Ron and Hermione

Greg: In Half-Blood Prince, the obvious thing there was the relationship between Hermione and Ron, or the love there.

Jamie: Oh yeah.

Laura: Oh yeah.

Greg: That's been foreshadowed everywhere just because it's funny.

Jamie: That's been - That was foreshadowed before the first book was even released.

Ben: Yes. [laughs]

[Laura laughs]

Jamie: Everywhere.

James and Lily

Jamie: Jenna wrote a really good editorial on MuggleNet. It was really good reading. I really enjoyed it. One quote particularly stood out. One from Sirius:

[Audio]: "It's cruel that I got to spend so much time with James and Lily, and you, so little. Know this: The ones that love us never really leave us, and you can always find them in here."

Jamie: I mean, have you read this editorial? It was really, really interesting.

Ben: Well, in the editorial, she brings up the fact that Sirius himself said this to Harry and it could be a huge clue. "Not only that, but it could easily be added into the film as a nice emotional line without knowing that it could serve a greater purpose. Not only do I think it could possibly foreshadow something to do with finding Sirius after his death, but we know that Harry's heart is essential to power he must use to vanquish the Dark Lord."

Jamie: Yeah.

Ben: So, what Jenna's trying to point out here is that it foreshadows, perhaps, Sirius dying and then- I don't know, I think it just...

Jamie: It's to do with love, though. It's clearly got something to do with the weapon that Harry uses against...

Laura: Yeah, it has to do with Harry's power over Voldemort. Yeah.

Jamie: I just don't know if he's talking - I mean, obviously, he isn't talking literally. Harry can't open up his chest and find his parents in there.

Ben: Yeah.

[Everyone laughs]

Jamie: But, I just - you know, it depends if it means he can find them; he can feel them saying, "Come on, Harry. You can do it." Or if he can get some actual kind of power from them that helps him defeat Voldemort. I just don't know if she's talking literally - sorry - as in figuratively, or if she's talking magically. You know?

Three Turns

Ben: I don't know. In the movie, Dumbledore tells Harry and Hermione to retrace their steps when they go back in time.

[Audio]: Three turns should do it, I think. Oh, by the way, when in doubt, I find retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin. Good luck!

Ben: In the book, he says nothing of the sort. Could this be how Harry tracks down the Horcruxes, by retracing Voldemort's steps that he's shown in the Pensieve? What do you guys think?

Laura: Eh.

Greg: That'd be cool.

Laura: I just think it was an easier way to explain it on screen.

Jamie: Yeah, I agree.

Ben: Yeah, that's definitely why. I don't know, some people - I've brought this up before. It just seems like anytime that there's something - people overanalyze stuff. I mean...

Laura: [laughs] Because we don't.

Ben: They always take things...

[Laura laughs]

Jamie: Ben, Ben, Ben! That's a bit...

Ben: I know. It's a podcast.

Jamie: That's a bit hypocritical, isn't it?

Ben: Yeah.

Jamie: You're in a podcast that is committed to overanalyzing every single theory on Earth.

Ben: Yeah.

[Greg laughs]

Ben: So, sorry about that. Don't mail-bomb me, please.

[Ben and Laura laugh]

Ben: Okay. In...

Jamie: The thing about...

Ben: Go ahead.

Jamie: Go on.

Ben: Go on.

Jamie: No, you go if you want. Okay.

[Laura laughs]

Jamie: The thing about this, is that I think it seems a bit too logical that Harry's going to track down the Horcruxes by retracing Voldemort's steps. We know logical is good because it gets you there, but Harry isn't always the most level-headed, logical person. I don't think he'd want to do that. You know? I just don't think that's the kind of thing he would do. Obviously, he has to find a base to go, but I think he'll find that from asking people.

Ben: And I'm not quite sure how he can do it, how he can track people down through the - how he can track down the Horcruxes in the Pensieve because or, I don't know. Maybe - I think he could utilize the Pensieve...

Jamie: Oh yeah.

Ben: ...especially with the memories of Voldemort.

Jamie: It'll help him, definitely.

Ben: Mhm.

Jamie: But, I just don't know what...

Ben: In a way, I think that...

