Voicemail - Do Patronus And Animagi Take The Same Form?

[Audio]: Hey MuggleCast guys, this is Jeffrey calling from California. I am a huge fan of your show, I listen to it religiously every week. My question is about Patronuses. What do you guys think about my theory that Patronuses and Animaguses form the same animal? For example, Hermione’s Patronus is an otter so if she were to become an Animagi, would she become an otter? Um, I ask this because never really gotten a clear distinction in the books and I thought it would be, more or less, the same thing. So, I just wanted to know your thoughts on that. Thanks! Keep the shows coming. Buh bye.

Jamie: No, that can’t be right because Rita’s Patronus would be a beetle.

Laura: That would be a good question for her though. What’s the difference between your personality assuming your Animagus form and your Patronus form?

Kevin: That’s true, yeah.

Jamie: Yeah, that would be really interesting. What would Harry turn into, you think? If he became an Animagus.

Kevin: Lion?

Jamie: Yeah, because of Gryffindor.

Eric: He’d turn into Liam Neeson.

[All laugh]

Eric: He’d turn into Liam Neeson.

Kevin: I would think a lion.

Jamie: Yeah. I think a lion would be very cool.

Kevin: Yeah. So, next voicemail.

Voicemail - Triwizard Contract

[Audio]: Hi, this one is from California. I was wondering about the bonding contract that is involved in the Triwizard Tournament. Is it similar to the Unbreakable Vow, or does something else happen if one of the champions bails on the tournament?

Andrew: Ohh.

Jamie: Yeah. This is very interesting. They say that...

Ben: You don’t die.

Jamie: ...you can’t really sue somebody in the wizarding world.

Kevin: And I think they really emphasize that in the movie.

Jamie: They have to be a death thing. It has to be a death thing. The thing is, when you bring in magic, everything changes because it could be a binding thing so that it’s impossible for...

Kevin: To turn it down.

Jamie: Yeah, it’s impossible. You're just really excited whenever you think about it and you have to do it. Or even though you have doubts, you always end up doing it. It could be a magic binding contract rather than a...

Laura: Yeah, I agree with that.

Eric: What was Dumbledore thinking? And that’s a serious question. What was Dumbledore thinking? Now you have this Triwizard Tournament which is clearly deadly and they say that it was so deadly they had to tone it down a bit. But if you are legally bound to be in it, and Harry almost died so many times, and the rest of the competitors died so many times, if they can’t get out of it, it’s like a death sentence. Which is why we said that the whole Cedric thing being announced on Halloween...

Kevin: No, because you can be disqualified from it.

Jamie: Yeah.

Eric: Can you be disqualified from the tournament or just a particular task?

Kevin: I believe from the tournament. I mean, if...

Eric: Because they could have disqualified Harry if they didn’t want him...

Jamie: No...

Kevin: You have to be able to be disqualified because, didn’t they mention if you got caught cheating that you’d be disqualified or something like that?

Jamie: The thing is though, how far do you have to compete to fulfill the contract? Like in the third task, could you just walk in two feet and send up red sparks and say, "I can‘t go take it"?

Kevin: "I give up," yeah.

Jamie: Yeah, and in Task Two could you just jump in and say "I’m finished."

Kevin: "I’m too afraid."

Eric: You know, that’s another thing. But that’s what I’m talking about. They would have left them to drown, don’t you think? I mean that’s the impression I got from the movie at least. That they actually would have let Fleur’s sister...

Laura: No, no, no, no. In the book, in the book, Ron said, "What, did you think really think he was going to let us drown?"

Jamie: Yeah, there is no way they would have ...

Eric: In the movies the merpeople really seemed like they wanted to.

Kevin: In the movie. But that’s a movie.

Eric: You know. I know the books definitely take prevalence but my only thing is it’s not really an honor to be chosen if you’re just going to get these trials and suffering and get almost killed. All for this cup you have to get anyway because you’re contracted into it.

Kevin: See, the way I always...

Laura: Yeah, but here’s something too. We know Crouch Sr. was under the Cruciatus Curse and he could have been saying that just to...

Eric: What?

Ben: You mean Imperius.

