Bigger, Bolder, Beast-ier (OOTP Chapter 31, 'O.W.L.s.')

Summary

MuggleCast: Episode Summary - "Bigger, Bolder, Beast-ier" (Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 31, 'O.W.L.s.')

Release Date: July 1, 2025

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Introduction and Overview

In this episode of MuggleCast: The Harry Potter Re-Read Podcast, hosts Andrew, Eric, Stacy, Micah, and Laura delve into Chapter 31: 'O.W.L.s.' from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The discussion intertwines fan insights, character analyses, and reflections on the academic pressures mirrored in the wizarding world.

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Discussing Ron's Quidditch Win

[08:28] Stacy:
"Ron cannot stop talking about the Quidditch match. [...] Ron finally had his arguably one of his biggest moments in the series."

The hosts explore Ron Weasley's triumph in the Quidditch match, highlighting his excitement and the dynamic between him and his friends. Harry's genuine happiness for Ron contrasts with Hermione's focused studiousness, showcasing their distinct personalities.

[09:17] Eric:
"Ron reminds him quite a bit of somebody that he just saw in a memory not that long ago."

Stacy connects Ron's celebration to Harry's memories, emphasizing the positive emotions surrounding Ron's achievement.

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The Impact of Hagrid's Fate

[45:00] Eric:
"The Astronomy owl needs to be done at nighttime for obvious reasons. [...] students are witnessing quite the scene taking place down on the Hogwarts grounds."

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the dramatic confrontation between Umbridge and Hagrid at the Astronomy Tower. The hosts analyze the Ministry's aggressive tactics and the implications of Hagrid's firing, considering it an "escalation tactic" and a move to undermine key characters.

[53:17] Stacy:
"Hagrid is able to take out pretty much everybody with the exception of one Auror who I think trips over his fallen mate and Umbridge."

The physical prowess of Hagrid is praised, reflecting on his role as a protector and the unfortunate consequences of his defense.

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Exam Pressure and Academic Comparisons

[20:10] Stacy:
"How do these OWL exams reflect real-world academic pressures?"

The hosts draw parallels between the O.W.L. exams and real-life standardized testing, discussing the anxiety and high stakes involved. They reflect on personal academic experiences, making the discussion relatable to listeners.

[22:13] Andrew:
"Once you are over that hill, it's the most amazing feeling in the world."

The relief post-exams is highlighted, contrasting the intense preparation and stress depicted in the chapter with the eventual sense of accomplishment.

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Draco Malfoy's Views on Exams and Privilege

[23:49] Stacy:
"Draco is making these offhanded remarks that it's not what you know, it's about who you know."

The conversation shifts to Draco Malfoy's assertions about nepotism and connections influencing exam outcomes. The hosts critique Draco's perspective, comparing it to real-world corporate favoritism and questioning its relevance to the O.W.L. evaluations.

[28:00] Eric:
"He's doing this to brag and to intimidate."

Draco's behavior is dissected, showing it as a manifestation of his aristocratic background and the influence of his family's status.

---

Harry's Patronus and Extra Credit

[38:04] Andrew:
"I don't like this."

The episode examines Professor Tofty's awarding of bonus points to Harry for successfully casting a Patronus during his O.W.L. exam. The hosts debate the fairness of this gesture, considering the achievements of other students who might possess similar skills without receiving extra credit.

[39:35] Eric:
"Harry teaches them... that's what makes it special."

Harry's role as a mentor is praised, suggesting that his ability to teach others enhances his own recognition and merit.

---

Umbridge's Assault on Hagrid

[46:55] Laura:
"Umbridge is actively trying to undermine Harry at every turn."

The hosts analyze the motives and execution of Umbridge's attack on Hagrid, questioning the Ministry's methods and the broader implications of targeting a half-giant like Hagrid. They discuss the potential hidden agendas behind the Ministry's actions and the racial undertones associated with their aggression.

[51:11] Andrew:
"So I guess this is a good reason for him to resist arrest."

Hagrid's resistance is explored as a protective measure, highlighting his character's strength and the unjust treatment he faces.

---

Reflections on Hogwarts Classes

[34:00] Eric:
"We know next to nothing about some of these subjects, like transfiguration."

The discussion critiques the limited insight into Hogwarts' curriculum, noting that despite multiple books, the mechanics of spells and magical subjects remain superficial. They reflect on the narrative focus shifting away from academic details to plot-driven elements.

[36:49] Micah:
"There is some theory that we get along the way when they talk about Gam's Law."

Micah introduces Gringotts' foundational principles, acknowledging the sparse yet intriguing information provided about magical laws and their applications.

---

Listener Interaction and Quizzic

[62:13] Eric:
"This week's Quizzic question [...] the correct answer [...] was Andre the Giant from the Princess Bride."

The hosts engage with their audience through interactive segments like Quizzic, presenting trivia questions related to both Harry Potter and broader pop culture. Listener responses and humorous interactions add a lively and inclusive atmosphere to the episode.

[67:56] Stacy:
"Daddy jokes I think are different than dad jokes, aren't they?"

Lighthearted banter among the hosts concludes the episode, emphasizing community engagement and the playful nature of the podcast.

---

Conclusion

In "Bigger, Bolder, Beast-ier," MuggleCast offers an insightful exploration of Chapter 31 from Order of the Phoenix, blending detailed analysis with relatable anecdotes. The episode adeptly balances character studies, thematic discussions, and interactive elements, providing a comprehensive and engaging experience for both avid fans and new listeners.

Notable Quotes:

• Stacy [08:28]: "Ron cannot stop talking about the Quidditch match."
• Eric [23:49]: "He's doing this to brag and to intimidate."
• Andrew [38:04]: "I don't like this."
• Micah [36:49]: "There is some theory that we get along the way when they talk about Gam's Law."

---

Stay tuned for future episodes as MuggleCast continues to unravel the magical world of Harry Potter, chapter by chapter.

Transcript

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[Eric]

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[Laura]

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In time for this class.

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[Andrew]

Welcome to Mugglecast, your weekly ride into the world of Harry Potter. I'm Andrew.

[Eric]

I'm Eric.

[Stacy]

And I'm Micah.

[Andrew]

Laura will be joining us in a few minutes. We are your Harry Potter friends talking about the books, the movies and the upcoming television show. So make sure you follow us in your favorite podcast app and that way you'll never miss an episode. And this week we hope you studied up and you're feeling well rested because we're discussing Order of The Phoenix, Chapter 31 W L S. It's hard to do that.

[Eric]

You did really well, actually, for being a little rusty.

[Stacy]

Your little hem was actually better than your O W L s. O W.

[Andrew]

L s. There we go. And helping us with today's discussion is mugglecast patron and Slug club member Stacy. Welcome to the show. Stacy.

[Micah]

Hi. Happy to be here.

[Andrew]

We're excited to have you. Let's get your Fandom. Id.

[Micah]

My favorite book is Prisoner of Azkaban. Like Eric, I'm a big Marauder fan, so that kind of covers all the bases. My favorite movie is actually Goblet of Fire, which is maybe a little bit of a hot take. I'm a Ravenclaw. I went on to Wizarding World to remind myself what my over morning house is, and that's been taken down.

[Andrew]

Oh, taken down. They don't even want you to remember anymore.

[Micah]

So Google says the Ravenclaw equivalent is horned serpent. But for some reason I was thinking Thunderbird, my patronus is a shrew. Which we don't need to talk about any further because it's a shrew.

[Eric]

Yeah, I feel like you're in the boat that so many of us are where you're just like, what? By the Patronus results. Yeah, mine's Astote and Hagrid feeds the children stout sandwiches throughout the books.

