Transcript for MuggleCast Episode #770, A Lethal Individual (DH Chapter 9, A Place to Hide)
Cold Open
Andrew: So Micah wanted the trio dead. Okay, so moving on.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Laura: The end. Cool. I guess we can wrap this installment of Chapter by Chapter. Micah just killed the trio.
[Andrew 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: We’re your Harry Potter friends, gathering to talk about the books and the movies and the upcoming TV show, so follow us in your favorite podcast app for new episodes every Wednesday. And this week, what’s that?? Keep one eye over your shoulder, because we’re discussing Chapter 9 of Deathly Hallows, “A Place to Hide.” Hopefully successfully. But first, this week’s Quizzitch question:
[Quizzitch music plays]
Eric: Our heroes find themselves in the Muggle world during this chapter. What is the drink order that Hermione places for herself and Ron? Not Harry, because he’s invisible.
Andrew: Poor Harry.
Eric: That is the question Harry will be answering a little later on in the episode.
Laura: All right, and before we move on, I just wanted to ask y’all to permit me a couple of minutes to talk about someone really special to me. My grandma, my grandmother. Her name is Donna. She actually passed away a little earlier this week, and the reason that I wanted to talk about her here is because she has actually been a longtime supporter of this show, in more ways than one, but also of my love of Harry Potter. As soon as I got into Harry Potter at the age of 11, she immediately got on board. So my grandma always wanted to be into the things that I was into so that she could connect with me, so from a very young age, she started reading Harry Potter, which was a challenge because she’s someone who did a lot better with audiobooks, so I think as time went on, she switched over to the audiobooks. But she really got into the books with me; she always wanted to watch the latest movies with me. And I have to tell y’all: As soon as I got involved with MuggleCast, she was all about it.
Eric: Aw.
Laura: I don’t know. I mean, I know everybody remembers our original shadow shirt that we had with the Apple podcast shadows. Well, she had one of those.
Micah: Wow.
Laura: And I kid you not, she wore it everywhere.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: And when people would ask her about it, she would point to my square and be like, “That’s my granddaughter.”
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: And you better bet that she was doing the exact same thing with the “19 Years Later” tee, because she was also one of our patrons for the last couple of years. I’ll never forget the day that I realized she had signed up, because she didn’t tell me.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: I just was going through new signups one day and I saw Donna Schmid, and I was like, “Grandma, is this you?” And it was indeed her, and I learned after that that she would sometimes tune in for livestreams and not tell me she was doing that either.
Eric: Oh!
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Laura: Which was adorable, and I loved it, but also, sometimes behind the scenes here, we get a little PG-13 in our content. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, we say things Grandma probably shouldn’t hear. Our own grandmas.
Laura: Yeah, yeah. But you know what? She had a pretty fabulous sense of humor, and I never got chided for anything, so I assumed that it was fine. But yeah, I just wanted to take a moment here to recognize my grandma, because she was actually a pretty significant part of my Harry Potter journey and always super supportive along the way. And I know she would get a huge kick out of being given a shout-out here on the show, so that’s something I also wanted to do for her. [laughs] But yeah, it just felt fitting and like something that I wanted to do. So yeah, love you, Grandma.
Andrew: I think that’s great. Yeah, I think that’s… we’re thinking of you and your family right now too, and like you said, I’m sure she would really appreciate that tribute. That was very nice.
Eric and Micah: Yeah.
Eric: She sounds like an amazing woman. I’m really sorry for your loss.
Laura: Thanks.
News
Andrew: Well, switching gears now, did you all hear about this new Sorting Hat quiz on HarryPotter.com?
Laura: Yep. I have feelings.
Eric: Oh, I heard about this at our last hangout.
Andrew: Yeah, and you all took it, but I am the only one who has not taken this quiz yet because I’m kind of scared if it’s going to put me in a different House other than Slytherin.
Laura: I think you should be scared.
Eric: What would you do?
Andrew: Cry. I would cry.
Eric: Well, besides cry. Would you embrace the new…?
Andrew: Scream. Um, I guess so.
Eric: Because you’ve already got the Slytherin merch that you’re happy with, right? You described…
Andrew: I do, and I’m wearing a green MuggleCast shirt today. I don’t know if you can tell; it might be a little washed out.
Micah: Don’t give in to the pure pressure, Andrew, if in fact you do change Houses. I think you should stick with your original House if that feels right for you.
Andrew: Wow, therapist Micah. Thank you so much for that. That was really beautiful.
[Eric and Micah laugh]
Andrew: So we’re going to be talking about this new quiz today in bonus MuggleCast. We’ll see where Micah, Laura, and Eric got Sorted, and then I guess I’m going to do the Sorting Hat live during bonus MuggleCast, and so we can all experience this quiz together. So stay tuned for that over on our Patreon. And then Micah, we’re also recording another bonus MuggleCast that you’re leading us through, right?
Micah: Yeah, we’re going to double dip today. So in the spirit of the recent wedding at the Burrow, I thought we could turn our attention to the personal lives of some of our favorite Hogwarts professors. This actually was inspired by a Reddit thread asking the question, “Are they all single? And is that an unspoken prerequisite for the job?”
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: So we’re going to explore that question and some that are probably a little bit more PG-13 in nature.
Andrew: Okay.
Micah: So excited to jump into that in bonus MuggleCast today.
Andrew: So those will be available on our Patreon in the days ahead. Listeners like Lauren and Gunilla actually recently became patrons, so they’ll be hearing those soon. Thank you for supporting us and making this show possible. Listeners, you can join our community of Harry Potter and MuggleCast fans at Patreon.com/MuggleCast, and you’ll receive a host of magical benefits, including bonus episodes, ad-free episodes, you’ll be able to participate in the Lynx Line – which we’ll get to later today – and a lot more. Other ways to support us, including visiting MuggleCastMerch.com for official show gear – like the “We criticize because we care” tee that I’m wearing tonight – leaving us a review in your favorite podcast app, and telling your fellow Muggles about the show. And I always crack up when we get a new order for Laura’s pants, by the way.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: It’s just… I’m sorry to keep harping on it.
Laura: Are people still ordering those?
Andrew: Yeah, yeah!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: It’s probably the hottest item in the store.
Micah: Well, you promoted it. Or somebody promoted it this week, did they not?
Andrew: On Instagram, I think?
Micah: On the Instagram.
Eric: Oh, man.
Andrew: Yeah, maybe that’s why it’s fresh in my mind.
Laura: Wasn’t me.
Eric: I still haven’t gotten my pair. I’ve got to get my pair.
Andrew: Winter is coming. It’s almost…
Laura: I actually haven’t gotten mine yet either.
Andrew: Oh, yeah, we’ve still got to order her own darn pair.
Laura: Maybe it’s time.