Laura: Imperius, whatever. Yeah, you know what I meant.

Eric: When was he under the Imperius Curse? When he said that?

Laura: I think he was, wasn’t he? He was under it the whole book. At least that’s the impression I got or I could be totally wrong and Andrew might have to edit this out.

Eric: Wait, Senior?

Kevin: This is the impression I got. The impression I got was that goblet would not spit out your name if it knew that you would not participate. It’s sort of...

Jamie: That could be it as well, yeah.

Laura: Ahhh, that’s good too.

Kevin: You know, the goblet chose, and it chose...

Jamie: If you had the will to participate.

Kevin: Exactly.

Eric: That’s weird. That’s like, what it reminds me of is searching for profiles. Like, it’s a background check...

Kevin: Exactly.

Eric: On everybody, just by their name. You write it and your name has magical significance in the world for the goblet to look at your character and see if you’d be able to compete. And to pick on the best one based on the name, obviously, there is more magic to it than that.

Jamie: Yeah, of course, yeah.

Eric: Yeah, I thought that was cool.

Voicemail - The Scar

[Audio]: Hey, MuggleCasters. This is Stewart from California. I was just wondering whether you think that Harry Potter’s scar will vanish or will it stay when Voldemort dies? Because that’s the bond between the two of them. Thanks. Love you guys. Bye.

Jamie: But isn’t the point of a scar is that it’s permanent?

Kevin: Yeah.

Laura: Mm-hmm. I don’t think it will.

Kevin: I don’t think so either.

Eric: Well, Dumbledore said he’d have that mark forever or something like that.

Kevin: No, Dumbledore said, I think it was the very beginning of Book 1, that - what was his quote? "Even if I could remove it, I wouldn’t because scars are there for a reason." Yeah, they come in handy.

Ben: They come in handy.

Eric: It also says that he’ll have it as long as he lives or something.

Jamie: Yeah.

Eric: Depends on if his scar is a Horcrux anyway because...

Jamie: They come in handy though because it tells him that Voldemort’s moving about and gets closer to him.

Kevin: Not to mention, it brings so much attention to him though.

Eric: I know. He would paint it on just to get recognized. He’ll be 80 and all lonely and stuff and just paint his scar on and they’ll be able to find him.

Laura: No, Harry wouldn’t do that.

Eric: Yeah, Harry, that’s atypical of Harry. Harry is not like that at all.

Laura: I think it’s going to stay because it is a part of Harry. That’s who he is.

Eric: It’s Harry.

Laura: And getting rid of it would be like saying, "I’m not Harry Potter anymore."

Eric: That’s correct.

Jamie: Yeah. Like when...

Eric: I’m siding with Laura.

Andrew: But he might appreciate it...

Jamie: No he wouldn’t, he wouldn’t.

Laura: Oh, I’m sure he would appreciate it. But again, Harry’s got to learn. This is who he is.

Eric: But at the same time, people will respect him. They are actually witnessing his life in the tabloids and everything, and as the end of Voldemort draws nearer, they are kind of seeing that it isn’t an easy task for him and I think. It’s not necessarily like before where they said hi to him and they recognized him and it wasn’t to taunt him. But I think now they’ll respect him more and not be like "Oh my God, it’s Harry Potter! The guy I read about years ago."

Andrew: Yeah.

Jamie: You said that he’d appreciate losing his scar, but do you think if someone asked him now, "I can take away your scar from you, and all the things it gives you, and all the things it helps you with." Do you really think he’d say yes?

Kevin: I don’t...I don’t think so.

Laura: Not right now, he wouldn’t.

Kevin: No without a doubt.

Laura: Not right now he wouldn’t.

Andrew: I think that’s good a question, what would he do if he were given the choice to keep his scar or get rid of it? You know, because on one hand, his scar is what makes him so famous but...

Kevin: Yeah...

Andrew: On the other hand, he hates all that.

Kevin: The thing is he hates the attention but he understands the responsibility.

Jamie: Yeah, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the fame though.

Andrew: No, but I mean once everything is said and done.

Laura: He’s learning to except it.

Andrew: I’m saying like in the long run.

Kevin: Oh, in the long run?

