MuggleCast 226 Transcript
Show Intro
[“Hedwig’s Theme” plays]
Andrew: Because we don’t need a permit to podcast, this is MuggleCast Episode 226 for April 26th, 2011.
[Show music begins]
Andrew: This week’s episode of MuggleCast is brought to you by Audible.com, the Internet’s leading provider of audiobooks, with more than 75,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, non-fiction, and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast.
And by Hypable.com, a MuggleNet for the rest of the fandoms in the world and created by MuggleNet staff. Visit Hypable.com for thorough and up-to-the-minute coverage around The Hunger Games, Glee, Doctor Who, The Hobbit, and many more. That’s Hypable.com, H-Y-P-A-B-L-E dot com.
[Show music continues]
Andrew: Welcome to MuggleCast Episode 226! It’s almost kind of a reunion. I actually – when I mentioned who was on the show this week to other people, multiple people they were like, “Ooh! Ooh, no kidding! Oh wow! Wow!” Laura and Jamie are both on the show this week. Hey guys, welcome back!
Jamie: Hey!
Laura: Hey Andrew!
Jamie: Hey! We just need…
Andrew: It’s been a while.
Jamie: …Kevin Steck now, don’t we?
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Oh my God, is he still alive?
Andrew: I – like, I checked a year ago and yeah.
[Jamie and Laura laugh]
Andrew: I saw him, actually, in New York in November. Me and Micah both saw him.
Jamie: How is he?
Andrew: He’s doing well! Yeah.
Jamie: What is he doing now?
Andrew: I don’t know.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I actually found him – he was in a box on the street. I just happened to run into him.
Jamie: [laughs] Is he a spy of some sort?
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: No, I was implying he’s homeless. [laughs] But…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: [laughs] Oh, right! Oh.
Andrew: No, he’s not homeless, he’s doing fine. But yeah, so we got a lot to talk about this week. The Deathly Hallows – Part 1 DVD came out and we’re already looking forward to Part 2. Well, Micah, get us through the news, we’ll get everybody updated. I’m Andrew Sims.
Jamie: I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: And I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Laura: I had no idea how to do that order.
Andrew: Micah, what’s in the news? Yeah, I know.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: I almost forgot to do the intro.
Micah: I was going to say to you – I’d be like, “You’re Andrew Sims,” because we always forget. But…
Andrew: Yeah.
News: Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Teaser Trailer to Debut on ABC Family
Micah: So, Andrew, apparently the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 teaser trailer is going to be debuting this Wednesday on ABC Family.
Andrew: Yeah. It’s about time. But – well, okay, you wrote “teaser trailer” in the news post but it doesn’t – I didn’t see any mention of a teaser trailer. I’m wondering if this is the actual trailer if they’re only doing one trailer, or what.
Micah: I just assumed, I guess, because it was ABC Family it would be a teaser trailer and not the full thing.
Andrew: Yeah. Well, we’ll have it posted on MuggleNet when it does make its way online. It’s kind of annoying that they’re airing it only on US television. So poor Jamie, I know he would want to tune into ABC Family but he can’t.
Jamie: I’m sure I could get it somehow. I’m sure I could get it. There’s – I’m sure there’s some internet way of doing it. I don’t know.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Or some satellite dish, something.
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: But that’s quite a lot of effort.
Andrew: It’s a little extreme just to watch…
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: Right. [laughs]
Jamie: Someone’s probably going to post it online. [laughs]
Andrew: [laughs] Exactly.
Jamie: So that’s probably the easier way I’ll be seeing it.
Andrew: YouTube is the answer to everything.
Jamie: Yeah, exactly.
Micah: Yeah. So, Wednesday night during Happy Gilmore…
Andrew: [laughs] Oh, great!
Micah: …from 7 to 9 o’clock. So I know if you haven’t gotten your share of Adam Sandler this month, or Bob Barker…
Andrew: I haven’t seen that film, so I guess I’ll be forced to watch it now.
Micah: You haven’t seen Happy Gilmore?
Andrew: No.
Micah: Oh.
Jamie: Is it terrible?
Micah: Jamie? Laura?
Jamie: Oh, I might have seen it.
Laura: I think I’ll just wait for it to hit YouTube.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Micah: It’s a funny movie. He beats up – or actually, Bob Barker beats up him. Anyway…
Andrew: All right. Well, what else is going on?
News: Deathly Hallows – Part 1 DVD/Blu-ray Released – Deleted Scenes
Micah: Well, you mentioned earlier, Deathly Hallows – Part 1 finally hit DVD and Blu-ray. It was released on April 15th. And all the deleted scenes, really, made their way online before the DVD went on sale, so we’ve been holding off a little bit on discussing them. What were your guys’ overall thoughts with some of them?
Andrew: For the first time on a DVD, it seems like there were scenes that were actually – people actually wished they had actually been in the final cut of the film, particularly Harry and Petunia’s little talk in the Dursley house before the Dursleys leave. That moved a lot of people.
Laura: Yeah, and it was very well done, too. I mean, it wasn’t – I kind of felt that the whole scene with Harry and Dudley shaking hands was a little cheesy, so I understand why they cut that.
Andrew: Mhm.
Laura: But as per the Harry and Petunia scene, I don’t know. It was twenty seconds, I think they maybe could have included it.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: It’s quite a canon thing, though. I think big fans really, really like it but perhaps other people wouldn’t appreciate it so much. I think they should have kept it in, though, yeah.
Micah: That was awkward, though. I don’t know why they did that the way that they did with Dudley walking like he had something in his pants.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Or like he almost – like he had to take a dump, if I’m honest.
Andrew: He did look constipated.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: It was really awkward.
Micah: But yeah…
Andrew: In the “Maximum Movie Mode” feature on the DVD, there was – I think either Heyman – I think it was Heyman, he talked about why they took that little scene out between Mrs. Dursley and Harry because it sort of – it always comes down to the pacing. It disrupted the pacing because he said if they had kept that in, it would have taken away from the fact that something is about to happen, and the whole point of the intro of the film was to make it feel like something was brewing, something was going on, and that took away from it. So, that was their excuse for cutting that out. I don’t know if I agree with it.
Laura: I mean, I understand that because if you watch the first five to seven minutes of the film, it is very fast paced and that scene I think would have probably taken it down a notch. So, I get why they did it. I don’t think that the pacing thing was just an excuse. I think pacing was an excuse when it came to the sixth film, but with this one I thought they did a really good job with it. So, I don’t know. I understand. I get that sacrifices have to be made.
Andrew: Mhm.
Laura: This is a long lesson I’ve learned. I used to be one of those people who complained about everything, but…
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: You threw in the towel!
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: WB won.
Micah: It could also be just because, though, that they haven’t developed the relationship that exists between Harry and Petunia very much throughout…
Andrew: That’s true, too.
Micah: …the films.
Laura: And they’ve completely neglected the Dursleys in like the last three films, so…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: I mean…
Micah: Yeah.
Laura: …it would have seemed kind of strange.
Micah: Well, how did that play out, though, Andrew, during “The Prince’s Tale”? Did they show Petunia at all?
Andrew: No. No, they didn’t.
Laura: Really?!
Andrew: No.
Laura: Oh my God.
Andrew: That was the one scene – and again that’s the one scene – well, I can’t completely confirm that because that was the scene I went to the bathroom during, so I don’t know.
Laura: When you went to the bathroom?!
Andrew: Yeah, I had to…
Laura: Andrew!
Andrew: …really bad. Because I thought I would rather go during “The Prince’s Tale” than during like Harry and Voldemort fighting. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss that.
Jamie: Couldn’t you have just…
Laura: Well, you could have held it.
Jamie: …paused it, though? Or – wait.
Andrew: No, no, it was a Part 2 screening…
Jamie: Oh sorry, I got really confused.
Andrew: …in Chicago.
Jamie: Oh, right. Yeah. Why didn’t you just hold it, then?! Yeah!
Laura: [laughs] Yeah, I know!
Andrew: I couldn’t! I was about to explode, guys! Leave me alone. Everybody’s disappointed.
Jamie: So wait, Andrew. So wait, is it good, then?
Andrew: Yeah, it was good. It was really good. A lot of the special effects weren’t finished so I’m really looking forward to seeing it again, because…
Jamie: So, what’s it like when you see a film where they haven’t been finished? Is it just like an outline or…
Andrew: No, it’s pretty finished. It’s just a lot of the special effects that aren’t done, so the dragon, for example, some scenes either you didn’t see the dragon or the dragon was like half complete. So…
Micah: It’s like somebody walking around in a costume or something?
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: No!
Micah: Like, “I’m the dragon”?
Andrew: No.
Laura: Barney the Dinosaur is like out there walking around…
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Yeah.
Laura: …as a place filler.
Andrew: No, it was an interesting way to see the film, because it was kind of like a behind-the-scenes look at the process that goes into it. So – no, it was good, though. For example, and I brought this up on – Eric and I brought this up on an earlier episode, Snape – for whatever reason, Alan Rickman was never – wasn’t able to shed a tear when he was dying as Snape, so the tear wasn’t added yet. So they added a caption at the bottom that says, “Snape sheds a tear,” [laughs] and it just made the audience…
Jamie: That’s weird.
Andrew: …roar with laughter.
Jamie: Isn’t that weird?
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Yeah. Anyway, so these deleted scenes. Any other ones that stood out to anyone?
Micah: Not really.
Laura: There were a couple of them that I didn’t – I mean, I didn’t really understand what the point of them was, like Ron and Hermione skipping rocks, like Harry and Ron chasing rabbits.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Like, I get they were trying to establish…
Andrew: That they were bored?
Laura: Yeah.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: And they were trying to establish…
Micah: Talk about pacing issues.
Laura: Yeah, I know!
