Year in Review: Waterstone's Podcast

Andrew: And in relation to the Book 7 release, since we're on the topic, we did our live podcast at Waterstone's.

Jamie: We did.

Andrew: Jamie, Eric, and I were there along with Laura and Kevin, and that was by far our largest and most publicized podcast ever because it was...

Eric: I think it was highly successful.

Andrew: Oh, absolutely.

Jamie: I thought it fun, yeah.

Andrew: It was a very fun show.

Eric: Waterstone's did so much for us.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: They really, really did.

Eric: And they were so - oh my gosh, it was amazing. And Jamie, I know you were very highly upset afterwards; we were all crying, I think.

Jamie: Oh, yes. It was very, very sad.

Eric: It was so emotional.

Jamie: It was, it was.

Andrew: Yes. Yeah.

Jamie: I was bawling, people were bawling, everyone was bawling.

Andrew: It was great.

Eric: Now Jamie, this is just an entry, you can cut this out, but question: did they - have they recorded that video that they were broadcasting?

Andrew: Oh, yeah, we never got a copy of that.

Jamie: Should I e-mail them?

Andrew: Yeah, could you e-mail them and ask?

Jamie: Yeah.

Eric: Please do because I personally, even if we don't ever do anything with it, I would love it because that was cool.

Andrew: Yeah, that would definitely be very cool.

Eric: That's so nostalgic for me and personal, and it's like - yeah.

Andrew: Not to brag, for Jamie and I, but I think we pulled that off very well.

Jamie: Which one?

Andrew: Remember, Jamie, we met with them like three weeks before.

Jamie: Oh, that wasn't bad, yeah. That went that pretty well.

Andrew: They bought us coffee or whatever and we sat down and were like...

Jamie: There was like an array of drinks there.

[Everyone laughs]

Jamie: It wasn't even just coffee, it was like, "What do you want?" "I'll have a coffee please." And there was like a teapot that got brought out. I'll have tea, that's cool.

Andrew: I just wanted water.

Jamie: Huh? Yeah, yeah. And it was coffee and then water and the bill must have been over one grand, U.S.

Andrew: [laughs] Just for a meeting.

Jamie: Just for a meeting.

Eric: So, you were treated to this array of foods for your meeting with Waterstone's, then.

Andrew: Yeah, and then at the actual podcast itself, we just got one little plastic cup of water. So, no free refills.

Eric: Yeah, but we got introduced by Rubeus Hagrid...

Andrew: That was cool.

Eric: So, I don't think money can replace that.

Andrew: That was cool, yeah.

Eric: Yeah.

Year in Review: Pickle Pack

Andrew: Well, so that was great. And then let's see, what do we want to jump to here?

Eric: We missed - one of the things was Pickle Pack. We came out with that about in April? Was it May when you came up with that, Andrew? When you said, "Hey, guys..."

Andrew: Well, when did we start? We started selling in April, I think; we opened up for registrations in April.

Eric: Yeah. He said, "Hey guys, we're going to do a members only thing called Pickle because we're really obsessed with pickles. And we're going to do video blogs every week."

Micah: I hate pickles.

Matt: They're not bad.

Andrew: Me too.

Jamie: No you don't. [laughs]

Eric: Honestly. Now, Pickle Pack will be going - now, just to clear this up, Andrew, I don't know if you did this on the Christmas party, but people were wondering what is going to happen to Pickle Pack once Episode 140 hits?

Andrew: It's closing.

Eric: Yeah? Okay, cool.

Andrew: No, actually, yeah, I think...

Eric: I think that's actually two weeks away from the deadline anyway, so we could probably do two more video blogs.

Andrew: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we will.

Eric: Yeah, okay, cool.

Andrew: Yep.

Year in Review: MuggleNet's Book Tour

Eric: And then what else, guys? Just quickly. The book tour that Ben and Emerson had for MuggleNet's book. We can't leave that out, obviously, because that was a big deal. They went to all sorts of - how many places did they stop at? Do you know?

Jamie: It was a lot, yeah.

Andrew: A kagillion.

Eric: Yeah.

Jamie: Literally, at least a kagillion Barnes and Nobles.

[Everyone laughs]

Jamie: A few Borders, as well.

Year in Review: MuggleCast Road Tour

Andrew: And also coinciding with that was the MuggleCast road tour that we did over the summer.

Eric: It went from California to PA?

Jamie: That was fun.

Andrew: Yeah. And I have to say, that was probably one of the best experiences of my life.

Jamie: I agree. That was so, so cool.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Ah, because Jamie did it as well. That's right. You were in the states, Jamie, more than you were in - at home this whole summer.

Andrew: Yeah, he was.

Jamie: That's got to to be true.

