Transcript – Episode 49
[Show music begins]
Caleb Graves: This is Episode 49 of Alohomora! for September 21, 2013.
[Show music continues]
Caleb: Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Alohomora! I’m Caleb Graves.
Laura Reilly: I’m Laura Reilly.
Eric Scull: And I’m Eric Scull. And here with us this week is a guy we actually just found peeking in through our window. Very strange, very strange. Micah Tannenbaum is here!
Micah Tannenbaum: Hey!
Caleb: What’s up, Micah?
Micah: How’s it going? Well, see, I don’t have anything to do anymore, so I just wander around random neighborhoods and look through windows. That’s what my life has become.
Laura: That’s really convenient.
Eric: Yeah. No, it’s a perfect time because we were just sitting down to record this episode of Alohomora! Now, you’re familiar with the show, Micah – you’ve “guested” before, haven’t you?
Micah: Yes, I have. I was on back in April, I want to say of this year. It was during Prisoner of Azkaban and so… I had a lot of fun and decided to reach out to you guys again…
Caleb: Through the window.
Micah: … and you were nice enough to let me come back.
Eric: Well, it’s great to have you back, especially this chapter, I find, that we’re doing this week is fun. It will definitely benefit from your jovial nature. And speaking of your jovial nature, sir. The last time you were on, I believe you incited some controversy with one or two of the remarks that had happened. Do you know anything about this?
Micah: Well, there’s an appropriate time for everything and I’m sure we’ll revisit some of the things that I brought up on the last episode that I was on. But in particular, I was really fond of the review that I received from AmyH on iTunes – she lives in Portland, Oregon.
[Caleb laughs]
Laura: We’re naming names here? [laughs]
Eric: We’re naming names.
Caleb: Oh my God.
Micah: Why not? Isn’t that what we do here? Or am I…
[Laura laughs]
Caleb: We do now, we do now.
Micah: Okay, well…
Eric: It’s important to credit the source to avoid being accused of plagiarism. We know this.
Laura: Yeah.
Micah: And four stars, that’s completely unacceptable in the month of September, by the way.
[Caleb and Eric laugh]
Micah: I don’t know… okay, anyway, she says,
“The best part about your show is that you know so much and can share so much insight about the HP world. You also usually have guests who present different viewpoints and remember different information, thereby improving the conversation as a whole. Your recent episode with Micah (sp?) did not live up to that. He didn’t know much at all and kept rehashing a weird horrible fan-fiction-esque joke so much that I almost turned off the episode partway through. Stick with people who can enhance the episode – I didn’t feel like this guy did so. Love learning about HP though and hope to hear many more!”
Well, thank you, Amy. I’ve gone out and read the Harry Potter series.
[Caleb laughs]
Laura: How do you like it?
Micah: I like it a lot, actually. I was thinking about doing my own podcast on it. Yeah, so I apologize if on the last episode I didn’t quite know what I was talking about. I was just exhausted after over 260 episodes and eight years of podcasting on Harry Potter. Maybe some details of Prisoner of Azkaban slipped my mind. But… I’m just joking.
Eric: Well, you’ll do better this time, Micah. Can you make us that commitment that you’ll try and do better?
Micah: I’ll try and do better.
Laura: He’s got nothing else to do right now. He’s wandering around neighborhoods. [laughs]
Micah: I’ve got nothing else to do. No, but for Amy, I will try and do better and hopefully…
Laura: Maybe we’ll get that fifth star.
Micah: Maybe you’ll get the fifth star. I expect to see a review on September 22 that is five stars from AmyH in Portland, Oregon.
[Caleb and Laura]
Micah: And if not, I plan on coming there. No, I’m just…
Caleb: Whoa.
Micah: I do have a lot of time on my hands.
Eric: Yeah, we’re just joking. We’re happy to get any and all feedback, and it’s great to have Micah be with me back on another Harry Potter podcast, because we were over from MuggleCast and this is the first sort of time we’re together on a Harry Potter show that isn’t MuggleCast, so it’s very exciting. But Caleb and Laura are also with us, and we have some Alohomora!-ing to do.
Caleb: We do. And before we do this Alohomora!-ing, we’re going to remind fans to read Chapter 11, “Aboard the Hogwarts Express,” before you listen because that’s what we’re talking about. And so you can know it just as well as Micah does.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: I did read the chapter, okay? I don’t want any sort of flack even though I joked around I think the last time I was on that I didn’t read it. But I did read the chapter this time, so I’m ready to go.
Laura: All right, so we’re going to jump into our comments from our discussion from last week, which was Chapter 9, “Mayhem at the Ministry,” I want to say? Correct? Yes?
Caleb: Yup.
Eric: Yes.
Micah: But I didn’t read that chapter.
[Eric laughs]
Laura: Well, then get out of here.
Micah: All right.
Laura: So this first comment comes from Jess fudd and it says,
“Not to defend Rita Skeeter, because she is the worst, but a Ministry official did pull a body out of the woods. Barty Crouch took the stunned Barty Jr. home. She probably saw that in her bug form but couldn’t explain how, so she called it a rumor. She’s instigating, but not completely lying here.”
So this incited a wee bit of a debate. Some people saying that when it’s revealed exactly what did happen, that he said he Imperiused – Imperi-ized? [laughs] – Barty Crouch Jr. so it was more like he probably was walking out, than being dragged out. But what do you think about the plausibility of this?
Eric: I found it to be completely satisfying. You know, Imperiused… okay, I can see that too. People love the details. The devil is in the details, as they say. But I think that it’s very plausible, and very much so we see this in the other thing that happens in the last chapter, with Rita Skeeter’s Quick Quotes Quill, the way that she translates what she actually saw with what she can either prove or get away with saying. So I think it’s very plausible.
Laura: Yeah. So this next comment comes from Aliwood and it says,
“I also find in this chapter that the similarities between Percy and Ron are really clear; both seem almost ashamed of their family during this chapter. Percy says that Arthur shouldn’t have said anything at the Cup because he didn’t have the authority, alluding to the fact that Arthur does not occupy a very prestigious position at the Ministry; and Ron, of course, asks why ‘everything I own is rubbish.’ Both just seem so unhappy with their lot, as opposed to Ginny, who is quietly mending her old book, or the twins, who are trying to carve their own path and make their own fortune.”
Caleb: I see the similarities, but I also think that they respond to these situations for different reasons. Percy, because of his ambition. Ron, because he’s tired of being embarrassed or made fun of.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: True. I think it’s one of those things – obligatory genius moment, if you will, Jo – a family with seven children, making them all different. And there are similarities between different children, but ultimately they’re each their own person. Except for Fred and George. They’re the same person.
Laura: Nope. Don’t you dare.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Well, I think the similarity, at least from what I remember, is they’re both embarrassed. Percy just doesn’t want to have his father speaking out of turn, which, if I was his dad, I’d smack him upside his head.
Caleb: Exactly.
Micah: Just for behaving out of line that way.
Eric: Mr. Weasley or Percy?
Micah: No. If I were Mr. Weasley, I would smack Percy upside the head for saying anything.
Laura: Just on a daily basis. For being Percy.
Eric: Since we’re talking about Goblet of Fire, that may have actually happened in the movie. I’m trying to recall. A lot of people will get hit in the head in that movie… in that film.
Micah: Yeah, and Ron also feels embarrassed, just based on… not just this particular chapter referring to… well, I guess if he’s referring to everything he owns, I mean, that probably covers a bunch of different chapters and a lot of different items that he has, but…
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Yeah, I mean, it’s both of them experiencing a sense of embarrassment.
