Celebrating 20 Years of MuggleCast, and Predicting the Future

Summary

MuggleCast Episode Summary: "Celebrating 20 Years of MuggleCast, and Predicting the Future"
Release Date: August 12, 2025

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Introduction and Episode Overview

In this landmark 20th-anniversary episode of MuggleCast, the long-running Harry Potter re-read podcast hosted by Andrew, Eric, Micah, and Laura takes a reflective journey through its two-decade history. The hosts celebrate their enduring passion for the Wizarding World, discuss significant milestones, share memorable listener stories, and gaze into the future of both the podcast and the broader Harry Potter fandom.

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Hosts' Reflections on 20 Years

The hosts begin by acknowledging the remarkable achievement of sustaining a weekly podcast for two decades. Andrew (02:22) highlights the organic connection his friends share with Harry Potter, emphasizing their deep knowledge and evolving interpretations as they've matured:

"We really are Harry Potter encyclopedias here. So I think it's very easy for us to continue finding new meaning as we're getting older and we're having our own life experiences..." [04:35]

Laura (03:35) echoes this sentiment, attributing the podcast's longevity to their intimate understanding of the series and their ability to relate its themes to real-world events:

"...we're really able to empathize, you know, on the basis of having grown up with these books. And I think it just puts us in a better position as adults to be able to speak to that impact." [04:35]

The conversation delves into the natural rapport among the hosts, their habit-forming discussions, and the supportive listener community, particularly highlighting the role of Patreon supporters in sustaining the show (06:05). Eric (06:36) expresses gratitude towards listeners who have stayed with them through the years, mentioning future plans to keep the podcast going:

"We've formed the habit of talking about Harry Potter, and that's just going to be impossible to quit." [05:47]

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Audible's New Harry Potter Audiobooks

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to exciting news about Audible's new full-cast Harry Potter audiobook series. The hosts reveal an impressive lineup of actors, including Hugh Laurie as Dumbledore and Matthew McFadden as Voldemort. Andrew (09:02) shares the release schedule:

"Sorcerer's Stone comes out November 4th. And then the following books all come out a month apart..." [09:02]

They praise the immersive production quality, featuring original scores and high-quality sound design, and express anticipation for the new portrayals of beloved characters:

"Hugh Laurie is Dumbledore. That's pretty cool." [12:35]

Micah (11:00) reflects nostalgically on past interactions with Jim Dale, the original audiobook narrator, further connecting the new series to the podcast's 20-year legacy:

"...we had Jim Dale on an episode of MuggleCast way back when and we also got to spend some time with him in Dallas." [11:25]

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Revisiting Early Predictions

In a nostalgic segment, the hosts revisit predictions they made in the early days of MuggleCast about plot developments in the Harry Potter series. Compiled meticulously by listener Kim, these predictions showcase the hosts' deep engagement and foresight:

1. Snape's Relationship with Lily (22:22):

   • Eric (22:22) predicted that Snape either had a relationship or a crush on Lily Potter, explaining his animosity toward Harry. This prediction aligned closely with the revelations in the later books.

2. Dumbledore's Death (23:01):

   • Jamie posed whether Dumbledore was truly dead. Eric (25:39) affirmed Dumbledore's death but speculated on his potential return through his portrait, mirroring the complexities revealed in the series.

3. Horcruxes at Hogwarts (24:30):

   • Eric (24:46) foresaw that one of the remaining Horcruxes would be hidden at Hogwarts, accurately predicting the presence of the diadem in the Pensieve at the Battle of Hogwarts.

4. Harry as an Unintentional Horcrux (25:23):

   • The hosts debated the theory of Harry being an unintentional Horcrux, a concept that became central to the series' climax.

5. Weasleys' Fate (37:08):

   • Micah (37:10) predicted that the Weasley twins would die by the end of "Deathly Hallows." While Fred Weasley tragically dies in the battle, George survives, showcasing the nuanced outcomes of their predictions.

