It’s a waste of plastic. The environment is dying…
Andrew: All right, well…
Eric: …from making these Harry Potter sets.
MuggleCast Remix
Andrew: Like we said, it was a short, short – it was a slow couple of news weeks, so we will move on now. We have an update about the MuggleCast remix. Eric, how is that going?
Eric: Oh, it’s going well, man. I – if it was any indication after the first week or two that I said, “send in your clips,” it was actually just that everybody was busy. I have over now almost 200 clips that people have sent in.
Andrew: Wow! Great. Thank you, everyone who contributed.
Eric: Yeah, 200 clips. Thank you to everybody. A lot of these people just actually sat down and went through five or six episodes and sent in 20 to 25 suggestions. Unbelievable! So, over the next week weeks – by the way, suggestions are closed, I’m going to say.
Andrew: [laughs] You have enough.
Eric: If you happen to e-mail me with one, fine, but yeah, suggestions are closed, and the only other thing I had to say was I may be looking for a detective – a clip detective, if anybody is interested – just to apply, simply because all these clips – they’re all good and nice, they may all be just funny moments and if I need something that transitions, I might be looking for something like that. So I may ask this “clip detective” to go find a moment where Ben says something like, “Okay, here we go now, to this.” Which he would say…
Andrew: Oh, I see. Dun-duh-dun-dun.
Matt: It’s like a mystery.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: And I’m sure the Mugglecast transcripts would be able to help you find that, too.
Eric: Exactly, I know. It’s just me getting out of doing work.
Andrew: Oh, I know. I know.
Eric: Any applicants – but you guys heard a little preview. What can you say about the preview that you guys heard?
Andrew: Yeah, you sent us a sample. It sounds really good. I can’t wait to have the whole thing. I’m going to submit it to some dance clubs, hoping that they will play it.
Eric: That’s what you said. You were like, “I can’t wait to hear everything after the first 69 seconds.” I said, “Oh my god, that’s awesome!”
Matt: Oh my god, they should play it at Infinitus!
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: Polka ball.
Eric: They should, they should. They could play both of them, and we could dance to it.
Chapter-by-Chapter: “The Dementor’s Kiss”
Andrew: Oh geez. [laughs]. Okay, now it’s time for the final Chapter-by-Chapter segment for Prisoner of Azkaban. Today we’re looking at the final three chapters of the book. It’s an exciting conclusion. This was a wonderful book. It’s been a great time doing Chapter-by-Chapter for this book. So let’s wrap it up. We’ll start with Chapter 20, “The Dementor’s Kiss”. Micah, take it away.
Micah: So I have to be as enthusiastic about this chapter as the LEGO game, I guess?
Andrew: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: Keep it up, Micah, keep it up.
Micah: [laughs] Well, the chapter starts with them all exiting the Shrieking Shack, and it said that, “Harry had never been part of a stranger group,” and this made me think a little bit about the movie. They could have done a little bit more with this scene in particular.
Andrew: It could have been funny.
Micah: It could have been funny. Because you have Sirius, who’s in control of Snape and kind of lets Snape bob along and smack his head on the ceiling and be ignorant to what’s going on. And I thought maybe they could have done something a little bit more with that, considering how much of the story they had already cut out. What do you guys think?
Andrew: Yeah, I agree. Although, it would have been a sort of strange departure from the mood in the film at that time, I think. So maybe that was the reasoning for it. But yeah, it would have been funny. Poor Harry, always with strange groups of kids. I don’t think this was the strangest…
Eric: [laughs] Oh it’s…
Andrew: I mean, I guess it was, if you think about it. There was a cat and Snape, all passed out.
Eric: Half of them could turn into an animal.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: The rag-tag trio.
Micah: Actually, speaking about this, one thing I left out of the LEGO discussion before…
Andrew: Oh geez.
Micah: …that’s funny though, is that – incorporating the actual LEGO side of it into the game – is you have to build this massive mouse trap in the Shrieking Shack in order to capture Peter Pettigrew…
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Eric: Oh, that’s cool.
Micah: …so that he doesn’t escape.
[Eric and Matt Laugh]
Andrew: That’s very cool.
Matt: You’re saying it’s massive, how big is this thing?
Micah: What thing? The game?
Matt: The trap.
Micah: Oh.
Matt: You said “this massive trap.”
Micah: Yeah, I guess it’s got to be pretty big.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: I don’t know.
Matt: I’m thinking of that board game Mouse Trap…
Micah: Oh yeah.
Matt: Did you guys ever play that as a kid?
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: I’m just thinking of that, going around the Shrieking Shack.
Andrew: They should have made – why don’t they make a Harry Potter version of that game? They have Harry Potter – well, I guess they don’t have Harry Potter Clue or Monopoly, do they? They should have done that – marketing potential! All right, go ahead.
Eric: Well, hopefully for all the movie lacks, the H.P. LEGO game will pick up.
[Micah Laughs]
Andrew: Right.
Micah: I’m just going to keep throwing LEGO anecdotes out there as we go through.
Matt: Every two minutes Micah is like, “It’s interesting on the LEGO, the game actually did this.”
Micah: Yeah, exactly. So while they are in the passageway and Snape keeps smacking his head on the ceiling, Sirius tells Harry about being his godfather, which Harry obviously already knew, and that he is welcome to come live with him, once Sirius’s name is cleared. And I was wondering, does Harry overreact a bit here? I mean, I know he is excited to possibly leave the Dursleys, but he still doesn’t know a whole lot about Sirius.
Andrew: Well, I think he was just very excited to see that he finally has a family member outside the Dursleys and hear that he doesn’t have to be – his perspective is that anything is better than staying with the Dursleys. So the fact that he now has this brand new family member, and this family member has offered a place to stay, I think that’s really exciting – I mean I understand it. Especially since…
Micah: He’s still young – it’s kind of a young kid’s reaction.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. But still, he has been with the Dursleys all his life, and finally he has gotten an offer to stay somewhere else that isn’t the Dursleys and it’s a family member, so I understand.
Eric: Yeah, and asking that question, I just remembered all that protection that’s on Privet Drive. Do you think Dumbledore would have let – even if Sirius’s name is cleared, do you really think after all that magical protection, that’s actually going to keep out Voldemort. Voldemort is at full power in Book 7 and he still can’t penetrate Privet Drive until Harry comes of age. So do you really think Dumbledore would have let – I mean Sirius would have had to move to Privet Drive. He would have been next door neighbors with the Dursleys.
Micah: That would have been interesting. Privet Drive also featured in LEGO Harry Potter video game.
[Eric sighs]
Micah: But anyway, J.K. Rowling here describes Sirius. She says that his face broke into the first true smile Harry had seen upon it, and the difference was startling “as though a person ten years younger were shining through the starved mask”. So it just describes how completely emaciated Sirius is, how gaunt he is, and less than human almost. I don’t know, it was probably pretty creepy to see someone like that smiling.
[Everyone laughs]
[Andrew makes creepy sounds]
Matt: People shouldn’t smile Micah, it’s creepy.
Eric: Unless they have the new HP LEGO game, then they should smile.
Micah: Yes.
Matt: Does Sirius actually smile in the LEGO game?
Micah: I don’t know.
Andrew: All right, this…
[Matt and Micah laugh]
Andrew: Enough of the LEGO game.
Micah: So they get out of the Whomping Willow and…
Andrew: This isn’t “Brick-by-Brick”! [laughs mockingly]
Micah: Oh geez.
Andrew: Okay.
Micah: So once they exit, the clouds overhead shift and the moon is revealed. And Hermione, who is always up on things, notes that Lupin did not take his potion.
Andrew: Mmm.
Micah: Now here’s where I came up with a couple of issues, and I think we mentioned it a little bit in the show last week. I took two quotes, one that says from Lupin: “As long as I take it in the week preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform.” Now the second quote is from Snape, which was just the previous chapter in the Shrieking Shack: “I’ve just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did.” So if he was taking the potion, it should been the week prior to the full moon and he shouldn’t have transformed. Right?
Eric: Yeah, that’s Lupin’s fault. If Lupin is transforming tonight, the night of the full moon, that’s because he didn’t take his potion last week, according to what Lupin said previously. This seems like an even bigger error the more times we mention it and now that Micah pulled it out, it looks really big. It looks bad.
Matt: Do you think there may have been a reason why he didn’t take it?
Micah: My point is, there seems to be an error in the writing, because he says he’s supposed to take the potion preceding the full moon. And Snape is saying that he found the potion on Lupin’s desk. So this should be taking place the week preceding a full moon.
Eric: Yeah, we’re supposed to believe that Lupin was reading the Marauder’s Map, he saw something exciting. Not thinking, he jumped up and left his office without taking his potion. But the potion is – there’s a time frame and he’s supposed to keep his own head so Lupin should have been taking the potion last week and he should still be able control himself even if he does transform this week.
