Announcement: Follow MuggleCast on Twitter

Andrew: Everyday. Sorry. [laughs] And also, as I announced last week, we now have a MuggleCast Twitter at Twitter.com/MuggleCast. You can get the latest updates about the latest MuggleCast episodes there. For example, last week, once we finished recording, I let everyone know that MuggleCast 144 was just finished, and then I also posted when MuggleCast 144 went online. And everyone who was following got to see what segments we were doing early, so you become a - you know, we're not doing an ad for them, we just like Twitter. Matt and I like Twitter. It's fun.

Matt: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It gets kind of addicting after a while.

Andrew: Even though you don't - you're a Twitter poser. You don't really use it as much as I do.

Matt: Oh, okay. I'm sorry.

Muggle Mail: Harry Potter Off Bestseller List

Andrew: [laughs] Anyway, it's time for Muggle Mail this week. Who wants to take the first e-mail?

Eric: I will. Okay, first Muggle Mail comes from Andrea Nero from 18 of Taconic, New York. No more of those Schenectimy people, Micah.

Micah: Schenectady?

Eric: Yeah, that one.

Andrew: 12345.

Eric: Another place in New York entirely. It says:

"Hi, Micah..."

Micah: I actually drove past Schenectady on Monday and I took a picture of the sign.

Andrew: Mm, great. Everyone cares.

Eric: Oh, that's the picture you said you were going to show me.

Andrew: Oh, really?

Micah: Yeah.

Eric: Oh, awesome. Awesome.

Andrew: You should post it on MuggleCast.com.

Eric: Yeah, man.

Andrew: But anyway...

Eric: Okay, first Muggle Mail comes from Andrea Nero, 18, of Taconic, New York. She says:

"Hi Micah...I just wanted..."

Micah: Hi.

Eric: [laughs] Hi.

"I just wanted to send this in because I was just listening to Episode 144. When you and the other hosts were discussing how 'Harry Potter' has gone off the bestseller list for the first time in a decade, you mentioned that everyone should just be impressed that it was there for so long now that it is off - or not that it is now off. It reminded me of a quote from Dr. Seuss, which says, 'Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.' You do a great job on the show. I always enjoy your insight. Thanks."

Micah: Aw, that's nice.

Eric: I agree.

Andrew: That was great. Great point.

Micah: Thank you, Andrea.

Eric: That was...

Micah: Your check is in the mail.

[Eric and Andrew laugh]

Muggle Mail: MuggleCast on iTunes

Matt: Our next Muggle Mail comes from Sarah from Australia in regards to iTunes. She says:

"Hey, MuggleCasters, this is an e-mail regarding Episode 144. Eric and Andrew were talking about the download problems, and I found that 1) If iTunes has not updated the new episode, go into the podcast section on iTunes, right click on the MuggleCast title, and select 'Update Podcast.' Then it should automatically download the new episode. And 2) If they don't like the older episodes being in a song format in their iPods, they should put all the MuggleCast files in a playlist. In that file, right click on the file, go to 'Get Info,' and then in the options tab check the 'Remember playback position' and 'Skip when shuffling' boxes. When you update your iPod, this playlist will become also like a podcast list. Keep up the great work. Sarah."

Eric: See, it's good that Sarah...

Andrew: Thanks, Sarah, for that good suggestion.

Eric: ...sent that in because I didn't really know how to do that with - I mean, the problem always is, if you add MuggleCast episodes as a song in your library, it'll come up when you shuffle, and I had not known about this skip when shuffling option.

Matt: But it still won't come with all the other episodes, will it?

Eric: And it still won't, no but...

Andrew: But if you put them on a playlist then it's like a, you know...

Eric: Yeah, exactly.

Andrew: Micah, next e-mail?

Muggle Mail: Invisibility Cloak

Micah: Sure. The next mail comes from Michael Ravier, 22, from Paris, France. He says:

"Hello, MuggleCasters, I've just been listening to your last episode, and I wanted to clarify a couple of things about the Invisibility Cloak. The Cloak protects itself against spells but not the people under it. For example, in 'Half-Blood Prince,' Draco manages to stun Harry through the Cloak because Harry is the one targeted by the spell. However, in "Deathly Hallows,' the Death Eater thankfully tries to summon the one thing that wouldn't answer the Summoning Charm, which is Death's Invisibility Cloak. I think that, had he summoned anything beneath the Cloak, like a wand, it would've gone right to him, possibly taking the Cloak away in the process." - which he thinks is a funny picture - "By the way, I live in France, and I don't think I've missed a single show for two years, so you can now officially say you've got fans here too. I'm going to D.C. next year for my studies, so I hope you'll come by for a live show. Love you all, especially the very clever Laura. Michael."

Micah: Ooo, Laura's got a little love interest in Paris.

Eric: Yeah. Those French are so romantic. [laughs] She's in France.

Micah: She flew over already. Wow.

Andrew: Luckily for Michael, Laura is very close to D.C., so...

Micah: She is. Look at that.

Andrew: Have to bring back the MuggleCast dating service for her.

Micah: All right.

