Transcript for MuggleCast Episode #280, The Goat King
Show Intro
[Show music plays]
Andrew Sims: This is MuggleCast, your Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts podcast covering everything about J.K. Rowling’s magical world. This week’s episode is brought to you by Audible.com. Audible is the leading provider of audiobooks, with more than 150,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, nonfiction, and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast. Welcome to MuggleCast Episode 280. Micah, Eric, and I are here this week, and joining us is Selina from Hypable.com. Welcome back.
Selina Wilken: Yay! All of the listeners just stood up and cheered.
Andrew: Whoa, why?
Selina: Right? No? Because it was me. [laughs]
Andrew: Oh, oh.
Eric Scull: Welcome back, Selina.
Andrew: We all love you that much.
Micah Tannenbaum: I stood up and cheered.
Selina: Thank you, Micah. I can always count on you.
Andrew: [laughs] So we have a little fun news to start out today’s episode. This is July, and it’s a huge month in the world of Harry Potter, historically, and we’re going to talk about all of the dates – this day in history – later in the episode. But this is also Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling’s birthday month. They were both born on July 31, so happy birthday, you two. You know Harry Potter is turning 35?
Eric: Oh, man.
Andrew: I don’t like that.
[Selina laughs]
Eric: It’s so odd. He turned 15 when I turned 15, but somehow he’s 35 and I’m several years away. What is this sorcery? What is this?
Selina: [laughs] It’s magic.
Andrew: Yeah, for some reason, I don’t like thinking of the character Harry Potter as an adult. I prefer thinking of him always as a 17-year-old.
Selina: Well, yeah, of course.
[Andrew laughs]
Selina: This is how he exists in your memory.
Eric: This is getting into those 19 years later territory, isn’t it? Next couple years, he’ll be as old as he was in the epilogue.
Selina: Oh, God.
Andrew: Maybe, yeah.
Micah: Well, we’ll be at the epilogue.
Andrew: Oh, when? When is that?
Eric: There’s a whole thing about it, September 1, 2017 at King’s Cross Station. Bunch of Harry Potter fans are going to go and see if they can spot Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they let their kids…
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Andrew: J.K. Rowling should show up there. It seems only right.
Eric: She should totally… she should absolutely, 100% show up. But yeah, I mean, if anybody’s looking for an excuse to go to London, that’s as good as any.
Andrew: And J.K. Rowling turns, I believe, 23 this year, so happy birthday to you.
Selina: Yes.
Micah: You’re going to make her blush again, Andrew.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Oh, we’re going to get to that later on. Something very big happened. If you don’t follow me on Twitter, you may not know this yet. Something very big happened to me earlier this month, so we’re going to talk about that later on.
News
Andrew: But first, the news. The Fantastic Beasts cast is now in place. The final lead was found on July 10; his name is Dan Fogler, and he is going to be playing Jacob, who is Newt’s rival, and we also learned that he is going to be a Muggle.
[Selina gasps]
Andrew: Oooh…
Selina: I love this. Do you guys love this? I think it’s amazing.
Andrew: Why? Why do you love this?
Selina: Well, because we’ve never had a Muggle in the story before. Well, if you don’t count the Dursleys, but I mean, this is going to be… this is just another clue that Fantastic Beasts is going to be a lot more… not realistic, I guess, isn’t the right word, but a lot more gritty, real life, kind of. Adults, Muggles…
Eric: Now, in the 1920s… the period setting is going to be completely – I don’t want to say off-putting – completely different. And the idea that a Muggle could be a rival to a wizard zoologist…
Selina: I love that. I think that’s amazing.
Eric: Or maybe he’s a rival in a different fashion, but just that Muggles are a part of the story.
Andrew: So we still don’t know much about this Jacob character, but I was guessing in my Hypable article that maybe Jacob will be jealous of Newt’s magical abilities? Because Newt…
Selina: Well, you really loved your theory that they were lovers or something. That didn’t pan out.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, I don’t think they’re going to play lovers now.
Eric: I liked the werewolf theory myself, but that didn’t happen.
Andrew: What’s that theory again?
Eric: Oh, that he’d be played by the same guy who played Jacob – Taylor Lautner – in Twilight.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Eric: They would be skin changers and have some fun in the full moon. But that was just my personal theory.
Selina: That’s a fanfiction waiting to happen.
Eric: I don’t know anything about it.
Andrew: So Newt documents creatures, magical creatures. So how is Jacob going to be the rival? That’s the question, right?
Selina: Well, he’s probably also documenting creatures, and he’s trying to get the magical creatures noticed by Muggles, because they’re creatures, and he sees them and he’s like, “Oh, a new species!” And Newt is like, “No, you can’t!”
Eric: There are some things that are magic that you can’t see, though. That’s kind of… Muggles are at a clear disadvantage. There’s probably places and entire areas of the world that he just cannot see because Muggles…
Selina: I’m just thinking surely every time a dragon flies over a big city, someone’s going to look up and someone’s going to be like, “Hmm, what’s that bird?”
[Eric laughs]
Selina: And then maybe… he’s that, and he’s trying to make them known to Muggles, and Newt has to convince him not to. I don’t know.
Micah: I mean, remember what happened with the Ford Anglia? Snape reprimands Harry and Ron…
Selina: Exactly.
Eric: [imitating Snape] “You were seen by no less than seven Muggles!”
[Andrew laughs]
Selina: Very good.
Eric: I just saw that. It’s been Harry Potter Weekend on ABC Family yet again.
Andrew: I love how many people I see on social media watching Harry Potter Weekend…
[Selina laughs]
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: … including my friend, who’s also a big MuggleCast listener, Elizabeth. She’s always… this weekend she’s been Snapchatting it, tweeting about it… [laughs]
Eric: Yep, I get Snapchats all the time. People just drop what they’re doing and spend the entire weekend in front of the TV. It’s pretty cool.
Andrew: So just as a reminder, Eddie Redmayne is going to play Newt; Katherine Waterston is going to play Newt’s eventual wife, Tina; and Alison Sudol will play Queenie, Tina’s sister. This is another casting we received in the past week. Actually, the news came down just the day before we learned about who’s playing Jacob. So Queenie, like I just said, is the sister of Tina. So those are the four leads. It seems like it’s going to be kind of a family-driven story, plus this rival. [laughs]
Micah: I have a feeling… anytime there’s a rival involved, they’re going to have to work together at some point. Something’s going to happen.
Eric: Ahh.
Andrew: Well, yeah, because… so if Jacob is one of the leads, then presumably he’s going to be in the full trilogy. So yeah, that would…
Micah: Assuming he makes it.
Selina: Or he is some kind of villain who’s trying to expose them.
Andrew: Is it just me, or…? I still can’t see a dark side to this story yet. What’s going to make this story interesting, you know?
Eric: A big beast escapes.
Selina: Well, my whole theory comes in… yeah, yeah, beasts escape and threaten New York, and then Jacob – no, what’s his face? – Newt has to save the Muggles but make sure they don’t find out, and then Jacob finds out and it’s this whole exposing magic to New York in the ’20s/’30s.
Eric: “People have a right to know!”
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Selina: Yeah, exactly.
Eric: Which is more of a ’60s mentality, or ’70s.
Micah: It’s like the wizarding version of Jumanji.
Selina: [laughs] Pretty much.
Andrew: So those are the four leads, but now the crew is moving on to casting other parts, and they held an open casting call for a role of a young character named Modesty. They did this in London earlier this month. They’re looking for an 8 to 12-year-old girl “with an inner strength and stillness. She has an ability to see deep into people and understand them.” So they held a casting call. According to this report I’m reading on MuggleNet, approximately 14,000 young girls and their families showed up to audition, most of them waiting hours in line before getting a chance…
Micah: Just a few.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: Yeah, so huge turnout. I mean, A, this may be a big indication of how popular Fantastic Beasts is going to be, and B, this of course reminds us of the open casting call they held for Luna Lovegood back in the Harry Potter days.
Eric: Yes. In fact, Evanna wrote an article on her Facebook, a very positive, heartwarming message to pretty much everybody. It was mostly to the young girls who were trying out, but then she also had a funny bit at the end about if you’re a boy or too old or have already been cast, which she has, then sorry, but maybe there’ll be more opportunities in the future. But she wrote a really heartwarming post about how it can change you, and how the magic of being cast in the films changed her, and how she found out about it on MuggleNet.
Andrew: Aw.
Eric: And actually, we managed to collect a lot of really nice updates and good footage, photographs of people standing in line, photographs of… actually, a mother sent a picture of her daughters, or her daughter and her daughter’s friend who were finalists or something, and they had their certificates up and stuff. It was just kind of a really cool… also, short notice. I’m thinking two/three days in advance this report came out, or this announcement that the casting call would be held. And it was just really a big movement of hopefuls, and just knowing that it’s really up to… we don’t know what they’re looking for, you know?
Andrew: Right.