Jamie: ...or how much is going to go into...

Ben: ...I think Dumbledore's lessons that he gives Harry in Book 6 are the way of - I think he had a feeling that he may not be around much longer, so he says, "Oh Harry, we need to... I need to give you as much knowledge as possible." And that's why the lessons were focused more on filling his head with knowledge rather than, "Hey, let's go out, I'll show you all these new advanced magic and advanced spells."

[Everyone laughs]

Jamie: It's like, "Hey man, look at this! I just got this from a Toys R'Us! It's the best spell ever!"

Ben: Yeah. [laughs]

Jamie: Okay, okay. This is going completely off on a tangent here, but I was - do you know Dumbledore - and I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, bless Dumbledore's soul, but the thing that really annoyed me in Half-Blood Prince was how he seemed sort of holier-than-thou all the time with his... When they were on the boat across to the island, and Dumbledore said that Harry's powers wouldn't register compared to his, you know, and just stuff. And when they left Privet Drive and he said that he didn't think he would be attacked because he's with him. I don't know. Those things just kind of got me.

Ben: What was interesting was...

Jamie: I don't think Dumbledore...

Laura: He did that through the whole book.

Ben: Right, but what I thought was cool was that towards the end, he sort of... When he was - when Harry was transporting Dumbledore back to the castle shortly before Dumbledore was killed, Dumbledore says, "We'll be all right..."

Greg: "I will be with you."

Laura: Yeah, he was like, "I'm with you."

Ben: ...I'm with you."

Laura: That made me cry! [laughs]

Jamie: But, why do you think, why do you think Dumbledore said all that throughout the entire book? Do you think it was to inspire Harry and trying to get him to better himself.

Ben: Well, confidence is everything in most situations.

Laura: Mhm.

Ben: You don't want to be overconfident, but I don't think Dumbledore is really being overconfident because...

Laura: I think he's being honest.

Ben: Mhm. I mean, I don't think... Would you have any... Put yourself in Harry's situation. Do you think there's anything to worry about when you're with one of the most powerful wizards in the world? I wouldn't be scared.

Jamie: Yes - no! No, but, no, but there is. That's the point. Now of course there is. It's got to a - it's got to a point now where this war can't be won by one man. Of course that's something to worry about. I would not - even considering how powerful Dumbledore is, probably one of the greatest wizards ever to have lived, I would still feel vulnerable considering all that Voldemort's done, everything he can do. In that cave, I don't think it's possible to feel safe, even if you're with a million wizards with a billion wands each. [laughs]

[Ben laughs]

Jamie: And that kind of thing.

Ben: Yeah, you're probably right. But, moving back to the topic at hand.

Jamie: Ben, can I just go back to that quickly?

Ben: Okay, go ahead.

Jamie: I think, also, it's to tell Harry he isn't even nearly ready to battle Voldemort. Because even though he has love and all these things, he's simply not powerful enough magically. I think Jo would be doing an injustice if Harry fought Voldemort now and won. He simply can't do it. I know in... It's like in Star Wars - in Star Wars: Episode II - and I don't want to draw a parallel to Star Wars as I've done before. I do obviously prone to draw parallels with Star Wars. [laughs] But it's like when Count Dooku fights Anakin in Star Wars: Episode II. He isn't powerful enough to beat him then. It doesn't matter that it's a film. He just isn't powerful enough to beat him, and I don't think Harry is now. And I think it could be Dumbledore telling him he's powerful and he has what it takes, but he needs to improve slightly. He needs to get in gear.

Ben: Yeah, he does. [laughs]

Protector Snape

Ben: Okay, moving back to the main discussion about Prisoner of Azkaban foreshadowing things. We see towards the end of Prisoner of Azkaban where Snape stands in front of Harry, Ron, and Hermione to protect them from the werewolf Lupin. Do you think that Snape could some way sacrifice himself, especially with the new vicious werewolf that we get introduced to in Half-Blood Prince, Greyback. Do you think that it's likely or a possibility that Snape could get in the way when Greyback is attempting to attack?