Muggle Mail: Dumbledore Seeing Beneath Cloak

Andrew: Next e-mail comes from Kim, 20, of Texas. She writes:

"Hello! First off, I'm a big fan of the show and you guys are doing an awesome job. After listening to Episode 144, I've one rebuttal: during the chapter discussion you asked about the Invisibility Cloak and how Dumbledore might've seen the trio under it in 'The Prisoner of Azkaban.' I actually remember Jo answering this in her big online chat in July, so I copied and pasted the Q&A here. And this girl asks Jo, 'Why is it that Albus Dumbledore can see Harry under the Invisibility Cloak at certain moments? During the series, is the Cloak only infallible to those who do not own a Deathly Hallow?' J.K. Rowling responds, 'Dumbledore, who could perform magic without needing to say the incantation aloud, was using Hominum revealo, the human presence revealing spell that Hermione makes use of in DH.' Hope that clears it up. I guess Dumbledore always did find the loopholes. Hope summer treats you well and thanks for reading. Kim."

Andrew: So that's a nice - that's - thank you for clarifying that. Well, it is Jo's answer, so...

Eric: [laughs] So we'd hope it would. I thought that the Hominum revealo spell made all the human bodies, like, jump or light up or do something crazy, because when Hermione used it in Deathly Hallows it made like a thumping noise upstairs. Or when the Death Eaters used it in Xenophilius's house, it made like a loud noise letting them know that there were humans.

Matt: Did it do a noise? I always thought it was just like - just a little something that signifies that they're there, like a halo or something.

Eric: Yeah, well, made Hominum Revealo - yeah. Reveal the humans.

Matt: Is it only to the person that makes the spell? Does the spell?

Eric: Hmm.

Micah: Right. Well, the other thing is, that Dumbledore, for example, in Hagrid's Hut Chamber of Secrets - he would be saying it nonverbally, so chances are that if you're doing it nonverbally I doubt it would just make a noise or reveal the person right there. It's probably only to - to him to be able to see.

Matt: Yeah. Kind of like a compass or something that points you in the right direction.

Eric: Actually, that's a good comparison. Yes, these two things about the Invisibility Cloak were really interesting Muggle Mails. Appreciated them getting sent in.

Muggle Mail: Comparing Dumbledore and Grindelwald to Leopold and Lobe

Eric: Last e-mail comes from Mel, 15, and their comment is:

"Hi, I would like to start by saying how much I love MuggleCast. Now for the real comment-ish type thing: while I was listening to Episode 144, I noticed how similar the story of Dumbledore and Grindelwald was to that of Leopold and Lobe. Compare Dumbledore to Leopold and Grindelwald to Lobe. Like Lobe, Grindelwald was purely evil, was convinced that he was a superman. Convinced a dear friend that the two of them could do something that no one else could do, and was eventually killed, murdered, in prison. Like Leopold, Dumbledore was gay, was convinced he could do the impossible, and had a sense of guilt for being involved in a murder. Also Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Leopold and Lobe were all geniuses at least in the academic sense. Please discuss what you think about this. I'm not really trying to start any rumors about what the story was based on, but I would still like to hear if it could be conceivable or if I'm just overreaching. Thank you for all of your time spent reading this, Mel."

Andrew: I think we have another lawsuit.

Eric: [laughs] No, no, not at all. I actually read into this article after I got this e-mail, and they were actually two men from Chicago, and they committed this bad crime - kidnapping, murder - and there wasn't exactly that many similarities that I found between the two. I mean I can understand why this e-mail was sent in, but I felt that Dumbledore was a lot more regretful about the whole crime, and they didn't actually - it should be said that Grindelwald and Dumbledore didn't actually commit this crime, whereas Leopold and Lobe actually took this guy, killed him, buried him, you know, and did this whole - it lasted a really long time, and the Leopold and Lobe trial was mostly famous for the defense attorney they hired, which was talking about the death penalty and tried to shame the system for justifying - for the justice that Leopold and Lobe were going to face, so I can see the comparisons, but I didn't really think it was terribly similar. But it's an interesting story anyway just to read. I enjoyed reading it.

Chapter-by-Chapter: Chapter 29, "The Lost Diadem"

Andrew: Yeah. Yeah, thank you, Mel, for that. Well, moving right along. Let's get into Chapter-by-Chapter as we do every week for the past so many episodes now.

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: We are going to talk about Chapter 29, "The Lost Diadem," and gosh, another really short chapter. I was going right through it and then before I knew it I was on the last page. I was like, "Wow. That came quick." This is the episode - or this is the chapter where Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to Hogwarts. There's my five second summary.

Neville's a Tough Guy

Andrew: The chapter kicks off with Neville - well, the trio talking to Neville, and what we really see here is that Neville has changed a lot. He's been living rough. He's a tough guy now.

[Matt and Laura laugh]

Andrew: You know, when we were first introduced to him in the first few books, he was just this kid that could easily be bullied around, and he was a little punk.

[Matt laughs]

Andrew: And kind of dorky looking.

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: I mean he still is dorky looking, but now he's a big tough guy. He's got a lot of - how do you put it in an appropriate way?

Matt: He's butch!

Eric: He's buff.

Andrew: He's buff. He's tough. That's what I'm trying to say.

Eric: Yeah, man. And what we found out, actually, in this chapter also, is that it's in his genes, baby! We'll get into that later.

Andrew: What, with his grandma writing to him?

Eric: [laughs] Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Well, not only that, but I mean his parents. We've known his parents were the other couple who really defied Voldemort so many times. You know, so, yeah, it's totally in his genes, but Neville's a stud - quoting Ben Schoen.