Andrew: [laughs] I can’t remember where this happened, but the other day somebody lost their pants.
Micah: Oh.
Andrew: I can’t remember where I heard this, so I’m already going to butcher the story, but I was like, “Oh, this reminds me of the Laura’s pants story from LA.”
Eric: Oh my God.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Micah: Oh, was it…? Were you watching Survivor?
Andrew: Oh, that’s it! Yeah, somebody lost their pants on Survivor. [laughs]
Micah: It is a little bit strange how I just made that connection.
Eric: That’s real fun.
Andrew: Well, you nailed it, though. Thank you.
Micah: Pantsless Patty.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Micah: That’s what she didn’t want her…
Eric: They called her that?
Micah: No, no, she created the nickname for herself.
Eric: Okay.
Micah: So naturally, she didn’t want that to become her nickname. I believe that is now going to become her nickname. She’s one of my picks for the Survivor pool this year, so I hope she goes far.
Eric: With or without pants.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Whatever it takes, you know?
Chapter by Chapter: Seven-Word Summary
Andrew: It’s time for Chapter by Chapter, and this week we’re discussing Chapter 9 of Deathly Hallows, “A Place to Hide.” And we’ll kick things off with our Seven-Word Summary, and Survivor fan Micah will kick things off today.
[Seven-Word Summary music plays]
Micah: Uncertainty…
Laura: … looms…
Eric: … heavy…
Andrew: … over…
Laura: … the…
Eric: … Muggle…
Micah: … world.
Andrew: Hmm, okay.
Laura: It’s not wrong.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Andrew: And it’s also a sentence.
Eric: We did it!
Micah: It’s a pretty good sentence, actually.
Andrew: It is, actually, yeah.
Laura: I was trying to be nice. [laughs]
Micah: And it’s applicable to Survivor this season, right, Andrew?
Andrew: Oh, yes.
Micah: Permanent uncertainty.
Eric: Oh.
Laura: Well, I hear that people are losing pants on Survivor this season, so that does sound like a very uncertain state of affairs.
[Andrew laughs]
Chapter by Chapter: Main Discussion
Laura: Well, speaking of uncertainty, I think we can all agree that had the trio had more opportunity to plan, they certainly wouldn’t have ended up beginning their epic camping trip on Tottenham Court Road. But per usual, Hermione was ready to act quick, and she made sure that she had a plan in place, at least in terms of making sure that they had all of the items that they needed on them in her magical little beaded bag, and she just thought of the first place that she could take him, which was to the Muggle world.
Andrew: So Hermione is taking this hiding in plain sight route, which she is initially pretty confident in, and she reasons that it’s such a potentially dangerous idea that maybe Death Eaters wouldn’t even consider it, and that’s her guess. But it’s an instance where she does end up being wrong, and I’ll say in fairness, they were in an unexpected pinch. She had to decide, or they had to decide really quickly. It does end up being a bad idea, but not for the reasons that she thinks.
Micah: And the truth is they would have been fine had they not spoken Voldemort’s name in the cafe. And I actually think hiding in plain sight is a really smart idea. Maybe they should have brought a little bit more Polyjuice Potion for Harry so that he didn’t end up transforming back into himself so quickly. But if we really had to drill down and pick a place, I do think Grimmauld Place is the best place for them to go. It belongs to Harry. It’s still under the protection of the Fidelius Charm that’s been passed along from Dumbledore to all the others that he told how to access Number 12 Grimmauld Place. And I’m not sure how high it is on Voldemort’s radar, if it’s on it at all, unless of course Snape passed along that information. So in terms of “Where do we need to go quickly?”, once they do get to the Muggle world, I think the next logical choice is to go to a place that is Harry’s, and that’s Grimmauld Place.
Eric: Yeah, I think the unknown about whether Snape blabbed or would tell the Death Eaters that are hunting them where Harry might go… I mean, a place that’s his might actually be the most obvious choice if you’re looking for Harry. But really, the taboo is what ruins this plan, and the casual mentioning of Voldemort. Harry has never before had a reason to fear saying the name “Voldemort” or to avoid it at all. Such a good gotcha when we find out how and why the Death Eaters find them. But otherwise, again, on the surface, this is perfectly fine. Hiding in plain sight in the Muggle world… the types of people that fancy themselves Death Eaters are these pure-blood maniacs who probably never set foot in the Muggle world a day in their lives, so they would be off balance. They wouldn’t know their way. But that turns out to not be the case at all. In fact, they blend in; they’re dressed like Muggle workmen when they show up, and I really want to know how that all happened. But it’s a shame that the plan only gets them a little bit further down the line to escape to safety.
Andrew: On the whole “Voldemort,” saying it and putting up the bat signal, it’s interesting how Harry and eventually Hermione and Ron, I guess, became brave enough to say Voldemort’s name, and now they can’t say it. [laughs] It’s just funny how that turned over the course of the series.
Eric: No, yeah, there’s that character growth of “We’re going to punish you for the growth.” I mean, basically, if they set up a taboo for “Voldemort” and if they set up a taboo for “Expelliarmus…”
[Micah laughs]
Eric: … absolutely Harry is dead. Harry does not survive in this book.
Micah: Yeah. That actually made me think back to how often we hear throughout the series people say, “Don’t speak his name.” Is this the reason? Because there was maybe during the first war a taboo on his name as well?
Laura: That’s a really interesting question.
Andrew: Oooh, yeah.
Laura: Yeah, I don’t think that’s ever confirmed in the text.
Eric: Because it takes a Ministry… you have to be in charge of the government to do it.
Micah: Oh.
Eric: So it’s only when Voldemort becomes in charge of the government. But here’s the thing: I mean, that’s brilliant, is everybody’s fear is now made real, where there’s a real repercussion for saying it.
Laura: Well, and also, I’m pretty sure he does it because he knows that there are only a handful of people who say his name anyway, and that the Venn diagram of people who say his name and people that he wants to kill is basically a circle.
Micah: Right.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: So yeah, it’s actually kind of clever on the Death Eaters’ part, unfortunately.
Eric: Oh, God, I just thought of something dirty. I was like, “I bet when Bellatrix says his name, he has to keep the Death Eaters outside the room door.”
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Be like, “Yeah, don’t worry, you don’t need to go after it. It’s fine. It’s fine. I got this.”
Laura: But even… I feel like she sticks to “My Lord.” Yeah, she never actually drops his name. Gross.
Andrew: So are we in agreement that Grimmauld Place was the smartest place to go, ultimately? It seems like it to me.
Laura: Yeah, I think it’s just a bit of a gamble, right? And we see that when they get to Grimmauld Place, and we’ll talk about that a little later in the episode about how Grimmauld Place is protected right now. But yeah, I think there’s just a lot of unknowns going into it. Obviously, the Order can’t be there anymore, because why wouldn’t Snape have blabbed about it from their perspective? And the other thing is, too, Snape… I feel like it’s probable that he would have had to blab about it a little bit in order to maintain his cover.