Laura: Yeah.
Caleb: Mhm.
Laura: But more what you’re saying, that the others… because I agree with what Caleb said, that they’re responding to different things and it’s varying degrees of not nice. But I like that Ginny doesn’t necessarily complain about any of this – and we’re going to get to this really in the next comment – but also the twins. They really make the best of what they have and have a lot of ambition, but don’t necessarily forget where they’ve come from. Even when they get successful versus Percy, they’re buying new stuff for their mom and making sure everything is okay. And we don’t know much about Bill and Charlie, but both of them seem rather successful on their own right too, so… I mean that Ron is still young. He’s still fourteen, so there’s still that.
Eric: Oh. Yeah.
Caleb: Percy, on the other hand, has no excuses. Just an awful person.
[Micah laughs]
Laura: Yeah.
Micah: I like that. I agree with that, and…
Eric: Oh y’all…
Laura: Eric’s the only pro-Percy person.
Micah: Of course he is! That’s just like other characters in other series that he takes pro stances for.
[Eric laughs]
Caleb: This in reference to Theon.
Laura: I was just about to ask, is it Theon?
Micah: Of course it is!
Eric: Why is the… ugh!
Micah: And Geoffrey, and others.
Eric: Okay. [laughs]
Laura: And related to the whole topic of Ginny and the Weasleys, this last comment comes from Hufflepuffskein and it says,
“I liked y’all’s mention of Ginny mending her book and Ron’s hand-me-down dress robes. And it made me think whether JKR was making a slight comment in the distinction. Ginny just mends her book and we rarely ever hear her complaining about the state of her things or how poor her family is. But we hear it from Ron’s all the time (I know we just get more of him because he is involved in more of the books but it is still an interesting disparity). Ron’s complaints about his family’s situation are par for the course in the books but what gets to me is that HE HAS THE MOST AWESOME FAMILY EVER! Is JKR subtly commenting on the age-old idea about recognizing the goodness you have rather than focusing on what you don’t have. Ron loves his family but in his everyday life, he tends to complain about what he lacks rather than be grateful for the loving environment he has. This is especially poignant because it comes in distinction to Harry who has a truly terrible, abusive family situation.”
Eric: To quote my high school geometry teacher – who was, at the time, I believe quoting Sheryl Crow – “It’s not having what you want. It’s wanting what you’ve got.”
Caleb: Yeah.
Eric: And Ron doesn’t, and can you imagine my geometry teacher saying that? Well, it was pretty funny. But, I think with Ginny mending her book – there’s a point I want to bring up here – which is that in Book 7, we get the Voldemort overture voiceover – and I’m talking actually about the movie now I guess – but when he goes in and says, “I’ve seen your heart, Ronald Weasley” – this is when the Horcrux is going to be destroyed – he said, “You’re the least loved of seven children. Your mom wanted a daughter so bad, and you’re the last son.” I think it has a lot to do with that. Could Ginny’s complacency with her stuff be because she’s actually a bit spoiled? I’m thinking that Ginny probably doesn’t have it bad at all. Molly probably favors her because she’s the daughter and she’s the girl, and so I think in many other ways Ginny probably is the center of attention.
Micah: There’s no real hand-me-downs there either.
Eric: Hmm.
Caleb: We hope.
Micah: Whereas if you go and buy for Bill and Charlie and Fred and George and Percy and Ron…
Eric: Oh, in terms of clothing.
Micah: Yeah. I mean, unless she’s handing down stuff from herself and her mother…
Laura: Well, it could also be like a thrift store-type deal.
Micah: Yeah. I guess it could be.
Laura: Like in the same way she gets the dress robes and Ginny’s aren’t nice either.
Eric: You guys know what I’m saying right? Is that essentially Ginny probably – in a lot of other ways, Ginny probably doesn’t have to deal with the same thing Ron has to deal with because she can’t wear her brothers’ things and also just being the only girl in the family. She’s special for that reason, so perhaps that is also why she isn’t just like Ron in saying, “My stuff stinks, my family stinks,” all that stuff.
Micah: Yeah. But I think the big issue with Ron, though, is that – and even throughout all seven of these books – he hasn’t really found himself, whereas I feel like the others have. Fred and George are the practical jokers and mischief makers, and they’re going to go on and be successful based off of that. And Percy is really much-involved with the Ministry, and Bill and Charlie have kind of gone off and figured out what they want to do with their lives. Ron is still… somebody mentioned it earlier – he’s still young in all of this and he’s yet to really do that for himself, so I think that can play into it as well.
Caleb: I agree, and we’re going to move on to the responses from last week’s Question of the Week, which Eric came up with, and just to remind you of what that was: In this chapter, meaning last week’s chapter, all Ministry officials are in all-hands-on-deck mode. Even Arthur, who is working in an off department about Muggle Artifacts, and Percy, an assistant, are going into work to try and keep some of the slanderous acts of Rita Skeeter and the general fright and mayhem from consuming the public and bringing down the government. Since the Dark Mark even didn’t leave a huge physical mess to clean up, how should the Ministry be handling this PR issue? What do we think everyone is doing day in and day out? So the first response comes from Leslie Nichols and it says,
“Knowing the Ministry, I’d say that it’s likely that they’re doing their usual – making it look like they’re doing something when they really aren’t doing anything at all. I’m sure they’re putting out loads of ‘info’ about having leads on those responsible, while reassuring the public that ‘Death Eater’ activity has no ties to a return of Voldemort. As for what Percy and Arthur are up to: I would say that Crouch is fairly busy with everything going on, and Percy is having to do a lot of menial tasks. I could also see Percy choosing to go in, even if he isn’t really needed. He does tend to make himself seem more important than he is. Arthur on the other hand, is having do what is described in the chapter. He seems to be taking insurance claims. I’m not sure how that fits in his job description, but that’s what I’ve always pictured based on the text.”
Eric: Okay.
Caleb: So that gives us a basic rundown of what the logistical things could be.
Laura: Yeah. I… this isn’t totally correct, but it’s kind of a justification I’m trying to make as far Arthur taking the insurance claims. It’s not that the stuff that they’re using is necessarily Muggle artifacts, but like tents and stuff like that… there’s kind of like a crossover that… what’s considered a misuse of a Muggle artifact if what they… stuff that they… I don’t know. I don’t necessarily know what I’m saying.
Eric: Yeah. And Micah, essentially the… I mean, the thing is in the last chapter, both Arthur and Percy were leaving before everybody else woke up and coming back well after dinner. So the question was, what were they doing all this time? It’s really interesting but I think that this goes part of the way into describing… if Arthur was handling claims and Percy was just helping out Mr. Crouch, who is more prominent than even Arthur is in the Ministry?
Laura: I do agree that Percy probably isn’t needed and is just being dramatic like, “Oh! A long day at the office,” when it’s like no one…
Eric: Could also be preparing for the future – kind of getting used to being up that early. In crisis mode. He’s building his crisis response muscles. [laughs]
Caleb: There you go. All right, the next comment comes from awkwardjenny and it says,
“I would also suspect that those in the Ministry who deal with foreign affairs are trying to reassure the other wizarding schools involved in the Triwizard Tournament (Durmstrang and Beauxbatons) of the safety of their students since they will be traveling to the very country where this resurgence of dark wizarding activity has taken place. Aurors are no doubt trying to figure out what everyone saw that night and who was responsible by staking out ex-Death Eaters and questioning World Cup attendees. I’m sure that damage control is being done in the fallout of ‘leprechaun-gold-gate’…”
[laughs] I love that phrasing.