These reflections not only highlight the hosts' analytical skills but also celebrate the collaborative efforts of their listener community in tracking and documenting the podcast's history.

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Future of the Harry Potter Fandom

The hosts discuss the vibrant state of the Harry Potter fandom, attributing its longevity to continual expansions like the upcoming TV show, Audible audiobooks, and ongoing merchandise releases. They emphasize the active engagement of fans and the community's role in keeping the Wizarding World alive and dynamic.

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Predictions for the Future of the Fandom

Looking ahead, the hosts share their imaginative predictions for the next 20 years in the Harry Potter universe:

1. Andrew's Prediction (63:15): An animated TV series focusing on the Weasley family's daily adventures at the Burrow, likening them to a perfect sitcom family with vibrant animation and relatable storylines.

2. Eric's Prediction (65:03): The establishment of a Hogwarts Hotel, envisioning an immersive experience where fans can live out their Hogwarts fantasies. Despite concerns about similar ventures like the Star Wars Hotel failing, Eric (65:08) remains optimistic:

   "So I think that it's not a source of revenue that they're thumbing their nose at. I think Hogwarts Hotel is coming." [65:08]

3. Micah's Prediction (66:53): The transformation of Quidditch into an Olympic sport, renamed "Quad Ball," citing its global popularity and strategic gameplay akin to existing Olympic sports.

4. Laura's Addition (69:54): The emergence of a Wizarding World Cruise, capitalizing on the trend of theme-specific cruises, allowing fans to immerse themselves further into the magical universe.

These creative forecasts illustrate the hosts' passion and their belief in the ever-expanding possibilities within the Harry Potter franchise.

---

Listener Messages and Impact

A heartwarming segment features messages from listeners who have found solace and community through MuggleCast:

1. John from Colorado (73:28): Expresses gratitude for the podcast's support during personal struggles, highlighting the show's role in providing comfort during challenging times.

   "...you helped me with. Through anxiety attacks and thoughts of suicide. So I just want to say I love you guys so much." [73:28]

2. Chrissy (75:18): Shares her experiences with new motherhood and the "puppy blues," crediting MuggleCast for providing emotional support and companionship.

   "...listening to you guys has helped me out and made me feel a little better." [75:18]

3. Chelsea (76:04): Details her journey through personal upheavals, including divorce and relocation, and credits the podcast for being a consistent and uplifting presence in her life.

   "...The one constant in my life was being able to turn on a mugglecast episode, hear your voices, and feel like I was sitting in a room of my best friends." [75:34]

These testimonials underscore the profound impact MuggleCast has had on its audience, fostering a sense of belonging and providing emotional support through shared love for Harry Potter.

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Closing Remarks

As the episode nears its end, the hosts encourage listeners to continue supporting the podcast through Patreon, highlighting exclusive content and special anniversary discounts. They also tease upcoming segments, including revisiting old predictions and sharing new forecasts for the fandom's future.

In a final toast to their listeners, the hosts express enduring gratitude and excitement for the next two decades, reinforcing the community-driven spirit that has sustained MuggleCast for 20 years.

"Here's to the next 20 years." [80:21]

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Andrew on 20 Years Reflecting:
  "We really are Harry Potter encyclopedias here..." [04:35]

• Eric on Podcasting Habit Formation:
  "We've formed the habit of talking about Harry Potter, and that's just going to be impossible to quit." [05:47]

• Laura on Listener Impact:
  "The one constant in my life was being able to turn on a mugglecast episode..." [75:34]

• Andrew on Audible Audiobooks:
  "Sorcerer's Stone comes out November 4th..." [09:02]

• Eric on Dumbledore's Death Prediction:
  "Albus Dumbledore is definitely dead. Even if the curse didn't work..." [32:07]

• Micah on Quidditch Becoming Olympic Sport:
  "Quidditch is going to become An Olympic sport in the next 20 years." [66:53]

---

Conclusion

This celebratory episode of MuggleCast not only honors two decades of passionate discussions and community building but also sets the stage for future explorations within the Harry Potter universe. By reflecting on past insights, embracing current developments, and dreaming ambitiously about the future, the hosts reaffirm their commitment to the Wizarding World and their listeners' shared love for all things Harry Potter.