Eric: Weren't you? Yeah. Or at least in the summer.

Jamie: From that first day... And on the first day...

Micah: Are you a citizen yet?

Jamie: I remember from the first day to the last day - I'm trying, I'm trying. Micah. You've been in enough states. They should at least give you something, you know?

Jamie: Well, one of them asked me last time, "Wow, you've been coming here a lot. You here for business?" And I was like, I don't think I can pull off the "Yes, yes. The Harry Potter Corporation based in Toledo."

[Matt and Eric laugh]

Eric: I told them I was going for business once.

Jamie: Really? Awesome.

Eric: I think it was from Reading to London.

Jamie: Oh, that's cool.

Eric: I was like, "Yeah, this is a business trip for four days." And they were like, "Uhhh, yeah." So that was nice.

Andrew: Hmmm.

Eric: But see, I still didn't grow a beard or anything, so they still think I'm like 15 when they look at me.

[Jamie laughs]

Eric: So I'm like, "Going on business? Yeah, you know?" I still get carded everywhere I go.

Jamie: Awww.

Eric: But now I am too young. Now I am too young to drink since I'm back in the States. So...

Jamie: Yeah, you are.

Year in Review: Equus

Andrew: I think the highlight of my summer was when - no, of 2007, was when Jamie, Sam and I went to Equus, and they got carded, but I didn't.

Jamie: The thing is Andrew...

[Andrew laughs]

Jamie: The thing is with that is you know why that was. So...

Andrew: No, I think I look 21 - or 18.

Jamie: No, no, it's not. It's becase you...

[Andrew laughs]

Jamie: ...didn't shave for a couple of days. It's because you didn't shave for a couple of days. And because after they asked me - wait. They asked me first, didn't they?

Andrew: No.

Jamie: Yeah, yeah. They asked me first. So after they carded me, they obviously thought that since you were with me they wouldn't need to card you.

Andrew: Uh huh. Yeah. [laughs]

Jamie: You know it's true.

Andrew: I just found out it bugs you Jamie, so that's why I bring it up.

Jamie: It doesn't bug me, I just don't - I just don't mind arguing about it, that's all. It's fine. It's fine.

Andrew: Well, the funny thing was, I wasn't 18 when we went to Equus.

Jamie: Naughty boy. Naughty boy.

Eric: Wait, did you need to be 18?

Andrew: To drink.

Matt: [laughs] Yeah.

Andrew: I shouldn't have said that. [laughs] Okay, moving on. We'll leave it at that.

Matt: Whoops!

Year in Review: Episode 101

Eric: Okay. So, once Book 7 came out, the next thing we've got is Jo's open book tour that she did for the children and...

Andrew: Actually, wait. Wait, wait. Let's talk about Episode 101 first, quick. So we can try to go in order.

Eric: Oh yeah, of course, of course. Right after Book 1...

Andrew: Book 1? Yeah, Book 1.

Eric: Right after Book 7 came out, remember, guys, we did that lovely live feed of us laying on the couches and the beds and...

Jamie: Yeah.

Eric: [laughs] And did we hit 1,000 people watching us?

Andrew: Yeah. There were over 1,000 people watching us read on Ustream. It was amazing.

Jamie: Ironically, you remember, it went off to the left and went to eight.

[Everyone laughs]

Andrew: There were more fascinated by the Be Back Soon sign than anything else. But the thing about that show we recorded right after we read the book, it was in that little hotel room in - what was that? The Holiday Inn? No, that was - no I think it was the Holiday Inn.

Jamie: I think it was St. Giles.

Andrew: No.

Eric: It was Jamie's - it was Jamie's brain child, wasn't it?

Andrew: No, it wasn't the St. Giles.

Eric: No, no, I have it in my phone. I have the name of it. I'll find it in a minute.

Andrew: It's the Holiday Inn. It's the Holiday Inn, I'm sue of it.

Jamie: Oh, he Mayfair.

Eric: Mayfair.

Jamie: Holiday Inn, Mayfair.

Andrew: The Mayfair, yeah, yeah. Right. We recorded it in a little room there. We were all jammed into that one room. I didn't get two rooms for some reason, and...

Jamie: It was like...

Andrew: Yeah, well, we couldn't...

Eric: I was shocked. I thought they were going to make us get two rooms, remember that? Like...

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: Yeah.

Eric: We go to check in and I thought I screwed it up with the baggage people.

Jamie: So, we've admitted to underage drinking, cheating hotels, what's going to be next?

[Matt laughs]

Andrew: In this little room, we recorded this episode which happened to be our biggest - the most downloaded show of all time for MuggleCast, and it's got to be up there as one of the most downloaded podcasts of all time: 163,000 unique downloads to date on this one episode where we sit there for less than an hour and talk about our initial reactions to the book.

