Transcript for MuggleCast Episode #722, Why Didn’t Voldemort Choose To Become a Ghost? And More MuggleMail
Cold Open
Andrew: I personally accept that Bellatrix and Voldemort really did conceive a child.
Eric: Well, and you also never see her with her husband, Rodolphus.
Andrew: Because Voldemort was a better man, and she saw that.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: [singing Pearl Jam] “Can’t find a better man…”
Show Intro
[Show music plays]
Andrew Sims: Welcome to MuggleCast, your weekly ride into the world of Harry Potter. I’m Andrew.
Eric Scull: I’m Eric.
Micah Tannenbaum: I’m Micah.
Laura Tee: And I’m Laura.
Andrew: We are your Harry Potter friends, talking about the books and the movies and the upcoming TV show, so make sure you press that follow button in your favorite podcast app and you’ll never miss an episode. And this week, before we get to Chapter by Chapter – Half-Blood Prince Chapter 1 next week – we have a Muggle Mail episode for everybody.
News
Andrew: And we have a update concerning the Harry Potter TV show. Filming continues, and scenes set around Little Whinging before and after the first downfall of Voldemort were shooting last week. Most notable, in my opinion, we saw Vernon Dursley in a scene with Dedalus Diggle! And it appears to be right out of Book 1. The scene from Book 1:
“He [Vernon] found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o’clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. ‘Sorry,’ he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn’t seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, ‘Don’t be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating!'”
So if you watch the scene, it looks just like what I just read from the book, down to the violet cloak.
Micah: And he actually falls over.
Eric: Yeah, there’s a shot of the mat, and him fully on his back with the legs up after getting knocked over. [laughs]
Andrew: The reason I bring this up is this is another example of the TV show seemingly giving us more than we got from the movies.
Eric: I’m thrilled about this. The first chapter of the first book is one of the best chapters of any of the books for this purpose; it’s great at introducing the character of the Dursleys, and yeah, to get to spend time witnessing this… and also start world-building, because Dedalus Diggle is the first wizard that we as an audience are going to come across, essentially, this weird dude who’s more than a little giddy that Voldemort is down, finally. So I’m excited for those purposes of seeing maybe even shots on the news report about people, strange people, all about… I think back… like the owls swooping. I hope that they go all in on showing footage.
Andrew: [laughs] Include the owls swooping! Include the owls swooping!
Eric: Please! And also, cast Peeves, guys. But okay.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: This is going to be your longstanding request.
Eric: This is my Roman emperor. Romance Empire? I said that wrong, actually; it’s not even that. This is the hill I will die on. Cast Peeves.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Micah: The real question is: Is this just Dedalus Diggle, or is it hot Dedalus Diggle?
Eric: Oh. I know what you’re doing.
Laura: Oh, good question.
Andrew: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We already have hot Vernon, so it might be too much to have hot Vernon and hot Dedalus Diggle on screen at the same time.
Eric: That would be too much hot.
Laura: Yeah, but I mean, they got HBO money.
Eric: Yeah, everyone on Game of Thrones is hot.
Andrew and Laura: Right.
Andrew: So what I also like about this is Dedalus Diggle comes back into the storyline in Deathly Hallows when he goes with another Order member to help the Dursleys hide from Voldemort…
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: … so he could come back in Season 7, 8, 9, or 10. Kind of put a bow on the whole series.
Eric: Oh, I hope they’ve already filmed that, just between…
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Eric: Because it was between Vernon and Dedalus Diggle, they do that scene, and then the scene where he comes and picks up Harry.
Andrew: Yeah. So they were filming these Little Whinging scenes, and we also see wizards celebrating Voldemort’s downfall as Vernon makes his way to work. You see wizards blocking his car as the wizards cross the street, and they’re hooting and hollering. And then there was also a shot of possibly James and Lily walking through a park? The people who were watching this get filmed were at an angle where you just see their sides and sort of their back side. So it’s hard to say for sure, but you would think Lily and James Potter will be appearing as well in Season 1, so pretty exciting stuff.
Micah: Presumably, we’re just going to keep getting more and more of this. This is… it feels a little different from when we went through the movies the first time around, where everything was very much under lock and key. Is it just a matter of the world we live in today, where people are naturally just going to pop out their cell phone and record?
Eric: Everyone’s got their cell phone. Plus, when they were filming these movies the first time, I was 11, 12, 13… it wasn’t until we started MuggleCast and they were already halfway through the series that any of us would have even known what to make of some of these filming shots. But as I recall, the shots we were getting from outdoor work were at the middle of nowhere, wilderness, Scotland type stuff, and they’d have a big, giant blue screen up in a field, and it’s like, “What can you really see?” Versus the day at the zoo, the day of Vernon trying to cross the street, these are things that have to be, by their nature, in public. And so I’m excited that the footage that’s coming through shows us that this will be a more accurate treatment of the books and a wider look at the world as a whole.
Andrew: Yeah, I’d also add that it seems like they’re filming on location quite a bit. They could have rebuilt these sets in a private studio where no prying eyes could find them, but for whatever reason, they’re choosing to film a lot on location. Maybe that has to do with the budget too; I don’t know. But then also, when you’re comparing how much you need to film for a TV show compared to a movie, there’s going to be many more opportunities for people to capture them filming out and about. And I like that they’re filming on location. It adds a level of authenticity to it.
Laura and Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Well, stick with MuggleCast for continuing coverage of the Harry Potter TV show. Again, make sure you follow us in your favorite podcast app or on YouTube. Also just want to share with everybody that the MuggleCast Collector’s Club year four stickers have shipped, so patrons, hope you are enjoying those. And Eric, we just placed the order for the 20th anniversary yearbook, right? So now it’s at the printing press.
Eric: The final checks are all done. It was down to the minute with updates and improvements, and I’m very excited. Everyone who’s signed up for one of these should be very excited about what’s about to come.
Andrew: Yeah, look forward to those, and thanks, everybody who supports us on Patreon. We could not do this without you. If you don’t support us on Patreon and you want to help us keep this show running smoother than Vernon’s trip around Little Whinging after the downfall of Voldemort, we invite you to become a member of our community at Patreon.com/MuggleCast. By supporting us, you can get instant access to two bonus episodes of the show every month, and ad-free episodes, and access to our livestreams. You also get a personal video “Thank you” message from one of the MuggleCasters, and each year that you are a Patreon, you will be getting a new physical gift, including stickers or whatever gifts we come up with next. So there are lots of benefits at Patreon.com/MuggleCast. And if you’re looking for other ways to support us, you can visit MuggleCastMerch.com to buy official show gear; I’m wearing the Security Consultant hat tonight. You can also leave us a review in your favorite podcast app, and/or you can tell a friend about the show.
