Chapter-by-Chapter: "The Marauder's Map"

Andrew: [laughs] Right. Okay so let's get into Chapter-by-Chapter! This week we're looking at Chapters 10, 11, and 12 of Prisoner of Azkaban and we're going to start with Chapter 10 of course: "The Marauder's Map." So when the chapter opens we see Harry doesn't want to throw away the pieces of his Nimbus 2000. It "felt as though he'd lost one of his best friends," and this sort of reminded me of Hedwig's death in Deathly Hallows because this is an example of Harry's childhood slowly disappearing. It's heading into the past as he loses items like the Nimbus 2000 and Hedwig. Are there any other examples of Harry losing childhood items that you can think of off the top of your head?

Eric: Dobby.

Micah: Sirius.

Andrew: Dobby and Sirius, yeah. Great examples.

Eric: I mean, equal to - I mean, he's holding the pieces of his Nimbus 2000, it's not like he's holding Hedwig's broken body and has to throw her away.

[Andrew laughs]

Eric: But you're right. I mean, it's this passage, these things that Harry has loved. Later in this series of chapters he's remembering the first time he rode a broomstick and it's kind of very reminiscent of this...

Andrew: Yeah. I would be so upset too. That was his first broom! He loves Quidditch and that holds a lot of memories for him and to lose that, to see it shatter in pieces is very sad!

Eric: Yeah. It was the top of the line too, in its time.

Andrew: Yes, in its time. In its day. [laughs] So Harry hasn't told anyone about the Grim and this, in a way, is a testament to his strength, I think because if I had a repeat Grim offender going after me, I wouldn't hesitate to tell someone. So at the same time, I do find it kind of odd that he didn't mention the Grim to anyone. It was sort of immature. But what's the deal? Why isn't he telling anyone?

Micah: Well - go ahead, Eric.

Eric: No, go ahead, Micah.

Micah: I was going to say - how much of it though, is - he constantly hears McGonagall sort of downplaying Trelawney and her predictions, and a lot of this does come from his Divination class and his ability to sort of see these things within the teacup, and then he sees it at the match again. So I wonder if he feels if he goes and talks to a professor, it's going to be something that's easily dismissed. And remember, this is a kid who had heard voices all throughout Chamber of Secrets, and he was told it wasn't good to hear voices, so now all of a sudden instead of hearing things, he's seeing things. So maybe he thinks that if he goes forward to somebody again then they're going to dismiss him.

Andrew: Hmmm.

Eric: That's a good point. I think also that maybe, possibly, Harry suspects - sort of in the same line as that - I think he suspects that there's more to it than that it's the Grim. And I mean, he has no way of knowing specifically that, oh, you know, he saw a dog Animagus, not a Grim. But just the way that the Grim - just the way that Sirius approached him on Magnolia Crescent, and wasn't threatening, just randomly in the bushes and then a minute he's gone. There's something non-threatening about a certain aspect - I think Harry has a suspicion that perhaps there's more to the story. And I mean, there is more to the story, but I think he kind of wants to see if it's not actually - not superstition that - I think he's pretty sure at this point that he's really seeing the Grim, so the Grim being an omen works to make him feel vulnerable, but also, I think he thinks that there's possibly something else going on.

Andrew: Yeah.

Micah: Yeah, I can see that.

Andrew: Yeah, I don't know, like I would think if he were to tell someone like McGonagall - getting back to Micah's earlier point - I think McGonagall would have taken it a little more seriously. I mean we see her very paranoid about Harry going to Hogsmeade, for example. Don't you think she would be like, "Oh, you're seeing the Grim. Whoa, what's up with this? Let's talk to Dumbledore about it," or something.

Eric: Yeah. It is curious why Dumbledore's not involved here.

Andrew: Yeah, I was missing him in these chapters. I mean, he shows up in Chapter Twelve. Maybe a little bit in Chapter 11 - no, not Chapter 11. Just Chapter 12. I was missing him.

Micah: Yeah, that's an interesting point, particularly because Dumbledore knows of Sirius' Animagus form. We find that out obviously, later on, that he knew that all of the Marauders were able to transform, because of everything related to Lupin and needing to have a place of refuge for him to turn into a werewolf. But that's another thing about this book that kind of puzzled me a little bit that why Dumbledore really wouldn't be on the lookout for his Animagus form.