Eric: Wow! And Jamie brilliantly handled e-mails in that - wasn't it you, Jamie, doing that? The e-mails?

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: Jamie was going through the e-mails.

Eric: Absolutely. You got every single one of those that came in, you read them.

Jamie: Which? Well, no, no. I didn't get every one Eric. I got...

Andrew: It was like...

Jamie: ...like half a percent.

Andrew: There was thirty coming in every second. Yeah.

Jamie: Butthere were lots, yeah.

Eric: Yeah, I just meant you hopped up and you handled them very well.

Jamie: Well, thank you, that's very nice.

Andrew: Yeah. So, I'm really proud of that episode. I mean, just because we were so good for getting it - just sitting down and getting it done as soon as we finished the book, you know? We could have just suckered out and waited like a week to discuss our reactions, but we just did it, got it done, and because of how fast we got it up, that day, I think it was the 22nd - because of how fast we got it up, it just - there was just a surge of downloads for people looking for more information.

Jamie: Oh yeah.

Andrew: To hear our thoughts on the book, so..

Jamie: That's pretty good.

Andrew: I'm pretty - I'm really proud of that episode.

Jamie: Yeah.

Year in Review: Wizard Rock Surges

Eric: Now, 2007 was a big year for Wizard Rock, wasn't it?

Andrew: Yeah, it was, because I really think it did surge this year because of the book. Everyone sort of began discovering Wizard Rock and all it had to offer, and that it's just Harry Potter music. It turns out, that's what all the Harry Potter fans love to hear. Amazingly...

[Andrew and Eric laugh]

Andrew: So...

Eric: Some don't. Some don't.

Jamie: Some don't.

Matt: Yeah.

Eric: Micah said that two weeks ago that he doesn't listen to it, and I don't really, either.

Andrew: Yeah, well, it's okay, Micah. Yeah, there's some good artists.

Micah: MTV recognized it so, hey.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah, that happened this year. That did happen this year.

Micah: That's big.

Andrew: It also got a lot of press from MTV back in May, too. So, you know, it's definitely worth noting. They've grown. The wizard rock bands have grown a lot. There's well over a hundred Wizard Rock bands now.

Eric: Geez.

Andrew: [laughs] It's just insane.

Eric: And are they all nouns and plural nouns?

Andrew: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: They're all Harry and the Potters...

Eric: Draco and the Malfoys.

Andrew: Moaning and the Myrtles, Andrew and the Sims.

Eric: Yeah. Andrew and the Sims?

Andrew: I'm just kidding. I hope that didn't exist

Eric: Did you sign a release for that band?

Andrew: No, no. I would be embarrassed.

Jamie: Cease and dessist.

Andrew: Cease and dessist? Yeah.

[Eric laughs]

Year in Review: Jo's Open Book Tour

Andrew: So, besides that, another big event in 2007 was J.K. Rowling's Open Book Tour in the United States and Canada. It was really just a chance for Jo to just meet her fans – meet her fans like she used to, in a very informal setting, in a very intimate setting where she could just read to them and then, just amazingly, she met...

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: Every single person in attendance at these magical events and signed a book for every single person. Just a fantastic thing for Jo to do.

Jamie: It is nice.

Eric: And, of course, this gained a lot of credibility for another one of the biggest events of 2007, amazingly, was the revelation of Dumbledore being gay. And our response to this episode – to this announcement was also one of the most – maybe, well, it was highly downloaded, but it was one of the listener favorites, just because we were so quick with it and it was a fun show; it was also a serious show.

Eric: Real mature, yeah.

Andrew: A lot of people could relate to the show.

Eric: Was that 117, Andrew?

Andrew: I don't know.

Eric: Yeah, it was.

Andrew: I mean, in hindsight – you know, when I heard this news, I was on a natural high. I was like, "Wow. Dumbledore is gay. This is amazing news, something to stir up the fandom." I never thought something would stir up the fandom as much as that did – after the book came out.

Eric: And you know what, the only thing I think that is more important than Dumbledore being gay that – that the American - like, everybody was saying it was everywhere on the news. We had listener accounts that it was on every radio station in taxis while people were dying halfway across the world.

Andrew: Mhm.

Eric: I think the only thing that could top that in recent years has been, just yesterday – Britney Spears' sister is pregnant and she's 16.

[Everyone laughs]

Eric: Because you guys realize that was on every channel, even ESPN had this little ticker at the bottom that said, you know, "Jamie Lyn Spears is pregnant." So, I think that's going to be the next big thing.

Micah: Yeah.

Andrew: Right.