Listener Feedback
Andrew: All right, time to open up the Muggle Mailbag. What can we expect today, Micah? Tease it for the audience.
Micah: We have quite the array of different voicemail and email topics. Some of it is on Order of the Phoenix. Some of it touches on the TV show. Some of it touches on just broader Potter questions in general.
Andrew: Cool.
Micah: We like to keep us on our feet a little bit. Can’t just be a reflection on Chapter by Chapter.
Andrew: And we’ll be challenging our listeners at the end of today’s episode; we asked them to do some character impressions for us, so look forward to those as well. So let’s get started with a voicemail from Samantha concerning Mrs. Black in the movies.
[Voicemail plays]
“Hi, MuggleCast. I am a longtime listener that has rediscovered MuggleCast after years and years and years of being away. When I was in high school, you guys were everything, and I’m happy to discover that you still are everything. So I am going back and working my way through all of the amazing episodes that I’ve missed since I stopped listening, probably back in, oh, 2009 or so? So incredibly, I have so much material to get through, and I just can’t believe you guys are still going. It’s one of the happiest discoveries that I’ve made recently. I just wanted to give a quick comment about the Order of the Phoenix reread episode about Chapter 4, ‘Grimmauld Place.’ You guys had talked about Mrs. Black’s portrait and it not being in the movie, but actually, I think it is in the movie, and it’s just that the curtain remains covered, and you can just… I think it zooms in on her muttering things. So instead of yelling and screaming, it’s just muttering things from behind the curtain. I just wanted to point that out, because I think there was some question about whether it was actually included, but I’m pretty sure that it is, so happy to be corrected if I’m wrong. But having just recently rewatched that movie, and actually in the context of playing the score live to film… I’m a violinist, and I play with an orchestra that we do these movie projects, and we’re working our way through the Harry Potter films right now. We’re on number 5; we just did that a couple weeks ago. I did manage to look up from my music at one point, and believe that I caught that scene. So anyway, I love what you guys are doing. I’ve always loved it. So happy to be back in the fold listening, and oh, also, I just bought Laura’s pants, and I’m very much looking forward to them arriving. So thank you guys so much.”
[Voicemail ends]
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: Yes!
Andrew: Nice.
Micah: That’s the only reason why I put this voicemail in the show today.
Laura: Ahh. Every time we talk about this, I feel the need to clarify for our UK listeners, these are trousers.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: “Trousers.”
Laura: Because we learned at one point that while we might call trousers “pants” here in the United States, in the UK they refer to… I mean, “pants” are underwear.
Eric: Well, Laura, it’s so magnanimous. It’s so selfless of you to offer up your trousers to folks at the MuggleCast store.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Yes.
Laura: This is a good catch, though, Samantha, and actually, our Discord is verifying this in real time that apparently Kreacher is talking with her in the scene.
Eric: Well, I’m going to argue that if you didn’t cast somebody in the role, that it doesn’t count as an official appearance.
Andrew: [makes a buzzer sound] No, I disagree. Maybe they were cast; they just didn’t share who it was. She could be in the credits.
Eric: From what I’m seeing, she’s not.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Micah: The portrait, however, is. Right? It is behind a black curtain.
Andrew: The portrait is. Got it.
Eric: It’s a portrait frame. They cast a curtain! That’s not Mrs. Black.
Micah: Well, actually, Laura, what’s behind that black curtain behind you?
Eric: Wait a minute…
[Andrew gasps]
Laura: That’s top secret.
Micah: Oh.
Andrew: Are you hiding Mrs. Black from us?
Laura: Maybe.
Micah: But I do recall, as Harry is first entering Grimmauld Place, he comes across Kreacher, who is engaged with the portrait.
Andrew: Got it. And Mev seems to back you up there.
Eric: This reminds me… and Peeves was actually in all the movies, too; he was just always around the corner from where the camera was.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: I mean, come on. This is what this sounds like.
Andrew: Hey, if you hear it, if you see Mrs. Black a little bit… I count it, personally.
Eric: I do think it’s an intentional Easter egg or nod, but I wouldn’t go so far as to credit the filmmakers with putting Mrs. Black in the movie. That doesn’t feel right to me.
Andrew: Yeah. Well, listeners, we love hearing from you, so please send in a voice memo at any time. You can record your message via the Voice Memo app on your phone and send it to MuggleCast@gmail.com. We’ll get to some voice messages later today when we hear people’s character impressions. Onto some emails! This first one is from Daniel on adapting Order of the Phoenix for television.
“Ahoy, MuggleCast! I appreciate the escape you have given us. Order of the Phoenix recap: Wow, this was a long book, so I don’t know where to start. Thoughts on how the new HBO Max series will cover this book in its entirety? It’s such a long book that I am wondering if eight hours of content is enough. It is more than enough for the first book, in my opinion, but might be pushing it for the fifth book, which is ~2.5 times as long.”
Then on Half-Blood Prince, Daniel says,
“This is a great book and one that I see a lot of potential for in digging into Voldemort’s backstory in the TV show. Besides this, what are a few things that were omitted from the movie that you would like to see in the HBO Max series?”
And then finally, Dan asks,
“What is your favorite and least favorite of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans?”
My favorite is a gin flavor. My least favorite is a vomit.
Eric: I like grass.
Laura: Gosh, I’m trying to think about the last time I… actually, I agree, Eric. That one is very good, surprisingly so.
Eric: Yeah, it’s amazing. Shockingly, it’s amazing.
Andrew: Oh, they’re talking about the real ones. I was just making them up. [laughs]
Laura: Oh, I thought you were actually talking about the real ones.
Andrew: I was not.
Laura: They do have an earwax-flavored one, from what I recall, and it’s gross.
Eric: It’s okay.
Laura: [laughs] “The earwax is okay.”
Micah: I really like the green apple one, but then one that is not very far off in color from that is booger. And I mean, I’m sure I ate plenty of boogers growing up, but I don’t need to as an adult.
