PotterCast 109: Wichita Transcript

Part 1 (0:00 - 13:09)

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Melissa Anelli (MA): Hi, guys.

Audience: Hi. Hey.

MA: Thank you guys, it's Wichitonians. Wichitonians? Wichita? Wichitins? Wichitanizens? This is our last Borders show before Deathly Hallows, which is fifty-two hours away. Or fifty-three.

John Noe (JN): Whoa.

MA: Forty-eight plus five.

JN: I suppose, yeah.

MA: It's seven o'clock here? We're a little bit out of it but welcome. Thank you guys for coming out. Oh, my gosh. We just got. Where were we last night?

JN: St. Louis.

MA: Thank you. (Audience laughs)

JN: Somewhere near there, anyways.

MA: We were somewhere near St. Louis. It's a lot of highway and a lot of speeding and John got a speeding ticket yesterday.

JN: It was awesome. (Audience laughs)

MA: So, yeah, lots of fun. (JN: Yeah.) But we're very excited. Every city we go to, we like to start the show by doing a little test. If you've been listening to our live PotterCasts, you know. We've been testing to see which Harry Potter) city we can say on July 22, knew the most about Harry Potter). Whose predictions were most spot on. (JN: Ooh.) Spot on. And now recently we've been getting very similar answers. (JN: Yes.) So if it comes down to a tie, we're going to go by who's loudest so (JN sighs) you guys got St. Louis was pretty wild, Columbus was pretty wild, you guys got some living up to do, but I think Kansas can pull it out. (JN: Okay.) All right, so John, you want to start?

JN: I will start. Fine. Our first question- oh, we have grapes in a tin. (Audience laughs)

MA: Check it out.

JN: First question is about grapes.

MA: No, it is not.

JN: No, hm. Grapes and hand lotion are delicious. Okay, my first question is about the veil that you all saw in Order of the Phoenix very recently. If you think Harry will be going behind the veil at some point during Deathly Hallows, make your noise here. (Audience cheers)

JN: If you think Harry won't be going behind the veil, you can make noise here. (Audience cheers)

MA: That is the first time in a while you guys have been more towards the "No" about the veil. (JN: It's all good.) Interesting, interesting. Okay, so our fourth, second. It used to be fourth, and we changed it to second. (JN: Okay.) Our second question is about Harry and whether he'll be going to school. If you think that Harry will not, will be attending classes for his seventh year at Hogwarts, make your noise now. (Audience cheers)

MA: If you think Harry will not be attending school this year. (Audience cheers)

MA: That was pretty good.

JN: All right. Cool. I liked that.

MA: Why don't you put a napkin under that or something?

JN: This is a big napkin.

MA: Okay. (Audience laughs) I think your mother loved that answer when you were a kid. "It's a big napkin." (JN: Yeah.) Okay.

JN: Number three is about whether or not Harry or his scar is a Horcrux. If you think it is or he is a Horcrux, make some noise here. (Audience cheers)

MA: This is Ben Schoen's home town.

JN: Yes, it is. (laughs) (MA: Okay.) And if you think that it is not a Horcrux, he is not a Horcrux, make noise here. (Audience cheers)

JN: Almost pretty equal.

MA: Very nice. No, that wasn't equal! (Audience laughs) (JN: No?) Kansas does not think that Harry is a Horcrux. (JN: Okay.) Or Wichita does not. Okay, number three, goes with our friend. Hey, where is our friend?

JN: Neville!

MA: Number two, rather. Number four. (Audience laughs) We've been driving a lot. Here's our friend Mr. Snape. Okay. (JN: Professor Snap.) Step up. And he has "evil" button and he has a "good" button. If you think Snape is a very evil man, make your noise now. (Audience cheers)

MA: You think Snape will turn out to be good. (Audience cheers)

MA: Positively.

JN: Snape is a total sweetheart.

MA: Has anybody, has any city ever come out on the evil camp?

JN: I don't know, (MA: Ever?) but I hope they'll bear with us today. Because that's the topic (MA: Oh yeah. That is.) of our Canon Conundrum.

MA: Number one, John, you take it.

JN: Number one!

MA: This is fun eating the grapes.

JN: I know. Number one (MA: Sorry, anybody want some?) is our biggest question here if Harry will live or die. If you think Harry will die,(MA: Sorry I wanted grapes.) or if you'd like some grapes, (MA laughs) make your noise here. (Audience talks and cheers)

MA: Wait wait, you didn't- (laughs) if you think Harry will live or die make your noise here? (Audience laughs) Everybody (JN: They should all be making noise. I didn't hear any noise!) should have screamed.

MA: Oh, we're tired.

JN: If you think Harry will live make your noise here. (Audience cheers) If you think Harry will die make some noise here. (Audience cheers) (MA: What was it?) If you think Harry will live make your noise here. (Audience cheers) If you think Harry will die, make your noise here. (Audience cheers) Okay.

