Muggle Mail: Harry/Hermione Moment in Deathly Hallows

Mikey: Sure. This comes from Elizabeth, age 17, from Austin, Texas.

"Hello. In the 'Deathly Hallows' trailer that just came out on the 'Half-Blood Prince' DVD, there was a dancing scene with Hermione and Harry, one that David Yates mentioned was his favorite. If you remember in the interview with J.K. from a while back, she said, 'While Ron was gone, Harry and Hermione experienced some charged moments.' I think this is his way of trying to incorporate that into the movie."

Andrew: So, I looked into this, because I was intrigued by those charged moments comments, and as it turns out, J.K. Rowling had said this to our friend Melissa from Leaky for her book Harry, A History. That's where the 'charged moments' quote came from - between Harry and Hermione.

And this is the quote from Melissa's book - actually, I think this - she released this on her book's website, HarryAHistory.com. Steve Kloves had said to Jo after reading the book, after reading Deathly Hallows: "You know, I thought something was going to happen between Harry and Hermione, and I didn't know whether I wanted it or not." In response to that, Jo says to Melissa: "Kloves felt a certain pull between them at that point. And I think he's right. There are moments when Harry and Hermione touch, which are charged moments. One, when she touches his hair as he sits on the hilltop reading about Dumbledore and Grindelwald..."

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: "...and another moment is when they walk out of the graveyard with their arms around each other. Now the fact is that Hermione shares moments with Harry that Ron will never be able to participate in. He walked out. She shared something very intense with Harry. So I think it could have gone that way."

So I thought this was a really good catch by Elizabeth who wrote in to us. I think this would explain it. Maybe Kloves wanted to add this extra scene to exemplify that chemistry, those charged moments. Would you guys agree?

Mikey: Yeah, I can see that.

Laura: Yeah, that makes sense.

Andrew: Yeah. So that's nice. I can't wait to see that. Of course, last week, Laura, we joked that they were going to be dancing to Lady Gaga and sharing secrets.

Laura: Well, of course. Why wouldn't they?

Andrew: Well, that's what I'm saying. She's in right now. So...

Laura: [laughs] That's what...

Eric: [laughs] In what?

Laura: ...we all do when we're together...

Andrew: In style. Exactly. We share secrets over Lady Gaga. [laughs] All right. Well, enough about Gaga. We have a few e-mails about Episode 185's Chapter-by-Chapter and then we'll get into this week's Chapter-by-Chapter. Eric, you want to read the first e-mail?

Chapter-by-Chapter Feedback: Sorting Hat

Eric: Yep. The first e-mail comes from Jade, age 13, from Ohio. Her subject is 'The Sorting Hat'.

"Hey MuggleCasters. First of all, I want to say I love your podcast. It provides a safe escape for my inner 'Harry Potter' geekiness. My comment is on the Chapter-by-Chapter in Episode 185. When listening to the podcast, I noticed that some of you were almost enraged when Harry didn't ask the Sorting Hat why he wasn't in Slytherin. That was a main question that puzzled me about his house placement and I think that truly Harry was a Gryffindor but his connection with Voldemort through his scar and the Horcruxes caused the Sorting Hat to see major characteristics of Slytherin in Harry. What do you think about it? Love the show and keep up the amazing work."

Mikey: Hey, you know I wasn't on that episode but I always wondered why he didn't ask. But if I think about it, he was young then, there was really no reason for him to go that far. You know what I mean?

Andrew: Yeah.

Mikey: Like in hindsight, he should have asked, it would have solved a lot of problems. But...

Eric: Maybe it wouldn't have got him anywhere. Maybe the Sorting Hat has a no-spoiler policy.

[Andrew and Mikey laugh]

Mikey: Maybe.

Andrew: Well, plus everyone was staring at him, it's not like they all can sit up there all day and have a little chit-chat with the Sorting Hat.

Micah: But isn't there that scene when Dumbledore where he's talking to Harry and Dumbledore tells him...

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: ...that he didn't go into Slytherin because he asked the hat not to put him there?

Eric: It's at the end of the book, in Dumbledore's office.

Andrew: Mmm.