Eric: I mean, at least with Luna, there was some examples in the book, and these girls are going into it completely blind. Who knows what Modesty…? I mean, there is a short description; Modesty as a character is a described as being a “haunted” 8 to 12-year-old girl “with an inner strength and stillness. She has an ability…”
Micah: I have a perfect person for this.
Eric: Who is this?
Micah: Actually, she may be a bit older. I’m not sure exactly. But most of you will know – and some of our listeners will know – Kerry Ingram, who played Shireen Baratheon in Game of Thrones.
Selina: Oh, yeah.
Eric: Yes.
Micah: I think she would be really good for this part, actually.
Eric: She’d be great.
Andrew: For some reason, that description makes me think this character is going to have some sort of mind control powers or something. [laughs]
Selina: I was thinking the same thing.
Eric: Well, the description continues: “She has an ability to see deep into people and understand them.”
Selina: She might be a young seer or fortune teller person.
Andrew: What I really like about this casting call, too, is that after each person auditioned, they were given this little certificate that said, “This is to certify that [name of person] took part in the casting process for the role of Modesty in ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.'” And it says… the text is really small, but it’s also… a little note just says, “Thank you for coming out,” and says, “Signed, the casting team of ‘Fantastic Beasts.'” So it’s kind of like getting your own Hogwarts letter.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Selina: Aww.
Eric: You know what? I’m reading more of the font here. It says, “We hope you will continue to enjoy your acting endeavors and school and as your local drama group…” Something something something… “cinemas next year.”
Andrew: “Enjoy the film in cinemas next year.”
Eric: So this is a very good – yeah, yeah – very good promo for the movie in general. I mean, 14,000…
Selina: And it’s just such a nice callback to the Luna days.
Eric: Yeah. I mean, this movie doesn’t strike you as being about children, right? Harry Potter, it’s like, “Who’s going to be Harry, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, Dean, Neville…?” All the people, all the schoolmates and everything. This movie seems to be much more adult-centric, but there’s still an opportunity for a child, an unknown girl, to come in and be part of the film.
Selina: I like that. I wish it was me.
Andrew: All right, well, watch this space. Maybe we’ll hear about the role of Modesty in the next month or so as callbacks happen.
Eric: Hope so.
Andrew: So we have more news to talk about today, including Chris Columbus, the director of the first two Harry Potter movies.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: He’s out promoting Pixels right now, and he made some interesting comments that I think a lot of people are for.
Selina: Surprisingly. [laughs]
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah. But first, I want to remind everybody that today’s episode is brought to you by Audible.com, the Internet’s leading provider of audiobooks, with more than 150,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including audio versions of many New York Times bestsellers. For listeners of MuggleCast, Audible is offering you a free audiobook to give you a chance to try out their great service. And today I’m going to recommend the book of the summer? Maybe? I just said New York Times bestsellers. Go Set a Watchman…
Selina: Uh-oh. [laughs]
Andrew: … the new book from Harper Lee, whether she wanted it out there or not. This audiobook is interesting because it was performed by Reese Witherspoon, who we all loved in Wild.
Eric: Huh. Yeah.
Andrew: I love that movie so much. Another book you have to read. So Go Set a Watchman is, of course, the sequel of sorts to To Kill a Mockingbird. It has been very popular this summer; it broke records on Amazon. I believe it broke a record previously held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Eric: Augh.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s true.
Selina: Damn it, Harper Lee.
Eric: Well, it’s been eight years, but still.
Andrew: [laughs] Here it is: Go Set a Watchman gathered as many preorders as Deathly Hallows did on Amazon.
Eric: Ah, okay. All right.
Selina: So now we just have to wait for J.K. Rowling… in 50 years, her book about Harry and how he was a horrible person, and it’ll take the spot back. [laughs]
Andrew: Right, that she probably didn’t want released. [laughs] So Go Set a Watchman, like I said, it’s the prequel of sorts… or sorry, the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. It was originally… Harper Lee wrote this first, and then something happened in Go Set a Watchman that her editor was like, “Oh, let’s do a story on this part,” and then that’s how To Kill a Mockingbird came to be. So the reviews are good for this book, actually. There’s been a little bit of controversy, but everybody’s very interested in Go Set a Watchman, because this is Harper Lee’s only other book, and it’s a part of the To Kill a Mockingbird world.
Eric: She’s kind of a reclusive author. People didn’t really know that she was still around, what she was doing, and she’s had this story in a vault or a trunk or something of sorts for years before they kind of coaxed her to publish it.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s… we don’t really have time to talk about this today, but you should check out the whole story behind this book’s release. It’s kind of sad. Not that this is selling the book well…
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: … but you can get this book, or any other book – any other popular book – this summer on Audible for free. Go to AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast. And thank you, Audible, for your support of the show!
Micah: Yeah. You know, Andrew, one thing I just thought of when you were reading through the beginning portion of that ad: We’ve been around now for almost ten years, but if you go back and listen, the number of downloadable titles available across the years is pretty interesting to see that it’s gotten to 150,000. And maybe that’s just from having transcribed the show, but the fact that it would go from 50 to 100 to 150… it makes us feel like we’ve been around for quite a long time.
Andrew: Well, it’s because of audiobooks, I think, are growing in popularity, just like podcasts are growing in popularity, and Audible is just the place to go for audiobooks. There’s no other great audiobook service; Audible is it, which is really cool. Anyway, moving on with the news now. Like I said – like I teased – Chris Columbus wants to direct Harry Potter movies that are set after the events of Deathly Hallows…
Selina: Yay! [laughs]
Andrew: … but before the prequel. Or sorry, the…
Selina: Sequel. No.
Eric: Epilogue.
Andrew: Epilogue. Thank you. [laughs] I’m confusing my Harper Lee story.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Andrew: So he said, “I would love to go back and do another one. Not Fantastic Beasts as much, which I think is going to be amazing, but I would love to do another movie with those three characters – Harry, Hermione, and Ron. I’m just fascinated about what happened to them after the end of the last movie, because then they cut to 18 years ahead. There’s 18 years there of great Harry Potter stories.”
Selina: Yeah, and that’s what fanfiction is for, Mr. Columbus.
Eric: Ugh. 18 years of Harry changing diapers…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: … and getting the job at the Ministry for Hermione, and him becoming an Auror when there’s no evil Dark wizard out there…
Selina: Sounds amazing.
Andrew: Well, this made me think that he’s right; there are actually interesting stories there, because all three of them did go to work in the Ministry.
Eric: Right.
Selina: But the question is, do we need it splashed on a screen and explicitly played out in front of our faces? I don’t know if we… because I mean, I make no secret of the fact that I’m more of a book fan than a movie fan, so just the fact that he would put these stories, even more of this imagination-filled world, and plaster it on a screen and go, “Here you go; this is exactly what it is.” I’m like, “Nooo…”
Eric: Well, if he were to do it, it would be without source material written by J.K. Rowling…
Selina: Unless she was involved. I mean, she’s into screenwriting now. [laughs]
Eric: Unless she was involved. Yeah, she’s also into playwriting. Yeah, I’d be really interested in having… if Chris Columbus were to have done another Harry Potter film, that would have been, I think, nice.
Selina: Chris Columbus isn’t the worst choice. I think that’s what most people are sort of in agreement on. I’ve seen comments on Hypable saying that if anyone was going to do it, it was him. I think that’s an interesting attitude to have.
Eric: I really like that. I like that he’s feeling… so far after Harry Potter, because it’s been 13 years since his last film came out. I mean, he produced the third one, and perhaps others. But it’s been so long and he still feels a connection to the characters; that’s really cool to me, especially, again, after Harry Potter Weekend on ABC Family. Watching the first two movies on repeat with the bonus scenes stuck back in.
Selina: They are very magical, aren’t they? Don’t you think that his movies were really…? I don’t know. They had something wondrous about them.
Eric: “Harry’s Wondrous World” is the title of…
Andrew: As I wrote in the article… I mean, arguably, his two films, Harry Potter films, were the most whimsical of the series. They were. It’s just true.
Selina: Yeah, they were.
Andrew: It’s just a fact.
Selina: Yeah, they captured some of that wonder of the story, I think.
Eric: And I mean, Chris’s entire range as a director is a good one. I mean, he also directed Mrs. Doubtfire and Rent, which are quite different and still emotional; they have cores, but they deal with bigger issues. So he could presumably…
Micah: And don’t forget Home Alone.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Eric: And Home Alone.
Selina: Harry Potter without magic.
Eric: Yeah, well, so he could deal… I want to see Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern in the wizarding world as sort of Mundungus Fletcher knockoffs.
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: Yeah, but I mean, you’re right. I mean, he has that ability to create those types of movies, thinking also to Night at the Museum, and even… I’m looking right now at his IMDb; I didn’t know he did Percy Jackson, but again, that’s in the same type of genre.
Selina: Oh, he did…? I didn’t know that.
Andrew: I don’t think he directed it.
Micah: He was a producer.
Andrew: Producer, okay.
Selina: Oh.
