Transcript for MuggleCast Episode #733, Unhinged 2026 Potter Predictions, Learning Voldemort’s Name, And More MuggleMail
Cold Open
Eric: There was a large group, and we snuck out to the back of the room, and that was when he – my cousin Frank – told me what the F-word meant, and it’s…
Andrew: Fudge. Very bad, terrible Prime Minister.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Because I didn’t know. You knew you weren’t supposed to say it, but you didn’t know. And that was when I learned… fudge.
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: And we’re your Harry Potter friends, closing out our 20th year of this podcast, 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, as we wind down 2025, we’re taking questions and comments from you, our listeners. It’s time for another Muggle Mailbag.
Fandom Predictions for 2026
Andrew: But before that, since it’s our final episode of the year, panel, why don’t we look ahead to 2026? I think it’s fun to make some fandom predictions, and then we can look back this time next year and see if we got any of them right. I don’t think we did this last year, so I think it’ll be fun to do this. Here’s my first question about 2026: Will we hear about the Hogwarts Legacy sequel? There’s been rumors for a while that it’s going to happen. That game has now sold 40 million copies, by the way; they announced that the other day. So will we hear about the sequel in 2026?
Eric: Yeah, I think we’ll hear that it’s been… it’ll be an officially greenlit project. I don’t know that we’ll hear much more, probably not plot, even, but that’s my expectation. And did they already release the director’s cut edition that was teased?
Andrew: No, so maybe that will come in 2026.
Eric: Maybe by 2027 they’ll fix the butterflies, or the things you chase around. The lightning bugs.
Laura: Oh, the moths?
Eric: The moths. I was so close.
Laura: Yeah, I know. I still have one that is bugged out, and I can’t get it. It’s so annoying.
Micah: I don’t see why we wouldn’t get some news on the followup, because the original came out in 2023, and would imagine that they’ve been working on it. I would even say that a release date probably is not that far off.
Laura: I think we may get a release date, but I don’t think it’ll be anything more than that. I think that would be the best news we could get.
Andrew: I’ll go ahead and predict we’ll hear about a release date, too, and some details. Next prediction question I have for y’all: Will we receive a Harry Potter TV show release date announcement by the end of 2026? We’re not going to see the show next year, but will we get an announcement? A specific date? I’m going to say yes.
Laura: I mean, yeah, I would hope so, because they’ve been saying early 2027, right? So yeah, we’ve got to have a release date. Although I’m not convinced we’re getting it in early 2027.
Eric: I think that we will get a date by the end of next year, but that between now and then, it’ll get delayed again.
Micah: I think we’ll get a release date. I also think we’ll get a teaser trailer by the end of 2026.
Andrew: Ooh. Okay, all right, get ready for that MuggleCast episode. One thing we do know for sure, setting aside the video game and the TV show, is that the Half-Blood Prince illustrated edition will be released October 2026. They’ve already announced that. This is the Jim Kay but no longer Jim Kay illustrated series, so if you’ve been collecting those – and I have – you’ll have that to look forward to in the new year. Any other predictions, y’all?
Eric: Hmm.
Laura: Not for me. I’m excited to see what the year brings. Trying to be optimistic. [laughs]
Eric: Yeah, I think it has to do with… we touched recently on… you guys recorded that video on the merger – potential merger – with Netflix or Paramount and Warner Bros., and I think that however that nets out will determine whether we get an influx of more news. I’m thinking about when Disney bought Lucasfilm, and all of a sudden they started greenlighting left and right new Star Wars projects, and they kept mentioning there were all these new series in development and all this other stuff. I very much foresee that sort of thing happening if a merger goes through, just because they’re going to want to monetize as soon as possible the IPs that they just bought. And if that doesn’t happen, then I’d like to see actually less news, because it means that Warner Bros. is just focusing on making the TV show the best it can be.
Andrew: I’m going to say that merger isn’t going to go through until this time next year, at best, and then maybe sometime in early ’27 we’ll start hearing about those other spinoffs that you’re referencing, Eric, because they’re going to need time to figure out what they want to do.
Micah: Do you think we’ll find out who is playing Voldemort in 2026?
Andrew: Oooh, yes.
Eric: But not Peeves.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: I predict that Peeves will be kept a secret until… the first episode that he’s in will air, and it’ll be a total secret.
Andrew: Okay, well, I also have some unhinged predictions for 2026.
Eric: Ooh!
Andrew: Yeah, I’m feeling a little funky, and I thought, “Let’s just throw anything at the wall and see what sticks.” We know the Wizarding World is always expanding. We know they always want to add new stuff to the Wizarding World. So my first unhinged prediction is they’re going to launch a new TV show, actually, called Harry Potter: Wizards of Drinking, and this is a spinoff of the cooking show Wizards of Baking, which now has two seasons, so it’s clearly doing well.
Micah: I’m here for it.
Laura: Yeah, I declare canon.
[“I declare canon!” sound effect plays with thunder]
Laura: I mean, this is very much in line. There’s a lot of drinking in these books.
Eric: And in the fandom, right?
Andrew: Yes!
[Laura laughs]
Eric: I mean, I’ve had a college butterbeer recipe since I was in college, so it’s… and I love to share it.
Andrew: Yeah, this would be like an HBO show, I think. It’s less family friendly, but Wizards of Drinking would be a lot of fun. Okay, my next unhinged prediction is we will get a new Harry Potter book series. Yes, you heard right. This is a gender-bent Harry Potter series. Now, I think this for two reasons: First of all, J.K. Rowling is obsessed with gender, and it’s already been done for Twilight fans! Stephanie Meyer did a gender-bent Twilight. It’s hard to imagine this really happened, but it did; it was called Life and Death. And I think the gender-bent Harry Potter would star Harietta, Rae, and Hermon. That was the best name I could think for a male Hermione.