Micah: Right. Or what I’m saying is that it’s not written the right way. You know what I mean? Technically speaking, it’s not supposed to be a full moon if he’s taking his potion. It’s supposed to be the week before the full moon, based on what Lupin has told us.
Andrew: I don’t know. This is very technical, Micah.
Micah: Well, it’s a technicality but it shouldn’t be a full moon is my point. When the clouds…
Eric: Yeah, it’s a pretty big mistake for Jo to make in a three-page long chapter.
Micah: Yeah, well…
Andrew: Well, if anyone has any theories, feel free to write in what the – ideas about that. I’m sure people have some theories.
Micah: Yeah, but to what Matt said, though – why wouldn’t he take it? Why wouldn’t he just gulp it down before he left his office, or even take it before leaving the Shrieking Shack because Snape said he brought it with him?
Eric: Mhm.
Andrew: But would he want to give in to Snape, so to speak?
Eric: He has no choice.
Matt: Well, I think he trusts Snape. Yeah, he has no choice.
Andrew: Well, he did apparently.
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: Because he’s making the potions for him.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: And they have worked in the past.
Eric: Maybe Snape spilled the potion when he was pushed backwards and knocked out.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: That’s a big risk to take, though if you’re not trusting Snape and decide not to take the potion because now you’re risking turning into a werewolf.
Micah: So the transformation occurs and then Sirius – he ends up protecting Harry and Hermione when Lupin changes into a werewolf. And it’s actually Snape in the movie that kind of throws himself in front. And I was just kind of wondering why you guys thought Snape…
Eric: In the movie is Snape knocked out that whole time until then?
Micah: Yeah, he wakes up.
Eric: Or does Snape get knocked out at all?
Andrew: Pretty much as soon as he walks in, he’s stunned.
Eric: Yeah, I was debating whether or not movie Snape knew about Pettigrew being alive.
Micah: Well it’s – the scene that takes place is Snape kind of wanders into the midst of the fight. Sirius is already transformed and he’s fighting with Lupin and Snape steps in front and then Harry goes and runs after them and Snape yells at him to come back. But it’s almost out of character for them to use Snape like that.
Matt: Right. Well, do we really know how long Snape has been unconscious during this whole fight?
Eric: In the book we’re meant to believe that he was unconscious pretty much the whole time, from before Pettigrew was transformed from Ron’s rat to the point where after Pettigrew had escaped. And the reason is then he has deniability and he can continue going on what he does and say that the kids are making stories up.
Micah: Right. So this fight takes place and Eric, you had something you wanted to bring up?
Eric: Yeah, I’m doing this literature class in college and we’re just talking about different grammatical styles that authors use and I wanted to mention the change in the use of the possessive here. This is a very terrifying chapter, and I’ll get into that a little later, but there’s just two paragraphs here when Lupin is transforming. The first one is, “There was a terrible [snarling] noise. Lupin’s head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands which were turning into clawed paws.” And the next paragraph is, “As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Harry’s sight.” So it’s the change in – you know, Lupin is becoming a werewolf, and it’s Lupin’s hands that are growing hair and then all of the sudden it’s “the werewolf’s long jaws” that are – it’s just the change of the possessive and I picked that up and I thought it’s really cool and it’s also a technique that’s good for, you know, emphasizing that the teacher that we’ve all known is now a werewolf.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: It’s not Lupin. It’s not like he can control himself anymore.
Andrew: Right, it gives us a good – it sort of distances the personal connection.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: We don’t really know this thing anymore; it’s just “the werewolf”.
Eric: All because of – yeah.
Andrew: It’s like instead of saying “in the name of someone”, you just say “the boy”. “Look at that boy.”
Eric: Exactly, exactly. And the other thing about this transformation that I wanted to mention was that Crookshanks’s hair was on end again and Crookshanks was backing away from Lupin. And this is Crookshanks – this is the cat that would just jump on Ron’s head for no reason and he’s not scared of anything. He’s consorting with Sirius, but when confronted by the werewolf, Crookshanks is backing away. And that’s also mentioned in this paragraph, so we’re just meant to feel the dread that she’s trying to convey in this section here where he’s transforming.
Micah: So during this whole scramble, Pettigrew is able to get hold of Lupin’s wand, transform, and escape. So Professor Trelawney’s prediction comes true yet again that servant and master will eventually be reunited. But again, there had to be ways around preventing this whole thing from happening. I mean, you could have sent for Dumbledore, you could have used a more powerful spell on Pettigrew. Look at Snape – he’s just bouncing up and down in the air. They could have done something to Pettigrew so that he would have been completely knocked out.
Matt: Right.
Eric: Yeah.
Micah: So just a little bit of a lack of decision making there on their end.
Andrew: Well, this goes back to my whole thing on the last Chapter-By-Chapter segment about it being Harry’s decision to save Pettigrew’s life. Ultimately it does help them in that Pettigrew is now in debt to Harry, but I think it was just a stupid decision by Lupin and Sirius. They should have decided to overrule Harry and just kill him, because of course this sort of thing was going to happen. Of course Pettigrew was going to try to get away.
Matt: Right.
Eric: Well, they should have kept him alive, though. They shouldn’t have killed him because I think Pettigrew alive is ultimately more useful for everybody, even Remus and Sirius. They should have thrown a few Crucio‘s there to cripple him or make him more immobile like you guys are saying. Even a Petrificus Totalus Maximus so that if something does go wrong he’ll be laying like a log on the ground for a few hours. They should have done that instead of just tying him up.
Matt: Right.
Eric: I think everybody here is just feeling a mix of emotions. They had just gotten over this whole explanation and nobody is thinking properly, but that is a big flaw, a big mistake.
Micah: Yeah. In the process of all this Pettigrew knocks out Ron and both Harry and Hermione are willing to leave him with a powerless Snape when they hear Sirius yelping. Sirius has obviously been injured by Lupin. And I thought this was kind of irresponsible. What if Lupin came back? This is a complete reversal of thought from when Sirius told them to leave earlier and Harry wanted to stay because Ron was chained to Pettigrew and he didn’t want to leave his best friend, but he’s more than willing to leave him alone with a knocked out professor and the chance of a werewolf returning. I mean – what do you guys think?
Eric: Yeah, as far as the werewolf returning – that’s a good point. But in the book it’s just that Harry and Hermione look at each other and they seem to unanimously decide – I think it’s Harry that says, “There’s nothing we can do for Ron at this point,” and that’s why they go off – because Sirius is now their best friend, they want to help their best friend, yet they do leave Ron behind. I think they just say, “there’s nothing we can do for him,” but you’re very right. Its a very real danger that the werewolf could have come back their way – doubled back and then would have feasted on Snape and Ron. That’s potentially flawed there.
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah, I mean it is risky. It would have been interesting…
Eric: But what are they going to do? If they have any ability – any way to help who’s currently being attacked by the werewolf…
Andrew: Well, they could have called for help and asked somebody to go pick up Ron.
Eric: Here’s a question. Here’s a question. When they find Sirius, he has bite marks on him. So do you think that Sirius is now an Animagus dog who turns into a werewolf?
Andrew: [laughs] What?
Matt: Well…
Eric: Like, do you think he should have been – he’s been bitten by the werewolf. So what do you think?
Andrew: He’s a double Animagus. He’s an An-Animagus.
Matt: But, he was in dog form, and isn’t it true that when a werewolf bites an animal or something, it has no effect on them?
Eric: Oh, you’re right.
Micah: Yeah, I think you’re right, Matt.
Andrew: Oh, darn. So close to an An-Animagus.
Micah: But they do find Sirius and the Dementors attack. And Harry kind of goes through this whole process of not even originally paying attention to them. He just kind of throws caution to the wind and he doesn’t realize that it’s getting colder and that the Dementors are there, but then, of course, they attack and Harry fails multiple times to do the Expecto Patronum and Hermione is even more useless. I mean, [laughs] for the one…
Eric: She tries.
Micah: She does try, but for the one time – really since the series has started – where we are in the series – she’s really just not of any use whatsoever.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: You’re right. She’s not.
Micah: And that’s different.
Andrew: Well, it’s about time.
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: It’s about time I say that Hermione’s completely useless.
Micah: So these Dementors – they look to perform the kiss on both Sirius and Harry, but then a Patronus rumbles across the lake and makes them fly away. And you just get a little bit more of a description on these Dementors and how vile and disgusting they are. When the attempted kiss on Harry happens, it’s described as these cold clammy hands being around his neck, “He could feel it’s putrid breath.” And kind of even worse is he talks about how the screaming of his mother would be the last thing he ever heard.
Eric: That came very close to the very last thing he did ever really did ever hear as a child when Voldemort was attacking.
Micah: On multiple occasions.