Andrew: Well, anyway, moving along. Lupin is back as teacher of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. He hears about how Snape treated them and tells the students they don't have to write the two rolls of parchment - the essay that has to be two rolls of parchment. Now, is this just me or is it bad for a teacher to cancel an assignment issued by another professor? Because in the real world that's like a substitute teacher issuing an assignment and then the real teacher coming back and canceling it. It just seems irresponsible!

Eric: [laughs] Andrew, I don't think that a substitute teacher I've ever had has actually issued any work to be done.

Andrew: Well, usually they follow the...

Eric: The guideline.

Andrew: Right.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: I - it seems irresponsible.

Eric: I think it's protection because the essay was on werewolves, wasn't it? So Lupin just doesn't want people delving into that much about werewolves otherwise - lest they find out that Lupin is a werewolf.

Micah: Yeah, I agree with that.

Andrew: I get that, but he said - I think he does mention in this chapter that they are going to get to werewolves eventually.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: But, I don't know. I was just - I think that sets a bad example for the students.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: I wonder if that got back to Snape. "Ha, ha. He canceled our assignment!"

Eric: He'd just write - he'd just make them do an essay in potions.

Micah: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah.

Andrew and

Micah: Exactly.

Micah: But I think that's a little bit of the relationship underlined between Lupin and Snape. And I...

Eric: Very true.

Micah: ...don't think Lupin is very fond of Snape in the teaching aspect of it, but at the same time he has to be grateful to him for brewing this potion that he's been drinking all the time.

Andrew: Oh, yeah, I think you're right. So after class Lupin holds Harry back to talk about the Dementor attack. He goes into great detail about the Dementors, describing them as some of the, "foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair. They drain peace, hope and happiness out of the air around them." Harry wants Lupin to teach him how to fight off a Dementor and Lupin agrees to help, but he must wait until the next term! I didn't particularly get that because it seems like a very urgent situation and Lupin's excuse wasn't doing it for me.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: About being busy and all that.

Eric: There's prep work to be done though. As we find out in Chapter 12.

Andrew: Like having to find a Boggart

Eric: In Chapter Twelve "The Patronus" he had to find a substitute for - for an actual Dementor which ends up being a Boggart and he's also got to - the moon, I guess the full moon is coming up. That's what I gathered. He's about to go into hibernation I think...

Micah: Yeah.

Eric: ...until after this next phase of the moon.

Micah: Yeah, as we find out in the next chapter, he's absent from Christmas dinner. So I think that's part of the reason why in this chapter he tells Harry it's going to have to wait. And did we want to talk a little bit about the Dementors at all? I mean the way J.K. Rowling describes them?

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: It was a beautiful description.

Eric: Do you have Fantastic Beasts anywhere?

Micah: I don't actually own one.

Eric: Oh, really? Because they're in there. They're described as being unnatural throughout - against nature and all that. And they're really, like you say here, they're very incredibly descripted about all this decay this despair they suck in. Very interesting creatures, very scary even for this early in the series.

Andrew: Well, we'll talk about them a little bit more later on at least in my chapter and we can focus more on them and have a main discussion in the future if we want to. So, moving along, Christmas approaches and another visit to Hogsmeade is scheduled and Harry believes he'll be stuck at Hogwarts alone again but to his surprise Fred and George introduce him to The Marauder's Map.

Eric: Bing!

Andrew: Fred and George show him the best path to get to Hogsmeade, they leave and Harry heads off. And it's interesting to see Harry be introduced to this item for the first time and of course we as readers are also being introduced to it. And I thought this was a very crucial part of the story as without going to Hogsmeade Harry would have never heard the story about Sirius. So this was one of those x-factors. So anyway Harry heads off and Jo makes the passage way between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade out to be very long, which makes sense as he has to get Hogsmeade from Hogwarts and Harry eventually has to climb a couple of hundred stairs to reach the end which sounds very difficult. I wonder why these paths were created in the first place, who would actually dig a path that long...

Eric: That's a great question.

Andrew: ...just to get to Hogsmeade?

Eric: Well, you can do it with magic though. You can dig with magic - you know what I'm saying? So it's not exactly like it would be if it were the normal world and there were that long a tunnel. But, I mean especially in Deathly Hallows where we see - and we've known - this is one of the interesting points of reading Hogwarts, A History. Because it seems to be so closely tied with the nearby village. Hogsmeade itself is very important for being the - the wizard's - all-wizard settlement in Britain. And at the same time it's got all these secret passageways that go straight up to the school. And it was used for a goblin rebellion headquarters and all that. It's so interesting to see Hogwarts being the safest place in the Wizarding World to hide something and have this - this town nearby. And they are just interlinked and I would love to know the history furthermore of - of why those tunnels built and also what relationship the school has to the town.

