Transcript – Episode 91
[Show music begins]
Eric Scull: This is Episode 91 of Alohomora! for July 5, 2014.
[Show music continues]
Eric: Hello everybody, and welcome to Alohomora! I’m Eric Scull.
Jeanna Marie: I’m Jeanna Marie.
Rosie Morris: And I’m Rosie Morris. And it is my pleasure to introduce our guest: Maritere.
Maritere DomÌnguez: Hello.
Rosie: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Maritere: Well, my name, as you said, is Maritere. I’m from Mexico, and I consider myself as a RavenHuff, but I was sorted into Hufflepuff so I have to stick with that. But at first there was…
[Eric laughs]
Rosie: Ah, Hufflepuff pride. It’s fine.
Eric: Puff pride!
Jeanna: Wow, there [are] a lot of Puffs on today.
[Rosie laughs]
Maritere: Yeah. At first I was like, “Eh, Hufflepuff, nobody likes them.”
[Eric and Rosie laugh]
Maritere: It’s the not… when I read the letter from the prefect in Pottermore I was like, “Yeah, Hufflepuffs are really cool.” And everyone should aspire to be a Hufflepuff because we can be smart, and cunning, and courageous, but we’re not bragging about that all the time, so…
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: I think she did do pretty well with that welcome letter, I have to say. That was what convinced me to stay a Hufflepuff and not just make another Pottermore account in case for…
[Rosie laughs]
Maritere: Yeah…
Rosie: Don’t cheat the system, Eric.
Jeanna: That would’ve been very Slytherin of you. [laughs]
Eric: Well, you had to, I think… if you remember back when Pottermore started, the only way to guarantee you even got one of the early accounts was to try it a hundred times.
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: But as I was saying, even though Hufflepuff doesn’t get much love in the books, that welcome letter really made me proud to be selected as a Puff, so I agree with you completely, Maritere. We do want to remind listeners of the show that this episode we will be covering Chapter 14 of Order of the Phoenix. “Percy and Padfoot” is the title. Be sure to read that before listening to our discussion.
Jeanna: Before we get into our discussion for this week, we’re going to recap some of the comments left for us from last week’s discussion on the Hogwarts staff… oh, I’m sorry, for the previous week on Chapter 13, on the “Hogwarts staff in the Order” forums, DolphinPatronus wrote,
“I am inclined to agree with Laura that only a select number of staff members are actually privy to the exact workings of the Order. I’m sure they have a general idea that Dumbledore is trying to rally support against Voldemort, but I doubt they know as many details as actual Order members do. Which leads me to a question… since we see that many of the teachers and staff support Dumbledore, why aren’t more of them offically members of the Order?”
I think that’s… I don’t know.
Rosie: Interesting question.
Jeanna: Yeah.
Eric: So if Dumbledore is keeping the teachers of Hogwarts at an arm’s length – except for the closest, like his deputy headmistress, obviously McGonagall, and Snape, for obvious reasons – what is the limitation of the knowledge of teachers at Hogwarts?
Rosie: But then again, which teachers aren’t members of the Order? Because Hagrid is. Lupin is even though he’s not technically a teacher anymore. Slughorn later on is dubious anyways, so would you necessarily want him in there? Is he definitely in there? I’m not quite sure.
Jeanna: Flitwick isn’t.
Maritere: Well, Trelawney isn’t, I’m sure.
Rosie: Trelawney, you kind of have to wonder about anyway. Would you want her near anything that’s trustworthy? [laughs]
Eric: Well, think of the reason… well, that’s true. I was going to say think of the reason she’s at Hogwarts; it is for her own protection, but that doesn’t mean she’s…
Rosie: Yeah. You wouldn’t want to put her in the dangerous place because of that.
Eric: Right, right, right. And she’s not quite competent. I mean, have we… do we see her duel? I think she chucks alcohol at somebody later, doesn’t she?
[Rosie laughs]
Jeanna: Sherry, yeah.
Eric: Sherry?
Rosie: Sherry.
Eric: Yeah, okay. [laughs]
Maritere: She throws crystal balls, doesn’t she?
Eric: Oh!
Rosie: Possibly.
Jeanna: She does do that in the battle, yeah.
Maritere: Yeah.
Eric: Okay. She finally gives up a crystal ball for the sake of the school.
Maritere: Mhm.
Eric: That’s pretty nice. I forgot about that.
Rosie: Do we know that Flitwick is not in the Order? Just because we never see him doesn’t mean he’s not necessarily part of it.
Jeanna: The only time we really see him acting with the Order-type people is during the battle, I believe.
Rosie: Yeah.
Jeanna: During the battle in [Book] 6 and in [Book] 7. So maybe.
Eric: Hmm. Maybe he had choir practice and couldn’t make it to…
[Rosie laughs]
Jeanna: Maybe, yeah.
[Eric and Rosie laugh]
Eric: … if we’re talking about movie-isms. But a very interesting, very thought-provoking comment from DolphinPatronus.
Jeanna: Our next one is about Harry’s fake dreams, on the main site, from AccioPotassium! With an exclamation point. I love that name.
“In this chapter, we see Harry diving into his old habit of writing counterfeit dreams to ease through his divination homework. These false dreams do tend to come true even though they were forged in the first place. This is especially true with some of the fake dreams mention[ed] in ‘Goblet of Fire’. Harry’s first dream entry of this year is, ‘… buying a new pair of shoes.’ On the surface this bogus dream does not occur in any of the seven novels, but if we start looking in the symbolism of shoes we may find an answer to this footwear forgery of a dream. The act of dreaming of buying a new pair of shoes occasionally means that a person is preparing for a long journey or a change in their ideology as they progress through their existence with a new footing on life. I think both of these possibilities could represent the progression of Harry’s character as he evolves into a stronger person. Before this book, Harry Potter’s character was basically a superhero that could do no wrong in the eyes of the wizarding world, but now everything that he once stood for is crumbling before his eyes. ‘The Order of the Phoenix’ is the starting point of his rebuilding period where he goes through the total loss of almost everything, but yet he gains understanding and he strengthens his bonds with his friends. It seems that he comes out of this book symbolically with a new pair of shoes as we go into HBP.”
I love that. I love dream analysis.
Eric: Even fake dream analysis.
Jeanna: Even fake dream analysis! I love it!
[Eric laughs]
Rosie: There’s no such thing as a fake dream in Harry Potter, though, is there really?
Eric and Jeanna: No.
Rosie: Everything is symbolism.
Eric: It’s all opportunities for the author to mess with us. Clue us in.
Rosie: I’m really trying to think if Harry ever actually does get a new pair of shoes that we’re told about. [laughs]
Eric: The Dursleys send him socks but those are old socks. [laughs]
Rosie: That’s true, yeah.
Maritere: But isn’t that Ron’s dream? Well, fake dream?
Jeanna: Is it?
Rosie: Hmm.
Maritere: I think it was Ron’s but…
Rosie: Aha.
Eric: It was back in Goblet…
Maritere: Anyway, they both have a pretty good journey in this book.
Rosie: Yeah.