Matt: He's very assertive now. He's very much a leader than we've seen him since the last book.

Eric: Yeah, and his hair is longer than ever, which was actually said in the last chapter - at the very end of the last chapter, but his hair is really long, and he is the leader or the main proporter of Dumbledore's Army, and has been this whole year when Harry has been absent.

Matt: He's basically replaced Harry as the trouble-maker at Hogwarts.

Eric: Not that Harry was a trouble-maker, but yeah.

Matt: Well, he kind of was.

Eric: He kind of was. That's true. That's true.

Matt: He didn't really, you know, follow the rule at Hogwarts much.

Eric: I think Neville did the intentional things though. I respect Neville more, in fact, for that, for going out there and graffiti-ing the walls and stuff. That was - that's really cool.

Andrew: So everyone has heard of what they've been up to and between their - has heard about Gringott's, escaping on the dragon, and Terry Boot has even gotten in to trouble for shouting about it at dinner. So, doing all these things brought everyone hope that they were on the move and they were doing something for Dumbledore. And someone even says that.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: So I mean, you know, I think already at this point the trio's starting to get a little worried. Like, "Okay, we just got to get out of here. We need - we got stuff to do."

The Room of Requirement

Eric: So, wait, actually, let's talk about how they came to the - they end up in the Room of Requirement, 'cause they're walking down the passage at the beginning of the chapter and they don't know exactly where they are when they - when, you know, when the door opens up. But it turns out they're in the Room of Requirement, which actually has this passage, which looks old, looks like it had been there for years or so, even though it hadn't been. We find out that it was just recently. Neville was hiding out in the Room of Requirement 'cause he was about to be put in, you know, he's in a lot of trouble and he needed food. And instead of providing him directly with food, which the Room of Requirement can't conjure for specific reasons, it actually gave him a passageway to the Hog's Head, where he went out and found Aberforth. And he's like, "I need food," and Aberforth gave him food and from then on it was - there was a passage. Okay. So Neville informs Aberforth that more people will be arriving via direct Apparition into the Hog's Head, which is how they actually are going to get to Hogwarts without setting off the alarms all over Hogsmeade like Harry did.

Matt: Well, let's talk a little more about the Room of Requirement since you talked about it.

Eric: Yeah.

Matt: Since Neville was responsible for keeping it to where no one would get in, he's actually the one to get all the loopholes and keep the Carrows and - oh, what'd he say? "By the way, I don't want any Carrow supporters to get in."

Eric: Yeah.

Matt: And what I was curious was, wouldn't that mean that Snape would be able to get in the Room of Requirement if he walked past it? Because, I mean, he's not on the Carrows' side.

Eric: I get the feeling that Snape would be taking a backseat to all of this, 'cause there's certain things like - like the graffiti that says "Dumbledore's Army: Still Recruiting," which, you know, Snape - they mention that Snape was really irritated by that, but it can't really be making his job any easier because he's clearly got to punish people for this, but, you know, he's in this double agent role so it's - it's got to be something like that. Like, I think Snape would probably steer clear of the Room of Requirement, but it's a good...

Matt: Well, I'm not saying that he would, but I'm saying is it possible for him? Is it a possibility that he has the accessibility to get into the Room of Requirement?

Eric: It would depend on whatever loopholes they closed. I mean...

Matt: I mean, unless he said - unless they said, "Snape cannot get into this room."

Andrew: Well, he could also - they - he could also know about the Room of Requirement, but since he's not on Voldemort's side, he could just be letting them slide.

Eric: Yeah, possibly.

Andrew: Without telling anyone, you know, he just keeps that in his head.

Eric: Well, the thing that's said is that Neville really gets this room and "gets" is in parentheses. And I really like that about this characterization - how Neville really, kind of, understands Hogwarts. He's really found his niche. He's really found his thing that really, you know - that he really likes in Hogwarts and it's the Room of Requirement, which is now, you know, the headquarters for any kind of rebellion that's going on at Hogwarts.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: And so that was really cool.

Andrew: So it raises a lot of questions about the Room of Requirement. And we later find out that Draco's been using it as well. So is it possible that the Room of Requirement can be duplicated?

Matt: Yeah, that's what I - that's what I'm thinking because if someone uses the Room of Requirement, is there, like, a "Do Not Disturb" sign in it to where no one else can use it?

Eric: Well, we - that question was answered in Book 6 because there's a few times when - when Malfoy's in the Room of Requirement and Harry, you know, is trying to follow him and find out where he's going. And I think one time he finds a broom closet, which is completely different from - you know, Draco's already in the room. And it's mentioned in this chapter of Book 7 that as long as one person stays in the Room the Room remains open. So...

Matt: No, but what I mean is, if someone needs a Room of Requirement of their own will it form to them?

Eric: I wonder. I don't think so. I - I think...

Matt: Or will it form for somebody else?

Andrew: I think if someone's already in that room...

Eric: Yeah, I think it - yeah, I think it would probably not.

Matt: But I'm saying, does it not exist if someone's already in it? Like does the Room of Requirement not work for anybody else who wants to get into a Room of Requirement for their own purpose?

Eric: I'd have to reread Book 6 to figure out exactly.

