Transcript – Episode 123
[Show music begins]
Caleb Graves: This is Episode 123 of Alohomora! for February 7, 2015.
[Show music continues]
Caleb: Hey, all you listeners! Welcome to another episode of Alohomora! I’m Caleb Graves.
Kristen Keys: I’m Kristen Keys.
Kat Miller: And I’m Kat Miller. And our special – I don’t know, would you call her a fan? – guest today is MuggleNet’s very own Claire Furner. Hello, Claire.
Claire Furner: Hello.
Kat: Thank you so much for joining us.
Claire: It’s good. It’s been a very, very Harry Potter-focused evening for me.
Kat: [laughs] Tell our listeners a little bit about what you do for the site and your Harry Potter story.
Claire: Sure, yeah. So I started reading when I was about nine, I guess, and I discovered MuggleNet when I was about twelve. And I joined the MuggleNet staff about two and a half years ago and I’m currently marketing the UK base, covering UK events. And I’m also on the team for MuggleNet Live!: Expo Patronum. I’m also a Hufflepuff, which is also highly, highly good.
[Kat and Kristen laugh]
Caleb: All right, well, Claire is joining us for a really fun and funny chapter this week, and we want to remind you guys to read Chapter 5 of Half-Blood Prince, “An Excess of Phlegm,” because we will be discussing that shortly.
Kat: But before we do that, as always, we are going to discuss some comments from last week’s chapter, which was Chapter 4 of Half-Blood Prince, which was “Horace Slughorn,” I believe. We meet the professor. So our first comment here comes from Half Blood Princess; assuming it’s a she, says,
“Does anyone else think that Slughorn and Lockhart have a couple of things in common? According to Pottermore, the way DD got Lockhart to join was very similar to how he got Slughorn to join.”
Join the staff, I assume they’re speaking of.
“Both are vain and take an interest in Harry beyond what most people do. Lockhart’s defining feature is arrogance, because he’s so famous, and Slughorn’s defining feature is to try to ‘collect’ talented/famous people so he can have good connections. These aren’t the same, of course, but they both enjoy being in a lofty position. And Lockhart was DADA teacher in [B]ook 2, while Slughorn became teacher in [B]ook 6. I know he’s not teaching DADA, but he’s still the new teacher. So ring theory!”
Caleb: Yeah, I mean, I’m always very skeptical of the ring theory; I feel like sometimes it’s a little forced. But there are definitely some connections here, though I think Slughorn is much more skilled and subtle in the way he gets what he wants, shall we say, in collecting people, while Lockhart is extremely superficial. And Slughorn is able to play behind the lines much better.
Kristen: I completely agree with that, what you just said.
[Kat and Kristen laugh]
Caleb: Cha-ching!
[Kristen laughs]
Claire: I feel like Lockhart is the type of person that Slughorn would try and collect. I know we don’t know the age differences but I wonder if he’d been teaching Lockhart, he would have tried to collect him.
Caleb: That makes me wonder what Lockhart was like at school. [laughs]
Kristen: Yeah. I don’t feel like he was very skilled at anything. He just had a charming smile. Wooed all the ladies.
Kat: Mhm.
Caleb: Yeah.
Kat: Well, our next comment here comes from Enougheffingowls. It says,
“On […] the subject of Inferi, I found the concept of an army of Inferi really interesting and potentially problematic. Did Voldemort reanimate everyone he killed? Does he only reanimate bodies of people [who] go missing or does he go around pulling bodies from graves? If the latter is the case, are there any protective measures families of the deceased can put in place to prevent this from happening? I find it unlikely that Voldemort would kill someone, let their body be discovered, and then go back for them to reanimate them. But are there enough missing people to make an army? I got the impression there were an absurdly large number of Inferi in the cave.”
So that comes from a whole discussion last week about the Inferi. What do you guys think?
Claire: Creepy. [laughs]
Caleb and Kristen: Yeah.
Caleb: I mean, I feel like Voldemort would focus primarily on the people he killed, right? Because there would be a certain… he’s obviously very proud of what he can accomplish, so he would lend preference in them. I do agree that it would be unlikely for Voldemort to kill someone, let the body be discovered, and then go back for them to reanimate them. But I don’t know. He also leaves the scene, it seems like, when… oh, and also, he’s not killing that many… I’m sorry, I’m talking in circles. But he’s not the person that kills them a lot of the time; it’s the Death Eaters, right? He only kills in extreme circumstances when it’s someone really important; like Amelia Bones was really important, so he killed her himself. The Potters. But he doesn’t kill necessarily everyone.
Kat: That’s true.
Claire: Yeah, that’s what I was feeling.
Kat: I was intrigued by the idea of the protective measure on a grave, though. Do you think that’s a thing?
Caleb: Hmm.
Kristen: Possibly.
Claire: I feel like it could be a thing – just a general thing – but not necessarily against turning them into Inferi.
Kristen: Yeah.
Kat: I hope not. No, I hope that that’s not a common worry in the wizarding world even now. “Oh no, I’d better put a charm on it so my uncle doesn’t become an Inferi.”
[Claire laughs]
Kristen: Exactly. Grave-digging to a whole new level.
Kat: Oh, God. That’s terrifying.
[Kristen laughs]
Kat: All right, our last comment here, from Snatch the Snitch, is actually a couple of comments, or one comment and a few questions, so it says,
“I find Horace Slughorn to be a fascinating character and a great addition, especially plot wise, to the Harry Potter universe. I’m eager to hear what others think about his character.”
Now, there were about ten questions. I chose two that I really liked. I figured we could discuss.
Kristen: Mhm.
Kat: First one is,
“How much does Slughorn know or suspect about Voldemort’s Horcruxes? When he saw Gaunt’s ring on Dumbledore’s finger did he just recognize it from when Riddle wore it?”
Caleb: Well, I definitely think he’s suspicious. We know from later in the book that Slughorn is the one that gives Riddle the lead to follow with Horcruxes, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a pretty substantial suspicion about it.
Claire: I figured he recognized it, but I was thinking about this last week when I was listening; that I couldn’t quite remember or if we knew the timeline of when Dumbledore first asked Slughorn for the memory. Because if he’s already asked for it at this point, then that memory is definitely going to be at the forefront of his mind and he probably would’ve revisited it maybe through a Pensieve, seen the ring, and then it would be more there, but if it’s something that Dumbledore didn’t actually do until he got to Hogwarts, then maybe that wouldn’t be the first thought. So maybe it was just a glance of the ring and he’d be like, “Ah, I recognize that.”
Kat: Yeah, I think he… hmm. Because they start lessons pretty early on, right? Harry and Dumbledore?