Maritere: And Ron with now being prefect and on the Quidditch team. It fits, too.
Jeanna: Right.
Eric and Rosie: Yeah.
Rosie: Definitely.
Eric: Very interesting.
Rosie: Maybe they’re symbolic shoes, like walking in a new pair of shoes. He is given a new role, that kind of thing, because he’s going to be the role of the leader of the DA and all of that kind of stuff as well.
Maritere: Yup.
Jeanna: Yes, he is in a very teacher position, in this new role.
Rosie: Yeah, which he hasn’t ever really had before, so in that sense, his new shoes.
Jeanna: Yeah.
Eric: He’s grown into a new pair of shoes.
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: I’m going to start dreaming about shoes now.
[Everyone laughs]
Jeanna: Our next comment…
Eric: [whispers] The final comment.
Jeanna: The final comment is about Harry’s happy belly and Umbridge from RebeccaTheRavenclaw, and she points out this quote:
“The exact passage in case anyone is interested is, ‘Harry was thinking himself back. He had been looking into Umbridge’s face… his scar had hurt… and he had had that odd feeling in his stomach… a strange, leaping feeling… a *happy* feeling. … But of course, he had not recognized it for what it was, as he had been feeling so miserable himself…'”
And that’s from Order of the Phoenix, page 381 of the American edition.
Rosie: Yeah, so I think the key thing there really is to say that it’s not his own feeling at that point. Umbridge’s face is not giving Harry a happy belly.
[Everyone laughs]
Rosie: That is just Voldemort coming through the scar with him being extremely happy because of something that has happened with Voldemort, and not Umbridge winning that point.
Jeanna: I think the only person whose stomach would leap from happiness with Umbridge would be Filch.
Rosie: Yeah.
[Maritere laughs]
Jeanna: I feel they have a kinship together.
Rosie: Maybe that’s what it was. Maybe the scar is channeling Filch for a change instead of Voldemort.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Wow, that’s deep. That’s really deep.
Maritere: When I first read that passage – the one when Umbridge touches Harry – I thought the thing he felt was the Horcrux inside him greeting another bad soul, but now that they’ve found that, I think it wasn’t.
Rosie: That’d be interesting, yeah, if the Horcrux recognizes evil people. [laughs]
Jeanna: Yeah.
Eric: It’s interesting because at this point in the book, we don’t know that the scar connection is intensified so we think it can be something else. We think it can be Horcruxes. Then when it’s introduced we haven’t gotten so far in the book… this connection between Harry and Voldemort. We’ve gotten so far into the book, like Christmas break, that we don’t go back and see which one of these things… okay, was this due to the increased scar connection or was it something else?
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: So there are these bits where I’m sure the Horcrux does get affected or affects something and later on we’re like, “Oh yeah, that was because of the scar connection,” but it wasn’t because she was just heavily foreshadowing Horcrux stuff.
Rosie: I’m fairly sure this happy feeling in particular is that they’ve managed to put the Imperius Curse on Bode or something. There’s some kind of success connected to getting into the Ministry that will be connected to this feeling but I’m not quite sure what it is. I think it’s that one.
Jeanna: Good call.
Eric: It’s possible. Could it be Sturgis?
Rosie: Possibly, yeah. One of them.
Jeanna: Hmm.
Eric: Podmore, yeah. Interesting, interesting.
Rosie: [laughs] Well, thank you all very much for those comments. As usual, there are so many around the site that we just simply can’t include them all but we love to read them. And do make sure that you guys are on the site reading them as well because there are tons of brilliant content on there that you guys should get involved with, and we just give you a couple of highlights each week. And as such, we need to move on to our Podcast Question of the Week from last week. And the question was,
“Hermione has started knitting and leaving wooly hats around the Gryffindor common room for the house-elves to find and pick up. What exactly do we think would happen if they did pick them up? Surely it wouldn’t set them free since they were just left there and not presented to them, and also because Hermione is not their master.”
And there was a lot of brilliant conversation about this. Most people definitely believe that even if they had picked them up they wouldn’t be freed because Hermione doesn’t really have that much power. There are lots of nuanced discussion as to the degrees of who is master and who is not at Hogwarts. And here are a selection of brilliant views from either side of the argument. Mollywobbles says,
“I have always wondered about this: Do wizards with house-elves do their own laundry? I would think that the presentation of clothes would need to be direct from master to elf like we see at the end of chamber. Otherwise, house-elves wouldn’t be able to handle clothes at all. As a mother of children if I had a house-elf they would absolutely need to be able to wash, fold, and put away. I think the other elves refuse to clean the tower because loyalty and fidelity to ones masters are what makes house-elves unique. It’s part their culture and to even imply they would want freedom is an insult to ones character.”
Eric: Well, that’s an interesting point. So they stay away not because they’re trying not to be freed, but because they’re actually quite annoyed at Hermione’s attempt.
Jeanna: I could see that.
Rosie: Yeah. Which I think we definitely see when we encounter the general house-elves in the kitchen and their reaction to Dobby and Winky in that conversation that we’ll see later on.
Jeanna: I also think somewhere it is mentioned that house-elves don’t do laundry.
Rosie: Really?
Jeanna: I feel like that is in a book somewhere.
Eric: I don’t ever remember that. It’s possible, but I really don’t remember that.
Jeanna: I could be wrong.
Eric: Well, they handle the drinks. We know that from Hepzibah.
Jeanna: Yes. [laughs]
Maritere: Well, I can’t imagine wizards washing their clothes, though. [laughs]
Eric: [laughs] Although…
Rosie: No, there was a comment talking about Mrs. Weasley handing back socks and things to the Weasley family whilst at the Burrow, so she definitely has some role in the washing.
Eric: But they also don’t have an elf.
Rosie: Yeah, they don’t have a house-elf so there’s no one to do the washing for them. But there probably is some kind of magic involved, but there is still some mundane task involved.
Eric: Mhm.
Maritere: Yeah, maybe.Rosie: CentaurSeeker121 has a quote from the books that gives us a bit of a clue about how the power system at Hogwarts works, and she or he quotes,
“‘Can’t house-elves speak their minds about their masters, then?’ Harry asked.
‘Oh no, sir, no,’ said Dobby, looking suddenly serious. ”Tis part of the house-elf’s enslavement, sir. We keeps their secrets and our silence, sir. We upholds the family’s honor, and we never speaks ill of them – though Professor Dumbledore told Dobby he does not insist upon this. Professor Dumbledore said we is free to ñ toó’
Dobby looked suddenly nervous and beckoned Harry closer. Harry bent forward.
Dobby whispered, ‘He said we is free to call him a ñ a barmy old codger if we likes, sir!'”
[Everyone laughs]
Rosie: [continues]
“That means that Dumbledore would be the only one with the authority to free the house-elves and NOT Hermione (or anyone else for that matter). As for the house-elves no longer wanting to clean the Gryffindor common room… I just feel like, although they knew that nothing would come of it if they picked up the hats, they were just insulted by the fact that someone thought they wanted to be freed when really (with the exception of Dobby) it’s like the ultimate dishonor.”