Eric: Hermon!
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Oh, poor Hermon. I already feel bad for him.
Andrew: Well, we also know that there’s a lot of editions of the core Harry Potter books. We’ve had the illustrated editions; we’ve had the full cast editions; the basic audiobook editions, with respect to Jim Dale and Stephen Fry…
Eric: Right.
Andrew: We’ve had 3-D versions, spinoffs, pop-out editions with the MinaLima editions… I think they are just going to merge everything and do a Harry Potter, the illustrated full cast audiobook 3-D pop-out editions. Why not?
Eric: Amazing.
Andrew: We already… they’ve got to come up with new editions. They have so many. Why not this too?
Eric: And you have to carry the book around when you’re… they’re going to revive Wizards Unite, and you’re going to have to carry the book around to capture beasts that have escaped from your book.
Andrew: Oh, and Eric, just for you, they’re going to start splitting the books into Part 1 and Part 2 to further squeeze money out of us.
Eric: Thank you! I was going to make that joke a minute ago for the illustrated, but if they didn’t do it for Order, you guys, it’s not going to happen. I think it’s safe to say that that was misguided or simply incorrect on my part. I had high hopes for that.
Andrew: And then finally, Wizards After Dark. So catering to the OG Harry Potter fans who are now at least in their 30s, including us, I think Warner Bros. is going to continue to expand their vast official Harry Potter merchandise lineup with a new line of romantic Harry Potter toys.
Laura: Oh.
Eric: I support this 100% in terms of as a crazy theory. It made me laugh, made me chuckle, and I even, Andrew, came up with a pitch that I think you would appreciate for their first official Wizards After Dark product.
Andrew: Go ahead.
Eric: You remember the vibrating broomstick?
Andrew: Yeah, it’s in my closet right now.
Eric: Now it’s foldable and it fits in your purse.
Andrew: Oh, like a travel size. Okay.
Eric: Wizards After Dark. And I think you’re right, because there’s an upper limit to how much different merchandise they can possibly come up with. They’ve been doing official merch for 25 years now, with the flagship store in New York, the Chicago store, other stores worldwide, the Universal parks… everything. They’ve got to be hitting an upper limit of all the PG and PG-13ish rated possible merch that they could ever come up with has now been done. They have no choice but to make everything a little bit more adult.
Laura: Yeah, I don’t know. I just remember back in the day when J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. went after some of the more adult Harry Potter fanfiction websites, so I don’t think I see this one flying, but we’ll see.
Andrew: Well, the fans were younger, most of them, but we’ve aged up now. We need to be, let’s say, entertained at this age.
Eric: Wow.
Andrew: Micah, would you buy any Wizards After Dark merchandise?
Micah: Yeah, I mean, I would have to see the product line first, but I’m open to it.
Andrew: Okay. Oh, wow. Okay, yeah. Well, what do…?
Micah: I think you have to add in a word that starts with N, so that you could have the acronym WAND. Wizards After something Dark.
Eric: Oh.
Micah: I’m just trying to help you market here, Andrew.
Andrew: A Wizard’s Wand Work. Wizards Looking… I don’t… okay. Well, we’ll think about that during our break.
Micah: Okay. No, these are all really great ideas. As we were talking about it, it made me think a little bit, though, that Warner Bros., they need a splash in 2026. You can’t go an entire year without having something, and I feel like probably for them… and is this really them, at the end of the day? Epic Universe was their big moment in 2025, right, for the Harry Potter franchise overall? I don’t know if you can go an entire year without having something to entice the fanbase.
Andrew: So what do we at MuggleCast have planned for this show in 2026? We are excited to share that in the new year, we will start looking forward and back on the Wizarding World in a couple of exciting new segments and episodes. First, we are planning TV show-focused episodes of MuggleCast releasing once a month that will help you get ready for this major new series, and we will be releasing separate content looking back at the fandom with deeper dives on earlier Harry Potter content, like specific video games, fandom events, spinoff books, and much more. And we’re still ironing out details about these two things, but stay tuned for more information in the new year. We know people are very excited about the Harry Potter TV show, and we want to hang out in that excitement with you. So we have some ideas for how to cover, again, what’s coming in Harry Potter, and what we’ve loved about Harry Potter in the new year.
Eric: That’s something that I’ll say is very… makes me proud, too, is that we’re closing out, as you say, our 20th year – I don’t know how we got here – but that we’re still excited to continue making the show and continue interacting with our listeners and our patrons who have been so supportive to us throughout the years. So that’s very exciting, leaving… closing out this trainwreck of a year with a lot of positive vibes for our audience specifically.
Andrew: Yeah, and of course, in 2026 we’ll continue through Half-Blood Prince Chapter by Chapter and move on to Deathly Hallows, while also sharing the latest Wizarding World news with you all, so stay tuned.
Eric: Can I just say, Deathly Hallows is the book that I’ve been wanting to do Chapter by Chapter for since we started this Chapter by Chapter three years ago now at this point, because it’s the book that I’ve read the least, and I’m just really excited to reintroduce and really go through it with the freshest eyes that I can. So now I’m enjoying the heck out of our Half-Blood Prince – it’s my second favorite book, after all – but Deathly Hallows is going to be lit, y’all. I’m very excited for Chapter by Chapter for it.
Andrew: I actually think I’ve read Deathly Hallows least, too. Laura, Micah, where do you guys…?
Laura: Same.
Andrew: Really? Deathly Hallows?
Laura: I mean, it makes sense; it’s the last book that came out.