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: They were trying to establish the aggression between Harry and Ron, and the romance between Ron and Hermione, but I thought those things were both very evident already and – I don’t know, I’m like, okay, so they’re out there bounty hunting rabbits now. I don’t get it, and I’m really glad that wasn’t…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: …in the movie.
Andrew: Actually, I thought the one with them skipping stones, that was very – that kind of fed into the Ron and Hermione shippers. I thought they may have really appreciated that.
Laura: Yeah. I mean, it was a really nice scene. It was well done and it was very sweet, but I don’t think they needed it.
Micah: What about Yaxley searching Hermione’s parents’ home?
Andrew: Ehhh.
Micah: Okay? Just okay?
Andrew: But yeah – I mean, it was just him taking five steps, looking around, and looking like, [in a silly voice] “Hmmm, what’s going on here?”
Laura: [laughs] Yeah, exactly.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Can you imagine if they had just kept – its like, what, a fifteen-second clip? It’s not that long.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: If they had just kept that and [laughs] just randomly inserted it somewhere in the middle of the movie.
Andrew: Yeah, it wouldn’t have – yeah, it just wouldn’t have made…
Laura: No.
Andrew: It just would have been weird.
Micah: Well, I mean, definitely the one that sticks out is the one that we first mentioned with Petunia, because if you really can’t remember – like I can’t even right now what the other deleted scenes were, then it’s probably good that they left them out of the film.
News: Deathly Hallows – Part 1 DVD/Blu-ray Released – “Maximum Movie Mode”
Andrew: Yeah. Anyway, another big feature on the Blu-ray version was the “Maximum Movie Mode” and this was actually really cool because what happens is throughout the movie – you’re watching it and the movie will kind of zoom out, and the movie will kind of move to the bottom-right corner of the screen, and then one of the actors or crew members will kind of talk about what’s going on. It’s kind of like a commentary, but then they’ll also add another video window onto the screen and you see behind-the-scenes footage. And one of the best parts of it was they showed when the final shot ever for Harry Potter was being filmed, like in terms of the filming process. Not like the live shot in Part 2, but like in terms of their filming schedule. They showed footage from when they were finished, and Emma and Rupert were crying, and everybody was applauding. It was very emotional. And they showed footage of the little celebration that they had. So, it was really cool, and they kind of included a couple of deleted scenes and explained why they weren’t included. So, that was really good and I wish they had started doing these “Maximum Movie Mode”s earlier because they’re actually – I watched it with my friends at a party a couple of weeks ago, and it was really fun to watch and then talk about with everybody, so…
Laura: That’s cool.
Andrew: A few of – yeah.
Laura: Well, Emma and Rupert were only crying because they thought that was their last scene they were going to shoot.
Andrew: Right.
Laura: Then they found out they had to do the epilogue again.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: Awww, drats!
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: All crying for nothing!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Now we have to cry again! [laughs] If you have a Blu-ray, definitely check it out.
Micah: Yeah, so that’s what I was just going to say, it’s just for the Blu-ray, right?
Andrew: Yeah. I mean – and if you don’t have Blu-ray at this point you’re just living in the 90’s, so it’s time to get with it.
Jamie: Hey, I don’t even have a DVD player.
Andrew: What?!
Jamie: I don’t even have a DVD player.
Micah: Your laptop doesn’t play DVDs?
Jamie: No, no, no, I’ve got that, I mean I just don’t have a DVD player connected to the TV.
Micah: Oh.
Laura: Yeah, I don’t…
Jamie: Hey, hey, get this…
Laura: …have one, either.
Jamie: We don’t even have a TV license. We don’t even…
Andrew: What do you mean?
Jamie: Well, we just watch – there’s this – I probably shouldn’t admit this because this is TV fraud, but we sometimes watch stuff on iPlayer, like…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Do you know what iPlayer is?
Andrew: Well, what’s a TV license? Like, in America you need a license to kill, but why would you need…
Jamie: You don’t need a license…
Andrew: …a license to watch…
Jamie: …to watch TV? To watch…
Laura: No!
Jamie: What?!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Well, I mean, you need a subscription to a cable service.
Jamie: Yes, but Andrew, if you don’t have cable what happens if you just want like a standard amount of channels? Like, [laughs] what’s the standard amount of channels if you don’t…
Andrew: You buy an antenna and you get the networks, the big networks.
Jamie: Yeah, okay, so you don’t have to pay for that?
Laura: No.
Micah: No.
Andrew: No.
Jamie: What?! That’s ridiculous!
[Everybody laughs]
Andrew: No, yours is ridiculous!
Jamie: We have to pay like two hundred and – no, a hundred and thirty pounds a year for the privilege of watching a television. Or…
Andrew: Wow.
Jamie: Yeah, or you can not pay that and do something good with your life.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, that’s odd. Yeah, no license here. But anyway, what were we even talking about? Oh, so Jamie has a – [laughs] Jamie lives in the Stone Age, he doesn’t have a DVD player.
[Jamie laughs]
Andrew: Or a TV license. [laughs]
Jamie: But, saying that, we do have a VHS player. Do you still remember…
Andrew: Oh, great!
Jamie: …what those are, Andrew? Do you know what they are?
Andrew: Yeah, Part 1 is coming out on VHS, uhhh, never. So…
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah, exactly.
[Micah laughs]
Jamie: We’ve got those, and we buy a load of videos from charity shops and car boot sales because they’re like six for a pound.
Andrew: Right.
Jamie: So you just watch them, and then get rid of them, and then it’s a kind of barter system.
Micah: Circle of life?
Jamie: Circle of life, exactly, exactly. Circle of life. However, you don’t get the “Maximum Movie Mode” on VHS.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Really?
Jamie: So yeah…
Andrew: [unintelligible] …just supported that.
Jamie: Yeah.
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: Unfortunately, you don’t, no. That’s the only bad thing.
Andrew: Before we continue with today’s show, we’d like to remind everybody that this podcast is brought to you by Audible.com, the Internet’s leading provider of audiobooks, with more than 75,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature and featuring audio versions of many New York Times Bestsellers. For listeners of this podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook to give you a chance to try out their great service. One audiobook to consider is A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1. It’s a very popular book on Audible, and a television adaptation recently debuted on HBO called Game of Thrones. The first episode was actually so successful that HBO has already renewed it for a second season. So, for a free audiobook of your choice such as A Game of Thrones, go to AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast. That’s AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast.
News: EA Releases Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Video Game Trailer & Stills
Micah: All right, so moving on in the news, Electronic Arts released the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 video game trailer and a couple of new photos. And I took a look at the trailer, and I’ve never been big on EA’s video games and I have to say, this trailer [laughs] does not really make me want to play this game.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: I don’t know if anybody else has watched it, but it’s really not cut that well, to be honest.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s kind of – we’ve talked about this before. It seems like the Deathly Hallows video games are – or the Harry Potter video games, they’re never good and we’ve always been disappointed with each one that comes out, and I’m sure Part 2 will be no different.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: I mean, the footage is cool but…
Micah: It’s cool, I think part of the problem is – and we’ve discussed this many times, is that it needed to be more of a role-playing game, and having sort of free roaming ability to go different places within the world and really – which the LEGO Harry Potter does let you do, but these series of games just don’t allow for that and so while you might be seeing a really cool scene on the trailer, you don’t necessarily get to play that scene in the game, if that makes sense.
Andrew: Mmm.
Laura: Yeah. Well, and speaking of someone who has kind of…
Micah: I know, Laura, you have played it, too.
Laura: Yeah, I was a video game nerd when I was younger and I probably got – I would get the Harry Potter games up until I was about 14 or so, and they were really easy. I would beat them in less than a day.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Like, I would sit down, seriously, for like four hours and be like, “Okay, I’m done.”
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: So… [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: I was home schooled, I didn’t have anything better to do.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: But yeah, so I don’t know, they probably need to be a bit more challenging, too.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, and I think from what I’ve heard – just the stories aren’t that good, and – well, whatever. I mean, we’ll try not to talk about this one much over the coming months because we’ve always been disappointed. [laughs]
Micah: Yeah, that’s true.
Andrew: Jamie, do you need a license to play video games in the UK?
[Micah laughs]
Jamie: Don’t know, I don’t play any. [laughs]
Micah: Do you go to the arcade?
Jamie: Well, saying that, I do go to the – like, penny arcades, you know? I don’t mean like…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: …with big digital screens and stuff, I mean where you put a 2p in, and it goes down to the bottom and then it pushes it, and – do you know I mean? And then it pushes the 2p off.
Andrew: Right, like skee-ball?
Jamie: I don’t know.
Andrew: Do you remember skee-ball?
Jamie: No, I don’t know. Oh, I don’t think it has a specific name.
Andrew: Oh.
Jamie: Or it has like a generic name. But anyway, I’ve gone to those sometimes.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Jamie: I quite like those but you don’t need a license. [laughs]
Andrew: [laughs] Okay.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: All right.
Micah: All right.
Andrew: What else is going on, Micah?
News: Steve Kloves Gained JK Rowling’s Trust with One Word
Micah: All right, final piece of news, in a new article by Movieline, JK Rowling revealed how apprehensive she was at handing the keyboard over to screenwriter Steve Kloves for the movie adaptation of her magical world. And I’m reading a post by Keith Hawk here.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: No, I mean, I think we’re starting to see a lot of these articles now that the series is winding down. We’re getting more insight into how this all got created in the first place. So, JK Rowling was just talking about what it’s like. I’m sure it must have been, at least early on, pretty scary to hand this work over that you’ve been working on for pretty much your entire adult life to somebody who you don’t know and…
Andrew: Yeah. Here’s what she said. She said:
“Steve turned to me while food was being ordered and said quietly, ‘You know who my favorite character is?’ I looked at him, red hair included, and thought, ‘You’re going to say Ron. Please, please don’t say Ron. Ron’s so easy to love!’ And he said, ‘Hermione,’ at which point, under my standoffish, mistrusting exterior, I just melted, because if he got Hermione, he got the books. He also, to a large extent, got me.”