Micah: But he was involved in some capacity. And I think that knowing that he has that ability to possibly help tell the story after Deathly Hallows comes to a conclusion would be interesting, but…
Selina: But…
Micah: Yeah, I was going to add a but, too…
[Selina laughs]
Micah: … and that is I’d rather it come directly from J.K. Rowling in some sort of written format. I think that we feel that way at this point, that we don’t necessarily need another film or another series of films, and I think the fact that we’re even getting them with Fantastic Beasts is great, but as far as Harry’s story, I feel like I’d want to hear directly from Jo, and I think a lot of us thought that we would be getting that with Pottermore…
[Selina laughs]
Micah: … and we all know that we have differing opinions on it, but generally, the sense, at least that I’ve gotten over the years since Pottermore has been around, is that it hasn’t quite fulfilled expectations.
Eric: Well, it’s…
Selina: Well, can I ask you…? Oh, go on.
Eric: It’s interesting that he said between the end of Book 7 and the epilogue of Book 7 for his story, rather than after the epilogue, because pretty much everything you need to know about that is that “All was well,” right? I mean, the last words of the Harry Potter series are “All was well.”
Micah: Yeah, but all was well between the end of Deathly Hallows and the epilogue if they’re all safely standing on a platform with their children.
Eric: Right, nothing too consequential could have happened with… maybe Voldemort wannabes, some street kids trying to be as bad as he was.
Selina: Well, can I ask you something just before we move on? Because I’m really curious about this. Because obviously, as you say, Chris Columbus is great, and there’s story still to be told. But I feel like with J.K. Rowling having said so many times that she is done with Harry, that any other story she does in the wizarding world, she doesn’t want to go back to Harry necessarily, because she feels like she wrapped up his story. And as she herself has said, aside from fun little article type posts that she did on Pottermore or whatever, Harry’s story is told. So if we’re not going to get a book… because I would be all for a book. I would also be a little bit afraid of it sort of soiling the experience, but… soiling, that’s a bad word. Sullying the experience. [laughs] That’s better.
Eric: Either word works.
Selina: But yeah, okay. But if we’re not going to get a book, I mean, would we really? Would you guys really want a movie?
Andrew and Eric: No.
Selina: With or without J.K. Rowling’s involvement. Obviously, if she’s involved, that’s much better. But do you actually want more?
Eric: No, there’s so many logistical obstacles for… this thing that Chris has just said that has inspired us all and excited us all is completely improbable for it to happen, because think about the actors you’d need to get back.
Andrew: Yes.
Eric: It wouldn’t be worth seeing unless you got the trio back for it.
Andrew: Right, that’s the biggest problem.
Selina: And it would be in their stupid makeup from the epilogue.
Eric: [laughs] Hey, I mean, you could actually just show them as they are, because it’s been 15 years or… wow, I’m way off. It’s been five to ten years.
Andrew: The casting is the biggest problem, because Dan Radcliffe has done so much work to distance himself from Harry Potter, he would never go back. And fans… viewers would not accept a different Harry Potter set after Deathly Hallows.
Eric: Yeah, the movie would be dead.
Selina: I just don’t want them to pump this. I want some part of it to still be sacred. I feel like they’ve done a lot.
Andrew: Right, and it will be, because yeah, Chris Columbus only said this to promote his new movie Pixels.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Selina: And it worked.
Eric: I’m going to go see his movie Pixels because he said he wanted to do more Harry Potter films.
Andrew: Right. [laughs]
Eric: Well, one idea I had for how they could do it with the different actors, if they did it like they do James Bond films.
Selina: Oh, Jesus. [laughs]
Eric: The actor playing Harry Potter will rotate, and he and Ron will go on missions as Aurors to defeat a Blofeld type wizard out in a factory somewhere.
Selina: I give it 20 years, and then that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Well, I think in 20 years, there’s a possibility that they’ll be remade in some capacity.
Selina: Oh, yeah, that too.
Micah: That kind of scares me.
Eric: I want that television series. I really do.
Micah: But Selina, I do agree with you. I’m not really looking for anything else, and I’m fine with J.K. Rowling saying the story is over, or his story has been told and there’s really nothing more to say. I mean, outside of her going in-depth on other characters that were a part of the series, and places and spells and things like that, I think we got a lot of that out of Pottermore. There’s probably still more to tell. I know there was talk about encyclopedia for a long time that we’ve never seen.
Selina: I’m still hoping.
Micah: Yeah, still hoping. Fingers crossed. And I think, generally speaking, a lot of Potter fans would be content with that encyclopedia and not have a need for anything more than that.
Andrew: All right, well, let’s move on. So there was a big thing that happened earlier this month… or sorry, late last month now. We’ve all known that there’s been a Harry Potter stage play in development, and the last time we heard of it, we knew J.K. Rowling was officially involved, and we heard that it was going to follow Harry in the years before he got his Hogwarts letter. And that officially came out; there was a description, and we were all like, “Uh, this is weird, because did anything even really happen in his years under the cupboard? This just doesn’t make sense.” So flash forward to June 26 of last month. We found out The Daily Mail – who broke the news originally about this stage play, so we could trust them as a source, for once – reported that the show is called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and it’s going to open on London’s West End next summer at London’s Palace Theatre, and tickets are going on sale this fall. Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Title aside.
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: According to the report – The Daily Mail – the quote: The Cursed Child “delves into what happened to Harry’s parents – Lily Evans Potter and James Potter – before they were killed by Lord Voldemort, forcing an infant Harry to be raised in miserable circumstances by his mother’s sister, Petunia, her horrid husband Vernon, and their spoiled son Dudley.” Now, so this sounds like a prequel of sorts. It’s going to follow Lily and James. That’s awesome! It was super exciting.
Selina: Sure. [laughs]
Andrew: But then J.K. Rowling… so everybody started saying, “Oh, that’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool. It sounds like a prequel. This is a trust…” I mean, I believe we could trust The Daily Mail in this case. But then flash forward to a couple days later; after J.K. Rowling starts hearing people say, “Oh, it’s a prequel, it’s a prequel,” she starts saying on Twitter, “Guys, it’s not a prequel. It’s not a prequel.”
Selina: Yeah, not only that; she says it 20 times. [laughs]
Andrew: She did, like, 20 separate tweets, right, Selina?
Selina: She did, yeah. It was very, very funny. It was very funny because we started… you wrote up the post, and like, “Wow, this is about Petunia, and Harry’s time with the Dursleys.” And then there was some kind of update, and I was like, “Oh my God, new stuff! New stuff! It’s not a prequel!” So I changed the entire post, and then you see it, and you’re like, “Uh, no.” [laughs] And it all goes back. And then the day after J.K. Rowling releases this slew of new tweets about it, and it’s just a big mess.
Andrew: The other thing is that there was an official description about this play out over a year ago, so why not just come clean about what it is now if you already announced what it was a year and a half ago or whatever?
Selina: Well, did they announce that…? Did that come from Daily Mail or did that come from them?
Andrew: No, that came from J.K. Rowling officially. I’ll try to pull up the statement.
Selina: Okay.
Andrew: But she made an announcement after The Daily Mail had broken it two Decembers ago.
Selina: Okay, so how do we think this can avoid being a prequel? Since she’s so adamant.
Andrew: Or is J.K. Rowling screwing with us all? [laughs]
Eric: I’m going to table that option because of her fiery resistance. Didn’t she say, “It really, really isn’t a prequel. Not a prequel. Not at all prequel-y. It is an anti-prequel.” Okay, what is an anti-prequel? If we wrap our head around…
Selina: An anti-prequel is a sequel.
[Eric laughs]
Selina: Unless Chris Columbus is directing it, let’s not…
Eric: A story that’s against telling the backstory would be an anti-prequel to me. [laughs]
Andrew: Here’s what the statement was back in December 2013. I believe it was 2013. “What was it like to be the boy in the cupboard under the stairs? This brand new play, which will be developed for the UK theater, will explore the previously untold story of Harry’s early years as an orphan and outcast. Featuring some of our favorite characters from the Harry Potter books, this new work will offer a unique insight into the heart and mind of the now legendary young wizard. A seemingly ordinary boy, but for one whom Destiny has plans.”
Selina: Okay. But that’s a prequel.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Selina: That’s obviously a prequel.
Eric: Well, and for me, I mean, I’ve always felt if it’s Harry before he gets his Hogwarts letter, there’s almost no story there. How could you tell a story? It’s unclear how often characters like Dumbledore checked up on him, although we know…
Selina: It would probably just be him and the Dursleys and him trying to make his way and going to school and being like, “I wish I was a special boy.” Those kinds of things, typical Oliver Twist type stuff.
Eric: [laughs] Yeah.
Andrew: And then what’s with the title? Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? Harry Potter is the Cursed Child, right?
Eric: Yes, isn’t he? I mean, I thought it should just be called The Cursed Child, because… and actually, I would like that title if it were The Cursed Child.
Selina: I have a theory.
Eric: Go on.