Eric: Yeah, so I just think this is why – it is a very short chapter, it’s only a few pages long. In reading this, it was so satisfying and so terrifying because previously she describes Lupin’s transformation a page ago and now we’re actually seeing a Dementor about to give Harry the Dementor’s kiss and the descriptors that she uses – the clammy hands and the breath. Its eyes are being described as being scabbed over – incredibly scary, just incredibly scary and there are all these scary moments in this chapter where it’s very tense. It’s very ominous and it’s very tense very quickly.
Micah: Well, you could have the whole discussion here – had the kiss actually occurred, what would have happened to the Horcrux?
Eric: That was in Harry?
Andrew: Yeah, you know what? Somebody actually e-mailed in about this. Somebody I’ve been talking to recently asked me that same question and she wanted us to bring that up this week. It’s funny you mentioned that.
Eric: Well, a Dementor’s kiss specifically sucks out a soul, right? So is the question if it sucked out Harry’s soul, would it suck out Harry’s soul or the piece of Voldemort’s soul that’s in Harry?
Andrew: Yeah, this girl I’m referring to, Samantha, she asked, “If the Dementors gave Harry the kiss would it suck out Harry’s soul and leave Voldy’s or suck out both or take only Voldy’s? If it took Harry’s and left Voldy’s, would Harry turn into another Voldemort or just be an empty Horcrux shell? I thought I could use another opinion – ” blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…
Matt: Well, what if it was just a little kiss? Wouldn’t that just suck out just the Voldemort part?
[Eric laughs]
Matt: Just a little tap on the cheek or something.
Eric: A little peck.
Andrew: A little love tap.
Matt: Just a little bit, just to take the edge off of Harry.
Eric: [laughs] “The edge off.”
Micah: [laughs] From the sound of things here though, it sounds like it would have been Harry’s soul.
Andrew: Yeah, I think so too. I mean, he would lose it.
Eric: Yeah, the soul that inhabits his body.
Matt: The Dementor’s kiss basically leaves you with nothing, so it would take both.
Eric: Was it that Harry’s scar was a Horcrux or was it Harry himself because – this is another reason I always hated the Harry is a Horcrux thing.
Matt: I think its Harry himself because the scar is still there.
Eric: So then, what is – why is – exactly. So, why is Harry – would it have sucked out both of them then? And – I just think – regardless, I think Voldemort’s soul would have been floating somewhere inside a Dementor and that is – that is something you don’t want because who’s going to go into a den of Dementors and look for the Dementor with Voldemort’s soul?
Matt: What would happen to the Dementor when it sucks Voldemort’s soul?
Eric: Then again, maybe if Dementors, after they suck out somebody’s soul, they digest it. Maybe someone’s soul is no more. So using a Dementor to get rid of a Horcrux might be effective.
Matt: That’s heavy.
Micah: Yeah. So…
Matt: That’s deep.
Micah: [laughs] Just to wrap up the chapter – Harry thinks before he collapses that he sees someone all too familiar on the other side of the lake and I remember when I first read this book, I thought that it was quite possible that Harry’s father was alive.
Andrew: Mmm.
Micah: And I was wondering did any of you other guys think this? I mean they don’t say specifically that it’s Harry’s father but I think you can kind of figure that out what happens.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: Well, Harry later says it. So…
Eric: Yeah. Well, when – and Jo plays with it too. She’s like – she says something along – I forget if it’s in this chapter or the next one where she’s like, “Is it possible that all four of the Marauders have rode again tonight on the Hogwarts grounds?” It really gets you to think, you know, what do you know about the past and could Harry’s father be alive and I think it’s definitely a possiblity. She’s toying with it.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: Yeah and she has Harry go like, “It was hard to make out, but I think it was.” So I thought it was interesting. I think I believed it could have been too. I mean that would have been an amazing twist to see that one of Harry’s parents is indeed alive.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: But you know it all comes around when he realizes it was actually himself.
Matt: Right and there wasn’t much space in between to really think about it too. I mean, it was pretty much proven in less than a chapter that it was actually Harry.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, but it’s just something that she does. I remember back then, I was a big subscriber, actually, to a theory that – it actually came out later – but it was that, as of this point in the series, I think it was speculated that Remus and James may have switched bodies, like using like a switching spell or whatever and so that it was actually James Potter that had been mentoring Harry all year, and that Remus was killed with Lily. It was very interesting at the time because there were some evidences, like just little – in the text. It’s a great theory, the Remus and James theory but – anything was possible and we’re going back to this innocent time in the series where Jo is playing with this. Where she’s like, “Could Harry’s father have really been alive,” and it’s just – it’s a great place to be when reading these books.
Micah: Yeah.
Eric: Because it’s…
Micah: Well, the other thing though is that we didn’t know about Hermione at this point. Obviously, we learn about it in the next chapter but that’s what made it seem like such a possibility. You didn’t realize that you were about to go back in time.
Eric: Yeah.
Matt: Right.
Eric: Absolutely. And…
MuggleCast 198 Transcript (continued)
Chapter-by-Chapter: “Hermione’s Secret”
Andrew: Well, speaking of that, let’s get into the next chapter, Chapter 21, “Hermione’s Secret.”
Eric: Well, the last – the previous chapter, Chapter 20, ends, again, in a very scary spot. Harry passes out and Sirius is next to him, passed out, and Hermione is passed out. Everybody is passed out on the bank of a river. The Dementors may be gone, the threat of the Dementors may be gone, but you just don’t know what’s going to happen. And so the opening, then, of Chapter 21 in the first two lines, Jo answers the question, and it’s in the form of quotes. [laughs] Here are the first two lines of Chapter 21: “Shocking business … shocking … miracle none of them died … never heard the like … by thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape …” Snape says, “Thank you, Minister.” [laughs] And I just gotta say, reading this after reading the previous chapter, the first two lines, you just think, Oh no. What – what could have happened? Because Snape is – the Minister of Magic is there and Snape is being commended. You just know something bad is up. And…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: …so the next few lines, Snape goes on to say that Sirius Black had Confunded the trio and that all sorts of – all sorts of bad – you know, wrongs that happened, and we find out that Sirius is about to die or get his soul sucked out, and Snape is basically the leading force in doing that. So Snape has taken all the credit and may even be getting an Order of Merlin. What do you guys think of Snape’s methods here, because he’s – he’s really not a good guy at this point.
Andrew: Yeah. I mean – and when we later see Snape react negatively when he finds out that Snape – that Sirius escaped, he’s, as I mentioned in our upcoming segment, he’s the worst we’ve ever seen him. He’s so angry. I don’t think we’ve ever seen him that angry.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: He just so bad wants to get revenge.
Matt: He’s clouded by it, really. I mean, he doesn’t really even think straight, especially when Sirius escapes.
Andrew: And to hear that he’s receiving – he could receive an Order of Merlin, First Class, for getting his revenge, that just must thrill him.
Micah: But at the same time, he saves their butts – Harry, Ron, and Hermione, if you think about it. Well, he’s obviously not telling the truth relating to Sirius but those kids could have been in a lot of trouble for what they did, and Snape is kind of giving them an out by saying they got Confunded.
Matt: Yeah, but it’s also easier because that would make him the only conscious one in the entire group, so that would – that would lead everyone to believe that only Sirius – or only Snape’s word is correct.
Eric: I just – so Harry wakes up, and he – this is – I marked this as his first real confrontation with authority. “Minister, listen!” he says. “Sirius Black’s innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can’t let the Dementors do that thing to Sirius.” And it says, “But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face. “Harry, Harry, you’re very confused. You’ve been through a dreadful ideal. Lie back down, now. We’ve got everything under control.” Harry shouts, “You haven’t! You’ve got the wrong man!'” Da la la la la. So Snape is just a driving force. He tells Fudge, “Oh, they’re Confunded. You see, Minister, they are totally out of their minds.” And this makes it worse. I think re-reading this, Snape is my least favorite character in the entire series…
[Matt laughs]
Eric: …as of a result of his actions here. Because if you think about it…
[Micah laughs]
Micah: What about Fudge?
Eric: No, no not Fudge, Fudge is…
Andrew: Fudge is an idiot.
Micah: He is.
Eric: Fudge is reliably Fudge, he is. He’s just, he’s just incompetent, there’s no changing that. But Snape has an oppurtunity because at this point, Pettigrew is off to find Voldemort and basically it’s Snape’s inaction at this point in the series that directly leads to Voldemort’s uprising. And maybe I have covered this in two or three points here, but I basically say that Snape – we can fault Snape for this because it’s his – because at this point the Ministry could have searched for Pettigrew. If Snape had said, “Look Minister, there’s a very real possibility that Pettigrew is still alive!” That would have changed the entire series and Voldemort would not have come back to power. But because Snape is going to suck out the soul of the only man who can prove that Pettigrew is still alive, possibly, because this whole time there is no proof, there is no proof of anything. Dumbledore…
Andrew: But as Dumbledore…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah but as Dumbledore mentions, it’s hard to believe thirteen-year-old wizards, and I think I do sort of agree with that. Now granted, Snape is – I mean, do you think Snape actually believes they’ve been Confunded?