Micah: Ooh.
Jamie: I think that sounds like the kind of story that you come up with after the event [laughs] that sounds really good, you know?
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: I mean, I’m not – I just don’t know if you can say that from one word.
Laura: Isn’t this old news, though? I feel like we’ve heard this story before, like a long time ago.
Andrew: Really?
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Well, it definitely happened a long time ago. I don’t know. This was a new interview she’s doing…
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: …for a publication called Written By.
Laura: Mhm.
Andrew: So, there will be more. But maybe she has, I don’t know. It may have been a long time ago.
Micah: Well…
Andrew: Yeah, I agree with Jamie, though. It does seem a bit odd that just one word, and then it’s like, ‘Oh, okay!’ I sort of get it because Hermione was a very complex character, I think.
Laura: Well, and she was also based on…
Jamie: Yeah, exactly. JK Rowling, yeah.
Laura: …Jo as a kid, so…
Micah: Yeah. Well, you see Laura, the thing is is that there’s so little news about her these days that we have to start recycling things.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah.
Micah: So…
Andrew: We should find some interviews from ’98 and just start reposting them as new news.
Micah: Yeah, exactly.
Jamie: Yeah, yeah.
Andrew: We’ll call it an exclusive…
Laura: I bet no-one will notice.
Andrew: Yeah, exactly! We’ll call it a new MuggleNet interview with JK Rowling. We’ll see how far we can get.
Jamie: Or we should probably do it with someone we’ve actually done an interview with before. [laughs]
Laura: [laughs] Release date for Chamber of Secrets has been announced.
Andrew: [laughs] Okay, so that’s all that’s in the news, Micah?
Micah: That’s it.
Announcement: LeakyCon 2011
Andrew: All right. Before we continue, we actually – [laughs] we got a lot of e-mails last week and Laura – actually this is why it’s great that you’re on this episode, part of the reason why – we talked about – we did a What If segment, “What if Harry Potter was a girl?” which we may have done before but we wanted to do it again and, you know, three or four guys…
Laura: And I’m sure you guys were just…
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: …wonderful and complimentary individuals.
Andrew: Yeah, we didn’t please a lot of people.
Laura: Yeah. [laughs]
Andrew: So we’ll talk about those e-mails in a second, but first we want to remind everybody that we’re going to be at LeakyCon 2011, going on in Orlando, Florida over the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. It’s going to be July 13th to the 17th at the Universal Orlando Resort. It’s going to be a ton of fun. We’re going to be doing some podcasts there, including our big movie review podcast. Micah, Eric, Ben, and I are all going to be there, it’s going to be a ton of fun. There’s going to be the ball, there’s going to be the party in the park, there’s going to, of course, be the big midnight movie release event that everybody attending LeakyCon is of course going to be going to. Everybody is going to be – I’m going to be sopping up Micah’s tears as he’s rolling all over the floor in despair.
Micah: Or it could just be how bad the movie is.
[Andrew and Jamie laugh]
Jamie: Yeah.
Micah: I could be crying because of that, too.
Andrew: Could be that, too.
Micah: I’m kidding.
Andrew: I’m going to be cleaning up after Eric, too. It’s going to be a mess, but it’s also going to be a lot of fun. So, visit LeakyCon.com and when you register, we can’t wait to see you there, and also enter code “Muggle” and that way we’ll know you’re coming! And more details to be announced pretty soon. We’re finally going to talk to them about the podcast soon, we still haven’t talked to them about that yet, but – we will be doing a podcast there, we just don’t have the exact details yet.
Micah: What day does it start?
Andrew: July 13th.
Micah: So we’ll let you guys know, like, July 12th…
Andrew: [laughs] Yes.
Micah: …what’s happening.
[Jamie and Micah laugh]
Andrew: No, no, no.
Micah: I’m kidding.
MuggleCast 226 Transcript (continued)
What If: Episode 225 Responses
Andrew: It’s still plenty far away. Anyway, let’s now get into those What if responses I was just talking about. This first one comes from Sophia, 19, of Seattle. She writes:
“Hello, I think if Harry was female, it would be interesting to see how that would change his relationships with adult members of the series like Snape and Sirius. Part of the reason Harry was so close with Sirius was because he reminded him so much of James. If Harry was Harrieta…”
As we called him last week.
“…I don’t know that they would have been as close. I also wonder how Snape would have acted if Harry was Harietta and not a miniature James. Would Snape have been nicer to Harry if he was more like his mother than his father? Thanks, love your podcast. Sophia.”
Jamie: I don’t want to go here. [laughs] This sounds so weird.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Jamie: If he was more like Lily than Harry then the whole – that’s very weird. I think we should move on immediately.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Well, maybe – this makes me think maybe he would have connected with other people, with female characters in the series. [emphasizes “she”] She would have connected with female characters in the series. Maybe her and McGonagall – [laughs] Harietta and McGonagall would have bonded.
Laura: Well, didn’t Harry and McGonagall sort of have a bond? I mean…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Laura: I mean, she’s very – yeah, so I don’t know that…
Jamie: She trusts him and when he says, “I’m here on Dumbledore’s orders,” then she’s like, “Yes, Potter,” straight away, “We’ll secure the castle,” and stuff.
Andrew: Yeah. Micah, could you read the next e-mail?
Micah: Sure. Next e-mail is from Giulia, 14, of Brisbane, Australia, and she says:
“Hi MuggleCast, I think that if Harry Potter was a girl, the fandom that exists today would not have occurred.”
Andrew: Woah!
Micah: [continues]
“I don’t think that many people would like to read a book or see a movie about the fate of the world and its population being in the hands of a teenage girl.”
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Ouch! Good grief!
Micah: [continues]
“There are a few reasons for this. First of all, women are known for being able to multi-task and this could be a serious issue when trying to save the world because our heroine would continuously get side-tracked…”
Laura: What?!
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Micah: [continues]
“…making the ‘HP’ series much longer than seven books. Second of all, we generally associate major roles of responsibility with men.”
[Jamie and Micah laugh]
Micah: [continues]
“For example…”
Laura: Oh my God!
Micah: [laughs] Is this – wait, I want to make sure this is a girl. This is…
Laura: Is this real?!
Andrew: I think this is a girl.
Laura: Yes, it’s a girl!
Micah: All right.
Laura: What is wrong with you?!
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: [continues]
“For example, humans perceive God as a man and the Devil as a man also, so it would seem fitting that the hero of a story would be a guy. These are just a couple of thoughts that sprang to mind when listening to your discussion. Just wondering what your thoughts were. Giulia.”
Well, let’s get your thoughts on the table, though. What do you guys think? Would the series have been as successful?
Laura: I don’t…
Jamie: It would have different, wouldn’t it?
Laura: Yeah, it would have been…
Jamie: It couldn’t have been written in the same way, but it would have been just different. I mean, I’m sure – I mean, isn’t the The Hunger Games about a girl? Or like Twilight is about a girl.
Laura: Yes!
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: And so is His Dark Materials which was also a series being published around the same time as Harry Potter.
Jamie: True.
Laura: So you can’t really – I don’t think you can measure it that way. I mean, yes, it would have been different because obviously the perspectives between a male and a female character would have been – you couldn’t have written Harrietta and had her doing all the same things Harry did, obviously. But to say that it wouldn’t have been as successful? I think that’s BS, I mean, if I’m being quite frank.
Micah: Yeah. I mean, I argued on the last show I thought that it probably wouldn’t be as successful. I just think you would lose a very large demographic if it’s a teenage girl growing up as opposed to, in this case, a guy growing up and…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: But what’s the largest demographic of [laughs] Harry Potter fans?
Andrew: Girls.
Laura: So…
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Yeah, but I think it reaches more than just that, is my point, and I guess it also depends how you define “successful,” like on what level? Is it going to be the billion dollar franchise it’s become? No, probably not. I mean…
Laura: Yeah, but that would be like saying that – okay, for instance Chronicles of Narnia, who’s the main character in that or at least in the first book?
Micah: The lion? [laughs]
Andrew: I don’t know. Who is it?
Jamie: [laughs] The wardrobe?
Laura: No, Lucy, a girl.
Andrew: Oh, Lucy.
Micah: [laughs] The wardrobe.
Laura: It’s a girl.
Micah: Come on!
Laura: Wow.
Micah: Come on!
Laura: Okay, I thought you guys…
Micah: The witch! The witch!
Laura: …have read them. [laughs]
Micah: [laughs] We’re naming all the three things in the title.
Laura: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: So, at any rate – I mean, those books were enormously successful and still are today. So…
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: But they couldn’t make a third film, they had to sell it to another company. So…
Laura: Yeah, well, that’s because the movies were bad.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, I know. I’m just kidding.
Laura: [laughs] But…
Andrew: But the other thing to keep in mind is at least the public – remember, they had to change “Joanne Kathleen Rowling” to “JK Rowling” because Scholastic and Bloomsbury were concerned that a female author would have turned people off. Now, were they right? We’ll never know, but there is definitely concern in the publishing community, I think, at least about…
Laura: No, I mean…
Andrew: …boys will not read a female author’s book.
Laura: Right, I’m not denying the fact that there is gender bias. I mean, yes, that exists in our world and certainly because of certain perspectives – with all due respect, Giulia, I think you unfortunately are holding this perspective [laughs] of the idea that men are somehow better than women. I’m not sure if you actually believe that or if you just think that society believes that, but at any rate it’s that perspective that allows people to take issues like this and so easily say, “Oh yeah, well, it just would have been totally incomparable. You couldn’t have actually published this book with a female character.”