Andrew: It may just not activate.

Eric: Yeah, I just don't - don't think it works.

Dumbledore's Army and Hogwarts

Andrew: Do we want to talk about the Order real quick? Or sorry, the Army?

Eric: Yeah - yeah, we got to talk about what the Army's doing, because this is - this is really relevant and...

Andrew: They're not doing much though.

Eric: Dude they totally are though.

Andrew: What are they doing?

Eric: They're - they're I mean...

Matt: But what's worth discussing?

Eric: What's worth discussing is how Hogwarts is different. Not necessarily what the Order's doing, but what Hogwarts is like now because, I mean, we've been - I just got to say it - We've been away from Hogwarts this entire book and it was a welcome reunion in my mind. I was just - I was so happy to be back.

Andrew: Yeah, I think everyone was looking forward to it, but I - I remember, we had so many debates over whether they would be going back to Hogwarts or not.

Eric: Yeah, we did. It was kind of annoying - it's kind of annoying to think of actually. [laughs] But...

Andrew: Yeah. And of course we all wanted to see Hogwarts again, but we're not seeing Hogwarts. We're not seeing what we fell in love with so much.

Eric: Well we're seeing a little bit of Hogwarts we never saw before, which is what's so cool about the end of this chapter. We'll get into it in a minute, but I think what's important is how the Carrows and how Snape as Headmaster and how that whole thing is going, you know, with the Ministry practically in Voldemort's hands, how Hogwarts is - is so close to falling. It's - or so close to being evil. I mean, do you guys want to talk about the classes and things? Like - like I think it's pretty significant.

Matt: No, I'm cool.

Eric: You're cool? Well, instead of Defense Against the Dark Arts there's Dark Arts where they perform the Cruciatus Curse on other students who've earned detentions. And the only other really significant thing I guess is the...

Micah: The Muggle Studies?

Eric: Yeah, Muggle Studies is instead more like why Muggles are animals and why it is right for us to take them over. Is pretty much what's being taught by Alecto Carrow. So...

Andrew: What is their intention in doing this?

Micah: Well, it goes back to all the stuff that we've talked about. At least in my opinion related not just to World War II but to a lot of the sort of prejudicial things that take place in the world as a whole. And this was kind of their way of showing - or they, I should say, Jo's way of showing that it sort of reaches out to all areas. It's not just, you know, we see it at the Ministry but Hogwarts is exempt from it. Hogwarts now, we're starting to see throughout this entire period of time, is falling under the same sort of thing that Voldemort was able to do at the Ministry and other places in both the wizarding and the regular world. And it just kind of shows you the sickness that exists in people when they're actually having these Death Eaters teaching class, and saying that Muggles are equivalent to animals.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: And they should be treated as such.

Eric: Exactly, Micah's...

Micah: I mean that's a very - that's a very elitist view on the world. Very similar to the Nazis and how they treated the Jews. And so - and it wasn't just the Jews, obviously; there were other classes of people at that time as well that were treated in the same way. And, you know, it goes also, what you guys were talking - the change that we saw in Neville, for example. You know, he actually stands up to the Muggle Studies teacher, asking, you know, how much Muggle blood do you have in you? That's actually, for the first time, really, we're starting to see Neville as a different character. I know you mentioned that before but, you know, it takes some balls to stand up and say something like that.

Eric: Oh, it does! I mean, especially because we know that Voldemort has Muggle blood in him. You know, he's half Muggle, actually, and it's just so hypocritical for the whole system and that's why Neville's line was so good and just what you're saying, Micah, is totally right. I mean, by making something seem less than human, by calling it less than human, by believing that something - that someone, rather, is less than human, you can do so much to hurt and harm them and not be guilty about it, and it's sick. It's very, very sick.

Andrew: I think it's an inspiration to Harry, too. I mean, not just seeing all of his old friends - seeing what they're going through, what classes they have to deal with right now, but it gives Harry a new reason more than - a new reason that's very important why he needs to complete Dumbledore's task.

Eric: Exactly.

Andrew: Even after hearing what Aberforth had to say about Dumbledore's - Dumbledore making him do this just for Dumbledore's pleasure.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: So they do communicate through the coins that we first saw in Half-Blood Prince.

Voldemort's Vision

Eric: No, it was Order of the Phoenix. Right, so right Harry has - right about now Harry has this flash and it's Voldemort, and he realizes that the ring is gone, and I thought, guys, at this point, he would begin telling everyone, "okay, wait a minute." I mean, surely Harry realizes that Voldemort is very, very close to pretty much going full speed to Hogwarts. Why do you guys think - I mean, I think it would make sense for Harry to warn them that, "okay guys, this is kind of it. This is it. We need to..."

Andrew: No, I think if you warned them it would just put them into a panic. I don't think Harry would want to put all of the kids into a panic. Plus he doesn't know if he's definitely - because it even says, Harry doesn't know if he's going to go to the Lake or to actually Hogwarts. I mean, it's still Hogwarts, the lake, but...

Matt: They just know - he just knows he's running out of time.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah, well, surely I think it would be appropriate for Harry to warn everyone. I mean, I don't think they'll panic because they're here for this sort of thing. Think of the world they're living in. Think of the...

Andrew: Yeah, but they don't know how it feels until it's actually happening, so maybe Harry doesn't know how they'll react.

