Transcript for MuggleCast Episode #745, The ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ TV TRAILER IS OUT!
Cold Open
Eric: They take off at, what, 11 in the morning, and they arrive in darkness?
Andrew: That’s another episode of the show, dedicated to the train ride.
Eric: Yeah, they’re going to be really faithful with this. I’m telling you.
Andrew: [laughs] It’s like The Pitt, but you’re on the Hogwarts Express all day.
Eric: Absolutely!
[Laura laughs]
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, talking about the books and the movies, and this week, we hope the American listeners know what “philosopher” means, because we’re also talking about the Harry Potter TV show. The first official trailer for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released on Wednesday. So make sure you follow us in your favorite podcast app, and you’ll never miss an episode of these monthly TV-focused episodes. We actually had planned to focus on the TV show this week.
Micah: I did all this work planning the document, and then boom, we had influencers showing up at the set of the Harry Potter TV show, and then the next day, we got a trailer.
Andrew: It almost sounded like, Micah, that you’re saying that influencers raided the set.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: “The influencers showed up at the set…”
Micah: I mean, isn’t that what they do?
Laura: First of all, I just want us to bask in this moment here, because we are getting to react to a brand new Harry Potter trailer in the year 2026, as we are all 20 years removed from the period of time when we were constantly reviewing new trailers, so this is just really exciting.
Andrew: Yeah. I mean, when was the last time we reviewed a Harry Potter trailer? Obviously, we did Fantastic Beasts stuff, but when was the last time when we reviewed a Deathly Hallows – Part 2 trailer? And that would have been, what…?
Laura: Right.
Micah: Probably 15 years ago.
Eric: 15 years.
Andrew: Yeah, that’s crazy. It is a special occasion, Laura, so much that I’m actually wearing my Deathly Hallows button-down T-shirt because I wanted to look a little fancier for the trailer.
Micah: Oh, and I got a tie too.
Andrew: Oh, you have a tie.
Micah: I have a tie.
Andrew: Oh, you’re going to get to that, aren’t you?
Eric: Oh, that’s a particular tie. Hey, I think I’ve seen that tie somewhere before.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: I didn’t know we were dressing up. I didn’t get the memo.
Micah: I’ll take this off for now, but…
News
Andrew: So we’re going to focus on the title and the release date first, and then we’ll break down the trailer. So yes, Season 1 is called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Micah: I’m so confused. [laughs]
Laura: I feel so vindicated right now.
Andrew: Do you, Laura?
Laura: I do, because all of y’all were being like, “No, they’re not going to call it… they’re just going to call it Harry Potter.”
Andrew: Okay.
Laura: And I just… I saw that, and I chuckled a little bit. Felt validated.
Micah: Wait, didn’t we do a bonus MuggleCast where we bet on this? Was that one of the topics?
Andrew and Laura: I think it was.
Micah: Can we go back and check the tape on this?
Andrew: I’m very excited to see that they’re going with Philosopher’s Stone and not trying to make it Sorcerer’s Stone for Americans and then keep it Philosopher over in the UK. They changed the name for Americans because the books, this world was not popular at the time; they got scared by the word “philosopher” in the US, so Scholastic decided to change it. You do not need the change to the name anymore. It would have been ridiculous to call it Sorcerer’s Stone here, I think.
Laura: Agree.
Eric: Yeah, it was one decision made by the book publishing industry 28 years ago…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: … and should not hold the rest of the experience of Harry Potter to that one decision.
Micah: Agreed.
Andrew: Okay, so if there’s nothing else to say on the title, the other big surprise is that this show is going to debut Christmas 2026, this year. That is pretty surprising. We had started hearing late 2026 or early 2027, and when they say something like that, it’s like, “Okay, they actually probably mean 2027.” But yeah, Christmas. Christmas is a Friday, by the way. Presumably they’re going to be doing weekly releases. Micah, this might mean we’re going to have not just Christmas plans, but New Year’s plans too?
Micah: I would think so, yeah. This is very reminiscent of Stranger Things in terms of releases, at least if we are to follow out the Fridays, eight straight Fridays. I don’t see if they release on Christmas why they wouldn’t release the following Friday as well. And traditionally, HBO doesn’t release all at once; they release week to week, and I don’t see why that would be different for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. But what I am interested in is maybe how many episode… I know I’m contradicting myself here, but do we think we could potentially get more than one episode on Christmas? It’s Christmas, after all.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: It’s Christmas, yes.
Micah: It’s the season of giving. Or perhaps maybe just a longer premiere than the other episodes, which I think they had said are about an hour long each, right?
Andrew: I could see two episodes on Christmas to whet our appetite. I’m not sure we’d get more than that. Frankly, for us, I think it’d be great if it was just one, and space them out week to week. I do find it interesting they’re releasing this around Christmas. I’m surprised, but I’m not. We remember that…
Micah: Well, now we can’t take off during the holidays. [laughs]
Andrew: Oh, that part sucks too, y’all. We’re going to have to work on Christmas, potentially? We need to get screeners.
Eric: Oh, man.
Andrew: I don’t want to be working on Christmas, and definitely not New Year’s either. [laughs] But y’all might remember that the Harry Potter 20th anniversary event that aired on HBO a few years ago, that came out on New Year’s Day, I believe. And I just remember at the time that being a big deal, and everybody was tuning in. I think we’re in an era with streaming TV where people just want to watch special stuff at home around the holidays. Obviously, families are going to be together around the holidays too. This is very much, I think, going to be a family show, so I think this is going to do blockbuster numbers around the holidays. People don’t have anything to do! They’re going to check out the new Henry Potter show.
Eric: Yeah, I mean, the original films came out always in that November sort of Christmas holiday season, beginning moment, that month. I’ve long associated, and many people have, the early movies with Christmas. They’re just… they’re Christmas colored. They’re Christmas coded.
Andrew: That’s a good point too.
Eric: Those Christopher Columbus films are Christmas coded, and so this made sense to me as far as a release day. Sometime in June or sometime in March wouldn’t have had the same, I think, effect.
Andrew: All right, so before we jump into looking at the trailer, we are so excited by the TV show coming out this year that we are going to run a special discount on our Patreon. If you enter code “2026” at checkout, you’ll get 26% off your first month. This offer is only valid through April 1. Your financial support of MuggleCast allows us to spend time on the show, and it will help us cover the Harry Potter TV show for years and years to come. Thank you to recent patrons, including Ilona, Ryden, Carly, Johannes, Julia, Melody, Sonia, and Beatrice. By pledging to our Patreon, we’ll hook you up with bonus episodes of MuggleCast, ad-free episodes, livestreams, a monthly Zoom hangout where we’ve been talking the Harry Potter TV show with fellow fans – I can’t wait for our next one to talk with everybody about it – and lots more. Micah, what’s coming up in bonus MuggleCast this week?