Selina: I just want to say, because we talked a lot about this as one of the things on Hypable as well, and then I’ll shut up after that. But I was thinking a lot about this, like, “What the hell? This is totally redundant.” But then I thought if it is in the past, right? And if it is kind of… let’s pretend our definition of prequel isn’t J.K. Rowling’s definition of prequel.
Eric: I think that much is clear. That much is already reality.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Selina: So this would take place at a time when… if Harry was a baby, it would take place at a time where they were still trying to figure out which child was cursed. Was it Neville? Was it Harry? Was it some other kid? Who is Trelawney’s prophecy talking about? So it would be Harry Potter, because Harry Potter is the character where it’s all centered around, but it would be “and the Cursed Child,” because the Cursed Child is a mystery. Who is the Cursed Child? They don’t know. We know, but they don’t know. That’s the only thing I could think.
Andrew: That’s interesting.
Eric: Gosh, calling it “Harry Potter and…” is just going to sell more tickets. It’s that simple.
Andrew: Exactly.
Eric: It comes exactly down to that. You could call it….
Selina: But I can’t live with the fact that it would be a stupid title!
Eric: I know. I can’t either, Selina. I feel… my heart hurts. But you could call it The Cursed Child, just The Cursed Child. “So-and-so presents The Cursed Child: West End’s new production.”
Selina: Or Harry Potter Is the Cursed Child. [laughs]
Eric: Yeah, yeah, or just call it Cursed Child. Have everyone in the entire world know – because everyone who follows the Internet, whatever – know that it is the next Harry Potter iteration, that it’s a Harry Potter play, that it’s called The Cursed Child. It almost loses something if you’re calling it Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, not to mention the redundancy. It’s just… it should be “The Cursed Child: A look at the famous boy wizard before he was a famous or a wizard, and just a boy.”
Selina: Unless we’ve got all of this wrong and it’s something completely different, and we’re just going to be so surprised.
Eric: I’ll tell you what it’s not: It’s not a prequel.
[Selina laughs]
Micah: Yes, it is.
Andrew: So the other thing… and I don’t want to spend too much time on this, because we’re supposed to be… they said we’re going to hear more in late July, and we’re recording on July 26, so knowing our luck, they’re going to officially announce all the details on July 27.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Eric: “Welcome to MuggleCast Episode 281, recorded the next day.”
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: So yeah, they did say late July, so we may be hearing more details about this soon. I want this to be a prequel. [laughs]
Micah: By definition, it is a prequel, whether she wants to view it that way or not. I looked up the definition of prequel, just so I have Merriam-Webster on my side. It says…
Eric: Don’t say anything you’re going to regret here, Micah. I know that she didn’t quite tweet you back the way she tweeted Andrew back, and you might be angry, but don’t say anything you’re going to regret. [laughs]
Micah: Well, it’s not like she’s coming on the show anyway.
Selina: “J.K. Rowling needs to buy a dictionary!”
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: Yeah, exactly. I’m going to tweet that at her after the show.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Selina: “You’re a Cursed Child!”
Micah: [laughs] So it’s “A literary, dramatic, or film work whose story precedes that of a previous work by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.”
Selina: Well, that’s why I think this description is BS. I think it’s… I know it came from them, but then they’ve changed their minds; then it’s something different. I really believe that if she says it’s not a prequel, it’s not a prequel. I really believe it. I don’t think it…
Eric: But if it involves… if it informs even a little bit of the plot that is prior to leading into the…
Selina: I know! That’s why it’s a mystery!
Eric: If this is about Harry Potter at all, it is, by definition, a prequel, or would seem to be. But here’s more of J.K. Rowling’s own words on the subject, because there’s one tweet that I think is a little not ominous, but ambiguous. She says, “It will tell a new story, which is the result of a collaboration between writer Jack Thorne, Director John Tiffany, and myself.” And then she says, “To answer one inevitable (and reasonable!) question – why isn’t #CursedChild a new novel? – I am confident that when audiences see the play, they will agree that it was the only proper medium for the story.” So she’s saying that prequel or not, that whatever this is, whatever this Cursed Child is, this story, for some reason, by design could not have been told on paper. And that makes me wonder what kind of…
Selina: And really unfortunately, it’s not a musical.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Selina: I would pay to see that.
Eric: We have three Harry Potter musicals, and they’re three hours long each.
Selina: That’s true, and they are amazing.
Eric: So that’s covered.
Selina: I don’t know, guys; I really feel like my final stance on this is that when she says it’s not a prequel, it’s because it in no way ties into Harry’s story. So either it’s him befriending some kid in school and being off on totally nonmagical adventures, or it’s not about Harry at all, and the title is just kind of… I don’t know. I think she’s right, and I think J.K. Rowling’s sort of brilliant way of making us believe one thing and then turning out to be another thing is what’s happening here and we’re going to be totally surprised.
Andrew: I think it’s going to be coming down to semantics.
Selina: Okay. But that’s no fun.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Andrew: Well, we’ll find out soon, hopefully. Harry Potter and the Prequel; that’s what the stage play should be called.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Selina: Yes.
Eric: Harry Potter and the Not a Prequel.
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: Our final news item for today is about Pottermore. So Pottermore unveiled Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series, on June 23. They released all the chapters. Remember, at the beginning, they were releasing just a few chapters at a time, and then in the back half of the series, they were just releasing all the books at once. And well, I hate to keep harping on this, but it was a bit of a disappointment. Pottermore’s Deathly Hallows section included 15 moments for the final Harry Potter book’s 37 chapters. Within those 15 moments, five of them have new writing from Rowling.
Eric: Pretty pathetic.
Micah: Wow.
Andrew: The author’s new writings include thoughts on the Dursleys and their final moments in the series. J.K. Rowling wrote, “I wanted to suggest, in the final book, that something decent (a long-forgotten but dimly burning love of her sister; the realization that she might never see Lily’s eyes again) almost struggled out of Aunt Petunia when she said goodbye to Harry for the last time, but that she is not able to admit to it, or show those long-buried feelings.” So a couple interesting little tidbits there.
Micah: I feel like she’s said that before, though.
Andrew: Probably. [laughs] So five things out of the 37 chapters!
Eric: This is the last book. This is the book that everything else was supposedly leading up to.
Andrew: Right.
Selina: And there’s not much to say.
Eric: You would have copious amounts of evidence of pre-planning, and be like, “This is why this happened. This is why the camping was so long. This was why…” I really wanted some in-depth, personal insight, analysis, into why the seventh book is the way that it is.
Andrew: Yeah. Well, and think about how many big moments in Deathly Hallows… I’m not blaming J.K. Rowling.
Eric: No.
Andrew: I’m blaming Pottermore. How about on Dobby? Why wasn’t there something cool about Dobby?
Eric: Dobby, the Gringotts escape, all of the Ministry of Magic plotting… everything about that, really. There was so much. There is a richness of the story in there where you could go further into detail.
Selina: Well, do we think either she is saving it because we’re still holding out hope for the damn encyclopedia…
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Selina: … or is it really just a case of Pottermore clearly wasn’t the success that they thought it was going to be, and they just want to wrap it up?
Eric: I think we shouldn’t discount the possibility that Pottermore, because it has to continue to exist – it’s a company, right? It has to continue to exist and put out content – that they’re going to go back and add more moments in for previous chapters? I’m not sure if there’s a precedent for them doing that before with other things, but it’s been confirmed that we were supposed to…
Selina: It would be really funny if they did and no one noticed.
Eric: We were supposed to get a Patronus test. Somebody, I think even J.K. Rowling, said that was in the works.
Andrew: J.K. Rowling has said multiple times now that a Patronus…
Eric: Yes, a Patronus test. And they closed the series without that on Pottermore? It’s something that is… I mean, if we’re going to take her at her word, it’s going to be developed and put on there in the future, so perhaps there will… this was just sort of the first run through the series of books, and you’ll get more writing from J.K. Rowling.
Andrew: Well, I wrote to Pottermore, and I said, “Is this it?” [laughs] In terms of Deathly Hallows. And they said more original content is coming to the site in the coming months, but this is all that they’re releasing for Deathly Hallows. So yes, they’ll add the Patronus test, but is that going to come inside of a chapter? I don’t think so. I think they’re going to add it outside.
Selina: Maybe it’ll come on Harry’s birthday.
Eric: Aww.
Andrew: Oh, maybe. That’s a nice thought.
Selina: [laughs] Random guess.
Andrew: But getting back to… this surely was not the original plan. The original plan was release a few chapters at a time for every book, include some good stuff… even at the beginning, the stuff was fine. It wasn’t fantastic, but it was good.
Eric: It was kind of cool. I remember Minerva McGonagall’s, maybe, backstory was one of the first things.
Andrew: But surely the plan back several years ago in 2011 wasn’t, “Okay, and with the final book, we’re going to release all the chapters at once and release five things written by J.K. Rowling, and that’s it.” In terms of that book.
Eric: That book was too many years in the making for there to only be five things to say about it.
Andrew: Yeah, right.