That completely agrees with the previous comment, but adds that little bit of detail that Professor Dumbledore is the master and even Dobby feels like he can’t really speak ill of him because he is that master.
Eric: That’s a good point. Gosh, can’t argue with quotes from the books. You really can’t. [laughs]
Jeanna: Yeah. I just completely agree with it, so that’s why I’m like, “Uh-huh, uh-huh.”
[Eric laughs]
Rosie: Okay, so we’re agreeing with this at the moment, but…
Eric: Umm… yeah, go on.
Rosie: … we’ve got some other thoughts coming around as well. Igottransfiguredintorhubarb, which is a brilliant username…
[Everyone laughs]
Jeanna: It is.
Rosie: … says,
“If they picked up the hats then there’s a big issue. There’ll be no meals, no laundry done, no cleaning… no chores finished. Students, according to the cannon, don’t have lessons in how to cook and not set themselves on fire or poison each other… something [that] is clear in ‘Deathly Hallows’ when Hermione tries to [cook] and almost poisons them. It’s quite clear that they don’t have laundry lessons, so the students will attempt to do the laundry and flood the school. The students also don’t know how to clean, so the boys may not bother and just use it as it is or go smelly and the girls will attempt to clean and then completely forget to study and fall into the stereotype of women doing all the housework, something which is not reflective in the writing of J.K. Rowling.”
Eric: Whoa. [laughs]
Rosie: I’m sure that girls can be messy, too, just to put that in there. [laughs]
Jeanna: Oh, I know they can.
Eric: Girls are the messier of the two, I think.
Jeanna: See, I don’t think they’re immediately freed when they pick them up. I think they have to…
Eric: Well, Dobby was. But the question is can the students do it? And that’s what’s at stake here.
Rosie: Dobby’s sock still came from Malfoy even if it wasn’t deliberately given to him.
Jeanna: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: Hmm. But I love seeing this potential, hypothetical situation played out to its extreme. I really, really enjoy that about this comment.
Rosie: Definitely. It would make a brilliant one-shot fan fiction.
Eric: Yeah.
Rosie: If any of you out there want to write about the day when the house-elves just weren’t there, then that would be brilliant.
[Eric laughs]
Jeanna: [gasps] That would be cool.
[Eric and Rosie laugh]
Maritere: It would be a disaster.
[Jeanna laughs]
Rosie: Disaster would be at Hogwarts, yeah.
Eric: Complete, utter disaster. Flooding over the school. The Chamber of Secrets floods and…
Jeanna: With dirty laundry.
Eric: … Myrtle is as annoying as ever to everyone because she can no longer rest in her U-bend.
Maritere: And no food!
Rosie: No food and the whole castle would be freezing.
Eric: And no food! Oh gosh, the students have to start hunting…
[Jeanna laughs]
Eric: … and the Owlery is cleaned out in an hour flat.
Jeanna: No more centaurs.
Eric: No, centaurs would kill the students.
Jeanna: Probably, but I could see the students trying to get them.
Eric: Yeah.
Jeanna: But whatever else is in the…
Rosie: They’d stumble into a giant spider’s nest. It would be horrible.
Eric and Jeanna: Ooh.
[Rosie laughs]
Jeanna: I do not want grilled spider.
Eric: We need the elves at Hogwarts. Can I just say that? We need them. We need them there.
Jeanna: We do. [laughs]
Rosie: Just to finish off this discussion, we’ve got a comment from Trevortheturtle. And it says,
“If it were anyone else, I would say that no elves were freed at all, that the[y] stopped cleaning Gryffindor Tower out of indignation that someone would try. However, this is Hermione we’re talking about, and I have a very hard time believing she wouldn’t think of such a simple and obvious flaw in her plan. More likely she found a loophole and did manage to free a couple. Maybe Hogwarts is the Master of these Elves as well as the Headmaster. I’m not sure if we see Winky again in Deathly Hallows, but presumably the Hogwarts Elves stay on after Dumbledore dies? Dobby probably left by choice or because he was known to be associated with Harry. So if the hats are ‘given by Hogwarts,’ and not a student directly, the elves could arguably be freed.”
Eric: I do agree with this. I think it’s a compelling argument. I mean, if the student body is viewed as – what’s the word? – that can stop subjugation, like it’s the student body of Hogwarts whom they serve…
Rosie: Hmm.
Eric: Which they do, if they do all these student’s laundry for them and all that, then I could see it happening that way.
Jeanna: I could see one or two getting “freed” but I could see them going to Dumbledore and saying, “Please, I just want to stay!” And of course, he would just say, “Yes, Hogwarts is your home. You can stay here. Look at Dobby.” Yeah, I think Dobby comes and goes as he pleases partially on Dumbledore’s orders, partially because he can.
Eric: It’s interesting to think about Hermione though and whether or not she’s overlooked that, because she is putting a lot of work into these little hats.
Rosie: Mhm. There was a lot of discussion about whether Hermione was being naÔve… or some people described it as a Luna moment where she’s completely thinking outside the box for a second and not really doing her thing, and the fact that this was something that was her own plan rather than something she’s taking out of a book and that it completely failed. So yeah, there’s lots of interesting things about Hermione’s actions connected to this that we don’t really see very often.
Eric: Hmm.
Maritere: Yeah, Hermione acts really weird when there’s no reference to a book. I don’t think that someone has defended elves in no time in the world.
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: [laughs] It’s tough being the first.
Maritere: Yeah. Maybe she’ll write a book about that and then she’ll know what to do.
Rosie: Probably. [laughs] Yeah, if the book doesn’t exist, write it yourself… [unintelligible]
Eric: That’s the one.
Maritere: Of course.
Rosie: There was also a really good comment about intention when freeing someone – freeing one of the elves – and the fact that the elves couldn’t be freed because they didn’t believe they would be freed if they picked up a sock, that kind of thing. And that reflected again on Malfoy and Dobby and whether Dobby should have been freed because Malfoy didn’t really intend to give Dobby the sock, but there was still a sock exchange at some point, all that kind of thing. So it really does seem that this system of ownership in exchange for clothes is a very odd and technical system that must have some set rules in some ancient scroll somewhere, but we just don’t know enough detail yet to understand it properly.
Eric: Very interesting. And these things do pop up as we go through our read-through of the books. And I really just like that eleven years later we’re still debating this kind of stuff…
Rosie: Mhm.
Eric: So I’ll be endlessly surprised about that. But that concludes our discussion from last week on Chapter 13. Now, please join us as we get into Chapter 14.
[Order of the Phoenix Chapter 14 intro begins]
Cho: Chapter 14.
[Sounds of the Owlery]
Cho: “Percy and Padfoot.”
[Order of the Phoenix Chapter 14 intro ends]
Eric: Well, here we are at Chapter 14 and it starts with Harry waking up on a Saturday before everybody else. This is something that I think we can all appreciate how Jo’s writing goes here. Basically there’s a small beam of light and it’s the first sunshine in the morning, and the only sound in the Gryffindor Tower is Harry’s friends or dorm… what am I trying to say?
Rosie: Dorm-mates.
