Transcript for MuggleCast Episode #424, Sad Woodstock (HBP 30, The White Tomb)
Show Intro
[Show music plays]
Andrew Sims: Welcome to MuggleCast Episode 424. I’m Andrew.
Eric Scull: I’m Eric.
Micah Tannenbaum: I’m Micah.
Laura Tee: And I’m Laura.
Andrew: Yay, everybody’s here this week!
Laura: Yay!
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Micah: Hey, Laura, how have you been?
Laura: Good, how are you? It’s been a minute.
Micah: I know. Let’s just do the episode ourselves, and forget about Andrew and Eric.
Andrew: Sounds great. Bye.
Eric: Bye!
Laura: We could do that. [laughs] Laura and Micah’s prediction corner.
Andrew: Were the rumors true? Were you two feuding?
Laura: Feuding?
Andrew: Well, yeah, because Laura, you were off a week that Micah was on, and then Micah was off the week Laura was on.
Laura: Oh.
Andrew: It was… I don’t know. I was worried.
Eric: Yeah, this whole “Will they, won’t they” thing is getting pretty crazy, honestly.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Yeah. I mean, I like to think of us like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. It’s been a years long feud, and we finally have peace at last.
Andrew: Peace at last. [laughs] Micah loves Katy Perry. That was a great analogy.
Laura: Oh.
Eric: Who doesn’t?
Laura: Did not know that.
Micah: Huge fan.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Love “Firework.” Great song. So on today’s episode, we are going to discuss the final chapter of Half-Blood Prince. We’ve made it, y’all! Actually, almost one year later exactly. We started Half-Blood Prince Chapter by Chapter July 2018. It was a whole different time because Laura wasn’t even with us. [laughs]
Eric: It’s crazy. It’s crazy that we did it in one year. That’s nice.
Andrew: Yeah, I’m pleased that it took a year because, of course, we’ve had these other episodes where big news has happened. Of course, Crimes of Grindelwald came out over that time, so we took a good month off of Chapter by Chapter to discuss the movie.
News
Andrew: But anyway, first we have a couple of news stories. First of all, you may have seen in your social media feeds over the past week, there was this report by not a reputable website, so I’m not even going to name them, that said that a Harry Potter TV series was in development. And of course, this went crazy, this went viral, because everybody gets really excited when stories like this appear. Of course, some people are like, “Ugh, enough, no more, no more.” [laughs] Personally, I would be excited about it. Did you guys see this report when it was going around over the week?
Laura: I did.
Eric: I missed this one.
Micah: I missed it.
Andrew: Okay.
Laura: So I saw it, and I felt the spark of excitement for two seconds, but then I saw the source, and I was like, “No, there’s no way this is real.”
Andrew: And of course, this happens a lot, but… so I actually reached out to representatives for J.K. Rowling to get a comment. I understand that another Harry Potter website went to WB. WB didn’t reply to them, but J.K. Rowling’s people did reply to me, and they said, “No, this is just absolutely not true at all. Sorry.” So that was a nice little scoop to get, but it was also a big nothingburger, so not that big of a deal. [laughs]
Micah: It’s nice that you had communication from somebody in touch with J.K. Rowling.
Andrew: Right. And then my next question was, “Where is she? Why has she left Twitter?” And they said, “Andrew, please go away.”
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Eric: Huh. Yeah, must be going on six months there, mustn’t we? Yeah, that’s crazy.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s been a while.
Eric: Jo watch. Where is she?
Andrew: You know why I’m in touch with J.K. Rowling’s people? And by that, I just mean I have their email address. It’s because I get myself in trouble on Hypable, and then they email me and they’re like, “Hey, Andrew, take that down. What the hell are you doing?” I’m like, “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Micah: What exactly gets you in trouble? Can you elaborate there?
Andrew: Oh, well, remember when the new edition of Fantastic Beasts came out, and there was that new foreword?
Micah: No.
Andrew: No? Well, it leaked online, so they reached out about that because we had republished it. And then there was one other thing, but I can’t remember what it was, and that communication was the same contact… I used that contact from that communication to ask about this TV story. But anyway, I do just also want to mention that I feel like a Harry Potter TV series is inevitable.
Laura: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: I think we’ve touched on this a few times in the past. Warner Bros. is putting together their own streaming service now; it’s to compete with Netflix, with Amazon, with Apple, with Disney+… they need big brands, and I am sure they have already pleaded with J.K. Rowling to let them do this. But the question is, is J.K. Rowling going to let them do this? And I’m not convinced that she would say yes.
Eric: I’m not convinced she has the power anymore.
Andrew: She does.
Eric: Well… yeah, I don’t know.
Andrew: She did Fantastic Beasts. I mean, she credited Kevin Tsujihara, the WB CEO who’s not there anymore, for talking her into it.
Eric: Well, yes, but they’re relying on her to write the Fantastic Beasts films, whereas if you do a TV series based on the books, you already have the work published, so they don’t need her.
Andrew: That’s not true. You can’t take somebody else’s work… that’s like us going to Hollywood and being like, “Hey, we’ve got a great idea.”
Eric: I’m saying if they have the adaptation rights, she doesn’t need to do any extra work, is the thing.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: It’s not like she can say no and then… because the work is already written, and at least in 80 years, it’ll be in public domain. [laughs]
Andrew: Well, yeah, sure, in 80 years, but they could not do it without her or her representatives’ permission right now. I mean, it’s just…
Eric: But I’m saying they’re not going to be relying on her over the course of the next seven years to actually write additional material for it, so it’s significantly easier.
Andrew: And that’s why I think they should reboot Harry Potter, the books. I think they should adapt Books 1 through 7 for a TV series, because they could say to J.K. Rowling, “Look, we need your permission to do this, but here’s the beauty of it: We don’t need you to write it. We don’t really need you involved. We have the books as our guide; we know what we need to do.”
Eric: Yeah, absolutely.
Laura: I have a hard time imagining her not being involved at all in something like that, because I would think… I mean, she was always very complimentary of the movies, and I thought was very professional about the way that she approached them, even though we know the movies weren’t perfect, right? And I could definitely see her wanting to use a TV show as an opportunity to correct some of the things that the movies got wrong.
Eric: I think it’s a benefit of them. But as an artist, I would be bored and worried about repeating myself by now. It’s kind of like why… Fantastic Beasts is kind of a fundamentally different thing. We know there’s bleed over, but to preside over casting of a new… what’d she called them? Magical seven? Superior seven people? It just wouldn’t interest me, personally. Even though watching that happen would be interesting as a spectator, I wouldn’t want to be J.K. Rowling, feeling like I’m in the same place I was in 1999 casting for the first Harry Potter film. I don’t know, it just seems like, “What am I doing with my life? Or as an artist?”
Andrew: Yeah, right. Well, so it does feel too soon, and it would be weird, because then you worry, what does this mean for the theme park rides? Now people see that version of Harry Potter, and then they’re watching this new Harry Potter. So yeah, there are definitely some hurdles to cross there. But again, I just do find it inevitable. Selfishly, I think it would be one of the best things to ever happen for MuggleCast, because imagine how much more we would have to talk about suddenly. [laughs]
Laura: It’s true.
Eric: Episode by Episode.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Andrew: I mean, we could do two episodes a week; there’d be so much to talk about. [laughs]
Eric: Yeah. No, I’m excited for it. I’m excited for the inevitability of it all as well. I’ll put that out there.
Andrew: Anyway, Eric, I think you wanted to mention that Puffs the play, which we’ve raved about a lot on this show previously, is now coming to Chicago, huh?
Eric: Yeah, they’ve been our sponsor before. We really like them. We’ve seen them in New York, and we were talking just a couple weeks ago about whether or not Hamilton closing meant Cursed Child was coming to Chicago. [laughs]
Andrew: Right.
Eric: Which is, I guess, as yet unconfirmed. But almost five days later, it was announced that Puffs the play will be performed at Otherworld Theater next summer, 2020.
Andrew: Great, great.
Eric: And Otherworld Theater is in town; it’s right next to Wrigley Field, and it’s a good theater. They just relocated to a new space, and they pride themselves on science fiction and fantasy works. They do a lot of really cool stuff. I was just there for Science Friday and Cephalopod Week. Learned a lot.
Andrew: Wow, that sounds nerd-tastic.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: It was really… it was nerd-tastic. But it’ll be really exciting to have Puffs in town. So if anybody is Chicago or Chicago adjacent, just know next summer there’s going to be an opportunity for you to see Puffs.
Micah: Now, do you feel any different now about going to see this, Eric, given that you’re no longer a Hufflepuff?
[Eric laughs]
Laura: Wait, what? This is news to me.
Eric: Well, okay, I kind of joked that I was a Gryffindor now because WizardingWorld.com made you re-Sort and then they put me back in Gryffindor, Laura, where I had the robes for since 2004.
Laura: Oh my God.
Eric: I know, I know. But I think that I’m going to state once and for all… I think I’m going to stick back to mostly Hufflepuff with like, “I can still wear the Gryffindor robes; don’t give me shit.” So that’s my new identity. No, I’m really excited for Puffs. I’m excited for what this means for local Hufflepuffs in the area, local Harry Potter fans in general.
Andrew: Game changer for local Hufflepuffs.
Eric: It’ll be great. It’ll be great.
Andrew: Yeah, that’s cool. They also announced they’re leaving New York.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Micah: Andrew, I did want to ask about Wizards Unite, because I wasn’t on last week’s episode. And I’m trying to work my way through the game, and yeah, I enjoy it, but I honestly have no idea what I’m doing.
