News: Rowling Backs Labor Party

Micah: One of the last pieces of news was that J.K. Rowling has donated close to two-million dollars to the Labor Party, saying she was motivated by Labor's record on child poverty and opposed the conservative plan to give tax breaks to married couples.

Andrew: Ouch.

Micah: Her donation will boost Gordon Brown as he tries to calm unrest among party members at Labor's annual conference.

[Law and Order theme begins playing]

Andrew: That's a lot of money. We know what party she's on.

Micah: [laughs] Yes, I have a feeling you would know who she was voting for here in the United States if she was an American citizen.

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: Is the Labor Party the equivalent to Democrats?

Laura: Well, they're not, like, exactly the same, but they are the liberal party.

Andrew: Well, that's something, because here in America you would never see a celebrity donate so much - any money to a party.

Laura: Oh no, they do. They do.

Andrew: Really?

Laura: Oh yeah. Celebrities donate tons of money. I bet you could find somebody.

Andrew: Well, yeah. I mean, a lot of artists go out and support - yeah, I guess they don't do it as publicly, though, too. Because you don't want people not seeing your movie because you're, you know, Republican, Democrat, whatever. And last story of the day, Micah Tannenbaum.

News: Exclusive Scholastic School Market Edition of Sorcerer's Stone

Micah: Well, we talked about Sorcerer's Stone a little bit at the top of the news, but apparently they're coming out with an exclusive Scholastic School Market Edition, that I guess is strictly for groups that are going to be ordering - or schools that are going to be ordering this special edition. Is that what it's going to be?

Andrew: Yeah! It's cool! Yeah! It's the exclusive Scholastic School Market Edition, so a lot of S's in there. But it's a cool cover, and I'm really surprised that Scholastic is shaking it up this much with all these new covers for the first book. And this one was also illustrated by Mary GrandPre, which is cool. It's got Harry, Ollivander, and Hagrid in Ollivander's wand shop. So it's cool, it's cool! We don't have any good sized images of this yet but hopefully we will. Somebody will get a copy and then send it in.

Micah: So a lot of schools and libraries will probably be ordering this edition, and I'm sure people are going to try and get their hands on it as well. Collectors mainly.

Laura: Doesn't it kind of weird you guys out that when we all have kids they're going to be reading Harry Potter in school? Like, it's going to be an assigned book.

Andrew: I know!

Laura: And they're going to...

Andrew: I hope it's an assigned book.

Laura: Yeah, and they're going to come home and they're going to hate it by sheer virtue of the fact that they're being forced to read it, and that's just going to make me sad.

Andrew: Yeah. It's amazing to think how many more generations of people still are yet to fall in love with Harry Potter. It's just surreal. It's generation after generation. Is that it, Micah?

Micah: That is it. I'm done. I'm leaving. See you guys.

Announcement: Podcast Alley

Andrew: Okay. [laughs] It's time for some announcements. Don't forget to vote for us on Podcast Alley. It is MuggleCast Moctober. It's a very important month for us.

Matt: Yes, very.

Andrew: It's the sweeps, so please vote for us. Everyone's doing a great job, so thank you so much.

Announcement: Waiting for Podcast Awards Nomination

Andrew: Another thing: we nominated ourselves in the 2008 Podcast Awards. We nominated ourselves in the entertainment category, and we should be hearing soon if we got some of the top nominations so we can actually be in the running for the award. So, thank you to everyone who helped nominate us.

Micah: Isn't it the 19th? Is that right? That we'll know who is going to be able to be voted on?

Andrew: Did they post an update?

Micah: I think so, yeah. It says October 19th at 4PM Pacific time.

Andrew: Ooo. I'll be tuned in.

Micah: So 7PM for you East Coasters.

Andrew: I'll be tuned in. Yeah, so. All right, well, cool. That's good! So just over two weeks. Two weeks from today.

Matt: Wow!