Andrew: Micah! Ewwww!
Micah: I’m just joking.
Andrew: Ladies, you didn’t hear that. He didn’t say that.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: I mean, they probably weren’t somebody else’s.
Andrew: Eugh. I can’t remember the actual Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, so I assume there’s a gin-flavored one, and I would enjoy that. That’s why I picked gin.
Micah: [laughs] In your head, there’s a gin-flavored one.
Andrew: Yeah. Concerning Order of the Phoenix, maybe the seasons for the later books will be longer than eight episodes? I think a big factor for them in deciding how long each season is going to be is how popular the series ends up being. If it’s massively popular, why not add more episodes or add more seasons that expand on the books even further?
Laura: I also feel like HBO has already been known to do this, splitting seasons. So Season 5, Part 1… Season 5, Part 2… I mean, they’ve done that with a number of their series at this point. And haven’t we heard them say that this will be a ten-year project? That would kind of support the idea that perhaps some of the longer books are going to be broken up into multiple seasons, really.
Eric: I also think eight hours is, I mean, a good amount. I certainly think… I’m one of the people that thought that Order of the Phoenix was done pretty darn well in the movie, which is kind of… a lot of people might disagree with that. So the longest book getting only eight hours, still, is okay with me, because I thought they did it okay in two and a half.
Micah: The thing to remember is that Order of the Phoenix movie was only about two hours and 20 minutes, so you’re getting quadruple that in the TV show, and that’s a lot of airtime to fill.
Andrew: We’re going to be quite spoiled with everything.
Micah: We’re assuming the episodes are only an hour, whereas in some cases, you could easily go beyond that.
Andrew: Don’t we know it here at MuggleCast!
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: On that note, let us continue moving along here.
Andrew: But I just will say on the note about Half-Blood Prince, stay tuned for our thoughts on what should be Max’d from the book. We’ll discuss those in Chapter by Chapter, starting next week.
Eric: Also, if we’re talking about Bertie Bott’s Beans, and you want to know how some of them taste, I just found this old YouTube video from MuggleNet. It says, “Bertie Bott’s Bonanza: Taste-Testing Every Flavor Beans.” I’m in it, and we have some fun, so go check that out.
Micah: Well, our next email comes from Meg on the topic of Voldemort becoming a ghost. She says,
“Hi MuggleCast! Here’s my question: In the final chapter of Order of the Phoenix, Nick tells Harry he was afraid of death, and that’s why he chose to become a ghost. Why did Voldemort not become a ghost? We know death was his greatest fear. Does Horcruxing perhaps ruin one’s chances at ghosting? Thanks for all you do, I love the show, and Eric makes me swoon.”
Andrew: Oh, so this is Eric’s Meg, for sure.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: We think.
Eric: Or, you know, there could be another admirer of mine out there named Meg.
Andrew: That’s fair.
Eric: It’s Meg. I saw her write this.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: What are your guys’ thoughts? [laughs]
Andrew: I don’t think Voldemort would want to come back as a ghost. I think he would fear that coming back as a ghost reminds everybody that he lost against Harry, and I don’t think he could face people.
Eric: Would that mean that he’s alive, though, at any cost? Still in existence at any cost, Andrew?
Andrew: I still just think he wouldn’t want to be on Earth as a ghost. And are the Death Eaters going to respect him in ghost form?
Eric: Oh, yeah, no.
Andrew: Does he want to see somebody else come up? He wouldn’t be able to kill Harry anymore, which would drive him nuts.
Eric: Oh, he gets to see Harry grow up and be happy?
Andrew: Yeah, yeah, that sounds awful.
Eric: No, I like what you said now, too. I understand. It would also remind him that he lost.
Andrew: Right, yeah. And he can’t do anything anymore, really.
Eric: Yeah, he already survived as an ethereal form for 12 years once; I don’t think he’d be quick to return to it.
Laura: I actually think Meg is right here with suggesting that…
Micah: She often is.
Laura: … all of the Horcruxing – I know, she usually is – all of the Horcruxing probably damaged his soul too much for him to be able to become a ghost. I mean, think about it. At the moment that he died, I mean, that was the final bit of his soul that was left, and when you think about destroying the locket and the diary and the diadem and Nagini and all of the other things, those were pieces of his soul that were unequivocally destroyed. So was there enough left to even make a ghost? I don’t think so.
Micah: Babymort. That would be a creepy ghost, by the way.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Eric: Well, I’m glad you mention Babymort, Micah, because that’s probably where the last bit of his soul went, to this afterlife sort of plane where he’s this tortured creature that Dumbledore makes a weird comment about to Harry about “What is that? Oh, you can’t help that.” It’s like Voldemort already is in the afterlife of King’s Cross in a sort of punishment way, so he’s definitely not walking around as a ghost. Maybe he can’t.
Micah: And Tom Riddle strikes me as the type of person who would have explored and tried to research becoming a ghost, and I think he probably would have landed on not wanting to go that route, and that’s why he dug deeper into the Dark Arts to find out about Horcruxes. I don’t think becoming a ghost is enough for somebody like Voldemort. He was searching for immortality in a different kind of way.
Eric: I agree, he fears death, but I think that’s kind of why he wouldn’t become a ghost, is because he literally can’t conceive of a situation where he would die. That’s why he took so many steps to prevent himself from dying, was to avoid that eventuality.
Andrew: Listeners, let us know what you think. And speaking of Horcruxes and ghosting, I just want to say to everyone who has ghosted me on Tinder, that every time you ghost me there, you split your soul into multiple Horcruxes too, okay? So be careful.
Eric: Andrew, but I was just joshing with you, okay?
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: I get so far and I… [laughs] I just want to know a little bit more about you in a different setting, so I get so far, and then when I… I’m sorry. I don’t mean it personal.
Andrew: [fake cries] Go ahead, Eric.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Okay, on that devastating note. This next email comes from Kiri on Crookshanks, a.k.a. the Potters’ cat?
“Dear Laura, Micah, Andrew, and Eric,
I found a theory that doesn’t really have much or any info to support it, but I thought it was cute and kinda wanted it to be true. Crookshanks is the Potters’ cat. It says in Prisoner of Azkaban ‘its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong into a brick wall,’ so maybe that happened when Voldemort attacked and he was running away. This could also be why he knows Sirius and Wormtail are Animagi.”
Presuming he knows about them; he recognizes them.