[Stacy]

As a fellow Ravenclaw, I also got Thunderbird, even though, like you're saying horned serpent is the equivalent, so you're in good company, I'd like to say.

[Micah]

Okay, yeah, so I think it was Thunderbird. And then for the owls chapter, when I was in middle and high school, my favorite classes were split between English and science classes.

[Eric]

Oh, okay.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I wanted to ask that one because of today's chapter. And Stacy, we can't help but notice you have a very impressive wand collection. Behind you are the. How did you decide to collect so many wands and how many do you have?

[Micah]

I have 77. 78 if you count the muggle cast one which is on the wall.

[Andrew]

That should definitely count, I think.

[Stacy]

But then she loses the magic of seven. Seven.

[Andrew]

Yes. That is. That just means now you have to go up to 777.

[Micah]

There are more to get yet.

[Andrew]

What was your first wand?

[Micah]

I bought a six pack double door in the army thing. So Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Jenny.

[Andrew]

And then you were hooked after that. Wow, that's.

[Eric]

That's a slippery slope.

[Micah]

It really is.

[Stacy]

And do you have a favorite of those 77? Because obviously the muggle cast one is your favorite. But aside from the muggle cast one.

[Eric]

Right, right.

[Stacy]

Or maybe one that you were most surprised by.

[Micah]

The design I really like Tonks is it's got a fun handle on it. Newts is fun because it kind of looks like it's been chewed on.

[Stacy]

Oh, interesting.

[Micah]

Yeah, exactly.

[Andrew]

By Pickett. Maybe I could see Pickett gnawing at the wand.

[Stacy]

Well, cool.

[Andrew]

Welcome to the show. We appreciate your support on Patreon. And thanks for sort of including the Mugglecast wand in your collection. Total. I think it should count. We, we spoke to Harry Potter. He said it, it should count.

[Eric]

It's specially crafted. Of course it should count.

[Stacy]

Exactly.

[Micah]

Yeah, it's, it's on the, it's on the same display.

[Andrew]

So before we jump into chapter by chapter, we want to remind you of a couple of items related to the show. If you love Mugglecast and want to help us keep the show running as smoothly as Harry looking straight in Umbridge's face while casting a patronus, we invite you to become a member of our [e-mail] mugglecast by financially supporting us. For as little as $5 a month, you can get instant access to two bonus Mochocast episodes every month, plus ad free episodes, access to our recording studio by way of live streams, a personal video thank you message from one of the four Mugglecasters, and a lot more. This timing couldn't be perfect. Hi Laura, I just wanted to kick it over to you and ask what's coming up in bonus Mugglecast this week?

[Laura]

Oh my gosh, this is such fortuitous timing. And hello, Stacy, it's so, so nice to meet you. So I didn't get to say hey to you in the pre show. So in today's bonus Muggle cast, we are going to be talking about some of the actors who declined roles in Potter and some of the reasons that they declined those roles. I think, you know, we are all aware of at least some of the people on this list, but there were a couple of others that were surprises to me, so I'm looking forward to chatting about it.

[Andrew]

Yeah, there is even news about one of them this week, I believe. I don't know if that's what inspired this discussion.

[Laura]

That is what inspired it because I saw that news and I was like, what, the guy from Juno?

[Eric]

It's true.

[Andrew]

That'll be [e-mail] mugglecast if you're looking for other ways to support us, you can visit mugglecastmerch.com to buy official gear. And by the way, on that website, we have a link to limited time patron gifts from years past. You can also leave us a review in your favorite podcast app and you can tell a fellow Muggle about the show. Finally, visit mugglecast.com for quick access to all of this information, our contact form and more. And now we have the whole gang here. So let's jump into chapter by chapter and this week we're discussing Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 31 O W L.

[Eric]

S. We last talked about this chapter on episode 468 of Mugglecast, which was called and again with the episode titles, Rubeus Hagg, Hagrid's Punch Out. And this was on June 9th of 2023. Turns should do anything. Good luck. What the episode 468.

[Andrew]

What also cracks me up is Voldemort says in this vision, we have hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream. Basically telling Harry, we're gonna be here for a while. Wink, wink. Take your time. Come on in. We'll be here.

[Eric]

Figure out how to get your ass to London with Hogwarts in a police state. Mysterious thing time.

[Stacy]

All right, well, it is test time, so break out your Scantrons and number two pencils.

[Eric]

Oh, my God, that's a triggering revenge. Thanks for the time, Turner. Micah, is that.

[Laura]

I'm already breaking out in a cold sweat. Micah, I was not ready for this.

[Stacy]

But first, we actually have to study for the exams before we sit to take them. And I wanted to start the discussion talking about Ron's big win and Hagrid's big surprise because Ron cannot stop talking about the Quidditch match. And it made me think if we ever had a friend who just couldn't stop talking about one of their biggest achievements. And Harry seems genuinely happy for Ron, whereas Hermione is just nose down in her books studying. And it's like this really fun dynamic that exists here. But Ron finally had his. Arguably one of his biggest moments in the series, and his two best friends were nowhere to be found.

[Eric]

It's the day of or like the day shortly after, like, in 40 years, he's still gonna be talking about this. Then you can ask this question, do you have any friends that just won't talking about their biggest accomplishment? For now, I'm inclined to let Ron have it. What makes me laugh, though, and I really did giggle while reading this, is the content, the actual text of what Ron is saying. He's like, oh, I thought he was going to go left, his left, my right. But then I went right at the last minute and I was just like, oh, Quidditch actually doesn't work when you write about it. Like, it's not exciting to read about. Like, the actual moment of, like, are there. I don't want to be like super ignorant of all of sports, but goalkeeping, which is extremely talented, is not necessarily the kind of thing that that is exciting while written about. You know what I'm Saying it's like you go left, you go right.

[Stacy]

That's why we went to the forest.

[Eric]

So to hear Ron talk about, I'm like, who's listening to this and going, oh, my God, I'm on the edge of my seat. You know, it's like he did the good saves.

[Laura]

I feel like it's more impressive if you see it, right? Like, if you go to a soccer match, like, watching those goalies is very impressive. But, yeah, if I were reading, like a written description about what they were doing, probably not so much. But I'm also not hugely into sports, so.

[Andrew]

But even in the Muggle world, I feel like when you hear athletes talking about a game or plays, they don't really get more detailed than what Eric was describing. And they have like post game interviews and you're hearing them repeat the same things over and over again, or you hear them, the press interview the coach, and it's like, yeah, we locked in. We really focused. We caught the ball. It's nothing original. Time to time, we got to do better next time. It's the same, like 10 things every time.

[Eric]

It made me wonder what the least. Like, right, like, exciting to read about position on the Quidditch team is. And I'd say besides keeper, I mean, there are at least three hoops, which is exciting, but for a Seeker, you know, the Seeker's job is done when they get the Golden Snitch or don't get the Golden Snitch. And we've seen probably the Seeker's position be written about the most in the Harry Potter books, less so as the books have progressed. But Chasers are at least exciting. Right? And that's the commentary that we get when the announcer is talking about it. And Beater is probably next most exciting to, like, actually read about from the perspective of the Beater, which we never get.

[Laura]

Yeah, it is fun to play, though. Again, like, to anyone who ever played Quidditch champions, I found I personally enjoyed playing the Beater role. But what I liked about that, too is that you could switch back and forth between these different positions so you could experience all of them.

[Andrew]

But to your point, Eric, a Seeker recapping their game would be like, I floated there and I floated there. Looks left and I looked right and I sneezed. And then I thought I saw something. It was just a fly.