Eric: Especially that she hasn’t already said in interviews and stuff. I get that, but there has to be more.
Andrew: Well, so more is coming to Pottermore, but it’s just in terms of the books – and this is what Pottermore said to me – this is it.
Eric: Maybe they meant immediately, in case there was some confusion over whether more chapters were coming somehow? Or more moments?
Andrew: I don’t know.
Eric: Maybe for the foreseeable future.
Andrew: I specifically asked them, “Is this it for Deathly Hallows?” And they said yes.
Selina: That is unfortunate, because I think you brought up a really good point, Eric, that Deathly Hallows was a place where she could have really gone back and done some kind of retrospective and been like, “Okay, well, I set this up in Book 3, and blah, blah, blah…”
Eric: Yeah, as a reader, I wanted that.
Andrew: I think it has to do with what you said, Selina, that Pottermore hasn’t been the success that they were envisioning, so I think plans changed over the past couple of years. And maybe J.K. Rowling wasn’t happy with certain aspects, and because of her disappointment, they decided to change things up. Who knows?
Micah: I agree.
Selina: And now it’s going to be a musical instead, or a play.
[Micah laughs]
Selina: Pottermore, the play.
Eric: And I know and understand she’s busy right now, having finished writing Fantastic Beasts, that she had a lot of other stuff get in the way of what could have been potentially contributing to Pottermore. But this is something where they came at us with this bold directive, this goal, this game plan. I’ll never forget her video about announcing Pottermore and how ambitious it seemed.
Andrew and Selina: Yeah.
Eric: I would have liked that fire to remain constant throughout the whole…
Micah: Well, you can tweet her and let her know. I agree, though; I just wanted to say that I think that, to your point, Andrew, clearly the plan changed, because when you’re only releasing a few chapters at a time, it allows for the author to slowly write and plan out what she wants to do, but if you get to the point where you’re releasing entire books at a time, there’s only so much that you could possibly provide. And I’m sure a lot of this material already exists and it’s just a matter of putting it in the right format, but I feel like maybe it allowed her early on to move at a slower pace when you’re releasing it chapter by chapter or multiple chapters at a time. When you’re doing an entire book, there’s only so much that you can look to get in before the book itself gets released.
Andrew: So we asked on Twitter and Facebook – Twitter.com/MuggleCast and Facebook.com/MuggleCast – what would you like to see on Pottermore now that it’s all finished? Or now that the books are out. Of course, a lot of people said the Patronus quiz, because J.K. Rowling has promised that. Kelly said, “Finally, more on the Marauders.” That’s something I think a lot of people were hoping for. Christina said – and this goes for all three of the final books – “I’d love more chapters for Book 5 and 6. Patronus quiz. History of Hogwarts, maybe. A better search option.” A Twitter account called Harry Potter Forever said, “Excerpts from the textbooks used at Hogwarts.” That would be cool.
Eric: Totally agree.
Andrew: Nicole said, “I would take any quiz, really. Who would my friends be? What Quidditch position should I play? Who died so I can see Thestrals?”
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: And those were from Twitter. Over on Facebook, Ashley said – and this was the most liked comment on our Facebook thread – “More moments. Those seemed rushed. And I like the idea of 19 years later moments. Also, lists of characters’ Patronuses and meanings behind Patronuses, like they did with wandcores and such. Maybe details on how the love potion would smell to different characters. An interactive Marauder’s Map, like a virtual tour of Hogwarts.”
Eric: God.
Selina: Wow.
Andrew: So Ashley had a bunch of ideas. And Debbie, echoing Christina on Twitter: “Need many more moments for Books 5 through 7.” And Sabrina said, “I was really surprised there wasn’t a moment for 19 years later.” Seriously! That’s nuts!
Eric: That’s the last you get.
Selina: That’s true.
Eric: In fact, that really upsets me, because she has to, I think, own up to the fact that she didn’t end the book with “scar.”
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Eric: Because she said she would for years and years and years and years and years and years and years and years, and then it was like, “Oh, by the way, I changed my mind.” In an interview, she was like, “Yeah, it didn’t really work out.” But I wanted to hear all about how the original end of the books was going to be “scar.”
Micah: So just call it Potterless and move on.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Eric: Wow.
Andrew: The final moment should have just been a page that just had the word “scar.”
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: “Thanks for joining Pottermore in this journey…”
Andrew and Selina: “… scar.”
Andrew: So thank you to everybody for those responses, and that’s it for Pottermore.
Favorites
Andrew: So we’re going to play Favorites this week. Micah had a good idea, based on some of our discussions this episode.
Micah: Yeah, and I can’t remember over the other 279 episodes if we ever did this, but it does tie into the discussion we were having earlier about Chris Columbus. I wanted to know favorite director of the Harry Potter films. Obviously, there have been four, right? Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, and David Yates.
Andrew: I think we probably have, but like Pottermore, our ideas can change over time. My current… I think Alfonso Cuarón was the most innovative director for the Harry Potter series because of what he did; he laid the groundwork for the remaining films in terms of the look of the film series. But my favorite director was David Yates for what he did, particularly with Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows – Part 2. I mean, those films were just… I loved those movies because they really brought a sense of darkness to the Harry Potter film series, and a sense of urgency. I mean, directing that war, I think, in Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was just incredible.
Eric: Very Oscar-worthy.
Andrew: Eric, who’s your favorite director?
Eric: I will go next. I’m going to also agree, actually: David Yates. Chris Columbus is a very, very, very close second for me, because he’s the man who had to work with the producer for the first time, basically creating… and the way that he heralded the children, basically, getting what he needed out of them, because if you look at the performances, it takes a really patient and strong guy to be able to… you know what? I’m changing my answer to Chris Columbus. It’s Chris Columbus, for all those reasons I just said.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Eric: The fact that he was able to do it first, and that it was so heartfelt and all that. David Yates is extremely competent, and I love some of the shots from the later films, like the one in Grimmauld Place where – I think it’s in Movie 5 – it’s looking up the stairwell, and different people are coming out of the rooms. Fred and George are up above; Ginny is looking down… some of those shots just really blow me away. But Chris Columbus for being able to do it first, and doing it so well, I think, working with that young talent.
Andrew: Yeah, we’ve heard a lot about how difficult it was for Chris and the rest of the crew to balance letting these kids be normal kids, but also starring in this major film. They could only work for a certain number of hours per day, they had to get schooling while on set, so it was a massive struggle. In addition to directing, you just had to let these kids be kids. Selina, who’s your favorite director?
Selina: Well, I was thinking about this, because as I said earlier, as we established, I’m not the biggest fan of the movies, not because I don’t think they were fantastic pieces of technical prowess, but because… and I have a lot of respect for David Yates; I have a lot of respect for what he did. But I’m going to have to say Chris Columbus. And it’s not actually because… I mean, I feel like those movies were very like, “Wow, it’s Christmas, it’s magic, it’s Home Alone…”
[Eric laughs]
Selina: It was almost too much of Chris Columbus. You know what I mean? But what I do feel like he did capture best was the spirit of magic, the spirit of wonder. I feel like there’s a lot of things that I really, really did like about the later movies, but one of the things that I never really felt was… I was going to say I never forgave them, but that’s a bit melodramatic, but was the fact that the magic was turned mechanical. I feel like in the spirit of making things darker and making more correlations to real life and making the kids feel more like real teenagers, it was almost like they sacrificed, in my opinion, the magic in favor of little gags, and making the wands look like guns, and making the staircases… that was Chris Columbus’s fault, but making the staircases move like [makes squeaking noises], like on hinges…
Eric: Whatever happened to that?
Selina: … instead of actually in the books, where it was like, “Oh, on a Tuesday, they led to another floor.” And that magic, Chris Columbus did it best, so I’m going to give it to him, but none of them got it the way I wanted it, so I am going to say nobody. [laughs] And hide.
Andrew: Whoa!
Eric: Okay.
Micah: Damn.
Selina: Well, you’ve got to be honest. You know what? You’re ten years in; you can’t be beating around it.
Micah: That’s true.
Andrew: That’s fine. You know what? I think a lot of people would agree with you, too.
Eric: “No one’s my favorite director.”
Selina: I mean, it’s just because I love the books so much, guys.
Andrew: That’s totally fair.
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: Micah, how you going to top that?
Micah: Well, I would have to agree with Chris Columbus. He really introduced the series, from a movie standpoint, and he did a great job. I mean, for all the points that have already been raised, I think he created the true sense of magic that was lost in some way as the series progressed. And I understand that the characters are getting older, but I still think that, looking back, he just had a way of bringing it to life that none of the others did. And I get it if the kids were younger, maybe it feels a little bit more whimsical. That was a word that was used; I think Eric used it, or Andrew did. But the other thing is…
Andrew: I did.