Matt: Right.

Eric: Maybe, but I still think it would have been better than to - I mean, he just basically left them all in a room and he ends up pretty S.O.L. at the end of this chapter when one of the Death Eaters touches her death mark - or Dark Mark, so, you know, whatever. I think it would have been more appropriate to warn everyone, but it's just a thing. I mean, then again he did warn Ron and Hermione. He told Ron and Hermione that he's close or whatever.

The Ravenclaw Common Room

Andrew: Right. So after all that, Harry and Luna go into the Ravenclaw common room because Cho suggests that - I think it was Cho, right? - that the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw.

Eric: Right.

Andrew: So, here's one thing I wanted to talk about. To get in, the portrait will ask you a question and the question that was asked to Harry and Luna was, "Which came first, the Phoenix or the flame?" And Luna, as clever as she is, says, "A circle has no beginning," and then the portrait says "Well reasoned," and then it opens up. Isn't this extremely flawed?Because I thought that - you know - Gryffindor has an actual password that only Gryffindors are only supposed to know. But in the Ravenclaw's case, all you have to do is give them an answer. I mean, is this security trying to suggest that only Ravenclaws can be clever enough to answer these questions?

Eric: Yeah, I think that's exactly...

Matt: That - it's pretty biased of them, isn't it?

Eric: Well, I thought it was brilliant. I thought it was really cool, and I don't think it's a portrait.

Andrew: It is cool, it's just very unsecured.

Matt: Well, it's a cool idea but it's flawed.

Eric: Well, it's not a portrait either, it's kind of an eagle door knocker sort of thing that talks, like the beak and - when you listen to the response, when Luna says, "I think the answer is a circle has no beginning," the knocker says, "Well reasoned." So it's like listening to their figurative - it is kind of flawed, like, I wonder if anyone can just answer a riddle if you were smart enough. But I was rereading Philosopher's Stone earlier today and when they get to Snape's potions, do you guys remember that? Trying to get through the fire etc., Hermione says, "Well, not all these wizards, you know, won't have an ounce of logic." And I think that's probably true, it's one of the traits that Ravenclaws are prized for is their wit and their logic. I don't think it's terribly flawed.

Matt: Well, it's just - why would Ravenclaw be the only House that's different from the other Houses entrances?

Eric: Well, we don't know what Hufflepuff's entrance is about.

Matt: Well, what would Hufflepuff's question be? "What's the best type of Butterbeer Ingredient?"?

Eric: Yeah, man.

[Eric and Micah laugh]

Eric: Totally. Even if they got - I mean I was wondering what would happen if the Houses got competitive. But I - I want to say it, can I say it?

Micah: Well, who said there was any sort of password? Look at what happened in Chamber of Secrets. Didn't they just sort of get into the dungeon because they were Slytherin? There wasn't any sort of password associated with it, was there?

Matt: Was there?

Eric: I'm not sure; it's a trap door in the floor.

Matt: It was Draco who let them in.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: Oh.

Eric: But we don't really know.

Andrew: So, to round up this chapter, Harry goes up and reads what's on the Diadem, and it says, "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure". And then Alecto Carrow sneaks up behind him and says, "You must be really pretty witless then," and then she summons the Dark Lord.

Eric: Uh-oh!

Andrew: And then the chapter closes.

Matt: [Does impression of Scooby-Doo] Huh?

Andrew: I like the cliff hanger. I had to read over because I forgot what had happened exactly. So, next week...

Eric: Let's just make something clear. The Diadem is not the actual Diadem, it's a replica on a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw in the common room. Harry just needed to go and find out what it looked like, so that he can go search for it elsewhere. So it's not the actual Diadem, it's like a stone/statue/crown thing.

Andrew: That wraps up the chapter.

Micah: One of my favorite scenes in all of Deathly Hallows next week.

Andrew: "The Sacking of Severus Snape."

Micah: No, it's not that. It's what happens in the Ravenclaw common room right after this.

Matt: Yeah, this is my part too. Isn't it great? Can we talk about it? Oh, we have to wait until next week.

[Micah laughs]

Andrew: No.

Eric: Hey, guys, how many Hufflepuffs does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Andrew: Um...

Micah: I don't know.

Eric: I imagine this being one of the...

Quote Quiz

[Quote Quiz intro plays]

[Micah laughs]

Eric: Nice transition.

Andrew: "Go and get Flitwick! Get him to open it now!"

Matt: All right, just give me one second.

What If?

Andrew: So, we're going to do a section we haven't done in a while, actually. It's called "What If?" And how we used to do this was, we would all talk about - we've only played this segment a few times. We would say, what if a scene happened this way in the books. But this time Matt suggested a "What if?" that is related to the movies. Right, Matt?

Matt: Yes it is, actually.

Eric: I think it's brilliant.

Matt: It is - oh, you do?

Eric: I do, I really like it. I really like this.

Matt: Oh, cool. Okay, so this week's "What if?" segment in entitled "What if you could make one decision for the Deathly Hallows film and WB would do it; what would it be?"

Andrew: So, if you could make one decision and they would absolutely do it.

Matt: Yes.

Andrew: No questions.

Matt: No questions.

Andrew: Matt, since it was your question, we'll start with you.