[Everyone laughs]
Caleb: [continues]
“… which might involve Arthur communicating with Bill as a go-between with the goblins who will no doubt be coming after the Ministry/Ludo Bagman for their share of the disappearing gold.”
I thought this was a good point because I don’t think we really thought about the fact that they’re totally going to have to deal with the issue of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons coming right after this happens.
Eric: Yeah, actually… and that’s, I agree, something that was overlooked because Harry doesn’t know about the Triwizard [Tournament] but we find out in this chapter – pretty much everybody else does. Everybody who’s not the trio – and that includes all their family members – except for Fred and George who also don’t know – everybody else knows about this. So I think you’re right. The Ministry probably would have to do a lot of damage control into making sure that the Triwizard [Tournament] still goes on, because that’s a big deal.
Micah: Big deal.
Eric: This year.
Micah: I really liked the point that she brought up about how they would have to stalk ex-Death Eaters and make sure that none of them are really involved in it. And also, just kind of looking at everybody that was there, you’re talking about an international community, and following up on that is probably not the easiest thing in the world…
Caleb: Yeah.
Micah: … in terms of interviewing people and trying to track down what each of them saw.
Eric: Yeah. Not to mention, they probably don’t have the manpower… and they didn’t have the manpower to do it on site, not let anybody leave until they got sworn testimony from everybody. Can you imagine that? But people would have gotten away almost right away. In a world where you can Disapparate, pretty much everybody who was suspicious or an accomplice probably left right after that.
Laura: Yeah.
Caleb: Totally.
Laura: That’s right.
Caleb: All right. And the last response comes from Cassandra Vablatsky and it says,
“Interestingly, we revisit this very episode in flashback later in the series, throwing some light on your question. In HBP1 (‘The Other Minister’), we see Fudge making one of his chaotic visits to the Muggle Prime Minister in the aftermath of the Quidditch World Cup. A visibly flustered Minister of Magic tells his Muggle counterpart ‘that there had been a spot of bother… that several Muggles had been “involved,” but that the Prime Minister was not to worry, the fact that You-Know-Who’s Mark had been seen again meant nothing; Fudge was sure it was an isolated incident and the Muggle Liaison Office was dealing with all memory modifications as they spoke.”‘ Fudge is supposed to inform the Muggle PM whenever something occurs to affect Muggles, so this visit is part of the clean-up operation which extends to the Muggle world. It’s perhaps significant that Fudge is described as ‘harassed-looking’ though his words are (meant to be) reassuring. For all Fudge’s bluster and bravado, I was left wondering if he really believes his own propaganda at this point or is simply willing it to be true?”
Eric: That’s an interesting question. I really appreciate all of the reminders, especially specifics like this. And it’s a good catch, too, that I may have missed even if I were reading Chapter One, that Fudge seemed “harassed-looking.” Because he is being harassed by all of the media in this chapter – or in the previous chapter – of this book, where everybody wants to know whodunit.
Caleb: Yeah.
Micah: I don’t think he believes his own propaganda. I think that, deep down, he knows. He just doesn’t want to admit it.
Laura: At this point, though, I’m not sure that’s true. I feel like through Goblet, up until the confrontation that he has with Dumbledore at the end, I think he honestly does believe it’s true. I think it’s through Order of the Phoenix, when the signs are becoming more and more, that that’s when he’s telling himself that. But I feel like up until Goblet, he does believe everything’s fine, whether out of denial or what, but…
Micah: No, I… that’s a good point.
Eric: Yeah, Fudge has got… this is the beginning of Year 4, and we have until the end of Year 5 for Fudge to realize that Voldemort is in fact back, even though Dumbledore starts saying it at the end of this year… because Harry starts saying it. It’s really interesting, his character arc of denial, and obviously the very last – I don’t know what the states are; maybe it’s of grief – but denial, acceptance, all that other stuff. So he’s [in] “denial” right now, and it’s really like pulling teeth to get him to admit or to accept that Voldemort has returned. But he is not very competent [as] a leader and we’ve known this about him. And so at this point in this chapter, he’s… I think he may believe that it’s not really that big of a deal, but of course it’s a big enough deal to warrant him talking to the Muggle Prime Minister, so there’s that.
Micah: Yeah. And his name kind of just implies that, doesn’t it? His name almost means “to lie.”
Eric: [laughs] Fudges the truth.
Laura: That’s true.
Eric: Well, that said, guys, that is all the time we have for our previous chapter, and this week on Alohomora! we are reading Chapter 11.
[Goblet of Fire Chapter 11 intro begins]
Narrator: Chapter 11.
[Sounds of a train moving]
Narrator: “Aboard the Hogwarts Express.”
[Goblet of Fire Chapter 11 intro ends]
Eric: Well guys, in this chapter, it starts off with a bit of a catastrophe. Arthur Weasley is called into work, and this is not one of the usual things he’s been called in to do, of which we just discussed in our Podcast Question of the Week responses. But this is because Mad-Eye Moody, who is an ex-Auror as we find out, caused some issues for some Muggles and was attacked apparently in his home. This, I thought, was kind of… it’s a great way to introduce the character before we actually see him or meet him – the fact that this is all taking place – and little do we know that we’ll be meeting him properly later tonight at Hogwarts.
Laura: Yeah. I really like the introduction of Mad-Eye’s character. It’s a shame because I love Mad-Eye as a character throughout Goblet, and then to find out that he isn’t Mad-Eye is something I still can’t get over. [laughs] But I think that his introduction, even right here, is exactly how you said. It’s a pretty great way of introducing how crazy he is, but still subtly… if you’re reading back on it, we are not knowing what is actually happening. It’s just a really, really good scene.
Eric: And so, what ends up… what I’ve realized basically while rereading this too, is that essentially this is when it happened, where Barty Crouch Jr. becomes Moody and then assumes that role until the end of the year. It has actually… by the time of this chapter, it has already occurred.
Caleb: Yeah.
Eric: And so, when… there was this huge commotion at Mad-Eye’s place, okay. There are dust bins – or rubbish bins – rocketing around and it’s creating all these disturbances, no doubt probably a security measure that the real Moody put in place. But by the time the Ministry officials get there – or the Muggle “Please-man” or whoever gets called to go in there – by the time they get there and they speak to Mad-Eye about what happened, it’s already Barty Crouch Jr. saying “Oh, you know, there’s somebody in the thing,” acting all paranoid, which now the real Mad-Eye has that reputation for being so. Which is really deft of Barty Crouch to slip in there and play off the existing suspicions about Mad-Eye which Bill and Charlie voice later.
Micah: It’s kind of like starting a job and being forced to take on a big task right away, you know? You’re on, basically.
[Caleb laughs]
Micah: I don’t know what to compare it to. I guess if you work for a news station, five minutes after accepting the job or coming in on your first day you’re already put on the air. That’s essentially what happened here with Barty Crouch Jr. He had to act the part right away.
Caleb: I didn’t ever realize… I didn’t really think about the fact – like you said, Eric – that this is when it happens. And I realized that rereading it this time, and I don’t know why I haven’t picked that up on other rereads.
Laura: No, I am the same way. I’m feeling really dumb right now. I was keeping it to myself, but [laughs] since you brought it up…
Eric: [laughs] Let it all out.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Let it all out, Laura. No, I’m saying the same thing happened to me on this reread.
Caleb: Yeah.
Laura: Oh.