Andrew: Definitely.
Laura: So it feels kind of like a risky click, if you will. But I can’t think of anywhere else for them to go.
Eric: Somewhere in the Muggle world, maybe. But with the tracker, it’s impossible to hide, really.
Micah: Right. I think that gives them an extra level of protection, because they do say Voldemort’s name inside of Grimmauld Place a little bit later on in this chapter, and nothing happens.
Eric: Ahh.
Micah: So I wonder if the power of the Fidelius Charm is greater than the taboo.
Eric: Yeah, it’s got to be.
Laura: Probably.
Andrew: I would think so, yeah.
Laura: Well, I wanted to talk a little bit about this small beaded handbag that Hermione has, and it has everything that they are to need over the next 12 months.
Eric: Just like girls’ purses in the real world. Am I right, Laura?
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Yeah, you are absolutely right, because we can definitely get a lot of stuff rolling around in there that you would not anticipate. But this bag is extra special, because it is small and it has things like books, Invisibility Cloaks, a tent, potions ingredients… she has everything in there, and that is because she has placed an Undetectable Extension Charm on it, and we’ve actually seen this once or twice in the books before. So the first time would have been in Chamber of Secrets with the Ford Anglia. Anyone remember how Mrs. Weasley got into it and was marveling at how, “Wow, Muggles sure do make the insides of these roomy; I’m so surprised”? And Arthur was like, “Not a word to Molly. Don’t tell her I did it.”
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: And then the other was, of course, with the tent that Arthur brings to the Quidditch World Cup.
Eric: So by Undetectable Extension Charm, it really means “Undetectable to Molly Weasley and others.”
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Yeah. Well, apparently, from what I was reading on HarryPotter.com, and also through the Harry Potter Wiki, is that these Undetectable Extension Charms were supposed to be pretty heavily regulated by the Ministry because it could be used to carry out certain illegal, nefarious actions by obfuscating those transactions by creating spaces that were undetectable.
Eric: And thereby driving down real estate prices.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Which is a crime.
Laura: Right, sure. That’s one way to look at it, yes. Are you saying that Zohran Mamdani might be using Undetectable Extension Charms, Eric?
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: I’m just saying if you have a one-bedroom apartment, so called one-bedroom or studio, and it’s completely unlivable, and you need more vertical space, boom, Undetectable Extension Charm.
Laura: Right.
Eric: Where else are you going to put your suitcases while living in Manhattan?
Micah: Great point.
Laura: I also just have to wonder, how is this actually enforced? Especially given that Arthur did it to the Ford Anglia, he did it to this tent, Hermione managed to do it to this bag…. I wasn’t able to find anything that substantiated an answer to this question, but how is it that the Ministry is supposed to enforce this, really?
Eric: The space has to come from somewhere.
Laura: Right.
Eric: So maybe there’s a cache of space. Maybe this… not to get into the physics of it all, but maybe an Undetectable Extension Charm is a portal to a space, another dimension. A pocket dimension, let’s say. But that pocket dimension is able to be accessed from the outside of that other pocket dimension too, so people can go and look at all the space.
Andrew: [laughs] Pocket dimensions.
Eric: Yeah, so you’d be able to walk through a portal at the Ministry – say it’s in the Department of Mysteries or whatever – and they are able to go and look at the inside of Newt’s suitcase, but from their perspective. That’s another example of the Extension Charm. So they can regulate the spaces that’s being created and making sure that people are compliant, is how I would imagine it.
Andrew: By the way, Charlie in our Discord said, “Hermione’s bag is literally every woman’s dream. It’s like having a dress with pockets.”
Eric: The only thing that I don’t get is how Hermione accesses all the stuff, because there would seem to be a bottleneck, or a beaded bag neck. The drawstring bag… maybe it’s not a drawstring bag, but the bag is only as big on the outside as her hand, or slightly larger, so she has to reach in and grab these things that are much bigger than the opening of the bag from the inside and pull them out. I assume some squishiness and some time and space…
Andrew: I just picture it as how you see it in the cartoons. You pull something out of the bag, and it magically, bwoop, expands as you’re pulling it out.
Eric: That’s probably as good a description as we’re going to get. I like that a lot.
Laura: I mean, it feels like TARDIS logic, honestly. It’s bigger on the inside.
[Ad break]
Laura: I did have another physics-related question about this, because I can accept, whatever, this is how the bag works, cool. But there’s this one point where Hermione realizes that she’s toppled the books over because she hears the rumblings of all the books falling over inside the bag, and I feel like everything in this bag must weigh less in order for Hermione to carry it all around. Because if it didn’t, how would she do that?
Andrew: Right.
Laura: There’s a lot of stuff in here, so if stuff weighs less, in order to account for the exterior size of the bag and being able to get it around, how would Hermione really be able to hear that anything’s fallen over in there?
Eric: Maybe it weighs nothing to Hermione. The weight is carried by the dimension where it exists, so it’s the weight of a room and all that stuff in the room, but the weight of the bag is just… there’s just a hole in the bag. It’s like a portal. So she’s able to hear it because if you cut a hole in the wall of… say this is just a storage room. If you cut a hole in the wall, you can listen, you can hear what’s going on in the room, but you’re not carrying the weight of the room. You’re not in the room at all. So sound travels through the hole in the bag, but until you enter it, you don’t have to grab anything.
Laura: Yeah, I guess so. Well, and I mean, we also know that Newt does this with the Newtcase, right? And I’m trying to remember if there was ever any time that we heard noise coming from the Newtcase.
Eric: Yeah, and I don’t think… yeah, because there were little animals escaping. I think there was a Niffler at one point that’s…
Andrew: I was going to say, if there’s animals in there, there’s definitely got to be noises.
Eric and Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: And smells.
Eric: But Hermione never tries to go into her bag, which would seem to make more sense, right? The ability to go into the bag to get a book. How does she…? I know all the books are sorted, or they were sorted. RIP organization. You’re on the run; get used to it. But how does she get a particular book? Reaching down and having to move all the other ones?
Micah: Oh, what you’re asking is how does she know which book specifically to pull out, right?
Eric: Without being in the room, or without being…
Andrew: So I had a thought on that. Kind of like the Room of Requirement, if you’re reaching in, you have to think about what you want, and it just comes to you? Sort of like that logic?
Eric: Yeah, or you could maybe summon it with a wand?
Andrew: Oh, yeah. Good old Accio.
Laura: Oh.
Eric: So all you do is you stick your wand in the bag and say “Accio whatever,” and then whatever’s in the room gets it, and it’s like, “Okay.” Maybe.