Eric: [sighs] It’s a question. The difference is that in the book he hasn’t seen Pettigrew…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …which actually lends some credibility to behaving the way he is. – is that he’s been out of it and they’ve used that head bonking spell on him. I just don’t know. But the point is, Snape is behaving just so – he just wants Sirius Black’s soul to be sucked out as vengeance for that childhood prank. And instead of telling the Ministry that they have a problem and that they need to find Pettigrew before something bad happens.
Matt: And honestly Fudge is really excited to get the whole Sirius Black situation over with…
Eric: Yeah.
Matt: …that he is ready to believe any story…
Eric: Yeah. Absolutely and that’s manipulating Fudge too. Snape is accepting this award for it, and in return, freeing Fudge of this year-long crisis.
Micah: Do you think it’s just the childhood grudge? Because a lot of people wrote in these last two weeks saying that it’s more to do with Lily and that Snape holds responsible for Lily’s death, and that’s why he’s so adamant about making sure that he ends up in Azkaban or gets killed.
Matt: Hmmm.
Eric: If that’s true it makes it a good idea. But it makes it even worse that he didn’t stay to listen about the Pettigrew thing, because…
Matt: No.
Eric: Because if Pettigrew were actually the secret-keeper, he has no reason to be upset for Lily and that plus he – didn’t Snape ask Voldemort specifically not to kill Lily? So the only person he should blame for Lily’s death is Voldemort. For killing her anyway. Because he was prepared, at Snape’s request to let her live, the only thing is she wouldn’t stand aside so she did have to kill her. Like that’s nobody’s fault. He shouldn’t fault anybody for that. There’s a – okay, just as I’m about to cry, Dumbledore arrives. [sniffs] Which is cool. He’s already been to see Sirius Black so he’s kind of got a story from Sirius and I just remarked that it was really good that Dumbledore came so quickly to – by the time we see him, he’s already spoken with Sirius so he’s taking charge here, he’s not letting – in contrast to Book 4 where they’re able to suck out Barty Crouch Jr.’s soul before anybody sees anybody. There’s obviously a lot more going on because of Voldemort’s actual uprising. But this time he’s been to see Sirius and there’s a great Snape/Dumbledore moment where Dumbledore asked to speak to the trio alone because they’re getting nowhere and trying to convince the Minister, and Snape says to him, “Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at sixteen, you haven’t forgotten that, Headmaster. You haven’t forgotten that he once tried to kill me.” And Snape is taking this very personally and Dumbledore simply says, “My memory is as good as it ever was.” Now I just wrote here that Snape has actually reason now to feel personally affronted that Dumbledore doesn’t care for Snape’s life or failed murder attempt by Sirius. Basically Dumbledore’s more interested in protecting Sirius at the moment, than avenging Snape’s. Basically than righting a wrong and I think Snape – it’s very personal here between Snape and Dumbledore. And it’s just very interesting because Snape and Dumbledore eventually make the decision to kill Dumbledore in Book 6 so they have a long and storied history obviously, even by this point. It’s just so interesting to read Snape and Dumbledore. What were you guys thinking when you were reading this scene with Dumbledore and Snape?
Micah: He sounds like a baby. He’s a man. Grow up.
Andrew: Yeah. [whines] “You sure I don’t believe a word of Black’s story!”
Micah: Yeah exactly. I mean, c’mon man.
Matt: Well he obviously feels the guilt towards it because he knows how smart Dumbledore is. So I bet he’s basically trying to pull anything out of his rear end at the moment, just to make sure Dumbledore’s on his side.
Andrew: He’s trying to fight a losing battle.
Matt: Right.
Andrew: He’s talking desperate like this because he knows that if he wants to talk privately to Harry and Hermione, then he must have his suspicions about Snape’s argument.
Matt: He’s like, “Oh God, Dumbledore’s here. Look, I’m sorry! I swear to God, it’s me that’s the good one.”
Eric: It’s just so – Snape, reading this, Snape talking to Dumbledore, he talks to Dumbledore like Harry talks to Dumbledore. Like he’s a pupil. Like no one can possibly match Dumbledore’s power.
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: And he’s begging him to see his way. Okay, so here’s Dumbledore’s strategy. He informs Harry and Hermione that they are Sirius’ only hope. He says nobody will believe them. They say there’s Lupin. He says Lupin is busy digesting Crookshanks somewhere, and is AFK, BBL, TTY. Then Dumbledore says something interesting. He says that he himself gave evidence to the Ministry that Black was the Potters’ Secret Keeper. This I found very interesting when I was reading it. What kind of evidence does Dumbledore mean that he gave to the Ministry that Sirius was the Potters’ Secret-keeper? Does he mean testimony? And why doesn’t he say testimony then? Is there any evidence produced? Tangible? Like as a result of the Fidelius Charm? Did the Potters intentionally fake this evidence and give it to Dumbledore to protect themselves from Dumbledore or others? Do you guys see what I’m saying here? Because Dumbledore says he gave evidence that Black was the Potters’ Secret Keeper, but I’m saying, what kind of evidence could that possibly be?
Andrew: Just back-story, I guess. I don’t know.
Eric: But that’s a form of testimony.
Andrew: I mean, there’s no like clues. There’s no fingerprints or anything, if that’s what you’re referring to.
Eric: Yeah, because it’s not like you have somebody’s wand and you say, “Priori Incantatem,” and you can tell that they cast the Dark Mark last, you know?
Andrew: Right.
Eric: It’s not like that. So the fact that Dumbledore not only didn’t know that Pettigrew was the real Secret Keeper, but that he gave evidence against Sirius, it just makes me really curious what that evidence was.
Micah: Could he have provided a memory?
Eric: That’s interesting.
Andrew: Hm.
Eric: He could have, except how good was – his memory would have to be circumstantial. Because his memory wouldn’t be of them actually performing the Fidelius Charm, because if he were present he would know that that’s Pettigrew that they made the actual Secret Keeper.
Micah: Yeah. I mean, I think it’s probably more testimony than anything else.
Eric: Just testimony, then? Because…
Andrew: Yeah. I think so too.
Eric: …we know they were going to. We know they were going to make Sirius the Secret Keeper. And last minute, Sirius suggested, why not Peter? So anyway that was my question. “‘What we need,’ said Dumbledore slowly, and his light blue eyes turned from Harry to Hermione, ‘Is more time.’ ‘But -,’ Hermione began, and then her eyes became very round. ‘Oh!'”
[Eric and Matt laugh]
Matt: You’ve got to wonder how long that “oh!” really was, if that really happened.
Eric: It’s only one “h.” I may have exaggerated. It’s only one “h.”
Matt: Ohhhhhhh!
Eric: In the book. It’s like “Oh!” like “Oh!”. It’s just Harry – I like Hermione in this chapter because – I’ll just continue. All right, Hermione takes Harry on a trip through time and the first thing she does is push him into a broom closet, which I say is hot. But why does the Time Turner take them from the hospital ward to the Entrance Hall? Because they specifically mention that they’re not in the Hospital Ward anymore.
Andrew: Yeah, I was wondering this, too.
Eric: They go back in time, they go back three hours, “Three turns ought to do it,” and they appear in the middle of the Entrance Hall. Wouldn’t you risk huge exposure just appearing…
Andrew: Exactly, exactly.
Eric: …in the middle of the Entrance Hall?
Andrew: Well in the movie, they do it right. They go back in time and they’re there.
Eric: And they’re in the Hospital Wing?
Andrew: They’re in the nursing – right, they’re in the hospital.
Eric: So I wonder if Jo said to Cuaron or whoever, “It’s okay if you fix this.” Because it’s kind of an interesting – because, I mean…
Andrew: Was it just a timing thing in the book, I guess. Would it have…
Eric: So that they see themselves running through the Entrance Hall? Because that’s what they do, they have to immediately go into the broom closet because they’re…
Andrew: Right.
Eric: Running down the steps.
Andrew: Right, and that’s how Harry sort of gets the idea that they’ve traveled back in time.
Eric: Yeah, it’s interesting…
Andrew: But there could have been another way to do it.
Eric: It’s a device to play the story, but there could have been another way because are we meant to believe that everytime Hermione went back in time she appeared in the middle of the Entrance Hall?
Andrew: Yeah, I agree. I don’t like that.
Eric: Again, it sounds conducive to changing the past, which you’re not supposed to do. So basically, yeah, Hermione and Harry have all these moments throughout this chapter that they’re trying to figure out what Dumbledore was hinting that they should do. They immediately decide that it’s to rescue Buckbeak as well and fly him up to Sirius’ window. So I just wrote here that watching their brains work in unison really rocks.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: And you know…
Matt: It’s like a symphony.