Caleb: I actually can’t remember.
Claire: There is a slight delay, I think, in the lessons because I remember Harry being a bit like, “Oh, I thought he was going to teach me something.” And then it doesn’t actually happen for a couple of weeks, I think.
Kat: Right.
Caleb: Yeah, that sounds familiar. Forgive us, listeners. Remember, we read this one chapter at a time.
[Everyone laughs]
Kat: So then Dumbledore would have had time in between there to talk to Slughorn about that memory, then.
Kristen: Yeah.
Kat: Okay. The second question is one that I’ve always pondered. It says,
“Why does Slughorn not join the Order or the Death Eaters?”
Kristen: I mean, isn’t he all about himself? I don’t know.
Caleb: Yeah, we definitely get the idea that he’s definitely not completely turning them down, right? From the wavering he does here, he’s like, “Well, I didn’t affirmatively join them, so they probably think that I’m not with them right now.” So he’s definitely never been like, “No. Absolutely not. I am fully against your mission.” But I don’t know.
Kristen: He wants to be on the winning side, so he’s not going to…
Kat: Hmm, very true.
Caleb: Yeah, that’s definitely true.
Kat: Very Peter Pettigrew of him.
Kristen: [laughs] Yeah.
Kat: Which do we see him joining more, you think?
Caleb: Well, it seems like… we don’t get the opportunity to see their side but he’s very hesitant. I would say even farther; he is very anti-Order in this… I guess it’s the last chapter. He’s worried what the Death Eaters will think about him joining the Order, obviously because that means they would come after him. But we get more instances of him saying bad things about the Order than the Death Eaters, even though he may imply otherwise.
Kat: He’d be a crappy Death Eater.
[Kristen laughs]
Claire: I think it’s something of he doesn’t want to rule or lead, but I don’t think he’d like to be led. He likes to have his little pocket of people that he influences, and to be an influencer, and participate. But I just don’t think he would want to follow someone the way the Death Eaters have to follow Voldemort.
Kat: Hmm, unblinding faith. True. That makes sense. Well, Snatch The Snitch, I hope that those answers were satisfactory, and thus ends our recap of last week’s chapter.
Kristen: All right, now we’re going to go into your responses for last week’s Podcast Question of the Week. Here’s a little reminder of what that question was,
“In this, his namesake chapter, we finally meet Professor Horace Slughorn. When it comes to citing examples of a ‘decent’ Slytherin from the Harry Potter series, Slughorn is often the first to come to readers’ minds; however, Harry’s first impression of Slughorn is not exactly flattering. What is it about Slughorn that sets him apart from Slytherins we’ve met thus far? What qualities, both good and bad, does he share with other Slytherins we’ve met and will meet?”
All right, this first comment comes from NettleScarlet, and I really love the first part that he says:
“Completely off topic… When I read this chapter the first time however many moons ago, and met Prof. Slughorn, I imagined the Quaker Oats guy… an enormously fat, bald old man… his enormous, silver, walruslike mustache… c’mon! Who didn’t think of the Quaker Oats guy!!”
[Everyone laughs] Caleb: That’s so funny. Kristen: [continues] “Slughorn is one of my favorite ‘in-between’ characters. I think he plays an important role in this story, but only in the sense that he has [something] that Harry needs to continue on his journey, solely for the purposes in HBP. I think that Slughorn’s way of categorizing people, whether in the Slug Club or classroom, will help Harry understand the politics of people, which will lead Harry to understand how to be persuasive enough to get what he wants by using public opinion (or in this case, Slughorn’s opinion). Dumbledore explains Horace quite well to Harry once they leave. Horace’s great talent, which is rather cunning, is finding talent and giving it the boost it needs to thrive. After all, Tom Riddle was only truly curious to know if it was possible to split the soul into 7… Does anyone else notice that Dumbledore also mentions to Harry Prof. Slughorn’s favorite candy?” Kat: Hmm. Caleb: Yep, Dumbledore has a little foresight there, for sure. Kristen: I know. [laughs] Caleb: As he often does. Kristen: Smart man. Caleb: Yeah. I mean, with the cunning thing… I’m trying to see if I can reconcile the thought of collecting people and also that being cunning. I guess he’d have to be cunning to pick out which ones are going to really succeed. Kat: Yeah, I would call it more plotting probably than cunning, which I think are similar in ways. Kristen: Mhm. Claire: I’ve always found the black and white divisions of the Houses unsettling, because I believe there are enough examples in every House that shows complete scales of the characters, and I think he’s just the perfect example of that. I think there’s an element of cunning, not so much in his collection, but I can almost imagine he’s that way: “I haven’t got someone who might be good in this industry, so I’ll craft it from that.” And that’s him trying to spread his spiderweb and net out. So I guess there is an element of cunningness in that. Kat: Yeah. Kristen: Our next comment comes from ChocolateFrogRavenclaw – great name: “The difference between Slughorn and other Slytherins lies in Harry’s interpretations of them (mostly because that is how we, as readers, see them). Slughorn is not immediately intimidating in the way that Snape is or flat out mean as Draco is. Slughorn is – at this point – completely unimpressive to Harry. I believe that this is actually how most of the Slytherins are to Harry. He doesn’t really know very much about them nor does he honestly care too much about them. Harry cares about what happens to Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Snape but he doesn’t really notice any other Slytherins. The one thing that makes Slughorn different is that Harry is forced to come into contact with him. If Harry were to meet all [of] the other Slytherins and spend as much time with them as he does with Slughorn, I think he would find that the majority (most definitely not all) are closer to Slughorn than Snape on the Slytherin [s]cale. That said, I don’t think Slughorn is the best example of […] Slytherin house. Each house holds a wide variety of students and I don’t think one person can accurately represent all of them, but Slughorn does help in providing an example of the type of Slytherin that exists but that we as readers and Harry rarely hear about.” Claire: I like this. [laughs] Kristen: I really liked it, too. [laughs] Kat: Yeah, I think it’s an important point to remember, because sometimes we forget that we’re seeing all these people and events through the filter of Harry. Kristen: Mhm. Kat: So this is a good point. Although I’m not sure that Harry doesn’t care about any other Slytherins. I think we just don’t meet any other significant ones – besides Tom Riddle, of course. Claire: I think it’s a lack of care. He just doesn’t… you have your friendship group and unless there’s people like Draco who are constantly pestering you all the time, he’s not focused on them. He probably just tars them with the same brush. Kat: But do you think he really cares about Crabbe and Goyle? Claire: I think… when someone constantly bothers you a lot… if someone inheritantly annoys you – sometimes certain people just say something that constantly grates you – I feel like there’s an element where you care too much about them