Transcript

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[Andrew]

This is Professor McGonagall welcoming you to all from Mugglecast. Hoping you enjoyed. Dobby. Dobby, come here. Here, Dobby.

[Eric]

Yes.

[Andrew]

I'd just like to say how very pleased I am to introduce Mugglecast to all of you.

[Micah]

Thank you.

[Andrew]

Thank. Welcome to Mugglecast, your weekly ride into the world of Harry Potter for 20 years and counting. I'm Andrew.

[Eric]

I'm Eric.

[Micah]

I'm Micah.

[Laura]

And I'm Laura.

[Andrew]

Were your Harry Potter friends talking about the books, the movies, the upcoming TV show? So make sure you press that follow button in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode with your Potter people. And yes, this is our 20th anniversary episode. Mugglecast actually launched on August 7th, 2005. We're actually recording on August 7th, 2025. Coincidentally.

[Eric]

Amazing how we planned this out to be just perfect like that.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Laura]

Time is a flex on our editorial calendar for two years, right? Honestly, definitely.

[Eric]

I'm relieved to finally get to push it off. Like, let's move on now.

[Micah]

Gosh, it's like magic. One would say.

[Andrew]

It's like magic. Yeah. A question we get asked all the time, or at least I do when I tell people I do a Harry Potter podcast. And maybe they know the books and the movies, but they're not fans, real fans, die hard fans. They always ask fans, fans, fans, they always ask, what do you guys still talk about? How, how's the show worked for so long? Run for so long, 716 episodes? What. What would you three say to. To somebody who asked that question? I don't know if you.

[Eric]

It's such a good question. And I think that this is going to be our last episode because now that we've discussed, now that we've discovered.

[Andrew]

Thanks to the last episode, we are finally ready to move on from 20 years.

[Laura]

What I think of when someone asks me about that is just the fact that I think Harry Potter comes really naturally to this group of people and we know it so intimately. I mean, we really are Harry Potter encyclopedias here. So I think it's very easy for us to continue finding new meaning as we're getting older and we're having our own life experiences and seeing, you know, some very direct threads to real world events. So we're really able to empathize, you know, on the basis of having grown up with these books. And I think it just puts us in a better position as adults to be able to speak to that impact.

[Micah]

I really like what Lydia said in the Discord, that they should tune in and find out if they really want to know what it is that we're talking about.

[Eric]

Such a. Like, drop the business card, Andrew.

[Micah]

Find us for me. I'll jokingly say, well, I ask myself that question all the time. What are we still talking about? But I really like too what you said, Laura, because I think that we've found new and different ways over the years to be able to reimagine the discussion. And even now when we're going through the books chapter by chapter, we're not doing it in exactly the same way, we're not doing it through the same lens. We're all a little bit older, we've had more experiences even from five years ago, the last time we did Order of the Phoenix. The world has changed a lot. So I think we can bring a differing perspective in. And I think the thing that has made this so enjoyable for as long as we've done it is just, it's a discussion amongst friends and that's the feedback that we get most often from listeners is it's like listening to your friends talk about something that you love. And that's that's what we do here.

[Eric]

Yeah. I like what you said too, about us getting into the rhythm. I think we've. We've gone and done it and formed the habit of talking about Harry Potter, and that's just going to be impossible to quit. That's just not going to be. Now that we finally formed the habit, it took about several hundred episodes, but now we've got it, so we just gotta keep going.

[Andrew]

Yeah. I always tell people the rapport. We've got a good rapport together at this point. We know how to work together. We know how to discuss the books together. When you do it for this long, it starts becoming secondhand. Yeah.

