February 4, 2025 • 56 mins
We have sadly made it to the final ep in this mini-series... for now! To wrap things up, I couldn’t think of a better guest than the Harry Potter podcasting OG, Eric Scull. Eric is part of the MuggleCast team, who launched the very first Harry Potter podcast 20 years ago. I’ve been lucky enough to call Eric a friend for the past four years, and he was a huge support when I was getting this podcast off the ground—something we dive into in our conversation today. So take a listen as we unpack two decades of Harry Potter!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hi everyone, and welcome to episode eight of Behind the
wand and Friends, and sadly this is the final one
in this mini series for now. To wrap things up,
I honestly couldn't think of a better guest than the
Harry Potter podcasting og Eric Skull. Eric is part of
(00:35):
the muggle cast team who launched the very first Harry
Potter podcast twenty years ago. I've been lucky enough to
call Eric a friend for the past four years, and
he was really a huge support when I was first
getting this podcast off the ground, which is something we
dive into in our conversation today. So with about two
(00:56):
decades of Harry Potter to unpack, it's not waste any time.
This is me chatting to Okay, let's go. Let's go
back to the beginning. Let's have Eric's Harry Potter origin story.
So do you remember your first first hearing the name
(01:19):
Harry Potter.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I was in seventh grade in US public school, and
Harry Potter was inescapable. It had taken the nation by storm,
and you know, throughout nineteen ninety eight, ninety nine, two
thousand the books had been published there and I was,
(01:43):
in a word skeptical of what what's this new hype
about this boy who's a wizard. It's like, Okay, sure,
I was not much of a reader. I it's not
like I held up some other best of fantasy that
was sure to be so much better than Harry Potter.
(02:03):
I just didn't I just didn't know. I just didn't know.
And I can remember hearing about Harry Potter and being
a little curious and a little skeptical. And my school
at the time had a program called it was like
Accelerated Reader where you really gets you to read books
in between days of school and then you quiz on
(02:24):
them and you get points, and there was a threshold
you had to get a certain amount of points. The
Harry Potter books, but partly because of how dense they are,
and with the fourth book out, which is twice as
long as all the others, was worth all of the
required points for that year, because it's like because you know, alternately,
I ended up reading a bunch of like the Nancy
Drew mystery books, which are like much much shorter, much
(02:47):
less than you know, you could read six of those,
or you could read one Goblet of Fire. I was thinking, great,
I will, so I started I picked up Goblet of
Fire as my first Harry Potter book. I had no
notion that the movie was not out yet. Yeah, and
the first movie, and I read the first chapter of Gobbletifire.
(03:10):
You're familiar with the first chapter of Gobblifire. It's one
of the worst chapters to just pick up as your
first introduction because Harry's not in it, you know, and
it's which is a bold departure. I actually love the chapter.
I feel the need to say I love the chapter. Yeah,
But at the moment, I was like, who is Wormtail?
What is the awkward name? There's this old guy who's
(03:32):
in a town somewhere, and there's village gossip. I was like,
this is not for me. I put the book down.
I ended up having to read a lot more books
that year because Harry Pie wasn't doing it for me.
It would not be for another year when a friend's
mom extended an invite to me to see the first
(03:52):
movie on opening weekend, and I sat in a chair
and was taken into Harry's world the way so many were,
and you know, handheld, and John Williams just cushioning my
entry that I It wasn't until then that I could
finally see what the world was about. And you know
(04:13):
that that year then following the release of the film
was when I became obsessed. And looking back, I've I've
been obsessed ever since.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Well, yeah, it's been a yeah, that's it's been a
long journey for you, really, isn't it, Because so how
do you get from that point to creating pretty much
the original Harry Potter podcast, Muggle isn't it's the very first.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
It was the first Harry Potter podcast. Yeah, And the
mechanism for that was really MuggleNet, which was one of
the sort of titans of Harry Potter fan sites, and it,
you know, sort of had very humble origins. A homeschooled
kid named Emerson started it his teens and it grew
(05:02):
to become you know, right around the time that the
first movie came out. It was already like the most
trafficked Harry Potter website at the time, and I became
associated with that. They did a segment called Fan of
the Week or Potter Profiles, where they sort of interview
you know, readers who write in and go, I'm a
big gry Potter fan. It's like, how big of a
(05:25):
fan are you? And anyway, I was featured on that
segment for some crazy fan things that I did and
ended up getting a chat with the webmaster who then said,
how would you like to run a section on muggle
nan And it was the weekly caption contest, which used
(05:46):
stills from the film and you know, just really generated
a lot of users submitted humor. I ended up I
really loved you know, I wouldn't do sleepovers the first
year because at Saturday at midnight I had to upload
the the latest captions to the website so that it
would be live for everybody. You know, it was you know,
only a few years later that podcast became a thing
(06:10):
and there was an internal staff chat that said, there's
this thing now called podcasts. What if MuggleNet you know
did a basically a reading of the news of the
weekend news because when the films were in production and
not all the books were out, there was enough news
every single week of the year to have an hour
(06:31):
long discussion of even if you're just reading the articles,
you know, verbatim, no commentary would take That's how you know,
you know, how massive the production is and how many
different areas that it touched and how many people that
it touched. So it really was through working with Muggleet
that that muggle Cast was started. And what we quickly
(06:54):
realized was something that has and will outlast at all,
I think, which is that the connections between hosts and
are we sort of although we were all united in
being Harry Potter fans, we all brought something different to
the table from our own personal experiences and talking about it,
we all found, you know, there's a lot of personal
(07:15):
growth involved. I learned that not only was I passionate
about this thing, but I could discuss it in a
way that really elevated, like for me when discussing with others,
that elevated this source material. And so a lot of
this like literary analysis and getting into that like chatting
with my friends. Yeah, and having that be the show
(07:37):
that it's Harry Potter friends that are coming together ended
up being very successful for us. So muggle Cast next year,
which is still weekly by the way, next year will
turn twenty years of age.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
That is such an achievement that really is amazing, and like,
can you talk through some of the highlights of because
you really have had a lot of you know, people
who would to do with the film on your show,
like you've really gone all over the place with it.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, some of those relationships were built at the cons,
you know. Definitely, the Harry Potter conventions were a great
way to access the talent from the films and kind
of show them what we do and see them as
you know, fully rounded people as well, and that really
(08:31):
made a lot of connections, helped us make a lot
of connections. But even early on again through Mothernet with
that journalist angle and the press angle, we were able
to interview people like Jim Dale, who was the US
narrator of the books. We had David Hammon on our
big episode two hundred for muggle Cast, which is like Mike,
(08:54):
my co host and I we interviewed him and it's
like our favorite episode of Mugglecasts because he was just
brought the level of like respect and for the source
material and you could tell how much he cared and
he was just so generous with his time. And so
some of our favorite touchstone moments of the show have
(09:17):
been you know, directly with cast and crew that had
worked on the movies, you know. And that said also
as like different milestones have come up, we also have
personally had different milestones and created different segments that have
stood the test of time and all this stuff. So
it's been I think I lost sight of the question,
(09:39):
but it's been wonderful over the years.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yeah, no, I was just saying, you've had so yeah,
like the show has just evolved and grown and you've
had real yes, real like I don't know the word
for it, but like like, for example, having David Hayman
on the two hundred episode is like a real moment,
you know, not just your listeners, but just like the
fandom in general, just having him out there like interacting
with us. And yes, so like you've really had so
(10:04):
real moments like that with your Muggle Cast journey. But so,
what would you say has been the hardest thing over
the last twenty years? So you can say, yeah, twenty years?
Is it twenty years? Next year?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Sorry, next August. Yeah, so we're we're at the nineteen
years later point right now, and every year there's been
a fun thing to say, like our podcast can vote. Yeah,
well don't do that, it's photo fraud. But but you know,
it's eighteen. When it turned sweet sixteen, we had like
a release wooden car for our patrons. It was really cool.
(10:41):
But yeah, I would say that the hardest part whenever
we tell someone that, you know, our podcast turns twenty.
People get it because they know Harry Potter. It's ubiquitous,
is everywhere, but they still ask, and rightly, so what
do you talk about? Yeah, and that has been challenge
that we've all warmed to, but a consistent challenge. See
(11:04):
as a complete contrast to the week of news in
two thousand and six, when literally everything was happening with
everyone you know that dried up about twelve years ago,
and so you know, there are still tangential things happening
(11:25):
with the people that worked on the movies or the people,
you know, things with the books that warrant further looks.
And that's been one of the things that we've solved
for essentially, is although we did a lot of reading
and a lot of analysis the first let's just say,
because we're going with it two hundred episodes, since then,
(11:47):
we've grown up, you know, and there is a fresh
perspective that we now offer of being sort of adults
and looking at these series, something I never would have
in a million years thought to talk about on on
Muggle casts. In you know, the younger years, was how
everyone's constantly in danger always and these adults are completely
(12:08):
irresponsible for putting these children through this stuff, you know,
not what these these parents actually let their kids go
to school. It's not like mandated. They're not taken away
from them forcibly to attend this dangerous institution that will
fill them, you know. So I would say the show
is just a constant series of evolutions and little little evolutions.
(12:31):
And the craziest thing about it all is that we
you know, muggle casts predated YouTube and social media and
a lot of the ways in which podcasts are now enjoyed,
and has also had to do a lot of from
a production standpoint. You know, Andrew, my colleague, is really
(12:52):
adamant about always maintaining good quality for the show, and
so we've had to grow and evolve with all of
those sort of industry challenges. They are now podcast conferences
that are all about the industry of podcasting, you know,
and that is much different from back when it was
on the iTunes directory that you had to sort of
(13:15):
sort and download manually to you know, your iPod with
a cable attached. It's just been it's totally changed how
people get and listen to podcasts and why and how,
and we've changed. So it's really been a lesson in
growing with those changes. And and what hasn't diminished or
(13:36):
what's never been manufactured and forced is our passion for
these stories in particular, and what we got out of
them both as kids and what we continue to get
out of them as adults.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
And do you ever see an end point for local cost.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
It's possible. There's also been the idea of, like when
we all have kids one day having like a MuggleCast junior,
you know, kind of show that you can right, you know,
and like, well, we're at that age where our listeners
have kids now that are like listening to the show.