Andrew: [laughs] What do you mean?
Micah: What’s the end goal?
Andrew: Well, you play Pokémon Go; you should know.
Micah: Well, Pokémon, you’ve got to catch ’em all, right? That’s the objective, really. What’s the objective in Wizards Unite?
Eric: Find them all. Save them all. Unconfound them.
Andrew: So we admitted on last week’s episode that we’re not exactly following the story, but yes, you do need to save them all. You do have that registry. And this was one of my critiques last week: I said I think it needs to be easier to look at everything you’ve collected. It’s kind of broken up right now. So yeah, you still need to collect them all.
Eric: Here’s the tickbox to understanding Wizards Unite: Number one, is your sound on?
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: No.
Eric: Okay, neither is Laura’s. And number two: Are you reading the dialogue between Harry Potter and all the other characters?
Micah: You mean 40-year-old Harry and the other characters?
Andrew and Eric: Yes.
Micah: Vaguely. I mean…
Eric: Okay, neither is Laura.
Laura: It’s okay if you’re not.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Micah: No, not really. I mean, and I also don’t follow what the hell is going on.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, we’re not really following it either. We did get some emails, by the way – and thank you to those who sent them in – with some advice. And I know some of the people who listened last week also found what we had to say helpful. So what level are you at, Micah?
Micah: I’m level 8.
Eric: Wow.
Laura: Okay, you’re better than me.
Eric: And me.
Laura: I just got to level 7 last night.
Eric: 6 here.
Andrew: I’m battling a Buckbeak right now, a hippogriff right now.
Micah: As you’re recording?
Andrew: Yeah, well, I loaded it up when you mentioned it.
Laura: I did the same thing.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Micah: All right, so everyone just take a break and play the game.
Laura: I’m out of spell energy, so it doesn’t matter.
Andrew: Oh. Oh, I finally got him.
Micah: You can use coins to buy.
Andrew: Oh, we’re not paying for this.
Laura: Yeah, but I’m out of coins, and I’m not going to buy the coins.
Andrew: Micah, have you spent money?
Micah: No, no, no, I had coins from collecting them throughout the game.
Laura: Yeah, same here, but I spent all of them.
Andrew: I am level 12, and last night at the bar, I actually exchanged friend codes with a couple of people, so people are still playing it. By the way, also ran into one of our listeners, if you saw on the MuggleCast Instagram, Shelby.
Micah: I did see that.
Andrew: Hey, Shelby. It was nice seeing you last night.
MuggleCastBT
Andrew: Okay, so before we get to Half-Blood Prince Chapter by Chapter, it’s time now from MuggleCasTBT. This one is going to take us back to Episode 77, February 2007. You’re going to recognize at least one voice you haven’t heard in a while. Here’s the clip; this concerns… this was a prediction we unintentionally made about Cursed Child.
[Audio clip plays]
Caller: … just I was curious as to why Voldemort never became a daddy. Can you imagine that thought? Well, I hope you guys have a great day, and pickles to you, too.
Ben: Thanks for that, Chris. Voldemort just has no love. He can’t make any love, because he has no love, so therefore he can’t be a daddy.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: That was the best answer to a voicemail question ever.
Andrew: Well, it’s true, though.
Eric: It is.
Andrew: It might be a good way to pass on your legacy. And I mean, obviously Harry inherited something from… especially his father. But if Voldemort wanted to truly… but I mean, then his son could die. I just can’t imagine…
Eric: No, I like this voicemail because I think it illustrates Voldemort… I mean, we don’t know that Voldemort doesn’t have a kid. People like Bellatrix, as stated… we don’t know.
Andrew: [in a Darth Vader voice] “I am your father.”
Ben: There’s going to be a Star Wars scene in Book 7.
Eric: But we don’t know. Could be hidden away, could be twins that were separated to opposite ends of the galaxy… we don’t know.
[Audio clip ends]
Andrew: [laughs] Did I hear an awkward Kevin laugh in there?
Laura: Yeah, I heard that too.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: That’s my favorite part. [imitates Kevin’s laugh]
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: So yeah, there we go. We kind of predicted that Voldemort might have a child, and he did. It’s definitely one of the more…
Eric: Yeah, that Bellatrix was willing, and that the kid might be hidden away. That’s pretty sharp.
Micah: On point.
Laura: But also, I feel like y’all were kind of kidding.
Andrew: I think a little bit.
Micah: Yeah, is it a prediction if you were kind of half full of shit when you were giving it?
Andrew: [laughs] No, but it’s great to look back on, because then you’re like, “Oh, wow, we actually ended up being right about it. That’s cool.”
Micah: Yeah, it is truly amazing, and to look back – I think I mentioned this when I recorded that little bite for the show last week, going through all the different documents that Kim was nice enough to put together – how on point we were with some of our predictions. Whether we were joking around or not, I just think it’s really funny to look back and see with some of these just really how accurate we were.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s fascinating to look back on, and we’re going to continue doing it each week here on the show and on social media: MuggleCast on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Chapter by Chapter: Seven-Word Summary
Andrew: So it’s time now for Chapter by Chapter, and since this is the final chapter, we’re going to do something a little special this week. We are going to catch everybody up on where we stand in Half-Blood Prince by recapping every single chapter so far. And those of you who have been following very closely over the past year might recall that we actually didn’t do our Seven-Word Summaries for the first three chapters, so we came up with new ones for those ahead of today’s episode. And Dumbledore is going to join us to introduce each chapter so we can keep track.
Eric: Oh, yay.
Andrew: Yes, and then we’ll jump right into Chapter 30. [laughs] So this will be fun to edit.
Eric: Thanks.
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: Is he Skyping in? Or is he joining by Google Hangouts? What’s…?
Andrew: He’s just here. He’s just always here. He has no time for interviews.
Eric: Did you hear that pop? He just Apparated.
Andrew: [laughs] [makes a popping sound] There he is.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: All right. [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 1:
Eric: “The other side, it has magic too.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 2:
Micah: “Snape really messed things up at home.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 3:
Laura: “Dumbledore rescues Harry from an unbearable summer.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 4:
Eric: “Dumbledore reveals Slughorn is a chair today.”
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 5:
Micah: “Fleur was entering Harry’s room and existed.”
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 6:
Laura: “Diagon Alley looks really sad and desolate.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 7:
Eric: “The tasty pheasant boards scrumptiously Belby’s mouth.”
Andrew: That was our worst one.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Objectively, yes. Yes, that was our horrible, worst one.
Laura: Yeah, that doesn’t really tell me what happened in that chapter.
Andrew: Oh, I think it does perfectly.
Micah: It sounds like the start of a dirty fanfic.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Eric: Oh my God.
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 8:
Micah: “Harry feels really frustrated by Snape’s attitude.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 9:
Laura: “Potions is taught by a quirky walrus.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 10:
Eric: “A memory comes before another big reveal.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 11:
Micah: “Harry tries to prune Buckbeak’s big lunch.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 12:
Laura: “Draco is trying out poisoned necklaces, hooray.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 13:
Eric: “Tom is very disturbed by Albus’s presence.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 14:
Micah: “Ron hates being left out of snogging.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 15:
Laura: “Harry parties hard when with Luna Partygood.”
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: That’s probably my favorite.
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 16:
Eric: “Rufus tries to convince Harry by persuasion.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 17:
Micah: “Young wizards can make Horcruxes from murders.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 18:
Laura: “Ron doesn’t really love Romilda Vane wholeheartedly.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 19:
Eric: “Quidditch takes a backseat to Draco’s activities.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 20:
Micah: “Voldemort tries again to obtain Dumbledore’s allowance.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 21:
Laura: “Harry searches for Draco unsuccessfully but determinedly.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 22:
Eric: “Aragog causes Harry no issues with Slughorn.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 23:
Micah: “Secrets are discovered inside the Slughorn office.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 24:
Laura: “Harry almost gets discovered by Snape…” [laughs] Let me do that again.
[Micah laughs]
Laura: “Harry almost gets discovered by Snape, bathroom.”
Eric: I think we ran out of words on that one.
Laura: We did. [laughs]
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 25:
Eric: “Harry discovers who listened to the prophecy.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 26:
Micah: “Together they enter the mysterious boat ride.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 27: “Dumbledore goes over the lightning-struck thingy.”
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Oh. Bye, Dumbledore.
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Goodbye. Chapter 28:
Laura: “Harry chases Snape down onto the grounds.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 29:
Eric: “After Dumbledore’s death, Harry regroups with friends.”
Andrew: [imitating Dumbledore] Chapter 30: Harry…
Eric: … feels…
Micah: … really…
Laura: … bad…
Andrew: … about…
Eric: … breaking…
Micah: … Dumbledore.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Wow.
Laura: I don’t think that’s accurate. [laughs]
Andrew: Where did you think that was going to go, Eric?
Eric: “Up”? Breaking up with… he breaks up with Ginny in this chapter.
Andrew: Oh.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: I think it works, because Hermione tells him in this chapter to not keep blaming himself for everything that’s going wrong. So I think it really does work, and Harry does break down in this chapter as well as break up, so I feel good.
Laura: True.
Andrew: So Micah, you’ll take us through this final chapter today.
Micah: Yeah, and I just want to say, those Seven-Word Summaries, some of them are definitely keepers. I mean, I would put them on the wall of fame just for how amazing they are.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Yes, yes. They seem to get better as we went on. Maybe it was because Laura was here. Some of those early ones are really wild.