Micah: Maybe they had a period of prohibition...

[Eric and Micah laugh]

Micah: ...just like the United States where they were doing all of this underground selling of alcohol from the bar...

Eric: To students.

Micah: ...in Hogsmeade to everybody at Hogwarts, yeah.

Andrew: I bet Jo has a really cool answer for it. And it may be interesting to take in to consideration that this path ends up in Honeydukes. So maybe there was some illegal trading going on. Who knows?

Micah: I agree. I think there was.

[Andrew laughs]

Micah: Underground goat trading.

[Andrew and Eric laugh]

Andrew: So moving along, luckily for Harry, Ron and Hermione are there at Honeydukes where the passageway ends when he arrives. They are stunned, but Hermione's main concern is Harry being seen. And this of course is a big difference because Harry has the Cloak and he doesn't even go through this path in the movie - down this path in the movie.

Eric: You're saying he has the cloak in the movie but not in the book?

Andrew: Right. So frankly, I mean Harry should have brought along the Invisibilty Cloak in the book. I mean that could have made much more sense and I wonder why Jo didn't write that into the book. It just seems...

Micah: He's a risk taker.

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: Yeah I know, but even with the Invisibilty Cloak it's a risk.

Micah: Yeah that's true.

Andrew: It just seems too convenient for nobody to stop him...

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: ... when he's walking around in Hogsmeade.

Micah: Well, how many people outside of say Ron, Hermione and some of the professors know that Harry is not supposed to be there? I mean to the average classmate they probably don't think anything of it.

Eric: That question feeds directly into a point I want to make in my chapter - the thing too that you said Micah. So I'm going to remember that.

Andrew: So moving along the trio head to the Three Broomsticks. Harry's just there, whatever. Unfortunately shortly after sitting down, of course as luck would have it, Hagrid, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Fudge all come in for drinks as well. Harry hides under the table and Hermione moves a Christmas tree in front of them so they, primarily Harry, are not seen. So this is where things get crucial. While speaking to Madam Rosmerta about the Dementors, Fudge reveals that he had met some of the Dementors, and as MuggleNet staff member Noah pointed out to us in an e-mail, how exactly did they meet? Did they talk? Do they have their own language? Do they have sign language? What do Dementors sound like?

Micah: Darth Vader.

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: Do they speak in a language like the Navi do in Avatar?

Eric: I'm sure.

[Andrew makes clicking noises]

Andrew: I bet they have their own cool language and Fudge can speak it too. [speaks gibberish]

[Eric laughs]

Micah: Isn't there a similar scene where it mentions Dumbledore talking to them as well? Maybe it's earlier on...

Eric: That's the mermaids dude.

Micah: I thought it was earlier on in this book when he removes them from the Quidditch pitch but maybe I'm wrong.

Eric: Oh.

Andrew: Oh Dumbledore?

Micah: Yeah I would assume Dumbledore does speak to them as well if Fudge can, because Fudge isn't a very smart guy and...

Andrew: Yeah he says - Dumbledore does say that he - we know that Dumbledore was very angry at them. And he had to do something.

Eric: I mean things like when Hagrid gets out of Azkaban in Book 2 they send release papers and so there's got to be somebody, if not a Dementor at Azkaban, administrating to say, "You have to release this person." And for the Dementors to comply. It's interesting because the - the Dementors have this person here they can communicate and they have an agenda as is described by Lupin to Harry later on, that they have their own ideas and feelings and they genuinely want to cause devastation and suck certain people's souls out.

Micah: Yeah

Eric: They appear definitely and you're right Dumbledore does talk to them and establishes some ground rules that they can't come onto the campus they have to stay at the edges. That's a big deal. So they talk but it's not really described.

Micah: Yeah, something else that Noah brought up that I thought was kind of interesting, referring to the Dementors. The trust that the Wizarding World puts in them - these foul creatures that walk the earth and what does that say about - as long as they serve their purpose. I mean these were people that, not people, creatures that had served the darkest wizard that ever existed and yet as long as they're serving their purpose in guarding Azkaban the wizards seem to turn sort of a blind eye to what these creatures actually are and what they do. I don't know if that was kind of a parallel to stuff that goes on in, our world.

Andrew: Yeah...

Eric: It's very interesting...

Andrew: I wonder if the Dementors spoke like a donkey or something. [makes donkey noise]

[Prolonged silence]

Andrew: No? I'll cut that out.