Micah: My thought is not really physics-based. I really just think that it was done to… it’s Hermione. Of course she brought books with her, right?
Andrew and Laura: Yeah.
Micah: So it’s one of those comical type of moments, and it even shines through in the movie as well. But I really looked at this whole scene as she was prepared, right? Hermione had her to-go bag ready, right? We were talking earlier before the show how there’s this crazy storm barreling toward the northeast here, and they always talk about “Be prepared; be ready to go at a moment’s notice.” Hermione in a crisis is somebody that you want on your team; there is no question about it. Because the preparation that she had to do in order to be ready to go at a moment’s notice, I think, really speaks to her character.
Andrew and Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Are you ready for the storm, Micah?
Micah: Of course.
Andrew: You got stocked up on water? Milk? Bread?
Laura: Toilet paper?
Micah: Yeah, I mean, you might just see me drop off at a moment’s notice. [laughs]
Andrew: Oh, lose Internet? Yeah.
Micah: Or I might just drop off depending on how the episode’s going.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: “Sorry, guys, my ‘Internet’ went down.” [laughs] “Storm, really bad.”
Eric: “Oh, there was a tidal wave of a nor’easter.”
Laura: But yeah, I was going to say, speaking to Hermione’s level of preparedness, we also have this moment in the cafe which we’re about to talk about, where she mentions that she’s taken all of her Muggle money savings out of her savings account just for this moment, because Ron is like, “This coffee’s gross, but we still have to pay for it. Hermione, you got that?”
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Yeah. “Hey, Mom, can you pay for this?”
Laura: So yeah, she’s literally thought of everything.
Eric: Yeah, no, she is definitely the MVP, and certainly when it comes to not just navigating the Muggle world – where she’s spent the most time in, out of all of them – but just in general, she has their butts, and she’s thought it ahead. She’s five steps ahead.
Laura: Yep. They would have been screwed without her. Which honestly, I feel like could be the title of every single book: “Harry Potter and the time Hermione Granger stopped us from dying again.” [laughs] But let’s talk about the cafe, and we can move to focusing on Dolohov and Rowle, the two Death Eaters who turn up here disguised as Muggle workmen because of the taboo. It’s unsettling because not only are they also disguised in plain sight, so that Ron and Hermione, at least, don’t seem to pay them much mind at first. It really feels like Harry, being under the Invisibility Cloak, having to act like he’s not there, he has more time and presence of mind to be able to keep an eye on them than Ron and Hermione do, because they’re trying to plan, right? And Harry is just sitting there like, “Well, I can’t have coffee.” Because Hermione orders two cappuccinos; it’d be weird if she ordered three. But yeah, what are our thoughts about Rowle and Dolohov in this moment?
Eric: Just paying attention to when the word “Voldemort” comes out – because again, we know from later what happened here – and the speed at which they enter the pub is not enough time for me to change into workmen’s clothes, so how do these guys do it? How do they know…? I picture a headquarters but of the Death Eaters, where there’s TV screens up, which of course wouldn’t work because magic, but there’s a little blinking red button. “Oh, sir, we got a taboo thing.” “Okay, well, where is it located?” And they find it’s in the Muggle world. “Okay, how do we blend in in the Muggle world?” “Okay, utility worker. This makes perfect sense. Let’s get you fitted up, all right, and ship out.” That would still take 15, 30, 45 minutes for me, not the two minutes that we see this take place in. So how did they get there so quickly enough to do their task? To blend in so as not to rouse more suspicion in anyone but the people that they were hunting? Or including the people they were hunting.
Micah: My only thought would be perhaps they were stationed nearby. With everything that’s going on, you would think that Voldemort would have Death Eaters positioned in Muggle London.
Eric: That’s a good point.
Micah: And if they were, they likely would have to blend in amongst the crowd, so that’s the best answer I can come up with. [laughs]
Eric: No, it makes sense. They did go to the nation’s… the Muggle world’s capital city near…
Andrew: It just seems so convenient for them to be so close. Now, it is Tottenham Court Road, pretty popular street in London. I was also wondering if the author feels connected to that street. Why pick that street? Because it is well known, I guess? To send them there. But yeah, it does seem convenient. As for what they’re wearing, I would think if they were stationed somewhere in London, they would wear average Muggle clothing just to blend in.
Eric: Yeah, we’ve seen wizards do that badly, but the people who can’t afford to do it badly are the ne’er-do-wells that are trying to blend in.
Andrew: The what? Ne’er-do-wells? What was that?
Eric: Ne’er-do-wells.
Andrew: Ne’er-do… I haven’t heard that word.
Eric: Ooh, it’s a good word.
Andrew: Troublemakers.
Eric: Trouble, yeah.
Andrew: Okay.
Laura: Yep. Unfortunately, I could also see these two just quickly AK’ing a couple of workers and stealing their uniforms.
Andrew: Oh, yeah.
Laura: Let’s be honest. These are Death Eaters. I don’t know that they’re going to put a lot of time and care into figuring out their disguises.
Andrew: Yeah, I agree.
Laura: Yeah. Well, I think in this moment, too, the trio are learning a quick lesson about being discreet. Now, granted, they were already given away because of the taboo, right? However, I will observe that in this moment, it’s just Ron and Hermione in Muggle clothes. Harry is under the Invisibility Cloak, so I think there’s still a layer of protection there, where the Death Eaters are there, and the reason they don’t attack immediately is because they’re trying to suss out: “Are these the right people?” But Ron and Hermione are sitting there, and yeah, they’re whispering, but they’re talking about terms like Muggle money, Disapparating into the countryside, getting messages to the Order with the talking Patronus thing…
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: … and the Death Eaters are literally sitting at the next table over, and so it’s like, “Well, now you’ve definitely given yourselves away.”
Eric: Oh my God.
Andrew: Magic words all over the place, yeah.
Laura: Right, right.
Eric: Also, Hermione says she thinks she can do the talking Patronus thing when Ron asks her because she understands the basic or whatever. Okay, I get that they all got really good at doing Patronuses during their DA sessions, but nobody has seen a Patronus being used in this way. How is it Hermione feels confident that she could do it? Ah, unbelievable.
Laura: Well, because she just saw it at the wedding.
Micah: It’s the cappuccino.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Yeah, see and do. It’s the cappuccino; it gives you confidence.
Micah: It gives you confidence, yeah.
Eric: Ron says it tastes like mud. I think he’s confident that he hates cappuccino.
Micah: Yeah, well, if you’ve never had it before and he’s tasting it for the first time, maybe that’s part of the reason.
Eric: It’s an acquired mud taste.
Micah: Yeah. Did he put anything in it? Any sugar? Sweetener?
Eric: Oh, no. That was probably his mistake.