Matt: Well, the reason why I picked this was because I was looking on a biography of John Williams, and one of his interviews stated that he wanted to - he expressed interest in scoring the last film for the Harry Potter series. And I thought - and I really, really got excited and I really wanted John Williams to be in it. So, my decision would be to have John Williams score the last two parts of the Deathly Hallows film. Or, I mean, the last - the two movies of Deathly Hallows.

Eric: I think that's a good choice. I think that's amazing. It would be nice to have him close it out, wouldn't it?

Matt: Yeah, it would. Just to close out with Hedwig's Theme, but, you know, his little finale rendition of all the themes in it.

Eric: He could go through all the previous things - he could go through all the previous movies and really complete something that had, like, all these things that tie up. It could be an orchestral genius. I think that's a great, great, choice. That would be using your "what if" very wisely. I think that's awesome.

Andrew: Eric, how about you?

Eric: I would want - I think that I would ask them to show Hogwarts before the point where it appears in the books. I know that's kind of maybe annoying to some people, but I really would like them to switch to Hogwarts maybe a little earlier in the story and see some of the things instead of doing this montage thing. Because, if you think about it, I mean I know David Yates is really good at montages because I liked them in Order of the Phoenix, but if you think about it, the whole second part of the movie there's not only the montage of what everyone was doing at Hogwarts while the trio was off in the woods, it's also about Snape. They're going to have to go through all those Pensieve scenes with Snape and figure out - the whole Snape story is told in this past-tense thing, and it's just going to be really awkward with - you know, it'll be disruptive I think to the the story and the narrative if they just do all these montages. By the way, this is what's been happening. I think what they should do is have some kind of, you know, story that goes back and forth, in a way, maybe minorly between the other characters that aren't the trio instead of focusing on the trio the whole movie. So, I would ask WB to focus on the other characters who are strong enough. Give the actors a chance to act, you know, give them some scenes in there where they aren't in the book.

Andrew: Okay. Good idea.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: Micah?

Matt: I can see that.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: Yeah, that's - mine kind of goes off that a little bit, giving the actors a chance to act. One thing that I would really like to see, and because we've talked at so much length about this through this entire Chapter-by-Chapter segment, is just really make sure that they're telling the story from the perspective of all of the, you know, sort of political and social undertones that are going on in this book, and, you know, I believe that they were there for a reason, and J. K. Rowling put them in there specifically to show that even in this world of magic, there's, you know, some serious issues that are taking place, and I hope they don't just sort of surpass that and sort of overlook it just for the fact of telling the story, because I believe it's a huge part of the story, and, you know, they've started in in Half-Blood Prince. They've felt the need to include bits and pieces of it, so I hope that that continues in Deathly Hallows.

Matt: That sounds good. All right. Andrew, what is your answer to them?

Andrew: I would ask them to use as many lines from the books as possible, and that's not a very specific request, but...

Matt: No! That's not a decision. It's - no, it has to be specific.

Andrew: No. Well, I'll tell you why. Hold on.

Matt: Oh, okay.

Andrew: Use as many lines from the books as possible. If there is a scene you are keeping in, try to use - my decision is to use ninety percent of the lines in that scene, because they don't do it very often for one, but when they do do it, and you recognize it, you get a feeling of authenticity, and it feels really - it really connects it, and it feels good. Have you guys ever felt that?

Micah: Well...

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: Maybe I'm nuts.

Micah: No, you're not nuts. [laughs] I mean, it's hard, but at the same time you'd like to see it because you know that so much - I mean - there are some great lines in this series that are left out...

Andrew: Right.

Micah: ...because - and I'm not...

Andrew: And when you hear it in the movie, having remembered, you - having remembered reading, it's like woah! Oh my gosh! That's awesome.

Micah: Or having talked about it for 145 episodes.

Andrew: Right. Exactly. So...

Micah: No, you're right. You're right. And I'm not just talking about, you know, "You've got to admit the man's got style", [laughs] which, you know, everybody seemed to love from Order of the Phoenix, but...

Andrew: That was beautiful.

Micah: Yeah. That's - again, that's an example of there being a great comedic line in the books, and they put it in the movies, but there's so many others. Even the ones that came out of this chapter that we were just going over.

Andrew: Right.

Micah: You know, it's like you said, keep the authenticity. Don't just discard it because it's a movie.

Voicemail: Movie 7 Part I Premiere at Theme Park?

Andrew: Anyway, as promised, we are going to get to some voicemails this week as we continue chugging along in this very long episode. Let's get to first one.

[Audio]: Hi MuggleCast. My name is Laura. I'm 20-years-old, and I'm calling from Provo, Utah. I had a thought about the release date for Movie 7 Part I. Perhaps the reason why the wait is so long between Movie 6 and the first part of Movie 7 is that WB wants to wait until the Wizarding World Theme Park is open. That way they will be able to premiere of the movie at the theme park just as Disney has done for the premieres of The Pirates of the Carribean...

Matt: Pirates of the Carribean.

[Audio]: ...Let me know what you think! Thanks. Bye.

Andrew: I think that's pretty interesting.

Matt: I thought it was clever. I don't necessarily think that's what they're going to do, because...

Andrew: Oh, I think they will.

Matt: You think so?

Andrew: They'll do something with the theme park.

Matt: Well, of course. I mean they're going to have a movie at the theme park, but they're definitely either going to have a New York City or an L.A. premiere.