Micah: Probably similarly, I haven’t read it as much as the other books, and I think that’s just a product, too, of us having done Chapter by Chapter for all the other books…
Andrew: True.
Micah: … and Deathly Hallows has kind of been left on the back burner. But I will say, I do feel like we spent a lot of time after Book 7 was released talking about what happened in Book 7; we just didn’t do it chapter by chapter.
Andrew: That’s true.
Eric: Well, we actually did do a Chapter by Chapter, but it was right after.
Micah: Well, we did Chapter by Chapter, but yeah, there’s a lot of additional episodes that you could attribute specifically to Book 7.
Eric: Yeah, it’s been 18 years since we’ve done Chapter by Chapter for Deathly Hallows.
Andrew: So as you can see, we have exciting plans, and need your help to make them happen, and if you want to see this show soar into the new year, we invite you to become a member of our community at Patreon.com/MuggleCast, and by joining, you’ll get instant access to two bonus episodes every month, ad-free episodes of everything we do, access to our livestreams, a personal video “Thank you” message from one of the four MuggleCasters, a gift delivered by owl each year, and much more. And I mentioned bonus MuggleCast; Laura, what are we doing this week?
Laura: So actually, we’re going to be looking way back in MuggleCast history this week by not just thinking about MuggleCast, but thinking about the website that brought us all together, MuggleNet.com, because we were all volunteers on that website way back when. It’s how we all met; it’s really the place where we brought together the people who were inspired to create this show. We’re going to talk about some funny, maybe some spicy memories about some of the drama that happened amongst the staff back in the old days, so it should be really fun if you’re interested in the insider baseball of the Harry Potter fandom. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, something new in 2026 we’re also going to be doing on bonus MuggleCast is getting a little more unhinged in those episodes, including more behind-the-scenes looks at the early days of MuggleNet. And you know what? It’s the last episode of the year. To heck with everything, y’all; let’s just pop off on MuggleNet in bonus MuggleCast this week.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: And if you’re looking for other ways to support us, you can leave us a review in your favorite podcast app, you can tell a fellow Muggle about our show, and you can visit MuggleCastMerch.com to buy official show gear. And also at MuggleCastMerch.com you’ll find a link to our overstock store, where you can find discounted merchandise from years past, including our Cozy Comfy Combo Pack, which offers the MuggleCast beanie and socks at one reduced price, perfect for the colder months out of the year.
Listener Feedback
Andrew: And now let’s get to Muggle Mail, and we’ll start with some voicemails. We’re going to do a mix of feedback today. It’s going to be Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and some reactions to recent news.
[Voicemail plays]
“Hey, MuggleCast. It’s Robert. I had this thought while I was listening to your final Order of the Phoenix chapter episode, when you were talking about Fudge and his harrumphing around using Voldemort’s name, and I had a thought that I’ve had for a while – and apologies if you’ve brought this up on the show before – but how do children in the ’90s in the wizarding world know what Voldemort’s name is? Because the whole stigma is that no one ever says it. Obviously, he addressed himself as that in the first wizarding war; that’s why everyone’s afraid of referring to him by name. But if nobody ever says his name, and children born after 1981, when he allegedly died, are hearing about these horrible events that happened, are history books writing the name out? Are parents one-and-done saying, ‘Okay, I’m going to tell you what his name was, but don’t ever ask me to say it again, just so you know it, and you know to be scared of it in the future’? How do they know? Dumbledore is not going around house to house, going to every kid, being like, ‘Hey, don’t tell your parents, but Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldemort. Just keep that in your head.’ I don’t know. It just came to me and I was wondering what you thought.”
[Voicemail ends]
Andrew: That’s a really fun question. I actually would see it sort of as a curse word, where the kids are kind of tempted to say it because the parents don’t want them to say it, and the parents don’t say it either.
Eric: That’s how I feel about it. I was actually going to harken back to this time of year, Christmas era 1994, at my cousin’s house when I first learned what the F-word was. There was a large group, and we snuck out to the back of the room, and that was when he – my cousin Frank – told me what the F-word meant, and it’s…
Andrew: Fudge. Very bad, terrible Prime Minister.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Because I didn’t know. You knew you weren’t supposed to say it, but you didn’t know. And that was when I learned… fudge. So I think it’s like that. I think that it’s… you’re allowed to learn it once, and then… I don’t know; who tells you might be different, but you’re not supposed to say it out loud.
Laura: Yeah, I tend to feel similarly about it, that I think a lot of younger kids might hear about it from older kids, because I agree, it is like a curse word. And probably older kids who were teenagers at the time of the first war, and clearly remember who Voldemort was, I could see them teasing the younger kids and being like, “I bet you don’t know what his name is,” because everybody is so scared of him all the time, talking about You-Know-Who, and I can see younger kids being really pushy about wanting to know who it is. So I think that’s probably most likely what happened.
Andrew: Yeah. Fun question, Robert.
Micah: Yeah, I’d almost be curious how much his name was utilized during the first war, because it seems like very much a post-downfall-of-Voldemort situation where there’s a fear of saying his name because you’re afraid that… it’s almost like the boogeyman, right? You’re afraid that maybe he’s going to show up at your door if you speak his name aloud. And I think the other piece of it, too, is don’t underestimate the ability of children to find out information.
Andrew: Oh, yeah.
Micah: And if your parents – and this goes to the point that was raised earlier – are talking about somebody, and they’re calling him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the natural inclination is to find out what that person’s name is.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: And I’m sure it’s available. You could easily look at the Daily Prophet from back then and find information.
Andrew: Oh, yeah.
Micah: So actually, I agree. I like Robert’s question a lot, but I feel like the information is much more readily available; it’s more so that these children were told not to say his name.