Announcement: Azkatraz Newsletter

Andrew: So, thank you for that. And, another thing, something really exciting that I was informed just yesterday; Azkatraz 2009: we've been talking about it a lot, and they're going to be sending out their very first newsletter soon, and it's going to have a very exciting MuggleCast related announcement in it. So sign up for the Azkatraz newsletter. It's HP2009.org. And put your e-mail address in and the first newsletter's going to have something cool that, frankly, no podcast has ever done before.

Matt: No, actually, no.

[Andrew, Laura, and Micah laugh]

Matt: That is right! No.

Andrew: So it's very exciting, and I guess once they announce it then we'll talk about it more.

Matt: It's going to be epic!

Andrew: If you do want to register for Azkatraz early, which we do suggest - that's a very good idea - under referral, put "MuggleCast" or "MuggleNet" so that...

Matt: Oooooo......

Andrew: ....way they know - no, this is serious.

Matt: Oh, sorry.

Andrew: That way they know where you're coming from. So, thank you very much for that. And like I said, sign up for the newsletter.

Announcement: Ministry of Magic Elections Are Going Strong

Micah: I just wanted to... [laughs] ...wrap up some announcements with the Ministry of Magic election, just talk about that real quick and say that it's going strong. It seems like people are really enjoying it, and for as crazy as this whole concept is, it seems like people are getting into it, and we're getting into our second week, actually, starting on Tuesday.

Andrew: This week is Molly versus Horace and Kingsley versus Minerva.

Matt: Ooh, Kingsley and Minerva.

Andrew: It's good. I like these battles. It's interesting to see how people - what people think. Next election's October 7th...

Micah: Tuesday.

Andrew: ...on MuggleNet. Tuesday.

Matt: Tuesday, October 7th.

Muggle Mail: A Person Against Seeing Movie 6 Early

Andrew: Okay, let's move onto Muggle Mail. I hate to say it, but we're still having feedback form problems, even using the MuggleNet feedback form. There's something wrong with it, and Damon's looking into it and hopefully have it fixed soon. But we have two e-mails right here and these focus on the Half-Blood Prince movie. First one from Skyler. She writes:

"Hi, I'm just giving my thoughts on the early 'Half-Blood Prince' screening. If I had the choice to go, I don't think I would've. I would not have wanted to wait two additional years to see 'Deathly Hallows.' The push back of the complete 'Half-Blood Prince' movie is enough already. Another reason I would not go is for the imaginative part. When you see a 'Harry Potter' movie, you get sucked into the movie, and you seem to be right alongside the characters. See the movie go from special effect to blue screen would ruin that for me. Thanks. Love the show."

Matt: Ehhh....

Andrew: So there's someone saying, I don't want to see it early. And, frankly, I agree with everything she had to say, because seeing it now is just way too early.

Matt: Yeah, but I mean, you would still see it.

Laura: Yeah, but it - okay. But if somebody came up to you on the street...

Matt: Because, I mean, if you knew...right.

Laura: Yeah. And said, "Here, I've got tickets to this..."

Matt: If they had the - if they originally had Half-Blood Prince in July of 2009, and the premiere for, what, Order of the Phoenix came out - so you would be going - would you wait a year after Order of the Phoenix was released because you didn't want to wait two years for Half-Blood Prince to be released?

Andrew: No, I just think there's something about spoiling - not having all that hype to look up to.

Muggle Mail: Optimistic About Movie Release Date Moving to July

Matt: Next e-mail:

"Hey there! In the last month I've been hurting like everyone else that the sixth 'Harry Potter' film is not going to be released in a few months. But despite the disappointment, I have to say that I'm not so angry anymore. I'm not here to rebuttal your feelings because they're just that, feelings. But I feel that very few people are taking this in an optimistic way. However, I'm taking it in a different view. According to all the testimonies, like Eric and Jo's, we are in for a treat. Sure, it was a major disappointment. Sure, its former release date is being replaced by 'Twilight,' which, sorry, is not my cup of tea. And sure, we have to wait for basically a year until we can see the finished product. But can you imagine how wonderful of a movie this is going to be after a year? I think we should sit back and look at this with excitement besides anger. Another thing: when we see the final three seconds of the final film, and the theater lights up, and the movie is over, so is the excitement felt every year throughout the fandom, whether it be for the book or the movie. Despite the disappointment we all felt to hear the movie had been pushed back, I think of how utterly abrupt the end will come, regretting it couldn't have lasted longer. I say amen for an extra year. The anticipation lives on. Sophie."