Jamie: Couldn't that just have been adult instinct, though, to protect them from - it's just his instinct to jump in front of children and protect them from an evil. I mean, I know what you mean, that the way he did it - he put his arms around them and tried to protect them. But it could be his instinct as a teacher taking over, you know?

Laura: Mhm.

Ben: Yeah, that's true, too. Laura, do you have any thoughts on it?

Laura: I think it's possible. One thing that I think is probably important to point out was in the book, Snape was knocked out, and in the movie they had him wake up. So I don't know if they did that for the specific purpose of maybe kind of symbolizing the life-debt that he feels like he owes to James and, therefore, onto Harry, or if it's some kind of foreshadowing for Greyback. But I don't know. I think that it would be...

Jamie: Yeah.

Laura: I think it would be more of a poetic justice type of thing if it were Remus that saved them from Greyback than Snape.

Jamie: Yeah, I agree.

Ben: Especially since - wasn't Lupin bitten...

Laura: Yeah, he was bitten.

Ben: ...by Greyback?

Jamie: Greg, do you have anything to say?

Greg: It could go either way.

Laura: [laughs] Again.

Greg: It's an interesting concept.

Ben: I love - Greg is Captain Obvious.

Jamie: Yeah.

[Laura laughs]

Ben: Every week.

Greg: I am.

Ben: "You know, I think something might happen with that, you know?"

[Everyone laughs]

Greg: "I think it's possible that something is possibly going to happen in Book 7...

Jamie: Hey, guys. [laughs] Yeah, that's a...

Greg: ...involving a werewolf in general."

Jamie: That's a...

[Laura laughs]

Ben: Yeah.

Jamie: That's a pretty solid theory there, Greg.

[Laura laughs]

Jamie: And grounded in significant evidence. That's definitely going to happen.

Greg: Hey, I go about these things with the hope that nobody will ask me any questions.

Ben: Yeah. [laughs]

Greg: Then I'll just be able to make jokes and laugh.

Jamie: It's a good way of doing it. It's a good way of doing it.

Lupin and Harry's Conversation

Ben: We all know that love plays a central theme in the books, and Harry's mother's love for him is what saved him in the beginning, back when Voldemort showed up at his house that night. But in Half-Blood Prince, we learned that everyone - pretty much everyone had a crush on Lily Evans. And in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie, Harry has a conversation with Lupin about Lily.

[Audio]: Oh yes. I knew her. Your mother was there for me at a time when no one else was. Not only was she a singularly gifted witch, she was also an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in others, even and, perhaps, most especially, when that person could not see it in themselves. And your father, James, on the other hand, he [laughs] - he had a certain, shall we say, talent for trouble? A talent, rumor has it, he passed on to you. You're more like them than you know, Harry. In time you will come to see just how much.

Ben: And do you think that this was foreshadowing Slughorn saying that "to know Lily was to love her" comments in Half-Blood Prince?

Jamie: I don't think it specifically foreshadows that. I think that it could definitely be foreshadowing something because they clearly overemphasize - well, not overemphasize, but really emphasized it in the film. Lupin's conversation through the forest and on the bridge. I mean, it's clearly - the thing about Lily, is that, it's clearly an important thing that's going to prove really, really significant in the seventh book. I don't think it's foreshadowing anything specifically. I think it's just again emphasizing how important Lily was, and the color of Harry's eyes, obviously.

Laura: I think it was just going off of what we knew about Lily from previous books.

Jamie: Yeah, I think that's right.

Laura: Because especially in Order of the Phoenix, we saw that even though she wasn't particularly fond of Snape, she still stood up for him. And I think they kind of took that in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. They kind of enhanced the perception of how gentle she was.

Jamie: Yeah, I think that's right.

Ron and Hermione...Again

Ben: You guys mentioned this earlier, but the Hermione-Ron relationship definitely gets foreshadowed in the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Greg: It's foreshadowed everywhere in every movie, though.

[Laura laughs]

Ben: Yes, Jamie said that it was foreshadowed before the start of Book 1. [laughs]

Jamie: [laughs] Yeah, it was.

Greg: [imitating Hermione] "Grab on! Oh my gosh! I just grabbed your arm!"

Jamie: I think it's...

Greg: [imitating Ron] "Quit touching my arm!"

Ben: Yeah.