Andrew: All right, let’s move to this voicemail today from Kaitlin, and it looks like her daughter is auditioning for maybe a TV show or audiobook.
Micah: Yeah, so this is in response to, I think, our previous Muggle Mail episode where we had asked our patrons to submit impersonations. Kaitlin’s came in a little late, but because it’s her daughter, I figured…
Andrew: Ohhh, okay.
Micah: … it’s only appropriate that we give her a shot here.
Andrew: And maybe this is an audition for the Harry Potter illustrated full cast audiobook 3-D pop-out editions, which are definitely happening in 2026. So here we go.
[Voicemail plays]
“Hello. I’m going to say a quote from Hermione in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Chapter 9, ‘The Midnight Duel.’ ‘I hope you’re pleased with yourselves. We could have been killed, or worse, expelled. Now, if you two don’t mind, I am going to bed.'”
[Voicemail ends]
Andrew: Very nice. Very nice.
Micah: Well done.
Eric: I think you got the pronunciation. The diction is excellent. I support it. That’s great.
Andrew: And one of very few times in world history where a young girl or boy said, “I’m going to bed,” just on their own accord.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Andrew: Normally their parents have to say that. So now let’s get to some emails, and we’re going to start with ones focused on Order of the Phoenix. This first one is from Michael concerning Neville and the prophecy.
“Hey, y’all! I just listened to Episode 715 about Order of the Phoenix Chapter 34. When y’all were talking about the prophecy and how Neville told Harry not to pick it up, I was wondering if Neville could have picked it up himself. When the prophecy was made, it could have been about either one: Harry or Neville. When Voldemort tries to kill Harry, he is ‘marking him’ as his equal, and therefore the prophecy becomes about Harry. When it was made, though, it still could’ve been about either boy. Does the physical prophecy change when Voldemort’s actions change destiny? Or is it stuck in the state it was created in, meaning Neville might be able to pick it up? It’s obviously labeled for Harry, but there is some uncertainty implied. What do y’all think?”
Laura: If I recall correctly, the decision to label the prophecy as being about Harry was made after Voldemort marked him.
Eric: Yes.
Laura: So I don’t think it would make a difference to the prophecy itself if it was labeled for Harry or Neville, because it could have been about either one of them.
Eric: The not being able to touch the prophecy is strictly a security feature of the Hall of Prophecy, so when somebody… because I think… Harry reads it and it says Sybill Trelawney’s initials, between Dark Lord and question mark, that then gets crossed off, “and Harry Potter.”
Andrew: Ahh.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: And so up until the point where they wrote “Harry Potter,” Neville would have been able to take it off the shelf, but the only thing I think at question is if they determine that it’s meant for Harry, then Neville wouldn’t be able to take it. But it has nothing to do with the prophecy or the orb that the prophecy is in; it’s just the security feature of being able to pull it off.
Andrew: Right. That was my feeling, too. If Harry’s name is written there, then it’s locked to him. Neville can’t touch it.
Micah: I like it. The next email is from Marije on Arthur death clues, and she says,
“Dear MuggleCast, I’ve been listening for a couple of years now, and listened back to 2018, so I can now enjoy both Book 6 Chapter by Chapters at the same time. I’m really looking forward to it, as it’s my favorite book (together with Prisoner of Azkaban). My question, though, is more related to Book 5. You guys discussed a couple of times how Sirius was set up to die from the beginning, and I definitely see all the foreshadowing in earlier books. That made me wonder, though; the author has mentioned before that she was seriously considering killing Arthur in the snake attack. If she’d really done that, are there ‘hints’ in earlier books that he was about to die that we would’ve interpreted otherwise had he died? I can’t think of anything, but maybe you can? Hope to hear your thoughts. Thanks for all you do. Marije, a Ravenclaw from the Netherlands.”
Andrew: So I have a crackpot theory here. There was foreshadowing while the author was debating killing Arthur, and that came through the Weasley clock when it constantly has the whole family sets at mortal peril. And the phrase “A broken clock is right twice a day” would fit here. So let’s say all the hands are pointed at mortal peril. Fred died, obviously, in Book 7. What if Arthur had died in Book 5? “A broken clock is right twice a day.” That’s two people who died. It ended up being correct. Does that crackpot theory make sense?
Laura: I see where you’re going with it. I think it’s a bit of a stretch for me, though, because of all the hands pointing at mortal peril. I don’t know; I really can’t think of any foreshadowing that might have been woven throughout the earlier books for Arthur. We may have to come back to it, though.
Andrew: I was looking for some ideas; I couldn’t really find anything. This is because people talk about Arthur’s potential death online, and yeah, there wasn’t really clear foreshadowing signs.
Micah: I think the more interesting question was: Would she still have killed Sirius?
Andrew: I don’t think so.
Micah: Would it have been a double dip? And then how would that have played itself out in the rest of the series? I think maybe there are some things that she could have done with Arthur that she did with Sirius, where I think… I’m trying to remember back to Order of the Phoenix, where I think it was Fred and George are messing around and there’s a knife that drops right in front of where Sirius is either standing or sitting, and there’s little clues like that. And I don’t know; maybe she would have written things a little bit more in Arthur’s favor then? It’s hard to say. There weren’t any clues, really, that Cedric was going to bite the dust, and he did, so I don’t think you necessarily need to have…
Eric: Foreshadowing?
Micah: Foreshadowing, or little nuggets.
Andrew: Yeah, I don’t see Arthur and Sirius dying in the same book. That’s too much. You can’t kill two of Harry’s father figures.
Eric: Well, other than Book 7.
Andrew: Yeah, but that’s the end. That’s different.
Eric: This isn’t Book 7, after all, where you get Hedwig and Mad-Eye and Tonks and Lupin and…
Andrew: So to answer your question, Micah, no, I just don’t see them both dying in one book.