Laura: I don’t know. I mean, “Harry almost gets discovered by Snape, bathroom”?
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Laura: I was on for that one, so I don’t think you can credit me for anything.
Micah: Yeah, and the whole pruning Buckbeak’s big lunch?
Andrew: [laughs] I don’t know. Was I on that episode?
Micah: I just think we weren’t ready to go there.
Andrew: No.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: I think we should have just… whatever word came to mind, that should just have been what was thrown out there, and if it gets us in trouble with iTunes, so be it.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: The fun thing to do is to just look at the first word, really, because you can read the arcs. It goes from Voldemort to Draco to Ron to relationships to Quidditch to Voldemort to Draco… it just kind of ebbs and flows between the characters of the subjects, so I think it does accurately portray the various things going on in this book. I love this segment, and I’m thrilled that we’ve now completed it.
Micah: Yes, I look forward to potentially doing this with other chapters, should we do that.
Chapter by Chapter: Main Discussion
Micah: All right, so we’ve reached the final chapter of Half-Blood Prince, “The White Tomb,” and the chapter really opens up with a lot of reflection and a lot of arrivals on the part of characters that are going to attend Dumbledore’s funeral. And one of the things I noted – and it’s not really the first thing that happens in the chapter – but there’s this really great description of Madame Maxime arriving, kind of similar to Goblet of Fire, a bit of a throwback to when the carriage lands at Hogwarts, and Harry notes how some students may have even been seeing this for the first time, because they’re not accustomed to it. But I thought it really spoke – and we can get into this with other characters – but it really did speak to the respect that Dumbledore had amongst the wizarding community, the fact that you would have somebody from Goblet of Fire, and really from another part of the world, showing up to pay her respects to Dumbledore.
Andrew and Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Well, of course, because of the Triwizard Tournament; I think that was a factor. But yeah, I do want to talk about the guest list, because it is very interesting. I’m kind of mad that at least one person showed up, and then I wonder where other people are from his past. So we’ll talk about that later. But I also liked… correct me if I’m wrong, but J.K. Rowling doesn’t even specifically say Madame Maxime, right? You just get the description, and that’s it. I thought that was pretty cool.
Micah: Yeah, absolutely. And you also have Seamus arguing with his mom. And there’s a note that a lot of parents have already pulled their kids out of Hogwarts…
Eric: Right.
Micah: … and Andrew, I wanted to ask you what the hell’s taken them so long?
[Eric laughs]
Micah: It took the headmaster falling off of the however tall tower…
Eric: It’s the highest. It’s the highest tower.
Micah: The highest tower, yeah. I mean, what gives?
Andrew: Well, look, it’s the end of the year anyway, right? So maybe the parents think, “Oh, nothing can happen in these final few days.” But yes, again, Micah, I mean, Hogwarts is a security nightmare! And maybe they should have taken them out sooner.
Micah: Andrew, I think you could write a book.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: You could.
Andrew: All the ways Hogwarts is a security nightmare?
Micah: “Hogwarts: Security Nightmare.”
Andrew: “Hogwarts: A Nightmare.”
Micah: New York Times bestseller.
Laura: I wonder what these parents are doing who are pulling their children out of school. Are they sending them to other wizarding schools? Are they getting transfers? Are they going to be homeschooled?
Andrew: I would imagine they’re just riding it out, just in a wait and see mode. And again, because we are at the end of the year, they don’t really need to put them anywhere else immediately.
Eric: Right.
Andrew: So maybe they’re just waiting to see what the Ministry does. What happens now that Dumbledore has passed? Who takes over as Headmaster? I mean, that’s a big question. That’s an important question.
Eric: Right. It is sort of exciting. And with Seamus fighting with his mother… good for him, by the way; that’s pretty cool, where he’s like, “At least let me stay for the funeral,” and she consents. That it’s hard to get a room in Hogsmeade for how many people are coming in, both to see Dumbledore and to get their kids, but it’s mostly just to see Dumbledore. If it’s hard to get a room in Hogsmeade… several people that are the delegation from the Ministry of Magic are being put up in the castle. This is a huge event. This is like Woodstock, but it’s a funeral, so not as fun.
Andrew: [laughs] Sad Woodstock.
Eric: Yeah, sad Woodstock. And so it really is special to see that just so many people from around the world are turning up.
Laura: Well, you can compare it to any time a majorly respected public servant passes. I mean, I feel like the most recent example of this would be John McCain, right? And when you looked at his funeral, you saw a similar sort of thing, right? You saw people from all corners come together to celebrate the man.
Micah: Absolutely. A little bit surprising, though, that parents would look to pull their children out of Hogwarts, and it’s understandable, given what’s just happened, but also, wouldn’t you want to allow the students – along the lines of Seamus and the fight that he has with his mom – to be able to pay respects? Now, maybe some of the children that are first or second years don’t necessarily know Dumbledore as well, but certainly the older students would have been with him for six, seven years, and want to be able to pay their respects to him.
Andrew and Eric: Definitely.
Eric: Sets a good example to have your kid understand what a loss the world has just suffered. But it is lost on some kids, and some parents, too, I think.
Andrew: It’s also a way for them to cope with his passing. To take them out before his funeral, I think, does them no favors.
Micah: Absolutely.
Andrew: And they also want to be there with their fellow students.
Micah: Right. Eric, I’ll let you handle this next point, because it is about Ginny…
[Eric laughs]
Micah: … and there’s still a bit of a rift, it seems, between her and Fleur, despite the fact that Molly seems to have made amends with her. But she’s still throwing out some snide comments, and not really sure why.
Eric: Yeah, I’m surprised by this. Well, at this point… so we’ve gone back to normalcy, kind of. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and Ginny. It’s just there’s a quartet now. It’s no longer a trio; it’s a quartet. It’s not going to last very long. But they just naturally go down to the grounds together, and Ginny is very comfortable talking with Harry, but she does make this unfortunate comment about, “Well, Molly is finally okay with Fleur; I guess I’ll have to be too.” I just think Ginny is kind of shaken up about this whole Bill thing – her brother was attacked and nearly killed – and I think she makes kind of a lighthearted joke, but it is a little bit… I was a person who, back in “Excess of Phlegm,” said, “What’s the deal? All these women are hating on Fleur, and it’s kind of shitty.” It still bothers me a little bit, for sure.
Micah: Could it be a bit of immaturity on her part? I mean, we tend to look towards Hermione and Ginny as being more mature characters at times throughout the course of the series, but in this moment, it feels a little bit like she’s being immature, treating Fleur a certain way, with really no reason. I mean, Fleur has shown that she cares quite a bit about Ginny’s brother, and yet she’s still ragging on her pretty hard.
Eric: I agree. There’s sort of a tier system of people who hate on Fleur; Molly was number one, but then just in the previous chapter, they were holding each other and crying and making apologies. Fleur has revealed herself not to be this shallow person. It may be jealousy still about Fleur’s looks, the uncertainty, self-consciousness coming from people that cause her to project this negative “Oh, I guess I’ll have to put up with her,” but it was a favorite pastime for all the Weasleys last summer to kind of rag on Fleur a little bit. So I think it’s probably just… it’s something that’s on its way out, but is not quite all the way out. So it takes… I think that’s what it is.
Laura: Well, and this is a thing that happens in families. And I think something that is really significant here is that Fleur is not only very different from the Weasleys in that she sort of comes from this very, I assume, higher, upper middle class background, and so that probably feels threatening. Also the fact that she’s foreign, and she’s French, and unfortunately, all of those things tied together tend to be stereotyped as making somebody snobby or really shallow. And I have a feeling that these were a lot of the preconceptions that the Weasleys had about Fleur’s character until she actually gave them reason to believe, “Oh, no, that actually isn’t who this person is.” And I sort of read Ginny’s reaction to this as being somewhat sheepish, like, “I guess I have to give her a chance now.”
Eric: Yeah. And not before, weirdly.
Micah: Yeah, I think that’s fair. And kind of shifting gears to Hermione, there’s a conversation between her and Harry where she, I think, delivers the information a little bit in the wrong way.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Just based on Harry’s reaction. I mean, Harry is going through quite a tough time right now, as we know, and Hermione delivers the news sort of along the lines of, “Hey, guess what? I was right all along about the Half-Blood Prince,” and Harry is just kind of like, “Okay, do you really have to rub it in now?” And she’s clearly been up to her usual… she’s in the library. She’s been researching, trying to find out who RAB is, given that the locket was a fake, and she’s come across really no information that’s relevant. There was two RABs that she came across: Rosalind Antigone Bungs, and Rupert “Axebanger” Brookstanton, and I wonder if that’s a little bit of a head nod to Rupert Grint at all.
Andrew: Wouldn’t that be the second one? Because Slughorn also calls… I mean, does J.K. Rowling really like Rupert around this time that she’s writing this book?
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Eric: It’s a good name. It’s an interesting name.
Micah: Well, is the Rupert reference in the book, or is it in the movie?
Laura: I thought it was in the book.
Eric: I think it’s in the book. If it were in the movie, that would be too “Take me out of it.”
Andrew: Oh, yeah.
Micah: All right. And then we get the information on Eileen Prince, the fact that somehow, in her first go-around, Hermione missed the fact that she was married to Tobias Snape. And then Harry makes a pretty strong indictment on Snape’s character, comparing him to Voldemort, and wondered what you all thought about that, making a comparison between Snape and Voldemort, just given the fact that they both had pure-blood mothers, they had Muggle fathers… do we think Snape was ashamed of his parentage, or does he really just care deeply for his mother, and that’s why he took on the Half-Blood Prince nickname?