Eric: … fellow dorm-mates breathing because they’re all still in la-la land. And Harry goes down and actually starts to write a letter, and I just really have to say, he’s writing a letter to Sirius but he has to write it in a way that it’s coded so that it doesn’t get intercepted. It takes him a long time but he’s successful, and I would say, based on this letter, what do you guys think in terms of Harry’s writing it? I think it was pretty darn good, considering it was his first time and he put a lot of effort into making it not obvious what he was talking about.
Rosie: Yeah.
Maritere: Yeah, he was good.
Rosie: You definitely need to know some of the key secrets to understand what is in that message.
Eric: Hmm.
Rosie: It’s quite a nice example of dramatic irony as well. So the audience completely understands everything that’s going on because we know the back story, but…
Eric and Maritere: Yeah.
Rosie: But anyone within the world wouldn’t actually realize what’s there.
Maritere: Yeah. I love that line about “Umbridge was as nice as Sirius’s mom.”
Eric: Your mum?
Rosie: Yeah.
[Eric laughs]
Jeanna: That was clever.
Eric: I liked “our biggest friend” – the phrase “Our biggest friend hasn’t returned,” meaning Hagrid. But I wonder if that’s not the most obvious of the phrases that could be deciphered by somebody?
Jeanna: Yeah. See, I for a second, when I was rereading this, thought he was talking about Buckbeak.
Eric: Oh! Oh, weird.
Jeanna: Which, when you’re writing to Sirius, that could be what he meant. Then I realized as I read on that he totally meant Hagrid. But if you didn’t know… if I was Sirius, maybe I would think, oh… he misses Buckbeak.
Eric: Vague letters.
Jeanna: That’s cute, like…
Eric: I wonder how Buckbeak is doing right now at the time of that letter.
Jeanna: I also have to say, I have an issue with him addressing this to Snuffles because I feel that’s such a fake name…
[Eric laughs]
Rosie: Yeah, no one would ever be writing a letter to someone called Snuffles.
Jeanna: Yes.
[Rosie laughs]
Jeanna: Yeah. I would have picked any other name that was an actual name.
Rosie: Yeah.
Jeanna: I would have picked a Muggle-y name like…
Eric: Do we know Sirius’s middle name?
Rosie: Yes…
Jeanna: I almost said Regulus and was like, nope. [laughs]
Eric: I know we’re all Puffs here, but…
[Jeanna laughs]
Eric: … Maritere is kind of a Ravenclaw. Maritere, do you know Sirius’s middle name?
Maritere: No. Well, it says in Wikipedia, Sirius [first syllable accented] Orion Black.
Rosie: Orion. Yeah, there you go.
Maritere: Orion, sorry.
Eric: Oh!
Jeanna: Oh, that totally makes sense.
Eric: That’s too cool!
Rosie: Dog Star and Orion is the one with the dog and yeah…
Jeanna: Ooh.
Eric: Wait, Orion is the dog?
Rosie: Orion is the hunter…
Eric: Yeah.
Rosie: … and then the Dog Star is meant to be his dog because it’s next to him in the sky.
Eric: Oh, that’s cool.
Jeanna: Got it.
Eric: Okay. More star charts, Jo.
Rosie: More star charts, yeah.
Eric: Here Jo, have some more star charts.
[Rosie laughs]
Eric: You haven’t used them enough in the books.
Rosie: So he should address the letter to another dog name, like he should say “Dear Rufus” or something. [laughs]
Jeanna: Or…
Eric: Then it would go to Scrimgeour.
[Everyone laughs]
Rosie: That’s true.
Eric: Or George Carlin’s character from Bill and Ted.
Jeanna: Or another constellation.
[Eric laughs]
Maritere and Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: Well, the interesting thing – and this comes into play almost immediately after – is that regardless of who the letter is written to, Harry is able to instruct Hedwig to take it somewhere else. And I am sure that there’s been quite a lot of discussion in the past on Alohomora! about owl magic…
Rosie: Mhm.
Eric: … and how they actually direct their letters. But Harry basically goes to the owlery right after he finishes writing and he pulls Hedwig off the perch and says, “Hey, this is addressed to somebody called Snuffles but take it to Sirius.” And so, she’s able to… she’s like the agency to go and take it where she knows where to go. So that’s kind of an interesting little tidbit. The fact that he does that means that the owls do have a say in the matter. It’s not bound to go to somebody named Snuffles…
[Rosie laughs]
Eric: And without a surname I wonder if it would ever be like kickback or what the owl would have done without that particular bit of information. Hedwig would probably just be like, “Thanks, Harry. Who’s this for?”
[Rosie laughs]
Eric: “I just have to find somebody named Snuffles?”
Jeanna: Well, did he not put the address on it? Because I feel like we’ve had this discussion before, and it may have been on Alohomora! where it’s a lot of address base where they go to.
Rosie: I really don’t think he would want to put Grimmauld Place…
Jeanna: I know, that’s what…
Eric: You couldn’t put Grimmauld Place…
Rosie: … when you’re Secret Keeper. You probably couldn’t actually write it down if you’re not Secret Keeper, do you think?
Jeanna: Very true, yeah. They didn’t write it in this chapter, so that’s why.
Rosie: Yeah.
Jeanna: I just thought of this right now.
[Rosie laughs]
Jeanna: Hmm.
Eric: Yeah.
Maritere: So can owls trespass the Fidelius Charm?
Eric: That’s a good question.
Jeanna: I think if the sender is a Secret Keeper, maybe. But…
Rosie: But Hedwig got to Grimmauld Place to peck at Ron, Hermione, and Sirius before Harry even knew it had existed.
Jeanna: True.
Eric: Weird.
Rosie: So owls must be able to find out where places are through the Fidelius Charm…
Jeanna: Whoa, that’s crazy.
Eric: Wow, loophole.
[Jeanna and Rosie laugh]
Eric: Man, if I were Voldemort coming after Lily and James, I’d just send them owls every day. “I’m coming for you.”
Rosie: Exactly. We’ve said this so many times, just follow the owls.
Eric: Follow the owls.
Rosie: Just follow them.
Eric: “Coming for you!”
[Rosie laughs]
Eric: [as Voldemort] “Lily and James! Coming for you, gonna find you!” Okay, but…
[Jeanna and Rosie laugh]
Eric: So there’s something better that happens at the owlery, which is of course Harry bumps into Cho.
Jeanna: Ooh.
Eric: This is just such a good scene between them. I can’t stand Cho – can I just say that – and it’s for completely wrong reasons. And I’m like a girl-hater for saying this later, but it really just… now they have a really perfect moment together where Cho was moved by what Harry did in Umbridge’s class. And of course word got out and they have a moment where she is talking with him and she defends him when Filch comes in raving about this supposed order of Dungbombs that Harry just placed.
Jeanna: I have to say this is one of my favorite Cho scenes, not because of how emotional and happy she is and gets to say, “Thank you so much for what you said,” but because she just acts normal. She coolly says something about Quidditch. She’s just so… she’s not weeping, she’s not overexcited about something, or all about Cedric. She just seems like a normal girl.
Eric: Yeah.
Rosie: Yeah, this is one of the only scenes where she’s an actual character rather than a plot device.