Eric: He also tells him that Voldemort transferred some of his power on the night that he killed - he doesn't say he transferred his soul, but he says he transferred - that was the same conversation that happens at the end of this book. The end of Chamber of Secrets.

Mikey: We're not there. That's a spoiler.

Chapter-by-Chapter Feedback: Lucky Escapes

Micah: The next e-mail comes from Matthew, age 12 of Michigan and he says,

"Hey guys, I was wondering if you thought it was little too lucky that all the petrified people somehow managed to survive and none of them died. This is my first e-mail. Love the show and keep going strong."

Andrew: We couldn't have people dying in Harry's second year.

Eric: It's a G-rated picture.

Andrew: Yeah.

[Laura laughs]

Mikey: Also, how long did it take until Myrtle died, the first time?

Andrew: Yeah.

Mikey: It took a while.

Eric: The question is valid because you have a basilisk on the loose...

Andrew: Right.

Eric: ...but I thought that was kind of part of the mystery that was cool, because if you don't know that viewing the Basilisk indirectly is going to get you petrified it actually helps to root out the Basilisk as the culprit.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: It makes it that much harder to figure out what's doing this.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: And I thought it was kind of clever in the end that it was like - oh, Justin must have seen the Basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick, etcetera, etcetera.

Mikey: And Nick couldn't die and - yeah.

Eric: It all - yeah, exactly, 'Nick got the full blast but he couldn't..." And it makes all this sense. So I really liked, actually, how it was - that people got petrified as opposed to killed, and not just because it was too soon for that, I just think that that was kind of an additional...

Andrew: Well, it also brought some tension, it was sort of like "Oh, is someone going to die? Is someone going to die?"...

Eric: Yeah, exactly.

Andrew: ...as you read the book.

Mikey: Yeah.

Eric: Lucky that the mandrakes were...

Mikey: And I also like that as we get to in this chapter that they find out someone did die and who it was was someone who we learn about this year in...

Andrew: Right.

Mikey: Which I thought it all tied together really well. Going through this book I kind of remember how much I love how everything is nice and neat and everything ties back and forth.

Andrew: Yeah, exactly.

Eric: All the back stories.

Mikey: I forget how much each book before, as you read further books, you learn and go, "Oh my gosh, that meant this in book whatever, and this..." And even this book itself. You read something in one chapter and you go, "Oh but that means this!" I forgot how much this series does that. I really enjoy it.

Chapter-by-Chapter Feedback: Squib's Children

Andrew: Next e-mail is from Gwen, 14, of Laguna Niguel. How do you pronounce that, Mikey? You're - Laguna Niguel?

Mikey: Laguna Niguel. Dude, you're down the street from there. Come on.

Andrew: I know! Well, I got Laguna right.

Mikey: Laguna Niguel, yeah.

Eric: Andrew sometimes sleep walks into Laguna Niguel. And he doesn't know how to pronounce it.

Andrew:

"Hey everybody, love the show it's hysterical. I have a question that no one's been able to answer for me, and I was wondering if you guys would know the answer. If two Squibs have a wizard child, is the wizard considered a Muggle born? Thanks for your help."

Mikey: No.

Laura: I wouldn't think so.

Andrew: Yeah, I don't think so either.

Mikey: I wouldn't - because a Squib is not a Muggle. There's...

Eric: A Squib isn't a Muggle. Right.

Mikey: A Squib is just a non-magical wizard.

Laura: Yeah. So they still have the - they still have the wizard blood.

Mikey: Yeah.

Eric: They can still see Hogwarts, for instance.

Laura: Yeah.

Mikey: Yeah, Squibs can see Hogwarts. Yeah.

Eric: So no, they'd be a Squib-born.

Andrew: [laughs] Right. Squibble-born.

Mikey: [laughs] Squibble-born?

[Andrew, Eric and Mikey laugh]

Andrew: All right. Laura, next e-mail?