“Anyway, thanks so much for making such a good show. Love you all.”
Laura: I think I remember this being a theory back in the day that Crookshanks specifically had it out for Scabbers because he knew.
Eric: I like it.
Micah: It’s one of those things that I don’t know that I’ve ever seen debunked officially by the author…
Laura: Right.
Micah: … and so it’s… do we want to declare canon here, from our perspective, for Kiri?
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, why not?
Laura: Hey, if Cursed Child gets to be canon, then…
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
[“I declare canon!” sound effect plays with thunder]
Andrew: And just like that, it’s done. Somebody add it to the Wikipedia.
Laura: All right, our next piece of mail comes from Salome, who writes to us on seeing Thestrals. Salome says,
“I’ve been listening since Episode 496, but lately have fallen behind and am on the episode about Chapter 34. In that chapter, Dumbledore’s Army flies on Thestrals to London. I’m blind, and I had a couple of questions about Thestrals for blind people.
The book says that in order to see a Thestral, you must have seen death. But what does it mean by see? Are blind people just not allowed to know they exist? We couldn’t see someone die. Or does that just mean to witness death? Also, if you haven’t seen someone die, can you still touch the Thestral? You were saying that Hermione should’ve died on the way to London. I’m wondering if she felt the Thestral beneath her and got her bearings from her sense of touch. I can see Hermione being resourceful like that. And also, if you’re flying in the middle of the air, I’m guessing she’d know to stay as still as possible.
Thanks, just wanted to see what your opinion on this was. There is no wrong answer, that I know of. Congratulations on getting married, Eric. Congratulations for having a name I can’t spell, Micah.”
Laura: Actually, Salome, you did spell it right! So congratulations on spelling that right. And then they also added,
“You have done this show for 20 years. Keep doing it. I love it. Yours, from Gryffindor/Ravenclaw/maybe Hufflepuff?”
Andrew: So Salome, I think we can say that you don’t necessarily need to visually see somebody die. And by the way, it sounds brutal when we’re like, “Hermione should have died” out of context. I think it made sense at the time.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: But I think we can extend it to say you just need to be in the presence of death to then be able to see or maybe feel a Thestral. But I’ve also gotten the impression that even if you can’t visually see the Thestral, you could still feel it.
Eric: Oh, absolutely. They pull the carriages.
Laura: Right.
Andrew: Yeah, so with that in mind, physics…
Eric: They are tangible creatures that take up space and interact with the world, regardless of one person’s ability or encounters with death.
Micah: If I remember correctly from that episode, we were thinking that it was highly unlikely that all of these members of the DA would have made it safely to the Ministry, when in fact, a good percentage of them could not see what they were riding on.
Eric: Right, and because even if you can’t see what you’re riding, you can see the ground being thousands of feet beneath you, and it would at least for me…
Micah: Oh, it’s like the worst theme park ride possible. [laughs]
Eric: No, really, that’s the aspect. I wouldn’t mean to, but I would tip. I would lean forward or I would let go or…
Micah: Well, it’s the equivalent of being in an airplane and basically it being glass, and you can just see everything below you.
Eric: Yeah, or a roller coaster that you can’t see and you have no seatbelt for it. The fact that they had to grip for hours in the cold, thousands of feet above the earth, and witness it all… utterly absurd. So that’s why we think Hermione should have died. But I’m glad she didn’t, for the record.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Well, if I recall correctly, too – and I’m testing my show knowledge here – I think we had a lot of fun on our last Order of the Phoenix Chapter by Chapter poking fun at Hermione about her kind of ignorant comment saying, “Oh, I wish I could see Thestrals.” [laughs]
Andrew: Oh, right. Yes.
Laura: And it’s basically like, “Hermione, you’re wishing you saw someone die? Cool.” So maybe that’s where it came from. But Salome, I have a question for you, and I don’t mean for this to sound ignorant, so I’m just curious to know. If we’re talking about how would the experience of “seeing” a Thestral look different for someone who’s blind, I’m wondering if there’s potential for heightened senses in the absence of eyesight that could perhaps allow someone who’s blind to perceive other aspects of the Thestrals’ physical presence that maybe someone who isn’t blind wouldn’t pick up on. Just a thought.
Andrew: Yeah. All right, let’s move along. This next one is from Becky on Arthur Weasley. Here’s another listener, actually, who recently returned to the show.
“Hi, I’m Becky, and I have been a longtime on-and-off listener. I remember I first discovered the pod way back in the summer of ’07 (I was 11) waiting for the release of the final book. I would listen to MuggleCast and PotterCast every week. I did fall off the bandwagon for quite a while, but I am now going back and listening to the episodes I’ve missed.”
Welcome back, Becky.
“I am currently in the year 2020…” Oof, we’re so sorry…
[Laura laughs]
“… of the pod…” Oh, okay. “… and am listening to a lot of the fun theory episodes. One thing I would like to bring up, as I haven’t heard anyone even theorize about, is this: Could Arthur Weasley have potentially been under the Imperius Curse during the First War? I’m only bringing it up because it’s the Unforgivable Curse that Ron brings up in Moody’s class in Goblet of Fire. I think it would be interesting if Arthur being placed under the Imperius Curse was one of the reasons his career got derailed. What if he had been onto something (like investigating the Malfoys or the Blacks) and Lucius/another Death Eater had to steer him away? Just an idea I had and thought would make an interesting discussion. Thank you for being with us through the years, from my days as a young middle schooler to now as an almost 30-year-old. Much love! Becky.”
Andrew: It is interesting to ask why did Ron jump to the Imperius Curse in that class with Moody? As for Arthur’s career getting derailed, I think my issue is, did it get derailed? I don’t think it got derailed.
Eric: I think that it’s that his obvious love for Muggles may have closed some doors that would otherwise have been open to a pure-blood wizard in certain areas of the Ministry. But I also think, look, we know Arthur too; his excitements and his musings are a little odd ball-y, and so I think he ended up in the exact department that he wanted to be in, despite… I mean, that’s why Percy’s complaint is that he has no ambition.
Andrew: He followed his passion.
Eric: But I love this idea of a scandal, and something that maybe the Weasleys know, but absolutely no one else does, as far as what happened to Arthur. And I love specifically the act of picking up a tiny moment in the books, like Ron knowing the Imperius Curse, or being affected by knowing it a little better, and then theorizing why that could be. So I love this email. I love every time we get something like this.