because of the fact that they annoy you. Whereas if you didn’t care, they wouldn’t be on your radar and you wouldn’t notice them. Kristen: Yeah, you wouldn’t be thinking about them all the time. Claire: Yeah. And I think it’s Crabbe and Goyle’s connection to Draco that makes Harry so irritated by them and care about them to an extent. Kat: Sure. Okay, that makes sense. Kristen: Mhm. Caleb: I definitely buy it because… [laughs] this totally just made me think of being in law school right now, because I realize this is my first experience of being in a house-like setting. So to make a long description short, our law school class is split up into five sections, and we pretty much only have classes with people in our sections of about a hundred people. And everyone else, even though they’re in the same year as me, I never see except random passing. And they’re just completely foreign bodies to me, except for just a few people who I do have in an occasional class who represent those sections and give me very stark opinions about those sections. And this is certainly the way law school works at our school. So it’s almost like houses where I get ideas of a section because of the way certain people stand out, even though most of the people I wouldn’t even recognize or really care about. And it’s exactly what this person is talking about, so I totally buy it. Kat: Have you Sorted them all yet? [Claire and Kristen laugh] Caleb: Well… see, there’s five sections. My section is definitely the Gryffindor section… [Everyone laughs] Caleb: … which I am very proud of. And actually I do know, because I know what the Ravenclaw section is, I know what the Hufflepuff section is… yeah, I do know what the Slytherin section is. I don’t know about the… and then there’s one section I just have no idea about, so I guess they’re like… Kat: Muggles? [Claire laughs] Caleb: Yeah, maybe Muggles or Squibs. So it’s actually pretty funny. Kat: That’s cool. Kristen: All right, and our last comment comes from SpinnersEnd, and they say, “Slughorn is not the ‘best’ example of what a Slytherin can be, but he is the easiest to pick out because he plays such a prominent role in the book. We don’t see many other Slytherins in such visible places. But I think Slughorn typifies what a Slytherin should be: he’s cunning[;] he’s able to discern which of his students were going to make it in life. He’s self-serving: he puts himself in the good graces of those students so he can call on them later. He’s ambitious: he wants to be friends with all [of] the important people. While he doesn’t want to be in the limelight, he definite[ly] aspires to be on a pedestal behind the scenes. What makes Horace Slughorn different from most of the other Slytherins we meet is empathy. He isn’t vicious[;] he isn’t (too) callous. He’s a lot like Lucius Malfoy in that he will brown nose all [of] the important people so he can curry favour when he needs it. But he does it without Malfoy’s malice.” Kat: That’s an interesting comparison between Slughorn and Lucius. That’s something I’m not sure I would have ever thought about. Kristen: Mhm. I could get that brown-nosing… Kat: Yeah. Kristen: … definitely with all these important people and their lives. Claire: Yeah, it’s funny because he definitely does try and pull people the same way as Lucius, but Lucius does it so that he is… back to what we were saying before, Lucius wants to actively influence and actively lead slightly behind the scenes because he doesn’t want too much attention because of the Voldemort connection. Whereas Slughorn just doesn’t want that attention. He likes being known, that people will say, “Slughorn, help me get this,” or whatever. I think they are similar but I think there are significant differences, very significant differences, in that I think Lucius Malfoy is unbelievably more self-centered… Kat: Mhm. Claire: … and will do a lot worse to get what he wants than Horace Slughorn would ever do. Kat: Mhm. Claire: But he’s relatively self-serving. Caleb: Yeah, I totally agree because I think Lucius is… his focus isn’t even just about Voldemort, right? He’s very much involved for himself. That’s why in a post-Voldemort world, or at least when they think Voldemort is gone, he’s on the Board of Governors, certainly nothing that Slughorn would ever do because that would put him too much in the public light. And it’s not just on the Governors; he pretty much acts as the assumed leader of that board, so… [Claire laughs] Caleb: Yeah, he’s definitely more prolific than Slughorn would be. Kat: Mhm. Caleb: But definitely some ties for sure. Kristen: Thanks everybody for commenting on this week’s Podcast Question of the Week. If you have more to say, don’t forget to check out alohomora.mugglenet.com and leave a comment. Caleb: All right, now we are going to move into this week’s chapter discussion. [Half-Blood Prince Chapter 5 intro begins] [Sound of rummaging] Hermione: What is all of this? Fleur: Chapter 5. [Sound of a telescope punching Hermione] Hermione: Oww! Fleur: “An Excess of Fleur.” Hermione: That’s “An Excess of Phlegm,” Fleur. Fleur: No, no, no. It is “An Excess of Fleur.” But of course, one can never have too much Fleur Delacour. You should get that eye checked out, Hermione. [Half-Blood Prince Chapter 5 intro ends] Caleb: All right, so… well, first off, I was thinking about this chapter the first time I read it. Gosh, I guess I would have been – I’m trying to think of how old I would have been – I guess probably around sixteen or so, around Harry’s age, I guess. But the point is, for some reason – this is really odd, to be a sixteen-year-old and not know this – but I didn’t know what the word “phlegm” meant. I had never seen that word before, I don’t know why. They don’t really use that word in the South very much. Anyway… so I was very confused about this context of this chapter the whole way through. [Claire, Kat, and Kristen laugh] Caleb: I just kept reading it… because it was a midnight read, so I wasn’t going to stop to figure out this word that was probably not very important – one of those things that is much more amusing later on in life. Quick summary of the chapter: Dumbledore leaves Harry at the Burrow where Harry catches a brief glimpse of a gloomy Tonks. Arthur has been promoted at the Ministry. And then Harry gets a chance to reunite with Ron and Hermione (as well as an old face) and hears news of an upcoming wedding. Harry finally shares the prophecy with Hermione and Ron, and then at the very end of the chapter we get some grades. All right, so the first major area of the chapter is arriving at the Burrow. Dumbledore has just left Harry and as Harry is arriving, he sees Tonks inside the Burrow along with Mrs. Weasley. We haven’t seen Tonks since the fight at the end of Order of the Phoenix and she looks very different than her usual self where she’s usually very bright and lively, bubblegum pink hair, but here she has mousy brown hair. Harry notes her appearance is less colorful. She leaves very quickly, even before Dumbledore leaves. She declines a dinner invite from Molly who mentions that Lupin and Moody will be there for dinner. And Molly… Harry notices that Molly looks troubled. So we know that something is up with Tonks. We don’t really get any reference but it’s not too surprising that she is pretty down at Sirius – that will come up a little later in the chapter. But other than that, Tonks and Dumbledore leave, leaving only Harry and Molly. They get a little late night/early morning food chat. I just really, really love that