[Eric]

Is.

[Andrew]

Is that the right thing?

[Eric]

Second nature.

[Andrew]

Second nature.

[Eric]

Second nature.

[Andrew]

It becomes second nature. It's like people have passed. Very easy for us to bounce off each other. Yeah. Yeah. Right, right. We get passed.

[Eric]

We get passed down. We're secondhand now at this point. We've had listeners share us with their kids. That's kind of secondhand.

[Laura]

Isn't that cool?

[Eric]

Oh, it's amazing. It's. I still want to do one day Mogulcast junior with like, all of our kids or something. That's like a fun idea. But no, honestly, though, joking aside, that when I get asked this question, I really do say the reason the podcast is still around and what do you really talk about? Well, it's been because of a passionate listener base that people are supporting us on Patreon. Like, they have really determined in no small way, these last nine years. We've had a Patreon that's half our show's history. Like, they really determined and shaped the course of the show because they showed us that we were still wanted on the airwaves.

[Andrew]

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And thank you to everybody who has listened to us over the last 20 years. Whether you just started 20 minutes ago or you started 20 years ago, we really appreciate your listenership. And I always say this in the videos I record for our patrons. It means the world to us to have support from listeners, and I mean it. So we will be looking backwards and forwards Today to celebrate 20 years of Mugglecast. And there is actually some news in the world of Harry Potter that we'll be discussing in a couple of minutes. But first, we want to remind you that we have a special deal running right now on our Patreon to celebrate our 20th for the whole month of August. You can get 20% off an annual subscription. We have never offered this large of a discount before, but this large of an anniversary definitely calls for a very special deal.

[Laura]

So.

[Andrew]

So visit patreon.com mugglecast and pledge right now. Just sign up for an annual membership and use code. 20 years. 20 years at checkout. Our Patreon is the reason why we have made it this far, why we are still a weekly podcast, why we are able to dedicate time to this show. So thank you so much for your support. And last week we told you about the stickers you can get when you become a member. And next week, we will be announcing another physical gift that we are offering you. This year you will get two physical gifts by pledging right now. So this is the best time of year to become a member. Don't delay.

[Eric]

It's gonna be real good, guys. I really wanna tease it, but it's. It's just. It's gonna. It's gonna blow your socks. And it's a fitting gift to be doing this year in particular. So it's gonna be great.

[Andrew]

Absolutely. Let's get into some news. And this is one reason why we're still able to podcast about Harry Potter 20 years later, because the the Harry Potter fandom and franchise is very much alive and well. Audible's Harry Potter full cast audiobook series has unveiled the premiere dates and the cast members. Hugh Laurie is going to play Dumbledore. Matthew McFadden is going to play Voldemort. Riz Amid is going to play Snape, and Michelle Gomez will play McGonagall. And they also announced the trio. Arabella Stanton, who is playing Hermione in the TV show, is also playing young Hermione in the Harry Potter audiobooks on Audible.

[Laura]

Wait, how did her agent pull that off?

[Andrew]

Give her a raise. God, give them a raise.

[Eric]

I love. Okay, so what Meg said when I told her this news was, yep, she's already overachieving. It's very like Hermione to do just that. I love that. Like, for no other reason. It's. Yeah, it's really cool.

[Andrew]

Yeah. So what they're doing is they're having three young actors play young Harry, Ron and Hermione. And then after book three, they are being replaced by older actors, which is smart because this has all been recorded already. The books are done. They're ready. You can't have Arabella Stanton, who's, what, probably like 12 years old, voicing Deathly Hallows Hermione. That just wouldn't really makes sense. So. So that'll be pretty cool. And we did get the release dates. Sorcerer's stone comes out November 4th. And then the following books all come out a month apart. So Chamber of secrets comes out. December 16th, Prisoner of Azkaban comes out. January 13th, Goblet of Fire, February 10th, Order of the Phoenix, March 10th, Half Blood Prince, April 14th, Deathly Gallows, May 12th. So we're going to have seven months.