MA: Okay, that's the loudest we've gotten "die" for a while. (JN: I know.) Have you guys been spoiled or something? (JN: No.) Please no. Nobody here's been spoiled right? I've been saying that we're gonna get a squirt gun, and anybody who comes up and says "I've heard something from the book from the internet" and I'm just gonna- So now watch out, I've got water. (JN: I only have- I only know...) I will do it. I will. Make Sue cry.

JN: I only know one spoiler and that's Crookshanks kills Neville. (MA: Maybe I'll just leave it closed.) Crookshanks comes out of nowhere with a blade and kills Neville.

MA: With a blade? (Audience laughs) (JN: Yes.) With a blade.

JN: A little switchblade.

MA: Are we in West Side Story now?

JN: Yes. Crookshanks...

MA: And your Crookshanks? (JN: Yeah.) Okay so- poor people listening at home you're gonna hear us going (makes chewing noise) (Audience laughs) for the whole show. Sorry guys, we're eating grapes. Okay. (Audience laughs) Okay okay okay.

JN: Canon Conundrums is all about Snap!

MA: Well yesterday was all about why Snape is good, today will be about why Snape is not so good. (JN: Could be bad.) Could be bad. How are the reasons, the theories and the the discussions, whatever. So we wanna open it up to you guys first. What-Now don't say "I think Snape is good because..." (JN: Yeah.) Cause we've already covered that, sort of.

JN: It's okay if you still think he's good but if you're not a hundred percent sure, no one's a hundred percent sure. (MA: One person is a hundred percent sure.) But if you think that he could be evil, I wanna hear why you think he could be evil.

MA: Nobody thinks he's evil. (MA and Audience laugh) So that was the shortest Canon Conundrum ever and- no, no, no.

JN: You can come on up. Not that far of a walk there.

MA: Why are wearing that coat here?

Audience Member: He's Hagrid.

Audience Member: Yeah.

MA: Ah, I get it.

JN: That's awesome.

MA: That's pretty cool.

Audience Member: Yeah, I think Snape is evil because if he was good, how would he redeem himself? He would show up and say, "Yeah, I'm good" and before he finished his sentence he'd be blasted into next week. Yeah, by the Order by anyone who sees him who's good.

MA: So maybe he'll die and then we'll find out that he's good. But yeah.

Audience Member: I just don't see how he would be able redeem himself.

MA: Well then so how's it gonna work? Because if he's evil and still he shows up in front of anybody he's gonna be blasted into next week. So pretty much he's a dead man walking is what you're saying.

Audience Member: Yeah I think he's a dead man walking but I just don't see how he'd be able to redeem himself if he was good.

MA: He could die.

Audience Member: Yeah. (MA: Bloodily.) Well he will die, that's what I think.

MA: Yeah, yeah. Who here thinks Snape is gonna die? (JN: Make your noise!) Make noise!

JN: We can't see. (Audience cheers) There you go.

MA: So often we have to remind people it's a podcast and you gotta make noise. Live? Snape living? (Audiences laughs) Just grape guy. He's alive, why? You think he's the reprieve. (JN: Mm.) I think it was Draco, that's what I think.

JN: The reprieve? I think Draco's gone by chapter five.

MA: Why'd you give him two more chapters?

JN: Because I don't think he's important enough to be addressed so early in the book.

MA: Okay. No, you're right. Chapter two- I usually, lately since Book Four it's been Other Point of View chapter to open, then we have Harry and wherever he is, and then we start getting into those stories.

JN: Pretty much.

MA: So maybe Chapter Five. Because you have Harry he's gotta go to the wedding, (JN: Yeah.) for Bill and Fleur.

JN: It's gotta start with where Grubbly-Plank's been all this time. Chapter one.

MA: She's new to PotterCast. You're new? Yeah. John has this thing where he picks these minor characters and makes a big deal out of them. Grubbly-Plank.

JN: I cant's wait until our big Grubbly-Plank interview.

MA: You will get that interview. (JN: I will.) If we get offered that interview, it's all John.

JN: Yes. (Audience laughs)

MA: It'd be hilarious. That and Richard Leaf.

JN: For sure.

MA: So, Severus- something else that we thought about in the car with Mr. Severus Snape. (JN: Mm-hm.) Jo and her names, right? Severus, sever, to leave from, divide. It's really clever, you never really hear people talk about that. But maybe this is him severing from the way. Maybe this is him not severing from the way. Maybe this means he's going to break apart from everybody and go on his own. Anybody think...

JN: How lonely would that be for poor Snape?

MA: Oh yeah, because he looks like he's not lonely.

JN: Oh. (Audience laughs)

MA: Anybody here think Snape is all for himself? (Audience Member: Yeah.) How so, why?