Micah: No, but what about what they’re asking about here? I don’t know that it would have been written much differently.
Eric: Yeah, I think that maybe there were moments of foreshadowing that when that plot was decided that Arthur would not die, they were removed. Anything too on the nose would have been caught by the editor or the author and removed. Yeah, because for the most part, I mean, we rarely see Arthur Weasley, and when we do, he’s generally good-natured and happy. If he looks stressed, it’s because work. If he looks pale, it’s because ginger. I would struggle to find any examples of him being marked, supposedly, for death.
Laura: Moving on, we have some comments from Spotify. First one is from Elliot, who left this comment on our “Oh Hell Doe” episode, which was covering Half-Blood Prince Chapter 8, “Snape Victorious.” And Elliot says,
“I think the genius that is Snape often times has hidden meanings within his responses. Telling Harry that Tonks’s Patronus looks weak could have been a subconscious way of trying to give a hint/clue for Harry, connecting with him through his love for his mother Lily. I think Snape often says things that he regrets because of his bitterness and self-loathing, and so he tries to make up for that in his own double, or opposite-meaning Snape-ish sort of way.”
I like it.
Andrew: Yeah, I think this is a good idea. I think Snape wants to sort of get his feelings off his chest, not necessarily to Harry, but clearly this love has driven him kind of mad since the beginning, and he needs to let those feelings out there. So maybe this is one example of letting them out, just ever so slightly.
Eric: Ooh, I don’t know, though. His love for Lily is the linchpin that explains all of his motivations ever that he has to keep from Voldemort, and so I don’t think he would allow himself to slip that big of an easter egg to the son of the woman he loved. I think he doesn’t care about Harry’s wellbeing at all, so he would never, ever, ever tell Harry that, except at the very last moment of his life.
Andrew: I’m not saying that Snape wants to tell Harry; I’m just saying he’s got a lot within him bottled up that he might sort of accidentally let slip out from time to time, because it’s just driving him mad.
Micah: I think he projects it onto other people, though.
Eric: That would make sense.
Micah: That’s what I think is happening in this moment with Tonks, more than anything else. I don’t think that he says things that he really regrets; I think he says things from the point of being bitter or having this self-loathing personality, but I don’t think that he has any real regret in him. Maybe we don’t see that come until Book 7, but I don’t know. I don’t get that vibe from Snape.
Eric: I like it. So this next comment comes from Brittan regarding the episode “Fame W…alrus.”
“I think, too, that it’s important to remember that not all wizards are powerfully magical. We’re hearing about some of the most powerful in their community, but the everyday witch or wizard may not be able to perform a Fidelius Charm or protections for their homes; they may just not be skilled enough. We hear about the Kwikspell course with Filch, so we know there are some people who are just very average. We know that not everyone Apparates as well because it’s a hard skill.”
Actually, that is something that I so appreciate getting called out, because we do have this collective bias being so intimately familiar with Snape and Dumbledore and McGonagall and Flitwick’s capabilities, that the average everyday barely-passed-his-OWLs Ron Weasley would, as an adult, if he didn’t have Hermione there, probably use a pamphlet to protect his home and find some use in it.
Andrew: Yeah, I agree. I appreciate the reminder that we should keep in mind that not everybody is going to be a very powerful wizard. We’re typically very focused on talking about their lives, and of course, they’re a big focus of these books, so you can maybe see why we’re so focused on everybody having a large skillset. But yeah, there’s probably the everyday people who just are not that great.
Eric: That was why there was such value in the DA, because it got everybody to perform a Patronus, a full corporeal Patronus. The people at the Ministry would be shocked if they found out that all these 15-year-olds could do that.
Andrew: This next one is a quickie; it’s just from Jeremiah, and he says, “I love Micah’s dad jokes.”
Micah: Aw, thanks, Jeremiah.
Andrew: That’s actually a friend of mine who lives here…
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: … and he also really likes your voice, Micah, as well. And I really appreciate that Jeremiah sounded off in the comments, even though he could have just texted me that thought.
Eric: I was going to say, who does…? Well, Micah, you put this doc together; does that mean that you have a dad joke prepared to share on the show?
Micah: Well, I did not prepare this section of the document, but who knows? Maybe a little bit later on there will be a dad joke forthcoming.
Andrew: Oh, don’t get Jeremiah too excited.
Eric: We’ll wait for that.
Micah: [laughs] We also heard from Heidi. This is on the Snape is good/bad debate that preceded the release of Deathly Hallows, and she says,
“I remember doing a debate on Snape! I was totally Snape is a good guy and I was the ONLY one. Those people who disagreed with me were super, shall we say, passionate. I had nothing substantial to back up my stance, and I remember yelling ‘Because I just know! He’s a double agent,’ and they yelled me off the stage.”
Eric: Augh!
Andrew: Whoa.
Micah: Who are these people?
“Mind you, I was 28 and they were a bunch of teenagers. I hope after reading Deathly Hallows, they thought about that debate and the ‘old lady’ that defended Snape’s honor, albeit weakly.”
Andrew: Oh, that’s a fun, if not traumatic, memory. Thank you, Heidi, for sharing.
Eric: And I’d be nervous to go somewhere at a convention, state an unpopular opinion, and then Gen Z boos me off the stage. That would be really… that would really hurt my ego. I’m joking.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Laura: Well, our next comment comes from ValiantKnight over on YouTube, and this is about our recent “Is Snape a good teacher?” discussion, and ValiantKnight says,
“No one is arguing that Snape isn’t an extremely skilled and precocious Potions Master, but he’s a horrible teacher. Even the Half-Blood Prince stuff, he’s not teaching Harry there; he’s just updating recipes to work better and more thoroughly than the originals in the book. That’s more skilled Potions Master stuff, but it isn’t teaching him any theory.”