We have a few like younger, like threteen, you know,
listeners who write in. And it's wild because our show
(14:19):
being twenty means that some of our listeners you know,
were not born when we started it, and we were
all in high school. We were seventeen fifteen, maybe one
just out of college. But it it really is a
lesson in perspective to see that happen.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Do you think there was? I mean, I don't. I
don't know how to word this, But was there a
freedom that came with actually just being in high school
and just putting something on with almost like, you know,
podcasting wasn't huge as now it's such a huge thing,
and now is there I don't know what I'm trying
to say, like maybe more pressure behind behind it? Do
(14:57):
you feel that at all?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
I think so. I think that what has been a
really great thing for us to keep us in check
and always thinking about what the pressures are today have
been the rise of very successful Harry Potter podcasts that
(15:21):
started way later. One of the ones that I'm thinking
of is Potter List, run by Mike Schubert, which started
in twenty seventeen. I don't want to get it wrong,
but like that's way later than the two thousand and
five and you know, and Mike is great and the
show is great. But seeing how that sort of thing
(15:43):
can exist and then at the same time have us
who are like these we've been referred to as like
the og Harry Potter bands or there since the start
to speak to an entirely different audience of people reading
the books for the first time. Now, I mean, that's
great thing about Harry Potter has never gone away, and
so you constantly have new generations. And so with that
(16:06):
understanding that podcasts have changed, what people want out of
a podcast has changed, who actually listens has changed, et cetera.
So I think seeing other Harry Potter, you know, the
Switch and Flick Crew, Sacred Text, another one these massive,
massive Harry Potter podcasts, seeing what they do, Seeing that
(16:28):
and having to also be true to ourselves, stay relevant,
not simply copy other formats has been a real journey. Fortunately,
the fandom has always been very welcoming but wide enough
for all of us that we've each been able to
cultivate something that we can feel proud of.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, totally. And I mean, like, I guess I kind
of had reservations about starting. You know, I'm really new
to the game in comparison to you, to you know,
your team, but I think, like the it sounds like
a negative thing I'm going to say, but it is
very saturated the Harry Potter market, you know, in terms
(17:08):
of like not I'm not saying specifically podcasts. I'm just
saying in terms of like fan fiction, fan arts, Like
I don't know, like there's just so much out there,
and I think I know that just because obviously my
algorithm is heavily Harry Potter related, So you get served
a lot of stuff, and I think, like when I
first thought about doing a podcast, you do think like, well,
(17:31):
what can I do that's not out there because there's
so much And luckily the stuff is so good that's
out there, you know, it's not filled with trash. There's
actually like I mean, all the podcasts you've just listed,
it's really good quality content. So it's trying to think
like what if you're going to bring something, what are
(17:52):
you going to bring? And actually, like, you know, the
Harry Potter fanom, i'd say is also pretty unforgiving of
having like subpar content, like it has to be good,
has to be.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
That's everything nowadays. Don't waste my time, my time's too short,
you know kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
There.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
There is some toxic negativity that can exist on the internet, unfortunately.
But I hope, you know, it's our experience and I
hope it's your experience that the majority of the audience
that you're reaching really love what you do and you
found that unique perspective to bring into podcasting. It's so
(18:30):
funny to think about by the time that you started
your podcast. Podcast was almost one of the oldest media forms.
It's right up there with like radio that had the
huge transistors on it, you know, like compared to TikTok
and all ways in which people interact with this sort
(18:51):
of thing. It's it's so funny. But yet I've been
proud to know your podcast since start and see how
you really carved a path for yourself and differentiated yourself
and were able to find success in doing that.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Because actually we should. We should mention that you were
part of the Behind the wand origin story. And I
don't know if you'll remember this, but the title that
you and I loved was Beyond the Wand do you
remember this? And Kat was like, no, I don't think
it's beyond the one. It's behind the one. And we
were like okay. And now what I'm thinking is thank
(19:27):
god I did not call it Beyond the Wand, because
that would have been just a he night Marriash.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I have his book right behind this, Yeah I would
reach back and grab it. But yeah, when Tom Felton's memoir,
you know, and I you know, maybe that was a
bullet dodged. I also agree with Cat's take that it
was like behind the scenes behind the one. But I
just I still love that rhyme yond the Oh, but yes,
(20:00):
I do recall and it's it's but it's just a
it's been a fun journey, you know, to to kind
of just see how things like that happen.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Yeah, yeah, you just think, like, was that Yeah? I
think it was lucky that we didn't go with Beyond
the Wand even though I still get people saying, oh,
you've copied his title, and I'm like, actually, the podcast.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Came on, he copied you.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Yeah, he copied me.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean that would have been that
conversation because you're bad. At that point, you would have
had an established, you know, podcast with the same title.
Tom would have had to pick a different title. Oh,
I'm sure that which you can't imagine happening. But thankfully
didn't come to that.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
And actually, I love behind the wand I think it
I think you know it works. So let's move on
if you're happy to to sort of the future. And
I kind of wanted to get your opinion on their
being No, do you know what? Scrap that. That's not
what I want to ask you. I want to ask you,
first of all, are you in the film Harry Potter
(21:01):
Film Camp or the Harry Potter book Camp. If you
could only watch one or read one ever again, what
would it be? Which one? Would it be? Reading the
book series or what in the film series?
Speaker 2 (21:15):
It's the books and has that? Have you ever gotten
the answer? Movie?
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah, okay, okay, I because meaning no disrespect to the
millions of people that worked on those films and the
amazing and this is not I'm not being facetious. I'm
not making a joke or a he or a ha ha.
They did amazing work. Yeah. And the chronicle that we
(21:45):
the many sources that we now have to chronicle all
of the work that was done on those eight movies
is phenomenal and it is a story of our lifetime
how something so massive could be brought to to to existence.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
And I will never tire of reading about or listening
to how those movies were made. When you really look
at in terms of the adaptation, there is so much
to Harry's world that any reader will have resonating with
them that was never brought to screen. Yes, there is.
(22:23):
I mean not even scenes. We're talking themes. We're talking
entire depths and levels that you could never back when
the format was major Hollywood blockbuster, there would never have
been any time for how many things were cut for
pacing or for you know, all of this. So I
would say books because that, to me is the whole
(22:47):
world that the films then expertly, you know, riffed on.
But I would only call it a riff compared to
the depths of everything that exists in the books. And
even though I came to the movies first, as I said,
the first movie, without that first movie, I would have
never given the book a second chance, because my time
(23:10):
is not able. Don't waste my time. But yeah, seventh grade,
I had all the time in the world. But yeah,
I do. I am the books would be your answer.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
So then that brings me on to so then are
you when you heard about this series and the fact
it was going to be a truer they're saying adaptation
of the of the books? Are you like yay the
series or are you like nay the series?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
That's an interesting follow up question because so much of
these things don't exist in a vacuum, right, And so
the time that has passed between when you know, the
eighth film was released and today the media climate has changed.
What I like about today is Syria. Storytelling on TV
(24:01):
is the norm anytime that you have you know, essentially
TV has the potential. TV nowadays has the potential to
be what the Harry Potter series always needed to fully
capture the magic of reading the books. So for that,
(24:22):
I am excited. From a production standpoint, I am have
been less excited by what we know about you know,
who's attached, how it's going to be made, and the
climate and environment in which this new TV series is
going to be produced gives me serious pause, and so
(24:46):
I occupy not to play the devil's advocator at all,
but I occupy a very middle ground when it comes
to this. I'm optimistic that TV is the format that
the series always needed to have like a really author
and take faithful adaptation of the books that I love
so much, But I also do I cannot or have
(25:08):
not brought myself to be ultimately extremely excited that this
series will be what we always wanted in the end,
or will be free or exist in a time and
place that allows us to kind of forget that we've
moved on in some ways from the culture and the
era in which the books were first published.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Yeah, So so do you think that's to do with
like costing then that you think that's going.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
To be there will never be. I think a deficit
of talent. There are so many. I mean, look at
all the unknowns that were cast in the Harry Potter
films and how good a job they did over the years.
You know, I don't think that I'm underwell the potential
(26:01):
for casting. I think that whoever is cast as these
young children will be roped into some ironclad contracts that
will be very difficult to renegotiate or get out of,
and that the people that we've seen CEOs of major
media companies be very pressured into being very profit seeking,
(26:28):
actually not having quality in mind when they're making their
executive decisions. And so when you talk about casting, I
really feel for the type of you know, environment in
which some of these young professionals will be working in
that values the product over sort of other considerations. And so,
(26:51):
having not worked in the industry, I have a concern
for and we're seeing that with everything with labor and
not being properly valued and and all of these films
that are being you know, created, filmed, produced, but then
never released for attacks right off. You know, it is
a an actually pretty dark environment, it seems as a
(27:15):
consumer of modern media. And so that's that's where I
have my sort of pause.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yeah, I get where you're coming from. But my hope
is certainly my dogs meadow. But every episode she does it, yeah, yeah, great.
And my hope is though that in terms of the
(27:43):
production behind the scenes, is that And I mean, you're
actually one of the few people that I can say
will know this from meeting David Hayman, is that he's
still attached. And I genuinely think he's one of the nicest,
nicest people in the whole, somebody who really cares about
(28:03):
Harry Potter. And I think he also cares about the fandom.
I like to think he cares about the fandom.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
I like to think that too.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
And I think that he, as far as I recall
from working on the films, like always made sure we
were having fun. That was his thing. He wanted it
to be a good time. He wanted the kids to
turn up and want to be there. There's nothing worse
than having ten kids saying we don't want to be
here anymore. And he did really try, and I can
(28:31):
remember like distinct examples of where he sort of like
I would say, went out of his way, but obviously
he's oiled by like a you know, a big machine,
but like he did go out of his way to
like make sure, you know, Like for example, when we
were filming on location, he made sure my family could
always come up, always come and stay with me, like
every weekend, if my brother and sister my dad could calm.