Micah: Yeah. Well. Jamie, I had wanted to ask you about this because a lot of the feedback we had gotten said that this was not even a issue in England and most parts of Europe, whereas it was such a huge deal here in the U.S.

Jamie: Well, I think it's – I mean, for some people it is a big deal for different reasons, you know?

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: I mean, I can't talk for everyone, but for some people, it's because, you know, it's a character they've grown up with and it's just a big change. For other people, you know, there could be other reasons, but I think it's the same as over there, it's just not as well publicized. It hasn't gotten around as well. I haven't heard that many people say it and normally...

Matt: Uh huh.

Jamie: ...I think, you know, people would be talking about it, you know, and they're not. So I don't think it's as big as it is over there or as widely announced.

Andrew: Right.

Jamie: Even nearly.

Andrew: What are your thoughts on that, Jamie? I mean, we never really had you on that show after that announcement.

Jamie: I think it's cool.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: I think it's very, very cool. I thought she was going to reveal – well, I didn't think she was going to, but I would've liked to have seen her. She did talk about revealing a gay character or something about – she talked about someone's sexuality, I'm sure she did. Or there's been a lot of talk for a while on who it could be. There was that whole – what's it called? I guess it was going to happen at some point, but I wouldn't have thought Dumbledore.

Matt: Yeah. No, no, no.

Eric: No, no. Somebody had approached her about Remus and Sirius, I think.

Jamie: Yeah, Remus and Sirius, yeah.

Andrew: Yeah. And, Jamie, you wanted to do an episode on that, I remember, but we were...

Jamie: You what?

Andrew: Sort of, like – remember?

Eric: You wanted that as a discussion.

Andrew: Yeah, you wanted to do that as a discussion to analyze, figure out, maybe if they were both gay.

Jamie: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Eric: And just for the record I think it's credible. I've said it before. I think it's credible.

Jamie: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah. I mean, but we were afraid of going there just because of, you know, the whole...

Eric: Yeah. And before 117 it might not have been, you know? I mean now we can talk.

Andrew: Now, yeah. Now we could definitely, yeah. Yeah, so that was definitely one of the big things.

Jamie: Yeah.

Andrew: What else have wI missed here before we get to...

Eric: The last one.

Andrew: Is that the...

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: ...only thing left? Yeah, I guess so.

Eric: Maybe.

Andrew: Yeah. Go ahead, Eric.

Year in Review: Tales of Beedle the Bard

Eric: And the last thing is the Tales of Beedle the Bard, which J.K. has hand written seven copies. I'm still not sure, did she actually hand write the stories..

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Seven times?

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Because there's seven copies of it? So, yeah. So she wrote the same story seven times for each of the copies. And, actually what I think is cool of it – my friend, Chaya Coppersmith just sent me a one of the auction booklets from Sotheby's...

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: ...of Beedle the Bard.

Jamie: That's cool.

Eric: And it has this whole – yeah, it's absolutely wonderful. I love Chaya for that. That's so amazing. But she sent me this auction book and it has this detailed description and apparently, the seven copies of Beedle the Bard, if you guys didn't know this, were actually – she gave them, J.K. Rowling gave the other six to her closest people who had to do with...

Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, dude. Where have you been? That was the whole point of these.

Eric: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she gave the other six to her, sort of, Harry Potter forerunners.

Andrew: Right.

Eric: Like, her publisher and stuff, and then the seventh book was the one that was auctioned off. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that ‘cause I didn't.

Andrew: Yeah, that was...

Eric: But I got a cool auction book and it...

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: ...has the whole thing.

Andrew: I got it a few weeks ago and I talked about it on the show but I guess you weren't on that episode.

Eric: No, I missed that.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: It is cool. It's a nice little collector's item.

Eric: Yeah, so Amazon.com bought it for 4 million dollars – or 3.8 million dollars.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: Yeah. That's a lot of money.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: Yep.

Eric: Geez. We shall see.

Andrew: Whole lot of money, and I mean we've discussed this on the past few episodes.

Eric: Mhm.

Andrew: But I think that will definitely set the – well, I don't know. It's going to have an impact somehow. I just don't' know how.

Eric: Well, it depends on what they're going to do with it. They're going to do something with it. They're going to...

Andrew: Well, they're going to take it on tour. They're going to take it on tour.

Eric: Yeah. But still, it'll be interesting in 2008 to see what they do with the tours as far as specific...

Andrew: Yeah, absolutely.

Eric: And are they going to have it in a glass case or not?

Andrew: Oh yeah, they're not going to let people touch that.

Eric: I mean, yeah. Yeah. But they've just finished all of their reviews on Amazon of all the stories, so that's interesting.

Andrew: Right.

Eric: Yeah.