Micah: You did. Okay. He kept it very close to the text, and by far, any of the other movies, Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets were the closest to the text. And I get that they were also the shortest books, however, there were definitely things that could have been included. I think that there were things created in later films that could have been taken out that were never even in the series, that could have been replaced by things that fans of the books were really looking forward to seeing. And I agree with Andrew about Alfonso and what he did, but him cutting the entire Marauders backstory – which I’m sure was not his decision alone – for me, I can’t give him the nod. And obviously, the other movies that followed, again, they just lacked some really memorable moments and important plot points that I think we were all looking forward to, and even the fact that David Yates and the crew split the final book into two films and still didn’t really get everything in from a backstory standpoint… I felt like Dumbledore’s backstory was very rushed and sometimes hard to follow, especially for those who may not have read the books.
Eric: I still confuse Grindelwald and Gregorovitch. [laughs] I don’t know why.
Micah: So I thought it was… just the flashbacks, and the experiences Harry is having and Voldemort is having, it was just…
Eric: Oh, gosh. Snape’s worst memory is gone.
Micah: It was quite confusing. Yeah, so anyway, I go with Chris Columbus.
Selina: Yeah. I do want to give a little bit of credit to Mike Newell, just because I feel like he’s so often overlooked. I know Goblet of Fire is not very many people’s favorite movie or book, but I do think there was some… there was a bit of that sort of wonder in that movie, like “I love magic,” as dumb as it was. [laughs]
Micah: He recaptured some of it.
Eric: Yeah, he got back some of what was dropped on the cutting room floor of the third movie.
Micah: Especially with the Yule Ball.
Selina: Yeah, that was good.
Andrew: The Yule Ball was good. The Quidditch World Cup was good.
Eric: Although short.
Micah: Just throw in Christmas. If you throw in Christmas, everything works out okay.
Andrew: But “Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?” That just ruined everything.
Micah: That was awful.
Eric: Shaking him.
Selina: But then in the third one, you had things like, “This heart is where you truly live!”
[Andrew laughs]
Selina: They all have their flaws.
Eric: “This heart! You’d know all about the madness within…” What, seriously?
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Eric: I have to say, I was surprised… going through the movies for the very first time, I was surprised how well Part 1 worked, Deathly Hallows – Part 1.
Selina: I do like that movie.
Eric: That movie actually works, the pacing is actually good, and the camping isn’t as annoying as it is in the book. I was very, very, very, very surprised by how that adaptation was released. And no director is bad; no director did a poor job that wasn’t without its merits, and I think that’s important to say.
Andrew: All right.
Eric: And I’m so glad that David Yates is taking on Fantastic Beasts.
Andrew: Me too.
Selina: I am too. I think he’s a good fit for that type of story.
Andrew: Yeah, and we know we’re going to get a certain level of quality, because he has all this experience. I’m just surprised he wants to do it.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Avada Kedavra, Imperio, Love Potion
Andrew: So let’s move on now. We have another game to play – we did this last episode, I believe, as well – Imperio, Killing Curse, Love Potion. So this is like FMK, but the Harry Potter version.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: So Eric, who’s first?
Eric: Let’s see. Who wants to go first? I’ve got ones for each of you.
Andrew: I’ll go first.
Eric: Okay, Andrew…
Andrew: “Eric, who’s first? I’ll go first.”
[Selina laughs]
Eric: Your three candidates for Imperio, Killing Curse, Love Potion are… this is a little bit of a twist. So each of these candidates are a group, or they’re grouped together by something that they have in common. So your three candidates for Imperio, Killing Curse, Love Potion are the Grey Lady while she was alive, Nearly Headless Nick while he was alive, and Moaning Myrtle while she was alive.
Selina: Oh my God.
Eric: So they’re ghosts, but obviously a Killing Curse on a ghost wouldn’t kill them, so I had to change it back to the Grey Lady, Nearly Headless Nick, and Moaning Myrtle while they were still alive.
Andrew: Uh… well, I would definitely Love Potion the Grey Lady. I loved her. I would Imperio… who were the other two? Nearly Headless Nick and…?
Eric: Nearly Headless Nick and Moaning Myrtle.
Andrew: I would Imperio Moaning Myrtle, because she is annoying.
[Selina laughs]
Eric: So you would just shut her up? [laughs]
Selina: Shut her up. Poor Nick, though. He hasn’t done anything.
Andrew: I know.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: That’s what makes this tough. I mean, he’s such a…
Selina: He’s so sweet. He just wants to eat food and be merry.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Wasn’t there a Nearly Headless Nick plot that J.K. Rowling cut from Chamber of Secrets or something?
Eric: I think so.
Andrew: So I’ll kill him, because I’m still angry about her doing that.
Selina: Aw. Well, just make sure you slice his head clean off this time.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Properly. Clean off. He’ll thank you in his afterlife.
Andrew: [imitating Hermione] “Nearly Headless? How can you be Nearly Headless?”
Eric: [imitating Nick] “Like this!”
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Eric: Love it. All right, who’s next?
Selina: One episode you guys do should just be an entire recital of one of the movies. I bet you could do it.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: I agree. I totally agree.
Andrew: Micah, you go next.
Eric: Okay, Micah.
Micah: All right.
Eric: Your group here, your grouping, as you will soon find out, is barkeeps. So you have Madam Rosmerta, Tom the bartender, and Aberforth Dumbledore, bartender of the Hog’s Head. How do you Imperio, Killing Curse, and Love Potion?
Selina: Do have a shared love of goats there, so you need to think about it.
Micah: Yes, it’s true. Well, I would Imperio Aberforth, so through him, I could control the goat.
Selina: [laughs] There you go.
Eric: Oh, yes! You would be the Goat King.
Selina: I would watch that movie.
Micah: I would kill Tom, because Tom is just not important.
Eric: What?!
Andrew: I agree with that, yeah.
Micah: And Love Potion Madam Rosmerta.
Selina: Obviously.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: All right. She’s already had an Imperio thrown her way during the series, so don’t want to do that to her again. But okay, great.
Selina: It’s my turn!
Eric: And Selina, you have Quidditch players.
Selina: Oh, fun.
Eric: Okay, so your Imperio, Killing Curse, Love Potion is Oliver Wood, Cedric Diggory, and Harry Potter.
Selina: Oh my goodness. Well, I’m just going to write off Killing Curse: Cedric, because of Twilight.
Eric: What?!
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: You’re not going to give him a reprieve? Come on.
Selina: Oh, no. Hell no. He was annoying even before that. [laughs]
Eric: He’s attractive, and he’s Hufflepuff… very loyal…
Selina: He is a Hufflepuff, though. But I mean, come on, guys, guys. Sean… that’s not even his name.
[Eric laughs]
Selina: I was going to say the actor there.
Andrew: Sean Biggerstaff.
Selina: No, Oliver Wood is one of the most under-appreciated hunks of the Harry Potter series, so I think I’ve got to Love Potion that guy.
Eric: Yeah, he sits in his room all day and devises new strategies for them to practice.
Selina: Yeah, no, I’ve just changed my mind. I can’t Imperio Harry because he can get out of it, so I’m going to play a little bit strategic here.
Eric: Ahhh.
Selina: Love Potion Harry, the Boy Who Lived. There you go. Sorry, Ginny. And… I’m way too into this, guys. This is awful. And I would Imperio Oliver Wood and just leave it at that.
Eric: Yeah, that sounds good.
Andrew: All right, cool.
Selina: It’s horrible. Imperioing people… what would you do with them? Let’s not go down that thread. [laughs]
Andrew: That was a good set of characters. Thank you, Eric.
Eric: Thank you.
This Month in Harry Potter History
Andrew: So now it’s time for This Month in Harry Potter History, our limited event segment for all of 2015.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Andrew: Which I think actually works well, since this is also the tenth anniversary year of MuggleCast as of next month. So like I said at the beginning of this episode, July is a huge month in Harry Potter history, and we’re going to run through them all now. First of all, July 2, 1998 was when Chamber of Secrets was released in the UK. One year later, on July 8, 1999, Prisoner of Azkaban was released in the UK. And then July 8, 2000, Goblet of Fire was published in the US and UK.
Selina: I remember that. That was my first…
Andrew: Now, this was a big release. Yeah, this was kind of the first major release. First of all, it was published in the US and the UK on the same day; this was the first time that this happened for a Harry Potter book. It was the first midnight release, and it was also the final book where J.K. Rowling was working under a deadline. You guys may remember that she felt rushed while writing Goblet of Fire, and after that, she said, “Look, I’ll finish these books when I feel like they’re finished. I’m not going to commit to a deadline,” which was really smart. Do you guys remember what…? I know Micah wasn’t at a midnight release. Eric, were you for Goblet of Fire?
Eric: No.
Andrew: Oh, you weren’t either. Just me and Selina, huh?
Eric: Just you two hardcores.
Andrew: Selina, where were you?
Selina: No, I was back in Denmark, so I actually… this was the first one when I’d caught up with them, and I ordered… I remember this very specific stupid detail, that I ordered it from Amazon, or my mom did, but then it didn’t arrive in time, and we were freaking out on release day.
[Andrew laughs]
Selina: I was like, “I need to read it now!”