Andrew: Here's an e-mail that WB knows would've come eventually, because, like everything, everything blows over. And here's just a great example of a fan, who I'm sure was frustrated at first, like she said in her e-mail. But, you know, like, I'm sure they thought, "Oh, it'll blow over. Everybody'll be fine with it." And she's right. The anticipation in the fandom does last longer, which is always good.

Laura: Yeah. Well, I mean, fans are going through the five stages of grief. They've started with anger and now they have moved on to acceptance.

[Andrew laughs]

Matt: Well, you know what? It's that way with a lot of the fandoms. It's not just Harry Potter. I mean, it's other fandoms as well. A lot of the fans get upset when things change or something just doesn't go the way they thought of it. Their initial reaction is very, you know, extreme. And after a time it kind of boils over a little bit.

Andrew: I miss the days when we were debating when Book 7 was going to come out: 2007 or 2008.

Laura: I know.

Andrew: Let's bring that back.

Laura: It's such a different, like - I mean, I hate to say it - Like, I'm not saying that the fandom's dying or whatever, but it was a very different time for the fandom. And I really do miss that, because there was an excitement that we don't really have anymore. It's sad.

Andrew: Yeah. Think about how much better the fandom timeline to this pique would've been, because we had a movie and a book last year. Imagine if, you know, we had the movie last year, the book this year, then the movie the following year, then two more movies and two more years. It would've been great.

Matt: Yeah.

Laura: Do you remember when we were debating and we were like, "Oh!" - I think it was Jamie and I, who were like, "Oh! Book 7 won't come out in 2007. It's going to be 2008."

Andrew: Yeah. I remember that.

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: And Jamie made the infamous, "I'll bet you..." He'll...

Laura: He would eat...

Andrew: ...eat 50 sausages.

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: I think that was it.

Laura: He never did.

Matt: Yeah. I remember that episode too. I was listening to it. Laura was like, "She can't finish that book in a year. She can't. You don't understand the writing process."

[Andrew and Matt laugh]

Laura: Okay, I did not say that.

Matt: [laughs] Yes you did.

Laura: No, I didn't.

Andrew: It's a fair case. It's a fair case.

Laura: No, I was just saying that I thought it was somewhat unreasonable for people to assume that she could write a 600 page book in a year. She exceeded my expectations.

Main Discussion: What Happened After the Battle of Hogwarts

Andrew: I agree. Speaking of Book 7, it's time now to get into our main discussion. And this is a good one. I'm excited about this. Everyone is, I think. What happened after the Battle of Hogwarts in Book 7? And, you know, we've talked so much about the battle and everything surrounding the book, but what happened after the Battle of Hogwarts? And that's what we're going to discuss now. We're going to discuss the future. And first I have to give credit where credit is due. We - this discussion idea came from the COS forums, Chamber of Secrets forums. They're MuggleNet's official forums. They have fantastic discussions there all the time about Harry Potter. So if you want to get in some good discussing, I would definitely recommend COSForums.com. You can try an online discussion about this too.

Matt: It's definitely a venue for a Harry Potter fix.

Andrew: Oh Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Okay, so we're going to start off - I mean, should we do a summary? Everyone knows what happens at the Battle of Hogwarts.

Matt: Yeah, everyone knows. We even talked about it after Chapter-by-Chapter.