What Lies Ahead in Harry Potter For 2008?

Andrew: So, the question now is, what's in store for 2008? Ummm.

Eric: Ummm, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?

Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.

[Matt laughs]

Eric: That's the question that's on everyone's mind.

Andrew: Good question. We won't discuss that.

Eric: What do you think, Andrew? What do you think, Matt? What do you think, Matt?

Andrew: We won't discuss that. Moving on.

Matt: For our President?

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: We're not going to talk about that. We can't talk politics on the show.

Matt: Ugh. Okay. Fine. Geez. I was just asked.

Eric: No, I asked the question. I can't ask a question and get a legitimate answer?

Andrew: No, seriously?

Eric: I'm just saying, you were just saying what's in store for 2008 and that's what's on my mind.

Andrew: Well, yeah, but...

Eric: You think people think otherwise?

Andrew: Yeah, of course.

Eric: Well, the sixth movie is coming out.

Andrew: Yes.

Matt: A couple conventions.

Andrew: Yeah, we're going...

Eric: Yeah, Terminus and...

Andrew: Portus.

Eric: ....Portus.

Andrew: Which we'll be at. HP2008 dot org. Sign up today!

Eric: Absolutely.

Andrew: And I think we're going to be getting plenty of amusement park updates, because over the next year they're really going to start. This is going to be the year of building everything, so...

[Jamie coughs]

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: I think we're going to be getting plenty of updates about that, but generally a lot quieter than last year, which I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. What do you guys think?

Micah: Well, you're not going to match the hype of 2007. No year, from this point...

Matt: Yeah, there's no way to would compare.

Jamie: It would be foolish to attempt to, really.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: But, it'll still be very exciting. It's the next big thing, you know? It's like what the Harry Potter fans are all, "Okay, what do we do next?" Well, we get excited about the movie. We get excited about the thing and this convention and yeah.

Andrew: All right.

Eric: Harry Potter's going to live strong through these events.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: I mean, you don't even know what J.K. Rowling may announce next about a certain character or plot point or something.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: Right, right.

Jamie: Exactly, exactly.

Andrew: Yeah. And I think we'll learn more about the – maybe not more – about the encyclopedia, but more updates on her website.

Eric: Well, there was a news post on MuggleNet just today, wasn't it, or no, just when she made TIME's "Person of the Year" she said the eighth Harry Potter book...

Andrew: Yeah, we talked about that last episode.

Eric: Yeah, okay.

Andrew: All right, so I think that's a good look back at the past year that has been.

Eric: It was our main discussion.

Andrew: It's been a gigantic year.

Eric: Yeah.

Favorite Moments of 2007

Andrew: One other thing I thought we could do – could do favorites, the Favorites segment we haven't done in a while. I thought we could just go around the table and talk about or well not – we don't have to go into too much detail, but just list our favorite memories of 2007. Who wants to go first? Our favorite memory of 2007.

Eric: I'll go first. I think my famous – er, sorry – my favorite memory is the Book 7 event in Waterstones just because of how it went off without a hitch, how Waterstones had prepared so much for us, how it was smooth once we got there, and getting the book, being in the VIP party, and actually, most of all, seeing the fans that had been lining up, and I spent a bit of time down with them, as well as doing the podcast, which I think is one of my favorite live shows, if not my favorite live show. I think it was just everything from the light above me – almost falling on me – was absolutely wonderful. And that's my favorite memory – absolutely, just that night.

[Andrew laughs]

Andrew: Micah?

Micah: I mean, I would say, because I had other commitments – work related stuff – and wasn't able to go to London and a couple of other places. Philadelphia for me, because it was the first opportunity I had to do a live show, and it's really the only time, I think, over the course o the summer, that I got to spend with you and Ben and Emerson and Jamie. So...

Eric: This was Enlightening, Micah?

Micah: Enlightening. Yeah, Enlightening 2007, and I'll say this – I haven't had the chance, really, to be at a whole lot of other conventions, but I thought that overall they had a lot of stuff and they did a really good job for a family event.

Andrew: Definitely, yeah.

Micah: And the place we podcasted from was awesome. I don't remember the name of the hall that we were in.

Andrew: Yeah.

Micah: But it was Hogwarts-like, almost.

Andrew: Yeah, yeah. Me neither. I would have to agree – before we get to Matt.

Matt: Hmmm?

Andrew: I think Enlightening - the podacst we did there was definitely, I think, the best live show we've ever done.

Eric: Really?

Andrew: Yeah, because I mean the one in London was great, but this one in Enlightening - it flowed so well. We nearly went for two hours. We didn't want to stop. I remember whispering over to Ben, "When should we wrap this up?" And he was like, "Let's keep going with questions, this is going really well." And I was like, "Yeah, it is." It sounds – if you listen on the recording, it was a very professional audio recording, it was in a hall so you can sort of hear our voices echoing, so you can even get the feel of where we were.