Eric: It’s like a symphony. It’s like a symphony with electric violin. Is there such thing as electric violin?
Matt: Sure.
Eric: Okay. So there’s a moment – and I just wanted to say – while they’re on the outing, there’s a moment when Harry has to give up his – he’s tempted to right the wrong of Pettigrew’s escape. He asks Hermione, could they just run into Hargid’s hut and capture…
Andrew: Kill him, capture him. Right.
Eric: …Scabbers, the rat. And she says, “No, Harry, that would ruin everything. There are wizards – what would you do if you saw your future self? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.” But later on then too, they are waiting outside the Whomping Willow and Harry sees that the Invisibility Cloak – I don’t know how he sees that it’s still there – but he knows that the Invisibility Cloak is just in front of the Willow somewhere, and he says, well, why can’t we grab the Cloak? And that way Snape won’t be able to sneak up on us in the Shrieking Shack and things won’t go wrong that way. And Hermione tells him, “No, you might still be seen and it probably wouldn’t be good.” And sure enough – this is a moment I completely forgot about was in the books – Hagrid comes, and he’s walking across the yard…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: …of the Hogwarts grounds. He’s carrying a large bottle of brandy and singing at the top of his lungs.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: …And Jo doesn’t say what he’s singing but it’s interesting because I forgot that this existed, and I know I’m not – I’m fallible here, but that seems to be definitive. I mean that answers the question. Yes, you would have been seen by Hagrid, but it seems very convenient because that seemed like a more acceptable thing to do when you change the past. Just grab the Invisibility Cloak. Like that wouldn’t hurt anybody, but then there was Hagrid.
Andrew: So we have seen drunk Hagrid before that. The Half-Blood Prince film was not the first time.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah. And…
Andrew: Here we are. We forgot all about it.
Eric: And not only that, but how many teachers at Hogwarts carry Brandy bottles. Like Trelawney…
Andrew: Yeah. That shouldn’t be acceptable.
Eric: …Trelawney is carrying sherry around when Harry bumps into her in is it Book 6? So how many teachers are not only alcoholics but carry their booze with them as they’re traveling through the castle?
Andrew: Yeah. I mean it’s one thing to go around – go to Hogsmeade and have a Butterbeer or two, but…
Eric: Exactly.
Andrew: …On the grounds? That’s not acceptable.
Eric: Exactly.
Micah: Well, Hagrid’s obviously happy that Buckbeak has gotten away, so he’s having a few drinks.
Andrew: Yeah. That may be the reason. Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, well. Celebration is in order, but still. Seriously? Dumbledore’s got a brother down in the pub. He’ll hook you up, Hagrid, if you want to celebrate.
Andrew: There you go.
Eric: All the goat confetti. All the goats and all the confetti you want. Then Harry actually confides in Hermione that he does think he saw his dad because it’s getting to be about that time where Harry starts to think about what really happened at the lake, and he – again just a tender moment with Harry and Hermione that’s awesome and this chapter is really riddled with. She hears that he thinks it’s his dad, and she basically – the only thing she can think to say is Harry your dad is dead. And she says it as lightly as possible, but Harry is adamant that what he saw conjure the Patronus was not a ghost. Then it happens and he realizes that it was actually him, which is a really cool moment…
Andrew: Yes.
Eric: …in the series, and he’s described as just jumping out. He casts the full-fledged Patronus for the first time he’s ever done it, and he says later “The reason I knew I could do it is I knew that I had already done it.” So that’s a happy thought. But they are able to rescue Sirius Black finishing this up. They’re able to fly Buckbeak up to the window, and Black’s parting words to Harry are “You are truly your father’s son, Harry.”
Andrew: Awww.
Eric: He’s shocked. You know they don’t have a lot of time. He wants to waste time talking to them and thanking them, and they say, Sirius, you’ve got to get out of here because the Executioner is going to come any minute with the Dementors. And the only thing he can say is “You are truly your father’s son, Harry.” Boom! Then he’s gone.
Andrew: That was a sweet parting line.
Eric: Hey, I’m – I got…
Andrew: Sirius is clearly very happy with Harry.
Eric: …yeah.
Andrew: I would not be surprised if he were to give him some gifts later on.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Whoa! Well, look at you. You really have that knack for prophecy, Andrew.
Chapter-by-Chapter: “Owl Post Again”
Andrew: So, speaking of that, it’s time now for the final chapter, Chapter 22. Everyone have your Kleenex out. This is very sad, that we’re wrapping up another Chapter-by-Chapter series. I was just kidding, Matt. I don’t them.
Matt: Oh, okay.
Andrew: He just handed me Kleenex. I didn’t really need that. Chapter 22, “Owl Post Again.” By the way Eric, nice job. You knocked it out with two minutes to spare.
Matt: Well, we’ll use up that two minutes then.
Micah: What a lazy…
Eric: I was going to say that [laughs] Black fit through the window, which is a sign of how emaciated he was. Because they’re like – they tap on the window, they open it up, and they tell Sirius “Get out,” and he just – he jumps out. He doesn’t question it. He’s about to have his soul sucked out. He’s thinking…
Andrew: He’s about to be freed.
Eric: …He’s about to be free. So, he jumps out the window, and he fits out the window, and that was just a sign of how emaciated he is.
Micah: Well, I can add something to it as long as we have a minute and ten seconds left here, but Fudge. This is really the first sign of things to come. Like in Goblet of Fire, too. Obviously at the end of that chapter is where things really split between Dumbledore and Fudge, but it kind of starts here with them not agreeing on Sirius even though they don’t really have that conversation. And Fudge doesn’t know anything about what Dumbledore does, but it all kind of begins here.
Eric: Where Fudge is looking to end the crisis. There’s been this Sirius Black crisis for a year. Fudge sees himself as being responsible, being tasked to end this, and he finally has the chance to end it, and he says, “No. You know, there’s nothing to worry about.”
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: “We got it under control. We’re going to kill Sirius.”
Andrew: Yeah. Well, yeah, you’re right. It’s a sign of things to come. We’ve got to stop trusting Fudge.
Micah: Exactly. Go ahead, Andrew.
Andrew: So, now – huh?
Micah: Go ahead with the chapter that was lazily named.
Andrew: Thank you.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: Chapter 22, “Owl Post Again.”
[Matt laughs]
Eric: Lazily named? Why do you say lazily named?
Micah: You couldn’t come up with something better than “Owl Post Again?”
Eric: It’s circular!
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: The whole book is about time travel.
Micah: Oh, give me a break.
Eric: It’s circular.
Micah: “Again.”
Eric: The first chapter’s “Owl Post.”
Micah: Jo was just…
Andrew: It’s kind of nice.
Micah: …waiting to get it to press.
Matt: “‘Owl Post,’ here we go again.”
Eric: That’s a heck of an accusation, Micah.
Andrew: All right, “Owl Post Again.” So, chapter opens up. Harry and Hermione make it back to the nursing ward in just the nick of time. They let Dumbledore know that the plan was a success, and I love this part in the movie, too, because Dumbledore turns around just as he’s shutting the doors, and there are Harry and Hermione running up, and Dumbledore says, “How did it go?” It was a sweet movie moment. Unsurprisingly, Snape sees that Snape has escaped, and he’s the angriest I think we’ve ever or will ever see him. Would you guys all agree with that? This…
Matt: Yes.
Andrew: …is the angriest we’ve ever seen Snape.
Matt: I was very upset that they didn’t have this in the film, because I was really excited to see if Snape in the film would be really exciting, and angry, but…
Andrew: He was yelling in all caps.
Matt: Yeah! I mean, that’s AIM.
Andrew: That’s a lot. That’s anger. Micah and Eric, would you agree this is the angriest we have ever seen Snape?
Eric: Yeah. With the movie though, like I was thinking about this while reading this chapter series. Cuaron cares about characters, like Harry’s character development. There’s that scene where he’s crying. But at the same time, Cuaron doesn’t care about character development or he would have included all that backstory.
Andrew: Yeah, but movie aside. Is – [laughs] Never mind.
Micah: You mean in the books.
Eric: That’s why we didn’t see it in the movie. But that’s why we didn’t see Snape screaming in the movie.
Andrew: No. I’m just wondering if this is the angriest we’ve ever seen him in the book. Period.
Eric: No. I think he’s angrier when he’s confronted by Harry at the end of Half-Blood Prince.
Andrew: Oh.
Eric: Especially because of what he’s just had to do with Snape’s emotional turmoil for having to kill Dumbledore. I’m sure that Snape regrets having to kill Dumbledore.