Jamie: Do you think it's less foreshadowing now? I mean, I personally think, especially from the third film, it's less foreshadowing and more actually getting into it. Because there's a point when things are actually happening and it's not foreshadowing anymore. You know?

Laura: Mhm. Because, I mean, especially now, Jo doesn't really have time to foreshadow things. Things have to either happen or not.

Ben: Right.

Jamie: So, I think it's more getting into it.

Ben: Well, Book 7 can't foreshadow anything more [laughs] unless it happens later on in the book, if you understand what I'm saying.

Jamie: Yeah, oh yeah.

Ben: Definitely. Because I was just reading Half-Blood Prince not too long ago, and I noticed that in the early on, you can definitely tell the romance stuff that is going to happen because...

Laura: Oh yeah.

Ben: ...you see Harry get jealous of Ginny; he starts thinking about Ginny a lot more. You see Ron and Hermione. I don't know. You see Ron trying to show off in front of Hermione a lot more, and...

Jamie: But, also...

Ben: ...it's definitely...

Jamie: But, also, they had time to do that kind of stuff then. Now, it's either fight or flight. They either get married - oh wait, this is a bit, sort of ultimatum-like. But they either get married or they don't because the seventh book, they can't say, "Well, let's see how it goes." Because A: there's a war going on, and one of them could not be there right at the end. And also, Jo doesn't really have time. She's got to tell us what's happening with them. So...

Ben: Do you guys think that Ron and Hermione might actually get married, or do you think they'll just be together?

Laura: Well...

Ben: Could you see a marriage actually happening in the early parts of Book 7?

Laura: [laughs] I don't think if anyone gets married it's going to be during the course of Book 7. I think we'll see it in the epilogue. I think that...

Ben: Well, you see...

Laura: ...getting married at 17 would be...

Ben: ...it's kind of like war.

Laura: Yeah, but getting married at 17 - can you even do that?

Ben: People went off to World War II for the draft - of course you can. In the magical world, you become of age at 17. And when people were leaving for the draft for World War II here in the US, we heard about all these marriages; people barely even knew each other, they get married before they left, and...

Jamie: Wait, exactly. And it has to be...

Ben: ...you know, because it was their only chance.

Laura: That's like what Bill and Fleur did, though.

Jamie: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Laura: That's what they did, and I don't think that she'd need to show us that again. She's already shown us that aspect of the war, and I just don't think that if Harry and Ginny or Ron and Hermione were going to get married, we'd see it until that epilogue because she said that everyone who lives, we're going to find out what happens to them after the final chapter of the war.

Jamie: Yeah, that's true. That's true.

Ben: Good point, Laura. Good point.

This Week in Potter: The Goblet of Fire Book Release

Ben: Now it's time for this week's This Week in Potter. On July 8th of 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released. It's weird to think that it was six years ago.

Jamie: It is.

Laura: I know.

Ben: Jamie Lawrence, where were you? On July 8th - July 7th at midnight.

Jamie: Where was I? Goblet of Fire... Well, it's quite shameful for me to say this, but I was probably tucked up in bed, thinking 'I'll buy my copy tomorrow, there's no rush at all.' How wrong I was, of course. Now, it's all about getting the book first, reading it first. You know? Those kinds of things. It's not, it's not. But, yeah, I think I was tucked up in bed, thinking about anything but Harry Potter, which I'm ashamed to say.

Laura: Blasphemy.

Jamie: It is blasphemy.

Ben: Where were you at, Laura?

Laura: Well, I was 11 years old, and I had just moved to Georgia. So, I was lonely and I had no friends, and I was at...

Ben: That's still the same, in a way.

Laura: Shut up! No, I was at Zany Brainys. Zany Brainy is this - for those of you who don't know it's this huge toy store - and I don't know where all they have them, but they have them here. And some of them have multiple floors, and I went, and they just had a huge Harry Potter party, and that's where I was.

Greg: Awww.

Laura: I know, all dressed up.

Greg: I was at...

Ben: Where were you, Greg?

Greg: I was at the Borders in Beldin Village Mall or near Beldin Village Mall.

Ben: How old were you then, 11?