Eric: Of being there, yeah.

Andrew: Overall it was definitely a very nice experience.

Eric: Cool, cool.

Andrew: We had a great number of fans there and like Micah said, the venue was excellent, and we nearly went for two hours. We were sort of the pinnacle of the conference; I mean, that's the way they made it out to be. We had a great time, but so did everyone there, the organizers really enjoyed having us there. So, yeah.

Eric: Sounds good, sorry I missed it. [laughs]

Andrew: That was definitely worth it. It was a shame too, Eric, since...

Eric: Since it was in Pennsylvania and I normally live in Pennsylvania, but that's okay.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Sounds awesome.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Matt?

Andrew: All right. Yeah, Matt

Matt: Yeah?

Andrew: Favorite of 2007?

Matt: I would have to say – it would probably be Prophecy in Canada. That would probably be my favorite because looking back, nothing went wrong. Pretty much everything was pretty much fun and I think everybody enjoyed themselves a lot. And I had a lot of fun just meeting everybody - a lot for the first time. And it was just really fun. The entire...

Eric: You definitely.

Matt: Sorry?

Eric: Yeah, and you going to Portus as well?

Matt: I don't know.

Eric: Oh, you should man. Same people, same people. HPEF will be there.

Andrew: Well, sort of. [laughs] Same people are running it.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah. I think the one thing that didn't go right at Prophecy was that fire alarm that went of at like midnight or something.

Eric: Ugh, fire alarm.

Matt: Yeah, but – I think everybody had a fun story to tell during it.

[Andrew and Matt laugh]

Andrew: Alex...

Matt: I didn't have to go down 30 flights of stairs like some people did.

Eric: Who started the fire alarm?

Andrew: I don't – nobody knows. But Alex Carpenter, I remember, started this dance. The fire alarm sounded like something you would hear in a techno song or something.

Eric: Oh geez.

Andrew: So, every time the alarm would start buzzing again Alex Carpenter would start dancing. [laughs] Like a techno dance, it was so funny.

[Matt laughs]

Andrew: I'm sure there's a video on YouTube or something. But that was a good memory.

Eric: Geez.

Matt: Yeah.

Eric: So The Remus Lupins have other band members, doesn't it?

Andrew: The Remus Lupins, yeah.

Matt: Yes!

Eric: Great, awesome.

Andrew: Absolutely fantastic live band.

Matt: And a great group of guys too.

Andrew: Absolutely, yeah. Jamie, what was your favorite moment of 2007?

[Strange noise]

Andrew: Whoa!

Micah: Maybe he's enjoying it right now. [laughs]

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: That was him? I thought that was someone on Matt's mic.

Matt: It's – yeah, it was my sister. Sorry! What?

Micah: Oh, well now...

Andrew: Jamie, you there?

Jamie: Okay, it's a tough choice, it really is a tough choice. I can think of so many good things. I mean the book tour, I thought, was one of the best times ever. It was eight days? Eight or nine?

Matt: Mhm.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: And it was so much fun. But then Prophecy was so much fun as well.

Andrew: Mhm.

Jamie: So, it's such a tough one. But the entire summer was a whirlwind, it was so cool.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: Meeting everyone and – I had a really good summer, if that could be the thing.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Okay.

Andrew: Yeah, Jamie, you were away for a second when I said mine. I don't know if you would agree with this ,but the Enlightening 2007 podcast we did was definitely one of the best live podcasts we've done.

Jamie: That one was a lot of fun.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: It really was a lot of fun, and it was a really responsive audience as well. Really nice people.

Andrew: Yeah, that was like, that was like...

Jamie: Some really good topics.

Andrew: Yeah, we podcasted for over an hour-and-a-half and we didn't want to stop because it was going so well.

Jamie: Yeah, that was fun, a lot of fun.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: Enlightening altogether was fun. The talk we did I enjoyed as well.

Andrew: Definitely, yep, yep.

Eric: About podcasting.

Jamie: It was like – yeah.

Andrew: Yeah, well let's move along now.

Eric: Because we've got two entire chapters to do.

Andrew: We have two entire chapters to do.

Matt: Geez.

Chapter-by-Chapter: The Will of Albus Dumbledore

Andrew: Yeah. Let's move through them quick. All right, so now it's time for Chapter-by-Chapter, let's start off this week with Chapter 7, The Will of Albus Dumbledore. Micah, just start with a basic summary and then move onto the first point.

Micah: OKay.

Andrew: I'll be right back.