Andrew: That’s true. There’s a lot of internal anger. This was more like out. [laughs] Verbal. So Dumbledore and Fudge calm Snape down, trying to explain there’s no way they could have escaped and freed Sirius. Fudge is surprised by the way Snape is reacting here and says to Dumbledore, “Fellow seems quite unbalanced. I’d watch out for him if I were you.” I thought that was a quite a bit of foreshadowing of Snape killing Dumbledore. Watch out for him. [laughs]
Micah: Meanwhile he was all ready to give him an Order of Merlin, First Class two chapters ago.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, seriously.
Eric: He was ready to give someone who was an unbalanced fellow…
Micah: Shows what a moron Fudge is.
Eric: Yeah, exactly. But shouldn’t Fudge be equally upset? Shouldn’t Fudge be threatening Dumbledore at this point, where Sirius has just escaped from Dumbledore’s castle. Dumbledore was the last person to see Sirius. Couldn’t he accuse Dumbledore of giving Sirius the keys to the bars. That seems incredibly suspect.
Andrew: Yeah. It is strange. Well, the next day the Trio is released from the hospital wing and since all the students are in Hogsmeade, they go to visit Hagrid. Hagrid is thrilled that Buckbeak escaped as evidenced by the previous night before and his drinking habits. If I were the Trio, I would have taken credit for Hagrid for freeing Buckbeak. Couldn’t they have told Hagrid? Because they didn’t even have to mention they were doing time travel. They could have just said, “Hey look, when we ran out of your hut yesterday, we actually freed him.” So would that have been a bad idea?
Eric: I think it’s like Harry giving his Triwizard earnings to Fred and George and not advertising that he did that.
Andrew: Oh.
Eric: I think it’s something where they’re just admiring that it worked, and so they’re just going to let Hagrid be happy without taking credit for it.
Andrew: Well, I suppose. I’m one to take credit for everything.
Matt: That’s true.
Andrew: So Hagrid tells the trio Lupin is resigning because of the werewolf ordeal, which upsets them all. And Harry decides to go visit Lupin, who is, of course, packing in his office. And they have a nice discussion, Lupin says Snape let it slip that he was a werewolf and no parents would want one teaching at the school. Harry tells Lupin about the Patronus he performed the previous night, and Lupin was very impressed and very proud of him, because it sort of – finally that moment had come when Harry could successfully cast a Patronus after Lupin kept trying to teach him. Lupin leaves and Dumbledore enters, and Harry and Dumbledore get into a discussion about Lupin, Sirius, and the Patronus. And here comes another great Dumbledore line. Harry’s talking about seeing his father cast the Patronus, and Dumbledore says [in odd voice], “Do you think the dead every truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?”
Matt: What kind of an accent is that?
Andrew: It’s just me, getting into the moment.
Matt: [mimicking Andrew] Do you think that this is the best thing ever?
Andrew: Dumbledore also mentions that Trelawney’s prediction about someone joining the Dark Lord was indeed accurate, and it was her second accurate prediction. Now, refresh my memory, is this the first time we learned of Trelawney having the first correct prediction?
Matt: I think so, yeah.
Andrew: Mmmm. Does anyone remember reading this for the first time and going, what is he referring to?! And why didn’t Harry ask? Surely Harry didn’t assume it was the prediction about the last to stand at the table, right?
Eric: If he would have asked about it, I’m sure Dumbledore would have said, you know, that time not yet allows – the first question you asked me is not the one I can answer…[laughs]
Andrew: You are not old enough!
Micah: You’re a pig for slaughter, Harry.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: You’re a Machiavellian figure.
Andrew: It is time I tell you everything – this time, I’m going to tell you everything.
Micah: But going back – just real quick – to Lupin, Andrew, what you brought up, do you think that was Snape’s way of trying to get the job again, by saying that Lupin was a werewolf? Knowing how much he wants to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher…
Andrew: Oh, yeah.
Micah: Or do you just think it was out of frustration, or both?
Andrew: Well, I’m sure Snape was thrilled to have another shot at it.
Eric: I think it was more out of frustration, I don’t think Snape has ever had a shot at the DADA position. The only reason he ends up getting the position as DADA is when he has that agreement with Dumbledore. So I don’t think it’s – presumably, afterwards, Snape won’t be back to teach at Hogwarts. I was listening to an old MuggleCast, and we were predicting that Minerva McGonagall would be Headmistress. Nobody saw it coming that Snape was going to be the new Headmaster after what he did to Dumbledore. So I’m just saying, Snape and the DADA position, I don’t think he had a chance of getting it. I think it was more out of guilt. Because Dumbledore wanted to keep him away,
Eric: …just to, as Snape says, not tempt him. And I think that’s the final decision on that part. The only thing that changes that is the events of Book 6. But yeah, I think – I think Lupin – I think Snape tries to take it out on Lupin. And that’s why he tells him…
Andrew: But when you desire a position like that so much, I think surely there’s a little hope within you that thinks, “Oh, well on top of getting rid of this werewolf in the castle, I also have another shot.”
Eric: I can just see Snape going on the wire, and being – how would he announce that Lupin is this werewolf? Does he write to the Prophet, “Dear Prophet, I am a fellow professor at Hogwarts school, and I want to write about my – who happens to be a werewolf.” That’s kind of – not only is that a wormy thing to do, but how is it that Snape lets that slip?
Andrew: I don’t know, Eric. Some things about Snape we will just never know.
Matt: It’s true.
Andrew: We see that Percy is upset about Sirius escaping, and says that if he ever worked for the Ministry he’ll make lots of proposals about magical law enforcement. Does he ever follow through with that? I mean, obviously he gets into the Ministry, but that’s not his job. He’s more of Fudge’s assistant, right? And he doesn’t – I mean, maybe down the road further he does. But we don’t actually see him doing any of that.
Matt: It’s just Percy being Percy.
Andrew: All talk, all talk. He shouldn’t be in the Ministry. Nobody in politics should be all talk. So, moving along, as the Trio gets ready to board the Hogwarts Express to conclude another year, Hermione reveals that she dropped Muggle Studies despite doing really well. She said she couldn’t handle all the extra effort with the time-turning. Finally, Hermione admits she can’t do everything. [Singing] “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!” Micah, what was your reaction to this? You’re one who loves Hermione, and to hear that she’s not as perfect as we make her – or as she makes herself out to be?
Micah: Yeah, it’s kind of a – well – I mean, it’s not just that specific course she was using it for, right? There were other courses she was going back in time to take.
Eric: Yeah.
Micah: So…
Eric: There were two or three.
Micah: So – but I guess after her third year, can she choose to get rid of some others maybe? I don’t know. But, yeah, it was good to see some humility there, and for her to realize she doesn’t need Muggle Studies anyway. She is a Muggle for the most part.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: Ooh.
Micah: Right? I mean, she’s…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: I don’t know, that’s a controversial statement.
Eric: I mean, she’s got dentist parents, come on.
Micah: Yeah, but I mean, she knows everything that she needs to know about Muggles, and she lives with them.
Eric: Well, actually, Muggle Studies is less a class about what Muggles are about than what Wizards think Muggles are about. So that’s the reason she had in the beginning of the year for taking it.
Micah: Well, then she should teach it.
Eric: That’s true. But she’s not going to – that’s a small step in actually overcoming the large ignorance the entire Wizarding world – public faces towards Muggles.
Andrew: Ron offers Harry a place to stay at the house for the summer, especially since the Quidditch World Cup is happening that summer, which was kind of cool. This was one of the few books where we get to hear what’s coming up.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: And – I mean, we didn’t know for sure if that was going to be in Goblet of Fire at that point, but it was kind of cool to see what was coming up.
Micah: Well, I like how he also said that he was going to call him, and everybody remembers that scene from Goblet of Fire when…
Andrew: Right.
Micah: …Ron calls and Vernon goes crazy.
Andrew: Yeah. That’s a very funny moment. And – so Harry’s very excited about that. While on the train heading back to Platform 9 3/4, a small owl tries to get through the window of their cabin to deliver a letter to Harry. It’s a letter from Sirus who tells Harry he was the one who gave him the Firebolt. He also provides written permission for Harry to visit Hogsmeade, which is pretty bittersweet. And he also offers Ron the owl since it was his fault that Ron no longer had Scabbers. So overall, everyone was pretty happy with Sirus at that point.
Micah: Hermione got the shaft though. She didn’t get anything.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Yeah, she didn’t get anything.
Matt: She really didn’t.
Andrew: Sirius has a thing for guys.
Micah: I thought…
Andrew: What?
Micah: I thought it was cool that Ron kind of does a complete turn around with Crookshanks, and he puts…
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: …the owl up to Crookshanks’ nose and asks him if it’s safe or not.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: It was – it was…
Andrew: Look how much respect he has for Crookshanks now. I mean, it’s understandable. It was very nice to see. They get off the train, Harry tells Uncle Vernon his godfather’s a convicted killer, and all is well. And that wraps up Chapter-by-Chapter for this Prisoner of Azkaban book. We have now completed four books in the series. We’ve gone Chapter-by-Chapter for every – for Sorcerer’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Deathly Hallows. That’s pretty good. So we have three more books. [laughs]
Eric: We did One, Seven, Two, and Three, in that order.