Andrew: “Or else I’m going to get spoiled on Twitter!” [laughs]
Selina: I know. Well, yeah, right? Back in… ages ago.
Andrew: 2000.
Selina: Unlike MySpace. But then we went… and books were expensive back then, hella expensive. So we went and bought it in the store, and then we had two copies, and we were like, “What do we do? These are so expensive.” So I think we ended up selling the other one. It was a big deal.
Andrew: I was down in a beach town in New Jersey, and I remember one of the bookstores on the boardwalk was having a midnight release party, so I went to it. And I wrote about this on Hypable, by the way, earlier this month because this is the 15th anniversary of Goblet of Fire‘s release. And I still have the box that the books were shipped in, and they were really cool because they say right on them, “Do not open before…” It says, “Not to be sold before July 8, 2000,” and it says Harry Potter 4, and it’s got a green font color. They’re really cool boxes. And I also have them for Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince. So yeah, and I was… how old was I? I was 11 years old, so staying up till midnight to get a book was kind of a big deal.
Selina: Yeah, I think I must have been around the same age, and I read this book… that was the first one I read in English, so that was actually pretty fun. It took me a long time.
Eric: I just looked up the Danish Goblet of Fire cover. It’s terrifying. Is that where they’re underwater?
Selina: Oh, yeah, yeah! Ah, the Danish covers are beautiful, guys.
Eric: The mermaids, and they look devilish… augh, I just pulled it up, and I’m scared. This is terrifying!
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, this would never sell in America.
[Selina laughs]
Micah: It’s not kid-friendly?
Andrew: Not kid-friendly.
Selina: I remember seeing the Mary Grand-Pré covers for the first time, and I was like, “What is this? Why do they look so weird?”
Eric: [laughs] I know, it’s just culture shock.
Selina: Because ours are really realistic-looking.
Eric: Oh, one of them has Sirius Black as a dog in the title. That’s really cool.
Andrew: So yeah, it’s crazy to think it’s been 15 years since Goblet of Fire. That’s a nice, good anniversary.
Selina: I know. I feel so old.
Andrew: So then five years later, on July 16, 2005, Half-Blood Prince the book was released. And then July 21, 2007, of course, was the Deathly Hallows book release. And then that was it for books. But then July was still a hot month for the movies. Half-Blood Prince was released July 15, 2009; Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was released July 15, 2011; and most recently, July 8, 2014, the official opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley down in Universal Orlando.
Eric: Oh, and I think Order of the Phoenix the movie came out right before Book 7, right? Like, two weeks?
Selina: Yes, two weeks. You watched it before, and you were like, “That’s so much fun,” and then you watched it after, and you were crying because Fred and George and everyone were dead.
[Andrew laughs]
Andrew and Eric: Yeah.
Eric: July was big.
Andrew: So that’s This Month in Harry Potter History. I think the biggest month.
Eric: Probably.
Andrew: And we all use Timehop now, and Facebook “On This Day.” Because there’s also been a lot of Harry Potter conferences in the month of July…
Eric: Yes, that’s true.
Andrew: … so my July is just filled with Harry Potter stuff.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Eric: Timehop. I’ve got to get it to…
Andrew: Timehop is great.
Eric: I’ve got to authorize it. I see all of my friends always have really cool posts.
Micah: True.
Pen and Paper Are My Priority
Andrew: So now it’s time for Pen and Paper Are My Priority. We have two things to talk about this week. First of all, J.K. Rowling shared something pretty interesting. As if we didn’t already love Hogwarts enough, she confirmed that all wizards and witches attend Hogwarts for free. Oh, man! Why can’t we go?
Micah: We did go, according to her.
Andrew: That’s true. We were all there.
Selina: Yeah, and it was free.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Well, the books are not free, Selina, as you pointed out just before. The books are not free.
Selina: That’s true. That’s a good point.
Andrew: Yeah, so some people…
Selina: The schoolbooks weren’t free.
Andrew: Right, so there’s hidden costs to attend Hogwarts. But you know what? Whatever, guys.
Selina: They’ve got to buy wands. They’ve got to buy pets.
Andrew: Yeah, whatever. It’s still cheaper than most schools.
Selina: Candy.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: So yeah, I think it was cool to hear J.K. Rowling say this, because it’s just like, “Oh man, we love Hogwarts so much, and now this.” So she said the Ministry of Magic pays for it, in case you were curious who’s footing the bill.
Selina: Yeah, well, they probably adopted the Danish system of paying for school.
Andrew: Oh, you guys are so lucky.
Selina: Not to brag. [laughs]
Andrew: And then the other big thing that…
Micah: As if she couldn’t get any cooler.
[Selina laughs]
Eric: Just an example of, again, how people get her attention – and this will lead into Andrew’s story right now too – but in that case, with the Hogwarts tuition fee, Emmeline – at @EmmelineOnline1 on Twitter – said, “My friends and I are having a super intense debate about the cost of tuition at Hogwarts.”
Andrew: So that’s how you get noticed.
Eric: So that’s how she got noticed, is having a super intense debate. So maybe if we use those words again, that’ll…
Selina: Or flatter her. Right, guys?
Eric: Yes, yes. Andrew, tell your story now.
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: So J.K. Rowling was tweeting a lot last week about the BBC. Selina, could you give us a brief rundown of what she was discussing?
Selina: Okay, do you have 20 minutes?
[Andrew laughs]
Selina: No, so yeah, and I spoke on this, actually, on Hype Podcast as well, which is our general sort of entertainment podcast, if I’m allowed to just throw that out there. [laughs] But so basically, yeah, J.K. Rowling has been tweeting a lot about, “Back the BBC,” BBC memories, “I love Red Dwarf,” blah, blah, blah. And that’s because in the UK, the new government, which actually controls the BBC – because the BBC is meant to be public service like the government is supposed to be public service – they’ve released this basically announcement saying, “We’re going to do a huge potential overhaul of the BBC. We’re going to look into their funding. We’re going to look into their programming. We don’t want them to be focusing so much effort on popular programming, things like Doctor Who and Sherlock and those little things that nobody loves.” [laughs] And they want it to become more niche, basically. And fans are freaking out. BBC fans all over the world are going, “Don’t mess with the BBC!” Because the government has always had this power, but they’ve never threatened to act on it before. And people are saying it’s censorship, and it’s like 1984, and they’re going kind of crazy.
Eric: Oh, wow!
Selina: So clearly, J.K. Rowling is on Team BBC in this case.
Andrew: Right. So she’s been tweeting… she was leading a storm of tweets, people sharing their favorite shows on the BBC, to remind us all why we love the BBC so much. Shows like Doctor Who…
Selina: Yeah, because of the wealth of programming that they have, basically, they don’t want them to be confined to just one thing.
Andrew: So J.K. Rowling was retweeting a lot of people’s favorite shows when they at replied her, and I thought…
Selina: Oh, right, right, now we’re going to get to the heart of the story. Sorry, sorry. It’s not a big deal.
Andrew: [laughs] Sorry, did you have more to say about it?
Selina: No. [laughs]
Eric: I found that to be very informative, and I did not know what this was all about, so thank you, Selina.
Selina: [laughs] Okay, well, I’m glad.
Andrew: Selina did a great job. So J.K. Rowling is retweeting people, and I’m sitting in Starbucks and I’m seeing all these tweets come in, and I’m like, “Okay, how do…? I want to suck up to J.K. Rowling.”
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: And the reason… so I tweeted her. I said, “The Casual Vacancy.” This was her book that was turned into a show for the BBC. And I did this as a joke for people who listen to MuggleCast, because I thought only they would get it, because they’d read that and be like, “Oh, haha, Andrew is trolling J.K. Rowling because he hasn’t read the book and he hasn’t seen The Casual Vacancy. That’s funny.” So I wanted to entertain my followers. [laughs] But then, little do I know, J.K. Rowling retweets my tweet with “*blushes*,” and I’m sitting in Starbucks and I gasp. I’m like, [gasps] “She just noticed me! Oh my God!”
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Selina: And it’s for a huge fat lie.
Andrew: Yeah, exactly!
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: And I’m like, “Gosh darn it, I’ve spent years talking about Harry Potter and tweeting J.K. Rowling about Harry Potter, and of course, the one time she finally pays attention to me, it’s about the book I didn’t even read. Go freaking figure.”
Micah: Right, because I remember tweeting at you; I said, “Did you enjoy the book version, Andrew?”
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, and I have to thank all of our listeners, because I got so many messages of support. [laughs] Everybody was very happy that she finally noticed me, so thank you to everybody who…
Selina: So it’s somewhat bittersweet, but I’m sure you’re still going to celebrate it forever and post it on your wall.
Micah: How many followers did you gain?
Andrew: I didn’t… I don’t know. I don’t think I gained any followers from that. Maybe I did; I don’t know. But I updated my Twitter bio; I said, “Made J.K. Rowling blush once.”
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: That’s perfect.
Selina: It’s true.