Eric: So this is special. The same thing happened to me, and I probably read Goblet… well, I couldn’t even compare it to you guys. I’m sure you read much more than me, but yeah, this is the reread in which I realized this. Because I always wanted to pin it down, right? You always want to kind of figure it out. But it has been a couple of weeks since the Quidditch World Cup – at least one week or so – based on the timeline established in the previous chapter. But essentially from that Quidditch World Cup, Barty Crouch has then travelled and done a lot of homework, clearly. But maybe then again, maybe it helps when you look and sound exactly like the person you are trying to emulate. And Mad-Eye Moody seems more like a recluse to begin with these days, and so it may be even easier to have those mannerisms that are a little off what people remember because it’s been a while since they’ve seen you. So I think he has a lot of things working with him. But anyway, the whole reason we find out about Mad-Eye Moody is through Amos Diggory, whose face has appeared in the Weasleys’ Floo. [laughs] And just before he heads out, Molly offers him some toast and he accepts, and she takes the tongs out of the fireplace and grabs hold of the toast and puts it in his fiery mouth, which…
Caleb: I guess she could have used the fire to toast it – save time.
Laura: Two birds, one stone.
Eric: Instant… two birds, one stone. Just like that. I had forgotten this particular detail. As you can tell by the tone of my voice, I was very amused by it, because we’ve never seen toast travel just like that before.
[Caleb laughs]
Laura: Going where no toast has gone before.
Eric: Going where no toast has gone before. And furthermore, we know how that look is achieved based on – what, Order of the Phoenix, is it? When Harry has to do it, where essentially it’s just the same as traveling by the Floo Network, but you only stick your head in. Isn’t that right? You don’t need any special powder.
Caleb: Yeah.
Eric: But anyway, I thought that was a funny little bit.
Laura: It’s funny that this… I feel like this book in particular – these whole big chapters before you get to Hogwarts are the most foreshadowing chapters ever, in just even small things like this. The plot points, like the Portkey and the Dark Mark and everything, even the sticking the head through the fire, it’s something we haven’t been introduced to yet. And it’s something that Sirius is going to do later. So, all of these first… what chapter are we on? 11?
Eric: Yeah.
Laura: It’s been eleven chapters of setting up so that when we reread it, we’ll be like, “Oh! I know what that is.”
Eric: Yeah. You’re right. There’s a lot of new stuff such as the head in the fireplace.
Micah: The Sneakoscope as well, right? Doesn’t that get introduced?
Laura: Yeah. Apparition. It’s a lot of stuff.
Eric: Yeah. Actually, after Amos leaves, there’s actually more of a discussion on Mad-Eye. We learn – actually, I wanted to bring this up – Charlie and Bill recognize the name, and I’m wondering… because they’re obviously the oldest Weasleys. So they… and I’m trying to think back – it’s been about thirteen years since Voldemort was around before, and Mad-Eye was in the Order the first time. The Weasleys were not, if I’m recalling correctly. But essentially Mad-Eye was probably more esteemed back then and Bill and Charlie would have heard his name being tossed around when they were five or six years old. So I thought that was really interesting. Again, Jo making each of the siblings different, but because of their age, they were privy to this time before when Mad-Eye was great. And… I think it’s Bill, or maybe it’s Charlie, who actually met Mad-Eye once at the Ministry when they were there with Arthur. So I thought that was a cool connection. Charlie knows that Mad-Eye was one of Dumbledore’s old friends, which to me, this is an unexpected reference to the Order of the Phoenix…
Micah: Mhm.
Eric: … in my mind.
Laura: Hmm…
Caleb: Yeah.
Eric: Which there is that famous reference – we know this – when Dumbledore at the end of this book says, “Gather the old crowd,” or whatever it is. But this is in Chapter 11 and I didn’t catch it…
Micah: Well, they could be old friends.
Eric: Yeah.
Micah: I’m just playing devil’s advocate here.
Eric: No, no, no. It’s true, it’s true. But I mean, Dumbledore doesn’t work at the Ministry, so it’s weird that he would have a… it’s weird that a professor…
Micah: Are you saying he can’t have friends outside of Hogwarts?
Eric: Of course he can. He’s a world renowned wizard. But a professor at a school – or a Headmaster at a school – a Transfiguration professor working with a dark wizard catcher, typically you wouldn’t expect them to be at all syn-comp-ati-ble-la-la… I made up that word.
Micah: What?
Laura: Is that a word?
Eric: Syncopa… Sync… Syncopa… Syncopated?
Micah: [laughs] What are you talking about?
Caleb: You’re such on a good track of making up words.
Laura: I have no idea what you’re saying.
Eric: Sorry. I’m just making up words. All right. We’re moving on.
Micah: But I was going to say that was a good point you brought up though about the old Order. I think… [weren’t] Molly’s brothers…
Caleb: Yeah.
Micah: … in the old Order?
Laura: Yes.
Eric: Fabian and Gideon Prewett.
Micah: Yeah. So they… there is some history there. Right?
Caleb and Eric: Yeah.
Micah: Just not Arthur and Molly.
Caleb: Right.
Eric: Now this is something that is also said about Mad-Eye, and we mentioned this before about how he’s grown paranoid over the years. I mean, do you think that that’s… do you guys think – this is just an opinion question – that this happens to a lot of the Auors? I mean, it makes sense, right? He makes so many enemies that he has to keep looking over his back.
Caleb: Yeah, totally.
Laura: Yeah, I think [for] Aurors in general that might not be the case, but [for] Aurors that were the Head Auror during the whole time of Death Eaters and Voldemort it’s different. Analogies can be made to people that are in wars, and when military stuff isn’t happening, it takes a different toll on you. And Mad-Eye was lead Auror during the worst times, so yeah, he’s mad.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Just a bit.
Eric: The name fits him almost too well.
Micah: But I mean, I’d almost compare it to a cop or a detective who’s put away so many criminals over the course of their lifetime, though. I wondered if that was a fair comparison, though, because it seems like he’s become a bit deranged from all of this, whereas… but at the same time, I don’t know anybody who’s a cop or a detective to make that comparison to.
Caleb: Maybe after five or six Cuckoo’s Calling novels…
Micah: Right.
Caleb: … we’ll see what happens to Cormoran Strike.
Micah: Right. Who’s very much like Mad-Eye Moody. Leg and all.
Eric: Yeah, [laughs] that’s a fascinating comparison actually. I’m glad we’re doing this book now in a Cuckoo’s Calling-revealed world. But so the Mad-Eye discussion ends. They all have to get ready to go to King’s Cross because lo and behold, it’s September 1, and they’re going back to school. So Molly actually orders Muggle taxis to take them, and there’s a bit of… I don’t know. It’s browsed over, but there’s some funny… or chaos actually with Crookshanks and fireworks as they’re trying to pack all of their trunks into the taxis. I don’t know a single taxi driver [who] would put up with the kind of harassment that [he] get from the Weasleys.
Micah: They’re British, so they’re probably a bit nicer than the ones you have in Chicago and New York.
[Eric laughs]
Caleb: Well, and also I was thinking about [how] the taxi would have to go a long way to get them because it’s not like they’re living just on the outskirts of London.
Eric: But they drive to London. You’re exactly right. They end up driving or taking those taxis to London, but I don’t know where Ottery St. Catchpole is in relation, and we know it’s not a real town, but there is one nearby that has a similar name that is on the outskirts.
Laura: Also, taxis… they’ll count how many people are in the taxi and add it…
Eric: To charge you for… yeah, for trunks and owls and cats. Gosh, they really couldn’t have afforded a taxi ride. I don’t think it’s… I think it’s a plot hole.