(28:52):
If I was with my mum, he'd often say to us,
like what do you want to do, Like what do
you like doing for fun? And we'd tell him and
he'd like sort that out for us. It was like
direct conversation with him, Like he'd be really present. Wow,
So I can really really only hope that that's the
role he has in this film, and if he does,
I know that those children will be really well. Like
(29:12):
I remember we did this like when we were all
at school. We all had to draw an owl, and
then we pinned them up down the corry door of
the studios, and then like he took the time to
come and like judge them and like whose was the
best and then mine was the best? And then I
got this like owl egg like paper like fake paper
(29:32):
weight thing that he got that he gave us, Like
he was just like that with the kids, like really
like lovely, lovely guy. So I could only hope that
he still has that presence there and he's ensuring the
environment is the same. But I mean, it's such a
I don't know. I think just the whole movie making
(29:53):
process or even TV making process has just become a
whole different beast almost, So I just don't know what
it would be like now, but I only hope it's
like that for them.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yeah, and but I mean social media again, we you know,
we mentioned sort of toxic negativity, but if you look
at what young actors are subjected to in the media
social media environment, I think a classic example is Millie,
Bobby Brown and Stranger Things. You know, the microscope that
they are under to perform and behave in a certain way,
(30:24):
although it's always been toxic, is now just reached new
lengths of sort of trolling and devastating. So to real
we need a David Hyman like a protector character to
really shield I think, and that will only serve to
create you know, better quality product in the end. But
(30:48):
it's not everybody's first go to of we need a
thing done is to have somebody who makes everyone feel comfortable,
and I hope that they hire ten more of the
David Hayman to make sure sure that the environment on
set is sort of free of the toxicity of the
outer world, which is amplified heavily by modern technology.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
And that's totally literally. I've just been talking about this,
the fact that now people pretty much can have a
direct line to people which you didn't have, like public figures,
which you didn't have before. And what is actually mad
if you look at the Millie Bobby Brown example, is
she was giving a phenomenal performance for how old she
(31:31):
was in those series. I'm not shading anyone in Harry Potter,
but the performances definitely grow throughout that film series, whereas
I'd say, like Stranger Things series one, those children, the
performances are incredible. So the fact that they were having
I think Billy Bobby Brown is also just the toxic
side of becoming a public figure not just an actor,
(31:54):
also comes with scrutiny. But you know, it is wild
to think that they were that they receive that are
basically trolled for doing what I would say is a
pretty solid job on a really good series. Yeah, so
do you have any so going back to casting, because
my personal opinion is the whole thing hinges on casting
(32:17):
and who they cast. A don't see people doing an
Alan Rickman impression. I don't want to see somebody doing
a Rogby Cult training impression. I want people to sign
up for the project, love the project, love their character,
dive into the books, pull out all those little characteristics
that we don't see in the films that they can
(32:39):
really give you a like, especially those peripheral characters, a
real three sixty view of these people that we don't
these witches and wizards that we don't see in the film.
And I think it all hinges on that.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Yeah, I completely agree, and I think that. But there
are a few very easy things that they can do
that would make this series unfair. Backstory is a huge thing,
going actually going back in time. I'm sorry, but the
films never did a proper Snape's Worst Memory, never did
a proper Marauders subplot at all, or you know, even
(33:14):
it just never had the time to exist in a
time period other than the present, whereas the you know,
the books go back into memories and really paint a
picture of things that happened during the First Wisioning War
or earlier in really satisfying ways. But you mentioned the
(33:36):
casting and keeping it with you know, the idea of
casting the I don't want to see an Alan Rickman
impression either, and with Snape in particular, if he were
cast to be the age that he is in the books,
which is fifteen to twenty years younger than where Alan
Rickman was at in movie one, which then influenced the
(33:58):
casting of Lily and James and you know, sort of
the other people who went to Hogwarts at the same
time as him. If you have a thirty one year
old or thirty four year old Snape, it's going to
look a lot different. And in fact, how young Harry's
parents were when they died and when they had to
(34:20):
go up against Voldemort and Thrice defied him the first
time would be a really good message to see adapted. Now,
you know, the idea of thinking of our parents as
you know, as they get older, were more comfortable with
the idea of maybe one day they get old and
die of natural causes. But the fact that Lily and
(34:40):
James were twenty two and twenty three and had the
weight of the world and their son is the chosen
one you know on them would read a lot differently
now and is the story I want to see told?
So casting wise, cast young characters, cast young actors as
the adults, and then I think that well inevitably no
(35:01):
matter no matter who you get. But also, let's be honest,
the rigorous standards of quality are not going away too.
They're going to make sure the chemistry works because it
has to the benefit of knowing where the series is going. Fully,
you know, in every aspect of having all the source
material from day one is going to help with these
(35:23):
types of conversations and these types of decisions that are
being made well in advance of you know, you can
make a decision about Luna Lovegood five years before you
have to cast that that role. Yeah, so I think
it would be. There are a lot of things going
for the new series.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Absolutely. Do you have any sort of dream castings in
your head? Is there anyone that you think, oh, they
would be amazing.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Yeah. It's funny, uh, you know, reading these these clickbaity
headlines all the time because the series is here, it's like, oh,
we want Idris Elba's Dumbledore. We want and I mean
Jillian Ander and would be amazing. I would love for
her to be He's.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Amazing and everything. Yeah, I haven't had its Alba Dumbledore
before that.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Well, I a lot that would That may have been hyperbole,
but you know, whenever there's new talk about either the
Harry Potter TV series or Doctor Who, it's always casting
ab And yes, I agree cast him in more things,
but but ultimately no, I I don't have Let's see,
I'd have to think about it. I have actors that
(36:28):
I love, but many of them are older than the roles. Again,
if you're if you're being true to the books, and
Liam James were in their early twenties when they died,
you know, and therefore a lot of the professors at
Hogwarts would be mid thirties. A lot of the actors
that I absolutely love are older than that, and so I,
(36:53):
you know, we understand that there may need to be
a few unknowns casts the kids. I would say that
I would be comfortable if an unknown meaning just worked
on the West End for ten years busted their ass
actor gets cast as like Remus Lubin. You know that
that sort of thing is what I would like to
(37:15):
see from the new series is more unknowns and less
you know, we needed a role for Kevin Bacon or something.
You know, it's like, okay, yeah, it's also really amazing,
But like, don't you know I wouldn't weigh celebrities, Well,
I wouldn't weigh an actor's celebrity status at all in
(37:37):
the consideration of casting them.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
Yeah, And I don't know. I just can't get a
read on whether a listers want to do it or not,
because I kind of feel like it's a bit of
a poison chalice in the terms of there's very big
boots to film, in terms of if you're like, you're
playing Hagrid, like that's hard.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
God, yeah, no, really hard.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
One to do. So I can't decide whether I don't
I can't get a read on whether I think people
really want to do it or they kind of don't
want to do it. I assume people do want to
do it. And also the fact that you're signing up
for a very big part of your life. Really, if
you're if you're okay, let's say thirty, and you sign
(38:25):
up to this and you're going to finish when you're forty,
you know, that's a big chunk of your career. I'm
not saying actors, you know, they're not the same as
you know, us that retire, I guess at a certain point.
But like that's a big part of your career. It's
a big part of the trajectory. You're going to be
hon as an actor, I think. So, I don't know,
do you think the people?
Speaker 2 (38:45):
Yeah, well, I mean it's it's like signing up to
be part of the Marvel movies. You know, like you
could be used for or your likeness could be used
even after you die, you know, And it sounds like
it's it is. These are longer term commitments, but I
ultimately think that could also be some comfort to you know,
you always know where there's a paycheck coming kind of
(39:05):
a thing. But you'd have to find the right person
who's willing to It is a commitment. And I mentioned
earlier the contracts, but you know, I remember reporting on MuggleNet,
you know, when it was like Dan, Rupert and Emma
are all going to renegotiate their contract. They might not
appear in the fifth Harry Potter film, you know, and
it was the real possibility. You better bet they're going
to lock that shit down this time. I'm like anyone
(39:28):
who's in season one barring death is going to be
in season ten and a half of you know, Part
one of you know, the final TV series. And so
I think that the best way to approach this is
with that awareness and for for the you know, production
and everybody to be on the same page that this
(39:49):
is you know, we do intend to adapt the whole
series and factor that into the pay and the commitment
and the film schedule and figure out what actors can
actually accommodate it.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Yeah, totally. Okay, Now I have some do you know
what I say this every time? I'm calling them fun questions? Fun? Ah?
Speaker 2 (40:10):
I will wait, every question so far has been fun?
How could they possibly be?
Speaker 1 (40:15):
You that? That is actually why I follow up at
the end I said, I've called these fun questions, but
hopefully the whole thing was fun. But do you never.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Yeah, I can assure you I've had a lot of fun,
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
Okay. So my first one is what Hogwarts house are
you in?
Speaker 2 (40:30):
I am in Hufflepuff?
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Oh you?
Speaker 2 (40:34):
And there were many years where I thought I was
a Gryffindor because that's just you know, all the cool
kids are Gryffindors.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
Okay, saying Eric.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
And it wasn't until Potter Moore and the potter More
House Quiz revealed my huff origin. And and you know,
I'll say this about JK Rowling, her energy that was
spent on Hulfapuff House while writing the books is very nil.
(41:07):
And yet the Potter More Welcome Letter perfectly defined to me,
not only myself, but what house Hulflepuff is all about, friendship,
putting in a doing a good job, hard work, you know,
some trials and suffering, but like you're gonna get through
(41:29):
it together mentality that I think after my teen years
after I was the you know, sort of very I
was never a jock, but like the the very bold,
like I'm a teenager, I'm gonna rule the world one day. Whatever.
I had mellowed enough by like the early twenties when
Potter was out, that I was able to see, okay, yes,
(41:50):
actually I value these same things that help up off values.
And so I took that you know, Pottermore Quiz result,
and really it wrote the entire like how I see
myself in the Harry Potter world. And I would I
would want to, you know, in Hogwarts legacy, I'm playing
you know, I played as a Hufflepuff, and I was
very happy from day one about the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
Oh see, I've just I'm going through I'm retaking the test. Actually,
the Swiss and Flick girls just sent me a new
link to do the test.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Oh like the the OG test that's been like recreated.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Or yeah, because I think I just want to, like
exactly said, I just want to speaker finder, And when
I did the quiz, I was just thinking what would
someone and griffin'a say, And I actually just want to
answer it with a hand on heart so I can
truly find out a house. I'm stay tuned, I'm gonna
do it. I'm gonna find out.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
Okay, well, if it is the OG one, I will
say there was some question that I don't think ever
got resolved as to how accurate the results were, because
when Potter Moore first launched, they had a house points
system that was like competing for different things you did
on the website, and the percentages of each house member
(42:58):
were fairly even, and I don't think that's representative of
the type of people that were online at that time.
So there's some question about whether or not you've got
a huge answer. So it ultimately does come down to
what's in your heart. But I want to see your
quiz results all.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
I'll let you know. Okay, what's your favorite book?