Andrew: Okay.
Eric: I agree with this, and I think that makes sense to me as far as why the writing is in the Potion book in the first place. It’s Snape kind of taking a page out of Hermione’s book and being such an insufferable know-it-all that he’s like, “I can do this better; this is inefficient,” and he crosses everything off and just writes the way that he knows because he’s annoyed with the book for existing. And every page, he turns the page and he’s like, “Ugh, some more wrong stuff I have to fix,” and then fixes it. I don’t think he’s writing that book with the intention of ever helping anyone else that’s reading it, because he doesn’t take to teaching in any different of an energy.
Andrew: No. Of a style, yeah.
Micah: Yeah, it’s a complete contrast to, let’s say, looking at another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Lupin. He’s probably the only one we can point to in that subject that actually teaches the students. And I agree with what ValiantKnight is saying. Snape is good, he’s a great wizard, but he can’t teach worth a dime. Now we’re going to pop over to the Discord, and the first comment here, also on Snape, is from Ele.
“Something that has come up for me is that when fans discuss Snape, there’s a surprisingly strong school of thought that Snape is a ‘good’ teacher based on the concept that he writes up his own version of instructions for potions on the blackboard. That’s why he always handwrites them. Now, I’m a Snape defender most of the time, but Half-Blood Prince puts paid to this version of events. If Snape had always shared his own version of events with the class, why does Harry suddenly go from Potions middling student to Potions genius? The only explanation I can think of is that he hasn’t had Snape’s full instructions before. Plus – Hermione. If Snape had told the class before to crush the sopophorous bean to better release the juice, then I think we could count on Hermione to have remembered that. Unless it’s the first time they’ve ever used them, which I guess is possible.”
Eric: This is really incredible, this thought that not once did Snape really provide any of his classes that the Gryffindors were in with these types of tips. “Oh, you’ll find that crushing a bean works better than slicing it nine times out of ten.” None of that, otherwise Hermione would already have internalized it. And the instructions that he’s giving to the class are basically the book instructions, even though he knows there’s better ways to achieve… I mean, this is like a trade secret, almost. It’s like the Snape brand potion is always going to be better because he has these hacks, but when it comes time to teach the kids, he’s just going to give them the basic, because nobody… no student is going to show him up. You know what I’m saying? So he’s kind of keeping the best stuff that’s in the Potions book for himself.
Laura: Rachel says,
“Something that really jumped out to me during the first potions lesson is that I finally see why Hermione is Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw. She’s very bright and driven by success, but she isn’t intuitive. She goes by the book. If we’re understanding Ravenclaws to be curious, inquisitive, and creative, we’d likely see a bit more of that from Hermione. Or am I way off?”
Actually, I think this is a good call-out.
Andrew: I think you’re spot on, yeah.
Eric: So you have to be inquisitive to be a Ravenclaw?
Laura: I mean, that is definitely one of the defining features, I would say.
Andrew: All right, next is from Kathleen. She writes about Half-Blood Prince.
“Half-Blood Prince is my favorite Potter book, and I’m loving your Chapter by Chapters so much. Here’s one question that I have: Why doesn’t Dumbledore explain to Harry how to destroy Horcruxes? (This would have saved so much time and stress in Deathly Hallows.) The withered hand comes up so many times. Why couldn’t Dumbledore say to Harry, ‘I tried X with the ring Horcrux and it caused this irreversible curse that is steadily killing me, so don’t do X. Instead, the safest course of action for destroying a Horcrux is to do A, B, or C…'”
So I feel like – and I think we were kind of touching on this a week or two ago – I think Dumbledore wants Harry to think on his own, to think critically, to try and answer these questions himself, rather than spelling everything out for him. Otherwise, how is he going to become a better wizard? How is he going to, I don’t know, save the wizarding world the next time, and Dumbledore is totally not in the picture? He wants to train Harry up, and he probably also really believes in Harry brainstorming with Ron and Hermione and anybody else that Harry wishes to ask.
Eric: So this next comment comes from Tangled Yarn, a.k.a. Carolyn. She says,
“Why does the background subplot of Tonks/Lupin feel so underbaked to the point of being distracting in Half-Blood Prince? Rereading HP 6 is really reminding me how much of a point is made to mention Tonks (and to mention her being at Black Manor all the time in Book 5), but for some reason it doesn’t feel like the payoff is worth the mentions. It’s one of the few threads in the Harry Potter books that feels lazily contrived to me (presumably for the end goal of Lupin having a kid and then being killed), despite the effort that went into hinting at the relationship across a few books. Was it supposed to remind us that there are things going on in the adults’ lives that Harry has no knowledge of? Was it to point out how much work the Order was doing that Harry didn’t have the smallest clue about? Was it because adult women in Harry Potter can’t be single unless they’re awful? Also, what is Hermione getting up to while Harry is busy stalking Malfoy and Ron is attached to Lavender? What’s her sixth year like? How often is she hanging out with Ginny?”
Lot of questions there; I think we’re going to probably have to touch on some as we continue to read. But what do you guys think about the Tonks and Lupin thing already?
Andrew: I’ve been thinking about this, too, as rereading. I’m surprised we’re not hearing about it more, and it’s been a big-ish mystery so far.
Laura: I mean, just in general, I feel like Tonks’s character was underserved. She just deserved better character development than what she got.