Chapter-by-Chapter Feedback: Hermione's Motivation

Laura: Sure. Next one is from Shannon, 19, of New Jersey. She writes:

"Hey everyone. In Episode 185 when you were discussing in Chapter-by-Chapter, you were talking about this new Hermione, breaking rules to make the Polyjuice Potion. You discussed one reason being that she wanted to see who the heir was. While I agree with that, I think there is also another reason that you didn't mention, and I think that also played a role. One of her motives may have been that she wanted to feel academically accomplished. The potion is a difficult one, and the fact that she is attempting it and is successful - well at least for Ron and Harry - at such a young age, really is just a testament to how smart she is. I believe she is doing it just as much for the experience as for finding out who the heir is. Love the show and keep up the good work. Heart, Shannon."

Andrew: Yeah, well I definitely agree she was doing it for - because she was primarily motivated by the fact that she just wanted to figure out the - to solve the mystery. And we see this in all the books.

Eric: Well, I mean Harry is the one who wants to - Harry and Ron are both like, "Oh it's Malfoy, it's Malfoy." And she's like, "Wait. You know, we have to actually figure this out."

Andrew: Yeah. I mean, Hermione is certainly not one to be like, "Oh. There's a rule getting in the way of us solving a mystery. We will not do this."

Eric: But again, the Polyjuice Potion needed to be brewed over like three moons or something, so it's like this ridiculous amount of time. I think that definitely appealed to her, which is what Shannon was saying.

Chapter-by-Chapter Feedback: Hogwarts Fitness

Andrew: Yeah, yeah. All right, Eric, next e-mail.

Eric: Next one comes from Elizabeth, 12 from Philadelphia.

"Okay, so we all know that they have Quidditch at Hogwarts, yet you have to try out for the team. Most schools want all kids to be on sports teams, yet Hogwarts only allows a few. Also to top it off, they have huge unhealthy food at every meal and do not have health class. Not that I am a health freak and love health class, but you would think that the teachers care about kids staying healthy and being on sports teams. Anyway, love the show, Elizabeth."

Andrew: I completely agree. It's time to get some fitness - some physical education going on at Hogwarts.

Eric: I think you underestimate how physically challenging Exploding Snap is.

Laura: Well, also consider...

[Andrew laughs]

Laura: ...the fact they have to climb around this ancient castle all the time.

Andrew: That's true.

Eric: That's true, seven floors of staircases.

Mikey: Well also, also don't they - aren't wizards just healthier in general? Like didn't Neville Longbottom fall out of a two story window and just be okay because he's a wizard?

[Andrew and Eric laugh]

Laura: Yeah, that's true.

Mikey: So it's like they're just magical, so I can see them eating doughnuts and pizza all day and be totally fine because their magical blood just says, "Oh, it's no calories, it's like eating broccoli."

[Laura and Mikey laughs]

Laura: They burn calories at double the rate that Muggles do.

[Mikey laughs]

Eric: Yeah, I think that's the secret.

Andrew: That could be true.

Mikey: It's one of those things where everything leads - just look at what Harry goes through. How he falls of his broom at a ridiculous height - take it Dumbledore slowed him down - but all he did was like break his arm.

Andrew: Yeah.

Mikey: Like that's kind of like - they're like superheroes.

Eric: Actually I think we've stumbled on something here because look at Harry. He's as skinny as a something that's skinny...

[Laura laughs]

Eric: ...and he lives with the Dursleys and the Dursleys are the number one Muggles - like the first people we see that are not magical and we spend the most time with them...

Mikey: Yeah.

Eric: And they're huge.

Andrew: Well surely you...

Mikey: Well look at Ron too.

Andrew: ...being magical will burn more calories. I think Laura was absolutely right.

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: I know you were joking, Laura, but...

Laura: I wasn't joking. I was totally serious.

Eric: I think it makes sense.

Mikey: Yeah, because what if magic is like another muscle and it's just invisible?

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: Right.

Mikey: So like every time you use magic, you're working out.

Eric: Ugh, got to stretch my magic.

[Andrew and Laura laugh]

Chapter-by-Chapter Feedback: Draco's Abilities

Andrew: Okay, well enough with the fitness at Hogwarts. Micah, how about you read the next e-mail?