Andrew: Yeah. All right, Eric, you're back now? You're all good now? Eric had a little fall out.

Eric: I'm back. I'm all good. I'm on my laptop now.

Andrew: Little BSOD action. So, the Battle of Hogwarts was a very happy time and it was a very sad time.

Matt: It was the best of times and also the worst of times.

Andrew: Yes.

Eric: Actually, it was lunch time.

Andrew: [laughs] No, it was breakfast time...

Eric: Oh. Psh.

Andrew: ...because it ended in the morning.

Laura: Fail.

Matt: Actually, it was breakfast time in the U.S.

Andrew: Yes.

[Matt laughs]

Laura: What?!

Immediately Following the Battle: Happy or Sad?

Andrew: So first question: after the battle - and most of these questions focus, like, directly after the battle. Do you guys think everyone grieved or do you think the happiness outweighed the sadness? Because, you know, like I said, it was such a happy time and a sad time. You have to wonder what takes control. After Harry killed off Voldemort. How does everyone react? Is it just a quiet time, where everyone's just looking around each other and hugging, or is it cheers and celebrations, or what?

Matt: I think it's a mixture of both.

Laura: Yeah. Didn't it say after it was all over that they all sat down at the House tables? Like, isn't that kind of weird? They all just sat down at the tables together.

Eric: Yeah. Yeah, they didn't sit by Houses, they were just kind of all mixed up.

Laura: Yeah. Everyone just sat down.

Eric: The point I wanted to make, too, is that everyone - during the Battle of Hogwarts there were periods of time where everyone - I mean, basically there were two separate periods of time where everyone had the ability and the time to pick up the dead and bring them into the Great Hall and do their sort of grieving. You know, I mean once - it's sort of in between the battling there was all that time where people were taking those who had fallen in battle, and taken them into the Great Hall, which is where everyone was grieving, sort of, even during. So, at the end of the Battle of Hogwarts, it makes sense to me that - I mean, there'll still be plenty of grieving to do, but if you're asking whether or not it's a celebration or not, surely with the Dark Lord's battle and the Harry versus Voldemort, you know, final confrontation, it's got to be an overall - really rewarding, I would say, if anything...

Micah: Mhm.

Eric: ...rewarding, you know? And can I also say that the writing around this time, the press, the newspaper, those stories have got to be sort of the best news that anyone can bring. That there were...

Micah: Mhm.

Eric: ...plenty of casualties. It's not a particularly happy time in any reason, but everyone can be relieved. I mean, there was that statement - there's actually a statement in the book which explains how Kingsley Shacklebolt was made temporary Minister of Magic and stuff. So, all that sort of stuff is happening.

Andrew: Oh yeah, I love that kind of stuff.

Eric: Yeah, yeah.

Matt: Yeah.

Eric: So that's in the book. So there is sort of a - it's progress, it's what now? You know, re-building. It's really this big air of re-building.

Matt: Yeah. It's also kind of - I don't want to say grieving, though - but - and I hate, you know, really comparing it to other book series, but in Lord of the Rings, after the big battle in it - are you guys familiar with it?

Laura: Yes.

Matt: At all? Well, the characters going home after the big war was over, it was just so hard to go back to the way everything was. I think one of the characters - there was, like, a quote saying, "How can the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?" And you just got to wonder, like, what the Wizarding World was like after - really after Voldemort really wrecked havoc. I mean, he did the first time until he was defeated, quote un-quote, but now that he's dead - but that huge battle. I mean, just all those lives that were affected by it. And also there were students and it affected them so young. I mean, we have to sit like - they were kind of traumatized too...

Laura: Yeah. Well...

Matt: ...about the whole thing. How they view things now and what they take from what they witnessed and everything.

Laura: Yeah. Well, I mean I imagine that there would have to be a great deal of pain involved. I mean, there's no doubt about that. You just look at examples like the Weasleys, who lost a son.

Matt: Yeah, well...

Laura: You know, it's...