[Stacy]

It's more than just the commentary on the match, though. It's the fact that Ron has, I believe, won the Quidditch cup for Gryffindor. Right?

[Eric]

Oh, yeah, Yeah.

[Stacy]

I think this is his standout moment.

[Andrew]

And he does deserve to talk about it because this was a unique, very special occasion. And it's all the more appropriate that he is talking about it so passionately because Harry and Hermione weren't there to witness it. So they get to experience some of the excitement that actually happened on the field.

[Eric]

I went left. My left.

[Micah]

I mean, I think for Ron, who has never really had that moment, that it's been just him and it's not, oh, yeah, you did this with Harry or you were with Harry until you passed out and then Harry did the thing. I mean, I think he has the right to. To celebrate and feel proud of it.

[Laura]

Yeah. Think about what he saw in the mirror of Erised. Like this is that moment come to fruition.

[Eric]

One of his heart's desires.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Stacy]

Well, one good thing that does come from this whole conversation or observance by Harry is that Ron reminds him quite a bit of somebody that he just saw in a memory not that long ago. And what I love about this moment in particular is that there's positivity around it because there's been so much negativity around Snape's worst memory and how James has come off to Harry. But the quote from the book was the truth was that Ron had just reminded Harry forcibly of another Gryffindor Quidditch player who had once sat rumpling his hair under this very tree. So it's very cool to see the comparison between Ron and James.

[Eric]

It does seem like Harry's had a minute and a half now to actually process some of those emotions. Following his conversation with Remus and Sirius at Grimo Place, we don't see it happen. We don't really check in with Harry. But given that he's looking at Ron and kind of smiles under his breath about the comparison to his dad, we learn that Harry. We can infer that Harry is kind of no longer completely horrified by the idea the specter of his father.

[Stacy]

So Harry and Hermione break the truth to Ron that they didn't see him go left, they didn't see him go right.

[Eric]

Who's left? Who's right? I'm so confused.

[Andrew]

We were watching Hagrid go left and right and deeper into the dark of forest.

[Stacy]

There you go.

[Eric]

To Ron's credit, he takes it very well. Like he's, you know, at first he starts to turn red, but as soon as they like that, he realizes exactly what happened. He probably realizes one. He wouldn't have done any different. They didn't really have a choice of Hagrid's there and the story is just too hard to believe that they would go and do this willingly. So he's quick to forgive, I think. And he's by the end of their story, five minutes later, outraged on their behalf. And for them and with them, giants.

[Stacy]

Definitely seem like something that would blow Ron's mind. And I think that's what happens in this moment. It just completely takes him off track from his whole Quidditch bragging session. And now he's focused in on the fact that Hagrid has brought yet another creature into the forest for them to have to contend with. And I thought he raised a really good point. And I'm interested to hear what you all have to say because he asks the question, have we ever come off better from mixing with one of Hagrid's monster mates?

[Micah]

The only thing that I could think of is maybe Buckbeak, if we consider him a monster mate. Because, you know, he turned out to be really critical at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban as far as getting Sirius to safety. And then he sticks around for at least two more books. And he also took a couple swipes at Malfoy, which I'm sure the trio appreciated.

[Andrew]

Yeah. And I think this is the nature of a position like this. Some of the beasts aren't going to be so friendly. Some of them are going to be. As the trio learned in Prisoner of Azkaban there is also a right way to approach a hippogriff like Buckbeak. So I. You know, it is a good point that Ron raises, though I agree with you, Micah. And this one might be one of the most dangerous beasts that they've been introduced to at all of all because this guy is also located deep into the forest where they're not supposed to be going and where there's lots of other dangers afoot.

[Laura]

Other dangers that Hagrid is aware of. Like, he knows the centaurs tried to kill Forens. He knows they're not happy. And yet he's sort of brazenly walking in there thinking like, ah, they're not going to do anything to me because.

[Andrew]

The kids are here.

[Laura]

Right.

[Stacy]

I was trying to think of all the different monster mates that we've been introduced to throughout the course of the series that really made an impact. And so with Sorcerer's Stone, you had Fluffy. You could add Norberta to that list. But I think she was relatively harmless at that stage. In Chamber of Secrets, we got Aragog. In Prisoner Azkaban, we have Buckbeak. And then what would we say for Goblet of Fire, the blast ended Screws.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I think so. Because those were also a creation of Hagrids, right?

[Stacy]

Oh, yeah. He was black market something them.

[Laura]

Yeah, yeah. Because what is it? They're a cross between breeding fire crabs and manicores.

[Micah]

That was what I was thinking. Yeah, that's right.

[Andrew]

That's right.

[Laura]

I think that's right. Yeah. Oh, Hagrid.

[Stacy]

Yeah, now we got giants.

[Andrew]

So those wouldn't have been authorized by the Ministry or by Hogwarts. It's just Hagrid's own creation. It's. It's. It's almost like how in the Muggle world, we don't really know the power of AI just yet. And people are like, oh, AI is going to take over. The robot's going to take over. This is kind of like what the blast ended Screws could have done for all Hagrid knows. Maybe this is an extreme idea, but. Yeah, I'm just saying he doesn't know what he's putting in front of the kids.

[Laura]

Very true. And actually, Micah, I liked that you observed sort of the escalation in creatures that Hagrid is introducing over the book. Bigger, bolder, more dangerous, like baby dragon, big ass spider and its whole family horsebird. Blast ended like basically giant fire scorpions. And then a literal giant. Come on, Hagrid.

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[Stacy]

So I wanted to ask how do these OWL exams reflect real world academic pressures? Because all of the students are utilizing different tactics to prepare for upcoming exams and we can get the sense that anxiety is at an all time high. And it feels like similar to when we came upon finals at the end of a term and we were cramming and we were studying and we knew the stakes were high. Right? There were probably periods within our academic career where we knew that the exams that were coming up meant something. Whether they actually meant something in the larger context of our lives and our careers is another conversation. But at that particular moment we were told, you better do well on these exams. And that's exactly what these students are facing.

[Laura]

Yeah, totally. It feels in the moment, it feels like an insurmountable pressure because it kind of comes with the implication of if you don't do well on these exams, you might not get to go to the next grade, or you might not get to go to the college you want to go to. Or you might not get a scholarship. Like it is a lot of pressure to put on one test.

[Andrew]

But then once you are over that hill, ah, it's the most amazing feeling in the world. Even if you're not sure you did so well. At least for me, I was feeling very relieved after taking a test.

[Laura]

And then surprise. Once you, like, get out in the world and get established and whatever your career is, no one cares.

[Andrew]

No, literally, you can even have a calculator with you. You can have a dictionary next to you and you get to Google all you want.

[Laura]

I mean, think about how often we got told that we're not going to have a calculator in our pockets back in the day and now it's listen.

[Eric]

The teachers didn't know about smartphones. Nobody knew.

[Andrew]

No, in fairness, yeah, we didn't know where the future was going. And now schools are embracing ChatGPT because they know they can't stop the kids from using it. It's all so broken. But that's a whole other discussion.

[Eric]

Speaking of broken, there was a brain study released now recently about AI users. But. Yeah.

[Stacy]

Oh, no, it's just.

[Eric]

It's a shame. Muscles. It's not great. So, you know, the thing that gets me here about exam time is that Draco seems to think that he's got a competitive advantage because he knows one of the proctors. But how does this, I guess, work in practice if Griselda Marchbanks is his personal assessor? The way that Harry gets tofty a couple of times, I can see how this works. But he's bragging that he knows professor or Marchbanks, and the other kids are just like, come on, Draco, like. And Neville, even privately, like, discredits what Draco's saying.