Eric: Just keep going. Just keep guessing.

[Andrew laughs]

Eric: Don't cut it out, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. You have to...

Andrew: Speak like cows?

Micah: Every once and a while just keep coming up with different ways Dementors could speak throughout the show, just randomly interject.

Andrew: Dumbledore's like, "You all must leave," and they're like, "Moo."

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: That's trying too hard I think.

Micah: Yeah...

Andrew: So anyway, to wrap up this chapter, things start to get deep and this is nothing to joke around about. Long story short, as we all know Sirius is Harry's godfather and they believe being, Hagrid, McGonagall, Flitwick and Fudge, that Sirius betrayed Harry's parents and this is a real bombshell, and we also learn how the Secret-Keeper enchantment works. Does anyone remember their reaction the first time they read this? I mean, just like the trio I believed it and interestingly we never hear why the teachers think Sirius is trying to get into Hogwarts. Is it just simply that they think Sirius wants to kill Harry?

Eric: What do you mean?

Andrew: Why do the teachers think that Sirius is breaking into the school, or wants to break into Hogwarts.

Eric: Well, remember Fudge over heard Sirius Black saying, "He's at Hogwarts. He's at Hogwarts," I mean that's what the whole thing is based on.

Andrew: Great but, does he want to kill Harry? They think he wants to kill Harry, right?

Eric: Well, I'm sure that nothing good can come of Sirius getting Harry. Either he wants to kill him or he wants to take him back to Voldemort. It's kind of a no-win.

Andrew: What did you guys make of this whole big thing that we learnt. This was a very deep story that we hear, it's several pages long. I think this is one of the first times in the series that we get such a deep story...

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: A serious story.

Eric: Honestly, I think this passage is probably why it's my favorite book. Just because it's such back story but it's also - we find - we're kind of being misled in a way. We get this huge story that obviously isn't even - I mean the good part about it is, is that it's not all it appears to be. There's actually more to the story than even this.

Andrew: Yeah, yeah.

Eric: So we've been operating this far with no story. We get this story, and then - even better - it actually works out even better with Sirius being innocent in the end, and that's just - that's why I like this book.

Micah: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah, my favorite scenes are always involving the teachers, like group teacher discussions, and that's why one of my favorite scenes in Prisoner of Azkaban the movie is in the Shrieking Shack, when we see Sirius and Lupin and Snape, and they're all talking to each other. It's really interesting.

Eric: Too short, though.

Andrew: I was - yeah, it was too short, but what do you expect? I mean, remember leaning off my seat and leaning in to the screen - I was getting so into it. I was like, "This is amazing! All these fantastic English actors!" And it's a shame they didn't have this part in the movie.

Eric: While watching that Shrieking Shack scene in theaters the first time, I had next to me a Remus/Sirius shipper, and she was just - she squealed really loudly...

Andrew: [laughs] I bet.

Eric: When Snape made that comment, "Oh, you two are bickering like an old married couple."

[Andrew laughs]

Eric: I actually didn't - which is in the movie - I actually didn't hear the rest of the scene, so it was just a funny memory.

Micah: Well, this scene is in the movie, it's just changed up a little bit. It's...

Andrew: It's dumbed down. Hagrid's not there.

Micah: That's true. Madam Rosmerta is there.

Eric: [laughs] Hagrid makes that scene.

Micah: Well, and this was probably leading up to one of the worst acting jobs ever done by Dan Radcliffe [laughs] in the Harry Potter series. With the...

Eric: Oh, come on!

Andrew: When he's crying in the snow?

Eric: Oh come on Micah. That's not fair!

Micah: "He was their friend."

Eric: That's a low shot.

Micah: Too bad James...

Andrew: "He was their friend!"

Eric: That was a low blow. I blame the director completely for that. I liked...

Micah: For keeping it in?

Eric: [laughs] No, I mean, that whole - that whole time in the filming of the series, Alfonso had influenced Dan so much. Dan had so many - he had all those new bands. Remember like every interview, he had a new favorite band that was all hardcore and punk? And I think that was just a tough time in Dan's life.

Micah: He was thinking about the Whomping Willow killing another bird.

Eric: It's too easy - it's too easy to attack Dan for that scene. I think - I mean, it's a little off, but I just - I get upset when people attack Dan for that scene.

Chapter-by-Chapter: "The Firebolt"

Andrew: Okay, let's move on now to Chapter 11, "The Firebolt".