Micah: Next e-mail comes from Graham and he says,

"Hey guys I'm loving the show especially Chapter-by-Chapter. Just wondering how does Draco use the Serpensortia spell in the 'Dueling Club' chapter. Conjuring charms are past O.W.L. level and would be hard with a living thing. Even though Snape told him the right spell, I can hardly believe a second year student could perform it. Please give me your feedback. Thanks and once again, I love the show."

Eric: That's a good point.

Laura: I would just...

Micah: Maybe his dad.

Laura: Continuity error maybe.

Eric: Just because that particular spell was later determined to be part of...

Laura: Yeah.

Eric: ...a complex.

Micah: Yeah, but even still though I mean there's always examples of students doing things earlier on in school than what they should be capable of doing.

Eric: Like Harry and the Patronus, but he did receive special, special training about that.

Laura: Although, I mean, you guys all have to refresh my memory because this was last week and I wasn't on, but in the book wasn't the snake not actually a snake? Like it was a smoky kind of apparition?

Eric: Had to be a snake because he was talking to it.

Andrew: Yeah, no it was a snake.

Laura: Okay. Because I just seemed to remember that it wasn't the same as how they presented it in the movie.

Micah: That must have been last night, Laura.

[Everyone laughs]

Mikey: Happy birthday, again.

Micah: All those smoky apparitions.

Andrew: Twenty-first birthday, mind you all. It's sort of like - it sort of reminds me of Ron speaking Parseltongue and not learning it. You can say spells or things can come in your mouth, and it will still happen.

Laura: What? [laughs]

Andrew: I know this doesn't directly relate. I know that's kind of a dirty joke, Laura.

Laura: Okay.

[Andrew and Laura laugh]

Andrew: I'm serious.

Micah: But who's to say his dad couldn't have taught him the spell?

Andrew: Right, or maybe Snape did...

Eric: How to conjure snakes? Yeah.

Andrew: Maybe Snape did. We don't know.

Eric: It still makes Malfoy a little git for cheating.

Andrew: Right.

Mikey: Yeah, well...

Andrew: It was very unfair.

Mikey: ...he's Malfoy.

Chapter-by-Chapter Feedback: Coincidence?

Andrew: "I said disarm only!" Final e-mail today comes from Clare, 17, of North Dakota:

"I'm just in the midst of listening to your Chapter-by-Chapter discussion in Episode 185. Your comment that it seems a bit over the top that Harry was the first to the scene of the crime at almost every Basilisk attack made me think."

Can you imagine, guys? We made somebody think. That's pretty cool.

Mikey: Wow.

Eric: 186 episodes in. [laughs]

Andrew: Finally, we made someone think!

"I wondered if it was possible that it's not merely coincidence. Is it possible that Tom Riddle is deliberately fooling with Harry, sending the Basilisk to attack people in close proximity to him? Could Tom actually be framing Harry? Not knowing Harry, Riddle might assume the best way to provoke Harry into searching for the Chamber is to put his reputation on the line. It's not until far later on that he changes tactics, attacking people close to him, like Hermione, and finally taking Ginny to the Chamber."

I think that's a good theory.

Eric: I think its okay. The problem is it was kind of random when Riddle could actually gain enough power and seduce Ginny because she would randomly wake up in chicken patches by Hagrid's hut.

Andrew: [laughs] Right.

Eric: Like she said later that she would just wake up there and stuff...

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: ...and I think it's - I think with Riddle - the question being is he deliberately sending the Basilisk to attack people in close proximity? I don't think so, because the snake is using the pipes to travel, and they don't really - how would it - that would take too much coordination. It's really just a little possessed Ginny who's going around and setting the snake on people. I think the fact that people who die are close to - or people who get petrified are close to where Harry is, or Harry's always first in the scene, is more to do with Harry is the one who is always roaming the halls and not really doing what he's supposed to and he's the one involved in this mystery.

Mikey: And the fact that he can hear the snake, too.

Eric: Yeah, which draws him out while everyone else is in class.

Mikey: And also, when Hermione gets attacked, didn't Percy's girlfriend, what's her name, Clearwater?

Eric: Penelope, Penelope Clearwater.