[Stacy]

It's very cool to see the different dynamics of how certain houses or students from certain houses are approaching these exams because you have Hermione, who is muttering to herself as she is going through this whole process. You have Ernie McMillan from Hufflepuff, who is comparing hours of studying. Right. He's asking Ron, how many hours are you studying? And, you know, I think he's trying to validate. Right. What he's doing on his end.

[Eric]

Yeah, he's. He's seeking for. He's seeking some level of approval. I get this because I'm a Hufflepuff, so I get it. But, like, nobody is at his level, so he comes away disappointed and everyone else feels worse for having interacted with him.

[Laura]

Didn't we all have an Ernie in our classes? Who would do this? Kind of, like, I don't know, like.

[Eric]

Act, like, assertiveness, like, about themselves, like inward assertiveness. It's like a weird but. Yeah, we've all had an Ernie.

[Stacy]

It seems like Ernie would get along very well with Hermione, though, just based on what he's doing here in this moment.

[Eric]

I agree. I mean, it takes. He's saying he gets an hour in before breakfast. There's like eight hours overall.

[Stacy]

It's almost like a workout comparison.

[Eric]

Right, that's it.

[Stacy]

I got an hour in before breakfast.

[Eric]

Yeah. I have such respect for people because it takes a schedule. You have to plan this out. In addition to the studying, you're also planning the structure around it. And Hermione has presumably not only done this for herself, but she's given, like, you know, timetables and things. At least in the past for Harry and Ron to do as well. So I think they would get along.

[Stacy]

But let's talk a little bit about what you brought up, Eric, in that Draco is making these offhanded remarks that it's not what you know, it's about who you know. And Neville does counter that a bit because he says that his grandmother is quite close with Griselda Marchbanks and basically that there's no known relationship between her and the Malfoys. But my mind immediately went to corporate America because I do think in many cases it is all about who you know, not necessarily about what you know. And I know, Laura, I see you nodding your head there.

[Laura]

Oh, yeah, no, optics are super important.

[Andrew]

I. I think this is important even outside of corporate America as well. It's just really, it's. It's having those connections in all facets of light life that can get you different places or get your foot in the door so you can get that interview or have that connection to lead you somewhere else.

[Eric]

But how is it relevant to what they're doing? Like, how is it relevant to owls? Because half of it at least is. Is on paper. Right. It's written. You can't. It's not who you know on a Scantron.

[Andrew]

I think Draco might be misplacing some trust here in his father. Knowing March Banks. I think he's assuming if he does poorly, maybe he can go to his dad, who can go to Marchbanks, something like that. But I agree, it's. It's off. Because if he scores, if he does badly, he does badly on the test. Unless they are going to fudge his scores. But that seems like a really bad thing for them to do.

[Laura]

Yeah. And the thing is, we know Draco is smart.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Laura]

Like, I think that we've been led to assume that he has, you know, Hermione. Ish levels of intelligence. He's not. He's no slouch. So it's not like he's gonna fail any of these exams. I honestly think he's just parroting some stuff he heard from his dad. That line about. It's about who you know. That's something Lucia said and he's just parroting it. He's doing this to brag and to.

[Eric]

Name and to intimidate.

[Laura]

Yeah, exactly.

[Eric]

The other students that don't know Madame Marge Banks are just going to be like, oh, crap, I'm screwed, you know, and throw their hands up and maybe he's trying to psych the other kids out.

[Stacy]

It's certainly coming from a position of.

[Micah]

Entitlement to Laura's point that Draco is at Hermione level intelligence. Certainly the fanfiction community thinks he is. But I do think it's, it's very much him just repeating, I think the kind of aristocrat aristocratic place that he grew up with, thinking that if you know somebody or if somebody knows your dad that it's all going to fall into place.

[Andrew]

Yeah. If he does bad, no big deal. My dad will be able to fix it. He always does.

[Micah]

Yeah. Because it has before. Absolutely.

[Stacy]

And I think that Ron had a very practical response to all of this which was, well, if it is all about who you know, there's nothing we can do about it anyway.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Eric]

What a sage Ron. What a wise Ron. I love this. We didn't get that in the movies as much.

[Laura]

No, but I, I think he's speaking from experience here. Right. Because he did not have the experience that Draco had growing up watching his family schmooze all of these people of high influence. So this is kind of baked in for Ron. He's been he already, I think he's already playing life on hard mode compared to someone like Draco.

[Eric]

That's a good point. Yep.

[Stacy]

So it is time for us to sit our O W L s and Andrew, you want your results right away?

[Eric]

Yes.

[Andrew]

I'm stressed. I've been studying, I've been muttering under my breath, I haven't slept. And then we find out that the results will be shared with students come July after term ends. And that surprises me. Just because we're in a wizarding school, you would think that with so much magic at their disposal they would be able to get near instant results back thanks to some sort of, let's say magical analysis.

[Eric]

Absolutely.

[Andrew]

There's anti cheating would take so long.

[Stacy]

Yeah.

[Eric]

The magic that we already know about things that affect quills. You get your spell check quill, you got your anti cheating jinxes, you got all this other stuff that you can do to tests but you still have to what? Count by hand? Come on.

[Andrew]

Like it's surprising the quill can't grade you in real time actually.

[Eric]

Well that would be awful. Can you imagine like you write down the answer and immediately, immediately, immediately find out if you got it wrong.

[Andrew]

Reading you in real time, but it's not telling you in real time writing the answer. It's like a scan, like a medical scan and you know, the person administering the scan can like see your results in real time and it's like thinking to themselves oh, this person.

[Eric]

But July is insane.

[Laura]

Andrew.

[Stacy]

It is.

[Laura]

That feels like a very specific example. I don't know if we need to talk about that after we finish recording.

[Eric]

And you get an ultrasound recently. Now they turn this screen but you.

[Andrew]

Yeah, yeah. Well, my dog did actually. And I know the. The vet can see what's up in real time and I don't want to wait around for the results. I guess that's what I was channeling.

[Eric]

Laura, we'll mail.

[Andrew]

You realize it, but yeah, he's fine, by the way.

[Eric]

Okay, good.

[Stacy]

Stacy, you have a real world example of this.

[Micah]

Interesting following up to that comment. I am a small animal veterinarian and our boards are entirely multiple choices on a computer in a testing center on specific software. We take them, we leave. It was months before we got our scores back.

[Andrew]

Oh my gosh.

[Eric]

In a dedicated center for that testing on dedicated computers and multiple choice. Who's making money off of that time delay? Is the question you gotta ask in today's corporate America, who benefits from three months of not knowing your scores?

[Micah]

The bars and the study companies who continue to get the students studying because they don't know if they have to retake it or not.

[Eric]

Oh.

[Andrew]

So were you stressed as hell waiting months for your results?

[Micah]

Very much so. But also channeling Ron in the sense that it's done. I can't do anything else about it at this point.

[Eric]

So you got to be. Then you got to find your Zen. Yeah.

[Stacy]

I was going to say that there's students who probably are just happy to be done with the exams and don't even think about the results until they get them in the mail. And then there's the students probably like Hermione, who are sweating it out every single day, counting down the days probably until the results of the OWL exams arrive.

[Laura]

I wonder how many students change their grades when they get that envelope in the summer because they don't want.

[Eric]

You used to be able to like, like if you're mailed your report card, quick change an O to an S or an S to an O somehow.

[Laura]

Exactly.

[Stacy]

What I really enjoyed though, about these exams was just reflecting back a little bit on how much we've learned as readers in all these different subjects as we're going on this journey with Harry through all these different tests. And the first one that came to mind for me was Charms, because Harry has a little smile on his face when it comes to. I think it's actually the written portion of the Charms examination where he has to identify Wingardium Leviosa and I thought that was such a great throwback to Sorcerer's Stone. And we actually get a couple of these types of throwbacks to other books where it came in really pivotal moments. And this was, this was one of them.