Harry's Too "Open-Minded"

Micah: Okay, so I mean the basic summary of the chapter is it's Harry's birthday, they are celebrating it and the Minister of Magic makes an unexpected appearance at his party. And he goes over the contents of Professor Dumbledore's will with Harry, Ron and Hermione and we'll get to that in particular in terms of what was left to the three of them. But what I wanted to start off is where the chapter begins primarily with Harry's dream that he's having. And he can't remember where he heard this name. Well, he wakes up and Ron tells him that he's been muttering some name in his sleep. And the name I believe is Gregorovitch.

Eric: Yep.

Micah: He has no idea who it is but he knows that he's heard the name before and he knows that it has to do with Quidditch and he also knows that Voldemort is after him. Now, in my recollection, this is the first time in Deathly Hallows that we see Harry going into Voldemort's mind and experiencing things that Voldemort is experiencing. Was this really in your guys' opinion, I mean, a safe idea? I know he's dreaming but shouldn't he be trying to block these things out of his mind?

Eric: Okay, Hermione.

[Jamie laughs]

Eric: Okay, honestly – okay, Hermione. Well, just the first thing you said Micah - is this really the first time he's in his mind? Because isn't the first whole chapter a nightmare of Harry's at the same time because Harry wakes up - oh no, no, no, never mind. No, he was awake and he was bleeding - I thought the first chapter was kind of a dream sequence but that in Book 4, isn't it?

Micah: Yeah.

Eric: The beginning of Book 4 is Harry's dream. So, yeah. It is a strange connection between Harry and Voldemort, you're right. During the chapter when Hermione finds out about the dream, she scolds him that he should be keeping Voldemort out of his mind. I think you're right - it is pretty dangerous. And there's a great line somewhere in this chapter, that says that Voldemort has been taking over the Ministry and the whole world and not your mind too. You know?

Jamie: But surely you can't know too much about your enemy. I mean, I know ignorance is bliss but it's not in that case. Because the more Harry understands, the more he understands Voldemort and magic.

Micah: Right.

Matt: Yes.

Eric: Yeah.

Jamie: Because magic has very subtle undertones, so the more he knows about the world and how people act magically.

Micah: Right.

Jamie: I just think it's useful and if he wasn't so stubborn and sort of determined in his own way, perhaps it would be perfect. But he does follow stuff too quickly before asking for help. That's the only reason I'd say why he shouldn't be if that makes sense.

Eric: I think you're right, Jamie. I mean, he has this unique tool to see into the mind of Voldemort. He has to use it.

Micah: Right.

Jamie: Yeah.

Eric: Otherwise he's got nothing over anyone else in defeating Voldemort.

Andrew: And he's just dead curious too. I mean, I'd want to know what he's up to, especially if I have to kill him.

Matt: Yeah.

Jamie: Yeah, exactly.

Eric: Yeah.

Voldemort's Vulnerability

Micah: I guess on the flip side though - if Harry is smart to be doing this and to taking onto these clues then how stupid is Voldemort?

[Andrew laughs]

Micah: To not be closing this out or even taking the steps to close this out? Because...

Eric: Like he used to.

Micah: Exactly.

Eric: He did at one. It was said. Yeah.

Micah: I mean, he used it to his advantage once, why wouldn't he think that at some point in the future, Harry won't be able to do the same thing?

Eric: He would because it was said he was practicing Legilimency against Harry - or so The Order thought. That was said in what? Earlier in Book 6 or something?

Micah: Yeah.

Andrew: Right, right. Yeah.

Micah: This is really when the pieces start to come together for Harry and he's relaying this information onto people that are helping him out. And I just thought - I know that Voldemort is a flawed character but I didn't think he would be this dumb.

Eric: Same.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: I said I would prefer a more cunning and more intelligent Voldemort who made fewer mistakes. This is the beginning of the end for Voldemort...

Jamie: No, but...

Eric: This is where he makes one of many stupid, plain stupid mistakes due to carelessness.

Jamie: No, but wait - which mistake are you talking about specifically? The mind thing?

Eric: In thi case he just stopped... Yeah, the mind thing.

Jamie: You know, if you write perfect characters, your book get rejected. Everyone is flawed - that's sort of the subtlety of writing, being able to write flawed characters. And Voldemort in that regard - because he considers everyone beneath his power, he doesn't think that other people's minds can sort of influence him or take anything from his rock-solid mind. So it's like - he wouldn't care about that just as when Kreacher went to the island and drank the potion. He wouldn't have bothered to think about whether he could get back. It's just his mindset now. And as Jo says, "He's wormed from all the killing and stuff and can't get it back." So, his mind can't fully recover, I'd say.