Molly’s kitchen is always open, always there for some onion soup and a nice little chat. [laughs] What a wonderful luxury that would be to have her always there. Kat: It sounds delicious because I’m kind of hungry. Onion soup sounds really good right now. Claire: Every time I read that I’m like, “Oh God, I really want some.” [Everyone laughs] Kat: So good. Claire: Just to backtrack to that previous comment about Tonks, about her being down about Sirius, I thought… I mean, this is me misreading, but I thought, at this point, it’s still the Lupin thing. I think it’s as early as this… Caleb: Oh, yeah, I missaid that. You’re right. We start to think that it’s mostly because of Sirius, but yeah, you’re right. Thank you for correcting me. Claire: Because Molly is massively hinting of “Lupin will be there.” [laughs] Kat: Right, well, I always thought… actually, I was going to comment on the hint. I thought that it wasn’t quite clear enough. Yeah, sure, she’s like, “Oh, yeah, Remus and Mad-Eye are coming,” but I feel like this could have been a good time for Jo to hint a little bit at that, to confuse us a little more, but… Claire: Yeah, see, I actually haven’t physically read this in a long time. I’ve listened to the audiobooks since almost… I think I read it once or twice and then listened to audiobooks. And there was a very slight emphasis on Lupin over Moody. Maybe that’s a hindsight, but I was listening to it back again, prepping for this, and there was definitely an emphasis on Lupin there. Kat: Well, it’s got to be the way that’s it’s said because all she says is “Dear, why not come to dinner at the weekend? Remus and Mad-Eye are coming.” Claire: Yeah, and there’s definitely something there. And maybe it’s just because “Remus” is there first, but there’s something there. Caleb: Interesting. Yeah, I’ve never listened to the audiobook for this. That’s interesting to hear. But shortly into their little chat, Molly brings it up about meeting Slughorn because Dumbledore had just mentioned it. We find out that Slughorn taught Molly and Arthur as well. Quick check, actually. I just realized this. We don’t know yet that he originally taught Potions, right? Claire and Kristen: No. Caleb: That has’t been slipped to us yet. Okay, so it’s definitely intentional that Jo is still keeping us in the dark about that. So we find out that Arthur was not so much of a fan of Slughorn. Molly repeats what Dumbledore told Harry: that he likes to collect students. Arthur feels a bit scorned because he wasn’t picked. Molly points out that he is, of course, rather successful now, how wrong Slughorn was. Of course, this is just to amp up that Arthur has been promoted at the Ministry of Magic and put as head of a new office known as the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects – quite the name there – a creation of the new Minister [of] Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour. This, to me, what it screamed out: It’s an early indication that Scrimgeour is being pretty extensive in the way he’s shaking up the Ministry. He’s creating at least this new office and probably several others, trying to fill the gaps where he thinks Fudge messed up. Does it seem like he’s making a good choice with this office and others? Kat: Yeah, I just always wished they had a good acronym. I just always wanted this to be a really funny acronym, and I mean, it’s not. Caleb: Yeah, there’s nothing here. Odccdspo. [Caleb, Kat, and Kristen laugh] Claire: Yeah, something I noted from listening to last week’s episode, people talking about Scrimgeour. I know there was a reference to Dumbledore and Scrimgeour not getting on in the newspaper and stuff, but I’ve always quite liked him as a character. He seemed like the type of person who’s going to get up and get things done. And maybe he didn’t really go about it particularly well with Harry. But I always felt like that was pressure from the PR team to try to make him do something he wasn’t so on board with. And from his point of view, he doesn’t know Harry. Harry is just a kid who’s [unintelligible] doing some cool stuff. But yeah, I think this is a pretty good step. Arthur is clearly doing more useful things than he might have been doing in his previous job, in terms of they’re at war, and they need someone who’s cleaning up this stuff. Caleb: Yeah. It actually made me think – forgive me, Claire, for talking about American history, briefly – but in a moment of national crisis, even though it wasn’t war in this case, but when FDR as president was responding to the Great Depression and economic crises, [he] created a lot of regulation in the US, created a lot of agencies to deal with all of these problems, to get the economy going. It’s when most of the agencies in the US government were created. I don’t want to go into detail and sound really nerdy and boring, but anyway, it just made me think of how Scrimgeour is responding to a national crisis by creating more specific government roles because he thinks that’s what is lacking. Claire: I think it’s also quite fun to note that Arthur wasn’t much a fan of Slughorn, and this is exactly how Ron reacts, and just the similarities between father and son are… Kat: I was going to say that, too! I think it’s really telling about Slughorn’s character that Arthur was like, “Eh.” Because Arthur pretty much, I’d say, gets along with everybody. I mean, really, except for Malfoy. And he’s well liked, so I think it’s very telling. Caleb: We get a brief look at Molly’s really wonderful clock, except right now it’s not very wonderful because all the hands of the Weasley family point to “mortal peril.” And Molly tells Harry, “It’s been this way since Voldemort has risen up.” Then Arthur shows up at the door, and we get one of the most wonderful scenes in the entire Harry Potter series, because earlier in the book we learned that these brochures are advising families to have these special codes and systems to verify who people actually are. And the first question is Molly asking Arthur his dearest ambition, which is to see how airplanes stay up. Which is funny on its own, but little do we know what’s coming. [Everyone laughs] Caleb: Then, not knowing that Harry is sitting right inside the door, Arthur makes Molly respond to what he calls her when they are alone together. An, mortified, she whispers – but Harry still gets to hear – “Mollywobbles.” [Everyone laughs] Caleb: Which… it’s cute in its own way but also really funny. Kat: I mean, if you’re that embarrassed by it, I mean, I guess that’s a good reason to pick it, but also why would you pick it? I mean, if they do this every night, this can’t be the first time somebody has overheard them. Claire: You imagine maybe their kids have overheard the nickname but maybe not Harry Potter. Kat: Because it’s Harry, right? Fair enough. But what if Dumbledore was still standing there? Claire: He’d love it. [Caleb laughs] Kristen: That’s true. Kat: He would, he probably would. That’s true. Caleb: I’m more thinking of if McGonagall [were] standing there… [Everyone laughs] Caleb: … she would be very unimpressed. Kat: I bet she has had some good nicknames in her day, McGonagall. [Everyone laughs] Kat: She was married. Caleb: So I just wanted to briefly talk about the subject of Arthur’s job, which… we get a couple of examples. Basically, the point of the office is to deal with this rise of counterfeit and questionable objects that are popping up in response to the now-public risk of Voldemort and the Death Eaters being back. So we get examples like potions, instructions