Micah: All right, so Chapter 11, "The Firebolt," starts off with Harry asking the question we have been asking all book long: Why had nobody ever told him about Sirius Black? And then he starts listing people: Dumbledore, Hagrid, Mr. Weasley, Cornelius Fudge. And this is really, I think, where it starts to turn in the series where Harry really starts to get aggravated about not being given enough information. What do you guys think?

Eric: That's a good point to look at this and say, hey this is kind of where it starts of Harry saying, "Wait a minute, these people who I've trusted haven't told me all that I should have needed to know."

Andrew: Again, [laughs] I think they're still scared. They still believe what's best for Harry is not telling him anything which I don't know if that's an immature decision or a mature decision, because keep in mind, he is only thirteen, and I think we forget that a lot.

Micah: Well, now this really brings about the justification for what Mr. Weasley said about not going looking for Sirius Black, and maybe that was the fear, that if he found out the truth, he would want to kill him, which is really how Harry does feel in the end once he learns this information, but he learns it anyway. I mean, I don't know - I just felt - I've always felt throughout this entire book that it was wrong that he was never told this information from the start, because what they're trying to prevent inevitably ends up happening anyway.

Eric: Well, one of the reasons Dumbledore gives to Harry later is that - I think it was Dumbledore - that when Harry first arrived at Hogwarts when he was eleven, people suspected that he could have actually been a dark wizard, because I mean, all they know of Harry before he gets - he actually gets to Hogwarts is that he was more powerful than Voldemort for some reason. Dumbledore knows the real reason, but I just can't help but think that some of these things about them not telling Harry stuff in the early books is possibly more - they don't actually know him, and maybe they're not discounting that Harry might have some secret dark power and really go the way of Voldemort if he has too much anger, turn to the dark side, all sorts of stuff.

Micah: Yeah. And speaking of that anger, he goes up to the dorm room. He wants to be alone once he gets back from Hogsmeade and he starts going through the photo album of pictures that Hagrid had given to him and he looks at the wedding photo and he finds Sirius and as soon as he sees him the quote is, "A hatred such as he had never known before was coursing through Harry like poison." And this, I wanted to know what you guys think, is it a connection to Voldemort at work? Even though Voldemort has not fully returned to power, is it the Horcrux that's inside Harry starting to react? And we see how that Horcrux, the locket, has an effect on the trio when they're in the forest. It makes them really agitated and angry towards each other. So is this Harry's Horcrux at work?

Andrew: I don't think so. I think this is just a really clever way of Jo explaining - trying to describe Harry's feelings. Because in all fairness, how does Harry know what poison feels like?

Eric: Well yeah, it's Jo. But knowing that Harry has had part of Voldemort's soul now with him this whole time later, later, it's easy to say, "Hey, is this a reference to the Horcrux?" But I think that is actually Harry's own...

Micah: Emotion.

Eric: Emotion. His own thought, yeah. Less than - but it's clever to think that it could be...

Andrew: Yeah, it is.

Eric: But at the same time, I think it's too early for that to be into play.

Micah: Okay.

Eric: I think that's actually how Harry's feeling.

Andrew: Good theory though, Micah.

Eric: And it's discounting - if it is the Horcrux, it kind of cheapens what Harry's feeling.

Micah: Yeah. Well yeah, because you're talking about the person that's responsible for his parents' deaths, he could naturally be feeling this way. And then, going through all this emotion, Harry realizes that Draco is in fact aware of what Sirius had done to the Potters. And he references what Draco said earlier on in the book, "If it was me, I'd hunt him down myself. I'd want revenge." And this takes place in a conversation later on between Ron, Hermione and Harry. And of course Ron goes on to mention that his father told him about Pettigrew because they were talking about just how dangerous Sirius Black was and that all that was left of him was a finger. And I wanted to know, how is it possible that Ron heard this story about Peter Pettigrew but doesn't know anything about Sirius Black?

Eric: Now what do you mean "doesn't know anything"?

[Andrew laughs]

Micah: Well, he knows that he's responsible for killing Pettigrew...

Eric: Okay.

Micah: ...but it would lead one to believe that he would have heard why he killed Peter Pettigrew. [laughs]

Eric: Oh, not at all. No, Fudge says in the previous chapter that nobody really knows about the "Secret-Keeper" thing.

Andrew: Yeah. And also, again, Ron's dad could have been purposely leaving out information to avoid scaring them or anything.

Eric: If he knows Sirius is responsible for Pettigrew and they only found the finger, then that's all you need to know really, why he did it. I can see what you're asking, why he did it. Maybe there's like a folk song about Peter Pettigrew, like, [sings] "All that was left was his finger!"