Micah: Yeah. But Laura, you were describing the conversation. I think it speaks to the moment at hand. All three of them have to be very much on edge at this point, and they’re doing their best to figure out the situation and what they’re supposed to do next. I think we forget they’re still relatively young; they’re teenagers on the run. And I would imagine they think that they’re in a safe space. Who’s going to find them in a random cafe in the middle of London?
Andrew: Right.
Micah: And then all of a sudden, these two workmen pop in, and if not for Harry being underneath the Invisibility Cloak and keeping a watchful eye on these two, the situation would have turned out a lot worse, for Ron and Hermione specifically.
Andrew: And for all this to happen so fast… I mean, it’s a matter of minutes that they’re in this fight with these two. It’s unfair.
Micah: It speaks to the moment, though, going back to what I said earlier.
Andrew: Chaos.
Micah: Right, I think for us as readers, it’s like they’re not getting any peace, right? They’ve come from this wedding where their entire family and friend circle is now under attack, and they’ve now just Apparated to Tottenham Court Road, where they presume they’re safe, but minutes later they’re under attack. So I think we’re meant to get the sense that this is not going to be easy for the next couple of chapters.
Eric: Yeah, that nowhere is safe.
Micah: Nowhere is safe.
Eric: Yeah. I’ll also say, too, that this is the hundredth time that Harry’s gut feeling has saved him. He’s not a particularly observant individual, but I also like the explanation that was just uttered…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: No, that because he’s not having to be observed or worry about his drink order – because he’s pretending not to be there because he’s under the cloak – he has more time and more mental bandwidth to observe the people that just walked in, because Hermione and Ron couldn’t. I love that explanation, because basically Harry does catch just the tiniest little inkling in his gut that the men’s movement is to get their wand, and the book says, “He matched their movement and had his wand up.” But we’ve seen that hundreds of times before in the books. Harry just gets it, and good thing, too, because although they wouldn’t have known to spell at him, yeah, Hermione and Ron would have been in trouble.
Micah: What’s also a bit foreboding is Hermione is very much on edge about sitting with her back to the door, which is a common thing that a lot of people experience, especially if you have somebody in your family who works in law enforcement or another profession that’s similar. Oftentimes, they want to be able to sit in a position where they can see the door. And so I don’t know if that was a little bit of a tipoff from the author that there was going to be trouble coming.
Laura: Yeah, for sure.
Eric: And in general, know your exits, right?
Micah: Right.
Eric: People who think that way, and it’s like if they’re… I understand they didn’t get the world’s most time together in the weeks leading up to Bill and Fleur’s wedding, but they should have had at least a “This is where we escape to.” Know your fire exits, like Tottenham Court Road, or whatever it is, choose a place you’re going to Apparate to when it goes tits up, and know that place and know that place in your heart. And Hermione is the only one who’s done even that level of preparation for them.
Laura: And it’s tough, too, because we get to see even before this chapter, but certainly at the end of this chapter, that the mind connection between Harry and Voldemort is very much still alive. So would they potentially be compromising their safety by planning that in advance, letting Harry know where they might be going in the event that Voldemort is able to penetrate Harry’s mind again? So it’s kind of a lose-lose. They don’t have a lot of options available to them.
Eric: We’re just lucky Snape didn’t blab. Am I right, fam?
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Micah: True.
Laura: Well, a very brief fight ensues between the trio and the Death Eaters, and this is honestly so fast. I had forgotten how fast this happens in the book, but very quickly Dolohov and Rowle are incapacitated, and there are a couple of moments here that I think y’all wanted to call out. Andrew, you were calling out what happens – or nearly happens – to Ron.
Andrew: So there’s a line here: “Spells shattered the tiled wall where Ron’s head had just been,” and that stuck out to me because just a few episodes ago, we were talking about the many times that the Weasleys have had near death experiences, and this is another example. And prior examples – we talked about these a few weeks ago – Ron knocked out during the chess game, Ginny versus Tom Riddle, Ron breaking his leg in Prisoner of Azkaban, Arthur being nearly killed by Nagini… that’s the biggest one to me.
Eric: Augh!
Andrew: Ron poisoned by the bezoar, Bill mauled by Fenrir…
Eric: Oh, Jesus! All the Weasleys need an exit plan.
Andrew: And this is all pre-Deathly Hallows, and there’s multiple things. So yeah, this family has really put their lives on the line for Harry.
Micah: It’s true.
Laura: Yeah. Sometimes I think Harry forgets that too a little bit.
Andrew: Yeah. You ungrateful little…
Eric: Oh, yeah. Because he’s still like, “It can only be me. I have to be going on my own.”
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Right.
Eric: Oh, man.
Micah: So in speaking of Dolohov and Rowle, it’s almost like this is going to be a little bit of a “What’s buggin’ Micah” segment, because this goes back to the teenagers facing adult wizards conversation.
Eric: Oh.
Micah: I expected a bit more from at least Dolohov, because we’ve heard through the series when his name has come up that he’s one of Voldemort’s most dangerous Death Eaters. He participated – and I’m not sure if Ron knows this – in the murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett. And he is directly responsible for – spoiler alert – Lupin’s murder a little bit later on in this book. So the fact… I know that he’s not immediately taken out, he is able to fight a little bit, but it just… I expect more from him, honestly. And for Rowle, he’s a bit of a wildcard. He was the one who accidentally killed a fellow Death Eater on the Astronomy Tower, or just below the Astronomy Tower, in Half-Blood Prince because he was chaotic and firing spells all over the place and didn’t have any clear target in mind, so I don’t really expect too much from him. And neither… I mean, he pays the price, obviously, a little bit later on, and maybe we can talk about that too when we get there: Why was Rowle the one who was being tortured versus Dolohov?
Laura: I was wondering that too.
Micah: Yeah, I just feel like it’s almost like you send one of your captains and then one of your soldiers on this mission together, and they’re bested by three kids.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: I mean, it sucks that one of those kids is the hero of this book series, damn it.
Micah: I know. And he was under the Invisibility Cloak, in all fairness to him.
Eric: Yeah, they couldn’t account for that, necessarily. They don’t know Dumbledore’s trick of, what, Homenum Revelio. They could just be whispering, “Revelio, Revelio, Revelio.”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: What would have satisfied you, Micah? You wanted one of the three to get hurt?
Micah: I maybe just expected a little bit more of a fight.
Eric: I think maybe the lesson is just how messy it all is in real world settings.
Micah: In real time.
Eric: And people panic. And it’s close quarters too; the cafe is probably not even as big as it was in the movie. I’m picturing something much smaller because it’s off such a main street and there’s limited space in that area of the city. But Micah, for instance, you took karate, right?
Micah: I did.