Andrew: Mhm.
Laura: I don’t know.
Andrew: Well, here’s one more e-mail and then we’ll wrap it up. This person disagreed with us. This is Rosie, 20, from Florida.
“Can we please talk about how f’d up it is that MuggleCast, a male-dominated podcast, thinks that the story would be worse if the main character was a girl? I don’t think the story would have been any different if Harry was a female. Like you said, JK Rowling is a brilliant woman and would have had the same story in her head. I’d also like to touch on the fact that Micah said in the last episode that Voldemort couldn’t be identified as any gender because he didn’t know whether he ‘got all his parts back.'”
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Nice on, Micah. That’s funny.
Andrew: [continues]
“Since when is gender defined by what you have in your pants? There are plenty of transgendered men and women out there who would be offended by that statement. Your gender does not equal what is in between your legs.”
As Micah mentioned moments later, he was trying to lighten up the conversation a bit, so he wasn’t serious about that point. Anyway, back to the e-mail.
“That all being said, I really think you need a regular female on the podcast to give a better perspective on things. It would make your show more successful and give females in the audience someone to identify with. I remember back when you used to have a woman on the show (whose name escapes me)…”
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Hi, I’m Laura. How are you?
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: [continues]
“…and thinking, ‘Wow! A girl who is just as nerdy as me! She’s smart and not afraid to say her opinions! Awesome!’ But now I feel like every time a gender issue comes up on MuggleCast, the conversation is completely one-sided with no female insight.”
Okay, so she goes on a little bit more. But anyway, Rosie, valid points. It was kind of inappropriate for four guys to talk about if Harry was a girl. [laughs]
Jamie: Well, it depends how you were talking about it.
Micah: Well…
Jamie: [laughs] I mean, were you talking about it the way that she’s saying you were talking about this?
Micah: No, she said you said the story…
Laura: They probably were.
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: No, but she’s saying we said the story would be worse. The question is, would it have been as successful?
Jamie: Ahhh, yes…
Micah: I don’t think we said the story…
Jamie: …which is clearly a financial consideration rather than it would be worse because a female was in it, right? Which is what you didn’t say.
Micah: Right, I don’t think we were saying that. It just – I don’t know, would MuggleNet exist? Would we be having this podcast right now?
Andrew: Right, the question is valid because Harry Potter is so popular. It is the most successful franchise of all time, so that’s why were asking the question asking…
Laura: So, the question you’re asking is whether or not Emerson Spartz would have read Harry Potter if it was about a girl.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Emma Spartz.
Andrew: Yes.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: [laughs] Emma Spartz. We’re going to make that the show title and then see if he listens.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Jamie: Emma Spartz, yeah. [laughs] Definitely.
Chapter-by-Chapter: “The Parting of the Ways”
Andrew: Let’s now get into Chapter-by-Chapter. This is a big Chapter-by-Chapter segment because we are wrapping up Goblet of Fire. We’re looking at Chapters 36 and 37. This is the penultimate Chapter-by-Chapter series, of course. We’re going to go into Order of the Phoenix next. And some people emailed in and said, “Wait, you haven’t done Half-Blood Prince yet,” and we’re going to skip Half-Blood Prince because we analyzed it for our first a hundred episodes, and that’s enough… [laughs]
Laura: [laughs] Yeah.
Andrew: …so we’re not going to go through it again.
Micah: That’s true. Very true.
Andrew: So, Order of the Phoenix will be the last one and Micah is going to start us off with Chapter 36.
Micah: Yes, “The Parting of the Ways.” So, just to kind of I guess remind everybody, what’s just happened is they have uncovered Barty Crouch, Jr. being this impostor for the last year or so at Hogwarts, and Dumbledore takes Harry up to his office to meet with Sirius but also to question Harry about the events that took place in the graveyard. And Dumbledore said something interesting to Harry. He said, “If I thought I could help you by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.” So, I was wondering if this was a reference to his own experiences with what went on with his sister.
Jamie: That sounds right, yeah.
Laura: Yeah, I would say so.
Andrew: Definitely.
Jamie: Because when he told Harry at King’s Cross Station, he was all like, “Can you forgive me? Can you forgive an old man?” kind of how it’s taking a long time type of thing. I think that’s a good point, yeah.
Micah: Then as Harry beings to tell what’s happened, there’s this moment where Fawkes comes over to him, and it’s described like Fawkes almost empowers Harry to be able to retell what happened in the graveyard even though he’s in such a weakened state. My question was just, what kind of magic is it that allows Fawkes to do that?
Andrew: Doesn’t the presence of Fawkes kind of – I don’t know, doesn’t it change your mood or something like that?
Laura: Well, he does have healing powers.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: And doesn’t he actually heal him? I mean, in that scene.
Micah: He does later on, yeah.
Laura: Yeah. So, it could also be a mental thing as well and not just a physical one.
Jamie: Isn’t he supposed to strike boldness into the hearts of the pure, and weakness into the hearts of the horrible or something like that? Didn’t they say that at some point that’s what he does? Perhaps that was in…
Micah: It sounds really good.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: But I don’t know if he said it.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: I didn’t just make that up, I definitely got that from somewhere.
[Jamie and Laura laugh]
Micah: I was going to say, you could write your own series.
Jamie: [laughs] I think it was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but I could be completely wrong. I honestly don’t know. Perhaps I did just make that up.
Andrew: Mmm. No, I think that – that seems to ring a bell. I mean, we know about the phoenix tears but…
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: …I can’t specifically remember something about just the mere presence.
Jamie: Yeah.
Micah: That’s…
Andrew: But I wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe when the Phoenix Song is also in the air…
Micah: Yeah.
Jamie: Oh yeah.
Micah: No, it could be – because it says…
Jamie: Yeah, yeah, I think it’s that.
Micah: It said just like something warmed inside of him, like he felt like this strength that he was able to carry on this conversation.
Andrew: Yeah, Jamie, you’re right. I just looked it up. “The song of the phoenix gives strength and hope to those it sings for, ‘increasing the courage of the pure of heart and striking fear into the hearts of the impure.'”
Jamie: Oh yeah.
Laura: Wow, look at you, Jamie!
Andrew: You’re almost exact, Jamie! [laughs]
Jamie: Oh, well, what can I say? What can I say?
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Jamie: Thank you, everyone.
Andrew: I got that from the Lexicon, by the way. That’s my brain. Jamie has a brain, I just use the Lexicon as a brain.
[Andrew and Jamie laugh]
Micah: I was going to call it “Jamie’s moments of inspiration” or something like that.
[Andrew and Jamie laugh]
Micah: So, Harry continues to tell the story of what happened in the graveyard and then we get to the moment where he tells them how Voldemort took his blood and now has his blood running through his veins, and Dumbledore has that all-important gleam of triumph that Harry thinks he sees for like a fleeting moment. And this ended up being so much speculation about what this gleam of triumph was for…
Laura: Yeah.
Micah: …so many years, I guess until the final book was released. But – I mean, what exactly was the gleam of triumph, though? Was it just because he knew now that Voldemort could be defeated?
Laura: Yeah, I think so. Isn’t that what was later implied?
Micah: I think so.
Laura: Also – I mean, because Dumbledore was being a bit of a slippery git if you will and putting Harry up as a pig for slaughter. So, I guess at this point he knew that they had some sort of plan they could work with.
Andrew: Yeah. It’s just a shame Dumbledore was never really a good communicator until maybe the next book when he’s like, “Sit down, Harry. I’m about to tell you everything.”
Laura: Except he didn’t actually tell him everything.
Andrew: And then – right.
Jamie: Yeah.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: I remember we had fun with that. I think in Book 7, we were like, “Oh, so he was lying that whole time.” Or even Half-Blood Prince, too.
Micah: I wonder – or is it that Voldemort could never really kill Harry because Harry’s protection was now inside of Voldemort?
Jamie: No, no, it is that, isn’t it? Because he said that when – yeah, when he rose and took his blood he bound them together, even more so then they were bound together before, and that’s the gleam of triumph because Dumbledore’s plan was coming together.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah, but didn’t he – wouldn’t he also at that point have known or at least had some idea that one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes was inside of Harry?
Jamie: Yes. Well, he could have known that already because when he tells Snape that that fateful night when a part of his soul latched to him, then he probably knew that which means that him taking his blood and linking them further together binds them both to each other, and binds them both to the same fate or something.
Laura: Yeah, which means Harry has to – I don’t know.
Micah: Check the Lexicon.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Yeah.
Micah: No, just kidding.
Laura: When in doubt…
Micah: Yeah. So, we learn that Harry and Voldemort’s wands share the core of Fawkes’ phoenix feather, and I think this is just more information, again, coming from Dumbledore that he’s known for some time, because he even says that Ollivander called him – or messaged him, I guess. I don’t think they have phones – and let him know as soon as Harry purchased the wand that it was the same – the twin of Voldemort’s wand.
Jamie: Mmm.
Micah: So, after Harry finishes the story, Dumbledore takes him down to the hospital wing, and a lot of different events take place but he ends up going to sleep, and his sleep is interrupted by arguing between Fudge and Professor McGonagall, and it’s over the fact that not only did Fudge bring a Dementor into Hogwarts but it performed the kiss on Barty Crouch, Jr. And I wondered, why did Fudge believe that he had any need for the assistance of a Dementor? He had Snape, Dumbledore sent Snape to go down and get Fudge and to bring him up to the castle, but he could also have called for human beings. He could have called for any number of Aurors, he could have asked for Dumbledore. Why bring a Dementor, other than to further the plot?
Laura: He’s an idiot.
Andrew: Yeah, and it’s just…
Jamie: He’s a coward as well, yeah.