for defensive jinxes that actually make your ears fall off, and Metamorph-Medals that help you transform by just putting a simple medal on. First off, it makes it seem the wizarding world is very naïve in times of peril. And this is something we’re starting to see more and more of in this series, how average some of the wizarding community is. We are spoiled because we’re always exposed to the people who are close to the front lines all the time. But now we’re getting to see how gullible the average person may be. Because… God, it’d be hard to imagine believing in these things. But I guess it’s hard to know without trying to put yourself in their shoes. Kat: Well, I think, too, that they’re just so reliant on magic for everything, and they’ve had such an easy life. I mean, there hasn’t been a dark wizard in however many years, so they probably aren’t brushing up on their defensive spells and all that, so they’ll take the quick and easy way. But it is, it’s shocking. I would agree. Ugh. Scary. Kristen: I always think it’s like a “As Seen on TV.” [Caleb and Kat laugh] Kat: Yep, that’s legit. [Kristen laughs] Caleb: Billy Mayes here, bringing you the newest… [Kristen laughs] Kat: Aww, RIP Billy Mayes. That’s sad. Kristen: But people fall for that all the time, so why not wizards as well? Kat: Hey, some of those things do work. [Claire and Kristen laugh] Kristen: Love my pocket chair. Kat: [laughs] Pocket? What’s a pocket chair? Kristen: I’m just kidding. It’s literally a chair – like a tripod chair – that folds into your pocket. Kat: [laughs] No way. Kristen: I really don’t have one, but I’ve used it before. [Caleb and Kristen laugh] Kat: Liar. You own it in very color. Kristen: Yeah. [laughs] Caleb: So one thing this made me think of because, it seems, this is the problem with everyone knowing about Voldemort being back. I mean, obviously, public knowledge is good, and it’s good for them to know the risk is there, but does it in some way justify Fudge not wanting everyone to know so much when they were – arguably, granted – not so sure that Voldemort was back? Because it would lead to this public frenzy? Claire: No. [laughs] No, I think if he hadn’t told the wizarding world that was doing stuff to try [to] find out to confirm that Voldemort was back and functioning and doing everything he was doing, I think that it would have justified it. But the fact that Fudge would appear to do that for his own benefit and to just ignore the situation. Caleb: Yeah, I mean, I get that. But I also wonder if we’re biased because we only see Fudge from a few perspectives. I don’t know. I’m willing to give him a slight benefit of the doubt but still know that he made some pretty clear mistakes. I think it’s hard from a government… I think about what our governments know and don’t share with us about threats. But it’s a little different here because it’s such a single, great threat. I just think, what if there… I don’t know, there’s not really anything comparable because it would have to be – I don’t know – Osama bin Laden still alive and running rampant through the US or the UK or something. Still, people are more protected because they can’t just Apparate right in front of your door. But anyway, the last note on these objects is Molly is worried, she asks… it seems like she’s been worried, actually, for a while that Fred and George might be behind some of them. Granted, when you read some of them, like the Defensive Jinx that makes your ears fall off, that immediately triggered in my mind, “Oh, this is totally something Fred and George would do.” [Claire and Kristen laugh] Caleb: That they may be behind some, but Arthur reassures her once again that they are not. And I don’t think… I think that Fred and George are at least smart enough to not play with people in that degree considering this subject, that it has to do with Voldemort. But it’s funny that she’s that worried. Claire: They probably are also interested in making money now. They don’t need to make stuff for jokes; they’re actually making a killing doing government contracts. [Caleb and Claire laugh] Caleb: Yeah, we learn things are going pretty well for them. So then Harry gets his fill of food, is pretty tired, and heads to sleep. And he’s woken up by Hermione and Ron bursting in the door, very excited to see him. He first tells them about meeting Slughorn, and again, we get this – it’s alluded to earlier – assumption that he’s going to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and he starts to describe Slughorn briefly and notices Hermione looking at him, trying to see… it seems like she’s wondering if he’s okay, and Harry is worried that it’s going to come up about Sirius’s death, but then Ginny pops in, and then we find out that Fleur Delacour is actually here and seems to be annoying everyone, according to at least Hermione and Ginny, because actually, Ron is very quick to defend Fleur. [Kristen laughs] Caleb: The funny thing about this is, all along, they don’t mention Fleur by name, and Harry just assumes they’re talking about Mrs. Weasley. [Kat and Kristen laugh] Caleb: So especially when Ron awkwardly defends her in such a way, Harry is very not sure about what’s going on, but then we figure out, as Fleur walks in, when Harry yanks up the covers to his chin, almost instinctively, which I never really got this because not only are Ron and Hermione in the room, but so is Ginny, [laughs] so what is he worried about here? It’s not like he’s unclothed; he’s got pajamas on. [Kristen laughs] Claire: Is it just that her magical charms just make him suddenly self-conscious? Caleb: I guess, yeah. Kristen: It could be, yeah. Claire: Fleur in this book has always made me feel really uncomfortable because it’s such unlike a lot of Rowling’s characters, which feel really three-dimensional; this one is such a stereotype of how Brits represent the French. Caleb: Oh. Claire: It’s just until she gets that amazing moment at the end of the book, when she’s telling everyone to bug off, basically, just because Bill has been attacked, she just fills this weird void. Yeah, it’s funny. Yeah. Kat: And it’s also really different from the Fleur [whom] we met two books ago. Claire: She was clearly a bit opposite of… Caleb: Yeah, it’s a pretty big jump for us, having not even seen Fleur until a page or two later for Hermione and Ginny to have such a strong opinion of her. When we last saw her, it was a very different situation. Kat: Did she graduate after Goblet? Claire: Well, she says she took her exams in the sixth year, so she was either in the sixth or seventh year in Goblet, so she either graduated after that or the year after. Kat: I was just wondering how far removed she was from school because people are one thing when they’re in school, and then once they’re out of school for a while, they either change or they get to be worse than they were already. Claire: Yeah, don’t we know in Order of the Phoenix…? Yeah, doesn’t…? She’s already at Gringotts by Order of the Phoenix. So yeah, she must have graduated after Goblet of Fire. Caleb: Fleur comes up to the room with the tray of Harry’s breakfast, and Molly follows her shortly [and] is very unhappy that Fleur has replaced her role as being Harry’s stand-in mother. [Kristen laughs] Caleb: And this is all obviously metaphorical, just a symbolic moment where it’s not just Harry that Fleur is replacing for Molly; it’s that Fleur is taking Bill away from Molly as well. So it’s just a picture of the greater problem that Molly has with Fleur that maybe any mother has with… especially