Mikey: Yeah, didn't Penelope Clearwater get attacked at the same time? Couldn't it be more along the lines that it wasn't even going after Hermione but going after Penelope Clearwater because didn't Ginny know that - what's his name? - Percy, was kind of with her...

Andrew: Yeah, maybe.

Mikey: ...and that was on her mind because he was being a jerk to her.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Well, I don't think any of this was malicious, I think it was just who the snake stumbled upon. That's really how it came across to me. I mean even Moaning Myrtle happened to be in the bathroom at that time, happened to peek her head out and see the basilisk as it was coming out of the sink.

Andrew: Yeah, I think this theory's good because I still have a hard time believing - the Hogwarts castle is huge, so Harry running into all these cases - being the first into all these cases each time does seem a little odd.

Micah: Yeah, but Myrtle says he doesn't even take an interest really in Harry until Harry finds the diary.

Andrew: All right, yeah.

Mikey: And you also got to remember this is from Harry's perspective, the snake could have been roaming around again because remember the spiders run from it. We just don't know about it because it's again from Harry's perspective. The snake could have been roaming the halls when Harry wasn't around.

Andrew: All right.

Mikey: Just didn't find anybody. Went on a stroll and no one was out.

Chapter-by-Chapter: The Very Secret Diary

Andrew: Yeah. Well, that's does it for e-mails this week. And now it's time to talk about this week's set of chapters. This week we're looking at Chapters 13 through 15 of Chamber of Secrets. We're about three quarters of the way through the book. And these chapters really focus on the series getting - the books getting darker, we're getting deeper into the plot as Harry discovers the diary and its secrets. So Eric, Micah and I prepared discussion points for each chapter. Eric did the first chapter, Micah did the next one, and I did the last one. So, we're going to let Eric control this one which is Chapter 13. Eric, I was reading through your notes, lots of interesting points you bring up.

Eric: My first note here is the chapter title, Chapter 13 of Book 2 is called "The Very Secret Diary," and I thought it was cool because the diary is the key to opening the Chamber of Secrets...

Andrew: Yes...

Eric: ...and it's a very secret diary. [laughs sarcastically]

Andrew: Oh I get it like secret, like Chamber of Secrets, got it.

Eric: Also, I remember that Chapter 13 as I was reading this, I was compiling it, and I realized, 'Oh we find the diary in this chapter' - that's when Harry finds Riddle's diary and I remembered that Chapter 13 has a special significance in at least the first few Harry Potter books. I don't know about the rest, but Chapter 13 in Goblet of Fire for instance is called "Mad-Eye Moody," and at the end of Chapter 13 in Half-Blood - sorry, in Prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius Black breaks into the Gryffindor dormitory. So, Chapter 13 in the Harry Potter books is when the villain is first revealed - or Chapter 13 is about the villain of whatever current book it's on. At least, that works for the first few books, I think.

Andrew: Oh, interesting. Well, I definitely understand - that would be a cool little easter egg, since 13, of course, is the notoriously unlucky number.

Eric: Yeah. Absolutely. So, my first real point, though - okay, so they've just come off the "Polyjuice Potion" chapter and Hermione is a cat and is just recovering in the hospital wing and Harry and Ron go to visit her and they find, under her pillow, a 'Get Well Soon' card from Gilderoy Lockhart, and - it's interesting - I just want to read it, quickly, because it seemed, reading this, I don't know if it's just me being older and obviously having less innocence...

[Andrew and Laura laugh]

Eric: ...but this seems kind of weird, okay? I'm going to read this to you.

Andrew: Okay.

Eric: This is the 'Get Well Soon' card:

"To Miss Granger, wishing you a speedy recovery from your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award."

I wonder if he actually handwrote all that. But regardless, so I was thinking okay, this is Lockhart, but why did he send Hermione this 'Get Well Soon' card? It seems kind of interesting to me that he would take that much interest in - I mean, even if she is his favorite student, it seems kind of weird to me that he'd write to his fan, like if we're viewing Lockhart as a real person...

Andrew: I think it's sort of in his character to be this, 'Oh, look at me, I care so much for everyone at Hogwarts.' Blah blah blah.

Mikey: I think he just wanted to write his name and all his credits.