Eric: That comes up from time to time. And you progressed through the ranks, right? You got a few belts. So you’re probably a lethal individual, or you know how to fight.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: A lethal individual!
Laura: That’s the title of the episode.
Eric: Do you think that if somebody came up and started attacking you, would you fare as well as your training would lead you to believe that you would fare? Or would there be that X factor of you weren’t expecting it, you’re in a different location, you don’t have your belt on… you know what I’m saying?
Micah: [laughs] It’s the belt that is the source of the power.
Eric: The belt is what makes somebody… yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Yeah, no, I think all those variables play into it, right? How long it’s been since you’ve trained… but what I’m saying is that you have a really accomplished Dark wizard here in Dolohov, and it’s just almost too easy that he’s taken out in the way that he is. But kudos to Harry for not using Expelliarmus, okay? Maybe that was a big win for him here in this moment.
Eric: [laughs] Personal growth.
Micah: But in terms, Andrew, of what you were saying, I don’t know one thing over another would have satisfied me. But they could have just blown up the cafe.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: They definitely should’ve.
Micah: They didn’t even have to come in.
Andrew: Is that creating too much of a scene, though? Or do they not care?
Micah: I mean, do they care at this point?
Andrew: Yeah, yeah.
Micah: I don’t know. Anyway.
Andrew: So Micah wanted the trio dead. Okay, so moving on.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Laura: The end. Cool. I guess we can wrap this installment of Chapter by Chapter. Micah just killed the trio.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Oh, man.
Andrew: Spoken like a true lethal individual.
[Laura laughs]
[Ad break]
Eric: One of my favorite things we asked leading up to Book 7 before we knew was, “Does it make sense for the three frontline people, the trio, to all survive the last book?” I’m glad they all did, but you’ve got to ask the question, right? Harry, Ron, and Hermione are at the very forefront. They’re target number one, two, and three, after Dumbledore’s death. Does it make sense that they all three survive? So I like these moments where we can say shouldn’t Dolohov, who his list of accomplishments is actually really impressive – and Micah, I’m glad you looked it up and reminded all of us – shouldn’t he have gotten more pieces out of the trio than he did?
Andrew and Laura: Yeah.
Eric: I think it’s a fair question.
Laura: Yeah, and I think it is fair to observe this was a little easy, right?
Andrew: Right.
Laura: I think that’s what we’re getting at, and we get even more of that because Hermione then Obliviates Dolohov and Rowle after saying she’s never actually done it before, but she’s familiar with the theory, and then she’s able to successfully do it.
Eric: Also, I thought she disappeared her parents’ memories. This must be something different.
Laura: Yeah, so it is. In the books, we actually learn that this is different from the spell that she used to modify her parents’ memories. She specifically calls that out in the book that she modified their memories to make them believe that they always dreamed of moving to Australia, and that’s where they’ve gone now. But in the movies, she actually Obliviates her parents for the dramatic effect of being able to emotionally connect the two scenes, so that Hermione kind of struggles with Obliviating the Death Eaters after she’s done it to her parents.
Eric: Ohh. Okay, I like how they did that then, because it’s got to be infinitely more complicated to overwrite your parents’ memories, to give them this desire to move to Australia, which is a thousand little modified memories throughout the years, and same to forget her as a daughter.
Laura: Exactly.
Eric: That is so much more infinitely complicated than a simple “Don’t remember what you did today,” which I don’t need a Memory Charm; I don’t remember what I did yesterday. [laughs] It just happens naturally.
Laura: But it is worth calling out that that’s an area where… I mean, the movies, they did it for dramatic effect, and that’s fine, but the result of using Obliviate on Hermione’s parents in the movie is very different from the result of using it on the Death Eaters, which is just to make them forget what has happened in that particular cafe in that battle, presumably. So now, if y’all are ready, we can head to Grimmauld Place.
Andrew: Yeah, let’s do it.
Laura: I have a question: What the heck are these security protocols?
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: They get there, and we have a Tongue-Tying Curse; we have a dusty Dumbledore corpse rushing them. This is supposed to protect the former base of operations of the Order of the Phoenix?
Eric: I’m surprised there weren’t paint cans that were strung up and just dropped down the stairwell at them. It’s very Kevin McAllister. It’s very amateur level. I mean, directed by Chris Columbus; there’s a connection there to Harry Potter. But yeah, I don’t think that these are good enchantments, Laura, at all.
Andrew: And it’s all to protect Grimmauld Place from Snape?
Laura: Yeah!
Eric: Which, okay, let’s talk through this. The Tongue-Tying or Tongue-Locking Curse. Snape is the most accomplished nonverbal spell person that we’ve ever known. He doesn’t need his tongue. He doesn’t need… that doesn’t trip him up in the slightest, okay?
Micah: Well, and he’s been there already before any of these enchantments were put into place.
Laura: Right.
Eric: So he knows his way.
Micah: Well, presumably he knows his way from his time in the Order, but he went to Grimmauld Place not long after he killed Dumbledore, so he didn’t have to encounter any of these enchantments because they weren’t put into place yet. But I agree, they’re very juvenile. They’re not deterring anybody.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s hard to understand why they would put these in place. And what is Dusty Dumbledore supposed to do? Trigger Snape? Like, “Oh no, Dumbledore is back. We actually did have a good relationship secretly.” If anything, to me, Dusty Dumbledore should be taken by the trio as maybe a sign that Snape actually did have a good relationship with Dumbledore if this is supposed to trigger him. I don’t know.
Laura: Yeah, I don’t know. It just… all of it feels more like the remaining members of the Order got together, and they weren’t necessarily trying to do anything to safeguard, but they were like, “We’re just going to troll him. We’re just going to put a couple of things here and just really stick it to him if he does show up.”
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Oh my God. “That’ll show him!” It’s just so amateur hour. It’s sad that without Dumbledore there, even the adult members of the Order are lost, completely lost and completely unable to even estimate what it is that they’re facing.
Andrew: I will say, though, a lot of dust is pretty terrifying.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: Yeah, it’s true.
Andrew: It’s scary to breathe in. It’s a mess. If you start trying to clean it up, it just gets everywhere else.
Eric: It will be there inside you, if you breathe it in, for years. It’s a problem.
Laura: Oh, is that real?
Micah: Luckily, Kreacher will tend to that.
Laura: Or not.
Eric: Yeah, this place has a house-elf. It should be clean, spick and span. What’s going on?
Micah: Uh-huh. But yeah, they don’t know what they don’t know, and the likelihood of a dusty Dumbledore intimidating Snape is slim to none, because he did what he did on Dumbledore’s orders.
Laura: Right.
Andrew: I do… I don’t know why I have this memory; it’s stuck with me. I did think the Dusty Dumbledore was cool reading this the first time, and the only reason I can think of is because it is a recreation in Dumbledore. It’s almost like a Dumbledore stuffed animal, but life-size. Life-size Barbie.