Andrew: Tangled Yarn also asked, “Was it supposed to remind us that there are things going on in the adults’ lives that Harry has no knowledge of?” I think that could be a good lesson for readers and a good point to make, that there is so much going on in the lives of adults that you never realize. They hide it from you, and you only later on in your life might realize, “Oh, adults have issues and drama and feelings too.” When you’re younger, you don’t really see your parents and your elders with feelings and like they’re going through stuff, but this is a reminder that they are.
Eric: Yeah, I mean, imagine finding out in Deathly Hallows sometime that Madam Rosmerta and Tom the barman of the Leaky Cauldron were in a relationship once. As a random aside, one of them died and the other one’s really sad about it, and you’re like, “Wait, what?” That would be an example of, “Oh, these adults have lives outside of it.” But no, I think it’s set up because we care about both Tonks and Lupin to be something other than what it ultimately ends up being. So I don’t know; we’ll have to talk about that more in Deathly Hallows, I think.
Micah: Yeah, I think – and this is brought up by Tangled Yarn – it was meant to serve as kind of a full circle moment for the series in that you have both Tonks and Lupin having a child who is orphaned by war, which is very similar, obviously, to what happens to Harry, and Harry ends up becoming Teddy’s godfather, right? And responsible for caretaking for him. So the other piece of this too… I know we’re talking a lot about Tonks, but I feel like Lupin starts to get a really nasty character arc as a result of the writing. He came into Prisoner of Azkaban as really this beloved Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and member of the Marauders, and the direction that he now starts to go in… I know people don’t really look on him very favorably by the time the series wraps, and again, that could just be character development, and as Harry gets older, he’s looking at Lupin as more of an adult and this is who Lupin actually is. But I don’t know; his character kind of soured a bit for me as we move through Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.
Andrew: As Carlee is saying in our Discord, this all can be Max’d! The TV series is a good opportunity to see others’ point of view.
[“Max that” sound effect plays]
Andrew: Yes, Carlee, absolutely.
Micah: So transitioning into some other Wizarding World news we’ve talked about, Liofa73 had not-so-positive feelings about the full cast audiobooks. They said,
“I think the first book is just okay. I’m still not convinced. I suspect they might get better. But the sound effects are too loud, the narrator is boring — because that was a design choice — and the conversations using Spatial Audio can be difficult to hear. I think I would rather have heard Stephen Fry’s narration and have the actors cut in for the voices. I think it was a bad idea to not allow the narrator to be emotive.”
And Amy added,
“I loved listening to the full cast, but you do need to wear headphones. I wish Audible had this written down so people knew. I listened to the first five chapters without headphones and the sound was terrible. The volume of the voices was all over the place and I didn’t even realize there was any music. That’s how quiet it was. I loved Hagrid; his voice actor is doing a great job…”
Hagrid is voiced by Mark Addy.
“… as is McGonagall and Hermione. I agree about Hugh Laurie. Every time he speaks, my brain is like, ‘Oh, it’s Hugh Laurie,’ instead of Dumbledore. Hopefully it will improve.”
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: So on the narrator, that’s not the first…
Micah: Scathing review.
Andrew: Yeah, well, but it’s good, because we’ve just been like, “Oh my God, this is amazing! Except for Hugh Laurie.” On the narrator point about them not emoting and maybe just not being that great, I disagree, but this isn’t the first time I’ve heard that somebody’s a little underwhelmed by the narrator.
Eric: Yeah, I also disagree. I think the narrator… especially because Book 1 is the moment… that’s the book where the narration is more characterized. It’s funny. The narration itself is funny in Book 1, and I think so far what I’ve heard from Book 1 has been enjoyable, the narrator specifically. Because it works for me. But if it doesn’t work for everybody, that’s totally fine.
Andrew: All right, well, another recent item we’ve been discussing is Netflix buying – possibly – HBO and Warner Bros., which also means they would be buying Harry Potter, which is a crazy idea to think about. So we got a lot of feedback about that discussion that Micah and I recorded. Tyler said, “I like Andrew’s optimism. It’s at the very, very least, a huge regime change, which will be bad overall, but could produce a good project or two here and there, lmao.” Brit said, “Let’s get some limited series spinoffs!” CGutting said, “Fantastic Beasts was incredible. Idgaf what anyone says.”
Micah: “I don’t give a flip.”
Andrew: They’re responding to my idea that maybe they can actually reboot or finish the Fantastic Beasts film series.
Eric: Oh.
Andrew: And then finally, Craig said they would like to see Netflix do a Modern Family style sitcom called “The Weasleys,” with Molly as the main character, showing her life as a mom in the chaotic Weasley home. Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. on Netflix.
Eric: With special guest, the ghoul in the attic.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Laura: Weasley Wednesdays.
Lynx Line
Andrew: Now it’s time for our Lynx Line segment, and we thought with the holidays approaching, maybe some of our listeners are looking for a last minute gift idea for a loved one, or maybe you’ve got extra time to read over the holidays. So we asked our Slug Club patrons at Patreon.com/MuggleCast: What have you read this year that you think Harry Potter readers would enjoy? Julie Ann said,
“Not new, but have to recommend classic fantasy by Tolkien like The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and The Simarillion. Listen to the Audible version by Andy Serkis (who starred in the films as Gollum); he does an incredible job navigating so many voices and narrating.”
[imitating Gollum] “Gollum! Gollum!” That’s bad.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Andrew: “My precious.” There, I can do that. [laughs]
Eric: There, you’ve redeemed yourself.
Micah: Have you ever seen him impersonate Trump? It’s amazing.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: It really is.
Eric: Shannon wrote in,
“The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells are the first books I’ve obsessively reread since the Harry Potter series. Most of them are novellas, so they’re fast reads. The new Murderbot TV show on Apple TV is really fun too, but the books are better (of course).”