Andrew: It’s just another sign that Fudge is a messed-up guy, and it’s something to look forward to in Book 5 when we see him fall apart more, because – and as we’ll talk about in the next chapter, he – nothing is ever reported about this in the Prophet, so…
Micah: Right. So, the parting of the ways begins as Fudge and now Dumbledore who has joined in the conversation, argue with each other about Voldemort’s return. And it said that Dumbledore kind of looks at Fudge with the same level of intensity that he did when he busted into Moody’s office and saw the impostor Moody there essentially about to kill Harry. And it seems as if he’s looking at Fudge as a real person or – you know what I mean? Like, he’s seeing him as who he really is for the first time.
Laura: Mhm.
Micah: And he doesn’t really like what he sees.
Jamie: But I think he doesn’t like him because he’s sort of obsessed with power, and he’s obsessed with protecting his position and stuff which is exactly what Dumbledore hates because he knows that he can’t trust himself with power and it’s typically the things that we don’t like about ourselves that we don’t like in other people.
Andrew: Well…
Micah: Oh, that’s a good point.
Andrew: Yeah, and Dumbledore is working hard to try to prove that Voldemort is back and here is Fudge completely denying everything. I mean, it’s got to be extremely frustrating.
Micah: Yeah, it’s an unbelievable amount of denial. I mean, even when Harry tries to give his own proof of being in the graveyard and what he saw, he names the Death Eaters that were there, and Fudge just simply passes it off as having read old reports of trials. Now, is Harry – who is at right now, what, fourteen years old? – really somebody who’s been digging in the old trial reports from the Ministry and just randomly spewing out names of Death Eaters? I mean, come on. It just shows how vain he is. And then McGonagall points out that the death of Cedric and Barty Crouch, Sr. – they’re not deaths that were the work of a raving lunatic, and Fudge just says, “Oh, I see no evidence to the contrary.” I mean, he’s just getting to the point now where he’s really wearing blinders and not…
Laura: No, he’s …
Micah: …wanting to admit the truth.
Laura: …literally putting his head in the sand.
Andrew: I mean, I’m surprised he’s even there facing all this – all these remarks from McGonagall and Dumbledore. If I were him, I just would have just peaced out of there if I wanted to hide from all this truth.
Micah: Yeah, exactly. And he goes on to say, “It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!” So, that really says it all. I mean, he’s more concerned about order and protecting his own position than he is about the future safety of the entire community. And Dumbledore gives him the choice. He says, “You can either be remembered as the Minister who saved the wizarding world or the one who allowed Voldemort to return to power.”
Jamie: That’s a great line. Great line.
Andrew: And he’s going to pick the latter.
Micah: [laughs] Yeah, exactly.
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah.
Micah: Or otherwise we wouldn’t have the next few books.
Andrew: Well, really though, what could have Fudge done if he was like, “Okay. Yeah, I’m going to go – I’m going to save the wizarding world”? What’s he going to do? We all know Harry is the one who has to do it anyway.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: So…
Laura: He could have made it a bit easier for him.
Andrew: Yeah, I guess.
Micah: He could have worked with him instead of against him.
Andrew: Ahhh, this is true.
Laura: Instead of turning the entire wizarding world against him.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Yeah. So, Fudge essentially threatens Dumbledore. He brings up the fact that he allowed him to hire a werewolf, and he allowed him to keep Hagrid, and he’s allowed him to teach really whatever he wants to his students. And this is all…
Andrew: The old turn-the-tables trick, take the attention off of me.
Micah: Yeah, exactly.
Andrew: [laughs] Let’s bring up all of Dumbledore’s problems.
Micah: Yeah. So – and this was laying the groundwork for the Ministry to take over the school…
Jamie: Yeah.
Micah: …in the next book. But it’s like – Dumbledore has been teaching to students the same thing for many, many years, so why do you think just now it’s okay to step in and change his teaching process?
Jamie: I don’t know if he’s actually scared of Fudge, is he? Fudge is so impotent in his power. He just doesn’t seem to have any actual power or anything to him at all. And also, how’s he going to stop Dumbledore hiring werewolves and keeping Hagrid? I mean, he’s not – is he breaking laws? I guess he is kind of breaking laws if Hagrid keeps his wand, but it just seems like an empty threat, to be honest. I don’t think Dumbledore would be scared of that.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: And maybe Fudge had made clear to him in the past that he wasn’t cool with it, but he’ll let it slide anyway…
Jamie: Yeah, maybe.
Andrew: …because him and Dumbledore had a better relationship, so maybe this is his way of being like, “I trusted you. You were doing these things and I let them slide, and now you’re kind of turning your back against me, and in the meantime I’ve been good to you…”
Micah: Right.
Andrew: “…so what the hell?”
Micah: So it’s exactly what you were saying. It’s like he’s turning it all on Dumbledore now instead of it being about Fudge.
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: Mhm.
Micah: And probably the most telling thing that happens in this entire scene is Fudge starts to walk away, and Snape kind of pulls him back and shows him the Dark Mark. And it’s still burning, not as bright as it was before, but he mentions that’s why Karkaroff ran off. But Fudge just refuses to believe. It’s almost like you can take all the evidence and put it in front of him – you can bring Voldemort and put him in front of him, he’s still not going to believe it’s Voldemort.
Andrew: Well, he does in Order of the Phoenix when he sees him.
Micah: Right.
Andrew: So, did Fudge genuinely not believe he was back, or was he just saying this so he could kind of, I don’t know, maybe focus on it himself, take a look at the evidence and really think about it, talk with other people in the Ministry? It just seems impossible that he genuinely deep down believes he’s not back.
Jamie: Hmmm, I don’t know. I don’t think he believes that, or perhaps he has told himself that he believes it and then he believes it, if you know what I mean. But deep down, I think he’s so scared of it he won’t even entertain the thought, maybe.
Laura: Yeah, I agree with that.
Micah: Yeah, I think he’s just – he believes Harry to be nothing more than a good storyteller, and he thinks that Dumbledore is buying into the crackpot theories that Harry is coming up with. And he even mentions not giving all the information over to the Ministry that’s gone on at the school, and the things that Harry – the fact that he can speak to snakes and the fact that there has been all these incidents that have happened, and they’ve kind of been pushed under the rug by Dumbledore. But as soon as Fudge leaves, Dumbledore puts his plan into motion almost right away. He tells Sirius to take his human form because this whole time, he’s been as a dog, and he makes him and Snape shake hands. And this was one of the scenes that I would have liked to see in the movies. I mean, all this stuff is completely cut out of Goblet of Fire. There’s no mention of any of this, and one of the people that Dumbledore mentions that Sirius should start go rounding up – he talks about Lupin, he talks about others, but – was Arabella Figg. I didn’t know – did anybody catch this the first time reading knowing that she was the one who was looking over Harry?
Jamie: I didn’t. I didn’t, no.
Laura: I remembered her name. Yeah, I was like, “Hmmm.” I was also like eleven…
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: …when I first read this book, so…
Andrew: Right.
Micah: Yeah. And then he tells Snape that basically, “You know what you have to do,” and I’m assuming that he’s going back to have to work within Voldemort’s inner circle. And the chapter just ends with Harry being overcome with so much emotion as to what’s taken place over the course of these last few hours, and Mrs. Weasley is shown as being the motherly figure comforting him, so you really get to see the relationship between the two of them. And then there’s also this brief moment where Hermione catches something at the window and it kind of breaks up all the emotion that’s taking place, and that’s really how the chapter ends.
MuggleCast 226 Transcript (continued)
Chapter-by-Chapter: “The Beginning”
Andrew: And this is kind of a transition into Book 5, too, because we see Harry very angry overall in Book 5. And so Jo pointing out that Harry is overcome with emotion, it kind of leads in nicely to the next book. So anyway, the final chapter, Chapter 37, “The Beginning.” Harry is still trying to recover from all the hardship that had been going on, and [laughs] to fuel the fire he then meets with the Diggorys who very kindly don’t blame Harry, and believe Cedric died quick and painlessly which was comforting to them. Since it was Avada Kedavra, it was kind of one shot and boom. There was no slow, painful, emotional death, I guess you could say. Ron tells Harry that Dumbledore wants him to go back to the Dursley’s for at least the beginning of the summer, presumably so Harry has the house’s protection until Dumbledore works some plans out, maybe.
Jamie: Yeah. Until he comes to get him, yeah.
Andrew: Yeah. And Harry was confused by this. So – and then – I kind of forgot about this, through all this classes are still going on, and I thought that was kind of odd. Harry should have just gotten the rest of the year off.
Jamie: I never get this. This is one of those things where they just skip like a load of schooling and it doesn’t seem to be a problem that they’re going to be way behind. It’s like the fact that they don’t ever wash or brush their teeth.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Or eat healthy stuff. They always – Harry helped himself to a couple of fried tomatoes and sausages and stuff.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: And chocolate frogs.
Jamie: And chocolate frogs, yeah. They just – or exercise or do anything.
[Andrew and Jamie laugh]
Jamie: They just seem to exist.
Micah: But how many classes could possibly be going on? Because doesn’t the third task happen on June the 20-something? I mean, how long does the term last for these guys?
Laura: I thought they start – don’t they go until the end of June? I don’t know. I mean, I’m not – I don’t know how breaks work in…
Micah: You don’t go to Hogwarts?
Laura: Yeah.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Well, I don’t know how breaks work in England or in the UK. Jamie, enlighten us.
Jamie: I don’t – well, it depends, really. I think they…
Micah: Yeah.
Jamie: …go to about July 20th for a normal school.
Micah: Oh, okay.
Jamie: So yeah, I guess they still would be going on. In fact, you’d think that would be exam time, really…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: …around that kind of time. But yeah…
Micah: Yeah, it says the third task was on June 24th.