Micah: Ron knowing about the Imperius Curse by itself, though, makes sense because Arthur worked at the Ministry and probably shared stories of fellow colleagues being under that curse during the first war.
Andrew and Eric: Yeah.
Micah: But I really do like this. But at the same time, I agree with what you’re saying, Andrew; I really have a hard time believing that Arthur’s career got derailed. I just see him as this fun-loving guy, and I almost think it, in a way, could take away from his character if the reason why he’s now in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office is because he was previously under the Imperius Curse, and they find him to not be trustworthy. I think he’s there because he likes being there.
Andrew: Yeah, and I think this is a good lesson in just following your passion. Sure, you can go off and try to pursue a career that’s going to make you millions of dollars, but will you be happy in that role? Arthur traded money for happiness and following his passion, and there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, that’s what a lot of people should probably do. [laughs]
Eric: But what if there was this mystery? What if Arthur was Imperiused, and what if he committed some horrible crime that he’s been absolved for, but still, what if it’s something that would come up if anybody ever wanted to blackmail him? Or something like that. It’s fun to think of these darker possibilities for the world that is clearly pulled over our eyes by the narration of the book.
Laura: Definitely.
Micah: Have you ever seen the TV show Father Brown?
Eric: No.
Micah: It’s Mark Williams, and so where I’m going with this here is he’s actually a priest who fancies himself as a detective, [laughs] so perhaps this was Arthur Weasley back in the day.
Andrew: Ahh.
Micah: You should check it out. I really feel like you would enjoy at least a couple of episodes.
Eric: Man, you’re really living with all the HP alums. You watch Slow Horses, you watch Father Brown…
Micah: Which, by the way, Slow Horses Season 5 just came out.
Eric: How is it five seasons in?
Andrew: I know.
Eric: You just started talking about the show last week. It’s on Season 5? My God.
Micah: Just dropped.
Eric: Amazing.
Micah: All right. Well, everybody buckle up for this next email. This is from Bev on Voldemort and Bellatrix’s love affair.
Eric: Here we go.
Micah: She says,
“Hey, y’all. This is something that I get quite worked up about. Voldemort is not someone who understands love, and he isn’t someone who needs other people around him for personal, emotional support. He thinks of himself as far above all that. To be honest, if he could do all this without the Death Eaters to do his dirty work for him, I think he would. In addition, he’s created seven Horcruxes to (as he hopes and believes) guarantee his immortality. Plus, he’s someone who wants to have all the credit for bringing the wizarding world into line. He’s not about to share this with anyone.
So why would he ever get Bellatrix pregnant? Why? All through their interactions, he toys with her affections (and hers are totally genuine). In one moment he might make her think she’s special to him and a moment later insult her to her face. In front of others. (Which is how he treats his followers anyway, but with Bellatrix it’s sharper because she’s so obsessed with him.) And, even if we think it is likely, surely the fact that he has become even more snakelike and has drunk goodness knows how much of Nagini’s ‘venom’ (the poor woman with a blood curse, now a snake for life) would mean he might not even be able to bear any children. So no, I do not think Cursed Child is canon (save the relationship between Albus and Scorpius.)”
Andrew: Mistakes happen. Maybe he accidentally got her pregnant.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: But I think we’ve also discussed the idea that maybe Voldemort just wanted to… “Oh, sure, why the heck not? Yeah, sure, I’ll sleep with you.”
Eric: He absolutely is incapable of love, both giving it and understanding it, but that doesn’t mean he’s not, as a human – or former human – susceptible to lust. I think it’s very possible, and even possibly conceivable, that Voldemort would have done that, and that Bellatrix would have been either oblivious or we would have still gotten Cursed Child.
Micah: Laura, I think in one of the episodes, though, you talked about how Voldemort may have just wanted a legacy.
Laura: I could definitely see Voldemort… I mean, honestly, just no offense to any listeners, but I could just see Voldemort being a lustful man and not being very careful with how he navigates that landscape; that’s kind of a tale as old as time. But then I could see him being happy at the thought that he could have a legacy, that there could be some piece of him that gets to live on.
Andrew: I think that’s really important too. He likes the idea of a next of kin, somebody continuing the family tree a little while longer if/when – heavens forbid – he were to really die.
Eric: I mean, this is like the ghost question for me with Voldemort too. I don’t think he cares about a next of kin because he wants to live forever.
Andrew: He is the next of kin, yeah.
Eric: He’s putting all of his… he’s the next of… that’s the difference in choosing immortality. Either you yourself want to live forever, or you understand as a person that you’re but a cog and that your children and your children will carry on your legacy, and you can’t do both. So Voldemort put all of his eggs in the immortality basket, succeeded beyond anyone else’s ever past achievements, and eventually now is no longer with us, but I don’t think he would ever intentionally seek out a child for the specific purposes of attaining some kind of legacy. I just remember, though, when Cursed Child first came out, and Delphi’s identity was revealed, we were all a bit squiggled out. And I remember Andrew in particular asking the question, “How does this work?” [laughs] And “Is Voldemort…? Does he have a forked… you know? And how is this at all possible?” And we were all a bit bamboozled, let’s say.
Micah: If Voldemort just wants to get laid at the end, maybe that’s it.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: He’s working hard for his Death Eaters.
Andrew: He wants to blow off some steam.
Laura: Yeah, I mean, like Eric was saying, this could just be pure lust. And Bellatrix was a groupie, effectively.
Eric: I mean, speaking of his journey toward snakehood and altering appearances, did you know that all male snakes have two penises?
Andrew: I didn’t.
Laura: No, I did not. Today I learned.
Andrew: And that’s not something I want to picture on Voldemort.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Micah: AI.
Andrew: Eugh.
Laura: I do want to call out Sam in our Discord just made an interesting point: “Is it possible that Voldemort sees Delphi as a meat suit for his soul?”
Andrew: What does that mean?
Laura: Like another Horcrux, potentially.
Andrew: Oh.
Eric: That would be creepy. If he would need to Dark magic some way for him to survive, then somebody that’s his blood – literally his blood, and Bellatrix’s – would be needed for a spell. I could see that being a motivation to have a kid, maybe.
Micah: She does go back in time for him.
Eric: It’s very Voldemort-y, the way that we’re thinking of that. Terrifying.