Speaker 2 (43:19):
Prisoner of Aska Ben and film the first of the second,
and it's probably the first.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Also say Chamber of Secrets. Surely not. I think that's
my least favorite. Oh why, don't know why? And I
say this every time because I feel like, obviously I
worked on that one, and Hermion is hardly in it
because she gets bloody what's it called by the petrified
by the basilisk, doesn't she? So I just have to
come into the studios and everyone else will be filming,
(43:51):
and I'll just be there for school, and I feel
like that's like tainted my view of Chamber of Secrets. Anyway,
I'll leave my trauma by having to go to the
studios for school. And my goodness, Okay, if you could
brew only one potion or cast one spell, but you
could continuously brew that potion or continuously cast that spell
(44:12):
for the rest of your life, which one would it
be and what would it be?
Speaker 2 (44:19):
Polyjuice potion? I think that it would benefit us all
to walk a mile in other people's shoes.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
I totally agree. If you could spend one day in
a location in the Wizarding World, where would it be?
And you can't just say Hogwarts. You have to be
a little bit more specific.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Oh, like second floor, corridor, fare, classroom.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
So I always say, like, maybe a bit more like
you could say, well, I'd like to have like dinner
in the great Hall then go back to the common room.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Yeah. It's it's so funny because there are so many
answers to this that are food related for me, because
like the food is a big part of the books.
These feasts, these constant there, they are always feasting. I
would sit on a sunny afternoon in the courtyard of
(45:10):
Flori and Fordesky's ice cream parlor in diagon Alley, London,
while he's still alive to help me with my homework.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
It stunning. Love that. Love that. Okay. Now I have
some would you rather? Questions? Oh love these Okay, they're
not that serious, so don't worry because I feel like
I freaking when we're doing would you rather? They're like, oh,
I'm going to get canceled. Okay, So first one, would
(45:38):
you rather have a pet hippogriff or a pet festal
nothing bad has to have happened to see the festal.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
That's a great conditioner that sort of levels the choices.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
When I first said it, someone was like, I don't
want a festeral and I was like, no, no, no, no,
don't worry to do nothing bad that's don't happen to.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
Oh it's a good one. I think a thestraal might
be easier to hide, you know, if you want to
take it out. It's less of a production.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
So, and I am a fan of like, you know,
rescue animals and animals that get less love and respect.
I feel like the hypogrises would have no problems being adopted,
but somebody might take a thesterol in, you know that
kind of thing. So yeah, that's right, I get it.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
Who would you rather have as a bestie, Harry Ron
or Hermione Oh Harmony?
Speaker 2 (46:31):
Yeah, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
I feel like Hermione is like a lot of people
say Hermione and I really thought no one would. So
that's nice. Okay. Would you rather be haunted by Peeves
who's constantly playing tricks on you or pranks on you?
Speaker 2 (46:45):
Or I can't wait to see the other.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
Be haunted by moaning Myrtle who's living in your bathroom?
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Oh no, oh no, okay, Peace can be a bit much.
I want to see him adapted in the TV series
and in every season, maybe even every episode, but he
can be a bit much. And even in the books
he's a bit much. So I go with moaning Myrtle,
and I would hope that I could strike some level
(47:15):
of understanding with her, because if it turns out, if
you treat this teenage girl that died as a person,
she's less miserable in general, which is good for her
and less of a pain to you, you know, don't
be an Olive Hornby. Yeah, and I think moaning Myrtle.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Is much more tolerable totally. And actually this is so
funny because I haven't thought about this with Peeves until
doing this sort of like mini series that you know,
you know, em You've met m Wilbank, haven't you.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
Yeah. I love m Walbank.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
I'm obsessed with her. But she's not read the books,
which like blows my mind. So when we were talking,
she doesn't know who Peeves is, which is in saying
to me, so like I'm asking these questions and I'm like,
you don't even know who Peeves is like her mind
is going to be blown when she watches the series.
I like, she's not gonna have it. She like it
(48:13):
just made me laugh. Like she's such a big part
of like the fandom, and she loves it and she's
such a like a fantastic addition to it. But half
of it, She's like, what are you talking about about?
Speaker 2 (48:24):
I agree completely, It's part of her charm. I know,
I know.
Speaker 1 (48:28):
That's why I love her. She's amazing. But okay, would
you rather have a time turner or an invisibility cloak?
Speaker 2 (48:35):
That is a great question. Time turner?
Speaker 1 (48:37):
Okay, would you rather have a flying car or a broomstick?
Speaker 2 (48:45):
A flying car? It's tough, but I need that that heat.
I need the heat that's high altitudes. The heat needs
to be working. I'm sorry, broomwood stratosphere.
Speaker 1 (49:01):
I would be too cold on a broomstick I've never
taken out. Okay, would you rather have a boget turned
into your most embarrassing memory or receive a howler from
a pissed off family member in the great hall?
Speaker 2 (49:13):
Ooh uh yeah, the the the howler HOWLA.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
I cannot understand anybody that says howla. I hate being
in trouble like I can that I could, Yeah for me.
Speaker 2 (49:30):
You know, every you're on the same playing field if
they hear your howler. But it is ultimately one family
member's pissed off opinion, and you then can either debunk
or be like, listen, we don't get along, we never have.
What do you gonna do? Like my cousin wants to,
you know, call me names in front of everybody. Yes,
it's unpleasant, but I have a stake, I have a
(49:53):
voice in that. Your boggart, it becomes what you fear
the most and will lay bare. But you're dreading in
a way that I think you know, no piss off
family member could ever get that deep into actually hurting you.
So that's my justification.
Speaker 1 (50:07):
Breaking it down like that. I actually think, there you go. True,
that is true? Okay. Would you rather spend the night
alone in the forbidden forest or the chamber of secrets?
The basilist is alive in the chamber.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
Of secrets, you know, in the chamber of secrets, I
know what my answer is gonna be. But in the
chamber of secrets, there's only one thing trying to kill you. Yeah,
in the forbidden Forest. Probably several things are trying to
kill you. Yeah, but yeah for some reason because considering
the basilist, you only look at it and it kills you. Yeah,
(50:39):
it doesn't even need to like actually catch you.
Speaker 1 (50:42):
Yeah yeah, any eye contact and.
Speaker 2 (50:43):
It's yeah yeah, yeah. Then the basilisk is so opie
and uh yes, I would go with the forest forest.
Speaker 1 (50:51):
Okay, great. Then this next section is called love potion
magic missiletoe. Okay. First one I'm going to do is
Harry Malfoy Cedric degree.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
And it's love potion magic or no, it's magic.
Speaker 1 (51:10):
Yeah, love potions, marry magic is kiss and aotic damas kill.
Speaker 2 (51:19):
Okay, I like Draco. I'm killed.
Speaker 1 (51:24):
Draco kill Drake.
Speaker 2 (51:26):
Yeah, you know, he participated in some bad acts and
maybe it's not the light at the end, but if
one's got to go, it's not gonna be Cedric Diggree
my house.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
Oh my gosh, I forgot because one before, Cedric's been
an easy kill for people.
Speaker 2 (51:42):
Oh my god. Well, it's easy to kill people who
die in the series because it's like, oh, that was
their fate, it was always faded. So Cedric and Draco
and who Harry, I'll kiss Harry just to say I
kissed the chosen one, and I'll marry Cedric.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
Love that. Love that, okay, Lucius?
Speaker 2 (51:59):
But Tricks Lockhart, Oh kill Lockhart. It's not common, but
I'm gonna put him out of his own misery. Kiss
below Tricks Yeah, yeah, Mary Lucius. Yeah, he would bring
(52:20):
financial stability to the union.
Speaker 1 (52:23):
Yeah, that's true, that's true. Okay, Ginny Luna Hermione.
Speaker 2 (52:28):
Oh that's a real tough one. I have to marry Ginny.
That has been my wish since a very young And
Ginny is such a badass.
Speaker 1 (52:40):
She Oh, who's going Luna or Hermione? Who are you kissing? Who?
You kill him?
Speaker 2 (52:50):
I'm gonna kill HARMONIU.
Speaker 1 (52:51):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2 (52:53):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (52:54):
Ok uh.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
And I'm gonna Kisluna.
Speaker 1 (52:59):
Love that? Okay. One more serious? Lupid Neville?
Speaker 2 (53:05):
Love this. I can't bring myself to kill Serious. I
think he was done so dirty in the books. But
would I marry Serious or kiss Serious? H I'm gonna
marry Neville. Never would divide you, marry Neville. I think
(53:28):
that he would provide. I think that he would care.
He's a bit closer to my age, you know that
sort of thing. And I can't kill Serious, so that
means Lupin has to die.
Speaker 1 (53:41):
Uh you know, Jock, I'm hearing kill Lupid.
Speaker 2 (53:46):
He It would be unthinkable in any other context, I
assure you. Uh. But and he also is a character
that I think was done dirty in the writing, you know,
making his big folly sort of be about this love
and look, canonically, I think he's a gay character or
bisexual at best. So you know, I don't agree with
(54:08):
his arc, but Lupin unfortunately has to go in this scenario.
Speaker 1 (54:16):
I'm sorry. Okay, So you're marrying Neville, kissing Serious, killing Lupin.
Speaker 2 (54:24):
Yeah, yeah, I hope that doesn't hunt me or get
me canceled.
Speaker 1 (54:28):
I can't promise they won't.
Speaker 2 (54:29):
No, Okay, we know what we're clipping it.
Speaker 1 (54:49):
Massive. Thank you to Eric for jumping on the podcast
and also potentially saving me from some legal drama with
Tom Felton's but publishers. Eric and the tire muggle Cast
team have been such an incredible asset to the Harry
Potter fandom, and I truly hope the podcast continues to
thrive for another twenty years. So, as I said earlier
(55:13):
in the intro, the podcast will be taking a short
break while I return to my muggle job after having
a year off a maternity leave. I can't believe it.
It's gone so quick, but I think I just need
to get my feet back under the table there. But
once I do, I'll be back with more episodes of
Behind the Ones. I already have a few recorded, so
I'm really hoping we can drop some of those later
(55:35):
in the spring. Before I sign off, I just want
to say such a huge thank you to Melissa, Chloe, Trey,
Meg Tiff, Katie, m Bretschanel and Eric for being such
incredible guests, And of course, the biggest thank you goes
to all of you for your endless support. I truly
(55:57):
truly love this podcast, and I really love each of
you for listening, sharing, liking, sending me lovely messages because
it honestly means the world to me. But for now,
it's just going to have to be a see you soon,
and I really hope your life is full of magic.