Jeanna: Yes.
Maritere: Yeah.
Rosie: All the other times, she’s kind of there as potential love interest or Cedric’s ex-girlfriend. This is a moment where we get to actually see her, which is connected to both of those plot points…
Eric: Right.
Rosie: But still, it’s kind of an actual reaction…
Eric: Yeah.
Rosie: … which is more human than actual…
Eric: Yeah, there’s that line that she nearly forgot her mother’s birthday.
Rosie: Yeah. Yeah. [laughs]
Eric: So that really gives her, as you say…
Rosie: “Oh yeah, she does have a life outside of that thing.” [laughs]
Eric: Yeah, wow, that’s interesting.
Jeanna: Yeah.
Eric: Right. That’s what she’s doing at the Owlery. But Filch really… when he comes in and somebody on good authority told him that Harry was placing a huge order for dungbombs, and I’m assuming that this gets resolved soon in the book or eventually in the book. Do we know this for sure? Sort of what caused…
Rosie: I don’t think so. I mean, there are no dungbombs around and he didn’t get to see the letter. I guess Hedwig gets searched later on, doesn’t she? So that’s kind of connected to that idea.
Eric: You know what’s interesting is if Filch had come sooner and demanded to see Harry’s letter…
Rosie: Mhm.
Eric: … even though it’s not an order for dungbombs, if he had seen it that would have possibly endangered Sirius and basically the whole mission.
Rosie: Would he have understood anything though?
Eric: Yeah, I don’t think he would…
Rosie: Like Hermione says, the letter would’ve proved that he wasn’t ordering dungbombs, so what was the point?
Eric: Yeah, well, he could then, during his afternoon tea with Dolores, say, “That Potter boy is crazy. He’s writing letters to somebody named Snuffles, dah-dah-dah-dah-dah.” Really could’ve brought it to Umbridge’s attention a lot easier that Harry is corresponding with somebody with a strange name.
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: I was just thinking, it’s somebody who’s – as we know from later experience – in Umbridge’s circle, so close seeing… it just would’ve been dangerous if he had seen the letter.
Rosie: Mhm.
Eric: But the funny thing is that after Cho defends him and he stomps away, “If I so much get a whiff of a dungbomb,” which is gross by the way, dung stinks…
Rosie: Mhm.
Eric: … and every time dungbombs get mentioned in the books, I cringe and I’m like, “I hope they are never a thing at the Wizarding World.”
[Jeanna and Rosie laugh]
Eric: I hope they’re never, ever something you can buy, ever. Never want to have them be reality because even as a prank…
Rosie: You can buy stinkbombs.
Eric: Yeah, that’s true. But stinkbombs smell more like fireworks, but maybe that’s because I grew up with stinkbombs. But I don’t know. Anyway…
Jeanna: Do you wonder if the dungbomb excuse was a lie just to be able to try and read Harry’s letter? Do you think…
Rosie: Oh yeah, it definitely was. Yeah.
Jeanna: Do you think that he’s had Mrs. Norris case Harry and she noticed, “Hey, he’s by the Owlery, Filch. Go get him.”
Rosie: That’s what I was going to ask. Yeah, how does Filch know…
Jeanna: Yeah.
Rosie: … to actually go there at that point? Because Harry was up particularly early that morning and things as well, so it’s not a normal thing.
Eric: Well, Harry… so that’s…
Jeanna: See…
Eric: He bumps into Mrs. Norris earlier when he’s leaving Gryffindor Tower.
Rosie: Oh, okay. I must have missed that. [laughs]
Eric: But I think it’s interesting to think that she corresponded or got Filch to go check it out. So they’re not only spying on students late at night when they’re not supposed to be out of bed because it’s late, but spying on them when they do anything out of the ordinary like leave super early in the morning with a letter in hand.
Jeanna: See, my thing is, I think she’s been told specifically to watch out for Harry.
Maritere: Yeah.
Jeanna: It’s like, “Case Harry.”
Eric: Oh, like by Umbridge.
Jeanna: That’s what I’m saying, yeah. Umbridge has told Filch, who’s instructed Mrs. Norris, to…
Rosie: Keep an eye out.
Jeanna: Yeah, keep an eye out for Harry specifically.
Rosie: Interesting.
Maritere: But why dungbombs? Or…
Jeanna: I think he’s just not smart enough to make up a better lie.
[Eric and Jeanna laugh]
Eric: Dungbombs are, what was the word, prohibited…
Jeanna: Mhm.
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: … for students to bring in, so it would’ve given Filch the opportunity to at least see the letter had he not sent it. But after Cho – back to her – defends Harry and Filch leaves, she asks him, “You weren’t placing an order for dungbombs, were you?”
[Eric and Rosie laugh]
Eric: In an effort to try [to] check that he’s not this huge dunce.
Rosie: Mhm.
Eric: But fortunately he’s not, and really just this whole scene between Harry and Cho is tolerable and pleasant.
[Jeanna and Rosie laugh]
Jeanna: Tolerable.
[Eric laughs]
Maritere: About the weather.
Eric: Yes. Yes, for sure. A little later on – and one of the things that Cho said would be nice – would be the Quidditch pitch, and sure enough they actually have the first Gryffindor Quidditch practice in this chapter, which goes just about as well as you’d think it would go with Ron as a keeper.
Jeanna: And my Slyterins show up.
Maritere: [laughs] Oh, poor Ron.
[Jeanna laughs]
Eric: Is… what do I say here? Is Ron the worst Quidditch player? What’s…
Jeanna: No. No, Ron is like a bad test-taker, but on a Quidditch pitch.
[Rosie laughs]
Jeanna: He knows the theory and he can do it if he’s in his backyard with his friends…
Rosie: But why is he bad, even in practice?
Jeanna: Because he gets… even if the Slytherins hadn’t been there, I think he still would’ve been antsy and a little twitchy because he just wants to be so good so bad…
Rosie: Yeah.
Jeanna: … that he just can’t…
Eric: Nerves.
Jeanna: Yeah.
Eric: This is an issue that obviously continues into Book 6 with Harry having to resort to fake poisoning…
[Jeanna laughs]
Eric: … to get Ron’s confidence up a little bit, but it’s Ron’s confidence and it’s a pretty closely adhered-to character trait for Ron to have this issue.
Rosie: Mhm.
Eric: Personally for me, it’s very annoying. It’s like pulling teeth reading him fail at Quidditch as many times as he does. The fact that the Slytherins are there obviously doesn’t help, but what I got out of this scene, mostly, was how good a captain Angelina is. Really, she gets the same kind of insults thrown at her by the Slytherins. I mean, different insults, but still, she puts up with them pretty well and at the end of it all, isn’t too hard on Ron the way that I think Oliver Wood would have been.
Jeanna: Yeah. She’s just very cool and calm.
Rosie: And it’s nice that she actually believes in Ron as well. She doesn’t immediately kick him off the team. She does think that he can be as good as the twins or Harry. She could just stick with him and try [to] train him up.
Maritere: I think it’s just stage fright. What Ron has. And Angelina is definitely a good captain. It’s horrible what Pansy told her about the worms getting out of her head with her hairstyle.