Micah: So we really have about ten more books to go, with the size of those three.
Andrew: Yeah, seriously.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: But it’s pretty impressive – it’s really nice to have this in-depth analysis for now four books in the Harry Potter series, and hopefully we can get through them all before we all die.
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: Yeah. Well, when you were talking about the wizarding world – sorry the Quidditch World Cup being announced I just wanted to mention that going the whole – literally the whole book without knowing – at the beginning of Book 1 Sirius Black is mentioned. Hagrid says, “Best be getting young Sirius Black his motorbike back,” and if anybody, and I don’t know anybody who did, but if anybody picked that up that that was mentioned in Book 1 and then Book 3 – even on the back cover it’s all about this escaped convict Sirius Black. That didn’t really have a payoff until the very, very end when we realize that it had to do specifically with the night that the Potters were killed. That would have been interesting if you were somebody who picked up that it was Sirius Black before it was revealed in Prisoner of Azkaban.
MuggleCast 198 Transcript (continued)
Listener Tweet: Marauder’s Map in Deathly Hallows?
Andrew: So now we actually have a couple of Twitter questions to wrap up this segment:
“Do you think they will reveal the authors of the Marauder’s Map in the ‘Deathly Hallows’ movie?”
Eric: No.
Andrew: Yeah, me neither. [laughs]
Eric: It’s a moot point at this point. It doesn’t matter. Plus…
Andrew: That’s from Tara817.
Eric: Is the Deathly Hallows – is the Marauder’s Map even important in Deathly Hallows?
Andrew: What do you think, Micah?
Micah: Is it important? I feel like if we say no there is going to be a scene that we’re forgetting about towards the end.
Andrew: Yeah, I don’t know.
Matt: Yeah, I mean…
Eric: It just seems like Voldemort gives Harry an ultimatum to come out into the forest, and the Marauder’s Map doesn’t cover the forest. And they have a Room of Requirement tunnel that goes straight from Hogsmeade all the way to the Room of Requirement. So it’s not like they need to escape. Maybe – what about when they’re using it to – are they trying to avoid the Carrows, are they using the Marauder’s Map to try and avoid the Carrows? Is that what happens?
Micah: I’m trying to remember who is even in possession of it in that book.
Eric: Because a map of Hogwarts is only good to somebody at Hogwarts, but Harry didn’t hand it off to anybody at the end of Book 6 that I can think of.
Matt: I mean, it’s not crucial to the plot…
Eric: Oh, wait!
Matt: …to Deathly Hallows.
Eric: I seem to remember they have it while camping. For some reason, Harry might just open it up once and see what’s going on at Hogwarts.
Micah: Oh yeah, it says that…
Matt: Oh, that’s right.
Micah: …in Deathly Hallows. Yeah, he looks in on Ginny…
Eric: Which is kind of creepy.
Micah: …what she’s doing.
[Andrew and Eric laughs]
Micah: You can’t see that much in the map.
Eric: You’re in the – you’re in the library.
Matt: It is his spy to Hogwarts…
Eric: You’re in the library, Ginny. [laughs]
Matt: Why were you with Dean Thomas that night?
Eric: I’m watching you in the Restricted Section! Who’s this coming, Dean Thomas? What?
Matt: Oh, wait. He’s on the run anyways in Deathly Hallows though. So she wouldn’t be with him.
Listener Tweet: Who Betrayed Harry’s Parents Most?
Andrew: And from APGB, he or she writes in:
Who do you guys think betrayed Harry’s parents most, Severus Snape or Peter Pettigrew?
I think it was Pettigrew.
Eric: Yeah, but that’s a good question, isn’t it? Because Severus obviously wouldn’t want to do anything that is specifically betraying Lily. So if we voted him as the person who most betrayed Harry’s parents then – I don’t know, that’s a good question because it’s not like Snape…
Micah: Betrayed them how?
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: I think we’ve got to put into account how much trust Harry’s parents put into those two characters and I think they put their most trust in Peter Pettigrew. So he betrayed them the most.
Muggle Mail: Pettigrew on the Marauder’s Map
Andrew: Now it’s time for Muggle Mail this week. The first one comes from Catherine, 14, of Spring, Texas. It’s actually about the Marauder’s Map.
“Hey guys, you are all awesome and I especially like Lady Dumbledore and Fawkes. I just have one question for you. If Scabbers had been in Ron’s family for twelve years, and Fred and George had the Marauder’s Map since their first year, why didn’t they see Peter Pettigrew on the map? Keep up the great work, pickles!”
Why did this just get into the – why are they just noticing Pettigrew now?
Micah: Yeah. Well, they don’t notice him, but J.K. Rowling pointed out that Fred and George never notice Pettigrew on the Marauder’s Map because they never knew who he was. Even if they had recognized his name, they would’ve…
Andrew: Oh.
Micah: …assumed that he was just a student with the same last name. Pettigrew was just one of many moving dots on the map, and Fred and George would’ve only been focused on the path their mischief took that day. Now I’m not really sure I like this explanation because…
Andrew: That’s a direct quote from Jo, by the way.
Micah: Yeah, that’s from her site. And the thing is – the reason why I don’t like it is because you would’ve seen Peter Pettigrew with Ron all the time.
Eric: He would’ve always been with the same – or with Percy before that.
Micah: Right. So wouldn’t that be suspicious?
Eric: It would’ve been like, “Oh, Percy, who’s your new friend Peter?” And he’d be like “What?!” “Well we always see you hanging out together.” I think Fred and George would have been concerned with where their brother was hanging out. Even if it’s just to taunt him – watching their brother go around Hogwarts.
Micah: Right.
Eric: Yeah, it’s a great question.
Micah: And you have all these moving dots. I get that, but at some point Fred and George would look in on Ron and see, “Oh, what’s – who’s this Peter Pettigrew person who’s in our dorm, who’s here right now?”
Eric: Yeah, yeah. The boys’ dormitory, in Ron’s bed, next to Ron, every night.
[Micah and Andrew laugh]
Eric: Yeah. It’s a big deal.
Matt: That would raise some eyebrows.
Eric: It’s a big deal.
Andrew: It is – it is very strange.
Micah: Bad explanation – sorry.
Eric: Plot hole.
Andrew: All right. We’ll have her try again the next time we speak with her.
Micah: Yeah. Okay.
Andrew: Okay next e-mail. Matt, could you read that one from Scott?
Muggle Mail: Magic Justice System
Matt: Yeah, sure. Our next e-mail comes from Scott, 20, from New York, and he writes:
“Hey there, MuggleCast. Well, I was thinking of the magic justice system a little while back. I wondered why they didn’t just put the thoughts of those who were present in the Shrieking Shack in a Pensieve, then everyone would see Pettigrew was alive and many problems would be solved, including Sirius’ criminal record. Tell me what you think.”
Eric: That is a good question because Pensieves don’t lie. I mean, you can tamper with a memory though, can’t you? But at the same time, when Dumbledore is telling them that the word of three thirteen year olds isn’t going to change anything, he fails to mention that he has a Pensieve and, to be perfectly honest, if three separate people’s memory would show exactly what happened, it seems very likely that it would be – that that would be good enough.
Andrew: Well, hold on. How could they have gotten the memories though? I mean, there is a time issue here too. They didn’t have time to get these memories extracted. Lupin wasn’t around.
Eric: Yeah, he was naked somewhere in the woods.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: And he couldn’t have summoned him. Dumbledore said that…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: …specifically that he…
Eric: Well, even the words – I mean, even if it were just Harry and Hermione’s memories…
Andrew: Oh, oh, right. Okay.
Eric: Because their word might not be taken seriously, but their memories in a Pensieve kind of would pull more weight.
Andrew: But still, I think that – you could argue that…
Eric: With the time…
Andrew: …there may have been…
Eric: …issue.
Andrew: There wouldn’t have been enough time to…
Micah: Or even…
Andrew: …rescue Sirius.
Micah: …Veritaserum.
Matt: Right.
Micah: That is…
Matt: And in the heat of the moment too. I mean…
Andrew: It is a good point, Micah. Veritaserum.
Eric: Do you think it is that Jo hadn’t invented the Pensieve or Veritaserum yet?
Andrew: [laughs] She hadn’t thought it up.
Eric: I always like pointing out that…
Andrew: It is possible.
Eric: Pointing it out when I can because these books are so almost infallible that it is…
Andrew: But there is still Veritaserum, like Micah mentioned. That could have been used.
Micah: I feel like she may have answered that as well, but I don’t remember specifically.
Muggle Mail: Collector’s Editions
Andrew: But then the question is raised, what would have Mary GrandPre illustrated on the cover? And that is unacceptable. I like it just how it is. Micah, could you read the final e-mail today from Joe?