[Micah]

Can you go through that again, please?

[Andrew]

Why? No, look at it in the doc.

[Micah]

I think also what this does, seeing the number of people that were cast for these audiobooks is give me an even deeper appreciation for Jim Dale and Stephen Fry, who did voices for all of these characters. There was nobody else that was joining them in the studio when they were going through and narrating the Harry Potter books.

[Andrew]

And.

[Micah]

And I know we had Jim Dale on an episode of Mugglecast way back when and we also got to spend some time with him in Dallas. It was right. Was it Portis?

[Laura]

That's right, yeah.

[Eric]

For Dallas.

[Micah]

So just a nice bit of nostalgia there as we celebrate 20 years.

[Andrew]

Yes. That was Jim Dale at the beginning introing Mugglecast. When he came on our show for an interview. He recorded that for us and we wanted to add that in to celebrate 20 years.

[Eric]

I missed that so much. It was so, so iconic.

[Andrew]

Dummy. Dobby, come here.

[Eric]

Come here. I would like to say how very pleased I am to introduce Mugglecast.

[Andrew]

Right, yeah. In addition to having a full cast, audible says that these audiobooks are going to be an immersive audio entertainment experience featuring an all new score and original music, plus high quality sound design and real world sound capture. And the books are unabridged. So I've been saying for a while I'm very excited for these. This cast was a pleasant surprise. Hugh Laurie is Dumbledore. That's pretty cool.

[Laura]

Yeah, that's exciting.

[Eric]

I wonder if Imogen Heap is doing the score. They've good partnership with Cursed Child. Yeah, yeah. No, it sounds like. So this is like a full on kind of audio drama, you know, fully produced sort of soundscape, maybe sound effects at the very least. Like you said, a score. Andrew. I really like old school radio plays and podcasts or audiobooks that sound like them.

[Andrew]

So here's a trailer for these new audiobooks to give you a sense of what you'll be hearing.

[Laura]

Harry Potter like you've never heard it before.

[Eric]

Welcome to Hogwarts.

[Andrew]

I don't go looking for trouble.

[Laura]

Trouble usually finds me.

[Eric]

We could all have been killed or worse, expelled. Follow the spiders. I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive. I can teach you how to bottle.

[Andrew]

Fame, brew glory, even Stopper Death.

[Laura]

The truth.

[Andrew]

It is a beautiful and terrible thing. Harry Potter.

[Eric]

Harry Potter the full cast.

[Andrew]

Audio editions Expecto Patronum I feel like I'm gonna need a special fancy pair of headphones to fully experience this immersive audio experience.

[Eric]

Yeah, it's the pan that they adjusted. Honestly, just a pair of stereo headphones. The pan. Good luck.

[Andrew]

Did they hire you to do the choo choo? I heard a choo choo at the beginning of that trailer.

[Micah]

Well, I can't really speak to that right now.

[Eric]

Yay.

[Micah]

It's possible that I might appear in future books, so I can't really. Well, you'll just have to wait for it.

[Eric]

And featuring Micah Tannenbaum as Southern Hagrid. For some reason, they loved it so much listening to our old chapter readings on Patreon.

[Micah]

Yeah, that's actually a new dialect that they have. They're going to announce this. I guess I can spoil it here on the show.

[Eric]

Please, we need content. It's 700 episodes. We need to keep doing the show.

[Micah]

Yeah. So it's going to be great. It really is. Southern Hagrid. Sorcerer's Stone. You haven't heard anything yet.

[Andrew]

Wow, what a tease. I do like for us that they are releasing these a month apart. I don't know how we'll cover these if we do it all, but we should maybe review each one. I don't. We'll have to talk about it off air and figure it out. But yeah, I'm looking forward to this. I think the monthly releases are cool too. It'll give people something to look forward to each month if they're really into this.