[Eric]

I have a kind of a. To push back on what I think those moments represent because I was reading this chapter going, we know next to nothing about some of these subjects, like transfiguration. Harry's got to make a teacup, do cartwheels or something. We don't know the first part about how that magic actually works. Like he's got to turn the teacup into something that, that cartwheels. So what is that first of all that you have to convert it to. Then what would the spell be? What would the root words for the spell be? We don't know anything. We spend six books going to classes and we know next to nothing about many of these subjects to the point where the only thing we hear about these owls is the things that Harry's coincidentally done like Polyjuice Potion that help him pass. So I was actually surprised by how little we know across all of these courses for how any of this magic actually works. We just know stuff. We just know the names of magical creatures. You know, we.

[Andrew]

Because Harry, Ron and Hermione are spending too much time yapping during classes instead of focusing on the lessons. And we as the reader get robbed of hearing some of the practical work that is involved in transitioning.

[Stacy]

Well, they're trying to save the school. In fairness, in pretty much every one of those books.

[Eric]

This isn't coming down on. I don't think this is coming down on anyone in particular. But I think on a, on a chapter that is all about these massive tests that's the summation of their knowledge. I feel like we as readers don't actually know a lot about any of these subjects.

[Stacy]

Potions maybe the most totally wrong on this. But I think we might be surprised at how much we're actually told if we go back and look at all those classes in terms of what they were actually learning. It's just that the ones that stand out to us are the ones that had really important meaning to the story itself. Like Wingardium Leviosa, like the Polyjuice Potion, like Patronus.

[Eric]

Look, I think that's probably a function of the writing too. You're not going to throw a lot of writing down on a page if it's not going to have a story based purpose. But like I don't know how charms work, I don't know how transfiguration works, potions, we at least get ingredients that are rooted in history of the historical uses of herbs and stuff that we're familiar with for the most part. For the non magical use ingredients we probably know the most about potions. Anything else we don't even see ever. What? We haven't been to another friends class in Divination since the first one. Like we really. And Ron at least and Harry say, well, we were always going to fail the Divination one. But still like, yeah, there's. There's actually a chapter like this just reminds me how little we actually ever really cracked into any of the subjects.

[Micah]

There is, you know, to transfiguration. There is some theory that we get along the way when they talk about Gam's Law several times so, you know, you can't conjure food or. I don't. I don't remember what some of the other ones were, but there were five or six things to Gamp's Law that are basically like the fundamental things within the field of transfiguration, which in theory could then explain and exclude some of the other things.

[Eric]

Yeah, no, I like that a lot. And it's important to have those basic fundamental principles laid out. So I'm glad we get Gam's Law.

[Stacy]

Yeah, I understand what you're saying, Eric, but it's also. My mind goes to. You're not going to remember. Oh, that moment that was pivotal to the plot when Harry was getting his teacup to do cartwheels so that he could gain access to the Room of Requirement because only the teacup doing cartwheels in front of the door would allow the door to. I know. I don't know where I'm going.

[Eric]

It sounds like a side mission in one of the Harry Potter video games. To be honest, I would actually be into that.

[Stacy]

Let's talk about Defense against the Dark Arts because Harry gets thrown a bone here by Professor Tofty. A little bit of bonus action.

[Andrew]

I don't like this.

[Eric]

Is this favoritism?

[Andrew]

So at the end of Harry's exam, Professor Tofty says, hey kid, I hear you can do a pretty nice Patronus. Want to show me?

[Laura]

And then why are you presenting this like Professor Toffee is running?

[Andrew]

Let me get to my question. Listen, let me get my. To my point. So Harry pulls it off tremendously. Well. Well done, Harry. But then Tofty awards him a bonus point for doing this. Patronus. Are the other students being offered bonus points? This seems very unfair. And he's playing favorite.

[Eric]

We're not with the other students. This speaks to what Draco was saying. It's who you know, because Tofti knows somebody else at the Ministry who happened to tell him that Harry could do the Patronus. And Tofty, I think very innocently, is just like, hey, you know, I heard you could do this for an extra point. And it's one of Harry's most badass moments. Cause he looks straight at Umbridge, uses her as the source for his happy memory that has to conjure the Patronus, and then wows everybody. But what I'm thinking in this moment, you're in a room full of all these other kids that have been to Dumbledore's army, and all of them learned full Patronuses. So to see Harry get extra credit for being able to do something that they could do, but they don't get asked to do.

[Laura]

He taught them.

[Eric]

Yeah, he taught them.

[Laura]

Like, that's what makes it special, is not only can he do that, he taught a bunch of his peers how to do something that's kind of advanced.

[Eric]

You don't think some of them could use the extra credit a little more?

[Micah]

I was gonna say it's the one class Harry doesn't need the extra credit in.

[Andrew]

Maybe he can transfer that bonus point.

[Eric]

He walks out of there going, that's what it feels like to get an outstanding.

[Laura]

Yeah. Can I carry that bonus point over to Potions, please?

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Laura]

I do wonder how much one bonus point moves the needle, though, because this is Harry's best subject already. I think he would have gotten an O on this owl if he hadn't done the Patronus. So I'm just like, how much did this bonus point actually influence things? But I agree, it definitely is favoritism. It's not fair. And I feel like the only way to be fair about this would be if Tofti was just doing this with every student he examined, like, finding a way to offer them a bonus point. And it just so happens.

[Andrew]

Unlikely, right?

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Eric]

He's not.

[Stacy]

I think it's also meant to be a demonstration of power, though, on Harry's part, because he's conjuring it because he's looking right at Umbridge. And that has a lot of meaning. And it could also even be a little bit of foreshadowing because of what happens in Deathly Hallows when he confronts her at the Ministry and has to use the Patronus charm to escape.

[Eric]

I was even thinking about just the next chapters when we find out that Umbridge was the one that sent the Dementors to little Whinging. So the fact that Harry conjures a Patronus in front of her and that's what helped him escape what she did at the beginning of this book.

[Stacy]

Nice.

[Eric]

Yeah, it's the. So, actually, it's nice that this was brought up again in the writing.

[Stacy]

And, Eric, you mentioned Potions and the Polyjuice Potion, which, of course is a nice throwback to Chamber of Secrets. But Harry actually, during this entire process, feels pretty good. And the reason why is because Snape is not in the room. And this is now, at least the second time in this book that we've heard about Harry performing better when he hasn't had Snape breathing down his neck.

[Andrew]

Yeah, and this also, you know, reminds me of what happened last chapter with Ron not having his brothers at the Quidditch game. And he performed a lot better because he was less stressed.

[Stacy]

Yeah, it's a great comparison there.

[Eric]

Yeah. Hostile learning environments are a thing. And it's amazing how much pressure is off just when Snape's not around.

[Stacy]

It is interesting to me, though, that Umbridge was allowed to be in Harry's Dada Owl. But Snape is not present for the Potions. Owl.

[Eric]

Maybe Umbridge thinks she's there to, like, intimidate. And Snape just can't be screwed. He's got other places to be.

[Andrew]

I don't want to see that.

[Laura]

Yeah, because do any of the other professors turn up?

[Stacy]

Not that I remember reading offhand. Maybe the discord can keep us honest.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Yeah, we don't need to check us.

[Andrew]

At least when it comes to Snape. Snape's probably still fuming about what happened a few chapters ago with the memories.

[Laura]

Well, oh, man, this is a fun connection. The memory that he's super ticked off that Harry saw took place during these very same exams. So it might be even triggering for him to put himself in that environment.