[Andrew and Micah laugh]

Eric: It's a cautionary tale and the kids know it...

Micah: Right.

Eric: ...and that's why they're able to know all about Pettigrew and not about Sirius Black.

Andrew: Do you guys think that Harry felt motivated to go after Draco - to go after Sirius because of what Draco said? Like part of him also wanted to prove to Draco that he could do it...?

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: ...he could go after Sirius and try to kill him?

Eric: Definitely.

Micah: Yeah, yeah. That kind of goes into the next point. Because there's this really, what I consider annoying sequence between Harry and Hermione with her pleading him not to go looking for or thinking about killing Black. And I think sometimes she's a little bit too old for her age. Because wouldn't Harry - and this goes back to what we were talking about when he was looking at the photo - wouldn't he naturally feel this way, even if he's not going to act upon it? The feeling is going to be there regardless, so I think Hermione is being a little bit too overbearing in this situation. Harry should feel this way, I think it's only natural.

Eric: Hmmm.

Andrew: Yeah, but I think also, just from a writing standpoint, there needs to be this balance between Harry, who really wants to go after him and then - I think it's interesting to read it. You find it annoying, but I guess it is sort of interesting to see someone being the reasonable person here saying, "Don't go after him, it's dangerous." And yes, it can get annoying to see Hermione care so much, but it's in her character.

Micah: Yeah.

Eric: And well, just to let him know he has options and has friends who care about him enough.

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: It's probably worlds of difference there for when he does decide to go after Black, or even after the Horcruxes, that they're able to calm him down.

Micah: Right, well I have to play devil's advocate, so that's all I'm doing.

Andrew: Yeah. No, I hear you.

Eric: Yeah, yeah.

Micah: But - and then what happens is they decide to go visit Hagrid, which is not a popular decision by Hermione, but they go and do it anyway. And part of the reason why Harry - or the entire reason why Harry wants to go there is because he wants to ask Hagrid why Hagrid never mentioned anything to him about Sirius. When they get there, they learn about Buckbeak and that he's facing this inquisition and trial for his attack on Draco Malfoy. Hagrid is extremely upset and Harry decides that it's better not to bring up the topic of Sirius Black. So I was wondering, what does this say about his character? We just talked about Hermione a little bit, but what does it say about Harry's character? If despite all that he's going through emotionally, he's still willing to kind of put aside his feelings to deal with something that's important to Hagrid.

Andrew: Well, that wasn't his first intention. Wasn't Harry's first intention to go in there and be like, "Hagrid, why didn't you tell me about this? What's the deal?"

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: His first intention was to be mean.

Eric: I think when he got there, too - Hagrid's in this state, nobody likes a blubbering oaf, or a blubbering humdinger or whatever. They just have to take care of Hagrid's mess and I think it drives - I mean, yeah, it says something to Harry's character, but he knows which battles to pick, when to press an issue.

Micah: Right.

Eric: And that's important later, I guess.

Micah: Right. So during this time at Hagrid's hut, we learn a lot about Azkaban and his time there and that he never wants to go back and that the trio also agree to do research for Buckbeak's upcoming trial.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: So we move onto Christmas and the big story/plotline that is completely left out until the end of the movie arrives. And that's Harry gets this mysterious Firebolt on Christmas morning, and Ron goes through a list of people it could have possibly come from, including Lupin - Dumbledore was the first suggested and then Lupin. We also learn that Lupin was not in the hospital wing despite being ill during Harry's match. So I think we're starting to realize, as we have with past Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, that something is up with Lupin. Now had any of you guys...

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: ...figured out - I mean I know it was a while ago - by this point that he's a werewolf?

Eric: No.

Andrew: Well, I mean there were - yeah, I guess not.

Micah: There's a lot of clues. I feel like his actions at this point...

Eric: His name means "of the moon," you know. [Andrew laughs]

Andrew: Yeah, but I certainly wasn't smart enough back then to be reading into names of characters. [laughs]

Eric: Yeah, but I mean - I think with this chapter, both the Lupin subplot and the Buckbeak subplot, it's at this point where you say, "I realize that this kind of thing - that it's actually important that it's still going and that it's going to pay off somehow by the end of the book."

Micah: Yeah, it's mentioned so randomly and in such passing - like it's Christmas morning and the big thing is that Harry gets this Firebolt but also Ron mentions that during the Quidditch match Lupin wasn't there...