[Laura and Micah laugh]

Mikey: Really, "and winner of Witch Weekly's five-times best smile." I think that's just his personality I think.

Eric: Oh, yeah. Okay. It just struck me as weird, but I'll move on.

[Andrew laughs]

Eric: Anyway, moving on. Harry and Ron leave the hospital wing where Hermione is still healing - she no longer has facial hair, which is nice - and they find Filch complaining about Moaning Myrtle who has just wet the floor again in the corridor. And they go into Myrtle's bathroom, and I realize that even though we've seen Harry and Ron going into Myrtle's bathroom several times, it is a girl's bathroom, and I remembered that scene in Order of the Phoenix when they try to go up and visit Hermione in the girl's common - or girl's dormitory, and they can't because it's protected. It's no boys allowed. And I just wanted to mention that I thought it was kind of interesting that the girl's bathroom is not boy-proof, so if you want to get your snog on, do it in the bathroom and not in the dormitory.

[Andrew laughs]

Laura: Mm. That's romantic.

Mikey: Didn't they also go in the girl's dormitory when the troll attacked, too?

Eric: The girl's bathroom.

Mikey: Yeah.

Eric: Yes. You're right.

Andrew: Well, I think...

Mikey: Harry just liked going into the girl's bathroom obviously.

Andrew: You know what...

Eric: He spent a lot of time there.

Andrew: I think Jo actually says in the book, she notes this specifically, that they don't - there's no need for any sort of security to keep people out because nobody wants to go in because Moaning Myrtle's in there.

Eric: Yeah

Andrew: So it doesn't - no one is bothered by it. Or, so they don't have to worry about it.

Eric: Oh, because Moaning Myrtle for the last - yeah.

Andrew: They don't want to be - especially nobody wants to go make out in there and have Moaning Myrtle...

Mikey: Well, that's Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. That's not like every girl's bathroom. I think Eric was bringing up the girl's dormitory; the steps turn into a slide, whereas in the girl's bathroom, Ron and Harry just kind of go in there whenever they feel like it like when the troll attacks or to see Moaning Myrtle.

Andrew: But that's - oh, I see what you're saying.

Eric: But it was so over the top. They were just trying to go upstairs and tell Hermione something...

Andrew: Right, right.

Eric: ...in Order of the Phoenix and there's a whistle that blows...

Andrew: [laughs] Right.

Eric: ...and it's slightly ridiculous.

Mikey: No boys in the dormitory!

[Laura laughs]

Eric: Yeah, they don't like cooties. Anti-cootie charm.

[Mikey laughs]

Eric: But they do go into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, find this book on the floor, they talk to Myrtle. Myrtle is like 'They tried to hit me with the book.' And Ron warns Harry when he's about to pick up the diary and find out what it is and Ron warns him that there are these books that his dad always tells him about - Ron's dad has all the connections - and tells him about all these weird books, ones that you can never stop reading, one that burns your eyes out, and one that makes you speak in limericks which are like incantation, really dark, weird language.

Andrew: Right.

Eric: So, I just thought that was interesting. It's the world of J.K.R. being fleshed out. To be able to think about, 'well, people have magic, what would they do with it?' To see that there are these books that are enchanted and books you could never stop reading. I wonder if there aren't already a few of those in our Muggle world anyway. So, I thought that was worth noting. Powering through, Harry has a Horcrux moment here. Over the next few weeks he's trying to get stuff out of the diary and Hermione tries a few of her spells and all that stuff, but here's a quote from the books. It says:

"Harry couldn't explain even to himself why he didn't just throw Riddle's diary away. The fact was that even though he knew the diary was blank, he kept absent-mindingly picking it up and turning the pages as though it were a story he wanted to finish."

[laughs] Maybe it's called Harry Potter.

"And while Harry was sure he had never heard the name T.M. Riddle before, it seemed to mean something to him."

This, to me, seems like either foreshadowing or something that Harry is a Horcrux or that he is affected so much by this diary, which we later find out is a Horcrux, or has part of Voldemort's soul in it.