[Andrew]

He'll think he's seeing James again.

[Stacy]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Wow.

[Stacy]

So, a few other owls, just to mention, but nothing really major happens during these exams. Care of Magical Creatures, divination, Herbology. Harry thinks he did relatively well, I would say, in both Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. But somebody mentioned earlier that. I think it was you, Eric. Ron and Harry both know that they flunked Divination, and they're excited. That's another thing, too. Like, do we remember from school, we took an exam and we're like, oh, thank God we're done with this subject. We don't have to take it again next year.

[Eric]

Yep.

[Laura]

100%.

[Stacy]

That's basically divination for Ron and for Harry.

[Laura]

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[Andrew]

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[Laura]

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[Eric]

If you went on a road trip.

[Andrew]

And you didn't stop for a Big Mac or drop a crispy fry between.

[Eric]

The car seats, or use your McDonald's.

[Andrew]

Bag as a placemat, then that wasn't.

[Eric]

A road trip, it was just a really long drive.

[Stacy]

At participating McDonald's. So let's head up to the Astronomy Tower. It's important place to be, right?

[Andrew]

Yes, it's a very, very important lesson.

[Laura]

Micah.

[Stacy]

Where have you been?

[Eric]

Yeah, well, I couldn't because it's the Astronomy Tower. You could get either person up there. I was expecting. I don't know what I was expecting, but that was lovely.

[Stacy]

The Astronomy owl needs to be done at nighttime for obvious reasons. And the students who are up there taking their exams are witnessing quite the scene taking place down on the Hogwarts grounds. Because Umbridge, under the COVID of night, decides that she is going to surprise attack Hagrid and do it with a number of ministry officials in tow.

[Eric]

I feel like whenever you see government officials, which is what Umbridge has with her, like Dawlish and a couple others are named. But like whenever you see people acting in this manner, it suggests that they don't have the law on their side or that it would be bad for optics if they were to do it in broad daylight. And Harry suspects that Umbridge doesn't want to cause a public school scene the way that she did with Trelawney sacking. So that alone could be the reason for this, because she presumably is within her rights, especially as High Inquisitor now and headmistress to fire Hagrid. But the darkness covering thing is very concerning from that standpoint.

[Andrew]

Maybe this is a bit of a crackpot theory, but I was wondering if Umbridge purposely wanted to do this at this time because she knew Harry would be taking his astrology owl at this time. So she gets to A, distract him while taking one of his tests and then B, she makes him sort of witness the sacking of Hagrid.

[Laura]

Yeah. Oh, and it's so insidious too because she is actively trying to undermine Harry at every turn. So she wants to put him in a position where he's the boy who cried wolf. Right. And so nobody will believe him. And I think they're also assuming on the basis of, you know, Hagrid's giant background, they're assuming that most people aren't gonna care that much that he's gone missing. And I think they're assuming that people aren't gonna think that much about it if it's done quietly.

[Eric]

I think the insidious part is that they're sneaking up on Hagrid after a long day at work. Like he's probably kicked back, he's probably had a few.

[Stacy]

And it's after midnight.

[Eric]

It's after midnight. They show up after midnight. They show up and there's six. We're gonna let it all hang down.

[Andrew]

Hagrid's gonna put a few down.

[Stacy]

Oh yeah, they already did.

[Eric]

All right.

[Stacy]

Talking about people. Okay, no drinks.

[Eric]

But think about how much. Look, this isn't smart for them. They should have known this wasn't smart for them. They're cornering a man who's half giant. I know this whole thing is like race based and motivated to begin with, but they're cornering this guy. There's six of them. That's an escalation tactic right there. And they're surprising him and they're going to take his job away. He's been doing this job for decades. They're just going to come in the middle of the night, take it away. Not proper. That is garbage. It's of course going to cause a ruckus and a problem for all of them. It's also just friggin cruel.

[Laura]

I think it's also a commentary on people who are power hungry but very unqualified, extremely under qualified to be in the positions that they're in. Kind of finding out while they're on the ground that they're in over their heads.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Laura]

Because did not one of these people think oh well if he's half giant we can't just attack him the way that we would attack a human. Right, Right.

[Stacy]

But Hagrid knew that the sack was coming. So that's really where the whole bringing ministry officials makes me think that possibly they're trying to get more information out of him. Maybe about Dumbledore, maybe about the order.

[Eric]

That's a good inclination because I think that what would have escalated it was not the sack. Cause Hagrid was expecting it. What would have escalated it is clearly how racist or inappropriate something Umbridge says would be. Right. During the actual confrontation, there would have been an additional. I think you're exactly right. There would had to be an additional component to like what's going on. We just don't see it.

[Stacy]

And as you point out, Eric, this is in the. In June. Like there's no reason really to fire him right now.

[Eric]

Why even fire him?

[Andrew]

Yeah, no, that's, that's Crockpot theory, I think.

[Eric]

Yeah, well, right, right. A separate way of making Harry feel more isolated. But he's got like two, two tests left. Like then you're just done until the Hogwarts Express picks you up and takes you home. It's almost pointless to remove Hagrid at this juncture. It's a clever way to get McGonagall out of the picture for the what has to come next.

[Micah]

But beyond that, really, that was kind of an accident. Yeah, they didn't expect her to follow him out.

[Eric]

Yeah, but I'm saying like plot wise, she can't be here as a refuge for Harry. And so it's just because otherwise again, Hagrid barely had a week's worth of lessons left to teach. Like, I understand the cruelty is the point, but it's not really adding up why Umbridge would raise the resources when he's going to be out of her hair. Or she can just not invite him back over the summer break. She could have fired him.

[Stacy]

I like what Arian Beth said in the Discord. It feels more like an arrest. And for Hagrid it's. There's never been proof against him. Like, you think back of all the times the Ministry has come knocking at his door. They've never actually had evidence to arrest him, to send him to Azkaban.

[Eric]

Well, but they would be the same exact people that cite his previous suspicion of criminality and use it against him. Right.

[Andrew]

So I guess this is a good reason for him to resist arrest. But I do wonder if Hagrid should have gone peacefully because I feel like this temper that he has and this resistance that he's putting on risks. Umbridge trying to raise a point about Hagrid and more broadly half giants being a danger to the everyday witcher wizard or students at the school, it's an imprison.

[Stacy]

Yeah, that's part of her motivation.

[Laura]

Like she's gonna do that anyway. I don't think she needs an excuse.

[Eric]

Well, but they, they attack the dog. Bang.

[Laura]

Gets done.

[Eric]

Like, come on, like.

[Laura]

No, for real. Some bodies would be hitting the floor that's all I'm saying.

[Andrew]

What do you think, Stacy?

[Micah]

I think we kind of covered most of what I was thinking that it's one thing if you know it's coming and they just politely come and knock on your door and say, hey, we're actually doing this now. But to basically ambush somebody and then, yeah, it is almost like an arrest to. It's different to say, hey, you're fired, versus, hey, we're gonna take your boss plus six police officers to come fire you. And then I, I think the. I guess the violence that Hagrid shows really escalates, though, after McGonagall comes out and gets injured herself.

[Eric]

Yeah, it is. It is possible that they did want to do more than just fire him, that they tried questioning or suggested he would go to Azkaban or something. Because Aurors who are like, you know, wizard cops are pretty much the ones that would take you to Azkaban. And if Umbridge suspects that Hagrid put the Nifflers in, there's probably more going on than what we see or ever learn about.

[Stacy]

Feels like the Nifflers are small potatoes in this large.

[Eric]

They are small potatoes. They're little dumpling sized creatures.