Jamie: The 24th, yeah.
Andrew: Their curriculum could not have been complete, I think basically is what we’re [laughs] trying to say with all these classes being missed, and of course Harry can’t focus. It’s just very – but then again, Jamie, it’s like, well, if they didn’t have classes at all where would have been their home base? I mean, the classes do add a lot to the series.
Jamie: Oh yeah.
Andrew: It is interesting. And the books are defined by the school years, pretty much.
Jamie: But what I don’t get is if I – when I was eleven – instead of going to school to learn stuff, I just went to a wizarding school, I’d be pretty stupid but I’d know how to cast spells. Surely they need to also do…
[Micah laughs]
Jamie: …normal subjects.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Maths and science and English.
Andrew: Well, I guess that’s what elementary school was for before you turned eleven. I don’t know. Even though that’s still pretty young.
Laura: But they didn’t do that.
Andrew: What?
Laura: Didn’t she say they were just home-schooled [laughs] before they were eleven?
Jamie: Well, all of them?
Laura: Yeah, I’m pretty sure she said that because where would they…
Jamie: [laughs] So they’re just stupid?
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Where would they go?
Jamie: Yeah, that’s true. How could Harry even string a sentence together?
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: No, he went to school, though…
Laura: Yeah, he did.
Micah: …because he…
Jamie: No, he went to school, yeah. I don’t know, how does – what’s his name? Neville, how does – [laughs] I mean, he is quite stupid, but…
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: …how does he string a sentence together? How does anyone know anything about the world?
Andrew: Well, you learn to talk through – you don’t need school to learn to talk.
Jamie: Okay, okay…
Andrew: I get the point you’re making but…
Jamie: Okay, perhaps I’m taking it too far, but…
Andrew: How does he know his times tables?
Jamie: Yeah, yeah, how does he do any basic sums? Well, I guess he doesn’t need to, they just point their wands. That’s lazy, isn’t it?
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Accio eight times seven.
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah, exactly.
Micah: So you’re saying Potter promotes obesity, is that what you’re saying?
Jamie: In a very…
Laura: And stupidity.
Jamie: …very roundabout way, yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Okay, so moving along in the chapter, Hagrid talks to the trio and says, “Great man Dumbledore. As long as we’ve got him, I’m not worried,” and it made me kind of flash-forward to Half-Blood Prince because I don’t recall any specific comments from Hagrid about Dumbledore’s death. Obviously, as we know now after reading this quote from him, Hagrid must have been scared crap-less when Dumbledore died. Unless he really trusted Harry at that point to take over for what Dumbledore was trying to do, or he knew this was a step towards defeating Voldemort. At the Leaving Feast, Dumbledore makes a big speech about what exactly happened to Cedric and there are no house colors in the Great Hall. That day was a tribute to Cedric, and they did a good job with this in the movie. I think they had to – I don’t know if they had black, but – did they have like…
Laura: I think they had black.
Andrew: Oh, was it?
Micah: They were Hogwarts, I think. They had an H on them, I remember.
Jamie: Yeah, so unity.
Andrew: Right.
Jamie: Unity type of thing.
Andrew: Okay, yeah. And that was a nice touch, I’m glad they did that in the movie. And Dumbledore flat out says that Cedric was killed by Lord Voldemort which makes everyone gasp and everybody is very taken aback by Dumbledore’s direct statements. Dumbledore does a toast for Cedric and then also does a toast for Harry for getting away from Voldemort as well as bringing back Cedric’s body. So, the feast wraps up, it’s a very emotional time. There are a lot of goodbyes that we get to see as everybody leaves Hogwarts and Ron finally gets his autograph from Krum so it’s kind of like that little plot point is tied up at the end. [laughs] And on the train back to King’s Cross, Harry and Hermione note that the Daily Prophet as I mentioned earlier makes no mention of Voldemort’s return. They suspect that Fudge is trying to keep it under wraps. They don’t – and the Prophet didn’t mention Cedric’s death either and it’s a sign of what’s to come in Order of the Phoenix.
Jamie: Can I just ask…
Andrew: The Ministry…
Jamie: Do…
Andrew: Hmmm?
Jamie: Are Krum and Hermione – I mean, they are kind of dating by this point, aren’t they? Like kind of, sort of, maybe seeing each other, aren’t they?
Laura: Yeah, because later on, doesn’t Ginny remark that they snogged or something?
Jamie: Yeah, well, I don’t see why Ron would go up and get his autograph. It would be like the girl that he loves going up and getting her new boyfriend’s autograph. It would be really – surely you wouldn’t want to do that. It’s really weird.
Andrew: Well, he’s still a fan of Krum, though, and it kind of wraps up that point. At the beginning of this book, we see that Ron is very into Viktor Krum and he wanted to ask for an autograph I believe at one point and didn’t build up the guts to do it.
Jamie: I guess so.
Andrew: So…
Jamie: It just seems a bit – I guess he’s a fan of his, yeah. I guess that’s why. But still, it just seems a bit weird.
Andrew: So, Hermione reveals that she figured out how Rita Skeeter was eavesdropping, and I think this is what you mentioned at the end of the chapter, right?
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Hermione catches something by the window. So, what had happened was Rita is an unregistered Animagus who can turn into a beetle. Hermione has captured her and is keeping her in a jar, and Hermione shows everybody the beetle. And Hermione says she put a charm on the glass so she can’t transform, but – and I guess this means you can’t Apparate as a – in your Animagus form…
Jamie: But how do you change back?
Andrew: …because…
Jamie: I mean, a beetle is pretty stupid. [laughs] I don’t see how it can cast a spell.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: What, you mean – oh, I see. To Apparate or to turn back into a human?
Jamie: Transform. If your animal form is an amoeba or other form of single-celled organism, you can’t be clever enough to think, “Oh, I’m going to transform back.” So you have to…
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Well, you must still have your brain because as the beetle, Rita was taking notes and getting the scoop…
Jamie: Yes, very true. Very true. So you’d be an extremely clever amoeba.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Did anyone else feel stupid for not catching this after Book 3?
Jamie: No, I didn’t. It’s quite clever.
Laura: No, it was but I mean – especially with Book 3, everything with Peter Pettigrew.
Micah: Yeah.
Laura: I feel like…
Jamie: True.
Laura: …the groundwork was very much laid and then later I was like, “Aww man.”
Micah: She did it again.
Laura: Yeah.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Well, what – did you have any theories as to how Rita was doing it before you found out she was a beetle?
Laura: No, no, I had no idea because I’m apparently…
Andrew: I mean, obviously she – go ahead.
Laura: …on the same level as the amoeba…
Andrew: There could have been a lot of options, though. She could have had some magical little tracking device on them or something. I mean, we’re still getting introduced to a lot of magical things in the series, so who knows what Jo could have dreamt up other than this beetle idea.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Draco comes in – they’re still on the Hogwarts Express. Draco comes in and tells Harry that he’s chosen the wrong side, and Hermione and Ron are going to be the first to go. And it’s really silly that – so we’re really establishing now that Draco is on the bad side. It is not going to get better between the two. And it seems silly to think at this point that Draco is actually for what has been going on recently, and he’s still able to go to Hogwarts in all this. I mean, he should be considered a serious threat to the school if he’s sitting there threatening fellow students.
Micah: Yeah. I – and the other thing is this is going back to what you said about it not being in the newspaper. That’s pretty big. I mean, a kid died at your only local [laughs] wizarding school and you’re covering it up?
Jamie: There have got to be other forms of newspapers, though, or the internet. Surely there are bloggers.
Andrew: [laughs] There was no internet back then when this took place.
Laura: In the 90’s?
Andrew: I mean, there was AOL dial-up but nobody was using the internet.
Micah: Yeah, but…
Andrew: I don’t know.
Jamie: I don’t know.
Andrew: We never see electronics in the wizarding world. Come on. [laughs]
Jamie: Okay, but why not? There’s got to be a way to tell people about it. I’d have thought news would spread incredibly quickly when you can send a Patronus to a hundred people in one go. It’s like whispers, Chinese whispers, but with Patronuses. You send…
Andrew: Well, maybe word was getting around in other ways.
Jamie: I guess. I guess, yeah.
Andrew: And like in Deathly Hallows, we see the radio station…
Jamie: Yes.
Andrew: …that they’re using to talk over. So…
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah, but that’s old, radio.
Andrew: It is, yeah. So, Fred and George help the trio hex Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle. They arrive at King’s Cross, Harry gives his Triwizard winnings to Fred and George for their joke shop, and they say it must be around a thousand Galleons and I did the calculations online. That means it’s worth about 10,000 US dollars.
Jamie: That’s quite a lot.
Andrew: It is, yeah. Harry thinks to himself – I remember reading this for the first time and being so touched that Harry was giving away his money. I thought that was really nice, and really cool to see that Fred and George were going to be opening up their – a real joke shop for them. It just shows their growth in the series, how they’re going to be – they’re about to be businessmen. So, the book ends with Harry thinking to himself that whatever will come, will come and he’ll have to face it when it does. And that is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. So, that’s another book done in our Chapter-by-Chapter series. A lot of people ask sometimes if we can cut up all the Chapter-by-Chapter segments and insert them into one giant episode but…
Jamie: That would be so cool, one book – each book… [laughs]
Andrew: Like thirty hours. [laughs] But – yeah, that’s – just download the episodes.
Micah: Andrew’s busy.
Make The Connection
Andrew: Well, I am – that just seems a little pointless. So, in a couple of episodes we will begin Order of the Phoenix. Probably not the next episode because that will probably be a trailer review show, but we’ll do it in the future. Anyway, moving along. Jamie, could you give us some Make the Connections, please? It’s been so long.