Micah: Yeah, so had to completely change up bonus MuggleCast as well with the…
Eric: Again, Micah, thank you for all of your hard work. Everything that you do for this show.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Thank you, Eric, for acknowledging my hard work.
Eric: I just feel like… can we get a round of applause for Micah here?
Andrew: Yeah, Micah wants a lot of applause.
Micah: No, but I think it fits with the theme of the Harry Potter TV show. We mentioned earlier that a number of influencers visited the Harry Potter set, and there was a bunch of information that came out from their visits that they could share with us, so we’re going to be talking a little bit more about that, as well as some casting. So 21 Hogwarts students were announced in each of the four Hogwarts Houses. Some names are very familiar; some names are not, I’ll be completely candid. But that just means I need to read more.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Micah: But we’re excited. This is a throwback, as Laura said earlier, to the olden days of when we would get breaking news and have fresh things to discuss.
Andrew: Yeah. So again, enter code “2026” for 26% off your first month. This offer is only valid through April 1. No fooling. By the way, Kamilah is bringing up a great point in our Discord right now; she is one of our patrons. She says, “It is actually really British of them to have a Christmas episode drop! A lot of popular British shows do Christmas/New Year’s episodes.” That’s a good point. Doctor Who, Sherlock… they’ve had Christmas releases.
Trailer Analysis
Andrew: So what do y’all think? Should I play the trailer first and then do the overall thoughts? Or should we do the overall thoughts and then play the trailer?
Eric: Let’s play the trailer.
Micah: Play the trailer.
Andrew: All right, let’s get to the trailer. We’re going to play it all the way through, then we’re going to offer some overall thoughts, and then we’re going to go scene by scene. So buckle up.
[Audio clip plays]
Petunia: I told you. You are a normal boy, and you’re going to start acting like one. You think you’re something special? There is nothing special about you.
Harry: I’ve always wanted to know about my parents.
Hagrid: Your parents were the kindest, bravest people I ever met. They were funny and clever, and they stood up for what they believed was right. The next time I see you will be at Hogwarts.
Ollivander: Mr. Potter. I think we can expect great things from you. Let’s see who you are.
Ron: Are you really Harry Potter? [makes exploding sound]
[Audio clip ends]
Andrew: We’re going to start with overall thoughts first. For me, this trailer actually evoked an exciting feeling; I wasn’t really expecting that. And actually, my boyfriend said he had felt a sense of wonder when he saw it for the first time. And I would say you could see this trailer less as a trailer for this particular season, but more of an introduction to Harry Potter on a whole, I feel. There is very little plot actually covered in this trailer.
Eric: Well, Andrew, I agree. The last couple of seconds that have this music… if you want to play it for just a little couple more seconds longer, go back a few…
[Trailer music plays]
Eric: … that is wonder music.
Andrew: Oh, that is wonder. That’s whimsy and wonder.
Eric: This is whimsy and wonder. And not “Hedwig’s Theme”!
Andrew: Not “Hedwig’s Theme”!
Eric: Kind of interesting.
Laura: You know, I’m happy they didn’t.
Andrew: Same.
Eric: It stands on its own. And the interesting… that was my overall impression. There are going to be these things that are so familiar to us from the films, but I think the best things are going to be familiar to us from the books only, and watching those moments where they overlap, or watching how the show does something different and maybe just forges its own path… Hogwarts looks different; it’s not the exact same Hogwarts. There’s rooms I don’t recognize, and I love that. And yeah, I’m really taken by this trailer.
Laura: Yeah, same. What I love about it is there is so much book accuracy baked chockfull in this trailer, but it’s not an exact copy/paste of what they did in the movies, necessarily, and it’s not a line for line copy/paste from the books either. It really feels like a true adaptation, and that makes me excited, because as a Harry Potter fan since I was 11 years old, it’s been a long time since I felt like I was going to get to experience any new Harry Potter firsts, but I feel like we might get that with this show, because they’re going to dive into parts of the stories that were either omitted from the movies, or even parts of the stories that we know happened in the books, but they happened off-page and we just hear about them in passing. So that is really, really exciting to me. It makes me feel like I’m going to get to see something new.
Micah: I agree with Pat’s sentiment. This felt very much like a “Welcome to Harry’s wizarding world” trailer. And to build off of what you were saying, Andrew, about there wasn’t a whole lot of plot, right? This is called Philosopher’s Stone, but there wasn’t one mention of the Philosopher’s Stone. We don’t see Quirrell at any point. And I felt like it introduced Harry’s story, and it’s a very rough introduction at that. See the Dursleys, particularly Petunia.
Eric: With a scissors.
Micah: Yeah, in the face. But then it leaves you with that sense of wonder, and Ron’s end of the trailer moment, Alastair Stout… I mean, he totally made it for me. There couldn’t have been a better ending to that trailer. And Rupert Grint was often so much known for his facial reactions, and I think we’re going to get a lot of that with Alastair as well, just in what we’ve seen of him very briefly in this trailer. And then overall – we will talk about this when we go through the trailer – the ’90s vibes, they are strong.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Yep.
Micah: They are very strong in this trailer.
[Ad break]
Andrew: Well, yeah, you mentioned the Dursleys, so let’s get into it. It does open with Privet Drive, and we see Dudley and Petunia and Vernon in separate shots. There is this line from Petunia: “There is nothing special about you.” And we mentioned getting new scenes that we hadn’t seen before. We see Harry being bullied at school. I think seeing the way that Harry is treated by the Dursleys and how he’s treated at school pre-Hogwarts really helps sell this from the get-go, as to why adapting the books again is a good thing. We’re getting more and it’s tugging at your heartstrings. I’m not sure I felt the same way when watching the movie, but this is reminding us of the emotions you feel while reading or watching Harry Potter. I think it’s kind of reawakening people’s connection to this story, why they love this story so much.
Micah: And what’s very interesting about this particular scene is that Harry’s cupboard under the stairs is covered, right? You can’t see it upon the first look into the Dursley home because it’s behind that plant.
Andrew: Oh, okay. That did not even register with me.
Eric: Even they don’t want to look at him.