Hi everyone, and welcome to episode eight of Behind the
wand and Friends, and sadly this is the final one
in this mini series for now. To wrap things up,
I honestly couldn't think of a better guest than the
Harry Potter podcasting og Eric Skull. Eric is part of
(00:35):
the muggle cast team who launched the very first Harry
Potter podcast twenty years ago. I've been lucky enough to
call Eric a friend for the past four years, and
he was really a huge support when I was first
getting this podcast off the ground, which is something we
dive into in our conversation today. So with about two
(00:56):
decades of Harry Potter to unpack, it's not waste any time.
This is me chatting to Okay, let's go. Let's go
back to the beginning. Let's have Eric's Harry Potter origin story.
So do you remember your first first hearing the name
(01:19):
Harry Potter.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I was in seventh grade in US public school, and
Harry Potter was inescapable. It had taken the nation by storm,
and you know, throughout nineteen ninety eight, ninety nine, two
thousand the books had been published there and I was,
(01:43):
in a word skeptical of what what's this new hype
about this boy who's a wizard. It's like, Okay, sure,
I was not much of a reader. I it's not
like I held up some other best of fantasy that
was sure to be so much better than Harry Potter.
(02:03):
I just didn't I just didn't know. I just didn't know.
And I can remember hearing about Harry Potter and being
a little curious and a little skeptical. And my school
at the time had a program called it was like
Accelerated Reader where you really gets you to read books
in between days of school and then you quiz on
(02:24):
them and you get points, and there was a threshold
you had to get a certain amount of points. The
Harry Potter books, but partly because of how dense they are,
and with the fourth book out, which is twice as
long as all the others, was worth all of the
required points for that year, because it's like because you know, alternately,
I ended up reading a bunch of like the Nancy
Drew mystery books, which are like much much shorter, much
(02:47):
less than you know, you could read six of those,
or you could read one Goblet of Fire. I was thinking, great,
I will, so I started I picked up Goblet of
Fire as my first Harry Potter book. I had no
notion that the movie was not out yet. Yeah, and
the first movie, and I read the first chapter of Gobbletifire.
(03:10):
You're familiar with the first chapter of Gobblifire. It's one
of the worst chapters to just pick up as your
first introduction because Harry's not in it, you know, and
it's which is a bold departure. I actually love the chapter.
I feel the need to say I love the chapter. Yeah,
But at the moment, I was like, who is Wormtail?
What is the awkward name? There's this old guy who's
(03:32):
in a town somewhere, and there's village gossip. I was like,
this is not for me. I put the book down.
I ended up having to read a lot more books
that year because Harry Pie wasn't doing it for me.
It would not be for another year when a friend's
mom extended an invite to me to see the first
(03:52):
movie on opening weekend, and I sat in a chair
and was taken into Harry's world the way so many were,
and you know, handheld, and John Williams just cushioning my
entry that I It wasn't until then that I could
finally see what the world was about. And you know
(04:13):
that that year then following the release of the film
was when I became obsessed. And looking back, I've I've
been obsessed ever since.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Well, yeah, it's been a yeah, that's it's been a
long journey for you, really, isn't it, Because so how
do you get from that point to creating pretty much
the original Harry Potter podcast, Muggle isn't it's the very first.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
It was the first Harry Potter podcast. Yeah, And the
mechanism for that was really MuggleNet, which was one of
the sort of titans of Harry Potter fan sites, and it,
you know, sort of had very humble origins. A homeschooled
kid named Emerson started it his teens and it grew
(05:02):
to become you know, right around the time that the
first movie came out. It was already like the most
trafficked Harry Potter website at the time, and I became
associated with that. They did a segment called Fan of
the Week or Potter Profiles, where they sort of interview
you know, readers who write in and go, I'm a
big gry Potter fan. It's like, how big of a
(05:25):
fan are you? And anyway, I was featured on that
segment for some crazy fan things that I did and
ended up getting a chat with the webmaster who then said,
how would you like to run a section on muggle
nan And it was the weekly caption contest, which used
(05:46):
stills from the film and you know, just really generated
a lot of users submitted humor. I ended up I
really loved you know, I wouldn't do sleepovers the first
year because at Saturday at midnight I had to upload
the the latest captions to the website so that it
would be live for everybody. You know, it was you know,
only a few years later that podcast became a thing
(06:10):
and there was an internal staff chat that said, there's
this thing now called podcasts. What if MuggleNet you know
did a basically a reading of the news of the
weekend news because when the films were in production and
not all the books were out, there was enough news
every single week of the year to have an hour
(06:31):
long discussion of even if you're just reading the articles,
you know, verbatim, no commentary would take That's how you know,
you know, how massive the production is and how many
different areas that it touched and how many people that
it touched. So it really was through working with Muggleet
that that muggle Cast was started. And what we quickly
(06:54):
realized was something that has and will outlast at all,
I think, which is that the connections between hosts and
are we sort of although we were all united in
being Harry Potter fans, we all brought something different to
the table from our own personal experiences and talking about it,
we all found, you know, there's a lot of personal
(07:15):
growth involved. I learned that not only was I passionate
about this thing, but I could discuss it in a
way that really elevated, like for me when discussing with others,
that elevated this source material. And so a lot of
this like literary analysis and getting into that like chatting
with my friends. Yeah, and having that be the show
(07:37):
that it's Harry Potter friends that are coming together ended
up being very successful for us. So muggle Cast next year,
which is still weekly by the way, next year will
turn twenty years of age.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
That is such an achievement that really is amazing, and like,
can you talk through some of the highlights of because
you really have had a lot of you know, people
who would to do with the film on your show,
like you've really gone all over the place with it.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, some of those relationships were built at the cons,
you know. Definitely, the Harry Potter conventions were a great
way to access the talent from the films and kind
of show them what we do and see them as
you know, fully rounded people as well, and that really
(08:31):
made a lot of connections, helped us make a lot
of connections. But even early on again through Mothernet with
that journalist angle and the press angle, we were able
to interview people like Jim Dale, who was the US
narrator of the books. We had David Hammon on our
big episode two hundred for muggle Cast, which is like Mike,
(08:54):
my co host and I we interviewed him and it's
like our favorite episode of Mugglecasts because he was just
brought the level of like respect and for the source
material and you could tell how much he cared and
he was just so generous with his time. And so
some of our favorite touchstone moments of the show have
(09:17):
been you know, directly with cast and crew that had
worked on the movies, you know. And that said also
as like different milestones have come up, we also have
personally had different milestones and created different segments that have
stood the test of time and all this stuff. So
it's been I think I lost sight of the question,
(09:39):
but it's been wonderful over the years.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yeah, no, I was just saying, you've had so yeah,
like the show has just evolved and grown and you've
had real yes, real like I don't know the word
for it, but like like, for example, having David Hayman
on the two hundred episode is like a real moment,
you know, not just your listeners, but just like the
fandom in general, just having him out there like interacting
with us. And yes, so like you've really had so
(10:04):
real moments like that with your Muggle Cast journey. But so,
what would you say has been the hardest thing over
the last twenty years? So you can say, yeah, twenty years?
Is it twenty years? Next year?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Sorry, next August. Yeah, so we're we're at the nineteen
years later point right now, and every year there's been
a fun thing to say, like our podcast can vote. Yeah,
well don't do that, it's photo fraud. But but you know,
it's eighteen. When it turned sweet sixteen, we had like
a release wooden car for our patrons. It was really cool.
(10:41):
But yeah, I would say that the hardest part whenever
we tell someone that, you know, our podcast turns twenty.
People get it because they know Harry Potter. It's ubiquitous,
is everywhere, but they still ask, and rightly, so what
do you talk about? Yeah, and that has been challenge
that we've all warmed to, but a consistent challenge. See
(11:04):
as a complete contrast to the week of news in
two thousand and six, when literally everything was happening with
everyone you know that dried up about twelve years ago,
and so you know, there are still tangential things happening
(11:25):
with the people that worked on the movies or the people,
you know, things with the books that warrant further looks.
And that's been one of the things that we've solved
for essentially, is although we did a lot of reading
and a lot of analysis the first let's just say,
because we're going with it two hundred episodes, since then,
(11:47):
we've grown up, you know, and there is a fresh
perspective that we now offer of being sort of adults
and looking at these series, something I never would have
in a million years thought to talk about on on
Muggle casts. In you know, the younger years, was how
everyone's constantly in danger always and these adults are completely
(12:08):
irresponsible for putting these children through this stuff, you know,
not what these these parents actually let their kids go
to school. It's not like mandated. They're not taken away
from them forcibly to attend this dangerous institution that will
fill them, you know. So I would say the show
is just a constant series of evolutions and little little evolutions.
(12:31):
And the craziest thing about it all is that we
you know, muggle casts predated YouTube and social media and
a lot of the ways in which podcasts are now enjoyed,
and has also had to do a lot of from
a production standpoint. You know, Andrew, my colleague, is really
(12:52):
adamant about always maintaining good quality for the show, and
so we've had to grow and evolve with all of
those sort of industry challenges. They are now podcast conferences
that are all about the industry of podcasting, you know,
and that is much different from back when it was
on the iTunes directory that you had to sort of
(13:15):
sort and download manually to you know, your iPod with
a cable attached. It's just been it's totally changed how
people get and listen to podcasts and why and how,
and we've changed. So it's really been a lesson in
growing with those changes. And and what hasn't diminished or
(13:36):
what's never been manufactured and forced is our passion for
these stories in particular, and what we got out of
them both as kids and what we continue to get
out of them as adults.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
And do you ever see an end point for local cost.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
It's possible. There's also been the idea of, like when
we all have kids one day having like a MuggleCast junior,
you know, kind of show that you can right, you know,
and like, well, we're at that age where our listeners
have kids now that are like listening to the show.