Laura: I always got the impression that Tobias wasn’t a part of Snape’s upbringing. Am I wrong in that?
Eric: In Snape’s memory, it’s indicated that Tobias was mentally and/or physically abusive of Eileen, because all it is is young Snape is cowering in a corner while a man yells sternly. So I think it was not a happy marriage. Maybe as a Muggle, he felt emasculated by his wife’s magic or threatened by it? Maybe that caused it? Maybe he just was not a nice guy; he was not a good dude.
Micah: Right.
Eric: And there are these comparisons to be drawn between Voldemort and Snape, who both didn’t like their dads at all. They have a high degree of contempt for their dads. It does not surprise me that Snape went by the Prince side of the family.
Laura: Right.
Eric: But where Harry’s got it wrong is that Harry thinks it was all about his ego. “Oh, he had to play up the magic side, just like Voldemort did, to be special.” Harry’s just got it wrong because he doesn’t have all the facts.
Micah: Right. And I would lean more so that Tom Riddle was ashamed of his parentage, particularly his father. I don’t know that Snape is ashamed of his parentage; I just think that he hates his father.
Eric: Yeah, for good reasons. But I do think they’re probably both gone, because Spinner’s End is his now, or the house on Spinner’s End.
Laura: Right.
Micah: I’ve just never given much thought to comparing Snape and Voldemort. Never really crossed my mind.
Eric: Yeah, this is a box-checking moment, I think, because we have to… we’re in that weird position where we have to think Snape is bad for at least a half book yet to go before we can really know everything. So this is sort of necessary to have Harry being like, “Oh, Snape is just like Voldemort. And I’m going to go after Voldemort, but if I happen to see Snape, he’d better… he’ll be worse for it.”
Micah: Right.
Laura: Yeah. I think it’s pretty likely that Snape and Voldemort had a lot in common when it came to their upbringings, just in terms of having an absent father figure, whether that absence comes in the form of just being so abusive that they’re just not actually helping to form you as a person, or just being physically absent. And I also think that because, like it or not, human beings operate based on patterns, and we draw perceptions about other people based on the patterns that we experience in our lives. So if Snape’s first experience with a Muggle was with his abusive Muggle father, it would certainly explain why he might have some internalized biases against Muggles. I mean, we’ve seen him discriminate against Hermione for being Muggle-born, for example.
Eric: Right.
Laura: So I think it’s entirely possible that he holds deep-seated prejudices against Muggles and half-bloods, and therefore has a little bit of self-loathing going on. But I think the difference with Snape is that he is able to see the bigger picture and the relevance that people of different blood backgrounds have to this world, and he’s able to see that value, whereas Voldemort is not, because Voldemort holds himself above all others.
Micah: Definitely. That’s a great point. One of the other things, though, that comes towards the end of this conversation is Harry, he starts to really show guilt for trusting in the Half-Blood Prince for the entire year. And I think this is something that we felt was coming for a long time, and we saw moments of it throughout the course of the book, but now it’s really hitting him, given what has happened to Dumbledore and really Snape’s role in all of what has happened. And what did you all take away from this particular moment? I’m sure if we were in his situation, we would feel very much the same. But Hermione and others were cautioning him throughout the course of the year to not really follow along to this book, especially after what happened to Draco.
Andrew: Well, so in this chapter, Harry feels like Snape was playing him all along, right? Because he guesses that Snape must have known that Harry had his copy of the book. And I don’t know if we ever get really confirmation about that, but I think that makes sense to me, and it’s just another reason for Harry to despise Snape, that he knew what he was up to all along and pretending like he didn’t know that he had the book.
Eric: Yeah, and it’s very weird, this conversation about Snape being evil, because he says, “If I had shown the book to Dumbledore, which I should have done, Dumbledore would know that Snape was evil even when he was young and at school,” and it would sort of supersede anything that older Snape, overhearing the prophecy, might have said to Dumbledore. It just would have been another opportunity for Harry to say, “Look, this dude’s evil. Will you listen to me?” And I think, though, if he had done that, maybe Dumbledore would have still pushed it aside, but then he would have chastised Harry for cheating on Potions all year.
Laura: Yeah, I think Harry is just at that bargaining point in his grief…
Eric: Yes.
Laura: … and I think that that’s the reason for this. Although I do think it’s an interesting connecting the threads moment, too, because we have here at the end of Book 6, where Harry is sort of feeling guilty about being misled by this book that he has allowed to guide him all year, and he’s not following Arthur Weasley’s advice of “Don’t trust something if you can’t see where it keeps its brain,” which is such a huge parallel to the way Ginny Weasley was feeling at the end of Book 2 for being so overtaken by Tom Riddle’s diary. And ultimately, everybody was trying to convince her, “No, this isn’t your fault,” but in this case, can we argue it’s kind of Harry’s fault for trusting the Prince?
Eric: I want to see the alternate universe where Ron got the book and not Harry still, and see what he did with it all year.
Micah: You can write that fanfiction.
Eric: Oh, yeah, I guess I could.
Andrew: He would have used it the same way.
Eric: He might have, yeah. Well, given what Ron did when the snogging bug finally hit him and ran with it, he probably would be the biggest hit in Potions in the Slug Club. We’ll see.
Micah: All right, well, moving on, Andrew, you noted here that the Hogwarts Express is leaving an hour after the funeral. That feels rough for these students.
Andrew: Yeah, it does feel rough for the students. I haven’t read this in a while, so just reading that bit again, I was like, “Wow, that seems rough.” Because you want time to mourn. I would feel like if I just watched Dumbledore be laid to rest, I wouldn’t want to immediately leave the grounds. I would want to maybe sit on the Hogwarts grounds and reflect on Dumbledore’s life for a little while. I wouldn’t want to suddenly be so far away from Dumbledore; I think that’s another thing too. Did this feel weird to you guys? It’s not a big deal, but I just felt bad for Harry that he would have to leave Dumbledore so soon.
Laura: Isn’t this kind of a European thing? Like, “The train schedule will run”?
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: But the Hogwarts Express runs on its own schedule.
Eric: They take their trains very seriously.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: They could have made a special delay for Dumbledore’s burial.
Eric: Well, I feel bad for the trolley lady. She’s doing a double shift because she’s coming to Dumbledore’s funeral, and she’s got to make sure nobody tries to jump off the train.
Andrew: That is a busy day.
Laura: It’s true. And is she having to push the trolley around at the funeral to feed people?
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: [emotionally] “Anything off the trolley, my dears?” [weeps]
Micah: Wow.
Laura: I mean, I don’t know. I’m kind of being serious, because I’m Southern, right? So we feed people all the time, and especially at wakes after funerals. That’s a big thing. You feed people. I almost said a word I shouldn’t have said on the show.
Andrew: Well, there’s no reception either, was there?
Eric: Right.
Andrew: And I think that would be the time that they would be eating food, right?
Laura: I guess so. Probably not at the actual funeral. That’d be weird.
Andrew: Right, eating popcorn.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: The impression I get is… [laughs] “Here’s popcorn,” yeah. Watch the tomb erupt in flames. “Ooh, aah, popcorn. Butter? Butter? Extra butter, Mr. Potter?”
[Laura laughs]
Eric: The whole impression that I get is exams have been canceled; people have already left Hogwarts. This is the very, very last thing that’s keeping anybody here. People are ready to go home. They’re ready for the summer; they’re going to soak in the UV rays. Everybody’s excited. But Dumbledore’s funeral at this point might feel, to some, like more of a chore, and once it’s over, it’s over. The Hogwarts Express train can leave, because there’s no reason to stay anymore. Might be it.
Micah: All right. We do get a moment in the Great Hall prior to going out to the funeral, and it’s noted that Crabbe and Goyle seem lost without Malfoy. And Harry is just kind of doing a panning of the room; we see that Scrimgeour is actually sitting in Snape’s old seat, which I think answers one of your Quizzitch questions, Eric, from maybe two weeks ago, was it?
Eric: Yep. [laughs] Yeah, that was two weeks ago.
Andrew: Yeah, I mean, they’re lost without their boy. And it’s kind of funny, because it just speaks to how hopeless they are without their leader.
Eric: I feel like, too, there’s a parallel to be made between Crabbe and Goyle feeling helpless and Harry feeling helpless without Dumbledore.
Andrew: Should they have banded together?
Eric: [laughs] I mean, maybe. I mean, they’ve just had Malfoy guiding them for so long that… and we often get the sense even their parents, the Death Eaters Crabbe and Goyle, never really seem to have their own personality very much.
Micah: Right. Yeah, they always seem very much attached to Draco, and now they don’t seem to have a clue what to do without him.
Eric: Yeah, and it’s a great moment. It’s a great character moment for Harry to feel bad for Draco. Wherever he is, he can’t be with his friends.
Micah: Well, and do we think that this at all plays into what happens in Deathly Hallows? Maybe more so from Draco’s end, knowing that he did have that moment of hesitation on the tower; he didn’t look like he was going to harm Dumbledore in any way, that he was too afraid to do so. Do we think that plays into his character in Malfoy Manor when he doesn’t let the Death Eaters know that, in fact, Harry has been captured?
Eric: Yeah, absolutely.
Andrew: I think so.