Laura: I can’t afford a taxi ride to the next street over.
[Eric laughs]
Laura: It’s not a thing that can happen. I paid for a taxi ride at LeakyCon in Portland out of desperation, and it cost me $40 to go not that far, so…
Eric: Well, then again this is 1994, right? Before inflation, before the economy, all that stuff, so there we go. Whoops, yeah. But anyway, that make it to the Hogwarts Express, and right when they’re getting on, they receive some hints. Charlie says he may be seeing them soon. They’re like, “What?” And Bill is all excited, and Molly won’t tell them, and Ron’s very upset about it. They get on the train, they see everybody off, and they’re on the train, and who comes in the door but Draco Malfoy, running his mouth off about this, that, the other thing. Now the first thing that Draco talks about is Durmstrang, and he actually mentions… and of course we know from the end of the chapter that Draco actually knows everything about what’s going on. He knows about the Triwizard Tournament this year, but the trio still doesn’t. Nobody else has been informed. So he comes in, and he starts talking about Durmstrang, and we really found [out] some interesting stuff. This lead to the I want to say “meat” of the chapter because we’re meant to gloss over the Mad-Eye stuff because we donít know it’s important. So the meat of this chapter is really spent on learning about the other wizard school Durmstrang and also Hermione’s lesson about how Hogwarts is Unplottable.
Laura: Is that really the first time we learned about that?
Eric: It’s possible that it’s mentioned before – once or twice in the earlier books – but not specifically from Hermione saying. This was the chapter where we got “Yes, this is what happens when you go to Hogwarts.”
Caleb: Yeah.
Eric: I believe that maybe she said there are spells and enchantments, but she’s never gone into it before quite like she does in this chapter.
Caleb: Which is why Jo has her using the book to explain it.
Eric: Hmm.
Micah: This part about Durmstrang, though… isn’t Draco overheard? He doesn’t come into the car until actually a little bit…
Caleb: Right.
Micah: … later on in the chapter, and that’s when he starts bragging about knowing what’s coming at Hogwarts this year.
Eric: Oh, I wasn’t sure. Was he just passing by then? Was he not actually…
Caleb: Yeah, that’s right. You’re right. I just… I remember that. He’s overheard because he comes in a little bit later when the doorway is left open by Seamus and Dean.
Eric: Hmm.
Caleb: Yeah.
Eric: Okay, well, you guys are right then. But let’s talk about Durmstrang anyway. Okay, because Draco is boasting – I guess it’s just to Crabbe and Goyle then – that they actually teach the Dark Arts at Durmstrang and not any of that defense rubbish that gets taught at Hogwarts. So obviously… do you guys think this is really true? Or is it just Draco boasting and making stuff up? Do you really think that any school would actually teach Dark Arts like that?
Caleb: I think it’s pretty likely. I mean, given that Karkaroff is the Headmaster that… I mean, not to teach them how to use them to attack people, but they probably get more practical…
Laura: Right.
Caleb: … exposure to it than they do at Hogwarts.
Laura: Yeah, I think it’s… I agree that they’re probably not outright taking the mentality of “we’re training you all to be Death Eaters” how it is in Deathly Hallows at Hogwarts pretty much. I think it’s more of a situation of them taking the approach of really what Mad-Eye does of showing them the Unforgivable Curses and being like, “How are you supposed to defend yourself if you don’t know what they look like?”
Eric: Hmm.
Laura: And I think that that’s almost Durmstrang’s approach: slightly more drastic of like, “How are you supposed to defend yourself if you couldn’t even give the spell back to them? If you wouldn’t understand the spell enough to do it?” So…
Micah: Well, I mean, I don’t want to jump too far ahead in the book. It’s always been interesting to me how much Barty Crouch, Jr. actually taught Harry and really his entire class during their time at Hogwarts because I think it has huge implications for later on in the series.
Eric: And we do remember [that] Barty Crouch gives Harry career advice and says, “You should be an Auror.” Which is ironic as all hell, but we’ll talk about that later.
Micah: Of course, of course, but…
Eric and Laura: Yeah.
Micah: … Durmstrang. So I agree with what Caleb said, though, about Karkaroff and just the brief history that we do know about the school, going back [to] the symbol of the Deathly Hallows and all that fun stuff that comes later on, but I don’t see them – and Laura touched on it, too – outright teaching it to do harm to other people, but at the same time, though, I guess that would make it very similar to what Hogwarts does; they teach it in a defensive manner.
Eric: Hmm.
Micah: But I think Draco could just be over-sensationalizing things. I think that he has a tendency to do that, and he probably has a very clear idea in his mind of what Durmstrang is, and it’s probably nothing like that at all.
Eric: Yeah. Well, I mean, do… ? People do look rugged; it’s a more hostile environment we gather from…
Micah: It’s cold, man! [laughs]
Eric: It’s cold. It’s a more… it’s like being on the Wall or something. It’s…
Laura: I love their uniforms in the movie. They looked beautiful.
Eric: [laughs] Yeah.
Laura: All of them. [laughs]
Eric: They do. But so the question that I have about Durmstrang is really about Hogwarts because we get this… Hogwarts is essentially the vanilla ice cream of the wizard schools.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: I imagine Beauxbatons being…
Caleb: That’s so funny because do you know what I just thought of when you said… you bringing up vanilla ice cream?
Eric: What?
Caleb: Do you remember when we were in Portland at LeakyCon, and we went to that… we walked for three years…
[Laura laughs]
Eric: We walked three miles…
Caleb: … to get to that ice cream place.
Eric: … to get to that ice cream shop? Yes, and that was the coolest ice cream place ever.
Laura: And Eric ordered vanilla.
Micah: Are you serious?
Eric: They had a lot of… they had a large selection. Yeah, you should see this place. We got…
Laura: Caleb got balsamic strawberry.
[Eric laughs]
Laura: I got something with cinnamon that… weird. Eric got vanilla. We walked three hours to this thing.
Micah: There was nothing else, Eric, that you could have possibly gotten that would have…
Eric: I could have…
Micah: … satisfied you than vanilla?
Eric: The problem is I wanted a basis for comparison, and I wanted to be able to judge a place and then go to the another place.
Micah: Via vanilla?
Eric: I wanted a reference!
Micah: They probably got their vanilla from somewhere else. [laughs]
Eric: [laughs] Because they make everything…
Micah: I hate to disappoint you.
Eric: … because it’s not extravagant…
Micah: Right.
Eric: … for them to make it on site. Well, no, that’s the thing is [that] I wanted to try that place’s vanilla because I’ve actually tried other vanilla, and then I would know that I was…
Micah: Uh-huh.
Eric: There wasn’t actually a chain of thought. I was just… I wanted vanilla! You know how when you walk for miles and miles, and you want a specific beverage to cool you off even though there’s a wide variety? You could do Gatorade – [there are] 100 flavors – but you want the blue because the blue is the best. Actually, grape is the best. But anyway, it’s like that.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: But for the sake of argument, Hogwarts is the vanilla ice cream of the wizarding world, so I’m Hogwarts. I don’t know what you guys are with your cinnamon sorbet or whatever.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: I was thinking Beauxbatons would be a sorbet or a gelato, or maybe that’s the Italian school. Anyway, speaking of… okay, we know Voldemort came from Hogwarts. Let’s just get to that point right there. So how is it that Voldemort was able to become even worse than Grindelwald, who went to Durmstrang we learn later, if Hogwarts is such a pansy school for Dark Arts?