with their first son getting hitched and leaving, even though Bill has been out of the house for a while. [laughs] We all know how overprotective Molly is, but it is pretty funny. Kat: I always forget; is Bill the eldest? Caleb and Kristen: Yeah. Caleb: And then we learn, all of a sudden, that Bill and Fleur are actually getting married. They’re already engaged, and the plan is to get hitched pretty soon. Molly is not crazy about the idea, that it has moved too fast. Similarly for us as readers, it came very fast. [Kristen laughs] Caleb: And that she thinks this is only happening because of the uncertainty of the times with Voldemort back. Everyone just wants to live in the moment, enjoy love while they can. Except Ginny points out that she and Arthur did the same the first time Voldemort was around. But of course, Molly has a response for that, that [they] had been together for a while. And then we get the nickname that I mentioned earlier, that Ginny calls Fleur “Phlegm,” which… got to give her credit for the crafty nickname there. [Kristen laughs] Kat: I wonder where that came from, how she arrived at “Phlegm.” Claire: That’s the French stereotype thing. That’s the way that… I mean, to be fair, some French actors might sound a little bit like stereotypes because most stereotypes are based in fact, but it’s the thing of… I’m not even going to attempt to do a French accent because I will get it completely wrong even though I spent the entire day in the office with French people today, but it is very much the back of the throat, the way… I mean. That’s not a stereotype, actually. Just the French tone. I don’t know what you call it, but the way vowels always sit quite far back. So if you’re going to ramp it up and ham it up as a stereotype, it sounds kind of phlegmy. But this is… yeah. It doesn’t, but yeah. [laughs] That’s where she’s getting it from. Kat: So it’s all about the tone. Claire: Yeah. Yeah, I’m not even going to try [laughs] because I’ll get it all wrong. Kat: I mean, we insult the French on this show all the time, so it’s okay. Claire: Yeah. But I heard someone in the office today say “‘ashtag” today, and it’s all quite back, like “ahh” and “err.” Yeah. [Claire and Kat laugh] Claire: I’m not even going to try. But it sits in the back there, so it almost sounds almost like you’ve got something in your throat, so I think that’s where that nickname comes from. Kat: Yeah. Got it. Claire: So it’s kind of rude. Yeah. [laughs] Kristen: Yeah, I always wondered. I was like, “That’s a really random, horrible name to give somebody,” but now it makes more sense. [Claire laughs] Caleb: Even though Bill and Fleur are engaged to be married, Molly has not given up hope for a better match for her son. She’s trying to play matchmaker, basically. Or I guess this is Ginny. I can’t remember now if it’s Ginny telling it or… Yeah, I think it’s Ginny telling it. Kat: It’s Ginny, yeah. Caleb: Molly is trying to play matchmaker with Bill and Tonks. [Caleb and Kat laugh] Caleb: Which… just pause for a moment and that would have happened. [Kristen laughs] Caleb: Also, maybe this is a slight foreshadowing because both of the men that Tonks is, at least according to Molly, possibly with will be werewolves at some point. So… Kat: I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think Tonks and Bill would be an awful match. Claire: I think it would be pretty cool. Kat: Yeah, she’s pretty adventurous and cool. I mean, with the exception of this mourning time as she’s in here. But she’s pretty cool and adventurous and fun. I think she could rock it with Bill. They’d make good travel partners at the very least. [Kristen laughs] Caleb: Yeah, I think they’re pretty compatible. Kat: Yeah, totally. Caleb: And then we get this moment where, if you look at it a little closer, Ron is actually getting a little shallow. I should say, actually, “pretty shallow” about Tonks, comparing Tonks’s looks to Fleur[‘s]. Especially the way Tonks is looking now compared to her lively self, with her pink hair. And then there’s this really great moment of Ginny and Hermione standing up for Tonks for being nice and intelligent. So it’s a good showing of what is really valuable in someone for someone else to be attracted to them. Of course, [laughs] Tonks doesn’t win out here, but it is an interesting contrast, that is, what Ron is really interested in, given he ends up with Hermione. Who’s obviously beautiful, but… Kat: I’m going to pull a Ron here and say that Tonks and Bill… Their celebrity name could be Bonks. [Everyone laughs] Kat: Or Till, but I think Bonks is more fun. I don’t know. [Claire and Kristen laugh] Claire: Do you think Ron’s shallowness here might be something to do with Fleur’s effect, Veela effect, still being on him? I mean, to be fair, he’s a bit like that in Goblet of Fire when they’re getting their dates to the Yule Ball. Caleb: It’s possible. Kat: I mean, I think he probably leans on that excuse a little too heavily. [Kristen laughs] Kat: But he is – what? – a 16-year-old. Is he 16 yet? Claire: Yeah. [laughs] Kat: 15- or 16-year-old boy. This pretty girl. I don’t know. I think… Claire: Has magical powers to make him… [Kristen laughs] Kat: Yeah. “Magical powers,” yeah. [Claire and Kristen laugh] Caleb: We get a brief moment where Harry, who always seems to be slightly in the middle in these types of situations, starts to defend Fleur. Ginny is unamused by this, of course. So it’s a good little preview for their little romance that will start in this book. But then we get to a slightly more serious issue. Ginny leaves the room to help her mother out, and then we find out that Tonks isn’t dealing with Sirius’s death too well. So this is what gives us the idea that her being upset is motivated by losing Sirius, losing her cousin. As the topic comes up, Harry gets a renewed worry that they’re going to want to discuss it with him more. They don’t ever really talk about it, but maybe they should’ve. I mean, Harry is clearly going through a lot, and he still really hasn’t talked to anyone about it, except for briefly Dumbledore in an outhouse right before he comes into the Burrow. That’s hard to not talk about it for this long. Claire I wonder if they’re being slightly wary after every time they tried to talk about it the year before, he sort of semi-attacked them. They’re probably trying to [guard] themselves from that. Kristen: Let him come to them. Kat: I don’t know. Harry is an internalizer anyway. He’s not really a speak-his-mind type of person. He works things out within himself in odd and strange ways, so I guess it doesn’t surprise me that he hasn’t really reached out to anybody. Plus, he hasn’t had anybody to talk to. I mean, unless he’s going to talk to the Dursleys, which… not surprising. [Kristen laughs] Caleb: Yeah, and they bring up that Tonks thinks that it’s her fault that Sirius died, having been there, which of course internally draws out Harry’s own self-blame. He thinks it’s ridiculous that Tonks would blame herself, so in those situations, everyone kind of blames themselves a little bit, to some degree, which is unfortunate. We get a slight update that Fred and George are doing really well in their business, which actually comes up earlier in the chapter, but more on in here. And that no one is still talking to Percy, who’s just a douche and deserves that. [Kristen laughs] Caleb: So… least favorite character, God. Kristen: Me too. [laughs] Caleb: Then we get to where Harry starts to spill some things to Ron and Hermione. He tells them about Dumbledore’s