Micah: Okay, so we now head out to the Hogwarts grounds and are about to attend the funeral, and there’s quite a long list of people that are in attendance, and I’ll go through them here, and we can discuss them afterwards. And I know they’re kind of spread out through a couple of pages, but I’ll go through the list. Lupin, Tonks, Mad-Eye, Fred and George, Molly, Arthur, Fleur, Bill, Tom the barman from the Leaky Cauldron, Arabella Figg, the Weird Sisters bass player…
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: … Ernie Prang, who is the driver of the Knight Bus, Madam Malkin… Aberforth, although he’s not explicitly named.
Eric: Love it.
Micah: He’s mentioned as the barman from the Hog’s Head. The trolley lady, all four of the House ghosts, Cornelius Fudge, Rita Skeeter, Dolores Umbridge, Firenze and other centaurs who show up later on, the merpeople, and Grawp.
Andrew: So I have a few questions about this guest list. First of all, why is Umbridge there? Is she just taking pleasure in seeing Dumbledore put six feet under?
Laura: I think Umbridge is all about appearances.
Eric: Right.
Laura: So this is just about trying to generate positive public perception for herself, I think.
Andrew: It makes me sick to see her there.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: As it does Harry. Some people just shouldn’t be allowed to attend. Who organized the funeral? You should have put some bans on some certain people from arriving. Harry could have worked with them on that, and Umbridge definitely would have been one of those people.
Eric: Oh, yeah. And you know Umbridge rode in the same carriage or whatever as Rita. You know they’re all there to just cause a ruckus, especially considering what Rita is about to do, to write the tell-all book on Dumbledore against him. These are people who, actively in life, did not have Dumbledore’s best interests at heart, did not care about him, and now they’re here. And that’s the shitty thing about death, is there’s not a thing Dumbledore can do about it.
Andrew: Well, he could have put something in his will. “Umbridge cannot attend my burial.”
Eric: Like McCain saying that you-know-who couldn’t be at his funeral.
Micah: Yeah. I mean, I tend to agree with what Laura was saying, in terms of it being a perception issue for Umbridge. I think that for her in particular, it’s probably like, “Well, Fudge, former Minister, is going; Scrimgeour is in attendance.” It would be bad for her, assuming… does she even still have her position within the Ministry, or has she been let go after what happened in Order of the Phoenix?
Eric: She’s there in Deathly Hallows.
Micah: Well, I mean, that doesn’t mean anything if… was she there before the Death Eaters took over?
Eric: Oh. Yeah, I think so. I think she’s still Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, and is therefore required to put in appearances, as you say.
Micah: Well, and Percy is there. That just reminded me that Percy was there as well; I left him off the list. But I don’t think he’s mentioned until later on when Scrimgeour tries to corner Harry.
Andrew and Eric: Yeah.
Eric: Ron is avoiding him. I think Harry notices his glasses in the Great Hall, I think is what it is.
Andrew: And then I also wonder about people from Dumbledore’s earlier years. There’s no mention… of course, this is from Harry’s perspective, but there’s no mention, really, of any other strangers there besides this short man with a hat who speaks. Who is that person? You would think that that person is significant to Dumbledore, and yet we don’t really get any information about that person.
Eric: The one who eulogizes Dumbledore?
Andrew: Yeah, who is that? I mean, that’s an important speech to make.
Laura: I think it’s Yusuf Kama, personally.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: It’s old Credence, clearly.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Old Credence.
Micah: Wow.
Andrew: Yeah, I mean, it would be cool if it was somebody from the Fantastic Beasts series. But yeah, I don’t know.
Eric: It is funny how it’s… I wouldn’t call it a cop-out, but even Harry can’t hear every word of the eulogy. He doesn’t need to. He’s just making his own peace, and he still breaks down and realizes it’s all over for him. But how shocking is it that we actually don’t get the eulogy? Because J.K. Rowling could have absolutely written, had she wanted to, a beautiful summary of that man’s life prior to it being deconstructed in the following book.
Andrew: Right.
Micah: That’s a good point. It is a little odd that we don’t get any real context to the eulogy, and maybe that’s just because information there would have spoiled some of what was to come in Deathly Hallows. When I thought of the person giving the eulogy, one person that did come to mind was Elphias Doge…
Eric: Ooh.
Laura: Oh, yeah.
Micah: … who Harry speaks with in the next book. I’m not entirely sure what his appearance is like, but we know that the two of them were very close growing up, and one would think that he was at the funeral. But it also brings up, Andrew, your question about who else is here that we don’t really know about? Or maybe there are folks that we just… even if they mentioned names, we wouldn’t know who they are or their level of importance to Dumbledore.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: Certain people like Madame Maxime, a fellow Head person at another wizarding school, makes a lot of sense. And then somebody like the Weird Sisters bass player… I want to know what his person… not that Dumbledore ever had…
Andrew: Maybe Dumbledore was a big fan.
Eric: Yeah, maybe.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: They probably had a close personal correspondence.
Micah: For sure. Yeah, knowing that Hogsmeade was as busy as it was, there were obviously other people there that we wouldn’t be able to identify.
Andrew: Then again, Dumbledore was old, 150, so maybe a lot of people from his past have now passed.
Micah: True.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: But I think Harry should have delivered a speech. Wouldn’t he want to do that?
Laura: Or Scrimgeour. Or no, excuse me; not him, Slughorn.
Andrew: Why Slughorn?
Laura: I mean, he gave such a great eulogy of Aragog.
Andrew: [laughs] And it was off the cuff, wasn’t it?
Eric: [laughs] “Your body will decay…”
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: Oh no. Or will it, in this tomb? I don’t think so.
Eric: Oh, in this tomb? Yeah, no, it’s perfect. Classy, preservative, Dumbledore.
Micah: Kind of just going back to the point from the beginning of the chapter with Madame Maxime showing up, I thought it was a really nice tribute on the part of J.K. Rowling to have the centaurs, to have the merpeople come out and pay their respects in their own way. I think it speaks to Dumbledore’s character and his reach, just as a person.
Eric: I mean, this is interspecies tribute, is how good it is. These people would… these creatures would keep to themselves normally. The centaurs only care about what’s in the sky, except for Firenze, who’s been more familiar and is actually a teacher at the school. The rest of the centaurs, they don’t need to be there, and the fact that they are there shows that they know how significant this is.
Andrew: Well, now Dumbledore is in the sky too. [weeps]
Eric: Oh, man. Yeah, I wonder if a star appeared the night he died.
Andrew: [laughs] “Ding!”
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: That was very Disney.
Andrew: Right, exactly.
Eric: [laughs] But the merpeople… Harry reflects Dumbledore knew Mermish. Dumbledore took the time to learn how to interact with the people in the lake. And it’s kind of like… I mean, they’re your neighbors; they’re your neighbors in the lake. They have their own society… presumably a matriarchy, by the way. How cool is that? The Merchieftainess is one of the lead creatures that comes out and sticks her head above and is singing the song Harry recognizes. And so it really is a testament to Dumbledore… even though there’s not individual speeches from various characters, the fact… the sheer presence of these beings states all you’d ever really need to know.
Micah: Yeah. And also, they scare the bleep out of Umbridge. At least, the centaurs do.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: It’s worth it just for that.
Micah: Towards the end of the ceremony, the tomb… well, actually, the body, right? Bursts into flames and is replaced by this tomb. And wondering, is this the standard for what happens at a wizarding funeral?
Andrew: Yeah, I’m wondering that too. Probably not. And so I’m a little confused: so the body was there, right?
Micah: Yep.
Andrew: It was laying out.
Micah: Well, it was wrapped in a cloak.
Andrew: Okay, and the tomb wasn’t there. It wasn’t on top of the tomb.
Eric: Right.
Micah: That’s the way that I interpreted it, yeah.
Andrew: That it was on top of the tomb.
Micah: The way I’ve read it – and I think Laura has kind of a similar thought – was I felt like it was just kind of the magic exploding out of Dumbledore, like the last moments of… well, he’s obviously passed at this point, but just they’ve had the ceremony, everything’s come to a conclusion, and it’s sort of just like all the magic that was contained within him just bursts out of him. And maybe it is traditional at wizarding funerals, but this guy was obviously way more powerful than most.
Eric: Several people scream as if they weren’t expecting it, so I don’t know if this would be standard at wizarding funerals, although it’s possible those people hadn’t seen a funeral before. Maybe it is commonplace. Maybe those were the Squibs, like Arabella Figg, who’s there, who wouldn’t have seen it before. Don’t know if it’s common, but I get the impression that there was an outside force acting. Somebody there made it happen, versus it just being Dumbledore’s corpse knowing somehow that he’s been properly eulogized and now can explode into a tomb to encase himself in.
Micah: Yeah. Laura, what did you think?
Laura: Well, I was thinking specifically about how Harry thought that he saw a phoenix for a split second after the tomb explosion, and I sort of saw it as like a soul ascending moment. Now, I don’t know if that was something that just happens automatically because the body is just sort of aware that it’s been eulogized, but I think there could be magic sort of inherently tied to funeral ceremonies in the wizarding world, that that might sort of happen. But I don’t… not really sure how that works, but I definitely… I know one of the questions we had here was, “Is this Fawkes the phoenix dying alongside Dumbledore?”
Eric: Yeah, yeah.
Laura: I didn’t read it that way, because I feel like the way it was described, it’s like a plume of smoke, and for a split second Harry thinks he sees a phoenix, and I thought that was intended to represent Dumbledore, not necessarily that it was Fawkes.