Greg: I forget - yeah, it was something like that. But, I had just read the first three books within three weeks before the Book 4 released.

[Jamie laughs]

Ben: My story is not very exciting. I had not read a single Harry Potter book then.

[Everyone gasps]

Greg: Oh my gosh. We have to kick you off MuggleCast, you're not allowed on here anymore.

Laura: We've got to stone Ben, now.

Ben: Hey, hold on. Hold on, though. I do remember July 7th at 11 PM. I was sitting in my living room watching Nightline with Ted Koppel. It's A good American TV show on ABC. Anyway, there was a big story about the Harry Potter phenomenon, and it showed people lined up at Barnes and Noble, getting ready to get the books and stuff.

Jamie: And Ben thought, "You sad, sad people, why would you ever line up?" And then one year later, it was him.

[Laura laughs]

Ben: Yeah, yeah, kind of. It was almost that way. And then my mom leans over - my mom was watching TV with me - and she says, "Hey, are these books really that great?" I was like, "Oh yeah, I've read them all." I just lied to her because I don't know why I did. But I told her I read them all and I really hadn't. And so yeah, that was before I even got into Harry Potter. I didn't get into Harry Potter until December 2002. So, it was almost two-and-a-half years after the release of Goblet of Fire when I first picked up a Harry Potter book.

Jamie: You shouldn't be telling people these things; they'll lose faith in us.

Greg: You're a horrible person, Ben.

Ben: No, they won't. I went all out, though. I joined right up at MuggleNet.

Jamie: You got right in there.

Ben: Joined the Executive Committee.

Greg: Ben, I don't think I can talk to you anymore, I have to go. I mean, my entire opinion of you has changed.

[Laura laughs]

Ben: Oh, Greg.

Warwick Davis Interview

Ben: Earlier this week, Jamie, Andrew, and myself sat down with Warwick Davis, who plays Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films, and here’s the interview that we did with him.

Andrew: So, we are now joined by Warwick Davis, who as many of you know plays Professor Flitwick, and several of the Gringotts goblins in the Potter films. And, recently, he’s played roles in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Ray, and will reprise his role as Flitwick in Order of the Phoenix. So, welcome, Warwick. How are you doing today?

Warwick: Thank you very much, I’m doing well, thank you.

Andrew: Okay, good. Thanks for joining us on the show today.

Warwick: It’s a pleasure.

Andrew: And Jamie, want to get right into the questions?

Character Change

Jamie: First question: I know quite a few people asked you this, Warwick, especially at Collectormania - I know you got a lot of people who came up and just asked you this straightaway - but can you elaborate on why Warner Brothers changed the appearance and clothes of Flitwick between films?

Warwick: Okay, this is something that when it happened, I knew it was going to cause a lot of confusion amongst fans of the movies, and finding a very sort of straightforward and short explanation is quite difficult. When it came to the third movie, of course the looks of the whole films had changed. Alfonso really wanted to put his mark on the films. And then a lot of things altered: anything from character looks, to the actual layout of Hogwarts itself. And another thing was happening at the same time. There wasn’t really anything for Flitwick in the script at all, and I got a call one day from the producer, saying basically, "There’s nothing for you, but we’d love you to be in the film all the same. How do you fancy coming in and doing a kind of cameo in the movie as somebody else?" And I said, "Well, that’s great, thanks for asking. I’m always thrilled to be part of all of this, anyway." So, I went in for a meeting with Alfonso, the director, and Nick Dougland, who’s the make-up supervisor, and we came up with this new look for this character who would be basically the conductor of the Frog Chorus in the Great Hall. And so, we went with that. When it came to making the fourth movie, Mike Newell really wanted to use the character he’d seen in number three for me, and I was quite a bit more on that movie. I was on it for 45 days, so there was a lot more stuff going on. So, I started to raise the question, "What is this guy called? Who is he?" He was known as the choir conductor in three, was he still that? I wanted to figure that out, and they said "Okay, now we’ll call him Flitwick." And I said, "Well, possibly that’s going to cause a bit of confusion." But they say, "No, that’s what we’ll go with. We’ll go with Flitwick. All the looks have changed, it’s now a bit more kind of 1950's-styley, so we’re going to go with that." So, hence he became Flitwick. I like to think - in my mind - that perhaps this is a relative of Professor Flitwick; this is perhaps a brother, or a cousin. He’s not a professor, either, he’s just Flitwick and he teaches magical music. That’s my justification for it, in my own mind, because it’s a question I get asked all the time.