We have a few like younger, like threteen, you know,
listeners who write in. And it's wild because our show
(14:19):
being twenty means that some of our listeners you know,
were not born when we started it, and we were
all in high school. We were seventeen fifteen, maybe one
just out of college. But it it really is a
lesson in perspective to see that happen.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Do you think there was? I mean, I don't. I
don't know how to word this, But was there a
freedom that came with actually just being in high school
and just putting something on with almost like, you know,
podcasting wasn't huge as now it's such a huge thing,
and now is there I don't know what I'm trying
to say, like maybe more pressure behind behind it? Do
(14:57):
you feel that at all?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
I think so. I think that what has been a
really great thing for us to keep us in check
and always thinking about what the pressures are today have
been the rise of very successful Harry Potter podcasts that
(15:21):
started way later. One of the ones that I'm thinking
of is Potter List, run by Mike Schubert, which started
in twenty seventeen. I don't want to get it wrong,
but like that's way later than the two thousand and
five and you know, and Mike is great and the
show is great. But seeing how that sort of thing
(15:43):
can exist and then at the same time have us
who are like these we've been referred to as like
the og Harry Potter bands or there since the start
to speak to an entirely different audience of people reading
the books for the first time. Now, I mean, that's
great thing about Harry Potter has never gone away, and
so you constantly have new generations. And so with that
(16:06):
understanding that podcasts have changed, what people want out of
a podcast has changed, who actually listens has changed, et cetera.
So I think seeing other Harry Potter, you know, the
Switch and Flick Crew, Sacred Text, another one these massive,
massive Harry Potter podcasts, seeing what they do, Seeing that
(16:28):
and having to also be true to ourselves, stay relevant,
not simply copy other formats has been a real journey. Fortunately,
the fandom has always been very welcoming but wide enough
for all of us that we've each been able to
cultivate something that we can feel proud of.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, totally. And I mean, like, I guess I kind
of had reservations about starting. You know, I'm really new
to the game in comparison to you, to you know,
your team, but I think, like the it sounds like
a negative thing I'm going to say, but it is
very saturated the Harry Potter market, you know, in terms
(17:08):
of like not I'm not saying specifically podcasts. I'm just
saying in terms of like fan fiction, fan arts, Like
I don't know, like there's just so much out there,
and I think I know that just because obviously my
algorithm is heavily Harry Potter related, So you get served
a lot of stuff, and I think, like when I
first thought about doing a podcast, you do think like, well,
(17:31):
what can I do that's not out there because there's
so much And luckily the stuff is so good that's
out there, you know, it's not filled with trash. There's
actually like I mean, all the podcasts you've just listed,
it's really good quality content. So it's trying to think
like what if you're going to bring something, what are
(17:52):
you going to bring? And actually, like, you know, the
Harry Potter fanom, i'd say is also pretty unforgiving of
having like subpar content, like it has to be good,
has to be.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
That's everything nowadays. Don't waste my time, my time's too short,
you know kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
There.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
There is some toxic negativity that can exist on the internet, unfortunately.
But I hope, you know, it's our experience and I
hope it's your experience that the majority of the audience
that you're reaching really love what you do and you
found that unique perspective to bring into podcasting. It's so
(18:30):
funny to think about by the time that you started
your podcast. Podcast was almost one of the oldest media forms.
It's right up there with like radio that had the
huge transistors on it, you know, like compared to TikTok
and all ways in which people interact with this sort
(18:51):
of thing. It's it's so funny. But yet I've been
proud to know your podcast since start and see how
you really carved a path for yourself and differentiated yourself
and were able to find success in doing that.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Because actually we should. We should mention that you were
part of the Behind the wand origin story. And I
don't know if you'll remember this, but the title that
you and I loved was Beyond the Wand do you
remember this? And Kat was like, no, I don't think
it's beyond the one. It's behind the one. And we
were like okay. And now what I'm thinking is thank
(19:27):
god I did not call it Beyond the Wand, because
that would have been just a he night Marriash.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I have his book right behind this, Yeah I would
reach back and grab it. But yeah, when Tom Felton's memoir,
you know, and I you know, maybe that was a
bullet dodged. I also agree with Cat's take that it
was like behind the scenes behind the one. But I
just I still love that rhyme yond the Oh, but yes,
(20:00):
I do recall and it's it's but it's just a
it's been a fun journey, you know, to to kind
of just see how things like that happen.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Yeah, yeah, you just think, like, was that Yeah? I
think it was lucky that we didn't go with Beyond
the Wand even though I still get people saying, oh,
you've copied his title, and I'm like, actually, the podcast.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Came on, he copied you.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Yeah, he copied me.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean that would have been that
conversation because you're bad. At that point, you would have
had an established, you know, podcast with the same title.
Tom would have had to pick a different title. Oh,
I'm sure that which you can't imagine happening. But thankfully
didn't come to that.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
And actually, I love behind the wand I think it
I think you know it works. So let's move on
if you're happy to to sort of the future. And
I kind of wanted to get your opinion on their
being No, do you know what? Scrap that. That's not
what I want to ask you. I want to ask you,
first of all, are you in the film Harry Potter
(21:01):
Film Camp or the Harry Potter book Camp. If you
could only watch one or read one ever again, what
would it be? Which one? Would it be? Reading the
book series or what in the film series?
Speaker 2 (21:15):
It's the books and has that? Have you ever gotten
the answer? Movie?
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah, okay, okay, I because meaning no disrespect to the
millions of people that worked on those films and the
amazing and this is not I'm not being facetious. I'm
not making a joke or a he or a ha ha.
They did amazing work. Yeah. And the chronicle that we
(21:45):
the many sources that we now have to chronicle all
of the work that was done on those eight movies
is phenomenal and it is a story of our lifetime
how something so massive could be brought to to to existence.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
And I will never tire of reading about or listening
to how those movies were made. When you really look
at in terms of the adaptation, there is so much
to Harry's world that any reader will have resonating with
them that was never brought to screen. Yes, there is.
(22:23):
I mean not even scenes. We're talking themes. We're talking
entire depths and levels that you could never back when
the format was major Hollywood blockbuster, there would never have
been any time for how many things were cut for
pacing or for you know, all of this. So I
would say books because that, to me is the whole
(22:47):
world that the films then expertly, you know, riffed on.
But I would only call it a riff compared to
the depths of everything that exists in the books. And
even though I came to the movies first, as I said,
the first movie, without that first movie, I would have
never given the book a second chance, because my time
(23:10):
is not able. Don't waste my time. But yeah, seventh grade,
I had all the time in the world. But yeah,
I do. I am the books would be your answer.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
So then that brings me on to so then are
you when you heard about this series and the fact
it was going to be a truer they're saying adaptation
of the of the books? Are you like yay the
series or are you like nay the series?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
That's an interesting follow up question because so much of
these things don't exist in a vacuum, right, And so
the time that has passed between when you know, the
eighth film was released and today the media climate has changed.
What I like about today is Syria. Storytelling on TV
(24:01):
is the norm anytime that you have you know, essentially
TV has the potential. TV nowadays has the potential to
be what the Harry Potter series always needed to fully
capture the magic of reading the books. So for that,
(24:22):
I am excited. From a production standpoint, I am have
been less excited by what we know about you know,
who's attached, how it's going to be made, and the
climate and environment in which this new TV series is
going to be produced gives me serious pause, and so
(24:46):
I occupy not to play the devil's advocator at all,
but I occupy a very middle ground when it comes
to this. I'm optimistic that TV is the format that
the series always needed to have like a really author
and take faithful adaptation of the books that I love
so much, But I also do I cannot or have
(25:08):
not brought myself to be ultimately extremely excited that this
series will be what we always wanted in the end,
or will be free or exist in a time and
place that allows us to kind of forget that we've
moved on in some ways from the culture and the
era in which the books were first published.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Yeah, So so do you think that's to do with
like costing then that you think that's going.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
To be there will never be. I think a deficit
of talent. There are so many. I mean, look at
all the unknowns that were cast in the Harry Potter
films and how good a job they did over the years.
You know, I don't think that I'm underwell the potential
(26:01):
for casting. I think that whoever is cast as these
young children will be roped into some ironclad contracts that
will be very difficult to renegotiate or get out of,
and that the people that we've seen CEOs of major
media companies be very pressured into being very profit seeking,
(26:28):
actually not having quality in mind when they're making their
executive decisions. And so when you talk about casting, I
really feel for the type of you know, environment in
which some of these young professionals will be working in
that values the product over sort of other considerations. And so,
(26:51):
having not worked in the industry, I have a concern
for and we're seeing that with everything with labor and
not being properly valued and and all of these films
that are being you know, created, filmed, produced, but then
never released for attacks right off. You know, it is
a an actually pretty dark environment, it seems as a
(27:15):
consumer of modern media. And so that's that's where I
have my sort of pause.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yeah, I get where you're coming from. But my hope
is certainly my dogs meadow. But every episode she does it, yeah, yeah, great.
And my hope is though that in terms of the
(27:43):
production behind the scenes, is that And I mean, you're
actually one of the few people that I can say
will know this from meeting David Hayman, is that he's
still attached. And I genuinely think he's one of the nicest,
nicest people in the whole, somebody who really cares about
(28:03):
Harry Potter. And I think he also cares about the fandom.
I like to think he cares about the fandom.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
I like to think that too.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
And I think that he, as far as I recall
from working on the films, like always made sure we
were having fun. That was his thing. He wanted it
to be a good time. He wanted the kids to
turn up and want to be there. There's nothing worse
than having ten kids saying we don't want to be
here anymore. And he did really try, and I can
(28:31):
remember like distinct examples of where he sort of like
I would say, went out of his way, but obviously
he's oiled by like a you know, a big machine,
but like he did go out of his way to
like make sure, you know, Like for example, when we
were filming on location, he made sure my family could
always come up, always come and stay with me, like
every weekend, if my brother and sister my dad could calm.