Jeanna: I know.
Maritere: I was like, “Oh! What?”
Eric: Yeah. Is that a race joke, Pansy?
Jeanna: I was going to say, “I kind of thought it was racist.”
Rosie: Is she described as having dreadlocks, or… I can’t remember what it says.
Jeanna: She… I…
Eric: Just braids.
Jeanna: Yeah.
Eric: It was just a braid. Just says “a braid.”
Rosie: Okay.
Eric: She just pushes a braid, and so I’m sure it’s several small braids.
Rosie: Yeah. If anyone’s going to be racist, it’s going to be the Slytherins. Sorry. No offense to any Slytherins out there. I’m going to get so much hate mail now.
Jeanna: I am a Slytherin, and I feel like I’ve heard that before. Not directed to me but that Slytherins…
Rosie: It’s connected with the whole “Mudblood” idea. That’s the peril, isn’t it?
Jeanna: Yeah.
Eric: Well, it’s nice that in this chapter we started off getting a closer look at Harry and his inner thoughts, and then Quidditch practice was focused mostly on Ron. I mean, Harry is there to release the Snitch and all that, but basically, Ron is the one who is having the character development. After the practice is over, and Hermione says, “You could have done better” – you know [how] she of words that – and he’s like, “But-but wait, who said it was me [who] made practice bad?” And she’s like, “Well, you could have improved a little bit.”
Rosie: It’s nice to see Hermione being the awkward emotional teaspoon person for a change.
[Eric, Jeanna, and Maritere laugh]
Rosie: “Oops, I put my foot in it there.”
Eric: “Yeah, that practice was okay. Uh, well, you could have done better.” So that’s just interesting because it flows into the next scene, which is both Harry and Ron… I don’t want to say “pitted against each other,” but they’re forced to relate. So it was a good set-up on Jo’s part in terms of focusing first on Harry and then on Ron because back in the Gryffindor Tower – if I’m not mistaken, that’s where it is – Ron receives a letter from Percy. This is the first part of what makes this chapter “Percy and Padfoot.” And Percy’s letter, as I’m sure all [of] the readers who were reading this for the first time felt, was so shocking and a little insulting, a little hurtful, a little disappointing.
Jeanna: I don’t know if it was shocking.
Eric: It wasn’t shocking for you? You weren’t still thinking Percy could be a good guy? [laughs]
Jeanna: The word I find when I read it is “unnecessary.” I’m sure that Percy is surrounded by these thoughts and everything he’s hearing about Harry all day, but I… actually putting it into a letter and sending it to his family is just… ehh, Perce. I kind of wonder whether if someone at the Ministry said, “Hey, heard your brother was prefect. Maybe he’ll be like you and come into the Ministry, so…
Eric: Yeah.
Maritere: Maybe.
Jeanna: I don’t know.
Rosie: I mean, we talked a fair bit about Percy in the last book, obviously, when he kept popping up and whether or not he really knew what was going on and why he was being so loyal to the Ministry compared to his family. But this is the first time he’s been out-and-out malicious against his family.
Eric: Well, would you say the letter’s malicious? Because it’s still in that brotherly, only-looking-after-you type [of] tone.
Jeanna: Mmm, no.
Rosie: Yeah, but it’s being deliberately against the things that his family is doing, whereas in the last book, he was going alongside them. They were both still working in the Ministry. They were still talking to each other, Percy and his dad. But since the end of the Tournament and since the discovery that his boss was not his boss sending him letters all the time.
[Eric laughs]
Rosie: Maybe that’s what’s triggered this. Maybe he’s got his back up because he needs to prove himself as a Ministry official because he failed so badly at recognizing that his boss wasn’t actually alive or wasn’t there at the time in the last book that he’s trying to get [in] the Ministry’s good books by recruiting spies within Hogwarts.
Eric: Yeah, I think it’s very clearly sort of furthering the means that we’ve seen already at play with looking for spies. I mean, he outright recommends that if Ron notices anything suspicious that Harry is doing to bring it straight to Umbridge. “She can be a great friend, especially if you want to be Head Boy one day.” Ron basically has the same reaction we would all hope that he has, which is disgust. He doesn’t care if he’s ever going to be a Head Boy, and he tears the letter up. But certain things that Percy said, such as “I’m so pleased to be out of the stigma that the rest of our family suffers from” and stuff, really just… it’s self-important, and it’s disgusting to read and…
Rosie: Mhm.
Jeanna: He really tried to get those swipes in on his family. On everyone else but him and Ron, he tries to just needle them, and just… ugh, yeah.
Rosie: But why does he think that Ron will listen? I mean, when has Ron ever shown any disloyalty to his family?
Jeanna: I think that somehow Percy thinks that, in the last year, Ron has changed because he’s been made this prefect, and…
Eric: Yes.
Jeanna: … “Oh, he must have grown up since I’ve left and he’s now taken the straight and narrow path like me.”
[Rosie laughs]
Eric: And not the Fred and George way, as he says.
Rosie: Yeah.
Jeanna: And yes, the Fred and George way.
Eric: But this is the thing. This is exactly it, I think. That’s exactly right, that he misread Ron’s being appointed a prefect as having been sort of a thirst for academic achievement, versus what actually happened, which is that Dumbledore needs a spy – basically – on Harry. It’s funny how the different sides use spies. But I think making Ron and Hermione – Harry Potter’s two best friends – the prefects – I think this is even addressed later – is pretty dodgy, considering. Well, Hermione is probably the best student in that grade. But not Ron. And so for the both of them to be made prefect is sort of Dumbledore’s way of controlling the situation without allowing Harry too much power which could be abused by Voldemort or accessed…
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: … et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But…
Rosie: Well, Dumbledore also says that Harry’s wasn’t a prefect because he wanted to give him a break. [laughs]
Eric: Yeah, from all the…
Rosie: Not just the spy thing.
Eric: Yeah, so Percy then, kind of, still believes… it’s weird, because for all he says against Dumbledore – Dumbledore being the one who appointed Ron a Prefect to begin with – he seems to think that the ideals of being a prefect, only if you are a good student, are held. He still believes in that necessity that in order to be a prefect, it must mean you’re a great guy and just like me, and ambitious and all this stuff that nobody but Percy could ever be in the Weasley family. And that’s, I think, why he tries to confide in him.
Maritere: It shows how little he knows Ron. I mean, Ron would never turn out Harry.
Jeanna and Rosie: Mhm.
Maritere: And, well, just citing McGonagall in the last movie, “I think Percy is a blithering idiot.” [laughs]
[Eric, Jeanna, and Rosie laugh]
Rosie: Yes, yes.
Maritere: And more so with this letter. It’s so bad.
Rosie: Uh-huh.
Eric: I’m trying to recall if there’s anything in Percy’s letter that we should talk about a little more. Is there something you think we didn’t touch on regarding that big part of it?
Maritere: Well, he mentions in this the conviction of Sturgis Podmore.
Rosie: Yeah, yeah that would be the happy feeling, wouldn’t it.
Maritere: Yeah.