[Everyone laughs]

Warwick: So hopefully, now, this has set the record straight there. [laughs]

Jamie: That’s cleared up, yeah. Do you prefer one to the other, or do you just see them as completely different? You can’t compare them; they’re played differently.

Warwick: I see them as being very different, to be honest. I’m very fond of the old Flitwick. It was so fun playing something that’s so - there are pluses and minuses for each one. The old Flitwick is fun to play, it’s fun playing somebody so totally different from yourself, and I was kind of fond of the old guy, really, in a way. But the new Flitwick allows me to be a lot more active and stuff. I wouldn’t imagine the old Flitwick crowd surfing, somehow.

Andrew: Yeah. Yeah.

[Everyone laughs]

Warwick: I’ll tell you about the crowd surfing now, while we’re on this. That scene came about purely because I made a joke to Michael Newell. We were doing the sequence in the Great Hall; it was the best few weeks, that was fantastic. It was very near Christmas we were shooting that and it was just such a wonderful atmosphere with all the dancing and music, and we of course had Jarvis Cockerin and all the Radiohead guys there. It was really a great sequence to shoot. And I suggested, I knew they were going to do this mosh sequence. I said "Wouldn’t it be funny if as the music started, Flitwick kind of crowd surfs?" Mike Newell of course just chuckled, and said "Oh, silly stuff."

Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, definitely.

Warwick: Then he said, "Actually, leave that with me." And I said, "What?" Anyway, on Monday, he came back in again after the weekend and said, "You know what you said? We’re actually going to do that." I couldn’t believe it.

[Everyone laughs]

Warwick: I just couldn’t believe it. So, that’s how that got into the movie. It was purely because of me messing about. And there’s so much stuff that was never used, whether any day you’ll see it, but there’s loads of stuff of Flitwick air guitaring.

Andrew: Oh, really? Really?

Warwick: There’s just hours of stuff of me messing about, having a good time.

Andrew: Uh huh.

Warwick: So, you never know, it may come back to haunt me in the future.

[Andrew and Ben laughs]

Andrew: Yeah, it always does.

Order of the Phoenix

Ben: Warwick, Warwick, have you had a chance to be on the Order of the Phoenix set yet?

Warwick: I have. I’ve done a couple of days there. I don’t have a huge amount of work to do on this one.

Ben: Well, could you describe the atmosphere in comparison to the previous films?

Jamie: Is it darker, specifically? I mean, because the book’s obviously a lot, lot darker. I know quite a few fans are wondering, is it going to be a complete change from the other films? Because obviously they've got darker as the series has got darker and the content has got darker. It’s turned from a more fantasy-like story, into a real world war-type thing. So, do you think that the atmosphere on set, and the way the people are portraying their characters reflects this?

Warwick: For me, I haven’t noticed really a change in the atmosphere, to be quite honest. In all of the other movies, we’ve had very dark times, scenes that were very moving, and emotional, and dark to do. I’ve not noticed anything particularly more so on this film, certainly. We’ve got quite a few different crew on there, and that sort of thing, and that really is the only difference. We’re back in familiar surroundings, familiar sets with cast members who I’ve been working with for the past - what is it now? Six years? So yeah, it doesn’t feel that different to be quite honest. No, I wouldn’t say.

David Yates

Andrew: What’s the new director like, David Yates? Have you had much time to work with him?

Warwick: Yeah, he’s very different; again, all the directors have been a complete contrast to each other, but they all bring something very special and unique to the projects. He’s very particular. He’s very detailed. He’s very thorough in his direction as well, and so I’ve enjoyed the work that I’ve done with him so far.

Jamie: Do you like changing directors? Because they’ve clearly all got different styles. Do you like that type of thing or do you prefer sticking with one style throughout the series?

Warwick: No, I think that all the directors bring something pretty fresh to the projects, and put their own unique stamp on Harry Potter, and I think it’s all for the better that each one of them does that.