Eric: And it’s supposed to be real enough, you’re right, that it triggers Snape. You’re supposed to have that emotional attachment or be scared of the guy that you killed.
Laura: Well, and it’s supposed to look like a corpse, too, not like living Dumbledore. It is supposed to look like his corpse, so that is jarring.
Micah: Right.
Laura: But then I also don’t quite understand what it’s supposed to accomplish or how it’s supposed to work, because Harry shouts, “We didn’t kill you,” and then the dust dissipates.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: So it’s like, does the dust always dissipate, or does something specific need to be said? What happens if it doesn’t dissipate?
Eric: Right, because it’s right on the word “kill.”
Andrew: Why does it believe Harry?
Eric and Laura: Yeah.
Eric: Well, Forty nailed it in the Discord. He says, “The plan was to give intruders silicosis 20-30 years down the line.”
Laura: [laughs] That’ll get ’em.
Eric: Which is when you inhale silica dust. Yeah, and it takes many decades to cause the effect, but heck of a thing.
Laura: Well, once the trio are satisfied that there’s nobody in here – Hermione does her Homenum Revelio to remind us that there are not any other people in Grimmauld Place right now – they go get settled down in the living room, the drawing room, what have you, and they receive a message from Arthur via what I’m calling PIM – that’s the Patronus Instant Messaging network – stating that the family is safe, but they’re being watched, and he warns the trio, “Do not come back here.” And right after this, we get to see that the mind connection between Harry and Voldemort is back with a vengeance, and Harry is so affected by the pain in his scar that he actually retreats to the bathroom because Hermione won’t stop talking to him, and he’s just like, “Yo, girl, I have a headache. I gotta get out of here.”
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: But in the bathroom, he actually has a vision of Voldemort torturing Rowle for failing to capture Harry at the cafe, and on top of it, Voldemort has brought Draco along for the ride. Harry sees Draco’s scared, pale face in the vision, and it’s clear that he doesn’t want to be there. Draco is continuing to be described as looking terrified, much like he did in the “Lightning-Struck Tower” chapter at the end of last book. So Voldemort is continuing to play with the Malfoys as a form of punishment, even regarding failures that don’t belong to them, right? So this was Rowle’s failure, but Voldemort is like, “Hey, Draco hasn’t been bullied enough today. Let me bring him along to do this.” Because they’re torturing him.
Eric: Yeah, and he makes Draco do the Cruciatus Curse on Rowle, which is causing many effects for Draco, and it’s also continuing to be a test for Draco, because remember, you have to really mean it. If he fails at it, Voldemort knows he’s gone soft and will kill him.
Laura: Yep.
Andrew: Was this an early sign that Draco was ultimately going to be turning out good, in that he was terrified? He clearly wasn’t cut out for this. It’s not the first sign.
Laura: Honestly, yeah. I mean, I think that setup really happens in Half-Blood Prince. You see that he’s gotten in too deep.
Andrew: Yeah. I almost see another connection here between Draco and Harry in real time happening, or Harry just feeling more connected to him, like, “Oh, he’s being put through it too; he didn’t want this either,” that type of thing. In a weird way, I almost consider it a bonding moment between Harry and Draco, and a hint of what was to come.
Laura: Yeah, I think so.
Micah: I think it’s even mentioned that Harry feels bad for Draco.
Andrew: Maybe that’s part of why I’m feeling that way.
Micah: But I did just briefly want to revisit the question: Why do we think that it’s Rowle that’s being tortured? Unless Dolohov has already received his punishment, or he will be receiving it after the fact.
Laura: Yeah, Dolohov already got his spanking.
Andrew: [laughs] Micah is relentless against these two.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: “I’ll deal with you later.” Yeah, I think so. I think it’s a fair question.
Andrew and Laura: Yeah.
Laura: It feels like also, from a reader perspective, Dolohov would resonate more because we recognize… he’s a more recognizable name, right, amongst the Death Eaters? So I don’t know. I’m not sure.
Micah: Right.
Laura: But all of this ends with Hermione rapping on the bathroom door again and being like, “Harry, you want your toothbrush?” And then end scene. And briefly, I want to call out, too, for my girl Hermione. She’s doing the most, per usual, including packing these boys’ clothes for them, and then Ron has the nerve to be like, “Well, those aren’t the jeans I like.”
Andrew: Typical child.
Eric: “Oh, these are my old jeans, Hermione. These ones are tight around the…”
Andrew: “I didn’t want these.” Well, you should have packed them yourself.
Laura: Yeah, exactly.
Eric: Just put an Undetectable Extension Charm on the crotch, Ron. Get on with it.
Laura: [laughs] So yeah, poor Hermione.
Odds & Ends
Laura: But let’s get into some odds and ends here before we wrap the chapter. I just wanted to call out something that made me laugh in reading the chapter: Ron refers to the Dumbledust ghost as “Old Dusty.” I just thought that was funny. Ron has an ability of bringing levity to even the darkest of moments.
Andrew: Yeah. And speaking of Ron, I do love that he got to use the Deluminator pretty quickly when they go into the cafe. He turns off the lights, or turns them back on. I’m forgetting which it was.
Eric: Yeah, I actually blinked and actually missed that. It was a good call-out.
Andrew: Oh, really? It just seems like, “Oh, here’s the purpose. This is why Dumbledore gave this to me. Sweet.”
Eric: Well, I love this idea that Ron is taking it as his solemn duty to go… whenever they need to, he goes and turns off the lights.
Andrew: Chief light switcher Ronald Weasley.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Because there wasn’t a light switch? [laughs]
Andrew: I know, that’s the other thing. It’s just a humblebrag type of thing. Like, “Oh, I got this. I don’t even have to hit the switch. There’s probably germs on that switch.”
Laura: Well, it was also faster to do it that way.
Andrew: Yeah, but how big is the cafe? I mean, it would take five seconds.
Eric: Oh my God, I was texting with Meg just now. She says, “Listen, we all know why Hermione packed Ron’s tight jeans.” [laughs]
Laura: [sighs] She was ahead of ahead of the times. You know, skinny jeans weren’t as popular in the ’90s.
Eric: It’s important for fashion.
Laura: But yeah, a woman ahead of her time.
Lynx Line
Laura: All right, well, now it’s time to get into this week’s Lynx Line. If you want to participate in the Lynx Line, you can sign up to support the show over at Patreon.com/MuggleCast. This week’s question was: What’s something you think Hermione should have packed? With the caveat that we’re doing wrong answers only. So we’ll do the panel’s answers first, and then we’ll share some Patreon responses. I said perfume, as a nod to the movie, because what the hell? Hermione would never actually have done that. [laughs] So just want to call… that’s actually a gripe that I have with the movie, the whole Snatchers being able to smell Hermione’s perfume, because Hermione’s character would never be concerned with wanting to make sure that she smelled flowery and whatever the heck while they’re out hunting Horcruxes. That was ridiculous.