Jeanna: I think so. I do think that was the happy feeling.
Rosie: It definitely was Podmore then. Yeah.
Eric: It sounds, to me, like Podmore was under the Imperius Curse.
Rosie: Mhm.
Jeanna: Oh, yeah.
Eric: And it actually says… there’s a line that also indicates that. This is earlier in the chapter when Harry and Ron and Hermione are all looking at the Daily Prophet and Harry first notices. But basically it says that Sturgis refused to comment in his own defense and I’m thinking that’s the Imperius Curse. Somebody is actually preventing him from speaking.
Rosie: Mhm.
Eric: Just like that person got caught breaking in. And there’s some speculation about that, really, just being a ploy to discredit Dumbledore and those who would join him. But Percy, as well, is advising Ron, “Don’t be like him. You just have to stay away from Harry and Dumbledore and you’ll be fine.” So I guess it’s good that Ron just rips it up. The thing is Percy’s way off base about everything, like reading about what kind of brotherly love from him that Ron would respond to – which coming from Percy and his situation with the rest of the family it’s like nothing would ever appeal to him – but he misreads Ron so greatly that the letter has no effect and he tears it up.
Rosie: Mhm.
Eric: I feel like maybe he could have been a little bit better positioned. He just does completely the wrong thing. But it’s important for Harry and Ron to read this letter, and Hermione, because he also indicates that Dumbledore may be leaving.
Rosie: Yeah, but it’s also… before Ron rips it up, they have one of their tiny little Harry emo confrontations again…
[Jeanna laughs]
Rosie: … don’t they?
Eric: Mhm.
Rosie: So it’s also kind of Ron proving that he would choose Harry over his actual brother. So there’s more of a brotherly relationship between Ron and Harry than there is between Ron and Percy at this point. So it’s forever reiterating that point that Harry’s not alone. He doesn’t have to do this. He doesn’t have to listen to the naysayers all time.
Eric: Mhm.
Rosie: He has Ron there and Ron will even turn against his own family – which is the closest knit family you can get – to be on Harry’s side.
Eric: Yeah, Weasley love.
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: [laughs] Well, after this happens, it’s sort of my favorite part of the chapter. The other half of the chapter, not Percy, but Padfoot occurs. They’re basically in the common room. Harry glances over and thinks he sees something in the fireplace. But it goes away and after a while it turns out that Sirius was trying to get them alone – wait for them to be alone – every hour on the hour. But Sirius has found a way to break into Hogwarts, I guess, or at least convey this message to Harry. And they have a nice little conversation which answers maybe fifty percent of the questions that Harry asked in the letter.
[Rosie laughs]
Eric: So let’s talk about that for a minute. The Hagrid mystery is kind of solved. Basically Sirius does say, “Well, we got word that he and Madame Maxime went different ways but they’re both… they both should be headed back on their way back.” He also warns him, “Do not ask too many questions about Hagrid, because Dumbledore doesn’t want that. It shouldn’t bring too much attention to the fact that he is gone and has been gone a little longer than we expected.”
Rosie: No one seems worried about him, which is worrying. [laughs]
Eric: No one else, or…
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: Well, he is just a big guy. That is what Sirius says.
Rosie: True, but, I mean, when he does show up he is not in the best state. Let’s be honest.
Eric: Yeah.
Jeanna: Mhm.
Eric: Well, I really don’t like that Maxime left him. We know it was for personal reasons or whatever.
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: But because we see him beat up, it is… Hagrid was in over his head.
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: It is a shame that things didn’t go out with… or things didn’t go well with Maxime because of, obviously, the state we find him in. But a couple of other things. Sirius does tell Harry to not worry about his scar, that it is probably totally normal for it to be hurting all this much. And he doesn’t think… here is the interesting part: He doesn’t think Umbridge is a Death Eater.
Jeanna: I totally agree with that. I could never see Voldemort wanting her.
[Rosie laughs]
Eric: Why not?
Jeanna: She is too hungry, she is too thirsty.
Eric: Why would… I completely disagree.
Jeanna: No, she is too thirsty.
Eric: No.
Jeanna: She doesn’t want to be a minion, and that is what the Death Eaters are, they’re minions.
Rosie: Yeah, she has got too much personal drive and ambition. It would get in the way of all that.
Jeanna: Yeah, she wants to be a dark queen.
Rosie: Yeah.
Maritere: Yeah, I think it is a different kind of evil.
Rosie: Yeah.
Eric: That is interesting.
Jeanna: She wants too much control.
Eric: Well, she does take matters into her own hands, we find out later, with the Dementors. That she was the one who sent them. So I’m thinking, on the other hand, no, she is right up Voldemort’s alley. He would totally be all for sending Dementors against Harry. And she is perfectly happy serving under Fudge, but she does undermine him when she sends the Dementors, so…
Jeanna: Fudge can be controlled, though.
Eric: Yeah.
Jeanna: He is too pliable.
Eric: Yeah.
Rosie: Umbridge has too much ego, though. She would happily kill Harry herself.
Jeanna: Yeah.
Rosie: Rather than capture him for Voldemort to do the whole ritual stuff.
Jeanna: Mhm.
Eric: Or even…
Rosie: She has no interest in that side of things.
Eric: Hmm. That is an interesting thought. But another thing that we do learn about Umbridge is that she recently drafted – well, two years ago drafted – some legislation that put Lupin out of a job, or more or less made it much more difficult for werewolves to be out of a job. So that is interesting and it foreshadows what we learn much later, is that she has a huge problem with huge half-breeds.
Jeanna: With any half-breed.
Eric: Yeah, any half-breed. So just very interesting. It is a nice chat with Sirius. We definitely didn’t expect… you know, I’d have to say, reading previous chapters where Harry writes Sirius and it is a month before we hear back.
Rosie: Yeah, to hear back within a day? How quickly did Hedwig fly?
Eric: Hedwig flew pretty quickly!
Jeanna: Yeah!
[Eric laughs]
Jeanna: She flew the whole train ride.
Rosie: Yeah, from Scotland to London is… yeah, a massive flight within a day.
Eric: Super Hedwig. Harry must have fed her some rare candy before she took off.
[Rosie laughs]
Maritere: Maybe she…
Eric: Rumbled her up a little bit.
Rosie: Maybe she hitched a lift in the Floo Powder first.
Maritere: Yeah, that is what I was going to say. She used the Floo Powder.
Eric: The Floo Network. You can just see her standing on a grate on a fireplace. Hoo, hoo!
Jeanna: Oh, that is so cute.
[Jeanna and Rosie laugh]
Eric: I figured it was.
Rosie: Plus it is a running joke, Eric, do you not know about this joke?
Eric: No, I don’t know about this joke.
Rosie: We’ve had this since the very beginning of Alohomora!, where we were like, “Can owls use the Floo Network? Would they get covered in soot?”
[Eric laughs]
Jeanna: Oh my God.
Eric: Yes, they would get covered in soot, just like 101 Dalmatians, where all the dogs have different…
Rosie: Exactly, yeah.
Jeanna: They turn into fried chicken.
Rosie: Oh.