Laura: [laughs] Well, I think it could be a situation of when you’re told not to do something, it makes you want to do it more.
Eric: [laughs] Well…
Laura: I’m not making excuses for Voldemort, [laughs] but I’m just saying if the Dark Arts are not embraced but just acknowledged at Durmstrang, I feel like the people don’t necessarily… aren’t excited by them because it’s just what they are.
Eric: Hmm. It’s a boring school environment.
Laura: Yeah. It’s just like, “The Dark Arts, whatever. I had a test in it. It was lame.”
Caleb: I also think it just has a lot to do with the person.
Laura and Micah: Yeah.
Micah: I was just about to say that.
Caleb: I mean, clearly it’s all Tom Riddle and Voldemort. I mean, he would have… he probably actually wouldn’t have thrived in a Dark Arts kind of way at Durmstrang as much as he did at Hogwarts because I don’t imagine Durmstrang as being comparable in the literature that’s accessible, the type of professors he would have had, because we know he overheard some of his darkest magic form Slughorn, who’s seemingly not Dark Arts at all, so…
Eric: Yeah. Well, I wanted to bring… you mentioned books, too, because we saw Voldemort, I believe, at one point going into the Restricted Section. I mean, some of those books, like Magick Moste [Evil] and all the books that Harry sees in the Restricted Section… they do exist at Hogwarts. They’re just behind… I wanted to say a “pay wall”; God, I’m thinking Internet terms. They’re behind a teacher-approved… the Restricted Section, so the information that they may teach at Durmstrang may be available at Hogwarts; it’s just on special individual assignment basis.
Laura: Permission.
Eric: So there is that. I was trying to think that the schools might not be that different.
Laura: I do always… and this is later later, but while Fleur always bashes Hogwarts, I always liked that Krum just talked about how much he loves it. Like, “This is the best. I love this!” [laughs]
Eric: [laughs] Yeah.
Laura: It makes me think how probably not-pleasant Durmstrang is then in that case, but…
Eric: And finishing up about Durmstrang, the question is… and this may be Draco oversensationalizing, but one of the first things he says is that Durmstrang does not take Muggle-borns. He says they don’t have time for that riffraff. They don’t take that. Actually, he says “Mudbloods.” But do you guys think that that’s possible because here I am thinking that that’s the only school in the whole geographic region like Hogwarts is. And how could they refuse outright witches and wizards? Because [Muggle-borns] are, as we find from Hermione, just as powerful. They have magic. They need to be taught to harness it. Can Durmstrang actually not accept [Muggle-borns]? Where do those kids go?
Laura: It’s a good question.
Micah: I mean, it’s clearly discriminatory…
Caleb: Yeah.
Micah: … but again, though, I don’t know if it’s true or not, so it’s hard to make a judgement here.
Laura: Right, as much as I want to take everything Draco says with a grain of salt, I see this as being plausible just because Karkaroff runs it and…
Caleb: And we know how problematic wizarding society is in general with these kinds of things.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: Hmm. But I mean, I… so you imagine that there’s just probably another school in that area that will accept Muggle-borns that will be…
Laura: Honestly, I think it might be a situation like the Muggle-borns. They might not know what’s happening to them and how Dumbledore or someone goes and explains it. I almost feel like they’re just left to their own devices because the people don’t… no, because there’s still the Ministry of Magic. I don’t know.
Caleb: Yeah, but we don’t… we also take for granted that the Ministry of Magic is as established and everything in every country, which we don’t know.
Laura: That’s true. It could be that the Ministry shares the same prejudices and just lets them go to their own devices.
Caleb: Yeah. Or if there even is one at all, even a Ministry at all in every country.
Laura: There is because in the…
Caleb: Well, I know this individual country. I’m just more generally speaking.
Eric: Well, isn’t the whole… the Ministry is in London, but it controls the whole wizarding world, right? Politically?
Caleb: No.
Laura: No, because in the Quidditch World Cup chapter remember Fudge is talking to the Bulgarian guy in Bulgarian, and he… the guy could speak English all along?
Eric: Oh, right, and he was a minister, wasn’t he?
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: Huh. I thought he was a different kind of minister, but perhaps you’re right.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: I think because you get the Minister of Magic. There’s only one. That’s what I thought Fudge is.
Laura: Well, if you call someone the prime minister, that doesn’t make them Prime Minister of the World.
Eric: Prime… for the world. Right, right, right.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: I guess this is all…
Laura: President of the World. They’re President of the United States.
Eric: Well, yeah, no, more to the point, though, if you get…
Micah: Don’t tell them that.
Eric: Yeah. Well, what about America and America’s policy for non-negotiation with terrorists in certain other countries? Political sanctions that happen between countries. Why is Durmstrang allowed at Hogwarts to participate in this world-renowned Triwizard Tournament if they don’t allow [Muggle-borns] in? Wouldn’t Hogwarts take a moral high ground in that case? Why is it Durmstrang that we get and not somebody else?
Micah: [laughs] I’m going to ask a question here, though, because I really don’t know the answer, but when you look at a lot of religious schools that exist throughout even the United States here, I would assume that by and large many of them only allow people of certain religions in because religion is part of the daily curriculum, right?
Eric: Yeah.
Micah: So if you go to Catholic School, you go to Jewish school… I’m completely butchering that. Hebrew school, I’m sorry.
Laura: [laughs] Jewish school.
Micah: [laughs] Yeah, that’s… I should know because I’m Jewish…
Caleb: Yeah, I was just about to say…
Laura: [laughs] Yeah, seriously.
Micah: … and that’s terrible that I just did that.
Caleb: [laughs] All the iTunes comments.
Micah: It’s not necessarily a direct comparison because, obviously, this is taking it one step further because maybe the alternative is they could send their kids to Hogwarts or another wizarding school if they can’t go to Durmstrang, but I really look at Hogwarts as being a melting pot. You look around at all the different types of students that are there, and you just… I mean, look at some of the teachers that are there. I mean, it’s very, very diverse.
Caleb: Mhm.
Micah: Whereas a lot of these other schools that we’ve seen – well, we’ve really only seen two – they’re not as much. They’re very cookie cutter, and I mean, in the movies, Beauxbatons was all women.
Eric: Yeah.
Micah: They didn’t show any males even though there were in the books. It was very distinctive, and so I feel like these other schools are very much segregated in certain ways whereas Hogwarts is all-encompassing.
Laura: And that’s really a good scene. I mean, it’s in the book, but it’s really amusing in the films, and it’s cut out. It’s done on ABC Family when they just include everything. When they all… because Durmstrang does the whole dance thing with the sticks, and then Beauxbatons is doing the whole… all their dance, and then Hogwarts sings their song, and they all suck really bad. And it’s just five hundred people singing the song, and it’s such a cute scene because it’s just like, “Hogwarts doesn’t care.” [laughs]
Eric: I have never seen that scene.
Laura: Really? I have to link that to you.
Eric: Yeah, well, I try to shy away from the Harry Potter Weekends. I really do. Sorry if that makes me not a fan.
Laura: I will send that to you.
Micah: Why?
Eric: Yes, please. Please do. Well, it’s just kind of daunting.
Micah: I’m just…
Laura: Emma Watson sings way louder than everyone else.
Eric: Oh, no way! I have to watch this scene now.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Everybody, please watch this scene.
Laura: Everyone’s seen it but you.
Eric: Oh, okay, I’m the only one who hasn’t seen it.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: There we go. Well, then perhaps based on what Micah has said – melting pot and everything else – maybe Hogwarts is not the vanilla ice cream. Maybe it’s the Neapolitan ice cream of the wizarding world. Okay.