Eric: Right, right. I would agree with you except that I think with Harry he does - I mean Harry is obviously the only threat to him. I think he would treat the connection just as seriously as he always had because he had treated the connection between their minds very importantly. First, when he was using Harry and second when Occlumency against him - or Legilimency. But, it's just - I just think Voldemort, and I would use that excuse. I mean, you're right, perfect characters do get rejected. And I would use that excuse for, sort of, many of the mistakes that Voldemort makes. But as I plan to illustrate later, there just so many mistakes that Voldemort makes that I stop being able to accept that excuse, Jamie. After a while, I stop being able to accept that Voldemort is a flawed character because I just think that she has portrayed him a little bit smarter than that in Book 6.

Jamie: But you...

Eric: ...when he is manipulating people and stuff. By the end of Book 7 he just makes so many mistakes. And that was my problem.

Jamie: So does Harry though! Harry makes ridiculous amounts of mistakes as well. So does everyone!

Eric: Yeah. But they all work for him. They all work for him.

Jamie: Oh, no, but they don't know. Because he suffered a lot, like - it was a worthwhile victory because he saved the future but it was also kind of parry. He didn't lose everything but he lost a lot. A great deal of people he knew.

Eric: He did.

Jamie: So he made mistakes. Now, it wasn't his fault that these people died, but he didn't do everything perfectly. A lot of the time, Hermione was right or Ron was right; they also made mistakes. They let stuff get in the way, they didn't think logically. They sort of, you know, acted childishly. Everyone made mistakes. Snape did. Dumbledore especially; think of what he did, but he is still such an amazingly written character. And I would argue even though his mistakes were probably greater and in a bigger number, he was a more perfect character because of what he stood for. Perhaps, that kind of thing.

Andrew: Yeah. Okay. Well, let's move it along here.

Harry and Ginny

Eric: But just some of the events that happened in the chapter: Harry's talk with Ginny. When Ginny wishes Harry a very private "Happy Birthday," which is interrupted by Ron, who tells Harry later to stop groping his sister. That Ginny thing - I'm sorry, but I had to mention it - because that Ginny thing is very well written.

Jamie: Yeah, yeah. That's true.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: I absolutely - I mean, a lot of these chapters feel like - I call them "book five chapters" because of how well - how much stuff is in them. Just these two chapters are.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: Yeah.

Eric: And I think they are amazing to read as the last chapters of this year that we read on the podcast. It's a build-up and it's a let-down. As we get to the wedding, it's sort of the last order - the last chapter where everything is sort of normal with the living structure before they go off.

Jamie: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: And so, yeah. But the Ginny thing - now guys. I just - can you all just talk about it for a second? Just what you thought about it, Harry and Ginny, and how that played out in the series.

Andrew: Ummm, well.

Eric: Because this is pretty much the last time we see Harry and Ginny before the Epilogue as far as I can remember. And there are some scenes later where they meet again, but...

Jamie: Well it's very - sorry, go on!

Andrew: No, go on!

Jamie: Well, I would say it's interpretable in very, very different ways. That scene where they're kissing and Ron and Hermione walking in - because it's very mature. Because, you know, it's very sort of "grown up" for how old they are in some ways.

Matt: Mhm.

Jamie: But also it's not very "grown up" at all.

Matt: Mhm.

Jamie: So, it's like you can interpret it in different ways. It would be very interested to see how the filmmakers put their spin on it.

Matt: Yeah.

Jamie: Whether it's two sort of children getting personal business confused or it's two adults who are having something. God, that was too deep. I feel sick.

Eric: No, no, it was. But do you think they would do a lot of character development on Bonnie Wright and Daniel Radcliffe then?

Jamie: Probably. I think they probably will, yeah. They need - I mean, that's a big scene, a very big scene.

Matt: Mhm.

Eric: Because they spent the time on Cho. So, I...

Matt: Yeah.

Eric: I think they should.

Matt: I think that'd be a fairly good scene to watch too, in the movie.

Eric: Yeah, definitely.

Matt: Reading these books - now after reading them a couple of times, I start thinking about how it's going to look in the movies. And I really see how - I really see Emma Watson and Rupert Grint really focusing on each other a lot in this scene.

Jamie: Definitely.

Eric: Yeah.

Jamie: That's true.

Eric: They're sort of aware of it in the background. There are also two very separate mentions of the two stolen hours on Hogwarts grounds a million years ago that took place between Harry and Ginny. It's like an insight into Book 6 we didn't have before. I just think it's so wonderful because it's Harry's relationship.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: And it kind of ends a bit sadly when he goes off. It's just one of those great elements of this book before he goes off and has this long journey.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: The Ginny thing was very well-handled and important. Ummm, yep.

Andrew: I agree.

Jamie: That's good. Yeah.

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