Eric: Oh, that could go horribly wrong.
Rosie: That is not good.
Jeanna: [laughs] I didn’t say it was good, I just said.
Eric: Yeah.
[Rosie laughs]
Eric: There is a great line from Sirius, let’s not forget. Sirius has very few great lines, I think, but isn’t this the one where he says, “The world isn’t split up into good people and Death Eaters?”
Rosie: Yes.
Jeanna: Mhm.
Eric: So there you go. I mean, between that one and the “Look at how they treat their inferiors if you want to know the measure of a man,” from Book 4, those are the two only decent quotes that he has that are for the goodwill of people. But the reason I bring this up is because Sirius says something terrible to Harry at the end of this conversation.
Jeanna: Yeah.
Eric: It is just the worst thing that Sirius could have ever possibly said to him. He wants to come and visit in Hogsmeade and Harry is like, “No, listen, this report, it says that you’re in London. They saw you when you came to the train when you weren’t supposed to as Snuffles.” And Sirius is like, “Ah yeah, I get it, it is okay.” He tries to brush it off at first, he is like, “No, they’re always reporting on where I am.” But then Harry is like, “No, they saw you, I know they saw you.” And he is like, “Oh, okay.” But then he still wants to come, and Harry is like, “No, you cannot come to Hogsmeade, I’m not telling you when the next weekend is.” And Sirius says, “You know, perhaps you’re not as closely like James as I thought, Harry. He would have thought the adventure of it all, the possibility of getting caught is what would have made it fun for him.”
Rosie: Ouch.
Eric: “So perhaps you’re not as much like James as I thought.”
Jeanna: Rude.
Rosie: So bad.
Eric: I mean, that burns. [hisses] That just burns.
Rosie: It also shows how immature Sirius is.
Jeanna: Yes. Sirius is very immature.
Rosie: He is meant to be, what, late thirties? Early forties?
Jeanna: Yeah, I think so, yeah.
Rosie: Yeah. So he should have grown up by now. I guess most of that time was spent in Azkaban, going a bit crazy.
Eric: Staring at a wall. [laughs]
Rosie: And now he’s stuck in another house, staring at a wall.
Eric: Staring at a wall.
Rosie: With only Kreacher for company.
Eric: And his mom.
Jeanna: And he probably never grieved properly for…
Rosie: Yeah.
Jeanna: … his friends dying.
Rosie: Yeah. We are making some allowances. But still, not good.
Jeanna: [laughs] Too soon.
Eric: It’s really one of the most unsatisfying endings with Sirius.
Jeanna: Mhm.
Eric: From such a great conversion, from, “Oh my God, he’s here, right away.” Harry just wrote to him and now he’s back, he has to say something like that at the end to ruin it. That’s sad.
Maritere: Poor Harry. It shows mature the trio are because they don’t like Sirius to risk it.
Eric: Mhm.
Rosie: It really does show how much they’ve grown up. Last book, he would have done anything to see Sirius whenever possible. This time, he’s grown up to the stage where he values Sirius so much that he definitely doesn’t want to lose him, which obviously makes the end of this book so much more painful because we’ve got that extra layer of maturity where he really realizes what he has got for the first time.
Eric: Well, 23 chapters remain between us and that fateful moment. But for now, I think we’ll call it quits right there. That completes or concludes Chapter 14, “Percy and Padfoot.”
Rosie: And it leads in quite nicely to this week’s Podcast Question of the Week, which refers back to the conversation we were just having – not the one about Sirius but the one just before, where we were saying the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters. But we were wondering whether Umbridge would make a good Death Eater. Would Voldemort actually want to… employ her is not really the best word, but to enlist her in his forces? Or is she just too egotistical and too ambitious she would just get in the way of his plans? So that’s what we want you guys to talk about. Go on to our site, go on the Podcast Question of the Week page, let us know your thoughts. Would Umbridge make a good Death Eater or not?
Eric: Very interesting. I look forward to seeing the responses.
Jeanna: I can’t wait for that to get posted because I’m going to get on that board and be like, “Okay.”
[Rosie laughs]
Jeanna: “This is what I think.”
Rosie: Do, yes. We love discussions.
Eric: There will be a lot of evidence to find in Book 7, I think, too, when she wears part of Voldemort’s soul. Okay, well.
[Rosie laughs]
Eric: If you would like to be on this show just as Maritere was today, there’s a very informative – I hope it’s informative. Maritere, was it informative over at alohomora.mugglenet.com?
Maritere: Yes.
Eric: Was it helpful?
Maritere: Of course, of course.
Eric: Did it answer all of your questions about how to be on the show?
Maritere: Yes. [laughs]
Eric: Okay. You heard it here first, folks.
[Jeanna laughs]
Eric: If you want to be a guest host on Alohomora! the instructions and the list of requirements are all over at the website at alohomora.mugglenet.com.
Rosie: Click on “Be on the Show.”
Eric: Oh yes, click on “Be on the Show.” Thank you, Rosie.
Jeanna: Perfect. And now for our contact information. You can contact us on Twitter at @AlohomoraMN, on Facebook at facebook.com/openthedumbledore, Tumblr at mnalohomorapodcast.tumblr.com, and you can call us and leave a message on Skype at 206-GO-ALBUS, which is 206-462-5287. Please subscribe to us and leave us a message and a review on iTunes. Actually, just a review, not a message. And follow us on Snapchat at mn_alohomora. And don’t forget to do Audioboo. You can leave us a message directly on alohomora.mugglenet.com and it could be played on the show. It’s free and all you need is a microphone. Please make it under 60 seconds.
Rosie: There’s just so many ways to contact us now. That list just keeps getting longer and longer.
[Eric laughs]
Jeanna: I know. Every time.
Rosie: And, as always, we do also have our store. We have some new items coming soon based on your feedback. Thank you very much for letting us know what you wanted. We also have our free ringtones that are available from the website.
Eric: And of course there is the Alohomora! app. There’s a message here to announce that Caleb and Kat did something totally crazy on last week’s special app bonus content that you’re supposed to go see. So check out the Alohomora! app. It’s available seemingly worldwide, prices vary. You can find transcripts, bloopers, alternate endings, host vlogs, and more uploaded weekly, along with our episode. Check out the app which you can find on alohomora.mugglenet.com. Well, I am Eric Scull.
[Show music begins]
Jeanna: I’m Jeanna Marie.
Rosie: And I’m Rosie Morris. Thank you for listening to Episode 91 of Alohomora!
Eric: Open the Dumbledore! But don’t get caught, like Sturgis.
[Show music continues]
Eric: “Harry glances over and thinks he sees something in the fireplace.”
Rosie: Worst bit of the movie.
Maritere: Oh, yes.
Jeanna: I didn’t…
Eric: Why? I liked this effect much better than the one used in Goblet of Fire.
Jeanna: Yeah, I liked this effect more.
Rosie: I might be misremembering it.
Eric: You liked the coals better?
Rosie: No. Okay, I’m… yeah, Goblet of Fire was the worst bit of the movie. This one…
Eric: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. [laughs]
Rosie: Sorry. [laughs]