JN: Do you guys recall the quote J.K. Rowling talked about how Hogwarts professor's spouse's would be of interest at some point? Do you think Snape has a wife at Hogwarts somewhere? (MA: Oh, please no.) Madame Pince.

MA: That is gross. (Audience laughs)

JN: Could be the librarian. Could be Sinistra. Wormtail? Wortail's not his...

MA: She also presented with the idea of Snape being in love with them, or was it somebody being in love with Snape, she said it was a very horrible thought, and you'd find out why in Book Seven. To have Snape love you. No. Or the other way. Was it the other way? I don't know if he loved Lily. What do you think?

Audience Member: Oh, yeah!

JN: We had a great talk yesterday...

MA: Oh. yeah, he's so sure, this guy.

JN: I love this, what we talked about yesterday, is how the Half-Blood Prince- the book, the potions book, would have been a collaboration of Snape and Lily Potter. Or Lily Evans. And I think Melissa disagrees that Slughorn was aware that the book he was holding on to had all this cool stuff written on every single page, and gave it to Harry because he wanted him to do well. Whether or not maybe he knew it was Lily was part of it, it would be awesome if he was that aware, but I think he knew what he was doing when he was giving Harry effectively a cheat sheet for the entire year to get him up. Get him some better grades, I think.

MA: I don't think so, because the book wasn't always displaying all that writing, first of all. It appeared as they were- (JN: What?) Didn't it appear?

JN: No, that was the Chamber of Secrets. That's the diary you're thinking of. The writing was in there all along.

MA: Anyway, but either way, I just, it's not an important detail. It's- there's an extra...

JN: It's a cool detail.

MA: If we get to the point in Book Seven where Slughorn stops and says, "Harry, by the way, when I gave you that book..." (Audience laughs) I mean, I'll think that a couple pages could have been cut out of the book. Seriously.

JN: I'm not saying we're going to find out. I'm just saying it'd be cool.

MA: If we're not going to find out, if we're not going to find out, then who cares?

JN: There's loads of stuff we talk about that we are probably never going to find out.

MA: Yeah, that's not one of them. (Audience laughs)

JN: It is to me. I think it's cool.

MA: Okay, okay. (JN: Probably not.) That's a good question, actually. How come Severus Snape didn't- But then again it's potions. Maybe Snape had it in the room, you know what I mean, on purpose. (Audience member replies) Yeah, mm-hm. Mm-hm.

JN: Mm-hm. Yeah, yeah. (MA: Mm-hm.) That's pretty good. Getting in the Room of Requirement was probably important, definitely. A lot of people think there could be a Horcrux in there. Though, it seems like Harry should really have to have a hard time finding these things, and for them to be in the house he stays at for Christmas and at his Room of Requirement, it seems like he has to journey a little further, make it a little harder. Hm. Hogwarts, A History. I'd like to think it'd be helpful in some way.

MA: I'm sorry, I'm just trying to find the book. I'm almost there, and you know how when you're almost there and you can't quite find it, and it's like ugh. "Slughorn strode over to a corner cupboard and, after a moment's foraging, emerged with two very battered-looking copies of Advanced Potion Making, by Libatius Borage, which he gave to Harry and Ron along with two sets of tarnished scales." He doesn't even differentiate which book he gave to whom, he just gave them to Harry and Ron.

JN: Harry notices. It's Harry's point of view.

MA: Yeah, I mean, he grabbed two, that's it. He just emerged with two very battered-looking copies. "...I'm sure we can lend you some scales, and we've got a small stock of old books here, they'll do you until you..." You don't even know how many are in the cabinet. He just comes out with two. It's not important, why are we talking about this? (JN: I don't know.) (Audience member replies) It's not just two, he just grabbed two books. Lucky, it's like a felix felicis moment. (JN: Aw.) Okay. Can we talk about something important?

JN: Go for it.

MA: What were we talking about? I was reading, you got to catch me up.

JN: Hogwarts, A History.

MA: What about it?

JN: If we're going to use it to find Horcruxes.

MA: No. I mean, I don't think. (MA and Audience laugh)

MA: I'm just like no. (laughs) No. Well I think Hermione might know something from Hogwarts, A History that will be helpful. Yeah.

JN: They'll use Hogwarts, A History to figure out how to activate the school's defenses when it's under attack by Voldemort.

MA: Lord Voldemort, or what the Ravenclaw object was. I mean, Hermione has got all that stored up here. You know, unless she carries that with her on the Horcrux hunt, which I don't put past her, at all. (Audience laughs) (JN: She could.) You know. Light reading. It's probably this big, you know? (JN: Yeah.) And she just takes it with them. Then again, they're so lucky. They can just shrink it, (JN: They could.) stick in your pocket.