Jamie: Because, I liked the first two; I thought they were good in what they did, but I prefer the darker, more serious directing.

Warwick: Mhm.

Jamie: But, I suppose that comes with the film. The first book isn’t as dark, so then the first film shouldn’t be.

Warwick: That’s right, and all of the characters are growing up as well, so the subject matters are going to become more adult as they do so.

Jamie: Yeah, definitely.

Warwick: I think the films have grown up with the characters, and then with the actors in turn, so I think that probably will be a continuing kind of curve as we go on into the other two books, which at this point, nobody knows whether they will become films or not.

Andrew: Right.

Jamie: Yeah.

Warwick: But, I’m pretty sure that they will though. I know nothing of that.

Filming

Jamie: Have you filmed any of your scenes? Obviously we don’t want to ask you something that you can’t answer, but if you could give us some type of insight, it would be nice.

Warwick: I can’t really say very much. I have filmed some scenes and they were scenes in the Great Hall. That’s pretty much all I can tell you at this point. [laughs]

Andrew: Okay.

[Warwick laughs]

Jamie: Oh, excellent. Okay.

Warwick: And that building is a great building, you know. It’s a set down in Leavesden Studios in London, and it’s like no other set I’ve been on because it is like it’s a real building. It has history now; it’s got six years worth of memories for me playing all sorts of scenes in there, from great banquets in the first movie, to a funeral scene, and then a Yule Ball. It’s gone through so many transformations...

Jamie: Yeah.

Warwick: ...and has had so many different scenes played in there that, you know, itself is a historical building. It will be very sad if they don’t kind of preserve it in some way after all this is over because it’s wonderful to walk in there. It is exactly as you see it in the movie. This is what’s great about everything you do on Harry Potter. It’s as you see it.

Jamie: So, does it feel like the Great Hall to you, or does it still feel like you’re filming in a building that changes?

Warwick: No, it feels... It feels like the Great Hall to me because when you’re in there and you’re performing a scene, you very much, kind of - you’re just so into the scene and into the character and what’s going on, that’s how you see it.

Jamie: Yeah.

Warwick: So, it has basically become that for me. You know, I go in there, I have all the memories and all the feelings, and it smells like the Great Hall...

Jamie: Yeah.

Warwick: ...and it’s got all of that history about it. So, it’s a pretty unique place. It’s fantastic. Although it doesn’t smell quite so good sometimes, actually, now I’m thinking about this.

[Andrew, Ben, and Jamie laughs]

Warwick: On the first movie, we used these banquets in there, and we used real food. All of this stuff you see is real. There are huge turkeys and...

Andrew: Is it? Really? Is it?

Warwick: ...and all of the pigs and all the things you’re eating there, it’s all real. But after, kind of, days two and three, the food is the same food.

Jamie: A week's old! [laughs]

Warwick: Yeah. And they don’t replace it. They just kind of gloss it a bit and make it look fresh again, and they just kind of go around each scene and say, "Do not eat the food, remember."

Andrew: Mhm. [laughs]

Warwick: And you wouldn’t anyway because the smell [laughs] is quite unreal.

Jamie: Six days. Oh, that’s good. Because, I mean, I like those kinds of grand filming locations, because in our university in Durham, we spend quite a bit of time in the cathedral...

Warwick: Mhm.

Jamie: And I know there’s been a filming done there. In one part of the cathedral...

Andrew: Oh, really?

Jamie: ...I think, was used in filming the first film, was it? Or was it the second film, or something.

Warwick: I know they have been to Durham, yeah. I went down to Gloucester at one point. I know they went to Durham.

Jamie: I just think it’s brilliant how they can get all these real world churches and cathedrals and sets and just turn them into what looks like a magical place. So, I just think it’s brilliant.

Warwick: Well, absolutely, yeah. That’s right. We used the cloisters, actually, down at - in Gloucester Cathedral, and it does look like a corridor in Hogwarts, you know? It saves building a set.

Jamie: Yeah.

Warwick: It has a certain kind of authenticity to the stone, of course, because it’s real stone, and it all works. It works rather well.

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