Laura: That’s beautiful.
Eric: We’re done. We’re done.
Eric and Micah: We’re done with the ice creams.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Micah: I’m going to get some ice cream after this show.
Eric: Yeah, yeah. Right, right.
Micah: It’s not going to be vanilla.
Eric: We mentioned before that Hogwarts is Unplottable. We learned a little bit about that. Not sure there’s too much to talk about except that it’s a very interesting way of concealing a place that you don’t want found. And, of course, Hermione read about it in Hogwarts, A History, and this is the thing that I’ve heard people… like criticisms from or on the Harry Potter series before all the books were out, is that Hogwarts, A History is essentially a brilliant… I don’t know if red herring is right the term, but essentially if our character, if our hero, Harry, had read Hogwarts, A History, he would have been so much more informed and well-equipped to deal with everything that comes. Essentially, Hogwarts, A History is the book that would have told everybody everything they needed to know, whereas Harry bumbles along and finds it when he can.
Caleb: Yeah.
Micah: But that’s why he has Hermione.
Eric: Well, right. That’s the idea, right? Is that she has it, so if and when it becomes relevant, that’s there, but I mean, Jay did – Jo, whoa – J.K. Rowling did write Fantastic Beasts and… what was the other one? – Quidditch. So, ideally… God, I would love it if she wrote a Hogwarts book.
Caleb: Yes.
Eric: But I guess there are seven of those.
Caleb: I want this one, though.
Eric: Maybe it wouldn’t be as cool, but anyway. So Neville is in their compartment and so is Seamus, and Seamus still has his Quidditch shirt on and it’s still calling out the names of the Irish players, but it’s been a couple of weeks, so his shirt is like [imitates the shirt weakly calling out the names] muffling it out. It’s pretty funny. Funny little touch there from Jo. The… Neville’s Gran didn’t want to go to the Quidditch World Cup and I wonder, do you guys think this is pre-cognition – is that the right word, pre-cognition? – pre-cognitive ability on the part of Neville’s Gran for not wanting to go to the Quidditch World Cup?
Laura: No.
Eric: Okay. That’s just me.
[Laura laughs]
Caleb: I mean, maybe not precog… now I can’t say it. Maybe she’s not predicting it, but she weighed the risk of something like that happening and that’s why she didn’t go.
Laura: I think you guys are giving it too much credit. I think she’s just an old woman who didn’t want to be bothered…
[Eric laughs]
Laura: … with the whole thing.
Eric: Well, she wouldn’t even do it for her only grandson? She wouldn’t take him to the Quidditch World Cup?
Laura: It’s like a big camping event and it’s sports.
Eric: It’s the biggest sports event that that kid’s ever going to see.
Laura: Do you think the grandma cares? [laughs]
Eric: We don’t know. We only meet her briefly in Book 5.
Caleb: Dude, Augusta, she knows what’s up. She’s been around all of this stuff. She’s a smart cookie.
Micah: I bet she’s been around.
[Eric laughs]
Caleb: Whoops.
Laura: Oh my God. [laughs]
Eric: Wow!
Laura: And there we are. One hour and nine minutes in.
Eric: We are delivered. I’m considering this show delivered to the dogs.
Micah: Well, that’s the problem with going to something like the Quidditch World Cup. There [are] all those tents around and she could probably barely contain herself.
Caleb: [laughs] God, I can’t even.
Eric: Wow! Every remaining second before I wrap up this chapter, we are at risk from Micah.
Micah: Her and Hassan Mostafa…
[Caleb laughs]
Micah: … actually go way back.
Laura: Stop.
Eric: On the magic carpet ride. Is there…
Caleb: Oh my God, my favorite! Aladdin!
[Laura laughs]
Eric: This is so dirty, I can’t believe it’s coming out of my mouth. I want to make a rug joke.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: You know what that is, right, Eric?
Eric: Hmm?
Micah: You know who Hassan Mostafa is, right?
Eric: No.
Micah: He’s the referee at the Quidditch World Cup.
Caleb: He’s the ref.
Eric: Oh. I thought he was the foreign diplomat.
Micah: No, him and Augusta go way, way back on a magic carpet.
Eric: I thought he was… oh, God.
Caleb: No. That’s Ali Bashir.
Eric: Ali [pronounces as “ba-zeer”] Bashir? [pronounces as “ba-john”] Bashir?
Laura: This is very important that we know this.
Caleb: I know. Encyclopedia.
Eric: Okay. We only have one more point here. Let me try and… couple of more points, actually. So then, Malfoy properly comes into the compartment. Thank you for pointing that out, guys.
Micah: Yes, he does.
Laura: You’re welcome. [laughs]
Eric: He does and he’s quick to spot Ron’s dress robes, which is unfortunate for Ron. He goes the same color as them and tries to hide them and take them back, but Malfoy flat out hints at… actually, he goes on and on about wanting to win the prize and assuming that they’re all going to be applying or whatever the word is, because it’ll be… there is money involved and there’s glory involved and none of them know what he’s talking about. So he has a good laugh, does what Draco does and leaves. And when they arrive at Hogsmeade Station, the first years are in for a treat because it is pouring rain, it is disgusting weather and the traditional boat ride for to Hogwarts Castle for all first years has not been changed or rearranged or rescheduled. They are still going to do it. And God bless those little first years. We’re going to find out how they did in the next chapter. But instead, just like every non-first year does, Harry, Ron and Hermione take the horseless carriages on their way to school.
Micah: Now, is this the first mention of them being horseless?
Eric: I’m not sure…
Caleb: I can’t remember.
Eric: … and the reason…
Laura: How did they get there in Prisoner?
Eric: Well, they don’t because Harry blacks out due to the Dementors.
Micah: Right…
Laura: Okay, so yeah. Then this would be our first…
Caleb: Well, we know they don’t in Chamber, so it must be…
Eric: Yeah, and in Chamber they fly. So this may be… or maybe in Prisoner when he’s just waking up at the hospital wing, Hermione and Ron mention the horseless carriages or something at some point?
Micah: It’s just interesting to note because, obviously, this kind of stuff, even going back to what Laura was saying earlier about things being…
Laura: Forshadowy.
Micah: … dropped – yeah – earlier on in this book, but this obviously plays into the end of this book and then into – or actually into Order of the Phoenix, not the end of this book – Order of the Phoenix. So… and similar to the last book how we were introduced to Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory and obviously, they play a larger role in this book.
Eric: Mhm. Yeah, I mean, it’s just an offhand mention, “Oh, horseless carriages. Okay.”
Micah: She’s very good at that.
Eric: Oh, she’s great. She’s absolutely great at that and of course, we just accept that they’re horseless carriages because it’s magic, right?
Micah: Right.
Eric: There essentially doesn’t need to be anything pulling those carriages other than magic, [whispers] but there is. And that wraps up our discussion of Chapter 11 except for the Podcast Question of the Week.
Caleb: So we’ve got, obviously, a new Podcast Question of the Week and I can’t take full credit for it because the idea was Eric’s and it was a really great one.
Eric: Oh, it’s all of ours. It’s user approved or what is it? Co-host approved.
Laura: I did not contribute one bit.
Eric: Do you approve?
Laura: Sure.
Caleb: All right.
Laura: Great job.
Caleb: In this chapter, we hear Amos talk to Arthur about the situation with Mad-Eye Moody, the lead up to less fortunate things along the way for Mr. Moody. But we never find out what exactly happens between he and Barty Crouch Jr. How was Crouch Jr, who was locked up in a basement for so long, able to subdue and incapacitate one of the greatest Aurors to ever live? So, essentially, we want you to tell us what actually happened in this single incident because we don’t ever know.