Laura: Something I also really appreciate about this… and my first reaction to it was, “Holy crap, Harry Potter is going to get the HBO treatment, and I love it,” because there are a lot of themes in these books that the movies either had to sanitize or circumvent because they needed to maintain their PG ratings. HBO doesn’t have that problem. Now, I still think they want this to be a family show, so I don’t think it’s going to be Harry Potter rated R, but I think they’re going to be able to lean more into the really difficult and challenging themes. And of course, we’re getting… I think most of what we’re seeing in this trailer is probably from the first couple of episodes of the season, if I had to guess, but I love that they’re not shying away from that, because that is Harry’s origin, is that he grew up an abused child. And the movies, I feel like, kind of… again, it’s clear that the Dursleys are abusive in the movies, but more often than not, they are comedic relief.
Eric: Right.
Laura: It’s like, “Harry’s crappy aunt and uncle who are mean, and then funny stuff happens to them because they suck, and everybody loves to see it.”
Eric: Yeah, it’s cartoony, and it’s a completely different experience now watching the actress who plays Petunia tell Harry with a scissor to his face, “There is nothing special about you.” And you see that her hatred and fear and prejudice that cause her to abuse him in this way – his caregiver, the woman who’s blood related to him – is so in fear of him and so hating of him and prejudiced against him, that you see how this manifests. And that’s very uncomfortable, but it’s exactly what the message we need to learn is, that this is how abuse happens, and this is not okay.
Laura: Yeah. Well, and also what I love about it, too, is that when they were shooting the first film, obviously the books weren’t complete, so nobody knew about Petunia’s whole backstory, right?
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Laura: And so we have all of that context now, so you can really see how she’s being incredibly punitive towards Harry and taking all of her frustrations out on Harry. It’s really towards her sister, right?
Andrew and Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: And not getting a Hogwarts letter herself.
Laura: Yes, exactly, and still wishing that she had.
Andrew: So speaking of heartfelt, after these Petunia scenes… oh, and by the way, I think at least one person in our Discord mentioned she’s pointing the scissors at Harry almost like you would hold a wand, which I think is kind of interesting.
Laura: Oh, that’s so cool. Great catch.
Micah: And she’s got blonde hair, which Petunia does in the books.
Eric: Yep, book canon.
Micah: But not in the movies.
Andrew: Kamilah also believes that Petunia’s eyes look similar to Harry’s.
Micah: Oooh. But his eyes are blue, which we can talk about later.
Eric: Still not green.
Micah: So hopefully they make Lily’s eyes…
Andrew: Well, so are Petunia’s.
Micah: Yeah, I’m saying but hopefully they make Lily’s eyes blue just for consistency.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Micah: But I did want to go back just to the cupboard under the stairs for a second…
Andrew: Oh, yeah?
Micah: … because I was watching a video earlier, and credit to YouTube user MovieFlame pointed out there’s actually a Dustbuster and a Walkman in the cupboard. So again, just kind of keeping with that ’90s theme, those are things you wouldn’t generally find in any room probably in 2026.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Well, yeah, I mean, we could almost call this a period piece at this point. This was 30-40 years ago. I’m not surprised to see them doing details like that.
Eric: Well, and is Harry on the floor? Is that what I’m meant to believe? Because at least Dan Radcliffe got a cot. This looks like barely even a mattress pad that he’s on here.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s probably something shabby like that.
Eric: Like a concrete floor.
Andrew: So Harry does receive his Hogwarts letter in this trailer, and then we get to some really touching scenes between Harry and Hagrid. They’re riding on the London Underground; they’re going to go shopping for all of Harry’s things, of course. And Hagrid has a line here:
[Audio clip plays]
Hagrid: Your parents were the kindest, bravest people I ever met. They were funny and clever, and they stood up for what they believed was right.
[Audio clip ends]
Andrew: That really got me. “They stood up for what they believed was right.”
Eric: I feel like at this point in the trailer, it’s really hitting me that the openness of the world… the limits to what the show can do, and they can do so much more than the movies ever did. So when I’m hearing Nick Frost talk about Lily and James and their bravery and their funniness, I want to see that, and I want to see more Lily and James. I really, really want it. And it’s enough to take Hagrid’s word for it, but we don’t have to, and I’m just hoping for a future flashback that explores all of these characters’ relationships more.
Andrew: How are you all feeling about Hagrid so far?
Eric: I think he’s slightly less of a caricature, and I’m kind of digging that. I think that the Robbie Coltrane accent and the character that… the function he serves in the movie doesn’t have to be as grounded as this one line that we’ve just analyzed. It feels less presentational. We just meet Hagrid in the movie a minute ago, and he’s like, “Oop, off to buy yer school things!”
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: It’s a little bit different than this sort of calm moment on the train of “I knew your parents. They were really funny.”
Andrew: The reason I ask is some people are criticizing it already, and I feel like we were hearing a lot of that when that first photo came out a few months ago too. It’s not bothering me yet; I think it’s too early to say. He’s calm in that moment with Harry because he’s having a heartfelt, important conversation with him. Later in this trailer we see him doing snow angels, so I think he’s going to be quirky still.
Eric: That’s right off of page 113, by the way. I looked it up.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: You’re joking, right?
Eric: Yes, absolutely.
Andrew: Okay, just checking. [laughs]
Eric: No, no, you guys, get your books.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: I think you have to give it time. And you brought this up, Andrew, when you did the original trailer review, that it’s going to be very hard for people to separate the original actors, especially those who have passed at this point, from the ones that are now taking over these roles. You’re talking about iconic British actors and actresses who were in this original movie series. It’s hard for these actors and actresses now to step into these roles, and I don’t think it’s fair to compare. You have to let them establish the character in their own right over the course of these eight seasons.
Andrew and Laura: I agree.
Andrew: I think – and like I was saying during that YouTube livestream – people are going to have to… we’re asking people to unwind what has been burned into their head since these movies started coming out. Talking about Hagrid, “You’re a wizard, Harry,” it is going to be hard – for me too, I think – to hear Nick Frost perform that line and not compare it to Robbie Coltrane’s delivery. We just all have certain lines in our head that we have a certain way of expecting them to be delivered.
Micah: I love this advertisement for Hertz.
Andrew: Yeah, I’m noticing that too for the first time.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Andrew: Is there product placement in this trailer?
Eric: “Hertz are driving people off…” Well, it’s product placement, but for the ’90s, right? So it’s like, “Go buy this thing 28 years ago.”