Mikey: You didn't finish it Eric, but further on there it actually goes on to say that T.M. Riddle almost feels like someone he may have known when he was a young kid, like a friend, but then he says that's ridiculous because he didn't have any friends until he got to Hogwarts.

Andrew: Or like someone who killed his parents.

Mikey: Yeah someone he recognized when he was a baby. Like, where is it at? I don't have the book...

Andrew: Yeah.

Mikey: ...open right now.

Eric: Yeah, that's the end of that quote. I cut it off there because it didn't seem to support my 'Harry is also a Horcrux' theory.

Mikey: I think that it supports it even more because it's like he met T.M. Riddle when he was a baby.

Eric: Well, he didn't meet T.M. Riddle. He met Voldemort.

Mikey: Who is T.M. Riddle. It's the same thing though.

Eric: Right, but it wouldn't that Lily - Lily wouldn't say, "Oh Tom Riddle's here to kill us."

Mikey: No, no, no. What I'm talking about is his soul is in him and he met Voldemort when he was young. I think that it supports it even more.

Eric: I guess, yeah, in the most intimate way you can meet someone...

Mikey: Yeah.

Eric: ...is to have their soul attached to you.

Mikey: Yeah, exactly. So I think - I think it goes to that theory a little bit more even.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: When I was reading this for our segment I didn't even think about that - that whole Horcrux connection, but yeah that's - I really agree that is totally a Horcrux sort of moment. And certainly is probably the best explanation we as readers could make out of that reading back - reading the series back.

Eric: It is kind of cool, yeah.

Mikey: Yeah it was totally like an ah-ha moment for me. I was like, "Ah!"

Eric: Yeah.

Mikey: Yeah that's - sorry. I get excited when I...

Eric: Cool.

Mikey: ...read.

Eric: The mandrakes - this is my next note here. Madam Pomfrey informs the school - it's another few weeks and she tells everyone that, "The people who were petrified should be healed soon because the mandrakes are growing up and becoming moody and secretive."

Andrew: What are they get all emo and gossipy?

[Laura laughs]

Eric: They get all emo and start listening to countless...

Mikey: I - you know, honestly, I couldn't remember how much you know Madam Pomfrey talked about the mandrakes in this - in these last couple of chapters, but honestly she's like, "Oh yeah, they're trying to move into each other's pot and have a party." And I'm like, "Really the mandrakes are trying to have a party?" It was just like a joke running in the background almost.

Andrew: Yeah.

Mikey: And it just made me laugh every time I get to it.

Laura: Didn't she also say they were developing acne?

Mikey: Yeah!

Eric: Yeah.

Mikey: As soon as the acne cleared up they'd be all ready to go.

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: That's funny. So these are like - these are being personified and they're mandrakes.

Eric: I need to see these mandrakes. Yeah I think that somebody should write a story set, you know, the main characters are the mandrakes that are growing up in Year Two and they're about to be chopped up and used to...

Mikey: And not know about it. Trying to escape.

Eric: But they get to have a party and you know listen to Gaga.

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: Yeah, yeah. Totally.

Eric: Gaga all the way. So, Lockhart comes up with this brilliant idea of what to do to make everybody's mood cheer up. On Valentine's Day he paints the school pink.

Andrew: So adorable.

Eric: Pink ribbons everywhere - I know. I know. It's a shame they didn't carry that tradition over you know the following years. There's a quote here, "'What's going on?' Harry asked them sitting down and wiping confetti off his bacon."

[Andrew laughs]

Eric: Which is hilarious, and of course there's these travelling dwarfs...

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: ...dressed as cupids and Lockhart is wearing robes of pink.

Andrew: I thought that was a clever little idea. I find it fabulous. Everybody else in the school didn't like it, but I thought it was fab.

Eric: It's a good way to disguise as well too. Because it's when the - when Harry finally gets his singing valentine and he sees Ginny run off, she also, of course just discovered...

Andrew: Right.

Eric: ...that he has the diary that she was trying to flush. So, he confuses it then, you know, mistakes it as being - her being embarrassed, because you know, Malfoy says, "Oh, I think your boyfriend hated the valen-" Whatever, but actually Ginny's really upset because she just saw that Harry dropped the diary and she sees that he has it, which is the last person she wants, "Oh my god, he's reading my diary!"