Matt: ...the Weasley's lost a lot.

Laura: Yeah. It...

Matt: The whole war - the first and second war of it, they lost a lot of Weasleys. I mean, granted they had a lot to spare, but...

[Everyone laughs]

Andrew: Awww! That's terrible!

Eric: Spare your Weasleys?

Micah: Yeah. I think the grieving period would be probably pretty long and drawn out. You know, just for them to pay their respects and have all the proper services for all the people that had gone. I don't think there would be that sort of sense of happiness until they were maybe a couple of months removed from everything that happened.

Eric: I...

Matt: Mhm.

Eric: I don't know about that. See, again, they had that time to do - I mean, they really did grieve a lot during the time when Harry was in Snape's Pensieve, and then, you know, viewing Snape's memories.

Micah: Mhm.

Eric: That was an hour. Then Voldemort gave him to come back into the forest. And then all that time that Harry went into the forest and had that thing with Voldemort, before Voldemort said, "Harry Potter is dead." All that time has passed where they're in the Great Hall. Yes, they're waiting, scared to figure out what's going to happen next and when battle comes back, but they - they're having that time, so in the end you know that the - you know that the people didn't die for nothing, because you've just seen this extraordinary battle in the Great Hall between Harry and Voldemort, and Voldemort is finally dead. For good. Completely dead. His body is right there in front of you, nothing mysterious about it, he's gone! And...

Matt: Mhm.

Eric: ...there just has to be this such overwhelming - because nobody more will die, and...

Matt: Right.

Eric: ...no matter who you lost, especially if you're the Weasleys, you know that nobody more will die, and I think that good cause will completely - they'll still be upset, and you're right, Micah, in mentioning that they have to have all sorts of services. That's true and it can't be easy and it can't be fun or happy, but I think, overall, they're going to be relieved, I think.

Matt: Oh yeah, there's a huge sigh of relief after this, but...

Micah: They were doing what they could with the time that was given, though, and there was that sense of not knowing what was going to come, so they had to grieve as fast as possible in the sense that you were talking about, because they didn't know if, you know, fifteen minutes from then they turned around and were going to be dead themselves. So there was a little bit of that, but I just think that when you look at all the people who died in, you know - Matt mentioned students before - there's a good chance that their parents, and other siblings, and people like that weren't there at the time that it happened, and they have to go through that whole process...

Matt: Mhm.

Micah: ...of...

Matt: It's almost like soldiers coming back from the war. You know, going back to their families that just really can't, you know, reach out to them anymore after what they've seen.

Andrew: Yeah. Plus, I'm not sure how happy they may have felt, because I'd like to argue that they don't know what could be coming. There still could be more to come. Or maybe they could have figured that Voldemort, you know, by some really odd way actually didn't die or had some freaky way of coming back. Because, you know, if he can split his soul into seven parts, who knows what else he can do, especially if, you know, he were to die. But...

Eric: I don't think at that time it was any question. That's just...

Andrew: Well - yeah, but you can't feel totally complete because you've got to remember that the Death Eaters are still out there too. But, I mean, you know, I guess there is never no 100% peaceful world ever, in any world. So...

Micah: I think there would be more relief than happiness, probably.

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: Yeah, I don't think happiness is the right word.

Micah: We're not talking party here.

Matt: Mhm. I think it's more like relief. You know, it's finally done and over after all the suffering, but...

The Original Weasleys

Andrew: But here's a random stretch at one of those seven relations that I was thinking up when you guys were talking about the Weasleys. Technically, there's like seven Weasleys, because Molly was not a Weasley originally.

Eric: But there's not.

Andrew: No, there's nine including Molly...

Matt: She's a Weasley.

Andrew: ...but if you don't include Molly because she wasn't in the family, that means one dies so there's seven. It's the number seven.

Eric: No, there's...

Matt: But she made, like, half a dozen.

[Micah laughs]

Andrew: No, I don't care if there's nine. I'm just saying that she married into the Weasleys.