Jamie: I certainly can. I certainly can. Okay Andrew, since you don’t really like this when I give you tough ones, I’ve got quite a simple one for you.
Andrew: Okay.
Jamie: So Andrew, please could you make a connection between Harry Potter and Seth MacFarlane.
Andrew: The creator of Family Guy.
Jamie: Yes.
Andrew: Hmmm.
Jamie: And American Dad.
Andrew: [laughs] Do you like American Dad?
Jamie: Not really.
Laura: I don’t think it’s as good.
Jamie: I don’t think it’s as good as Family Guy.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: The characters are a bit weak. Family Guy is awesome, though, obviously.
Andrew: That’s kind of hard. I mean, I guess the – my first thing I would think of is looking at the family, but the Griffin family does not really relate to the Potter family or any of the others.
Laura: You can’t compare Stewie and Voldemort? Come on.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
[Jamie and Laura laugh]
Andrew: That’s a good point. Stewie is out to kill everybody even though he has not had some master plan to protect himself from being killed. He hasn’t planted any Horcruxes in anyone. But yes, Voldemort and Stewie have the connection that they’re both very evil. And then there’s also Brian and Sirius. They’re both dogs who look out…
Jamie: Oh yeah!
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: Nice, nice. That’s very good.
Andrew: [laughs] They’re both dogs who look out for their best friends and Brian is always there for Stewie, sometimes Peter, sometimes Lois. And you know what? They’re both looking for love. They’re both always looking for love and they can never seem to find it.
Jamie: Okay, that’s a bit weak.
Andrew: Why?!
[Jamie laughs]
Andrew: Sirius didn’t find love. We know he wants some love.
Jamie: Where was he looking for love?
Andrew: I’m sure deep down, we just – if we got a backstory on Sirius, we would find something.
Jamie: [laughs] Oh, right. Okay.
Laura: It sounds like…
Jamie: All right. Yes, yes.
Laura: …a really bad fan fiction.
Jamie: Yeah, it does, yeah. All right, Laura. Your one is to make a connection between Harry Potter and selling your collection of Pokémon cards.
Laura: [laughs] Oh my God.
[Micah laughs]
Laura: Well, I guess if you sold your collection of Pokémon cards, you might accidentally sell a really rare one. What is it, the holographic thing?
Andrew: Charizard?
Laura: Yeah, there we go.
Jamie: Charizard! I got that in a pack once.
Andrew: Oh my God.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: My mum bought me a pack and I opened it, and there was one in there and it was worth fifteen pounds at the time.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Jamie: That is a lot of money.
Laura: [imitating Jamie] “Fifteen pounds.”
Jamie: I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy.
Andrew: That was exciting to get the Charizard.
Micah: Did you have a license to sell Pokémon cards?
Jamie: No…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: …I didn’t so I just had to keep it. [laughs] Sorry Laura. Go ahead.
Laura: No, no. So, you accidentally give away your holographic Charizard and then later some poor kid has to go hunt it down because – I don’t know, he has a reason. But anyway, that’s like Harry having to hunt down Horcruxes.
Andrew: Ooh.
Jamie: That is pretty good and also, you could talk about Hagrid and the dragon, having to let the dragon go, maybe, with Charizard.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Mmm.
Jamie: And perhaps something there, maybe? I don’t know. Maybe, sort of. Very nice. And Micah, I always save the stupid one for you.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Okay, so…
Micah: Is this like Tiger Woods and something?
Jamie: Yeah, [laughs] basically, yeah.
Micah: I forget what it was.
Jamie: Micah, please would you make a connection between Harry Potter and – [laughs] sorry, and asking a homeless person if they’ve ever watched an episode of Two and a Half Men.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Micah, I’ll help you get started. A homeless man would be, “What the hell is Two and a Half Men?”
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Jamie: Yeah. [laughs]
Micah: It’s almost like asking somebody who doesn’t know anything about Harry Potter what Harry Potter is, because how would a homeless man, as Andrew pointed out, know anything about Two and a Half Men?
Jamie: I know how. Because he’s homeless, he sort of walks the streets being sad and he walks past one of those shops that has TVs facing outwards, and he walks past it every day and that show is always on. So he goes inside and says, “Oh, that wasn’t really that funny. Who – what was that?”
Andrew: Micah, just say what I said.
Micah: Well, I basically did.
Andrew: Oh.
Micah: Yeah.
Jamie: All right. Well, that was very good.
Andrew: [laughs] Okay.
[Jamie and Micah laugh]
Andrew: Good job, Micah. [laughs] And that’s how we play Make the Connection.
Jamie: Why don’t we – if anyone has a really good one for that last one, e-mail it in. Perhaps we could read a couple on the next show.
Muggle Mail: Responsibility to Speak for the Fans
Andrew: Sure. It’s time for Muggle Mail now. This first one comes from Eric Coppes, 14, Indiana. He’s a little disappointed with us.
“Hearing you guys talk about the changes in ‘Part 2’ on Episode 225 has really concerned me, not only with the film itself, but with you guys. Don’t you guys think you have a sort of responsibility to speak for the fans? I mean, there are so many of us who would love to speak to Heyman or the other filmmakers about our concerns, but you guys are the ones who get that opportunity. So, when David Heyman asks, “Did you like ‘Part 2’?” then it’s not your job to just say yes. You need to say when you have problems. This movie was our last shot at getting everything right, and when you have the power to step forward and say something, you have the responsibility to step forward and say something. (Woot! Spiderman!)”
Okay.
“But seriously, it was a test screening which means there are still changes to be made, and you could have made a difference even if it was just a small one.”
Laura: No, you couldn’t have.
Andrew: Yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I don’t like to be Negative Nancy but – okay, what Eric Coppes is talking about is Eric Scull – or was it – yeah, Eric Scull – who – did Eric even talk to Heyman about the movie?
Micah: Well, no…
Andrew: Micah?
Micah: …I think what he’s saying is that – okay…
Andrew: Oh, the problem was…
Micah: No, no, this…
Andrew: …you talked to him and you hadn’t seen…
Micah: It’s all mixed up, yeah. He’s mixing up everything that I happened, I think is the problem. Heyman said to me, “I hope you enjoy Part 2,” to which I said basically, “Thank you, I’m sure I will.” I had – I think he’s thinking that I had already seen Part 2 in Chicago.
Andrew: Right.
Micah: But it was in fact you and Eric who saw it in Chicago.
Andrew: And here’s the other thing. I don’t mean to be Negative Nancy. Yes, we do get the privilege of talking to Heyman and other people involved in the films, and it’s awesome. And I like to think we do ask them some good questions, especially around the premieres and the junkets. But if we were to say to him – if I were to have gone up to him and been like, “Heyman, you’ve got to change so and so,” I don’t want to spoil it for anybody who doesn’t want to be spoiled, what’s he going to do?! Be like, “Okay. Yeah, I’m going to go back and we’re going to spend ten million dollars to change all those special effects”?
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah, they’re going to say, “Guys, Andrew Sims told me…”
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: “He says or else he’ll complain on MuggleCast.”
Micah: Yeah, exactly.
[Jamie laughs]
Micah: It would be like, “Hey David, welcome to our show. What the bleep were you thinking when you did this?”
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah, yeah.
Andrew: So, then our chance to really get in there and speak for the fans is when we can ask direct questions about the decisions that they made. We can’t tell them to make decisions. But around premiere time or the junket time, we will definitely ask them questions about scenes that we had a problem with.
Micah: Yeah, and I mean…
Andrew: And we’ll get the answers. But we can’t make changes.
Micah: They make – I mean, they give those answers. They’re not shy about responding to why they cut something out or they changed something.
Andrew: Yeah. They tend to be very confident in all the choices they make, because there is a lot of discussion that goes into all these changes, so – anyway, Laura, could you read the next e-mail from Cary?
Muggle Mail: Death of Peter Pettigrew
Laura: Sure. The next e-mail comes from Cary, 48, of Illinois, and she writes:
“Hi MuggleCast, thank you for your podcasts, I really enjoy listening to them. My thirteen-year-old son and I are great fans.”
Awww, that’s really cute.
“In regards to Heyman’s comments about the death of Peter Pettigrew, I heard the audio of the comments he made about it. It wasn’t that he said the death of Pettigrew was juvenile, but how it would look on film. He was afraid that showing a metal hand killing himself would have looked juvenile or corny like the old B horror films.”
[laughs] Yeah.
“He said they felt that there was no way they could have made it look authentic and serious.”
Micah: I don’t know if I believe that, to be honest with you. You gave him the hand in the fourth movie, so…
Andrew: And you see it in Part 1.
Micah: Yeah, it’s – I don’t know, I get it but…
Jamie: I’m sure they could have done it, couldn’t they?
Andrew: I agree.
Laura: I don’t know.
Jamie: I’m sure they could have done it in a cool way, like just a really silvery hand against his will. I don’t know. I mean, it doesn’t have to be like the phantom hand from…
Micah: Hell?
Jamie: Hell, yeah. But I mean, I understand it if they just didn’t feel that it was right for the audience. But I think they could have done it, couldn’t they?
Laura: I mean, the only thing…
Andrew: I think they could have.
Laura: The only thing that I think of is I think the costume and just general makeup for that character in the movies came out kind of goofy anyway because they were trying to make him look like a rat [laughs] post Animagus form. And I don’t know, I could just imagine his face [laughs] when he’s choking himself, and I think it would have been probably really funny and not – I don’t know.
Andrew: What’s the actor’s name again? Timothy Spall?
Laura: Yeah, Timothy Spall, I think.
Jamie: Timothy Spall, yeah.
Andrew: Yeah. I think he could have pulled it off. I mean, he did a great job of portraying Pettigrew in these movies and he has that weird eerie look on his face all the time. I think that would have fit in well with him choking himself.