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Did you ever have a Hertz donut?
Eric: What’s that?
Micah: That never got done to you when you were growing up?
Eric: No. Please don’t hit my arm. Please don’t hit my arm the next time we see each other and say…
Micah: Somebody would punch you and be like, “Hurts, don’t it?”
Andrew: Oh, okay. That’s very funny. That’s very funny.
Eric: Yeah, and speaking of that… I mean, that’s a very Dudley-ism, Micah. Are you sure that you don’t…?
Micah: Oh, yeah, we didn’t…
Eric: Did you get your tie at the same place?
Micah: I think we did.
Andrew: Micah, you felt you and Dudley have the same tie.
Eric: Let’s pull this up here.
Micah: I think it’s pretty close.
Andrew: This tie right here?
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, I could see that. It’s similar.
Eric: It’s the same tie.
Micah: It’s close. It’s maybe a little off-color, but…
Andrew: I declare canon. Same tie.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: So then Hagrid says to Harry something along the lines of, “The next time I see you, I’ll see you at Hogwarts.” And then there’s this great shot of Harry running with purpose towards the Platform Nine and Three Quarters brick wall. We don’t see him actually go through, but I love how the camera is following him, and he’s just… you can see how seriously and passionately he is running towards that wall. And then the next shot is Harry on the Hogwarts Express, looking at Molly saying goodbye to Ron.
Laura: I love this. I really… because it’s the mother/son relationship Harry never had.
Andrew: Yes.
Laura: So it’s like he really is on the outside looking in. And then the other piece of this that I really love, if you cut to the next frame of this – pause – there’s Ginny in the reflection.
Eric: Hey!
Laura: Right next to Harry, staring out the window. And I was like, “Oh, this is so clever. Well done.”
Andrew: So for those not…
Micah: But that look on Harry’s face is heartbreaking.
Andrew: I know, I know. Again, I think this trailer really did a great job of selling people on why there should be another adaptation of this series. And yeah, so Ginny and Harry, through a reflection, are almost staring at each other. They’re not, but the shot is set up in such a way that it’s almost foreshadowing, which I think is pretty amazing.
Eric: I expect to see in the next trailer a Argus Filch and Madam Pince shot that’s just like this, looking through the dirty glasses of the trophy room.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Eric: But no, another thing here… I think Molly Weasley is very often a caricature in the early books too, and certainly in the movie it’s… I think Julie Walters does a great job, but here, as the woman holds her son who’s going off to Hogwarts for the first time, you get that love. You get that love that she feels for him, and it’s not… in the book, she’s just like, “All right, Fred, George, you go,” and it just doesn’t have this moment for Harry to be thoughtful and introspective and alone. And so yeah, I think the adaptation is really good at that.
Andrew: So then we get to the Hogwarts Express pulling into Hogwarts’s station, and we see Hagrid leading the first years to Hogwarts.
Micah: Now, do we think he’s about to lead them to the boats?
Andrew: I think so. They’ve got to have that boat scene; it’s kind of iconic.
Eric and Laura: Yeah.
Eric: But there’s knocking on the door too. Somebody’s got to let him in.
Andrew: Yeah. “Hello, let us in.” [laughs] It seems a little silly for him to knock on the door before letting them in, but maybe it’s part of the… it’s the theatrics.
Micah: It’s in the book.
Andrew: Oh, is it? He knocks on the door?
Eric: The magic of… well, and so is the…
Micah: He knocks on the door three times.
Andrew: Oh, wow.
Eric: So is the underground lake, is in the book. Where the boats dock, and then they go up to the castle.
Micah: It’s in Hogwarts Legacy. Well, everything’s in Hogwarts Legacy.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Eric: So I’m really interested in seeing that area of Hogwarts.
Andrew: So then we do get Hagrid leading the students, or the students come in to the entryway of Hogwarts. And you can tell that this is the first day, because there is a banner towards the top that says, “Welcome to Hogwarts, first years.” And you see McGonagall welcoming them. And then we get our first shot, or our first look at McGonagall.
Laura: She looks great.
Andrew: Yes. The actress playing her is Janet McTeer. I remember her from Ozark; she was excellent in that series.
Eric: Oh, cool.
Laura: Same. She was also in The Menu, which starred Ralph Fiennes.
Andrew: Okay. There you go.
Laura: Small world.
Eric: That’s a good one.
Andrew: And then we get a shot of the Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat looks like it’s been burned. Did anybody else have that thought? It’s black.
Eric: I think it’s book canon. I think it’s jet black in the books, maybe.
Andrew: Really?
Eric: I could be wrong.
Andrew: Wow.
Laura: I just think it looks cool. And again, it’s design choices like these that make me feel really good, because I know that there was some concern for a while that they were just going to sort of be recycling a lot of the same props and locations and sets and things. They’re clearly not, and that’s refreshing to me. I think the hat looks cool.
Andrew: It does, yeah. And they’re also refreshing the aesthetics, I think. Yes, Hogwarts, the interior… we haven’t seen the exterior yet; I’m sure that’s going to be a big reveal at some point. But the interior is familiar, yet different. Then we get… this is kind of our first shot of the trio in some corner of Hogwarts, or maybe heading to class together.
Laura: I love this. This made me smile, seeing the three of them together for the first time.
Andrew: I know, yeah. And Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, I’m just loving already. We see Ollivander. Now, this guy’s a Game of Thrones actor, right?
Micah: Yes, he played Maester Qyburn in Game of Thrones. But I really like Anton Lesser overall, and so I think he will do very well in this role. He actually reminds me a bit of John Hurt, just in terms of his delivery in this moment.
Laura: Yep, agree.
Andrew: I was going to say, though, his hair is more slicked back and combed, whereas Ollivander in the movies, his hair is all over the place. He almost looks like Einstein.
Eric: Einstein-y.
Andrew and Laura: Yeah.
Laura: A little poofy.
Andrew: They’re definitely going for a different approach for Ollivander, which I appreciate. I want changes like this.
Eric: Well, then I really wonder if they’re going to do the book thing where Harry tries every wand in the shop first.
Andrew: [laughs] A whole episode dedicated to Harry trying wands.
Eric: Yeah, I mean, that’s why we’re getting Episodes 1 and 2 first on Christmas, is that the second episode has to be every wand in the shop.
Andrew: I see. Got it. So we see what is possibly a History of Magic class. Now, at least one person – Shane – told me that he’s convinced that this is a ghost at the podium. Do you see a ghost here? Which would confirm it is Binns?