Andrew: And Bev, stay tuned for a throwback email from someone who actually caught the love affair back in 2007. We pulled one of our old emails out of the archive; Micah found it, and this might make you feel better, make you feel like it really was canon.
Laura: They “caught the love affair”? Were Voldemort and Bellatrix at a Coldplay concert or something?
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Micah: We’re taking some liberties with the email, but…
Laura: Ah, okay.
Micah: You’ll see.
Andrew: It’s you, Eric.
Eric: And this next one comes from Lucy about the diary Horcrux.
“Does Voldemort have memories from what happened with Harry in the Chamber of Secrets? Because I know that he was a memory preserved in a diary. It’s his Horcrux. But when he was talking to Harry in the Chamber, he was talking to him from the perspective of his future/present self. He asked Harry how he defeated him, so he knew that he was defeated. He knew what his future self had faced. He knew who Harry was, which means it’s not just his standalone memory at that age.
So when he comes back to body form in Harry’s fourth year and confronts Harry, why doesn’t he mention seeing him in the Chamber? When Priori Incantatem happens, the phoenix song plays. Does he not remember, in the second book, the connection to the phoenix? Does the phoenix song playing not spark his memory from the Chamber of Secrets? Or does he literally not remember that because it was just his memory that spoke to Harry?”
Eric: We can actually answer this with stuff from the books, but it’s believed that Ginny Weasley, writing to her diary, would be the one that was telling Tom all about Harry. And this is why Chamber Riddle knows all about future Lord Voldemort, because he would ask pointed questions, like, “Oh, there was this big Dark wizard?” Or remember, Ginny had a crush on Harry, so she was going to write all about Harry, and it’s like, “Oh, what? He’s famous, you say? What’s he famous for? Killing the Dark Lord? Oh, what?” So Tom, meaning teenage Tom – diary Tom – learned all about his own essential future being an imprint from when he was 15 or 16, and that knowledge propels him to seek out and wanting to find and kill Harry at the end of the book. So they are separate; they’re not at all connected, and whatever the Voldemort in the Chamber found out or interacts with would not be known to the Voldemort that gets his body, which was a different Horcrux. It was the one that was in Albania that was a jettisoned from his body when he first encountered Harry Potter.
Micah: So there’s no hive mind.
Eric: Right. And in fact, there’s not even a moment… I mean, the communication that Harry’s scar gives him with Voldemort is still not Voldemort getting to talk to part of his old self, so it’s not direct.
Andrew: Bingo. Eric nailed it.
Laura: It kind of seems like an oversight, don’t you think?
Eric: What?
Laura: I don’t know; if you were trying to become the Master of Death and have seven different pieces of your soul separated out, I mean, I would think having a hive mind would be requirement number one on that list. [laughs]
Eric: Well, a lot of them have very boring lives. They’re just in a Gringotts vault and buried in the woods.
Laura: Yeah, true.
Eric: You wouldn’t… you’d only need them as a last resort.
Laura: All right, next email comes from Willow, who’s wondering what does the Basilisk snack on in Chamber of Secrets?
“I’ve been listening since I was seven years old, and I love the show! You always have such thoughtful ideas, and I get very excited whenever a new episode comes out. I have recently been rereading the Chamber of Secrets, and I noticed something that could be a plot hole. Harry hears the Basilisk say, ‘So hungry… for so long…’ right before it kills Mrs. Norris, or Petrifies her, but it never actually eats any of its victims. It doesn’t rip or tear anyone either, which it also says it will do. How come the Basilisk never eats anyone? What does it eat, anyway? I found a website that said the Basilisk survives on rats, but a snake of its size would need hundreds of rats each day! How would that work? Is this a plot hole, or am I missing something?”
Laura: It’s a good catch, Willow. I don’t think we’ve ever talked about that before.
Andrew: I don’t think you’re missing anything.
Laura: No.
Andrew: I think the Basilisk is just super hungry for rats.
Eric: When Harry falls into the Chamber…
Micah: I was just going to say that. Go ahead.
Eric: Yeah, the reason he doesn’t die is because of what he lands on. Micah, take it away.
Micah: It’s a pile of bones.
Eric: Piles and piles and piles of…
Andrew: “Wooooo!”
Eric: Thousands of years of… well, a thousand years of rat… of course, think of Hogwarts, this ancient castle, as having the absolute worst mouse problem ever, but it’s kept at bay by a very, very starving, oversized Basilisk.
Laura: Not anymore.
Micah: My sense for this is the…
Eric: That means the rats are going to be coming out of the walls! I’m so sorry, Micah, I just had this idea…
[Micah laughs]
Eric: … of the Basilisk kept the mice in check, so that in its absence, there’s just now… somebody else has to go take care of it. I’m so sorry.
Micah: So now the school should be overrun by rats.
Eric: That’s exactly right.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Well, that’s why Pettigrew shows up in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Eric: You’re right.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: That’s really funny, actually.
Micah: But my sense is the books couldn’t get any darker. Remember, this was Book 2 in the series. Could you really have this monster actually killing people at the school?
Eric: No, and “rip/tear” scares me, terrifies me. I think “Let me rip you; let me tear you” is the scariest line in any of the Harry Potter books.
Andrew: Yeah, “tear you apart.”
Eric: It’s a very malicious… but it is a sort of plot hole, I think, why the Basilisk doesn’t do that. What exactly makes the Basilisk retreat, too, after a student is Petrified? Is it just the fact that somebody finds them real quick and…?
Micah: Dumbledore.
Eric: Yeah, right, but if Dumbledore had encountered the Basilisk, he probably would have killed it right away.
Andrew: Yeah, I guess the Basilisk doesn’t want to get caught. That is why it runs away.
Eric: He’s very sneaky. He’s like, “I haven’t eaten in a thousand years, but I’m very sneaky! You can’t see me!”
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: It’s like, no, I mean, he didn’t go after any of his prey, so it is a little bit inexplicable. I love the question.
Micah: Maybe it’s magic, honestly. Maybe that’s how it self-sustains.
Andrew: Maybe. That’s kind of terrifying, too.
Laura: The Basilisk is just like, “I love magic.”
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: “Fillmybelly-o!”
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Yeah, it has one of those refilling food bowls that you can get for your pet.
Laura: Oh, yeah.
Micah: Does it have milk?
Laura: But yeah, good catch, Willow. I had never thought about that before. What were you going to say, Micah?