(28:52):
If I was with my mum, he'd often say to us,
like what do you want to do, Like what do
you like doing for fun? And we'd tell him and
he'd like sort that out for us. It was like
direct conversation with him, Like he'd be really present. Wow,
So I can really really only hope that that's the
role he has in this film, and if he does,
I know that those children will be really well. Like
(29:12):
I remember we did this like when we were all
at school. We all had to draw an owl, and
then we pinned them up down the corry door of
the studios, and then like he took the time to
come and like judge them and like whose was the
best and then mine was the best? And then I
got this like owl egg like paper like fake paper
(29:32):
weight thing that he got that he gave us, Like
he was just like that with the kids, like really
like lovely, lovely guy. So I could only hope that
he still has that presence there and he's ensuring the
environment is the same. But I mean, it's such a
I don't know. I think just the whole movie making
(29:53):
process or even TV making process has just become a
whole different beast almost, So I just don't know what
it would be like now, but I only hope it's
like that for them.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yeah, and but I mean social media again, we you know,
we mentioned sort of toxic negativity, but if you look
at what young actors are subjected to in the media
social media environment, I think a classic example is Millie,
Bobby Brown and Stranger Things. You know, the microscope that
they are under to perform and behave in a certain way,
(30:24):
although it's always been toxic, is now just reached new
lengths of sort of trolling and devastating. So to real
we need a David Hyman like a protector character to
really shield I think, and that will only serve to
create you know, better quality product in the end. But
(30:48):
it's not everybody's first go to of we need a
thing done is to have somebody who makes everyone feel comfortable,
and I hope that they hire ten more of the
David Hayman to make sure sure that the environment on
set is sort of free of the toxicity of the
outer world, which is amplified heavily by modern technology.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
And that's totally literally. I've just been talking about this,
the fact that now people pretty much can have a
direct line to people which you didn't have, like public figures,
which you didn't have before. And what is actually mad
if you look at the Millie Bobby Brown example, is
she was giving a phenomenal performance for how old she
(31:31):
was in those series. I'm not shading anyone in Harry Potter,
but the performances definitely grow throughout that film series, whereas
I'd say, like Stranger Things series one, those children, the
performances are incredible. So the fact that they were having
I think Billy Bobby Brown is also just the toxic
side of becoming a public figure not just an actor,
(31:54):
also comes with scrutiny. But you know, it is wild
to think that they were that they receive that are
basically trolled for doing what I would say is a
pretty solid job on a really good series. Yeah, so
do you have any so going back to casting, because
my personal opinion is the whole thing hinges on casting
(32:17):
and who they cast. A don't see people doing an
Alan Rickman impression. I don't want to see somebody doing
a Rogby Cult training impression. I want people to sign
up for the project, love the project, love their character,
dive into the books, pull out all those little characteristics
that we don't see in the films that they can
(32:39):
really give you a like, especially those peripheral characters, a
real three sixty view of these people that we don't
these witches and wizards that we don't see in the film.
And I think it all hinges on that.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Yeah, I completely agree, and I think that. But there
are a few very easy things that they can do
that would make this series unfair. Backstory is a huge thing,
going actually going back in time. I'm sorry, but the
films never did a proper Snape's Worst Memory, never did
a proper Marauders subplot at all, or you know, even
(33:14):
it just never had the time to exist in a
time period other than the present, whereas the you know,
the books go back into memories and really paint a
picture of things that happened during the First Wisioning War
or earlier in really satisfying ways. But you mentioned the
(33:36):
casting and keeping it with you know, the idea of
casting the I don't want to see an Alan Rickman
impression either, and with Snape in particular, if he were
cast to be the age that he is in the books,
which is fifteen to twenty years younger than where Alan
Rickman was at in movie one, which then influenced the
(33:58):
casting of Lily and James and you know, sort of
the other people who went to Hogwarts at the same
time as him. If you have a thirty one year
old or thirty four year old Snape, it's going to
look a lot different. And in fact, how young Harry's
parents were when they died and when they had to
(34:20):
go up against Voldemort and Thrice defied him the first
time would be a really good message to see adapted. Now,
you know, the idea of thinking of our parents as
you know, as they get older, were more comfortable with
the idea of maybe one day they get old and
die of natural causes. But the fact that Lily and
(34:40):
James were twenty two and twenty three and had the
weight of the world and their son is the chosen
one you know on them would read a lot differently
now and is the story I want to see told?
So casting wise, cast young characters, cast young actors as
the adults, and then I think that well inevitably no
(35:01):
matter no matter who you get. But also, let's be honest,
the rigorous standards of quality are not going away too.
They're going to make sure the chemistry works because it
has to the benefit of knowing where the series is going. Fully,
you know, in every aspect of having all the source
material from day one is going to help with these
(35:23):
types of conversations and these types of decisions that are
being made well in advance of you know, you can
make a decision about Luna Lovegood five years before you
have to cast that that role. Yeah, so I think
it would be. There are a lot of things going
for the new series.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Absolutely. Do you have any sort of dream castings in
your head? Is there anyone that you think, oh, they
would be amazing.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Yeah. It's funny, uh, you know, reading these these clickbaity
headlines all the time because the series is here, it's like, oh,
we want Idris Elba's Dumbledore. We want and I mean
Jillian Ander and would be amazing. I would love for
her to be He's.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Amazing and everything. Yeah, I haven't had its Alba Dumbledore
before that.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Well, I a lot that would That may have been hyperbole,
but you know, whenever there's new talk about either the
Harry Potter TV series or Doctor Who, it's always casting
ab And yes, I agree cast him in more things,
but but ultimately no, I I don't have Let's see,
I'd have to think about it. I have actors that
(36:28):
I love, but many of them are older than the roles. Again,
if you're if you're being true to the books, and
Liam James were in their early twenties when they died,
you know, and therefore a lot of the professors at
Hogwarts would be mid thirties. A lot of the actors
that I absolutely love are older than that, and so I,
(36:53):
you know, we understand that there may need to be
a few unknowns casts the kids. I would say that
I would be comfortable if an unknown meaning just worked
on the West End for ten years busted their ass
actor gets cast as like Remus Lubin. You know that
that sort of thing is what I would like to
(37:15):
see from the new series is more unknowns and less
you know, we needed a role for Kevin Bacon or something.
You know, it's like, okay, yeah, it's also really amazing,
But like, don't you know I wouldn't weigh celebrities, Well,
I wouldn't weigh an actor's celebrity status at all in
(37:37):
the consideration of casting them.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
Yeah, And I don't know. I just can't get a
read on whether a listers want to do it or not,
because I kind of feel like it's a bit of
a poison chalice in the terms of there's very big
boots to film, in terms of if you're like, you're
playing Hagrid, like that's hard.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
God, yeah, no, really hard.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
One to do. So I can't decide whether I don't
I can't get a read on whether I think people
really want to do it or they kind of don't
want to do it. I assume people do want to
do it. And also the fact that you're signing up
for a very big part of your life. Really, if
you're if you're okay, let's say thirty, and you sign
(38:25):
up to this and you're going to finish when you're forty,
you know, that's a big chunk of your career. I'm
not saying actors, you know, they're not the same as
you know, us that retire, I guess at a certain point.
But like that's a big part of your career. It's
a big part of the trajectory. You're going to be
hon as an actor, I think. So, I don't know,
do you think the people?
Speaker 2 (38:45):
Yeah, well, I mean it's it's like signing up to
be part of the Marvel movies. You know, like you
could be used for or your likeness could be used
even after you die, you know, And it sounds like
it's it is. These are longer term commitments, but I
ultimately think that could also be some comfort to you know,
you always know where there's a paycheck coming kind of
(39:05):
a thing. But you'd have to find the right person
who's willing to It is a commitment. And I mentioned
earlier the contracts, but you know, I remember reporting on MuggleNet,
you know, when it was like Dan, Rupert and Emma
are all going to renegotiate their contract. They might not
appear in the fifth Harry Potter film, you know, and
it was the real possibility. You better bet they're going
to lock that shit down this time. I'm like anyone
(39:28):
who's in season one barring death is going to be
in season ten and a half of you know, Part
one of you know, the final TV series. And so
I think that the best way to approach this is
with that awareness and for for the you know, production
and everybody to be on the same page that this
(39:49):
is you know, we do intend to adapt the whole
series and factor that into the pay and the commitment
and the film schedule and figure out what actors can
actually accommodate it.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Yeah, totally. Okay, Now I have some do you know
what I say this every time? I'm calling them fun questions? Fun? Ah?
Speaker 2 (40:10):
I will wait, every question so far has been fun?
How could they possibly be?
Speaker 1 (40:15):
You that? That is actually why I follow up at
the end I said, I've called these fun questions, but
hopefully the whole thing was fun. But do you never.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Yeah, I can assure you I've had a lot of fun,
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
Okay. So my first one is what Hogwarts house are
you in?
Speaker 2 (40:30):
I am in Hufflepuff?
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Oh you?
Speaker 2 (40:34):
And there were many years where I thought I was
a Gryffindor because that's just you know, all the cool
kids are Gryffindors.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
Okay, saying Eric.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
And it wasn't until Potter Moore and the potter More
House Quiz revealed my huff origin. And and you know,
I'll say this about JK Rowling, her energy that was
spent on Hulfapuff House while writing the books is very nil.
(41:07):
And yet the Potter More Welcome Letter perfectly defined to me,
not only myself, but what house Hulflepuff is all about, friendship,
putting in a doing a good job, hard work, you know,
some trials and suffering, but like you're gonna get through
(41:29):
it together mentality that I think after my teen years
after I was the you know, sort of very I
was never a jock, but like the the very bold,
like I'm a teenager, I'm gonna rule the world one day. Whatever.
I had mellowed enough by like the early twenties when
Potter was out, that I was able to see, okay, yes,
(41:50):
actually I value these same things that help up off values.
And so I took that you know, Pottermore Quiz result,
and really it wrote the entire like how I see
myself in the Harry Potter world. And I would I
would want to, you know, in Hogwarts legacy, I'm playing
you know, I played as a Hufflepuff, and I was
very happy from day one about the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
Oh see, I've just I'm going through I'm retaking the test. Actually,
the Swiss and Flick girls just sent me a new
link to do the test.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Oh like the the OG test that's been like recreated.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Or yeah, because I think I just want to, like
exactly said, I just want to speaker finder, And when
I did the quiz, I was just thinking what would
someone and griffin'a say, And I actually just want to
answer it with a hand on heart so I can
truly find out a house. I'm stay tuned, I'm gonna
do it. I'm gonna find out.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
Okay, well, if it is the OG one, I will
say there was some question that I don't think ever
got resolved as to how accurate the results were, because
when Potter Moore first launched, they had a house points
system that was like competing for different things you did
on the website, and the percentages of each house member
(42:58):
were fairly even, and I don't think that's representative of
the type of people that were online at that time.
So there's some question about whether or not you've got
a huge answer. So it ultimately does come down to
what's in your heart. But I want to see your
quiz results all.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
I'll let you know. Okay, what's your favorite book?