Micah: Well, can you see a ghost?
Andrew: Oh, good question. I see a head.
Micah: Yeah, I do see a head.
Laura: Yeah, I think it’s a safe bet.
Andrew: Okay.
Micah: And I like the aesthetic of this room overall.
Eric: This room is great.
Micah: Just in terms of how they’re holding classes.
Andrew: And what we see on the screen there, like through the projector, looks to be a side of Hogwarts, right? That’s what it looks like to me. So maybe this is a sort of History of Hogwarts lesson?
Eric: This looks like the Epic Universe drone footage that we saw when they were still building the Ministry of Magic. That’s what it looks like.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: That’s Gryffindor common room.
Andrew: Yeah, we get Gryffindor common room; a little glimpse of that. Kind of hard to see any details because the camera is also turning at the same time. But we get our first look, too, at Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle, and probably on the right side, that’s Pansy.
Eric: Probably.
Micah: It is.
Eric: You know what I love about this? Is having just seen Harry get bullied, having just seen it, you can kind of see how Harry has this wonderful journey into the wizarding world, but there were bullies in his former life, and there are bullies now, and I think making that sort of through-line to how Harry has to navigate it is really important for a story about a young boy.
Andrew: And he’ll be more prepared for it now, the bullying.
Eric and Laura: Yeah.
Laura: I wanted to get y’all’s opinion on this, because I also paused and studied this frame a little bit before we were doing this. These kids look older than the trio. They’re all supposed to be first years, but I will say this group just looks like older teenagers. I don’t know if the actors actually are, or if this was an intentional choice.
Andrew: My guess is the camera is actually kind of below their eye lines, which is making them look a little taller, whereas those other shots of the trio, the camera is kind of looking down at them. So what I’m saying is once we start getting shots of all of them together – let’s say Draco and Harry – I’m going to guess that they are going to be the same height, and maybe that’s when you’ll feel better about the one set of kids looking older than the other. I have to assume they were cast pretty… the ages have to be pretty similar.
Laura: Well, and to be clear, I’m not saying I feel bad about it. I actually think it’s kind of clever, because you would need to, I think, do something to drive home how menacing Malfoy and his lackeys are at this point in time. For no particular good reason, just because they were raised by bullies and they’re just following their parents’ lead. I think it is clever if it was an intentional choice; I was just wondering.
Micah: It says that Lox Pratt is 14 years old.
Eric: Oh, well, there you go.
Laura: Oh.
Andrew: Yeah, and then it says Dominic is 11? Can that be right? This is Gemini in the AI overview, so I don’t know for sure.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Hey, can anyone fact check that in the Discord? Let me know if I have to cut that or not. Oh, okay, wait, another article says 12 years old. So you’re right, Laura; I mean, there is an age difference there. It’s only two years, but…
Eric: But those years matter.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: This is actually a shot from Chamber of Secrets, which they’ve already filmed.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Andrew: I see, that explains it. All right, well, we’ve been talking about different aesthetics and whatnot. We see Harry and Ron unwrapping Harry’s Nimbus 2000, and we see this really cool design on the box of the Nimbus 2000.
Micah: That feels very ’90s to me, too, almost like when you would unwrap a video game and you would get the box art for it.
Andrew: Yeah. Well, what I’m mainly seeing is a refreshingly different take from MinaLima. I’m glad MinaLima is not participating in this. Yes, love all their work to date, love it, but we needed something new here. We didn’t need them doing this all again, right? We get a shot of Quidditch, and this was also the first still we got the day before the trailer was released.
Micah: So it’s a Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff match?
Eric: Yeah, not the first match of the season, but then again, they’re in winter, so it wouldn’t be.
Andrew: We also get a look at the Herbology class.
Micah: With Neville.
Andrew: With Neville. Yeah, that’s Neville next to Hermione.
Micah: And one of the Patils, right?
Laura: Yeah, I think that’s Parvati.
Andrew: Oh, maybe, yeah. And we… did we get a Herbology class in Movie 1? We did in 2.
Eric and Micah: No.
Andrew: Okay, all right. We get Harry and… wait, are Harry and Ron running? I just realized this. Harry and Ron are running on top of a table in the Great Hall? Doesn’t that look like that?
Eric: Huh, yeah.
Laura: It kind of does, doesn’t it?
Micah: And there’s someone else that comes into the frame right towards the end of it.
Andrew: Oh, yeah, look right on the left side there.
Eric: They’re racing.
Micah: It’s gym class.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: Hogwarts gym class! They’re rounding out the roster of Hogwarts teachers.
Andrew: Now that is super interesting, actually. I wonder if this is something that leads up to the midnight duel.
Laura: That’s what I was wondering.
Andrew: If it’s Harry, Ron, and Draco. Hmm. It is during the day, so there’s that, but okay. And then we get a shot of Harry and Ron on the Hogwarts Express, and something I like about this scene: It’s a playful moment between friends who are children. They’re just messing around in their compartment, throwing candy at each other, as the train whisks them off to Hogwarts. Do you know what I’m saying? It’s just like… it’s something that you wouldn’t really get in the movie because there’s no time for this type of thing.
Eric: Yeah, there’s no time for leisure. There’s no time for…
Andrew: Everyday fun.
Eric: I mean, the train ride takes all day. They take off at, what, 11 in the morning, and they arrive in darkness?
Andrew: That’s another episode of the show, dedicated to the train ride.
Eric: Yeah, they’re going to be really faithful with this. I’m telling you.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: You’re going to see… it’s going to be…
Andrew: It’s like The Pitt, but you’re on the Hogwarts Express all day.
Eric: Absolutely!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Each episode is one hour. [laughs]
Eric: I can’t wait to see Scabbers. He’s got to be in here somewhere in one of these treats.
Micah: He’s there in the lower right hand corner.
Andrew: You think that’s him?
Eric: Is he sleeping?
Micah: Kind of passed out after having too many sweets.
Eric: Having bitten Goyle.
Andrew: Okay, then we get some shots of winter at Hogwarts. This is another moment that you can only get in a television show where they have time to show the kids just being kids at school, and you have the time to show what Hogwarts life is like, everyday Hogwarts life. “What is that like? Well, when it snows, they start playing in the snow.” There’s this great shot… I laughed out loud when I saw this for the first time: Hagrid making a snow angel? Like, come on. [laughs] I’m sold.
Micah: And was that Ron and Hermione with Harry? Or were those two other…?