Andrew: Yeah. Yeah...

Matt: The only reason why they did that for Pirates of the Carribean is because it originated - that's where the ride and the whole concept for Pirates of the Carribean originated was Disneyland.

Andrew: Yeah...

Matt: That's why they didn't do it at Walt Disney World...

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: Although Walt Disney World is bigger, and they could have had more people go to it.

Andrew: Also, like, they had - they had - they had the High School Musical premiere at Disneyland.

Matt: Yeah.

Micah: Well, that's great.

Matt: Who cares? But...

Micah: [laughs] I just - see, it's a - in concept it's great, but you don't need it. You know what I'm saying? These movies are big enough themselves.

Andrew: It's publicity though, it's all about publicity.

Micah: Yeah, it's publicity, but you know what? The theme park is going to do fine by itself and the movies do fine by themselves.

Matt: It's going to be crowded anyway by that time.

Andrew: Well, I think they'll close the park down for the premiere. They're not going to, like, mix the two together.

Micah: You can have a special premiere there.

Matt: You think so?

Micah: I wouldn't be surprised.

Matt: Yeah. I'm not surprised that they wouldn't have it. I'm not saying - I'm just saying it's not really plausible for them to have the big...

Micah: The success of the movie or the success of the park are not dependent on each other. That's the point I'm trying to make.

Andrew: Yeah, no, you're right. You're right. Next voicemail.

Voicemail: Rowling Has Ghost Writers?

[Audio]: Hello, this is Brianna, 17, from Wisconsin. I just have a question for you guys. My dad just brought up an interesting idea that he thinks that J.K. Rowling uses ghost writers to write her work, because he was saying how could you write the entire 7th book in how many months? I forget how many months. I think it's totally stupid, but if he came up with this idea, I'm sure that others are thinking this idea too. So I was just wondering what you guys think. Thanks, love the show, bye.

Andrew: Well, I think your dad's completely wrong.

[Micah laughs]

Andrew: Of course there's not ghost writers for the series. It just amazes me how skeptical parents are of J.K. Rowling's success. One time my uncle told me that J.K. Rowling's whole homeless story or close to being homeless story was all just a publicity stunt. It's like, what? No. It's real.

Micah: Yeah.

Andrew: Sorry you were never that successful.

Matt: Yeah.

Micah: The only response that I could give to it is that parts of the book were already written. This final book, so much of it had already been written prior to...

Matt: Yeah.

Eric: Well, I wouldn't say about so much of it though.

Matt: No, it has. She actually shows it.

Andrew: Well, Half-Blood Prince came out in 2005, and that was two years. That's 24 months to write, so...

Micah: And if a lot of it's already written, I mean she's just piecing together the information and making sure that everything is set the way that she wants it.

Matt: I remember seeing on a documentary for J.K. Rowling during the release of Prisoner of Azkaban in 2004, and she showed a manuscript, a huge manuscript, of a lot of Book 7 already been written. She shows it.

Andrew: Let's move on to the next voicemail.

Voicemail: Dementors versus Potion in Cave

[Audio]: Hey, MuggleCasters, it's Rob from New Jersey. I'm mentioning that in Episode 144 you compared being attacked by a Dementor to Dumbledore drinking the potion in the cave. I think being attacked by a Dementor brings out your saddest memories, rather than your most painful, like the potion. I was wondering what your thoughts are on this. Thanks. Bye.

Eric: I agree.

Andrew: So that was sort of an alternative idea to what we were saying.

Eric: Well, I had tried to paint that last week, too, that Dumbledore was in pain, it was a moment of greatest pain, not necessarily greatest sadness that was kind of - I mean it was the moment where he was - where Grindelwald was presumably attack his brother and sister and he didn't want that to happen, as opposed to his saddest, which would probably be more along the lines of her funeral, Ariana's funeral. And eventually, which ended in Aberforth punching him out, but that would be significantly more sad. And...

Micah: I definitely think there's a means of comparison for sure between the two of them, but I think the sort of examples that Eric gave are pretty good in terms of defining the difference between a Dementor attack versus what he drank. Have we ever determined what it was that he drank? Has it ever been given a name...

Andrew: The potion.

Micah: ...by J.K. rowling?

Andrew: I don't think so. I think it was just the potion, right?

Eric: Yeah. It's one of Voldemort's potions, just one of the things that - it's not like a potion, it's something Voldemort probably made on his own. We don't know specifically even what it does. Except that we know what it did to Kreacher, after he took it. You know, it kind of makes him twitch, to the day. A little bit more than he normally would have. And we haven't seen that in Dumbledore because Dumbledore died shortly after. So, it has some long term effects.

Andrew: And the last voicemail for today.

Voicemail: The Wedding Scene and RiffTrax

[Audio]: Hey, MuggleCast, this is J.Z. from Cleveland. I'm just calling to - first of all, I want to say what a great job you guys are doing. I really appreciate listening to you guys every week.

Andrew: Thanks!