Micah: Audrey says,
“The Plated Prisoner series by Raven Kennedy! I’ve only read the first two books, but I’m hooked. First book is a lot of world-building, but it pays off. It’s a fun twist on King Midas.”
Eric: Ooh.
Laura: Rachel says,
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Honestly, readers of any age can enjoy these books. They’re fun, mystical, and have similar elements of a group of friends banding together.”
Eric: Aw. You guys just covered Season 2 of the show, right, over on What the Hype?!
Laura: Yep.
Micah: We did a preview episode.
Eric: Preview episode. With Mike Schubert, who has a podcast, “The Newest Olympian,” that I wanted to plug, because it’s always nice. There’s a read-along podcast, if our listeners are interested and do get into Percy Jackson.
Andrew: Manda said,
“The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown – it has some modern day magic, mystery, adventure, secrecy with surprising twists and turns. It is in the same world as his book The Book of Doors – both are 10/10 stars, in my opinion.”
Eric: Ooh. Wild Dragon Lady – fun name – says,
“Not a new one, but I would recommend the Discworld book series by Terry Pratchett. It has quite a different world-building than what you would normally find in fantasy books, often more being a parody on a lot of things, not only fantasy but also on everyday stuff, but everything still does make sense in its own way. It’s more of a light and fun read, but sometimes still does make you wonder, what if the world would be a little different?”
Micah: MN Sonia… that could tie into our bonus MuggleCast:
“Still singing the praises for the Royal Institute of Magic series by Victor Kloss. Three students at a magical school have to find the pieces of an enchanted suit of armor to defeat the evil wizard. One of the few book series I purchased after reading them. As exciting and interesting as the Potter books.”
Eric: Oooh.
Laura: James says,
“I haven’t read any ‘newer’ books these last few years, but as someone whose entire adolescence revolved around Harry Potter, the only other series that has captivated me in the same way is A Song of Ice and Fire. So I’ll recommend A Game of Thrones – while this series has much less ‘magic’ (at first), and despite the series not having been finished, I have yet to find such a well-written and gripping fantasy story on par with A Song of Ice and Fire. A Game of Thrones has mystery, fantasy, political intrigue, and some of the best plot/character development I have ever read.”
Eric: It’s real good.
Andrew: Jenna said,
“Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Nothing like Harry Potter, but it’s my favorite book. It’s the only book other than Harry Potter that had me looking up analysis and theories and fanfiction online.”
So Jenna, in some ways, that means it is like Harry Potter, because it really inspires you to read and think about the series just as much.
Eric: Yeah, I’m going to second this one. This one is great. I listened to the audiobook of this, which is particularly incredible, and it’s going to be a movie coming out I think next year. So Project Hail Mary. Yeah, it’s incredible. I absolutely was very moved by it. And Rachel GG says,
“Zodiac Academy by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. Dark paranormal romance series! Set at a magic school but aged up to a modern college setting (a.k.a. SMUT and social media!) The magic system and classes are fun as they are impacted by zodiac sign, elemental powers, and ‘order’ (25+ kinds of creatures). Would advise to research content/trigger warnings; is not for everyone.”
That’s a good call-out. Very thoughtful, too.
Micah: Michael W. says,
“I might have recommended it before, but The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. First of an epic fantasy series that is long, engaging, and very fun!”
Andrew: I know some people who are really into Brandon Sanderson.
Laura: Same.
Andrew: Seems like a cool guy, too.
Laura: Jenn says,
“For adults – Dungeon Crawler Carl! I’ve only read the first (of seven) books so far, but it was great! It’s about a guy and his cat, Princess Donut, who are forced to compete in a DnD style apocalypse dungeon crawl.”
[Micah laughs]
Laura: I love that.
Andrew: I’ve seen a lot of attention around this book series; the covers really pop at the bookstore. I’ve been tempted, because if I see enough hype for a certain book, I can’t help but resist. This one might have to be added to my list, because now I know one of our MuggleCast listeners is into it too. And finally, Kayla B. said,
“The Witcher series, because I connect a lot of similar themes between the two.”
Cool! Well, everybody’s got their work cut out for them now. Enjoy those books, y’all. If you have any feedback about today’s discussion, you can send us an owl several different ways. You can email or send a voice memo to MuggleCast@gmail.com, you can use the contact form on MuggleCast.com, or hit the comments on Spotify, YouTube, or social media. And we will be off for the next two weeks, so we’ll see you in 2026, but don’t miss an end of year unhinged bonus MuggleCast in which we’re going off on drama that occurred during our time at MuggleNet. And I think you can expect more of this in the new year, because we know you all are very curious about what was going on at MuggleNet when we were all involved with the site, so it’s going to be a tell-all. Visit MuggleCast.com for links to our social media, Patreon, transcripts, our favorite episodes, and lots more. 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. There will not be a Quizzitch this week, but it will be back next time. That does it. [imitating Dumbledore] “Another year, gone.”
Micah: Oh, wait, I feel like I need to throw in one dad joke before we close out the year.
Andrew: Oh, right, yeah.
Micah: So here we go. Question is: Why don’t skeletons fight each other?
Andrew: Why?
Micah: They don’t have the guts.
[Andrew and Eric laugh weakly]
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: Listeners, you have more of those to look forward to in 2026. What a teaser.
Eric: That was such a great way to wrap up year XX.
Andrew: Thanks, everybody, so much for sticking with us over the past 20 years. We are very much looking forward to the new content we have planned for you in 2026, and of course, continuing to go Chapter by Chapter through the series and cover any other big news that heads our way. Have a safe and happy holiday season and a happy new year. I’m Andrew.
Eric: I’m Eric.
Micah: I’m Micah.
Laura: And I’m Laura.
Andrew: Bye, everyone!
Laura and Micah: Bye.