Eric: What about Arthur Weasley?

Micah: Yeah, he helped.

Eric: Ooooh.

[Laura laughs]

Matt: Would you consider Harry a Weasley?

Andrew: No.

Laura: No!

Matt: He's married into them.

Andrew: No. And I don't. That's why I don't count Molly.

Matt: Even if they include him as a family?

Eric: What about Rose and Hugo? They're Weasleys too.

Matt: Yeah.

Laura: At that point they didn't exist.

Andrew: What I'm saying is that they're original Weasleys.

Eric: Your logic is flawed.

Matt: The original Weasleys...

Andrew: Oh, whatever.

Eric: The original Weasleys lived a thousand years ago.

Andrew: Sorry I'm thinking outside of the box.

Matt: The original Weasleys. God, we could even call the Malfoys original Weasleys because they're related to them somehow.

Eric: Yeah, yeah.

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: I'm saying they're not - I'm saying Molly's not related...

Matt: Nope. No, no, your argument does not hold water.

Andrew: Yes it does.

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: I'm sure people will e-mail in and support me.

[Laura laughs]

Matt: Don't. [whispers] Don't do it.

[Laura laughs]

Harry and the Malfoys

Andrew: Another question: Did Harry speak to the Malfoys after the battle? And if so, what did he say? There's only one thing I can think of. Awkward!

Laura: Yeah.

Matt: Well, yeah, because doesn't Malfoy owe him a life debt?

Andrew: Well, yeah, there's even a mention of that in Book 7, that - towards the end - that Draco sort of just like - he gives him a look, right?

Laura: Yeah, he gave him a nod.

Eric: Yeah, he nods curtly. That was in the epilogue.

Andrew: Yeah, yeah. What do you think Draco's feelings toward Harry were?

Matt: [laughs] Embarrassed!

Eric: Well...

Laura: I'd be embarrassed.

Eric: ...the whole thing is, too - yeah, like, Narcissa Malfoy is the single reason that Voldemort was defeated. If you're going to look at it, she could have ratted Harry out as not - you know, she said to Voldemort that he was dead and Voldemort went up to the castle then. So Harry owes - I mean, Narcissa just wanted to know if her son was safe, and Harry said he was, and so Lucius and Narcissa - it said at some point in the battle, they're just walking through the Great Hall calling their son's name. They just need to find Draco; that's all they care about. And so they get to be a family, and Voldemort is defeated, and so if Harry did speak to them - I mean, I just think the events of the evening speak for themselves, that Harry was helped by Narcissa, that Draco was helped by Harry and Ron, that in the end the evil was conquered, and it would be kind of awkward, but I think that some real kind of forced respect - you know, like in the beginning when they say when - in Book 1 when it's - that there are a few things you can't do without becoming best friends, and knocking out a fully grown mountain troll was one of them. Well, you have to have respect for sort of what has gone after all they've suffered.

Matt: Mhm. That, and also going back to when it's about embarrassment, is that Malfoy doesn't only owe him one, he pretty much owes him three life debts...

Eric: Yeah.

Matt: ...if you think about it. They saved him in the fire, they saved him from being killed by a Death Eater, and Harry pretty much saved his life when he told his mother that he was safe, because he was going to get killed anyway by Voldemort, because technically he's still in the castle, which means that he's on the other guy's side, the good side.

Eric: Yeah, you're right.

Matt: So he's saved his butt three times.

Micah: Yeah, and one thing that I did was I looked up this chat that J.K. Rowling did after the book was released, and somebody asked her, did Draco and Harry lose their animosity towards each other when Voldemort died? She said not really. There would be a kind of reproachment in that Harry knows Draco hated being a Death Eater and would not have killed Dumbledore, but similarly, Draco would feel a grudging gratitude towards Harry for saving his life. So...

Andrew: Yeah. This reminds me, do you guys ever feel bad for the bad guy after they already lose at the end?