Andrew: It looked like it.
Laura: Well, no, the girl’s not Hermione.
Andrew: Well, not Hermione. Definitely Ron.
Micah: Some Hufflepuffs.
Laura: And it makes sense… yeah, because Hermione doesn’t stay for Christmas the first year.
Andrew: Oh.
Eric: Right.
Andrew: We’ll have some interesting news about Hermione in bonus MuggleCast.
Micah: Oh, and something very cool to point out, too, about what Harry is wearing. Mrs. Weasley gives him an emerald green jumper with an H on it for Christmas.
[Andrew gasps]
Laura: Oh, yeah! That’s right!
Andrew: Stop, that’s too cute.
Micah: You’ve got to get a closer up of that.
Andrew: It’s kind of hard to see. It’s just moving so fast.
Eric: But yeah, that makes sense.
Andrew: That’s awesome.
Micah: That’s going to become a meme if it hasn’t already.
Andrew: Hagrid?
Micah: Yes. [laughs]
Eric: Making a snow angel?
Andrew: I was thinking that too. [laughs] Was there anything else…?
Micah: That looks like… that reminds me of a shot from the movies, honestly.
Andrew: The twisting staircases?
Eric: Oh, leading up to Divination, is it? I think that’s right.
Micah: This is a Quidditch team shot.
Andrew: Yeah, this looks like prior to the game. They’re having a little pep talk, putting their hands in. “Goooo team!” Oh, yeah, right there.
Eric: That’s really cool.
Andrew: Hey, we’re getting a look at the Quidditch locker rooms for the first time, too. [laughs]
Eric: Yep, boys and girls in the same locker room. Crazy.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: So here’s the shot I want to draw attention to. We have confirmation… this was a big promo picture too.
Andrew: It was the first one.
Eric: Yeah, the first promo shot was basically this, as Harry is walking up to the pitch with the crowd. So there were a lot of things the movies did that are good and worth repeating; I’m not sure that giving Harry a Quidditch number for his jersey – of course he’s number seven – is one of the things that I particularly love. It’s not a book-ism, and there’s only seven players…
Andrew: Why not?
Eric: There’s only seven players on a team. There’s no substitutes on a team; you don’t need numbers to differentiate them. And I thought this was an opportunity to get some distance from the movies. But of course, he’s Harry, and he’s Potter, and he’s seven. I don’t know. I don’t like this.
Andrew: There’s a lot of merchandise with this look on it, so that’s probably why.
Eric: Ahh, okay. That would make sense.
Laura: And also, I think they are going to make nods to the films. I don’t see a world in which they don’t. I feel like this is a small little Easter egg.
Andrew: What’s actually standing out to me here is that… why is Harry walking to the game by himself? This poor kid.
Eric: [laughs] Slept in.
Andrew: Seriously! I feel bad for him. He’s got friends at this point; why is he walking alone? I don’t know. Then there’s this scene, presumably in the Gryffindor common room. It almost looks like they’re roasting a giant marshmallow? [laughs]
Micah: Yeah, I think so.
Laura: I think this is over the Christmas break.
Micah: I think they’re just having fun. Like you were saying earlier, Andrew, when they’re just being friends on the Hogwarts Express; this is kind of another one of those moments.
Andrew: They’re letting Hogwarts breathe.
Micah: Sure.
Andrew: No, seriously. And then we get a shot of Hermione. We also get a shot… if y’all can see, we get a glimpse of the new Hogwarts emblem, and it almost looks like the H has roots growing out of it on the top and bottom, which is also kind of interesting, because if we look at the logo really quick, it almost looks like there’s spots that could be a wand or could be roots. See this second T? See the tree roots?
Laura: Oh, yeah, totally.
Andrew: I don’t know what to make of that yet, but interesting.
Micah: So will they not wear clothing that has their House emblems on them? Will it just be Hogwarts?
Andrew: No, I’m thinking this is just pre-Sorting?
Eric: It’s got to be pre-Sorting. Maybe.
Andrew: Yeah. Also an episode fully dedicated to the Sorting Hat ceremony. You’re going to get the song; you’re going to get every name…
Eric: The song! Oh, that’s going to be amazing.
Laura: I can’t wait for that.
Andrew: I think Hermione is probably my favorite casting so far. She’s so adorable, I can’t stand it.
Laura: I know.
Eric: Yeah, she really is.
Laura: And she’s just… she’s so good. I believe her as Hermione, and we haven’t even heard any… I mean, if you’ve listened to the audiobook, you have.
Eric: Well, she’s had practice. I was going to say, she’s already narrated three books at this point. [laughs]
Laura: Right. No, but she’s just so good.
Micah: Does she speak in the trailer or no?
Laura: No, but if you’ve seen any footage of her playing Matilda on the West End, it will become immediately apparent to you why she is perfect casting for Hermione. And yeah, it’s just… I’m so excited.
Andrew: Yeah. Okay, moving along here. There’s our first look at Snape; we also got an official still. Y’all, I was getting some text messages from Laura last night. Go off. What’s on your mind?
[Micah laughs]
Laura: Listen, I did not have thirsting over Severus Snape on my bingo card, but here we are. Yeah, I was sharing some thoughts with Andrew. It’s definitely going to be interesting to watch the show because…
Eric: Those screenshots are this week’s bonus MuggleCast.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Eric: It’s just Laura’s thirst posts.
Laura: Actually, we can do that.
Andrew: Yeah, with Laura’s permission, I would… yeah, we could post.
Laura: [laughs] Yeah, it’s fine.
Andrew: I don’t know if I want to post what I sent you, but… [laughs]
Laura: Oh yeah, no, don’t do that.
Micah: Oh, what did you send?
Andrew: I’ll send it to y’all later.
Micah: It’s a little Heated Rivalry?
Andrew: No, not quite. Let’s just say this show… some people have been saying this series isn’t going to make the cultural impact that the movies did, but there’s already some really funny stuff coming online about this show. [laughs]
Laura: Yeah. Well, and so the thing is… obviously we have heard all of the discourse. It’s not new to any of us, or probably to anyone listening, from people who are being such purists about the books and then about Alan Rickman’s portrayal of Snape, and thinking that only somebody who looks like Alan Rickman could play the role of Snape. I completely disagree. Paapa Essiedu, if you’ve never seen him in anything else, he is an amazing actor, and I will confess he is way too hot to be Snape.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Laura: He is. There was nothing they could do to make him look greasy and oily the way that Snape is originally described. But I think what it’s going to come down to is, can Paapa portray that same sense of resentful solitude that Snape carries? I think it’s all going to be in how he carries himself, and how he portrays the character, and it’s just a bonus that he’s eye candy. I can’t… I think the craziest thing about this… we all know this as the Harry Potter generation, millennials who grew up with these the original movies. Everyone was thirsting after Sean Biggerstaff in the original movies. This time it’s Snape, and that’s crazy to me.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: But no, that’s the thing that strikes me, is young Snape. That’s your book purity right there, is that Snape is his canonical age. Young 30s for Severus Snape.