[Audio]: A few things I wanted to bring up. First of all, I was wondering what you guys thought about the rumors that the Bill and Fleur wedding might be replaced by Tonks and Lupin's wedding for the [unintelligible] of Deathly Hallows. We know that Bill and Fleur aren't going to be in Half-Blood Prince, so there's rumors going around that they might be replacing that wedding. I personally think it's a good idea because I would actually rather see Lupin and Tonks' wedding, because we didn't get to see them in the book, and I think it might be fun to see it in the movie. Second of all, I was wondering if you guys ever heard of RiffTrax. It's a website by the guys from Mystery Science Theater. Do commentaries for movies that are like really fun. They poke fun at them. One of the reasons I'm asking is they have a commentary for Sorcerer's Stone that is hilarious, and I was wondering if you guys had ever checked that out. And if not, I would suggest it. So keep up the good work and I'll talk to you guys later. Thanks.

Andrew: RiffTrax has been really promoting themselves on several Harry Potter fansites.

Matt: At IMDB.com they do it a lot too.

Andrew: Really. Yeah. Apparently they're funny. I remember someone played it in Vegas once, but I just found it annoying because if I'm listening to the right one, and I think I was, the voices were just annoying to me. Some people love them, though.

Matt: I wasn't really that impressed by it. I mean, hell, we should do it.

Andrew: Yeah, I mean, it was a clever idea.

Eric: I'm interested. I've never heard of them before, so I will check that out. What about his first question?

Micah: Well, part of the problem with that is, if you're going to remove Bill and Fleur completely from Deathly Hallows, it leaves a gap in the whole scene at the cottage. And Dobby's death. But who knows how they can manipulate that. They could make that, you know, Lupin and Tonks' cottage.

Eric: I mean, this is one of the things I think, where we're just sitting here, and we're waiting, and the question on everyone's mind is, "Okay, how are they going to mess up this whole scene? How are they going to butcher the books this time around?" And it's almost like a game. You almost expect funny game show music to be "Aaugh! Aaugh!" and deedle-deedle-dee, and circus tents playing, you expect a bearded lady to show up. Because it's like this craziness about Bill and Fleur not being in Half-Blood Prince. We told them! I mean, clearly, they don't listen to us. And that's something I have to get used to, but we warned them that this stuff is coming up and surely they know. They're smart enough to have read the books, and know that it's really important for them to be showing these characters. How much of Alan Rickman's going to be in this movie? Five minutes? Maybe fifteen? And he is the Half-Blood Prince! So, seriously, I'm really worried here, and it bothers me. And if they change the Bill and Fleur wedding to Tonks and Remus, I might boycott the movie. I mean, that's just - I don't like it. I don't like it at all.

Andrew: Well...

Matt: All right. Okay.

Andrew: I would pay a lot of money to see you do that.

Eric: Well, that's the point. If you would pay me a lot of money to see me do that, it might be worth my while.

Matt: This is actually the first time I've ever heard this rumor about Tonks and Remus's wedding being replaced.

Andrew: Yeah, I haven't heard about it either. I think it's one of those rumors that goes around on the forums. There are a lot of Harry Potter fan forums and - I mean - like the Live Journal community, stuff like that.

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: But I don't know. It's hard to say.

Matt: Well, we talked about this on a previous episode and - and I think we came to a decision that if they did bring it up in the next film I - I think it's possible they can just bring it up and not really have much, you know, lead-up to the wedding.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: You know? Because they don't really have - I mean - you don't really necessarily have to know that Bill and Fleur are dating or anything. Because we don't know anything about - about Bill yet. So we could just say that he was off in France with Fleur or something.

Eric: Yeah, it could be so tastily introduced and only take two minutes. I mean they don't need to do it what happened in the book. They don't need to do it like it happened in the book, but they don't need to butcher it or give the wedding to someone else, is what I mean. You know, you know...

Matt: No, well, they're - we don't - they're not going to. They never said anything that they were, this is just a rumor with the fans...

Eric: You're right, you're right, it is.

Matt: ...we shouldn't really jump to conclusions yet.

Eric: But you know WB, they could do anything they wanted to. And...

Matt: But it's - but it's looking like they're at least trying a little harder in the last movie than - than their doing in other films.

Eric: Yeah, it does, but since Bill and Fleur are not returning to Half-Blood Prince, which this voicemailer claims we know for sure, then that's kind of worrying. Not even at the end of the movie when Bill gets his face taken off? So. I don't know.

Matt: Well, his face might not even be damaged. And if it's not - but if it is damaged or not I don't really think - I mean, I necessarily wouldn't be really offended by it. I mean, it's a big plot scene but, you know...

Eric: The whole Remus subplot...

Matt: ...they have done a lot worse.

Eric: ...in Half-Blood Prince is being cut, so I wonder how much of a role Remus will play in Movie 7. It's kind of a weird thing because they've done this thing where they give Movie 7 two parts, you know, and it's, like, to be uber-faithful to the books, or is that really the answer? Is it just t o- I mean, 'cause there's so much they've ruined by not including it in former movies that it might not, you know, there might not be a lot they can include into Movie 7. I just - I get really worried when I hear this stuff.

Micah: Well, they could also be using the time to re-explain things that they didn't explain to begin with.

Eric: Yeah, that would be a blessing. That would be a godsend right there.

Andrew: Well, if you have a question for us, we insist that you do call it in via a voicemail. We like to reserve Muggle Mail for questions about the prior week's show. Since we use the call rebuttals. Maybe that's sort of my bad confusing people. But listen at the end of the show for the contact information to call in a voicemail.

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