Andrew: Yeah, yeah.

Eric: But yeah, so that's kind of cool. I thought it was definitely good events that happened. And there's another foreshadowing moment I wanted to point out where Snape - this is still in the Great Hall - and Lockhart says something to the effect of you know, "ask Snape to brew you a love potion anybody who's interested." And it says that "Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a love potion would be force-fed poison."

[Andrew and Laura laugh]

Eric: And you know, having just seen the - and that's a good way of putting it even without it being foreshadowing, I think that's just a nice phrase. But, just having recently seen the sixth movie, I remembered about Ron eating those love potion cookies from Romilda Vane and then of course, Harry taking him to Slughorn and Ron is force-fed poison thinking it would help him take the edge off. So that just seems like a sequence of events. Books 2 and 6 are linked, you know, I know we've talked about that...

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: Mhm.

Eric: ...ad nauseum so...

Andrew: Yeah, yup.

Eric: ...figured that would be one more thing. Harry finally unlocks the key to the diary and gets - because he realizes the diary sucks - I'm not going to say that - [unintelligible]. Anyway, he unlocks the key to the diary and also gets treated to a memory. This is interesting because we of course have a tool to view people's memories and it's not at all a diary. But this is our first glimpse into someone else's memory. It's Riddle talking to Professor Dippet about staying at Hogwarts over the Summer. And basically we get this really cool ending to the chapter, which is that Harry suspects, is basically shown by Riddle that Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, is the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago.

Andrew: Right. And it's interesting because we as readers, the first time we're reading this, we're like "Oh my god! We've seen Hagrid and he's so innocent and lovable and happy" and now there's...

Eric: Exactly.

Andrew: ...a sudden moment where we have doubts about him, possibly. And this also reminds me, I was - I've just started re-reading Deathly Hallows the other day, and this sort of reminds me of the first time we're reading that book and we see - Harry, it's a very short moment, but we see that Harry is, you know, after the Seven Potters flight, Hagrid is laying there on the ground and Harry tries to wake him up and it takes him a little bit to wake him up. And we knew that Deathly Hallows was going to be a blood bath, and we're like, "Oh my god, is he actually - did J.K. Rowling actually kill Hagrid?" But...

Eric: Well, after Hedwig, it was really...

[Laura laughs]

Eric: ...anybody.

Mikey: It's like all bets are off.

Eric: She pulled out all the stops.

[Everyone laughs]

Mikey: Come on, she just killed his owl off, come on.

Eric: They killed the owl!

Andrew: I still remember the - the shock on Laura's face when she read that part.

Laura: I was so upset!

Andrew: Yeah. It was totally sad.

Eric: It was funny because Laura just gasps and then Jamie - wasn't it Jamie or was it somebody else one minute later was like, "Awwww"?

[Laura and Andrew laugh]

Andrew: Yeah, we all made different noises upon reading the death. But what was your story behind it, Laura?

Laura: Well, okay. You guys all know Elysa Montfort, right?

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: Well, of course you all do.

Eric: Who?

Laura: She's been on the show a couple of times, and she, myself, and a few other friends of ours got together for the release of Half-Blood Prince in 2005. And Elysa was kind of far behind everybody else. So she didn't know what was going on, and another friend of ours had already finished the book, and at one point I was like, "Oh, we haven't seen Hedwig for a while..."

Andrew: Oh geez.

Laura: And this one friend of ours had this terrible, evil smile on her face trying to convince us that Hedwig died. And Elysa was practically in tears because she'd been up for 24 hours at this point reading, and she was like, "No! Hedwig can't die!"

[Andrew laughs]

Laura: And then I get to Book 7 and Hedwig dies.

Andrew: [laughs] Right. It was a terrible twist of fate.

Laura: It was.

Micah: Poof goes the owl.

Eric: Poof goes the owl? Poof goes my plush replica of Hedwig that I got for pre-ordering the seventh book.

Andrew: Yeah. They're suddenly worthless. So that's it for Chapter 13, and now Micah will cover Chapter 14. Yay, Micah!

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