Eric: Yeah. Well, I questioned in our segment on Fawkes over on Patreon… we really did a deep dive on what the connection is, and whether or not Fawkes flew away to die, or Fawkes flew away for good, never to be seen again. I thought it was possible that Fawkes kind of came in and dive-bombed the tomb here at the end of the eulogy.
Laura: [laughs] Like Birdemic?
Eric: Yeah, well, bird Kamikaze.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: But instead of being reborn from ashes, then it created the tomb, like the stone or whatever. I don’t know if we’re going by the movie where it’s from IKEA. We said it was the IKEA tomb.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: It’s the smoothest, rectangular, stone, marble tomb. But yeah, I don’t know.
Micah: The only thing I would say there is that phoenixes are supposed to be immortal creatures.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: But it’s J.K. Rowling’s style of immortal. It’s like Nicolas Flamel is supposed to be immortal too, but if he stops drinking the Elixir of Life, he will die.
Micah: Yeah, that’s interesting. It’s kind of like what we always hear about with certain mythical creatures; they’re tied to their human counterpart, and if one dies, so does the other.
Eric: Yeah. I mean, if phoenixes were really immortal, there would…
Micah: They would still be here today.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Yeah, exactly, all of the ones that ever lived would be… they’d overcrowd the earth.
Laura: I feel like we got into the low population of phoenixes in that segment, too, so definitely worth a listen.
Eric: See our segment on Fawkes and Dumbledore.
Micah: And then what about the movie? Because somebody just mentioned it, the fact that this was omitted from the film, and we really only see the white tomb in Deathly Hallows when Voldemort is in search of the Elder Wand. Do we feel like they didn’t appropriately pay tribute to Dumbledore by not including this in the films?
Andrew: I can’t remember if I’ve said this previously, but I feel like if they were to do the movies now with as big as the fandom is, with how popular Dumbledore is, I feel like they actually would have included this scene. Because this is such an iconic character, and it just gets passed over pretty quickly in the movie. I would have loved to have seen this scene. It would have been very emotional; the whole theater would be crying. I think it was a big missed opportunity. And again, this is what a TV show would allow them to do. They’d have all the time in the world to show every scene.
Eric: Well, there I agree, too. I know we’ve talked about this before on MuggleCast, because the movies weren’t out yet when we were doing this, but Movie 6, the reason given was pacing. It was always pacing. “Pacing this, that, the other thing.” But really, if you look at it from a more technical standpoint, the money that they would have to pay the actors, like the Madame Maxime actor, just to show up and be there for two minutes, they’d have broken bank. I know Harry Potter is a multimillion dollar franchise, but you have all these people that… it just wouldn’t mean the same thing. The movies were, at least from Movie 3 on, all about Harry’s story, and not about anybody else’s, like Dumbledore’s. So you can have a moment like this in the book, where all these people show up to pay tribute, but in the movie, it wouldn’t translate as well. You just wouldn’t understand the significance or who these people were the way that you do… the way that it’s written in the books, because there hasn’t been enough time devoted to who all of these people are.
Micah: I can see that, but at the same time, I think as a book reader, one of the things that you want to see in the movies are these types of moments where these characters come together. Some of them may be not even overly recognizable, but to be able to point to a character and say, “Oh, yeah, the fact that this person showed up is kind of cool.” And whether… they don’t have to go through the entire list of people that we rattled off earlier in the chapter, but I think to see Arabella Figg and Madam Malkin and Ernie Prang, and go down the list, it would have been interesting to have all these characters together in one place. We get that at the start of Deathly Hallows a little bit with the wedding, but it’s not the same.
Andrew: Not the same exact characters, but we also get it with the Battle of Hogwarts as well. I mean, there’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearances from a lot of these characters.
Eric: Oh, yeah, that’s true.
Laura: I mean, Marvel made it happen.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Right! And everybody was really emotional watching that scene. That was a very emotional scene.
Laura: And everybody was there.
Eric: That’s a good point.
Micah: So Harry feels a ton of remorse, as would be expected, during this funeral and afterwards. And he’s kind of going through in his mind everybody that he’s lost now, and he says that he can’t let anybody stand between him and Voldemort anymore; it has to be him versus Voldemort. And I think that it’s an important moment for him. It’s obviously something that in the story, the hero, now that he’s lost sort of his mentor, has to come face-to-face with, but it is an important moment.
Eric: Yeah, it’s Harry realizing he’s on his own and resolving to create the world that he thinks needs to happen to follow that narrative. And it’s following under that sort of guidance, that path that he’s setting for himself, that he decides right then and there to break up with Ginny at the funeral. Does this man have no class? You guys ever been broken up with at a funeral before?
Andrew: Yeah, that is a pretty rough place to do it, as if things aren’t sad enough in this moment. Yet, Ginny isn’t too shaken by it, maybe perhaps because of where they are at this given moment, but also maybe she saw this coming a little bit because Harry knows he now has this journey to go on.
Eric: Yeah, it’s pretty good, actually. I will say, I was a vocal critic of there’s three weeks that were omitted between Chapters 24 and 25 where after they kiss, all of a sudden they’ve been dating for three weeks. Harry actually references, “These past few weeks have been something like out of someone else’s life,” he says to Ginny, as he’s breaking up with her. And I don’t… time will tell, and your mileage may vary, if that line works for you as an acknowledgement of what they’ve had together. For me, it only serves to illustrate that those three weeks are still missing; we don’t know what happened. But Ginny does – as you said, Andrew – she takes it really well. She actually starts to smile. She knows it’s for some stupid, noble reason, like going off to save the world, and she doesn’t really put up a fight. She doesn’t say, “I can help you,” the way Ron and Hermione do when he tries to leave them. She lets it happen. And Harry’s really only regret is that he didn’t start dating her sooner. So I think this is a pretty good… it’s never going to be… they can’t be together until after Voldemort is gone, and I think Ginny as a character knows that Harry won’t be satisfied. She even says, “That’s why I like you, that you won’t rest until you’re hunting Voldemort, and you’re happiest then, so I have to let him go.”
Laura: It’s pretty mature for a 16-year-old girl.
Eric: Yeah, I agree.
Laura: Or for a 16-year-old in general.
Eric: Do you think it’s Mary Sue-y?
Laura: Kind of. I still feel like we’re all of a sudden presented with a Ginny in Book 6 who’s just really cool, and we’re just supposed to accept that that happened with really very little character development for her between Books 2 and 6. As a reader, it would have been easier for me to accept if we had seen that happening before she became Harry’s love interest.
Micah: Do you feel like J.K. Rowling maybe wrote herself into a bit of a corner here with needing to get this in before the book wrapped up, but not really having a good place to do it, given that she had just brought them together not that long ago?
Eric: Well, the most awkward thing in the world for me is that Harry breaks up with Ginny; she’s cool with it; they leave. Harry tries to break up with Ron and Hermione; they say, “No, no, you’re not going to do that.” He agrees. And then they’re like, “Let’s meet together at Bill and Fleur’s wedding next year, and so before we go hunting, you also have to be in Ginny’s presence again.” And it’s just… there’s no reflection where he’s like, “Oh, shit, Ginny is going to be there too.” It’s like, “We’re all getting together at this huge wedding, and it’s going to be a great thing.” But he didn’t need to break up with Ginny now; he could have done it at a wedding instead of a funeral.
Laura: [laughs] I don’t know if that’s better.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: I think so. That happens.
Laura: But also, this is just… it’s such a typical hero arc. He literally says to her at one point, “Voldemort will use you against me,” and it’s like, “Oh my God, just because you break up with her doesn’t mean that you don’t care about her anymore.”
Andrew: [laughs] Right.
Laura: It’s like every single comic book. “I can’t be with you because my enemy will use you against me.” Yeah, they still will.
Andrew and Micah: Yeah.
Micah: The whole family is in jeopardy.
Laura: Right.
Micah: It’s not as if Voldemort doesn’t know that Harry is very strongly attached to the entire Weasley family. If anything, I would say Ron is more of a target than Ginny.
Eric: I mean, I’d like to see Ginny go with them camping. Just seeing how many different people destroy the Horcruxes in the end, I kind of reject the traditional narrative that J.K. Rowling is really going for about the hero’s journey; it has to be him and him alone. It’s true, in “The Forest Again” it is Harry alone, completely, but if he’s taking some people along with him camping, why doesn’t he take the whole pack? Ginny could have helped somewhere, somehow. Neville could’ve helped.
Andrew: Start the fire, hunt for fish, dance in a tent with Harry…
Eric: Yeah! You know she does a great Reducto; that could come in handy.
Micah: Oh, yeah.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Laura: But Micah, I do think the point you raise is really interesting, particularly given the context we got after the books were finished, when J.K. Rowling confessed that she wrote the Ron and Hermione relationship as a form of wish fulfillment.
Micah: Right.
Laura: And it does make you wonder if she was feeling that at this point in the series, but was sort of in too deep on some of the relationship setup she had done and was like, “Well, guess this is it.”
Micah: It is very rushed, and Harry doesn’t really have a whole lot of time for romance, really, in any of the books. Everything is just kind of very secondary to his quest to defeat Voldemort. But again, that’s the focal point of the series. It isn’t about relationships, at least from that standpoint. So they will be broken up – sorry, Eric – heading into Deathly Hallows…
Eric: That’s okay; I’m fixing it.