Eric: Yeah, how did Crouch pown Moody and assume his position? So that is the Question of the Week and we want to thank Micah for your involvement on this show. Thank you for coming back and joining us, Micah.
Micah: Yeah.
Eric: Well, you guys should… actually, if you are as into Game of Thrones, as you guys made references to it earlier in this episode, perhaps you can join us for an episode of Game of Owns.
Laura: [laughs] Are you serious?
Caleb: What is Game of Owns, Eric?
Eric: Game of Owns is our Game of Thrones podcast, thrice weekly, guys. We have three episodes a week and we are actually doing…
Laura: What?!
Eric: … a read through of, currently, Book 2. We’re thirty chapters in and we’re reading Book 2 of the Game of Thrones series, and we do talk about the TV show when it airs in March, between March and May of each year.
Laura: Thrice weekly?
Eric: But Micah and I are on that podcast along with our friends Zack Luye and Selina Wilken, and you guys should either tune in… the listeners can certainly tune in if they are into Game of Thrones. Of course, there are little bit more adult themes then currently in Book 4 of Harry Potter. So…
Laura: Not according to Micah.
Caleb: I can’t imagine. [laughs].
Eric: So I would caution our casual listeners from clicking on that because we can talk about twins and other twins and castles all in the same show and it’s not safe. Nobody’s safe. So…
Caleb: Nobody.
Eric: There’s that.
Caleb: Yeah. So, actually, we haven’t really talked about this on the show any, but Kat and I have this other independent project called Bibliofiend. Some of you guys, I know, know about it, but it’s a new website that covers all sorts of books and movie adaptations, things other than Harry Potter, that are mostly Young Adult themed. So if you really love YA books slash their adaptations slash authors, you should check out bibliofiend.com.
Laura: And I do nothing with my life to promote. So… [laughs] but what I do have, I want to give my umpteenth shout out to Erin BG, my favorite fan for the fancy hippogriff that she has sent me. I said I’d give a shout out on the show. I referenced the fancy hippogriff that Newt Scamander talked about. I don’t even remember where it came from. But I said I wanted a drawing of a fancy hippogriff. She sent me one. It is the greatest thing I have ever received. It is the background of my cell phone. It is hung up on my wall. I have been showing every single person I know and I’ve lost all of my friends because I’m just like, “Look! Look at my fancy hippogriff!”
Eric: [laughs] Micah, you have to see this.
Laura: So…
Eric: Have you seen this fancy hippogriff?
Micah: Yeah, it was on Instagram, right?
[Eric laughs]
Laura: Yeah, and Twitter, everywhere, everywhere! I’m obsessed with it.
Caleb: I’m worried about Laura’s frequence period.
Laura: I tweeted it. So my account is @reilly_laura and my Instagram is LauraReilly5. So I’ll promote my personal accounts…
Micah: There you go.
Laura: … because that’s all I’ve got. [laughs] Yeah.
Micah: Thanks, I really enjoyed being on. Hopefully I’m allowed to come back…
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Micah: … for another episode.
Eric: I don’t know, you’re two for two [laughs] on the adult references there, but…
Laura: Anyway, if you would like to be on the show like Mr. Tannenbaum, you can find out how to be on the show by heading over to our website at alohomora.mugglenet.com on the “Be on the Show” page. Please have the appropriate audio equipment so that you sound lovely, and in the meantime, subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. We’ll be looking out specifically this week.
Micah: Nothing less than five stars is acceptable in the month of September.
Laura: Yes.
Eric: That’s the truth.
Micah: And of course, you can leave these wonderful people feedback as well as myself. I will gain access to all these accounts in some capacity…
[Caleb, Eric, and Laura laugh]
Micah: By going to twitter.com/AlohomoraMN and you can also head over to facebook.com/openthedumbledore. I’m not quite sure what exists over there, but you can definitely leave a nice post up there and perhaps it’ll get read on the show. I don’t know if that’s true or not, I’m just…
[Caleb and Laura laugh]
Micah: … giving them more work potentially.
Eric: Give us promises! Why don’t you just make some promises?
Micah: And finally, you can leave these great hosts a voicemail by dialing 206-GO-ALBUS. That’s 206-462-5287, and they can Skype that as well, right?
Caleb: They can.
Eric: You can Skype the username AlohomoraMN and leave us a voicemail.
Caleb: And we have something coming soon, more than likely, that will give you guys a quick, easy way – quick, easy, free way, I should say – to leave us a message. So look out for an announcement on that.
Eric: Even without picking up the phone, and speaking of phones! There is an application for Alohomora! podcast if you are on your phone and there are instructions on how to download that at our website alohomora.mugglenet.com. And the Alohomora! app is available seemingly worldwide. So if you’re in a corner of the world that does not have the app, please write in, let us know, and we will talk with your government about allowing the application into within your borders. So the Alohomora! app, once again, it is $1.99 in the United States, 1 pound, 29 pence in Great Britain. It’s available for iPhone, Android. Lots of stuff, it’s great. And again, all that information can be found on alohomora.mugglenet.com as well as our Alohomora! store, which now has over 75 products to choose from, including T-shirts, tote bags, sweatshirts, flip-flops…
Laura: Flip-flops!
Eric: … water bottles, travel mugs, and more coming soon. Guys, this is the point where I reveal that the character that I’m going to start getting behind, there are only a remnant or two of this…
Micah: Tell us, what character are you getting behind?
Eric: It is Barty Crouch Jr. for reasons that were explained in this chapter. I think that he is a good guide, good person for Harry to know and I’m going to be talking about that more on upcoming chapters. So I forsee a tote bag with a slogan regarding Barty Crouch Jr. at some point in the future, but we’ll have to see how that goes. Well, Micah, thank you for joining us again.
Micah: Well, thanks for having me. I really enjoy coming on the show.
Caleb: All right, well, thank you for joining us for this really exciting and very intriguing, always surprising episode of Alohomora!.
[Show music begins]
Caleb: I’m Caleb Graves.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Laura: I’m Laura Reilly, and thank you for listening to Episode 49 of Alohomora!
Eric: Open the Dumbledore!
[Show music continues]
Eric: I foresee a tote bag with a slogan regarding Barty Crouch Jr. at some point in the future, but we’ll have to see.
Micah: I think it should be, “I get behind Barty.”
[Caleb and Laura laugh]
Laura: Oh my God.
Micah: Look…
Laura: [laughs] Just end it! I’m going to die soon! Oh, God.
Micah: Can I get a travel mug?
[Eric laughs]
Laura: You can get flip-flops. I’m going to get you flip-flops for Christmas or Hanukkah.
Eric: Yes, guys, we cannot underscore the importance of the flip-flops any more than we can by saying…
Caleb: Especially now that it’s almost winter.
[Caleb and Laura laugh]
Eric: There are flip-flops, everybody. Hey, I mean… just brand new. They’re our newest item.
Caleb: It’s okay. If you live in Texas like I do, you can wear flip-flops every day of the year.
Eric: That’s interesting.
Laura: If you live in a college like I do and the communal bathrooms are disgusting, flip-flops are the greatest way to wear your Alohomora! pride in the shower.
Eric: And prevent against foot fungus.
Laura: Exactly.
Eric: Yes.
Laura: We’re thinking of your health here.
Micah: You can wear them too, Eric, when you get behind Barty.
Caleb: And there it is.