Eric: No, the reason I like it is because it’s, oh, Hermione didn’t think of that scent, having to block that sense out of it. But you’re right; it’s not a Hermione thing to do at all.
Andrew: I’m saying Tide To Go. What if you get a stain on something?
Micah: I love that.
Andrew: Especially a coffee shop. You know how you get scared because Death Eaters are there, and jump scare, and you spill some coffee on you?
Micah: Well, not only that; I’m sure the cafe, all the stuff, all the food, all the coffee… blasted all over them.
Andrew: Yeah. Does Tide To Go take out blood? Later they might need it for blood.
Micah: True.
Eric: Oh, yeah, or baking soda.
Laura: You’ve got to get some of those Tide pens.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. The Tide To Go.
Eric: There should be a whole “How do you clean up after a body?” kind of a thing kit.
Micah: Dobby’s tears.
Eric: Hermione’s got to break some…
Andrew: [laughs] Dobby tears, wow.
Micah: All right. Well, we were talking about Ron’s tight jeans. I think she should have remembered to pack Ron’s balls along with them.
Andrew: Oh, yikes!
Laura: [laughs] Poor Ron.
Micah: He’s a juggler.
Andrew: Oh.
Eric: How would he fit into his jeans?
Micah: More comfortably.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Micah: Oh, you’re saying if she bought them, he would not be able to fit in as well.
Eric: Yeah, I’m confused.
Micah: No, no, you’re right.
Eric: Yeah, so he left his balls behind, unfortunately?
Micah: Yeah. Well, I mean, maybe this is more appropriate later on. A question for later on when he abandons the trio.
Laura: Yeah, but you’re thinking ahead.
Eric: Oh, yeah. Well, hey, speaking of that, my “What’s something Hermione should have packed?” I saw a product – it was advertised to me on Facebook the other day – and it’s a tiny violin, but it’s battery-operated. It makes little violin music when you play it. And first of all, I sent it to my boss because she’s exactly the kind of person that would use that on everybody mercilessly. But I thought for when Ron is leaving them, she would start to play that and make him feel even worse about his choice.
Laura: I do like that for… because I feel like the Horcrux affects Ron the most, but I feel like it affects Harry the second most. Hermione seems to remain the most levelheaded, so maybe any time the two of them are being wimps about the Horcrux…
Eric: “Where’s food? What’s for dinner?”
Laura: Yeah, she can just get out the violin.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Laura: Love that.
Andrew: So turning to Patreon responses, Karen said, “An air fryer and a Margaritaville blender – the best way to turn camping into glamping!”
Eric: Excuse me, glamping? This is the first time I’ve heard this word.
Andrew: What?!
Laura: You’ve never heard glamping?
Eric: No! Was that like a 2017 entry into the Oxford English Dictionary? Glamping?
Andrew: Maybe.
Micah: It’s upscale camping.
Andrew: It’s just more comfortable camping, yeah.
Eric: Well, we also heard from Emily: “Her knitting supplies! You never know when house-elves might need liberating. Plus, Harry and Ron just loooove all things SPEW-related.”
Micah: I thought mine was bad. John says, “Earplugs for Harry and wizard birth control.”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Smart.
Laura: Shannon said, “The complete works of Stephen King and Agatha Christie, or another very prolific writer. Plenty of downtime for reading.”
Andrew: Yeah, I like the idea of bringing some fiction along, and maybe paying tribute to some other major authors in Harry Potter. Eleanor said, “Makeup and perfume, because it’s important to always look your best when you’re camping with your boo while on the run from life-threatening circumstances.”
[Eric and Micah laugh]
Eric: Oh my God, I just have a picture of Hermione and Ron as influencers during this time, where they are basically posting – after the fact, of course – but they spend a whole week in a rustic area of the country and then post all about it after they’ve moved on. But Jenn says, “The Mirror of Erised! They could find Horcruxes a lot easier that way. Also, hopefully she packed her SPEW supplies. Never know when you’re going to run into a supporter!” I agree.
Andrew: That is a funny one. I mean, hell, when you could fit anything in the bag, why not bring the Mirror of Erised along too?
Eric: Yeah. The kitchen sink, while you’re at it.
Micah: How do you get it in?
Andrew: Yeah, how do you get it in, one, and is finding Horcrux their deepest desire? I guess.
Micah: I don’t know. Matthew says, “A DVD player with all the Teletubbies shows. Put the Horcruxes in front of a TV. Play them on a loop. Sooner or later, the Horcruxes will beg for the sword of Gryffindor.”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: [singing] “Teletubbies, Teletubbies, say hello.”
Eric: Time for Tubby bye time! Or go time? Sleep time? I forget. Nap time?
Andrew: Po was always my favorite. I just want to say that on the record.
Eric: [singing] “Tinky-Winky…”
Laura: And finally, Rachel says, “Monopoly. Just in case the Horcrux hunts aren’t causing enough tension.”
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: And you know what? If the bag is getting pretty full, Monopoly Go, card version of Monopoly. I like that a lot.
Laura: Ahh, yeah.
Andrew: And actually, there’s a Harry Potter version of it I saw. Thanks, patrons. Great answers. And everybody else, if you have feedback about today’s discussion, you can contact us by emailing or sending a voice memo recorded on your phone to MuggleCast@gmail.com. If you’re listening via Spotify, you can drop a comment there, if you’re watching via YouTube, you can drop a comment there, or DM us on social media.
Quizzitch
Andrew: Before we wrap up, it’s time for the answer to this week’s Quizzitch question.
[Quizzitch music plays]
Eric: What is it Hermione orders for herself and Ron in the cafe off of Tottenham Court Road, was our question. The correct answer: two cappuccinos, or as listener Charlie put it, two cappi’s. I guess it’s a barista term. So correct answers were submitted by HallowWolf and Charlie, as I mentioned. Congrats.
Andrew: We’ll have to ponder what Kreacher’s drink would be, because next week, Chapter by Chapter continues with Chapter 10 of Deathly Hallows, “Kreacher’s Tale.” Visit MuggleCast.com for…
Micah: We already know what he drank.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Laura: Aw.
Eric: That’s a great call-out, though.
Andrew: Yeah. Visit MuggleCast.com for links to our coffee orders, our social media, our Patreon, our transcripts, our favorite episodes, and lots more. Thanks, everybody, for listening. I’m Andrew.
Eric: I’m Eric.
Micah: I’m Micah.
Laura: And I’m Laura.
Andrew: See you next week! Bye, everyone.
Laura and Micah: Bye.