Micah: … but one person who does try and mend relationships with Harry is Rufus Scrimgeour, and he fails yet again.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Harry is pretty fierce in the scene.
Micah: Yeah, it’s a little bit rough given what has just happened. And the question that I have coming out of the conversation, though, is should Harry have considered working with the Ministry? We discussed this earlier on in the book, when he tries to convince Harry to work with the Ministry around the holidays. But given that Dumbledore is now gone, what do we think? Should he have tried to gain more allies here?
Andrew: Well, first of all, I think that Scrimgeour brought this up at the wrong time. I think that was his first mistake; this is not the time to be confronting Harry about this. I get that time is of the essence, but he should have waited a day or two. I guess J.K. Rowling just wanted to get it into this book, so maybe that’s why. And also, Scrimgeour is just not a great person. But no, I… look, everything worked out for the best, right? [laughs] I don’t think Harry needed to change his thinking on this.
Micah: Okay.
Laura: Yeah, I think given how flimsy the Ministry is and how quickly it falls after this, probably a good thing that Harry didn’t saddle up to them.
Eric: In hindsight, I agree it’s probably best. I also worry, though, that maybe Harry could have saved Rufus’s life. Rufus is supposed to be this huge, great Auror, so I don’t really feel pity that he… he just didn’t see how his own Ministry was so infiltrated by Death Eaters and spies, and that’s kind of on him. But I do regret for Harry’s character that Harry wasn’t more caring about… there was something to the argument of “Be our poster child.” There was something to “Give people hope.” That’s sort of a noble cause, and it’s not that different from something Harry would do under normal circumstances. But Harry, again: “You guys released Stan Shunpike yet?” He’s very much dying on the hill of “Stan Shunpike is a good person, and you’ve done something wrong by him, and so I’m not going to help you.” And that’s okay; that’s a valid… that’s just… but that’s the position he’s taking, and if Harry at all, by not helping the Ministry, caused one or two extra deaths, or there to be less hope in the world, that’s on him.
Micah: All right, well, the chapter wraps up with Harry trying to go his own way, but is convinced somewhat by Ron and Hermione that they will be joining him. He’s on this quest to find the remaining Horcruxes. He repeats them over and over the same way Arya repeats her hit list in Game of Thrones
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Eric: “Ilyn Payne… Cersei… the Hound…”
Micah: Yeah, exactly. And he says, though, if he does come across Snape on his quest to find and destroy these Horcruxes, he will also destroy Snape. And I wonder what would have happened if the two of them ever came across paths with each other, prior to Harry finding out about the truth.
Eric: Well, they do in “The Silver Doe”; they just don’t know it. And I think…
Micah: Yeah, I’m talking about literally face-to-face confrontation.
Andrew: Unless Harry was about to whip out Avada Kedavra and catch Snape off-guard, I don’t think Harry would have won that duel.
Eric: You’re right; he would have had his ass handed to him the same way he did on the Hogwarts grounds the night Dumbledore died.
Micah: And they do come face to face at Hogwarts, I’m just saying during his camping excursion.
Andrew: Right, yeah.
Laura: Well, didn’t Dumbledore take great care to tell Snape to make sure that that didn’t happen?
Micah: Probably.
Eric: Because it would have colored Harry’s experience. If Snape shows up and gives him the Sword of Gryffindor and is like, “This is the real one,” Harry wouldn’t trust it, because Harry doesn’t really have the mental capacity to understand the nuance that went into everything surrounding Dumbledore’s death until the very end, until Harry is literally over Snape’s corpse and holding memories.
Micah: Yep.
Eric: So I agree. Everything happened in the exact order that it had to.
Micah: And we’re given a bit of a teaser for Deathly Hallows. Harry talks about having to go back to Privet Drive for one last time, given that was a direction from Dumbledore; that they will be attending Bill and Fleur’s wedding, which is at least somewhat of an uplifting event to look forward to, given everything that has just happened; and Harry has a really strong desire to return to Godric’s Hollow.
Eric: Nice.
Micah: So the place that we’ve long been wanting to go for six books now, it seems like we will get the chance to in Book 7.
Eric: Pretty cool stuff.
Andrew: So there’s a lot of teasers here for Book 7; I thought that was kind of nice. It’s a bright but ominous warning that we’re going to… I mean, the final line of the book is Harry reflecting on the fact that he’s about to have one more nice time with his friends at this upcoming wedding before things get real.
Eric: Yeah, the final line is classic. “In spite of everything, in spite of the dark and twisting path he saw stretching ahead for himself, in spite of the final meeting with Voldemort he knew must come, whether in a month, in a year, or in ten, he felt his heart lift at the thought that there was still one last golden day of peace left to enjoy with Ron and Hermione.” “And screw Ginny; I broke up with her. It’s done.”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: “All was somewhat well.”
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: Yes, exactly, exactly. But there is a possibility there; in “whether in one year or in ten,” there seemed to be maybe a hint that Book 7 wouldn’t wrap up in July of the following summer.
Micah: Ahh. Or that it would take her ten years to write Deathly Hallows.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Ten years? Come on.
Eric: She’s giving herself a good…
Micah: I mean, look at George R.R. Martin.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Yeah, could have gone that way.
Andrew: Could you imagine if we were still waiting for the seventh book?
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Micah: Yeah, that would be…
Laura: And they just went ahead and finished the movies without the books?
Andrew: [laughs] Went completely the wrong direction. We all hated how it ended. Augh!
Micah: All right.
Laura: Yep, a dragon just… Norbert just came in and just set everything on fire.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Norberta, remember. [laughs]
Laura: Oh, that’s right. That’s correct.
Eric: It’s a Book 7 thing, I think.
MVP of the Week
Andrew: Yeah, so I wanted to give my MVP of the Week to the House ghosts. We didn’t really talk about them, but they stepped into the light; I was kind of surprised by that. I feel like they should be like vampires, where if they come into the light, they just burn and disappear.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: So I admire that. I’m surprised anybody was even able to notice them, because I feel like in the sunlight, you could not see a ghost. I’m weirdly fascinated by that whole situation.
Eric: Yeah, yeah. For sure, for sure. I’ve said this earlier during our discussion, but my MVPs are going to the mermaids and the centaurs, because they’re totally different societies and totally different species. I wrote, “It’s like if we went to a funeral for the world’s most renowned walrus.”
Micah: Interesting.
Eric: We’d have no business being there.
Andrew: Have you ever been to a funeral for a walrus? Would you go to one, Eric?
Eric: Well… oh, I guess the better comparison would be Harambe. Did people go to Harambe’s funeral?
Andrew: [laughs] I don’t know. People made a joke out of him; that just made me sad.
Eric: Yeah, that was real sad.
Laura: I mean, 11,000 people voted for Harambe in the 2016 election.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: Well, there you go! It’s like that. So the centaurs and the merpeople… it just takes a lot of respect.
Andrew: I’m writing in Dumbledore next election.
Laura: Please don’t.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Micah: Yeah, please vote. All right, I gave mine to Aberforth, not mentioned explicitly by name, but we are told that he is in attendance, and it just has to be very difficult for him to attend his brother’s funeral, kind of in disguise, incognito. Nobody really has a sense for who he is. But despite everything that has happened between these two in the past, I’m sure that it’s still a very tough situation for him to be in.
Eric: Yeah, absolutely.
Laura: And I gave mine to Harry for telling Scrimgeour to shove it.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Micah: Again.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Rename the Chapter
Andrew: Time now to rename the chapter. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Chapter 30, “Next Time on Harry Potter.”
Eric: [laughs] I did Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Chapter 30, “Stupid, Noble Reasons.”
Micah: I went with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Chapter 30, “Phoenix Rising.”
Laura: And I did Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Chapter 30, “Harry’s First Funeral.”
Andrew: Oh. What about Aragog’s?
Laura: It’s kind of like… well, it’s said in the chapter that this was Harry’s first funeral he’d been to.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Eric: Yeah, because Sirius… this was the weird thing; they mentioned Sirius didn’t have a body to bury, so did they just not do a memorial service? Because I think that’s just a situation of Sirius having no family to mourn him. Crazy.
Next on MuggleCast
Andrew: All right, so that’s Half-Blood Prince. So what are we doing next on MuggleCast? Nothing. We’re away for two years.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: No, so we’ve been looking at our archives, and we have a list of every single Chapter by Chapter discussion we’ve done on the show, and there are actually still a couple of holes. Half-Blood Prince was a big one we never pursued. So now that’s done. Hooray! We did it.
Eric: Yay!
Andrew: But we have realized that we never did the final chapter of Sorcerer’s Stone, and we never did the majority of Order of the Phoenix. So – and I know this is a little awkward – but we’re going to go backwards. And we’re going to do the final chapter of Sorcerer’s Stone, but before we do that, we’re going to do a couple of general discussions about Sorcerer’s Stone, just to kind of catch everybody up, just to kind of reflect on it after so much time. Personally, I’m going to be reading the illustrated edition to do this, and I’m really excited about that.
Eric: Oooh, yeah.
Andrew: And then, since we haven’t done the majority of Order of the Phoenix, we decided that we’re just going to start Order of the Phoenix over, because it would be weird to jump in to Order of the Phoenix at Chapter 10. That’s just dumb.
Eric: Right. And back when we were doing Order of the Phoenix, I think we were condensing chapters.
Andrew: We were.
Eric: So you’d get an episode that’s three chapters per episode and stuff. So I mean, think of what that would do to Seven-Word Summary. We’d just have so many.