[Stacy]

Do you make Niffler dumpling? Yeah.

[Eric]

I mean, no. No, no, no. And you don't eat stoat either. That's my patronus.

[Stacy]

And it is impressive to watch the physical nature of Hagrid in this chapter because he is able to take out pretty much everybody with the exception of one Auror who I think trips over his fallen mate and Umbridge. So the last episode that we did, this chapter, I think you said, was called Hagrid's Punch Out. So that's what is the reference here. So, but you know, again, it's also.

[Eric]

Like punching out on the clock. Like, like your clock in and clock out. You punch out. Okay, it's his last day. It's, it's. It was so clever.

[Stacy]

But it shows just like the, just the sheer strength of Hagrid because this is the third example now that we've gotten. He broke up the fight that Grop was in. He. He rescued Forens from the centaurs. And now, I mean, humans are nothing compared to centaurs and giants. Like, you just chuck them like potatoes. But as mentioned, McGonagall does get injured in this melee. And that is important for, for later on as events start to unfold and the group is up late at night because of everything that has transpired with Hagrid. And they're talking till the early morning hours. And Harry has probably his most boring exam that day. Now, which is History of Magic. And you ever get into a warm classroom and your professor is just drawing on, in this case, you're taking an exam, there's probably lots of words to read and your eyes start drooping and before you know it you're out cold. And that's exactly what happens to Harry. And we have the payoff for him not taking his lock lumency lessons which is mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. Again, for the last several weeks. This is the payoff now, because Harry has this vision of Voldemort who has Sirius in the Department of Mysteries. He's in pretty bad shape and he's being tortured by the Cruciatus Curse. At least that's what we're led to believe.

[Eric]

I wonder why Harry doesn't have a larger scrutiny. I think what causes Harry to get in action right away and this is based on the information Voldemort has been able to obtain from Kreacher and Sirius about the connection that Sirius and Harry share is the torturing Sirius part. This is what makes Harry have to act and act fast and do less thinking. And it's a shame because I think Harry would be less inclined somehow or less urgent about saving Sirius from being tortured if on some level Sirius had not, in fact been being tortured all year by not being let out of his own house. Like. Like, I think there's this extra component of, yeah, he wants to save Sirius. Sirius being tortured by Voldemort. But Harry particularly feels Sirius pain throughout the year. And I think there's some element of that buildup where now he's just gonna be killed. Like, now he's gonna be tortured and killed by Voldemort. Oh, hell no. Like, I think that the whole year Sirius has had all of this suffering and then that kind of imbues Harry with a little bit more. Even more urgency than he would normally have. Does that make any sense?

[Andrew]

Yes. Plus, Harry was right about Arthur. That really happened. So he has no reason to doubt this vision as well. And as we not so jokingly like to say on the show, Harry has a saving people thing. It's. This is what he does.

[Eric]

He got to talk about that next week when it comes up. But yeah, or not next week, we'll talk.

[Stacy]

And all of his safety nets have been removed now. Right. McGonagall is in the infirmary. Hagrid is gone. Dumbledore is gone. And we talked about this in prior episodes. But the last thing he wants to do now is potentially Lucarius on top of it all and he's got nobody to go to that he can trust. Even Snape is pissed off at him. So what's frustrating about all this is you could have had somebody like Dumbledore just say, Harry, if you start to have visions, let me know and send me an owl. Find me, send me Hedwig, she will find me. You know, and none of that happens.

[Laura]

But, but again, I think his excuse is always that he's afraid Voldemort will find out. Because if he's able to break into Harry's mind and see he's 150 years.

[Stacy]

Old, he needs to put on his big boy pants already. Okay, he's face worse than Voldemort, presumably.

[Eric]

Well, the thing is he directly faces Voldemort in a couple chapters from now. So like, what? It couldn't be worse facing Harry, you know, as Voldemort or whatever.

[Stacy]

So I thought it would be fun to wrap up. Just asking what would Harry's post exam life look like if he didn't have a dark lord inside of his head? Because this is his last test. You know, we all remember what it was like to get to that last exam and then school's out for summer, right? Like you think he would be able to enjoy himself like down by the.

[Andrew]

Lake time and the living's easy.

[Stacy]

But not in his case, unfortunately, no.

[Laura]

Well, and there was usually, you know, if you, if you were on like a campus, there was usually like last day of exams parties, right, that everyone would go to Hogsmeade trip.

[Eric]

Yeah, we had something called like field day and it was like athletics. We split into two teams. But I think that all happened at like the end of the year. It was just fun relays and exercise like an outdoor day.

[Laura]

That was because they had to maintain a certain number of school days for the calendar year to secure all their funding. And they didn't have enough content to actually be teaching you anything for all those days. Which is why you have all of those kind of like BS days towards the end of the school year.

[Eric]

But tv. Yeah, huh.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Wow. That was a funding issue. We lucked out.

[Stacy]

A couple of odds and ends. There was a interesting quote when Ron was going through his. I went left and I went right and said, did you see the look on Chang's face when Ginny got the snitch right out from under her nose? And I wondered if this was a reference to Harry possibly like in the.

[Eric]

Way that it would have been. Harry having to face off with her if it weren't. If he wasn't banned.

[Stacy]

No. Like, Ginny stole Harry right from under Cho's nose.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Oh, oh, maybe.

[Micah]

Yeah. I was gonna say, I think there was a Slytherin match where he basically took the snitch right out from under Draco's nose.

[Andrew]

That was my first inclination.

[Eric]

It's gotta be something that happens fairly often as Seekers, because you're both probably pretty good at seeing the snitch. So then you both dive for it, and you are always close.

[Andrew]

Once one person is pursuing it, the other person just catches, as we've seen in the books.

[Stacy]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought it was more of a romantic hint.

[Eric]

Well, then Harry.

[Laura]

I think it is.

[Eric]

Harry's kind of a jerk, too. He's like, would she cry? And.

[Stacy]

Yeah, she did.

[Eric]

Yeah, she did. Yeah.

[Andrew]

Like.

[Laura]

But I also. I love how we're already back on, like, last name terms about show. She and. She and Harry just broke up. You know, whatever the breakup equivalent is for this relationship. But, like, I mean, y' all were just making out in the Room of Requirement a few months ago.

[Andrew]

But that was also her friend who busted Dumbledore's arm.

[Eric]

And so remember Laura? She's a Tornadoes supporter and she's like a bandwagoner and only started liking them when they were popular. And so it's okay to just dehumanize people like that.

[Laura]

Of course.

[Andrew]

One more odd and ends. Y' all know I like looking out for the numbers 7 and 12 across the series because they come out a lot. This might be a bit of a stretch, but while Harry and company are taking their owl on top of the astronomy tower, they're watching Hagrid fight the Ministry. And Professor Tofty reminds the students that there's only 16 minutes left to take their exam. Now, yes, that's not the number 7 or. Or 12, but 1 plus 6 equals 7. This might be a bit of Taylor Swifty level theorizing here, but this is another seven reference, in my humble opinion, because why? Sixteen minutes? Why? Because one plus six equals seven. Thank you.

[Stacy]

All right. For our MVP this week, we asked, what owl would we most like to sit? After going through this whole experience with.

[Andrew]

Harry, transfiguration seems fun. I like the idea of turning one object into another object. So I think. Yeah, I think that one. And like Eric was alluding to earlier, we could learn a lot more about it. So I would like to get into the nitty gritty of transfiguration.

[Eric]

Presumably, we learn a lot more about it before the owl takes place and then be reasonably competent by the. But yeah, I think honestly potions would be a lot of fun to sit because I think it would be a subject where I could memorize what types of herbs and things and how they work. And so I feel like I would have a pretty good grasp of it. It feels like something you can touch and work, work with.