Andrew: Does he really want it fifty years from now? You know what I mean?

Jamie: In Book 1, it says he actually likes the lighting-bolt scar.

Andrew: That was Book 1.

Kevin: I can see how after everything is said and done, he’d want to pull himself back from the public, you know.

Eric: I think he’s proud of his scar. In the beginning of Book 1, it said he really didn’t like his appearance except for the scar.

Kevin: Yeah.

Eric: Because, obviously that was foreshadowing because that linked him to the wonderful magic world or whatever. But at the end of 7, I think he might be proud of who he is. You know, he’s Harry Potter. He is the Chosen One. He has the responsibility and he completed his task.

Laura: One big thing that I’ve seen in the books is Harry having to accept who he is. We’ve seen points in like, Goblet of Fire where Harry’s wondering what it would be like if he were one of the students not participating in the Triwizard Tournament. What he’s got to come to realize is that wouldn’t be because that’s not who he is. That’s not what he’s destined to be and getting rid of the scar, it would just not be him.

Kevin: Yep.

Jamie: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah, that’s true.

Jamie: Oh yeah, I was going to say that... if you can’t bluff the Killing Curse, can you like get rid of all the stuff it causes? So you can say instead of killing Harry, it’s caused that mark, it‘s caused the scar. It can’t really take away what’s already been caused by that.

Kevin: Oh yeah, the power behind the spell.

Eric: You know what, yeah. And Harry’s scar was created with the death of his mother or the absolute almost death of him. You cannot undo death so how can you undo the scar?

Jamie: Yeah. I think it’s going to stay forever.

Eric: Yeah.

Laura: Me too.

Kevin: That’s if he lives.

Jamie: Right, if he lives, yeah.

Eric: It’s not going to disappear the second he dies. Yeah, he’ll die with his scar.

Andrew: Yeah, well that wraps up the voicemails. We were on a roll this time I think...

Kevin: Yeah they were...

Andrew: People.

Kevin: I think it was the voicemail number. We get more submissions, it’s good.

Andrew: Yeah, it’s the holiday spirit.

Kevin: Everybody, keep sending them in.

Jamie's British Joke Of The Day

Andrew: To keep things rolling. Jamie, you’ve got a "British Joke of the Day" for us. Holiday edition.

Jamie: Yeah, it is kind of holiday related. It has a Christmas and Star Wars theme.

Andrew: Ohhh.

Eric: Christmas and Star Wars? I have been waiting for this for like, ten episodes. Take it away, Jamie.

Jamie: Can I have a say? Okay, then. How does Darth Vader know what Luke Skywalker’s getting for Christmas?

Kevin: How?

Laura: How?

Jamie: He felt his presents.

[All laugh]

Andrew: Ah, that’s funny on three different levels.

Eric: I give it a good three and a half actually.

Laura: For all you Star Wars nerds out there.

Jamie: Yeah.

Book Review Update

Andrew: Kevin, you want to do a quick update on book reviews?

Kevin: For book reviews, we’re exploring different ways to bring it to you because it’s too long to fit into MuggleCast. So, we’re coming up with some ideas and hopefully will be done in a little while.

Laura: But we are still doing the Golden Compass and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Kevin: Yeah, we are still those books. We just have to find a format that will work for you guys.

Laura: Hopefully sometime soon after Christmas.

T'was The Night Before MuggleCast

Andrew: Because a lot of people had shown interest in it. Now as a special holiday treat to you, we’re going to tell you a little story. It was, is there a specific title for this?

Jamie: T’was The Night Before Christmas?

[All laugh]

Jamie: That’s one popular name.

Andrew: T’was the Night Before Christmas MuggleCast Edition. This was written by Kelly Egan who has done some excellent artwork for us that we have, that we are going to put up this week to show you some Christmas-themed stuff. Pictures, drawing of us. It’s pretty cool. So, let us begin. Everyone sit by the fire, and enjoy.

[With Christmas music playing background]

Andrew: T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the web
Not a creature was stirring, not even on MuggleNet.
iTunes was open and refreshing with care,
In hopes that a new MuggleCast would soon be there.