Andrew: [laughs] It would be 21-Word Summary.
Eric: [laughs] But the new segments, we’re going back. We’re going to add all these new segments – MVP, Rename the Chapter, Seven-Word Summary – all the things you loved about Book 6, we’re doing it for Book 5.
Andrew: And I think we’ll add at least one new one, just to kind of shake things up. But the other thing… yeah, I’m looking at it now; we only did ten chapters of Order of the Phoenix. There’s 38 chapters in that book. We want part of our legacy to be the fact that we have done every single chapter in the series, so now is the time to go through… to fill in these gaps. It is really bizarre that we never did the final chapter of Sorcerer’s Stone. It’s like we just forgot. [laughs]
Eric: We thought we lost… I thought we thought that there was an accounting error, but there’s not. We just didn’t do it. [laughs]
Micah: Really?
Andrew: Yeah, we looked and looked…
Micah: Some news must have broke and we just forgot about it.
Andrew: Yeah, I think so. I see the episode after the penultimate Sorcerer’s Stone chapter is titled “Andrewless,” so maybe that’s why.
Eric: Oh, yeah, you left and we didn’t…
Andrew: You guys lost me, and then it was just a mess from there.
Laura: And then you lost the final chapter of Sorcerer’s.
Andrew: Right, I took it with me.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Laura: I’m super excited about this, because I actually still have my original copy of Sorcerer’s Stone that I got when I was 11 years old.
Andrew: Aww.
Laura: It’s tattered and falling apart, but I will read that one.
Andrew: That’s so cute. How many times do you think you’ve read that particular copy?
Laura: Oh, God, probably between just going back and referencing parts of it, not necessarily doing full rereads, I would assume I have to have read through the book at least ten times.
Andrew and Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: And so we feel like this is a good opportunity, because we have about two years, right? Before… two and a half years until the next Fantastic Beasts movie, so this will be a good way to spend that time. And honestly, we mentioned the Harry Potter TV show… there’s going to be more stuff coming, and I feel like by the time we do Order of the Phoenix and this one Sorcerer’s Stone chapter and a couple of Sorcerer’s Stone general discussions, there’s going to be a lot more to talk about in the world of Harry Potter. They just keep adding stuff. So yeah, we’re excited about these plans. I think we have some good plans to get us… we have a solid path for at least the next year, if not longer. So that’s what we’ll do.
Laura: Heck yeah, Order of the Phoenix is the longest book in the series, right?
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, it is.
Laura: We’re good. [laughs]
Andrew: And it’s my favorite, personally. That’s always been my favorite book.
Eric: Oh.
Andrew: And it’ll be great to reread it in today’s day and age, and just older. I think something we did with Half-Blood Prince that we haven’t with our past Chapter by Chapter discussions has been just applying the lessons in these stories to our own lives, so we’ll do that with Order of the Phoenix as well. By the way, we would love your support over at Patreon.com/MuggleCast; it’s the reason why we are weekly, and we just announced our 2019 physical gift!
[Eric gasps]
Andrew: It is a tote bag, and it’s… we’re going to post the picture on social media. We let patrons have the first look at it. It’s this big… [laughs] I’m already doing a bad job of describing it. Eric, describe the bag for us.
Eric: I said we should come up with bullet points that we reference to talk about it on every episode. Let that be a lesson to you going forward. It’s our big, reusable tote bags. They are made of durable material; they look great. We have a new slogan to rival last year’s mugs, where we said, “No latte is safe.” The slogan on this one says, “Carrying magic since 2005.”
Laura: Oh, that’s really cute. I saw the pictures of these as well, and they’re really nice. I’m excited to get one.
Andrew and Eric: Yeah.
Eric: Definitely.
Andrew: Well, you’re not a patron, so you won’t be getting one.
[Eric laughs]
Laura: Yeah, whatever.
Andrew: I’m kidding. Yeah, they’re really great bags; I’m really pleased with how they turned out. I had fun taking pictures of these. You all will see the pictures soon, if you haven’t already. We have a nice jar of pickles with it. Somebody was like, “Haha, pickles. That’s so random.”
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: They must be a newer listener, because otherwise you understand why pickles are in the…
Laura: Oh, if only they knew.
Micah: Well, Andrew, you should just specify, though, the jar of pickles does not come with the tote bag.
Andrew: No, neither does the LaCroix or the wizarding world map or the wand or the physical copy of Half-Blood Prince.
Eric: I thought it was excellent staging. Got a lot of compliments on that to pass along to you.
Andrew: Thanks.
Eric: But yeah, the great thing about tote bags, and why we settled on this physical gift… this is what we were debating for a couple months now, too; “What would be the best gift?”
Micah: I wasn’t debating.
Eric: [laughs] Micah was sure. But the real thing is you can take them anywhere you go. You can take them to the beach. You can also take them to the grocery store. A lot of people now are becoming more and more wary of using plastic, plastic bags, and reusable bags are slowly but surely becoming the norm, and this is going to be good for that.
Andrew: So help save the environment.
Eric: Help save the environment, exactly. So we’ll be sending out these bags, actually, in the month of September. The majority of people will get them in the month of September; that’s as quick as we can get them produced. And more information on that will be available on Patreon. But you can still get a shot at this; you can still get a shot at having these collectible items. We only do them once. We did T-shirts the first year, mugs the second year… this year’s physical gift, to get it, you need to sign up by July 31, Harry’s and J.K. Rowling’s birthday, to be eligible for this gift on Patreon.
Andrew: Yeah. And just to be clear, if you do pledge by that time, you will get it. Eric said you get “a shot” at it; I don’t want it to sound like it’s a giveaway or something. [laughs]
Eric: Oh, yeah, that was the wrong term.
Andrew: You will receive it…
Eric: No, absolutely.
Andrew: … if you pledge and remain a patron for a couple of months.
Eric: Yeah, perfect, perfect.
Andrew: So again, Patreon.com/MuggleCast. You also get access to our livestream, so you can listen to the show early, as we are recording, with fellow patrons, and they all chat as we’re recording. So that’s always fun; thanks to everybody who’s joining us today. We also have an exclusive Facebook group. We have the Lynx Line, where once a month, we ask you a question, and we might read your answer on the air. And we also do bonus MuggleCast. And of course, the physical gift every year. Patreon.com/MuggleCast. Thanks, everybody, who supports us there.
Quizzitch
Micah: Quizzitch. Eric, the last Quizzitch for Half-Blood Prince.
Eric: The last Quizzitch, here we go. Last week’s question: What material do Fred and George wear to Dumbledore’s funeral? I am surprised we didn’t get any dialogue from the twins. They could have really put some laughter into the whole thing.
Micah: Oh, I thought you meant the actual actors responding to you on social media.
Eric: Oh, no, I didn’t…
Micah: I actually can answer this question.
Eric: Oh, you can?
Micah: Yeah, they wore Drogon to Dumbledore’s funeral.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Eric: Yeah, yeah, black… you’re supposed to wear black to a funeral; symbolizes mourning. They wore black dragon skin, which shows how fancy they’ve become with their shop. I assume dragon skin is probably pretty pricey. They look pretty sleek. So people who submitted the correct answer include Issy Marcantonio, a longtime Quizzitch player who’s about to complete her master’s degree in English literature, so shout-out to her, and congratulations and thank you for playing Quizzitch. Also, Retta Gamboe, J.K. not Rowling, Ali Frega, Michelle, Marlena, Moonstar is the freaking best… okay. [laughs]
Andrew: We spoke about Moonstar a few episodes ago, didn’t we?
Eric: We talked about Wolfstar.
Andrew: Wolfstar, that’s what I’m thinking of.
Eric: I wonder what Moonstar… I’ll have to look that up. Maybe they’re just calling it something different. Megan Callanin, Tara… now I see a promotion for KFC, who are not playing Quizzitch…
[Micah laughs]
Eric: … Sarah Davis, Fluffy McNutters, and Super Mandy. I hate this… I’m never going to get over this ad thing. But congratulations to the people who successfully play Quizzitch, and you know what? I do have a Quizzitch question. Quizzitch may never die, even though we’re doing no more… I mean, we’re doing Chapter or Chapter. You know what I’m saying. Next week’s Quizzitch question is: Which book ends with the following sentence? “And together they walked back through the gateway to the Muggle world.”
Andrew: Oh, that’s beautiful. You should have said, “All was well.”
Eric: [laughs] Too easy, too easy.
Andrew: None! [laughs] All right, don’t forget to follow us on social media: MuggleCast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If you want to contact us, MuggleCast@gmail.com, or call us! 1-920-3-MUGGLE; that’s 1-920-368-4453. I think next week’s episode will be a mailbag of sorts as we reflect on Half-Blood Prince and catch up on some emails and voicemails. We have one voicemail I’ve really been looking forward to playing.
Eric: Oh.
Andrew: It concerns the Dark Mark, and people getting tattoos of it.
Laura: Interesting. Yeah, I have some feelings about that. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, so did this caller. We need to play that. I really want to ask people about this, [laughs] so we’ll do that next week. Also, don’t forget that we have a PO Box. Did y’all know that? MuggleCast, 4044 North Lincoln Avenue, Box #144, Chicago, Illinois, 60618. Thanks, everybody, for listening. I’m Andrew.
Eric: I’m Eric.
Micah: I’m Micah.
Laura: And I’m Laura.
Andrew: All was well. Goodbye, everybody.
Eric: Goodbye.
Micah: Bye.