[Laura]

I would go with care of magical Creatures. I just love animals anyway. And I do tend to agree with Hagrid that there are a lot of animals out there that are misunderstood. So I think that I would have the right attitude towards that. But also just reading about that exam, it's literally just Harry showing that he knows how to take care of the animals.

[Eric]

So I'm like, you don't. If you don't kill these living things.

[Laura]

And fun.

[Eric]

Well, like in the herbology one, like never give me plants because they'll die. They'll be dead by the end of class.

[Stacy]

I went with Defense against the Dark Arts. Just seems like a very cool subject. And I try and cast Patronus for an extra point.

[Andrew]

Would you do it in front of Umbridge or would you be nervous?

[Stacy]

Oh, no, same as Harry. I look straight at her, conjure a knight happy memory. And I'd have. I'd have my Patronus attack her, though I think mine is just. Mine's a sparrow hawk.

[Micah]

That's cool. Way more aggressive than a shrew. Yeah, I would say charms because it seems like it's the most day to day applicable.

[Stacy]

Good point.

[Andrew]

Classic magic.

[Stacy]

And we also asked our patrons over on the links line this week after Harry overhears Professor Marchbank tell Professor Umbridge that Dumbledore did things with a wand I'd never seen before. We wanted to know what kinds of things do you imagine Dumbledore doing to impress the examiners?

[Andrew]

Oh, brother. Yeah, Micah, get your mind out of the gutter.

[Stacy]

So, Carly, do you see how that question is phrased? What kinds of things did do you imagine Dumbledore doing to impress the examiner?

[Andrew]

Y' all see Micah pointing at the question right now? Pointed at his screen.

[Stacy]

Seen somebody do that PC, I could have gone it. I could have said inappropriate answers only. Although we did get some.

[Andrew]

While our listeners know you and you know our listeners. So yes, we did get some inappropriate ones. But here's a wholesome one from Carly. She said, conducted an imaginary choir and orchestra and all of a sudden the great hall was filled with sounds.

[Stacy]

You see the imagination that our patrons have.

[Andrew]

All right, now, parents, turn off the show. For the rest of this, I think.

[Eric]

I got a dirty one, you guys. It says from Kayla, he's able to control the trajectory and force of which stuff comes out of his wand with perfect precision that many men should be jealous of. I'm just confused, honestly. I feel like I'll never be young again and innocent after reading that.

[Stacy]

Well, along those lines, James says, I'm sure Albish showed Gellert many things he could do with his wand. Wink, wink.

[Laura]

Our next one is from Kim, who says since he likes knitting sock patterns, he used his wand to knit three pairs of socks simultaneously while singing Rule Britannia, which, you know, I just searched for this in Google because I don't know what it is. It is a British patriotic song with lyrics from a poem by James Thompson. Maybe a relative, isn't it? Yeah, no, I think. I think that is right. Huh?

[Stacy]

Yeah.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Stacy]

Now knit those socks, Eric.

[Micah]

At the same time, Zachary said he was able to non verbally use the imperious curse on all of the examiners to get top marks. The wand was just a prop. However, this wasn't enough and his ego took over so much that he ended up placing the curse on everyone he came in contact with during his life. Dumby gets what Dumby wants.

[Andrew]

Rachel Said produced the second wand, used them as chopsticks to eat sushi, and performed wandless magic to scrub the windows in the great hall. Wow, Very specific, Rachel.

[Eric]

Sarah says baton twirling, obviously. Yeah, the wands are probably pretty well balanced.

[Stacy]

Robert said he rewrote the timeline so he would teach defense against the Dark Arts and McGonagall would be born decades before she should have been a reference to the Fantastic Beasts series.

[Laura]

Very nice. And rounding us out here, Justin said, turn around like he's Michael Scott, stick it out from under his robes, then turn back around and shoot out white sparks. This is all inspired by the emoji you used or the the emoji you added to the end of the question.

[Stacy]

What emoji, Andrew, what emoji did you add at the end of the question?

[Andrew]

I had it. I added the smirk emoji. So I guess I am to blame for some of that.

[Stacy]

Finger back in your direction. That was fun.

[Andrew]

Is a great way to have your voice heard on the show, whether or not you are listening. Listening live. We ask a new question every week and we invite you to become a member of our community by visiting patreon.com mogocast and pledging for as little as $5 a month. If you have any feedback about today's, discussion. You can contact us by emailing or sending a voice memo that you record on your phone to mugglecastmail.com next week we will be off because it is the 4th of July holiday here in the United States, but we will be releasing a bonus mugglecast from our archives for your listening pleasure. And we'll be back the week with the next chapter of Order of the Phoenix. If you enjoy the bonus material that you hear next week, Please do visit patreon.com to get hundreds more installments. Hundreds. I've been at this for years with hundreds more to come. And while you're barbecuing over the grill this Fourth of July and you're looking for more podcasting content from the four of us, check out what the Hype and Millennial for more pop culture and real world talk. Now it's time for Quizzic.

[Eric]

This week's Quizzic question what wrestler who stood at a giant height of 7ft 4 inches was also an actor starring in a film that featured not a forbidden forest but a fire swamp? The correct answer, of course, was Andre the Giant from the princess bride. And 81% of people with the correct answer did not look this up. It was an easy one, but I was very happy to see that. And these names, you guys, very exciting. Correct answers were submitted by Acromantulas Forbidden Forest version of Rodents of Unusual Size. Amelia the Giant, Draco's Etsy badge Shop crops, uprooted trees. Hello, my name is Molly Weasley. You tried to kill my Ginny. Prepare to die, bitch. Hermione Granger, Homeschool Hufflepuff. I don't know wrestling. Oh, hey, I think I know this one. Inconceivable Owl Be back. Only here for Micah's Daddy jokes. Practically magic. Raven Bell is ready for the owls. Snape Snitched the Dread Pirate Ravenclaw, the Princess Bort Wizzle, Snape. You are the Brute Squad and Tofu tomorrow. Love the Princess board. You know, here is.

[Stacy]

Yeah, daddy jokes I think are different than dad jokes, aren't they?

[Eric]

Like, that's a different category you gotta branch off into. No, you don't.

[Laura]

No, see, Micah, the daddy jokes are for the only fans, okay?

[Stacy]

Yeah, for the bonus Mugglecast.

[Eric]

Anyway, here is next week's quizzage question. Harry struggles to name all of the moons of Jupiter for his astronomy Owl. Which of the following is not one of Jupiter's moons? There are 97 IO, Metis, Europa, Ganymede, Calypso, Themisto, Pandia, and S2003J2 so it's all written out on the Quizzage form which you may find helpful. Go over to the mugglecast website mugglecast.com and click on Quizzic from the main nav or go to mugglecast.com quizzitch to participate in this two week long Kwizzitch question. Time to study up on Jupiter's moons y' all.

[Andrew]

Stacey, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. We appreciate your support and all your contributions to today's episode.

[Micah]

Thanks for having me. It was a lot of fun.

[Andrew]

Good luck with growing your wands collection. Keep us posted. We should see if other listener we should have a contest who has the most wines amongst our audience. I'm sure you would be up there Stacey. Thanks everyone for listening. Don't forget to leave us a review in your favorite podcast app. And please do tell a friend about the show. Have a great fourth of July holiday too if you are in America. I'm Andrew.

[Eric]

I'm Eric.

[Stacy]

I'm Micah.

[Laura]

I'm Laura.

[Micah]

And I'm Stacy.

[Andrew]

Bye everyone.

[Micah]

Bye bye bye.