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: ...and - or sorry - when he was serving his detention cleaning out toilets in the hospital wing, Lupin wasn't in there. So you start to realize that something is up with him, but that's just kind of like a small point in passing. You know, it's like these little things that are - you would pass over otherwise, I think.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: So again, it is Christmas morning and what would Christmas morning be without a fight between Crookshanks and Scabbers? And I don't know what round it is, I've lost track. They go at it again.

Andrew: It's four.

Micah: It's four? Okay.

Eric: It was four last week.

Micah: Ron...

[Everybody laughs]

Andrew: It's five!

Micah: ...tries to kick Crookshanks - hopefully PETA is not listening or anything like that - and in the process he kicks the trunk - Harry's trunk. It falls over and out pops the Sneakoscope, and it starts going absolutely crazy. Now does nobody find it odd that this is the second time now that the Sneakoscope has gone off around Scabbers? I mean, I know that there's a lot in that room but...

Eric: Yeah, this is people not trusting their magical devices.

[Andrew laughs]

Eric: The Sneakoscope is described as being broken, you know. I mean, isn't it this random tricky bit of gizmo, the Sneakoscope, to begin with? So it goes off - and it's wonderful for Jo to have fun with this, even in Book Four a lot, have this Sneakoscope be going off randomly and it always means something but the characters don't take a time - and never take time to see why it's going off.

Micah: Right.

Eric: Like they're not going to - they're not going to grab it and hold it up to certain people and see if it goes off and finally get to Scabbers and say, "There's something up with this Scabbers."

Micah: Yeah.

Eric: But they should!

Micah: It's one of those small plot pieces that again, it's just overlooked probably when you're reading through the first time and then you go back are you're like, "Oh! Now that makes sense." And...

Eric: Yeah. Yeah, very cool.

Micah: So we see Scabbers - or Harry does for the first time in a long time, and he appears very skinny with patches of fur seeming to have fallen out. Harry "couldn't help feeling that unless Scabbers had powers he had never revealed, he was reaching the end of his life." So I guess there's a bit of irony there, a bit of foreshadowing...

Andrew: Of course.

Micah: And you know, just kind of J.K. Rowling working her magic. [laughs] Anyway...

Andrew: "Working her magic."

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: With a pen.

Micah: So my favorite part of Christmas, dinner, arrives and - now the trio go down for dinner and there's a little bit of humor here because Dumbledore - I guess it's called a cracker. I've never - it must be a British term. It must be a...

Eric: I asked Jamie about this last week, remember?

Micah: And what did he say? I honestly don't remember.

Eric: He - yeah, he said that they're like - they're like Cracker Jack boxes.

Micah: Oh!

Eric: I mean, he didn't make that comparison but it's like the little prizes that you get. So apparently, I mean, they're called crackers and they make a cracking sound. But I think they're actually crackers too, like...

Andrew: Hmmm...

Eric: ...like crackers that crack and make a - I don't know. But I did ask him, because I knew this scene was coming up and he said "Yeah, there are prizes within. It's a British tradition. It's a British confection that's basically, you know, you pull them and they come apart." I imagine it would be something like a fortune cookie or...

Micah: Gotcha.

Eric: ...you know, like that.

Andrew: Interesting.

Micah: Okay. So out comes a witch's hat topped with a stuffed vulture, because Dumbledore asks Snape, I guess, to make the cracker pop, or whatever, I don't know what [laughs] the right term is.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: But - and again everybody probably reading the book gets a good laugh at Snape's expense because the trio remember what happened during Lupin's lesson and what - with the Boggart. So now, in true Dumbledore fashion, he puts it on and wears it for the remainder of dinner.

Andrew: What a goofball! [laughs]

Micah: He is a goofball! Anyway - I don't know, I just thought that was funny.

Andrew: You love that! [laughs]

[Eric laughs]

Andrew: You just spent three minutes on it.

Micah: It's true Dumbledore - I mean, we haven't - like you said, seen him for most of this book.

Andrew: Right.

Micah: But anyway. Now, the drunkard Trelawney arrives at Christmas dinner, and she's at first reluctant to dine because, quote, "When thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die."

Andrew: Yeah, this was really funny because she looked around the table and said, "No, I refuse to sit down because I will make thirteen."

Eric: You know what guys, this just hit me. Dude, it's - you're going to love this - that it's a Christ allegory, with the last supper. You know...

[Andrew laughs]

Eric: Jesus and the twelve apostles and...

Andrew: Uh-huh.

Micah: Oh, interesting.

Eric: ...then Jesus rises, and - or whatever, because he's standing in Leo Da Vinci's painting.