Micah: Yeah, final e-mail from Joe, 23 of Ohio. Uh-oh, [laughs] LEGO Harry Potter.
[Eric laughs]
Micah:
“Hey guys…”
[Matt laughs]
Micah: Actually, we haven’t talked about it in about an hour, so that is pretty good.
“Hey guys. I’m just listening to the latest episode of MuggleCast, 197, and I need to make a comment regarding the ‘LEGO Harry Potter Collector’s Edition’. Just so you guys know, collector’s editions are common with releases of major titles such as ‘LEGO Harry Potter’ and they are more often than not released at the same time as the standard edition of the game. Just thought you ought to know. Keep up the great work.”
Andrew: There were actually a lot of blogs making fun of how the Collector’s Edition includes magnets [laughs] which I agree is kind of ridiculous.
Eric: I can’t see this – the previous LEGO games, okay. Indiana Jones – if you pre-ordered at GameStop you could get a cool t-shirt of LEGO Indiana Jones. I did that and I have the t-shirt. But for Star Wars, you could get a key chain. For Batman, you could get a key chain. I have a…
Micah: I have some…
Eric: …Batman and I…
Micah: …key chains if you guys want. You…
Eric: I do…
Micah: …just have to…
Eric: …want it.
Micah: …tell me.
Eric: But you said it is of the house…
Andrew: I want one!
Eric: …right?
Micah: Yeah.
Eric: Of the house…
Micah: Of the…
Eric: …crests?
Micah: …different houses, so…
Eric: Done in a LEGO style.
Micah: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah. But – so, I can’t really think of these other – these collector’s editions that this guy is talking about. Honestly I try and keep up with video games. I don’t know if Halo did a collector’s edition, but…
Micah: Right.
Eric: Magnets, really?
Micah: Magnets? Maybe.
Andrew: In the Collector’s Edition. Yeah, it is…
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: …kind of pushing it, but…
Eric: Did you ask them about the magnets?
Micah: I have…
Eric: I don’t…
Micah: …a magnet. It is just a big – it is like the cover of the video game as a magnet.
Andrew: Did you ask them about the aggressive marketing campaign like I asked you to?
Micah: No, I thought…
Andrew: Awww man!
Micah: About Deathly Hallows you’re talking about.
Andrew: Yeah, about the release being around the same time…
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: …as when…
Micah: No, they were a little hesitant, like I said, with what the guy could talk about. So I thought if I went there, I would probably just…
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Micah: …get the run-around, anyway.
Andrew: You would have been refused from the bar, and you didn’t want that.
Micah: Yeah, exactly.
Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul
Andrew: Eric, we have a Chicken Soup today, for the MuggleCast Soul. Could you read that one for us?
Eric: Sure. We got Chicken Soup from Aiden, age 17, from Utah. They say:
“I have been listening for several years just as a ‘Harry Potter’ fan. But after about a year of listening to MuggleCast, it took on a whole new meaning. I was diagnosed with leukemia in June of 2007. Your show was always a welcome addition to my hospital stays, allowing me to forget about my loneliness, the effects of chemo, and some of the pain. I have been fighting the cancer off on and off ever since the doctors just can’t seem to figure out a way to get rid of it. I still welcome the release that your show provides, and recently it has been even better. My family has never really acknowledged my illness and it has been particularly hard for the past couple of weeks, struggling with my energy levels and what not whilst trying to relate my grandparents to live with us. When I need a break from the frustration and interruptions of dealing with constant questions about where things are in the hours before my parents get home from work, I am able to go downstairs, put on the headphones, and have a good break that doesn’t strain my already low energy levels as much as some of the other things I love to do. Thank you for producing such a quality show that I can enjoy and laugh when laughing is one of the last things I really want to do.”
Andrew: Well, thanks Aiden. We are glad to hear that…
Eric: This is…
Andrew: …the show…
Eric: …awesome.
Andrew: …helped you out that way. Yeah, definitely.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: And hopefully this show – this episode helped you as well.
Eric: So, now is not a good time to say that we are ending the show in two episodes?
Andrew: [laughs] Stop it!
Matt: [laughs] Oh my god, Eric!
Andrew: I used to think we would only last to Episode 200, but now…
Eric: You guys debated…
Andrew: Now I say…
Eric: …whether or not we…
Andrew: …300.
Eric: …should end at 100. I remember…
Andrew: That was…
Eric: …those talks.
Andrew: …a joke, though.
Eric: That was…
Andrew: That was…
Eric: …not…
Andrew: …a joke.
Eric: …a joke.
Andrew: It absolutely was a joke!
Eric: That was before we knew we were going to London. Before we knew we were going to London, you guys were considering shutting the show down.
Andrew: Well, we couldn’t end MuggleCast before we stopped – before the seventh book came out…
Eric: Oh…
Andrew: …either.
Eric: …you’re right.
Andrew: So…
Eric: Maybe I was just duped.
Announcement: Infinitus 2010
Andrew: We want to remind everyone today that we’re going to be at Infinitus 2010. The website is Infinitus2010.org. It is a Harry Potter conference going on in Orlando, Florida from July 15th to the 18th. It’s going to be held on the Universal Orlando Resort. It’s going to be so much fun. They announced the other day a party in the Harry Potter theme park. We have been talking about it for a few weeks. There is going to be a lot of special events going on there. We’ll be able to announce some exciting stuff in the coming weeks. That event in the park exclusively for Infinitus attendees is called “Night of a Thousand Wizards”. It is a lot of fun these cons. You’ll end up making a lot of friends. It is just all around a good time.
Micah: Yeah. I mean, are we doing a podcast or what?
Show Close
Andrew: Yes, I can confirm we are doing a podcast there. So visit Infinitus2010.org. Find more details and you can also register. When you do register be sure to put “MuggleCast” in the referral box so they know who sent you. We also want you to check out the MuggleCast website which is MuggleCast.com. It has got all the information you need that you would ever want about the show. You can follow us on Twitter, fan us on Facebook, subscribe and review us on iTunes. You can find every transcript for every episode of our show. You can find every show note for every episode. You can learn about us. You can visit the Wall of Fame which features some of our favorite episodes of MuggleCast if you want to catch up on the best of the best.
Eric: Andrew, tell them about the…
Andrew: Yes?
Eric: …missing episode that they can now find on the Episodes page.
Andrew: Oh, the missing episode. One of our friends, Andrew Walker, pointed out recently that we were missing an episode on the Episodes page. It was the episode where we discuss the release date…
[Show music begins]
Andrew: …I think it was, of Deathly Hallows?
Eric: It was huge! It was a mini-cast…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …but it was…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: It was huge news. And I saw that it was on the server but it wasn’t on the Episodes page and I guess Andrew said the same thing. And I was, like, “Oh, well, we got to get it up there.”
Andrew: Yeah, visit Episode page – the page for Episodes 71 to 80 and there you will find the MuggleMiniCast from February 1st, 2007, and we discuss…
Eric: If you…
Andrew: …the release date – what it…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: …means for the timing of the film…
Eric: So…
Andrew: …and all that.
Eric: …if you recently listened to old episodes and you thought you had heard them all, this is a new one that you hadn’t…
Andrew: [laughs] This is a new one!
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: Yeah, yeah.
Andrew: It is new, but old.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: It is three-years-old, in fact. [laughs] But it is funny to hear our speculation from that time.
Micah: Yeah, and the thing is too, we have a lot of new listeners, based on the e-mails that we have been getting in the last few episodes. A lot of new people and – especially wanting to listen to the older episodes. I mean, I think it is good for them to know that they are on our site. They are not all on iTunes obviously.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah.
Micah: But you can download every episode you could possibly want of MuggleCast from our website.
Andrew: Yeah. Thank you everyone for listening. You can expect Episode 199 May 26th or May 27th. I have to be honest, I’m going to be in Vegas for my birthday and I’m getting back May 25th, so I can’t guarantee the episode is going to be out May 26th.
Eric: Leave a few days for the hangover to subside.
Andrew: So, you can look for it at the latest, May 27th.
Eric: Man, I am so going to be in Vegas too with you.
Andrew: I know, Eric. It will be a good time. Thanks everyone for listening!
Micah: Oh! Wait, did we want to talk more about LEGO Harry Potter? [laughs]
Eric: Yes!
Andrew: No…
Eric: Yes!
Andrew: …we don’t!
Eric: Yes, Micah, Micah…
Matt: Yeah, let’s do it!
Andrew: You could do a special mini-cast, Micah, where you are just ranting about it. I’m Andrew Sims.
Eric: [laughs] I’m Eric Scull.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Matt: And I’m Matt Britton.
Andrew: See you next time! Buh-bye!
Micah: Bye!
Matt: Bye!
Eric: Bye!
[Show music continues]