Micah: Yeah, I agree.
Laura: I don’t know, I understand where they’re coming from.
Micah: I would have…
Laura: And also because these movies – there have been a few occasions where they have done things that haven’t quite worked out and have left people laughing, like the, “He was their friend,” speech. [laughs] So…
Andrew: They should have at least tried to shoot it and see how it turned out. I mean – and maybe they did, for all we know.
Micah: What if it was a shadow? Like, what if you saw [laughs] the hand like attacking him…
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: That would have been cheesy.
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah, that would have been so cheesy.
Laura: That’s like the first movie when they were too cheap to show – what was it in the first five minutes? They didn’t actually show McGonagall transforming, they just showed her shadow.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: [laughs] Right.
Laura: Yeah. That’s so…
Andrew: That was kind of…
Laura: It looks so crappy.
Andrew: Really?
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: But I mean, back in 2001? That was kind of – I don’t know.
Micah: I would have believed it more if he said something like, “We didn’t want to have deaths back-to-back, killing Pettigrew and Dobby in such a short period of time,” or something like that.
Andrew: Yeah, that could have made sense. Yeah.
Laura: The only thing that I don’t like about it is I don’t know if they’re going to kill him in Part 2…
Micah: Well no…
Laura: …because then…
Micah: …that’s the point of this whole…
Laura: Yeah.
Micah: …conversation.
Andrew: They don’t.
Laura: They don’t at all?
Andrew: No. You don’t even see him. You see him in a brief flashback but that’s it.
Laura: Yeah, because that’s stupid then because…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: …he would be the only Marauder who survives, and he – oh okay. Whatever.
Micah: You wasted money on special effects giving him the hand in two movies.
Andrew: All for nothing!
Micah: You could have put in a house-elf for that.
[Jamie and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Jamie, could you read the next e-mail from Liz?
Muggle Mail: Imperius Curse
Jamie: Yep. This is from Liz, 20, from Santa Barbara, California.
“I was just listening to Episode 225 and I wanted to clarify what you guys said about the duel between Harry and Voldemort. When Voldemort puts the Imperius Curse on Harry, he wants Harry to answer ‘No,’ that he doesn’t want to be ‘Crucio”d anymore. This is Voldemort’s way of trying to get Harry to beg for mercy. However, to the shock of Voldemort and the Death Eaters, Harry overcomes the curse and instead yells, ‘I won’t’ Just wanted to clarify this point. Love the show and keep up the awesome work.”
Yes, that does sound like Voldemort, to be honest. What, did you guys say that he wanted him to say that he did want it to happen?
Andrew: Well, we were wondering because it seemed like Harry was trying to resist but it may have overcome him. I don’t – we were – I was kind of going in circles with that discussion.
Jamie: Oh, right. Okay.
Andrew: Yeah. Micah, final e-mail today.
Muggle Mail: Barty Crouch, Jr. & Bertha Jorkins
Micah: Is from Roy, 22, of Seattle, and he says:
“I was struck by something when you guys covered the “Veritaserum” chapter in the latest episode. As soon as Dumbledore stuns fake Moody, he orders Winky fetched which makes me think he knew that the perpetrator was Barty Crouch, Jr. Clearly he didn’t realize that Moody was evil until he took Harry away earlier that night, so how did Dumbledore come to this conclusion? Also, Bertha was described as being very nosy and inquisitive, and the Memory Charm placed on her by Voldemort turned her into a mess. Surely someone would have noticed that immediate change? But then again this is the Ministry. PS: You forgot to mention Frank Bryce coming out of Voldemort’s wand. PS 2: Why are you not doing a Chapter -by-Chapter on ‘Half-Blood Prince’ and ‘Deathly Hallows’? Keep it up!”
Well, where do we start with that?
Jamie: PS 2. We are going to do one on the final book, aren’t we?
Micah: We already did.
Andrew: We already did.
Jamie: Oh, right! Oh.
Andrew: Yeah, right after it came out.
Jamie: Oh, yes. All right. PS then.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Guys, you forgot to mention Frank Bryce coming out of Voldy’s wand?
Andrew: You know what? Yeah, I’m sorry. That was a mistake on my part.
Micah: And it’s a good point about Bertha Jorkins.
Jamie: Wait, wait, wait.
Micah: What?
Jamie: But I thought she didn’t go back to the Ministry. I thought it was such – the Memory Charm was so powerful she just went crazy and no one found her, or did she go back?
Micah: That’s a good point.
Jamie: I thought she was just kind of lost out in Albania.
Micah: What about our point about Dumbledore knowing to get Winky?
Jamie: So wait, when he saw that Moody took Harry away he knew that he was evil, but did he know that it was Barty Crouch, Jr. then?
Micah: I don’t know that he could have, that’s the thing. He knew that it wasn’t the real Moody. That much he knew because he knew the real Moody never would have removed him. He says something like that, never would have removed him from Dumbledore’s side.
Jamie: His side, yeah.
Micah: But he tells him to go – or he tells Snape I think to go get Moody – or to go get Winky before he transforms back which is weird.
Laura: See, here’s the thing about Dumbledore that kind of irks me. It’s always implied slightly that he has a general idea of who the bad guy is, and he doesn’t really do anything about it.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Laura: He just…
Jamie: That is true, yeah.
Laura: He’s just like, “Oh, whatever. Hey, by the way, Snape, keep an eye on Quirrell, will you?” Like what? Come on, dude. It’s like…
Jamie: That’s why he’s such a weird character…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: …Dumbledore, yeah. He just doesn’t do – he’s got all this power and stuff, and you’d think he’d try and do a bit more. Actually that’s really harsh considering what he did do, but I do know what you mean. [laughs] I think I expressed myself in the wrong way, but I know what you mean.
Andrew: Well, how we talked about the whole pig for slaughter thing, too. It’s just like…
Jamie: Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Listener Tweets: Deathly Hallows – Part 1 DVD
Andrew: …Dumbledore just keeps setting up Harry. To wrap things up today, Twitter question of the week. We asked this to people who follow us on Twitter, Twitter.com/MuggleCast. We asked, “What did you think of the Part 1 DVD?” which we just talked about earlier. Letesia Scott wrote:
“I loved ‘On the Green.’ It was great seeing the Phelps twins and Rupert and Tom. They were adorable together.”
See, that was one of those things. There is a segment on the DVD where it’s a golfing segment, but I’m just like – that’s such filler. Just give me more behind-the-scenes content, not them golfing.
Micah: Yeah, one good thing, though, that I did learn from some of the events that have been going on the last couple of weeks for this DVD launch is eventually they are going to put out bloopers, which I know a lot of people have been asking about. We have all these DVDs and all these Ultimate Editions, and it doesn’t seem like there’s any bloopers. Everybody wants to see the funny moments, but…
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: …the reasoning that they gave was like at the beginning, the cast was so young so they didn’t want to…
Andrew: Embarrass them?
Micah: I guess like that.
Andrew: That makes sense.
Micah: But they have been keeping all these bloopers over the course of the years…
Andrew: Cool.
Micah: …and they said eventually they’ll release them in some form.
Andrew: U.J. the Awesome said:
“I bought the Blu-ray and I like the ‘Maximum Movie Mode’ and other features were great, too. Totally worth buying.”
VictoriaP3949:
“I’m glad they added the deleted scenes on the DVD, especially the Harry/Dudley one. The creation of the seven Harrys was amazing.”
Devpod wrote:
“The deleted scenes all had so many emotional pauses in them. Glad they’re deleted. Would have slowed the movie more than usual.”
That is true. And finally, ArwenEvenstar11 wrote:
“I wish the Blu-ray features were also on DVD, but I guess that’s what happens when you try and be cheap, and not buy a Blu-ray player.”
Blu-ray is the future. Jamie, get with it. Get your licenses in order.
[Micah laughs]
Jamie: Aww.
Micah: I don’t have a Blu-ray either.
Jamie: They’re a bit expensive.
Micah: Laura, do you?
Laura: No, I have Blu-ray at home but not in my apartment, no.
Micah: But see, here’s the thing. They’re essentially forcing you to buy the Blu-ray player because all the good stuff now is going on the Blu-ray.
Jamie: And then, Micah – and then in ten years, something new will come out.
Micah: Exactly!
Jamie: Like holographic DVDs, and then I’ll have a Blu-ray player and four hundred Blu-ray DVDs. [laughs] Blu-ray discs.
Andrew: But that’s technology, guys, it changes. You’re either with it or you’re in the Stone Age, so…
Jamie: Yeah and Andrew, you are a fan boy.
[Jamie and Micah laugh]
Andrew: I am not a – what, do you think I’m a Blu-ray fan? Well yeah, I have to agree. It’s very stupid that the special features are only for the Blu-ray. Now I’ve heard that there’s also – but it’s exclusively at Walmart – a DVD version, but you can only get it at Walmart which is just silly. They’re obviously really trying to push the Blu-ray combo pack. I don’t know if they get a kickback from Blu-ray players or something, I don’t know. Something weird…
Micah: [laughs] Kickback.
Show Close
Andrew: …is going on there. Anyway, so that’s it for the show this week. We’d like to remind everybody about the website, MuggleCast.com. If you click on “Contact” at the top, you can…
[Show music begins]
Andrew: …find a feedback form where you can contact us and send in your thoughts about anything that we talked about on the show today. Also, on the right side of MuggleCast.com, you can find links to our iTunes page, our Twitter, our Facebook, and Tumblr. So, thank you everyone for listening! I’m Andrew Sims.
Jamie: I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: And I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Andrew: And we’ll see you next time for Episode 227. Buh-bye!
Laura: Bye!
Jamie: Bye!
[Show music continues]