Eric: In like any book?

Andrew: In any book or even any movie.

Laura: I...

Andrew: You know, there's this sort of just, like, eh...

Laura: I have sympathy for the bad guy who isn't a bad guy through and through. You know? I mean, yeah, Draco, he is not a good guy, but at the same time we see that he has some moral compass, like... [laughs] ...I mean, he didn't want to be a Death Eater so I felt bad for him in the sixth book, yeah.

Andrew: Me too.

Laura: But Voldemort? Hell no.

Eric: Is it a Golden moral Compass, Laura?

Laura: Yes...

[Andrew laughs]

Laura: ...Eric, that's exactly what I meant.

Matt: It's fun to know that...

Andrew: When you see Draco being ashamed.

Matt: ...that was probably the perfect punishment for the Malfoy family, is utter embarrassment and shame.

Andrew: Mhm.

Eric: Absolutely. But gratitude that they're still alive, you know, to feel those things.

Matt: Pretty much mercy-ed to being alive by the people that they loathe is kind of... [laughs] ...I don't know what to say.

Eric: It fits.

Matt: Yeah, it does. It's a perfect ending for their chapter.

Did Harry Tell All?

Andrew: Here's a question I've always wondered: did Harry tell anyone exactly what he had been doing for the past year?

Laura: Oh.

Andrew: Because, you know, at the end he sort of - of every book he sort - he kind of reveals what was going on. Like with The Sorcerer's Stone, he told everyone, didn't he?

Matt: I mean, he probably wrote an autobiographical book.

Andrew: Dumbledore did.

Matt: I mean, he had a lot of time on his hands.

Laura: Yeah, I was going to say, he wrote a memoir...

Matt: Yeah.

Laura: ...like in Burn After Reading.

Matt: Harry, My History.

Andrew: Harry, A History.

Matt: Yeah.

[Laura laughs]

Eric: Well, remember, he takes Ron and Hermione aside and tells them exactly what happened in the forest right afterward, but everyone else pretty much heard what was going on in the battle, because he, at one point, says to Voldemort, "No more Horcruxes," you know, and there are all sorts of adult wizards there who would know or have heard of Horcruxes before who can discern then that that is what happened and, certainly, somebody will tell someone, word will get out, and they'll know sort of how exactly Voldemort had been doing everything that he had been doing. Because in that talk between Harry and Voldemort at the very end in the Great Hall, that sort of - everything is more or less given out. All of the back story, things like - even Snape loving Lily is completely made public of when...

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: ...Harry shouts it to Voldemort.

Andrew: I would also think that the public - there would be a demand from the public about what happened. Specifically...

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: ...specifically...

Laura: Yeah, there would be some kind of commission, really.

Matt: Everybody would want to know Harry's story.

Andrew: The Voldemort Commission.

Matt: Harry's...

Andrew: That would be published.

Laura: Yes.

Matt: Harry has to write an autobiography.

Laura: Hey! There are commissions published on national tragedies here, too.

Andrew: Yeah! No, that's what I'm saying. The 9/11...

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: ...Commission Report, specifically. That's what I was thinking of.

Matt: The 9/11...

Andrew: Commission Report.

Matt: ...Commission. Yeah, that's awesome. Good connection.

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: Someone should write that - should write up, like, a report style of what happened. That would be kind of cool.

Matt: Yeah. That's your listener challenge.

Laura: And then we should do a documentary on it.

Andrew: Documentary, yeah. Let's see.

[Micah laughs]

Dumbledore and Snape

Andrew: What's next? Do you guys think he told everyone the truth about Dumbledore and Snape? And if - and here's a good point - if so, how? How the hell do you, you know, explain that to someone?

Eric: What do you mean? What is this question even asking?

Andrew: Well, because everyone wondered. I think...

Eric: What truth?

Andrew: ...there was a lot of debate, even in within Hogwarts, if Snape was a good guy.