Andrew: Yeah, so it was a great day for me, and…
Selina: You’re going to have the T-shirts printed, I’m sure… nail this as a poster on your wall…
Eric: 17th of July. That’s going to be in all future This Month in Harry Potter History.
Andrew: [laughs] Right. I’m adding it to the Harry Potter Wikipedia page.
[Selina laughs]
Eric: “Andrew made J.K. Rowling blush.”
Andrew: Yeah, so I promised on a previous episode that if she ever tweeted me, I would print it out on a shirt, and a couple of my followers reminded me of that, so now I’ve got to do that.
Selina: It’s going to be a really good shirt.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Selina: Just “J.K. Rowling: *blushes*.”
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, I’m going to have to figure out how to make it look good on a T-shirt, but I will.
Selina: You could get one of the listeners to draw you a J.K. Rowling chibi face just smiling with the cheeks. Ah, that would be so cute.
Andrew: Can somebody do that, please? Can somebody draw a picture of J.K. Rowling blushing, and I will get that printed on the shirt, along with this tweet that says “*blushes*”?
Selina: Yeah, like a cute little cartoon version. Oh, it would be so good.
Andrew: Yes, a cartoon version, please. Anybody. Thank you so much in advance.
Selina: Working on it right now.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Severus Snape and the Marauders and other plugs
Andrew: So I also… we’ve also got to keep in mind that there’s a great Harry Potter fandom still alive and kicking, and I wanted to plug a short film that’s coming out later this year. You guys may remember the short film, The Greater Good, it was called, and it was a short film about Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s relationship, and it was released on YouTube in December 2013. It received three million views; it was a huge hit. Now the creators of this are back with another one; it’s called Severus Snape and the Marauders. So just based on that title, you know this is going to be something we’ve been clamoring for, a Marauders story. They released a teaser trailer earlier this month. It’s set in 1978 just after Harry Potter’s father James graduated from Hogwarts. He and his friends, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, are celebrating at a bar, “contemplating their place in a war they are soon to become a part of. When Severus Snape enters the same bar, James Potter decides to do something about Snape once and for all.” So that’s the synopsis.
Selina: Hashtag #NotAPrequel.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: They have a teaser trailer out now; you can check it out on YouTube. It’s also on Hypable. And like I said, I spoke to the creators, and they said it’s going to come out by the end of the year. That’s what they’re aiming for. So check this out; I think it’s going to be a big hit, like their first one. And it’s nice to see people creating… it looks really good, too.
Eric: Yeah, I’m just thinking in the preview of the video, it looks like the James Potter actor looks a lot like Adrian Rawlins. He looks a lot like the movie James.
Andrew: And the special effects are great. Just cinematography-wise, it looks great. So I’m really looking forward to this. Glad to see the fandom is alive and well. So that’s all we have for today’s episode of MuggleCast. I want to plug a podcast that I’m doing every week now; it’s called #Millennial – the hashtag is silent – over at MillennialShow.com. I’m doing this with MuggleCast alums Laura, Elysa, and Matt every week. The show is free; we offer a paid tier as well to get bonus content. Like I said, MillenialShow.com. We talk pop culture, politics, a lot of personal stuff, and a whole lot more.
Selina: I listen to it. I say, as a listener, anyone who’s not listening to this, you should really check it out, because as a non-American, pretty much all I know about America comes from Millennial and John Oliver.
[Andrew laughs]
Selina: So that’s a pretty interesting America that I know.
Andrew: [laughs] Selina, thank you so much for saying that.
Selina: It’s such a good show. It’s really, really good.
Andrew: Aw, thank you. And we actually talked recently about potentially having you on in the future, since you do listen.
Selina: What?
Andrew: Yeah, I said we need some subs, and since you’re a listener, I thought you would be a good person, so we’ll talk about that down the road.
Selina: That would be fun. I could offer a non-American perspective, and talk about the BBC. [laughs]
Andrew: And we can argue about the Harry Potter prequel more. [laughs]
Selina: Definitely. Always.
Andrew: And Eric and Micah, do you want to plug Game of Owns?
Eric: Yeah, now would be a good time to just mention that at the end of this month in Orlando, Florida, close to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, there will be GeekyCon, the first ever GeekyCon, but formerly LeakyCon. So there will be a version of Mischief Managed Entertainment or Incorporated’s convention, typically Harry Potter-specific or limited by the title, and this time it’s broader. It’s a broader convention. But Micah and myself and Zack, who cohost Game of Owns, will be there to do our Game of Thrones podcast as well as Game of Thrones programming. But I’ve seen the schedule, and I can guarantee people that there are still a lot of Harry Potter-themed, Harry Potter-centric panels and programming and discussion taking place at the Orange County Convention Center. So basically, from next Wednesday – which is the 29th – is their evening in the park event, separate ticket event, which I will not be at. But on the 30th, 31st, 1st, and 2nd is the convention, and I know Micah and I will be there. And if you are a MuggleCast listener in the Orlando area, there’s not a specific meetup that we’ve been able to organize, but in general, we’ll be there, and we would love to see you. And if you see us and happen to be there, don’t hesitate to come and say hello.
Micah: Yep, the show specifically is on Friday, July the 31st, at 2:00 p.m. on the main stage. We’re actually going to be joined by David J. Peterson, who invented the Dothraki language.
Selina: Oh, awesome.
Micah: So for those of you Game of Thrones fans…
Eric: And Valerian.
Micah: Yes.
Eric: I just think Valerian is a better… like, “He invented [makes guttural sounds],” or Valerian, which is much nicer-sounding.
[Selina laughs]
Eric: And… I don’t know. [attempts Valerian] There we go.
Micah: So we look forward to seeing you if you’re in the Orlando area.
Eric: Oh, and if you’re not a Game of Thrones fan, we have the perfect panel for you prior to our main stage event. We’ll be doing at noon on the same day – not on main stage, on a separate panel room – we’ll be doing Westeros 101, which is your introduction to the Game of Thrones series. So you could actually, in one day, figure out all you want to know about Westeros, and then attend our most current… actually, you know what? You’ll be spoiled. Don’t do that. But we’re both at 12 for the Westeros 101, and if you have been watching and are keeping up on Game of Thrones, check out our main stage show at 2:00 p.m.
Andrew: By the way, that reminds me, I ran into a listener of ours who’s been listening to MuggleCast forever named Gabby…
Eric: Ooh!
Andrew: … at a Barnes & Noble in a random town I used to live in, of all places, late last week. So shout-out to you, Gabby. She’s a huge fan. She listens to Millennial and a couple Hypable podcasts now as well, but her gateway was MuggleCast, of course. So shout-out to you. [laughs]
Eric: It’s always nice hearing that from listeners too. Even over at Game of Owns, they say, “Hey, I’ve been listening to you for a decade.” And next month is going to be, as you said earlier, the tenth anniversary of MuggleCast being a thing that exists.
Andrew: Right.
Selina: That’s insane, guys. Ten years. Can you just…? That’s crazy.
Andrew: Ten years.
Selina: Of podcasting.
Andrew: Where has the time gone?
Selina: I know!
Eric: How are we going to celebrate it?
Selina: And podcasting is having its second wind right now.
Andrew: That’s what I love most.
Eric: I think we should just… Andrew, you should just rerelease the first episode ever as a new episode.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Let’s play it in the background the entire time we’re doing Episode 281.
Eric: Oh, we could do a podcast episode commentary.
Selina: You could respond to yourselves. [laughs]
Eric: We could do a podcast episode commentary episode.
Andrew: “Oh, I loved this part when I sniffled or coughed.”
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Eric: Oh, as we all did so often when we were teenagers.
Andrew: Yes, yes. Our voices have deepened. Our love for Harry Potter has only grown. What else has happened? [laughs]
Eric: In case there are listeners out there who have been with us since the start, since the first couple – we’ll extend it – first couple months. They’re leading into the fourth movie release, our first live show in New York. All that good stuff that happened back then. For those of you who have been with us that long, thank you. Next month’s celebrations will be all about you as much as us, because I think it was really our first listeners who helped shape the show, too.
Andrew: Absolutely. Yeah, we’ll do some cool listener feedback stuff over the next month. So speaking of that, keep an eye on Twitter.com/MuggleCast and Facebook.com/MuggleCast, because we will be asking you guys questions, and we would love your answers. Thank you, everybody, for listening. As always, you can go to MuggleCast.com for everything you need to know about the show, and we’ll be back next month in August for a tenth anniversary special.
Micah: With J.K. Rowling.
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: Not with J.K. Rowling, unless I talk to her about The Casual Vacancy again. Maybe she’ll pay attention to me again. We’ll see. [laughs] Thanks, everybody, for listening. I’m Andrew Sims.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Selina: And I’m Selina Wilken. Micah, did you just say your name differently?
Micah: Did I?
Selina: “Tannen-boom.”
Micah: I don’t know. Maybe I cut out a bit.
Andrew: “Tannen-BOOM!” All right, see everybody next month. Goodbye.
Eric: Goodbye.
Micah and Selina: Bye.