Ben: The fangirls were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of Emerson danced in their heads.
And I in my dress robes and matching posh hat,
Had just settled down for a quick cat nap.

Kevin: When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a bludger,
Tore back the curtains and threw out the shutters.

Eric: The moon on the crest of the new-fallen snow
Gave the illusion of several objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should I spy,
But Laura Thompson and all 6 MuggleCast guys!

Laura: With a echo of laughter, "yeah! yeah!" and "hem-hem",
I knew right away it was most certainly them.
More rapid than Hippogriff herders they came,
Laura whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

Jamie: "Now Andrew! now, Micah! now, Kevin, Ben PLEASE!
Come on, Jamie! and Eric! Before you all freeze!
To the top of that porch! At the top of this lane!
Surely there’s someone here aware of our names!"

Andrew: They took to my porch and promptly rang the doorbell,
I respectably answered and in they propelled.
Up into the house hold each Caster debuted,
With American welcomes, and a British one too.

Ben: "Thank you, dear stranger, we’re awfully pleased,
If left out in that storm any longer we’d freeze."
"What Andrew means," said the one with fluffed hair,
"Is we’d rather cast inside instead of out there."

Kevin: Then from Kevin’s pocket they dispensed a PC,
And all gathered round under my Chirstmas tree.
"Tonight we’re discussing," inquired Ben Schoen,
"All great importance that Emma Watson sustains."

Eric: "I agree," cheered Laura and nods went around,
"They were better than Ben’s, and far more profound."

Laura: And so the Podcast continued late into the night,
Ready on time tomorrow to the fans delight.
As I sat to the side observing the lot,
My stomach twisted into tight gillyweed knots.

Jamie: "We should do something nice since this fan let us stay,
I think we should show her Chirstmas our way."
Andrew added, "Eric, I don’t think our ambition,
Settles merely with singing our carol renditions"

Andrew: "Hey guys," said Micah, "I got a better plan,
We could make her drive the MuggleCast van.
"Excellent thought," said the cast all a thrive,
"That saves us for asking Melissa to drive!"

Ben: "No, Micah you’ll drive, this fan is surely devote,"
She’ll see us real soon in Las Vegas no doubt."
So with Laura guiding them off to the door,
I shook each hand of the guys I adore.

Kevin: They sprang to their car, the engine churned and roared,
And away they sped singing merrily off chord.
But I heard Ben exclaim, as they drove out of sight,

All:"Merry MuggleCast to all, and to all a good-night!"

Show Close

Andrew: So on that note, I'm Andrew Sims.

Ben: I'm Ben Schoen...dot com.

Kevin: I'm Kevin Steck.

Eric: Merry Christmas. Happy Kwanzakah. Wait.

Jamie: Chanukah.

Eric: Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah! This is Eric Scull.

Laura: Happy Holidays, I'm Laura Thompson.

Eric: Say Happy Christmas, Jamie. You have to say Happy Christmas.

Kevin: You do.

Jamie: What, just Happy Christmas?

Eric: Happy Christmas.

Jamie: And to everyone, Happy Christmas. Happy Holidays. And a Happy New Year. And have a great time. And I'm Jamie Lawrence.

Ben: Trust the Brit. Trust the Brit.

Jamie: Oh yeah.

Eric: Trust him.

Jamie: Whatever I say goes.

Andrew: Next week on Episode 22 will be our New Year's special, taking a look back at the top stories of 2005. And we will attempt to be the first PodCast of 2006. So on that note. Merry Christmas. Happy Kwanzaa. Happy Chanukah. Happy Festivus. Happy...

Laura: Winter Solstice.

Andrew: Happy Winter Solstice. [laughs] Happy Sunday. Happy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...

Jamie: Happy Day.

Andrew: Whatever it is, have a Happy Day!

Ben: Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Kevin: And stay safe!

Eric: Stay safe.

Laura: Have a safe Holiday.

Eric: Don't trust store Santas.

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: And could we make this sign-off any longer?

Kevin: Goodbye.

Ben: Goodnight everybody.

Laura: Bye

Andrew: Goodnight.

Song Parodies

Andrew: Now, a few song parodies from our listeners. Thanks to everyone who sent these in. Enjoy!