private lessons, and they’re very intrigued about this, wondering what the lessons may be about. That actually comes a little bit later because first Harry starts to talk to them about the prophecy. He hesitates for a little bit, but he remembers Dumbledore telling him that he can and probably should tell them about it because really good friends are really important in this fight. So Harry does finally tell them about the prophecy, and they’re very quiet. It’s a very solemn and serious moment. But what’s more important, I think, than him actually telling him in this moment is how they respond to it and how Harry responds to that response in turn, but before they can even get to that, there’s this really big anticlimactic moment where Hermione is holding this telescope. Showing how serious this moment is, she’s been squeezing this telescope, and then it pops and punches her in the eye. [Everyone laughs] Caleb: This gag item that Fred and George have left behind because they’re in their old room. It’s just like, “Jo, you had such this serious moment, and you get Hermione punched in the face by a telescope.” [laughs] Kat: I love it. Claire: I love the whole moment, though, Ron’s response, his panic when he thinks something’s happened to her and then how he just brushes it off and makes it a joke. And they try so hard to create these scenes in the movies, and they just never quite… like the burning piece of paper – I don’t remember what film it’s in – where they just sit around giggling about paper. Kat: That’s this one. Claire: And it’s that… It is this scene? Yeah, I thought it was. So they just never quite get that chemistry between Ron and Hermione in these scenes. And I mean, they short-changed Ron. And I just really like… After his slight[ly] poor moment with Fleur earlier, I love this moment. It’s just really cute. Kat: It is. Claire: And Harry’s response later on as well is beautiful. Caleb: So they briefly speculate about what Dumbledore might teach Harry in his lessons. This is how they respond to the prophecy, which is not how Harry would have expected them to because, obviously, the prophecy is very ominous. He shares with them the most important detail that, basically, one of Harry and Voldemort will have to kill the other. And actually, I want to read it – I need to find it – because this is one of my favorite passages in the whole, whole series: “Harry did not really listen. A warmth was spreading through him that had nothing to do with the sunlight; a tight obstruction in his chest seemed to be dissolving. He knew that Ron and Hermione were more shocked than they were letting on, but the mere fact that they were still there on either side of him, speaking bracing words of comfort, not shrinking from him as though he were contaminated or dangerous, was worth more than he could ever tell them.” I think this paragraph just cements how unique and how important and how amazing this trio friendship is. And it’s just one little paragraph, but it’s one of my favorite[s] in the whole series. Claire: So good. Makes me well up every time. I think it also shows a maturity on Harry’s behalf. So his response to Cedric was… I mean, it was his first real death he’s had to cope with because he obviously didn’t remember his parents’, and this is his second one. It’s just on a whole new level of maturing for him that he’s actually appreciating his friends as opposed to pushing them away. Caleb: Yep. So the friendship love moment wraps up, even though Ron and Hermione don’t know that Harry is appreciating it to a very high degree. But then Harry mentions to them that he learned from Dumbledore that today is actually supposed to be the day they get their OWL results. So this immediately shifts the dynamic completely because Hermione has obviously been worried about this for a while. Ron probably would rather they never come… [Caleb and Kristen laugh] Caleb: … but Hermione, naturally, begins to have this, almost, anxiety attack. And then while she’s worried, when clearly she’s going to be just fine, [laughs] Harry asks the question [about] what happens if he fails out. And I think it’s Ron or… who is it [who] responds? I can’t remember. Is it Ron? Kat and Kristen: Hermione. Caleb: Oh, it’s Hermione, right. That’s right. Which is even funnier that she… [Kristen laughs] Caleb: … asked [Professor McGonagall] what would happen if they fail out. They have to talk to their Head of House. But Fleur, who has no connection to the moment, feels the need to jump in. This is actually the thing that annoys me the most about her here because there’s just this assuming nature here, where she mentions that they take their exams a year later, finding it “how beneath her” that they would take exams one year earlier here in Britain. But the OWLs interrupt her, thankfully, and they… [Kristen laughs] Caleb: Hermione [laughs] grips Ron and Harry by the elbows, the most dramatic in this moment, and Harry gets his grades. We get his grades before we learn the others. And just so I don’t make any error here, back to my book: So Harry gets an Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts. He gets an Exceeds Expectation in Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Herbology, Potions, and Transfiguration. He gets an Acceptable in Astronomy, and he gets a Poor in Divination and – his worse grade – Dreadful in History of Magic. No Trolls, thankfully, for him. [Kat and Kristen laugh] Caleb: I think the grade that surprised me the most is probably Potions. I thought he would probably get only an Acceptable there when I read it the first time. Everything else is pretty much what I expected. Kat: I was surprised he scraped a P in Divination, to be quite honest. [Claire laughs] Caleb: Yeah, that’s fair. Claire: Did he have any course work? Maybe that helped boost him a bit. Kat: Yeah. I mean, I guess his flair for the drama probably upped him from a D to a P. [Caleb and Kristen laugh] Caleb: So yeah, we get Harry’s grades. He’s done pretty well except those grades in Divination and History of Magic. He’s probably not too hurt about them. Then Harry glances at Ron’s grades, and he scans them, and it’s this very well-written line because I think it leaves it so open. It says, “Harry glanced down Ron’s grades. There were no Outstandings there…” [Caleb and Kristen laugh] Caleb: So you don’t really know what context is it him looking for that. Is he slightly satisfied that Ron didn’t do better than him? Is he just making an observation? I mean, everyone has grades. Naturally, you have this competitive air about it, so I’m sure he is really somewhat pleased that he did better than Ron in some respect. Which is, obviously, ridiculous because there’s never really been a situation for Harry to think he needs to be better than Ron. But Molly is very happy that Ron gets seven OWLs, much better than Fred and George did. Kat: Fred and George put together. Caleb: Put together, right. [Claire and Kristen laugh] Kat: She thinks so highly of those boys. God, poor Fred and George. Caleb: And Hermione gets ten Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, of course. Kat: Ooh, wait, does your book say “ten”? Caleb: Think so. Kat: Mine says “nine,” which I was going to bring up because there’s Jo being bad at math again. Caleb: Oh, let me… maybe I misread. Where…? Let’s see… “Ten Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations at Defense Against the Dark Arts.” Kat: Oh. That’s funny. Claire and Kat: Mine says “nine.” Caleb: Interesting. Kristen: Yeah, because I was wondering why it