Andrew: Now we know that - in hindsight, we know that Trelawney's stuff is B.S. because Harry and Ron are the first to rise, and of course it's actually Dumbledore - who's sitting at that table - who was the first to die, so..

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: Right. And it's...

Andrew: Now Micah, you wrote down foreshadowing to...

Micah: Order of the Phoenix.

Andrew: Yeah, why is this...

Micah: Well, because of Sirius. When they dine in Grimmauld Place, I think they said there - the people counted it up, and there were thirteen at the table...

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: ...and he was the first to rise.

Andrew: Oh, no!

Micah: So by...

Andrew: But that's good.

Micah: So by Eric's logic, Sirius is Jesus Christ. [laughs]

[Andrew laughs]

Eric: Well, I said this time it's a Christ allegory, next time it's J.K. Rowling being true to Trelawney.

Micah: Oh, okay.

Andrew: Interesting foreshadowing there.

Eric: But again...

Micah: This is Trelawney, though. Some of her things don't always come true right away or they may be a little bit off, but some of them are pretty spot on.

Andrew: You could also argue it's coincidence, though. [laughs]

Micah: I don't think anything is coincidence in this series.

Andrew: No, no, no.

Eric: That's true.

Micah: But anyway, McGonagall for the first time - she really shows this strong bias that she has against another professor in the way she carries on the conversation with Trelawney. I want to know...

Andrew: But she did this with - last year - Lockhart too, didn't she? With the sarcasm?

Micah: Yeah, you're right.

Andrew: I think she did a little bit. Yeah.

Micah: It's an interesting side of her character.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: I don't like it.

Micah: You don't?

Andrew: She's too - she's too prestigious for me. I don't want to see her being all sarcastic.

Eric: Well, it's interesting seeing her like that too, because her actions are called into question this whole time when she has Harry's Firebolt. Like - especially in the next chapter, I have a few points about that...

Micah: Yeah.

Eric: ...where they're wondering what allegiance she has because they keep his Firebolt from him. But McGonagall in this chapter is again disrespecting Trelawney, and it's really interesting because Harry and Hermione - in fact everybody, really, takes what McGonagall means to be pretty much true and acceptable. She's the head of their house. They're very loyal to her.

Micah: Yeah. Oh, so you're saying because McGonagall...

Eric: Yes...

Micah: ...thinks she's a bit of a kook, Hermione thinks the same thing.

Eric: I think she's definitely assisted by that. You know, if McGonagall really revered Trelawney, and if Trelawney weren't such a kook, I think it'd be a different story entirely.

Micah: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So anyway, as I mentioned earlier we learned Lupin is missing again. And I think - you know Hermione is probably going through in her head the checklist of things. Because she's already suspected Lupin of being a werewolf, and now when she hears about Dumbledore asking Snape if he's brewed him his potion, I think it's just another piece of confirmation. And then at the end of dinner, Hermione asks for a word with McGonagall. Ron thinks it's to take more classes - ha, ha, ha - but we all know what happens. And Eric, this I guess kind of leads into your point with the Firebolt - and you know McGonagall ends up taking it away from Harry, because both of them think - McGonagall and Hermione do - that it came from Sirius Black. Now, moving away from the actual story part...

Eric: [laughs] I love what you've written here.

Micah: I - yeah, I wrote, "If I were thirteen I know I'd be pretty pissed at Hermione. Even though she's looking out for Harry, sometimes she's a little bit too much of a goody two-shoes." I mean, this is like the cool thing - like if you got - I don't know, say you played sports and you got a really cool basketball or a really cool football or cleats that made you run faster, and all a sudden - you got it Christmas morning and then all of a sudden Christmas night, somebody took them away from you.

Andrew: It should have went like this...

[Audio (Jim Dale)]: Not my...

Andrew: Firebolt!

[Audio (Jim Dale)]: ...you bitch!

[Eric and Micah laugh]

Eric: See, that's why there's a pause in Jim Dale's reading of it; so that you can insert your own noun into his...

Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]

Eric: Okay, I see that.

Andrew: Yeah. But yeah, I would have been upset too. But I mean, Hermione just cares. And they bring this up at the end when they get the Firebolt back. Harry and Ron are like, "You know, maybe we should thank Hermione, she was just looking out for us."

Eric: Yeah, they do. I mean it's kind of like reporting unattended baggage at the airport, though. You're going out of your way for the good of everybody else. She's just that kind of person.

Andrew: All right, let's move on to Chapter 12, "The Patronus."

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