Micah: I was going the whole Nagini milk… never mind.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: That’s venom, by the way. It does have venom.
Micah: Yeah, it is. Well, to wrap up the mailbag, we mentioned this throwback earlier, and it is on Bellatrix and Voldemort’s love affair. It’s from Sara, at the time age 19. This was back on July 13 of 2007, and she writes in,
“Hi, MuggleCast. I was rereading Half-Blood Prince, and something stood out to me. In the sixth book (page 29) when Bellatrix and Snape are arguing, Bellatrix says something really interesting… she says, “The Dark Lord has, in the past, entrusted me with his most precious…” Then she changes the subject. What do you think Voldemort entrusted to Bellatrix? Horcruxes, maybe? I only thought of this because J.K. Rowling said that Bellatrix was important in the final book. I would really like your input.”
Micah: Well, Sara, 18 years later… [laughs]
Andrew: We’re here to answer it for you. I think this kind of suggests that Bellatrix made it clear in the books, or implied in the books, that she actually did carry Voldemort’s baby.
Laura: We do know that she… I mean, she has the Sword of Gryffindor. She thinks she does.
Eric: Well, right, it’s the Horcrux aspect, too, because was the cup with her? It’s the cup.
Micah: Yeah, she’s got the cup.
Laura: Was it the cup? Sorry, I had that mixed up.
Eric: She stored… no, no, yes, she… well, the Sword of Gryffindor, I think, does come into play in Deathly Hallows specifically, but when Voldemort was still alive, he clearly went to her. He trusted Lucius with the diary, and he went to his next most ardent supporter, and said, “Bella, loca, please store this…”
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Andrew: “Bella, my loca!”
Eric: “I have something that’s very important to me.” And he would have made her feel more special than any other servant ever, by saying, “Can you guard this for me? It’s a matter of utmost importance,” and she would have been elated for the opportunity.
Laura: Yep.
Andrew: His most precious, though.
Eric: His most precious. He probably didn’t… he definitely didn’t tell her what it was, because that’s a risk that even he won’t take.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: But that’s what I think she’s indicating by saying.
Laura: Yeah, but I think he also gave her something else precious.
Eric: Maybe two something elses.
Micah: If I were Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, this would be the place I would point to and say, “Look, it’s canon.”
Andrew: “Ah? Ah?” See, and earlier in our Chapter by Chapter reread, I think we… Eric, you were selling me, I think, on this being canon as well. I’m forgetting the details.
Micah: Eric did a great job.
Eric: Was it just that discussion point at the battle of the chapter?
Andrew: Oh, yeah, we were kind of talking ourselves up on the idea. Or at least me; I was becoming recently convinced.
Eric: I think, yeah, it was like a circle hype. We were all just getting really into it because of what Voldemort himself said. He shortens her name; he never does that. So they totally had something weird going on.
Andrew: I know it’s a shocking revelation for people, I know the Cursed Child has its issues, but I personally accept that Bellatrix and Voldemort really did conceive a child.
Eric: Well, and you also never see her with her husband, Rodolphus.
Andrew: Because Voldemort was a better man, and she saw that.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: [singing Pearl Jam] “Can’t find a better man…”
Micah: Because he’s got two, and Rodolphus only had one.
Eric: Oh my God.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: All right, well, Sara, we hope you’re still listening.
Lynx Line
Andrew: For this week’s Lynx Line, with the new Harry Potter audiobooks imminent – the first one comes out in November – we asked our supporters on Patreon to take a line from one of their favorite characters in Order of the Phoenix or Half-Blood Prince, since we’re in between those two books right now, and submit their best impression of the character. We said, “Consider this your audition for the audiobooks!” And I will say, not everybody did a line from Order of the Phoenix or Half-Blood Prince, but we appreciate you submitting anything.
Micah: Andrew, is this fair? They can’t even follow directions.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: How can they…?
Andrew: That was kind of mean. They support us on Patreon, so we have to be nice and forgiving. So here’s the first one. This is from Shannon.
[Audio clip plays]
“Hi, MuggleCast. Shannon from Virginia here to do my character impression. ‘Are you sure that’s a real spell? Well, it’s not very good, is it? Of course, I’ve only tried a few simple ones myself, but they all worked for me. For example: Oculus Reparo. That’s better, isn’t it? Holy cricket, you’re Harry Potter! I’m Hermione Granger. And you are?’ ‘Ron Weasley.’ ‘Pleasure. You two better change into robes. I expect we’ll be arriving soon.'”
[Audio clip ends]
Micah: Wow.
Laura: That was very good.
Andrew: So that was an excellent impression, but my favorite part was her jumping into the Ron voice.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew and Eric: [imitating Shannon imitating Ron] “Ron Weasley.”
Andrew: Yeah, that was good.
Eric: It was perfect. Reminds me of just how much joy can be had from just thinking about the movies and our fondness for them.
Andrew: Yeah, the delivery of the lines sticks with us. All right, this next one is from Zachary, and he does a Snape.
[Audio clip plays]
“It so happens that I know of the plan. I am one of the few the Dark Lord has told. Nevertheless, had I not been in on the secret, Narcissa, you would have been guilty of great treachery to the Dark Lord.”
[Audio clip ends]
Andrew: I like that a lot. It’s sultry, kind of.
Eric: It’s good!
Laura: Yeah, that gave me goosebumps.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: It’s a really great Snape that is not divined from the Alan Rickman portrayal. It’s just a really… there’s a depth to the voice, there’s a dangerousness to the voice, and it’s not just doing an Alan Rickman impression.
Andrew: Yeah, mine, I just squeeze my nose, and I sound like Squidward.
Eric: It’s very fun.
Andrew: Okay. Fun, but not good.
Eric: No, it’s good too. I really like it.
Andrew: [laughs] Thank you.
Eric: I’m going to message you on Tinder later and I’m going to tell you that I like it.
Andrew: [laughs] Finally. You’re not going to ghost me anymore. All right, this next one is Jared, doing a Lockhart.
[Audio clip plays]
“Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking! ‘It’s all right for him, he’s an internationally famous wizard already!’ But when I was 12, I was just as much of a nobody as you are.”
[Audio clip ends]
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Micah: From one Lockhart to another, Eric?
Eric: [imitating Lockhart] It was excellent! Yes, very splendiferous. Very nice.