Laura: Didn't Jo say that Harry cleared Snape's name? I'm pretty sure...

Micah: Yeah, I think...

Laura: ...she said that in an interview.

Micah: ...she said that he would ensure that a portrait of Snape would hang in the Headmaster's office.

Andrew: Oh yeah.

Micah: So I think that that would sort of...

Eric: That's good.

Micah: ...at least as far as Snape is concerned, put to rest any sort of questions that people had about him. And then Dumbledore - who knows if - I doubt he shared - maybe with the exception of Ron and Hermione - what he went through at King's Cross.

Andrew: Yeah. Or even...

Eric: That's true.

Laura: Yeah, that's private.

Andrew: ...about Grindelwald and all that. Do you think Harry would've ever revealed that sort of information, or is that personal stuff that Dumbledore more would have appreciated?

Laura: That's personal.

Eric: It's very interesting.

Andrew: I mean, it's a good question, and Harry certainly has a good book deal out of all this information if he were to do a thing like that.

Eric: Congratulations, Mr. Potter. You get a book deal.

Andrew: So.

Eric: But the Snape thing was something else that was already cleared, sort of, in the Harry/Voldemort discussion at the end. Snape's name was more or less cleared. "He was a spy for" - you know - "He was a spy for you, but he was really Dumbledore's" etc., etc. "You don't know a thing, Tom. You don't know anything. Don't you know anything?"

Matt: Tom.

Eric: "Haven't you been listening..."

Matt: Tom.

Eric: "...Tom?"

Matt: [sings] "Tum Tum Tum Tum Tums!"

Eric: Tom.

Time with Teddy, Time with Ginny

Andrew: Yeah. And in good Harry fashion...

Eric: Next question!

Andrew: ...somebody would assume that Harry probably would've went to see Teddy Lupin as quickly as possible. Do you guys think that was one of his priorities or what?

Laura: Yeah, I think so. He seemed really...

Eric: Because he...

Laura: ...really hyped and very honored about being a godfather.

Matt: Well, I also think that he wanted some time with Ginny, too. I mean, geez.

Andrew: Finally!

Eric: Mmm. Yeah. Where does that come on the list? Where does that come on the list? Does he visit Teddy or does he...

Andrew: Which came first?

Matt: Visit his girl? I mean...

Andrew: Well, yeah. I think his - Ginny, you know, would definitely be a quicker person to get to...

Matt: Mhm.

Andrew: ...you know, visiting. I mean, you know. And plus, Teddy was very young at that point, you know.

Matt: Mhm. And he has to find out where exactly...

Laura: Yeah, I mean, Teddy...

Matt: ...you know, where Teddy is.

Laura: ...wouldn't - at that point, Teddy wouldn't remember that he was second best, so...

[Andrew and Matt laugh]

Matt: Do you remember you were second best?

Andrew: That's also really one of the sadder stories, but I think, as one of us brought up on an episode a while ago, that really did bring the story full circle, Teddy losing his parents, so...

Matt: Mhm. Teddy seemed to be okay. Wasn't he making out with somebody?

Andrew: No. Teddy's a baby.

[Laura and Micah laugh]

Matt: Oh, no. In ten years later, I thought that Teddy was.

Laura: He was later.

Andrew: Oh, okay.

Eric: No, in the epilogue Teddy was making fun of Victoire.

Andrew: Oh, yeah. Victoire.

Laura: I don't think he was making out with anybody ten years later.

Andrew: This is after the battle discussion.

Matt: Ugh!

[Laura laughs]

Matt: Well, that was after the battle!

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: Right after, I said.

Matt: No, you didn't specify the time.

[Laura laughs]

Eric: [laughs] Nineteen years after.

[Laura laughs]

Eric: Yeah, this is right after the battle.

Matt: I wonder how quickly they rebuilt Hogwarts. I mean, just use a little magic wand...

Andrew: It was...

Matt: ...and everything goes back, or...?

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