Micah: So before we move on from the thirsting and Snape…
[Laura laughs]
Micah: … somebody – or actually multiple things that I looked at – said if you look at where his wand is, it’s almost like you get a glimmer of the Invisibility Cloak.
Eric: Oh.
Andrew: Oh, really?
Eric: It’s a little bit of smoke, like a little puff.
Micah: It’s hard to… yeah, because it keeps hover… yeah.
Andrew: Oh, yeah, yeah, there is some smoke there. That’s interesting.
Micah: So maybe that’s when Harry is in the Restricted Section, or… right? There’s the moment where Snape is arguing with Quirrell, and Harry comes upon him and… if I’m remembering that correctly.
Eric: You know what’s interesting, is at this juncture… how far are we into the trailer? And there haven’t been many special effects. We’re a minute and 43 into the trailer.
Andrew: I want to get to that. That’ll be part of what we didn’t like, so let’s circle back to that.
Eric: Oh, well, Micah’s mention of the Invisibility Cloak, or the possibility of Invisibility Cloak, is why I’m mentioning it now, because… I mean, the wand tip is a special effect, but there’s not been… apart from the maybe ghost we saw earlier, there really hasn’t been a lot of magic, and I like it because it grounds it in reality. That’s my personal take on it.
Andrew: That has been one of the criticisms, though, and I don’t say I agree with that criticism, because like I said at the top of this, this is an introduction to Harry Potter generally. I mean, I don’t know why anybody would even bother airing that criticism, because obviously we’re going to be getting magic. I mean, it’s just… people just look for things to complain about. But I have seen a lot of people bringing that up. But there’s your magic, y’all; there’s the Invisibility Cloak. Don’t you see it? Okay, so now we get a shot of Dumbledore. This is the only shot of Dumbledore in the trailer. He’s wearing a different hat than he does at Hogwarts usually, including the cap that we see him wearing in an official still, which, by the way, was such a badass shot of him. I almost thought it was CGI; it didn’t look real to me. But we see Dumbledore, and then he turns and kind of looks over his shoulder. He’s wearing this hat that makes me think this is a flashback of sorts. He’s also holding a sort of… people have told me this is a piano tuner, normally.
Eric: It’s a tuning fork, yeah.
Andrew: Tuning fork. So I’m guessing this is something involving Flamel, and he’s trying to seek out some magic or something.
Eric: Maybe. He does say, “Music, a magic beyond all that we teach here.”
Andrew: Any other thoughts on this?
Micah: I like that suggestion that this is something that we haven’t seen before.
Laura: I agree.
Andrew: Shot of the trio, and then there’s… let’s play it with sound on again. We talked about this earlier; probably worth mentioning again. This is the scene that really sold it for Micah.
[Audio clip plays]
Ron: Are you really Harry Potter? [makes exploding sound]
[Audio clip ends]
[Micah laughs]
Laura: Aww.
Andrew: I love Harry’s little nod too. I feel like that’s more in line… and apparently, that’s what actually happens in the book; Harry just nods, whereas in the movie, he goes, “I’m Harry, Harry Potter,” right? And then Ron doing that little [makes exploding sound] thing out of his forehead where Harry’s scar is… just really, really good.
Laura and Micah: Yeah.
Micah: And Ron has the smudge on his nose still?
[Andrew gasps]
Laura: Yeah, he does.
Andrew: Oh, yeah.
[Ad break]
Andrew: That’s pretty much the trailer. Is there anything y’all didn’t like? We’ve been very positive about the trailer. Any other criticisms?
Eric: Really, the jersey stands out to me.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Okay.
Eric: But I’ve already voiced that, so that’s… for me, I want them to have as authentic to the books kind of looks and feels when it makes sense, and if they are going to borrow something from the movie, I want it to be something smart versus something recognizable.
Laura: This is not my own critique, but it is a critique I’ve seen a lot online, but I’ve also heard from just talking to friends, and I think it is valid. There are some people, especially people like us who grew up with these movies, who felt like watching this trailer was a little bit like seeing an alternate universe reality where Dan, Emma, and Rupert weren’t cast for these roles, and so it was sort of like, “If I went to watch Harry Potter in a different timeline.” And I think it’s giving people some uncanny valley feelings, and I think that’s totally valid. But I think that also goes back to the point that you were making earlier, Andrew, which is that we have to be able to accept that this is different. They’re different portrayals; we’re going to see different versions of the characters that we love. So it’ll just take people some time.
Andrew: Yeah, I did want to… I think, Eric, you mentioned at the top of this, too, no “Hedwig’s Theme.” And I just wanted to say, I’m glad there was no “Hedwig’s Theme” in this. This show is already facing a lot of backlash, mainly because of J.K. Rowling, but then we talked previously about people are looking at the photos of Hagrid and being like, “Well, what’s the point of this series when everybody’s just going to look the same?” Obviously, that’s not fully the case. But including “Hedwig’s Theme” – and I do still think they’re going to use it for this TV show – but including “Hedwig’s Theme” would have invited more of that criticism of “This is more of the same.” So I’m glad they steered clear of that.
Laura: Same.
Eric: Yeah, I’m surprised. We haven’t even had a Fantastic Beasts movie that hasn’t done “Hedwig’s Theme” in its trailer, so I’m very off-put in a good way that maybe the series could stand alone. Maybe they won’t use it at all. But I will say, I’m hoping the next trailer brings us closer to Peeves, the poltergeist.
Andrew: We did get it confirmed – and we’ll talk about it in bonus MuggleCast – that Peeves is going to be in the series.
Eric: This has been kept from me! I have not seen this!
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: I’m excited.
Andrew: It’s true, yeah.
Micah: As a Ravenclaw, though, I will say, even though we know who is playing Flitwick, I would have liked to have seen him in the trailer.
Andrew: Well, actually…
Micah: We got all the other Heads of House.