Andrew: And by the way, listeners, feel free to call in anytime and do an impression for us.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: It could be at any random time. Just send one.
Eric: That’s a great point.
Andrew: We’ll get a kick out of it. Even send us a voice message with your question, and do it in a character’s voice. That would be fun, too. All right, this next one is from Robert, and he does an Umbridge.
[Audio clip plays]
“‘I’m terribly sorry to have to contradict you, Minerva, but as you will see from my note, Harry has been achieving very poor results in his classes with me -‘ ‘I should have made my meaning plainer,’ said Professor McGonagall, turning at last to look Umbridge directly in the eyes. ‘He has achieved high marks in all Defense Against the Dark Arts tests set by a competent teacher.”
[Audio clip ends]
Andrew: Very good! Hem-hem!
[Eric laughs]
Laura: Well done, Robert. That was great.
Eric: Chilling. And it reminds me, this whole challenge really reminds me of the type of people and the type of theater where you really gravitate and you focus on every single syllable of every word, and it’s very rich and drawn out. Love it.
Andrew: Speaking of McGonagall, here’s Rachel’s McGonagall.
[Audio clip plays]
“Are you sure I can’t offer you a cough drop, Dolores?”
[Audio clip ends]
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Laura: That’s wonderful.
Andrew: It’s a good one to have on standby when somebody’s annoying you.
Eric: McG at her absolute sassiest.
Andrew: And then finally, Barry, who was on the show last week, called in with his Fudge.
[Audio clip plays]
[in a voice that sounds almost exactly like Donald Trump’s] “Don’t you, Amelia? Let me explain. He’s been thinking it through and decided Dementors would make a very nice little cover story, very nice indeed. Muggles can’t see Dementors, can they, boy? Highly convenient, highly convenient… so it’s just your word and no witnesses…”
[Audio clip ends]
Andrew: I need to see Barry doing this.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: I actually shed a couple of tears. That was very, very good. Well done, Barry.
Andrew and Micah: Yeah.
Micah: And he’s also said that his podcast got a lot of downloads this past week thanks to his appearance on Quizzitch Live.
Laura: Good!
Eric: Aww.
Andrew: Glad to hear.
Micah: He was very complimentary of the MuggleCast community.
Andrew: Cool. Well, thanks, everybody who submitted one of their impressions. And again, seriously, submit an impression anytime; we get a kick out of those. You all know we do a lot of impressions on the show, good and bad, so let’s hear how you all do with your impressions.
Eric: I think you opened the box, Andrew.
Andrew: I hope so.
Eric: There’s currently… yeah, how many tens of thousands of emails are in our inbox right now? There’s going to be double that by next Wednesday.
Andrew: Well, the Lynx Line is a great way to have your voice heard on the show, whether or not you’re listening live. We ask a new question every week. You can become a member of our community by visiting Patreon.com/MuggleCast and pledging today. If you have any feedback about today’s episode, you can email MillennialShow… [laughs] You can contact us by emailing or sending a… let me try that again.
Eric: If you accidentally email MillennialShow@gmail.com, you know what? It will actually reach most of the same people.
Andrew: True, true. Yeah, so let’s keep this in. You can contact us by emailing or sending a voice memo that you record on your phone to MuggleCast@gmail.com, actually. And next week, Half-Blood Prince Chapter by Chapter begins.
Micah: And that impersonation by Barry is such an appropriate lead-in to this Chapter by Chapter that we’re going to be doing.
Andrew: True.
Laura: For real.
Andrew: Don’t forget also to visit MuggleCast.com for quick access to all of the information that we shared today, and lots more, including our contact form. And if you’re looking for more podcasting from the four of us, listen to our other shows, Millennial and What the Hype?!, for more pop culture and real world talk.
Quizzitch
Andrew: And now it’s time for Quizzitch! It’s back. [imitating Fudge] “It’s back!”
[Quizzitch music plays]
Eric: This week’s question: The chapter titled “The Second War Begins” inspired this question. Perhaps the most well-known “second war” in the Muggle world, WWII, began on what day? What day is generally agreed that World War II began? The correct answer was September 1 in the year 1939. But September 1, we know it as Back to Hogwarts Day; it was the beginning of World War II when Germany invaded Poland. 53% of people with the correct answer did not look this up, according to those people, and this week’s winners were #1 Andrew Fan…
Andrew: What?!
Eric: I know; they’re writing in to Quizzitch. Your mom wrote in to Quizzitch.
Andrew: Aww. Thanks, Mom.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: A Healthy Breeze; A Muggle from Poland; Bonnie Prince Charlie; Bort Voldemort; Dumbridge…
Andrew: [laughs] Dumbridge.
Eric: … Elvis Dumbledore; HP and WW2 Know-It-All; I want the corduroy jacket Dan wears in Deathly Hallows – Part 1; Laura’s Personal Umbrella Academy Heckler… how you doing with that, Laura?
Laura: I have no comment.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Eric: … Lord Son of a Muggle; TGIF, That Gryffindor Is Fire; The Other, Other Minister; The Secret Wizard from Down Under; and Tofu Tom.
Andrew: You know, my mom actually loves war-related trivia, so that actually makes a lot of sense that she wrote in this time.
Eric: Oh, that makes sense. Okay, okay. Well, thanks to all. It’s great to be back for Quizzitch. It’s great to be looking down doing more Half-Blood Prince-inspired Quizzitch, starting next week, so very exciting. And here is next week’s Quizzitch question: This upcoming chapter discussion that we’ve got features a bridge in London. Built in 1175, the year, what is the oldest bridge in London?
Andrew: Oooh.
Eric: It’s on the River Thames. What is the name of the oldest bridge in London? It’s not Brockdale. Submit your answers to us on the Quizzitch form on the MuggleCast website, MuggleCast.com. Click on “Quizzitch” from the main nav, or go to MuggleCast.com/Quizzitch. While you’re on our website, check out transcripts and must-listens and all sorts of other cool stuff.
Andrew: Everybody grab their copies of Half-Blood Prince and join us next week for Chapter 1. I’m excited to dive in. A new book! Yay!
Eric: After all this time.
Andrew: Thanks, everyone, for listening. I’m Andrew.
Eric: I’m Eric.
Micah: I’m Micah.
Laura: And I’m Laura.
Andrew: Bye, everyone!
Eric, Laura, and Micah: Bye.