Speaker 2 (43:19):
Prisoner of Aska Ben and film the first of the second,
and it's probably the first.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Also say Chamber of Secrets. Surely not. I think that's
my least favorite. Oh why, don't know why? And I
say this every time because I feel like, obviously I
worked on that one, and Hermion is hardly in it
because she gets bloody what's it called by the petrified
by the basilisk, doesn't she? So I just have to
come into the studios and everyone else will be filming,
(43:51):
and I'll just be there for school, and I feel
like that's like tainted my view of Chamber of Secrets. Anyway,
I'll leave my trauma by having to go to the
studios for school. And my goodness, Okay, if you could
brew only one potion or cast one spell, but you
could continuously brew that potion or continuously cast that spell
(44:12):
for the rest of your life, which one would it
be and what would it be?
Speaker 2 (44:19):
Polyjuice potion? I think that it would benefit us all
to walk a mile in other people's shoes.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
I totally agree. If you could spend one day in
a location in the Wizarding World, where would it be?
And you can't just say Hogwarts. You have to be
a little bit more specific.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Oh, like second floor, corridor, fare, classroom.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
So I always say, like, maybe a bit more like
you could say, well, I'd like to have like dinner
in the great Hall then go back to the common room.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Yeah. It's it's so funny because there are so many
answers to this that are food related for me, because
like the food is a big part of the books.
These feasts, these constant there, they are always feasting. I
would sit on a sunny afternoon in the courtyard of
(45:10):
Flori and Fordesky's ice cream parlor in diagon Alley, London,
while he's still alive to help me with my homework.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
It stunning. Love that. Love that. Okay. Now I have
some would you rather? Questions? Oh love these Okay, they're
not that serious, so don't worry because I feel like
I freaking when we're doing would you rather? They're like, oh,
I'm going to get canceled. Okay, So first one, would
(45:38):
you rather have a pet hippogriff or a pet festal
nothing bad has to have happened to see the festal.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
That's a great conditioner that sort of levels the choices.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
When I first said it, someone was like, I don't
want a festeral and I was like, no, no, no, no,
don't worry to do nothing bad that's don't happen to.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
Oh it's a good one. I think a thestraal might
be easier to hide, you know, if you want to
take it out. It's less of a production.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
So, and I am a fan of like, you know,
rescue animals and animals that get less love and respect.
I feel like the hypogrises would have no problems being adopted,
but somebody might take a thesterol in, you know that
kind of thing. So yeah, that's right, I get it.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
Who would you rather have as a bestie, Harry Ron
or Hermione Oh Harmony?
Speaker 2 (46:31):
Yeah, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
I feel like Hermione is like a lot of people
say Hermione and I really thought no one would. So
that's nice. Okay. Would you rather be haunted by Peeves
who's constantly playing tricks on you or pranks on you?
Speaker 2 (46:45):
Or I can't wait to see the other.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
Be haunted by moaning Myrtle who's living in your bathroom?
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Oh no, oh no, okay, Peace can be a bit much.
I want to see him adapted in the TV series
and in every season, maybe even every episode, but he
can be a bit much. And even in the books
he's a bit much. So I go with moaning Myrtle,
and I would hope that I could strike some level
(47:15):
of understanding with her, because if it turns out, if
you treat this teenage girl that died as a person,
she's less miserable in general, which is good for her
and less of a pain to you, you know, don't
be an Olive Hornby. Yeah, and I think moaning Myrtle.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Is much more tolerable totally. And actually this is so
funny because I haven't thought about this with Peeves until
doing this sort of like mini series that you know,
you know, em You've met m Wilbank, haven't you.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
Yeah. I love m Walbank.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
I'm obsessed with her. But she's not read the books,
which like blows my mind. So when we were talking,
she doesn't know who Peeves is, which is in saying
to me, so like I'm asking these questions and I'm like,
you don't even know who Peeves is like her mind
is going to be blown when she watches the series.
I like, she's not gonna have it. She like it
(48:13):
just made me laugh. Like she's such a big part
of like the fandom, and she loves it and she's
such a like a fantastic addition to it. But half
of it, She's like, what are you talking about about?
Speaker 2 (48:24):
I agree completely, It's part of her charm. I know,
I know.
Speaker 1 (48:28):
That's why I love her. She's amazing. But okay, would
you rather have a time turner or an invisibility cloak?
Speaker 2 (48:35):
That is a great question. Time turner?
Speaker 1 (48:37):
Okay, would you rather have a flying car or a broomstick?
Speaker 2 (48:45):
A flying car? It's tough, but I need that that heat.
I need the heat that's high altitudes. The heat needs
to be working. I'm sorry, broomwood stratosphere.
Speaker 1 (49:01):
I would be too cold on a broomstick I've never
taken out. Okay, would you rather have a boget turned
into your most embarrassing memory or receive a howler from
a pissed off family member in the great hall?
Speaker 2 (49:13):
Ooh uh yeah, the the the howler HOWLA.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
I cannot understand anybody that says howla. I hate being
in trouble like I can that I could, Yeah for me.
Speaker 2 (49:30):
You know, every you're on the same playing field if
they hear your howler. But it is ultimately one family
member's pissed off opinion, and you then can either debunk
or be like, listen, we don't get along, we never have.
What do you gonna do? Like my cousin wants to,
you know, call me names in front of everybody. Yes,
it's unpleasant, but I have a stake, I have a
(49:53):
voice in that. Your boggart, it becomes what you fear
the most and will lay bare. But you're dreading in
a way that I think you know, no piss off
family member could ever get that deep into actually hurting you.
So that's my justification.
Speaker 1 (50:07):
Breaking it down like that. I actually think, there you go. True,
that is true? Okay. Would you rather spend the night
alone in the forbidden forest or the chamber of secrets?
The basilist is alive in the chamber.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
Of secrets, you know, in the chamber of secrets, I
know what my answer is gonna be. But in the
chamber of secrets, there's only one thing trying to kill you. Yeah,
in the forbidden Forest. Probably several things are trying to
kill you. Yeah, but yeah for some reason because considering
the basilist, you only look at it and it kills you. Yeah,
(50:39):
it doesn't even need to like actually catch you.
Speaker 1 (50:42):
Yeah yeah, any eye contact and.
Speaker 2 (50:43):
It's yeah yeah, yeah. Then the basilisk is so opie
and uh yes, I would go with the forest forest.
Speaker 1 (50:51):
Okay, great. Then this next section is called love potion
magic missiletoe. Okay. First one I'm going to do is
Harry Malfoy Cedric degree.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
And it's love potion magic or no, it's magic.
Speaker 1 (51:10):
Yeah, love potions, marry magic is kiss and aotic damas kill.
Speaker 2 (51:19):
Okay, I like Draco. I'm killed.
Speaker 1 (51:24):
Draco kill Drake.
Speaker 2 (51:26):
Yeah, you know, he participated in some bad acts and
maybe it's not the light at the end, but if
one's got to go, it's not gonna be Cedric Diggree
my house.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
Oh my gosh, I forgot because one before, Cedric's been
an easy kill for people.
Speaker 2 (51:42):
Oh my god. Well, it's easy to kill people who
die in the series because it's like, oh, that was
their fate, it was always faded. So Cedric and Draco
and who Harry, I'll kiss Harry just to say I
kissed the chosen one, and I'll marry Cedric.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
Love that. Love that, okay, Lucius?
Speaker 2 (51:59):
But Tricks Lockhart, Oh kill Lockhart. It's not common, but
I'm gonna put him out of his own misery. Kiss
below Tricks Yeah, yeah, Mary Lucius. Yeah, he would bring
(52:20):
financial stability to the union.
Speaker 1 (52:23):
Yeah, that's true, that's true. Okay, Ginny Luna Hermione.
Speaker 2 (52:28):
Oh that's a real tough one. I have to marry Ginny.
That has been my wish since a very young And
Ginny is such a badass.
Speaker 1 (52:40):
She Oh, who's going Luna or Hermione? Who are you kissing? Who?
You kill him?
Speaker 2 (52:50):
I'm gonna kill HARMONIU.
Speaker 1 (52:51):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2 (52:53):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (52:54):
Ok uh.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
And I'm gonna Kisluna.
Speaker 1 (52:59):
Love that? Okay. One more serious? Lupid Neville?
Speaker 2 (53:05):
Love this. I can't bring myself to kill Serious. I
think he was done so dirty in the books. But
would I marry Serious or kiss Serious? H I'm gonna
marry Neville. Never would divide you, marry Neville. I think
(53:28):
that he would provide. I think that he would care.
He's a bit closer to my age, you know that
sort of thing. And I can't kill Serious, so that
means Lupin has to die.
Speaker 1 (53:41):
Uh you know, Jock, I'm hearing kill Lupid.
Speaker 2 (53:46):
He It would be unthinkable in any other context, I
assure you. Uh. But and he also is a character
that I think was done dirty in the writing, you know,
making his big folly sort of be about this love
and look, canonically, I think he's a gay character or
bisexual at best. So you know, I don't agree with
(54:08):
his arc, but Lupin unfortunately has to go in this scenario.
Speaker 1 (54:16):
I'm sorry. Okay, So you're marrying Neville, kissing Serious, killing Lupin.
Speaker 2 (54:24):
Yeah, yeah, I hope that doesn't hunt me or get
me canceled.
Speaker 1 (54:28):
I can't promise they won't.
Speaker 2 (54:29):
No, Okay, we know what we're clipping it.
Speaker 1 (54:49):
Massive. Thank you to Eric for jumping on the podcast
and also potentially saving me from some legal drama with
Tom Felton's but publishers. Eric and the tire muggle Cast
team have been such an incredible asset to the Harry
Potter fandom, and I truly hope the podcast continues to
thrive for another twenty years. So, as I said earlier
(55:13):
in the intro, the podcast will be taking a short
break while I return to my muggle job after having
a year off a maternity leave. I can't believe it.
It's gone so quick, but I think I just need
to get my feet back under the table there. But
once I do, I'll be back with more episodes of
Behind the Ones. I already have a few recorded, so
I'm really hoping we can drop some of those later
(55:35):
in the spring. Before I sign off, I just want
to say such a huge thank you to Melissa, Chloe, Trey,
Meg Tiff, Katie, m Bretschanel and Eric for being such
incredible guests, And of course, the biggest thank you goes
to all of you for your endless support. I truly
(55:57):
truly love this podcast, and I really love each of
you for listening, sharing, liking, sending me lovely messages because
it honestly means the world to me. But for now,
it's just going to have to be a see you soon,
and I really hope your life is full of magic.
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