Andrew: But that builds on my point. They don’t want to invite the criticisms of, “Oh, this is just the same. It’s the movies again.” That would have invited that criticism.
Micah: Well, then they shouldn’t have cast him again, but that’s a whole other conversation.
Andrew: I agree with that too.
Micah: But I mean, I didn’t really have too much of an issue with anything in this trailer that I felt negatively about.
Andrew: Same.
Micah: I was pleasantly surprised. And if there was one thing, I think I would just go back to what I said earlier, that we didn’t get anything related to the actual plot, but I don’t think that was the intention of this trailer.
Andrew: Yeah. So next trailer, plot and magic, please. And some Warwick Davis for Micah.
Micah: And Peeves for Eric.
Eric: And Peeves.
Micah: And Quirrell.
Andrew: And for Laura, hot Snape. And then what do I want?
Laura: Oh, yeah. I need at least 50% more hot Snape in the next trailer.
Andrew: I want Dumbledore in his Hogwarts gear, not this flashback stuff. I want to see his full getup.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: How about some Flamel?
Andrew: Yeah, I guess. I’m still scarred from the Flamel in Fantastic Beasts. I don’t want to see him.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: Yeah, yeah.
Micah: He lives under your bed. He’s like the crypt keeper from that series.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Basically. That’s okay; you can just touch him and he’ll fall to dust.
Andrew: You know what I would like? I would like Gringotts in the next trailer and going down into the vaults to get Harry’s money. I think that would be really cool.
Micah: Hogwarts? The exterior.
Andrew: Hogwarts too. Right, right. Yeah, they’re saving that. They’re saving that nugget.
Lynx Line
Andrew: All right, so we asked our patrons: “Give us your trailer thoughts.” Daniel said,
“I felt for Harry. The look of pain with the haircut, bullies at school, crying in his cupboard. Then the immense joy when he gets to go to Hogwarts. It has very uplifting music. I’m pumped for Christmas, especially with the Christmas scenes I saw!”
Eric: Carina says,
“I can only say I was in tears. Watching this trailer was so emotional for me. I think it looks great. I have always said that I don’t want this new adaptation, but I will try to love it since I can’t stop it.”
Micah: Steph said,
“Only thing that could have made it better… instead of the dramatic score ending the trailer on the ‘Christmas 2026’ screen, end it with the audio of the students singing the Hogwarts school song. Loved every bit of this trailer! Feed me more, HBO!”
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Laura: Megan says,
“I was not expecting to feel like this, but I teared up! Especially Harry looking so little in his Quidditch robes. This trailer is more than I expected. It really feels like the book comes to life – the world building seems incredible, and I love the world. I am now officially very excited for this.”
Andrew: Stef – who was just on the show a couple weeks ago as a cohost – she said,
“I was initially surprised when Bel Powley was announced as Petunia since she’s so young, but she eats this trailer up and is honestly incredible in everything I’ve seen her in. Petunia trying to cut Harry’s impossibly unruly hair in the book always felt like such a poignant metaphor for her trying to tame his magic…”
So I’ve got to be honest, y’all; I forgot that was in the book too.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: I clearly need to reread Philosopher’s Stone. I’m just calling it that from now on. My copy is called Philosopher’s Stone.
Eric: Oh my gosh.
Andrew: So Stef loves that they included that shot.
“Daniel Radcliffe’s short hair in the later movies always felt less magical in that subtle way. Also, Qyburn as Ollivander is brilliant casting.”
Eric: Girishma says,
“I didn’t expect to see so much in the trailer! Also getting to see Harry’s Muggle life prior to ‘Yer a wizard, Harry’ with the abuse from Petunia and bullying in school wrecked me. I think they’re going to hit an interesting balance of dark themes and lighthearted fantasy elements from the start. Feels like the tone of the Percy Jackson show to me, which I love! This trailer is going to get me through the rest of this year.”
Micah: And Zachary brings us home. He says,
“Goosebumps and tears is how I can describe it. This teaser felt more like a full entree than a taste of what’s to come. There’s only one thing that bugs me, and who knows? Maybe after watching the show, my opinion will change. It seems they used the entire budget for everything but the broomsticks. Maybe it’s to add to the whimsical sense of the show, but the box for the Nimbus 2000 seemed way better than the actual broom. It’s a very minor criticism, but as the pod says, ‘We criticize because we care.'”
Andrew: Darn right.
Micah: Yes, we do.
“Other than that, I love everything about this. It’s the same story we all as kids came to know and love with the films, but very different and its own thing. I get emotional knowing my kids, particularly my son, will get to have the same experience as I did growing up with this story. Just turned the age to receive his letter last month.”
Eric and Laura: Aww.
Andrew: Thanks for that feedback, patrons. Coming up on future TV-focused episodes of the show – remember, we’re now doing one of these per month – we will continue to cover any news that happens. I think now the gates are open, baby. We’re going to be getting more in the weeks and months ahead. But we’ll also talk about things like the changes the movies made to the books that the show must keep in, what our biggest fears about the show are, will Cursed Child canon be involved in the show? Will Pottermore content be involved? And lots more. We have lots of different topics planned that we’ve been saving for these TV show episodes.
Eric: Again, thanks, Micah, for planning all that out.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, and we’ll just save it for another episode. And listeners, we would love your feedback about today’s episode and the trailer. Please send it in. Let us know what you would like us to discuss from the trailer or about the TV show in the weeks and months ahead. Don’t forget about our special Patreon promotion right now; to celebrate the release of the TV show this year in 2026, you can go to Patreon.com/MuggleCast right now and use code “2026” to get 26% off the first month of your membership. Next week, we will return to Chapter by Chapter with Half-Blood Prince Chapter 21, “The Unknowable Room.”
Micah: I think I’m planning that one too.
Andrew: Oh, Micah, you’re so busy these days.
Micah: I know.
Andrew: And you’re doing bonus MuggleCast. Wow, wow. Hey, well, I’m editing this in the next 24 hours, so I’m working too.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Visit MuggleCast.com for links to our social media, our Patreon, our transcripts, our favorite episodes, and don’t forget to follow us if you’re a new listener; we’ll keep you on top of the latest Harry Potter TV show news. No Quizzitch this week, but it will resume next week. Thanks, everybody, for listening. I’m Andrew.
Eric: I’m Eric.
Micah: I’m Micah.
Laura: And I’m Laura.
Andrew: Bye, everyone!
Laura: Bye, y’all.
Andrew: Hot Snape, I’ll give you Laura’s number.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Choo-choo.