said “ten.” I was like, “Well, that doesn’t add up.” [laughs] Kat: Ooh, yeah, because Ron was like, “Oh, when you get your 11 OWLs,” and Hermione was like, “No, no, no, no.” So that’s funny. Caleb: I’m looking at the original. When I got it at midnight when it released, that’s the copy I have. Kat: Weird. Caleb: American hardcover. Kristen: Oh, yeah. I’ll have to see. I’ve got one of the American paperback[s] right now. Caleb: You would think that if there [were] an error it would be in an earlier edition. Kat: I have a digital copy from when it very first came out. Caleb: It’s really weird. Kat: So bizarre. Kristen: Yeah, I want to check my hardcover now. Caleb: I guess we’ll assume, to make the math work, she does indeed get ten O’s and one Exceeds Expectations. Kat: Yeah, that makes sense. Caleb: So then Jo does a really good job of making this much more impactful to close off the chapter than just a couple of letters and grades because Harry, while he’s happy that he did pretty well, he pretty much assumes that his ambitions of being an Auror are over because to be an Auror, he has to have pretty much an Outstanding in Potions for Snape to take him into the higher-level class and he only gets an Exceeds Expectation[s]. And then as he realizes these hopes are over, he recalls that it’s ironic that a Death Eater, Barty Crouch, Jr., is the one who gave him the idea to be an Auror and further, that the skills of an Auror would be the thing that would best prepare him for defeating Voldemort. That’s interesting on a couple of levels – I think – because one, he’s pretty much just given up on the hope, and it sucks that a grade you get on this lower-level exam can be that impactful. Which is probably Jo making a comment on standardized tests, which I know both of our countries have to deal with and the impacts of those. But also that for Harry, it’s not about “Oh, this career that I want to spend my life doing… there'[re] problems with it.” It’s “this career that could help me kill Voldemort may not happen,” so it’s a little sad. Kat: I like that Ron is like, “Mum, are there any more sausages?” [Caleb, Claire, and Kristen laugh] Kat: Because that’s his priorit[y]. That’s Ronald. He’s like, “I’m good. That’s cool. I’m hungry.” Kristen: [in Southern accent] “Yep, time to eat.” Kat: [in Southern accent] “Fill my pie hole.” [Kat and Kristen laugh] Claire: This little section pulled up a couple of queries for me. One of them was a smaller one, is that if Harry got an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Hermione, who’s supposed to be the brightest witch and yet she’s not necessarily as good [in] Defense Against the Dark Arts as Harry, but it’s not like getting an actual numbered mark. With a grade, there’s usually a scale, maybe 90 to 100%. If even Hermione hasn’t managed to get an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts, has anyone else in the year managed to get it? And if so, that really bodes well – or not very well, I mean [laughs] – for the war against Voldemort if only one person in a year can achieve the top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts. But then another thing that I thought was in terms of Harry being worried about “Does it end his Auror ambitions?” at this stage, he’s obviously thinking that the war against Voldemort is going to last long enough to finish school, train up as an Auror, and then defeat Voldemort. We obviously all knew it was going to be a seven-book series, and we knew it was going to end at the end of his final year, but obviously, is it ignorance or naiveté or just completely misunderstanding or a lack of awareness of what he’s about to face that is making him think along these lines? I don’t know. I thought it was quite interesting. [laughs] Kat: All of the above. I mean, yeah, I think that he understands what needs to happen, but I think he’s in denial about the fact that he is the one who has to do that. [laughs] Still in denial and “If I just… Dumbledore is here. He’ll take care of it. He’ll let me know when he needs my help” type of thing. “I’m just going to go along my merry way and play Quidditch and be good.” Claire: Yeah. It’s interesting just how much he changes over this book in term of his awareness about what’s about to happen. Caleb: And that ends our chapter. Kristen: All right, let’s go into this week’s Podcast Question of the Week: “In this chapter, thanks to Dumbledore’s encouragement, Harry confides in Ron and Hermione about what the prophecy actually stated. What would’ve happened to Harry’s progress had he kept them in the dark? What qualities does Dumbledore see in both Ron and Hermione that he feels would aide Harry in his quest?” If you would like to leave a response to this question, just head over to our main site at alohomora.mugglenet.com and leave us a comment. I’m really curious as to what you all will put down. Kat: I think this is a really good question. I’m excited to see what the listeners say. I have a feeling we’re going to get some impassioned audioBooms on this one. [Kristen laughs] Kat: Yes. [Claire laughs] Kristen: Yes, please leave audioBooms. [laughs] Kat: Yes, we love those. We want to hear them. And as we wrap up, we want to thank you, Claire, once again, very much for joining us. We hope you had a good time. Claire: It was great. Thanks, guys. Maybe I can come back again before you guys finish in however long it’s going to be. Kat: Oh God, another, I don’t know, year and a half. Right? Claire: [laughs] Yeah. Caleb: And if you would like to be on the show just like Claire, head over to our main website, alohomora.mugglenet.com. All you need is a set of Apple headphones or something similar, and you are all set – no fancy equipment needed. And while you’re there, you can download one of our ringtones for free. Kat: And in the meantime, if you just want to keep in touch with us, you can find us on Twitter at @AlohomoraMN, facebook.com/openthedumbledore, [and] on Tumblr at mnalohomorapodcast. Of course, our phone number is 206-GO-ALBUS – that’s 206-462-5287. And don’t forget the aforementioned audioBoom. You can leave one for free – all you need is an Internet connection and a microphone, and you can do that at alohomora.mugglenet.com. There’s a little green button on the right-hand bar. Just click it, start talking, keep it under 60 seconds, and you just might hear it on the show. Kristen: And don’t forget to check out our store where we have House shirts, Desk!Pig shirts, Mandrake Liberation Front, Minerva is my homegirl, and so many more things for your pleasure. So go on over there and peruse it and get some really cool stuff. Caleb: Also, make sure to check out our smartphone app, which is available seemingly all over the world, wherever you may be. Prices will vary. You can get things like transcripts, bloopers, alternate endings, host vlogs, and much more. Well, that’s going to do it for this episode of Alohomora! [Show music begins] Caleb: I’m Caleb Graves. Kristen: I’m Kristen Keys. Kat: And I’m Kat Miller. Thank you for listening to Episode 123 of Alohomora! Caleb: [as Fleur] Open ze Dumbledore! [Claire, Kat, and Kristen laugh] [Show music continues] Kristen: Thanks, everybody, for commenting on this week’s Podcast Question of the Meek… Week. If you would… [Kat and Kristen laugh] Kristen: I suck! Kat: [sighs] I’m hungry. All I have is eggs and bacon in my house… Kristen: Mmm. Kat: … which is what I had for breakfast, so I can’t really have it again for dinner. Kristen: [laughs] A Ron Swanson diet. [Claire laughs] [Sound of whistling]