[Eric]

Relief for me because I've had been having some audible credits build up. I didn't know exactly how it's going.

[Micah]

To now you know how to spend well and it's.

[Eric]

It beats, you know, paying cash, so it's good for me.

[Micah]

I will say I was surprised at just how much like Hermione or how much like Emma Watson, Arabella Stanton sounds in that one clip that they played.

[Andrew]

Yeah, yeah.

[Laura]

I mean, that's an iconic line that's definitely gonna serve as a throwback to the OG because they also used that one in the trailers for Sorcerer's stone back in 2001. So I think they were probably trying to evoke that nostalgia to kind of bring people in.

[Andrew]

Kyle, who's listening live on our Patreon tonight, also observed that he believes that these audiobooks were in production before casting began for the Harry Potter TV show, which would imply that Arabella Satan got this gig for the Harry Potter audiobooks. And maybe when they were casting for the Harry Potter TV show, they were looking at these voice actors who were already working on the series and were like, damn, Arabella sat and is really standing out to us, man.

[Eric]

Stinks to be that Harry and that Ron actor. They didn't get it for the TV series. No, no, no, no. I'll tell you what I love about the Ron actor who's like, follow the spiders in that clip. It's so reminiscent to me of like, Sorcerer's Stone video game Ron. Oh, beans. You know, just total, like real, real young Ron Weasley. So it's going to be, I think, a treat. And Hugh Laurie was actually in a comedy duo. It was a bit of Fry with Stephen Fry. So now then, both the men have done Albus Dumbledore.

[Micah]

It'll be interesting to see, too, if any of that tracks, like, what we're talking about with Arabella Stanton. Is there anybody else who is a voice actor in the audiobook series that ends up getting cast in the TV show?

[Andrew]

Yeah, maybe.

[Eric]

Yeah, I want to see Michelle Gomez on TV again.

[Andrew]

That'd be great, I think. Now, in the case of Arabella Stanton, she also has the Hermione look, with all due respect to Max Lester and Frankie Treadaway, who are playing Ron and Harry, respectively. I think they might look at those two kids and be like, well, they don't have the look that we're going for, whereas Arabella Stanton was probably the full package for them.

[Eric]

Well, I'm glad they're no longer dyeing the actor's hair because that didn't do so many favors for the kids in the movies.

[Micah]

And, Andrew, you had a quote initially in here, I think, from Hugh Laurie. It was really nice to hear him talk about, though, sort of the history of Dumbledore and the fact he feels like he's taking on this iconic role that was previously played by Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, Jude Law. And then he also pays a little bit of tribute to Jim Dale and Stephen Fry as well.

[Andrew]

He has a way with words. He said just below the horizon. But headed our way is the rough beast, John Lithgow. His hour come round at last. This is great company and it's a privilege to be among their number.

[Eric]

You know, Hugh Laurie, it's convinced. It didn't dawn on me until you were reading that in kind of a sinister manner there, Andrew, but like, Hugh Laurie really can bring that the dark side to Dumbledore. And then the sweet chocolate frog, you know, honeyduke's version of Dumbledore, too. I really actually can't wait for his portrayal.

[Laura]

Yeah, I agree.

[Micah]

Are you drawing this from House and the kind of character he was there? I mean, he's definitely a little bit.

[Eric]

More, a little edgy, edgier.

[Laura]

You know, if you look at, you know, his work with Stephen Fry, but you also look at his work in like various breakcoms from like I think the 80s and 90s. He's also capable of being extremely funny and light hearted. So I'm really excited to see him be able to sort of like bridge the gap between those two things for Dumbledore because we know it's there.

[Andrew]

All right, well, we will revisit these audiobooks when there's more news to share or when the first one comes out in November, November 4th. Specifically. We're going to take a quick break and when we come back, we're going to look at old predictions about Harry Potter that we made in the earliest episodes of Mugglecast and how right or wrong they were. So we'll be right back.

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The Disney Plus Hulu HBO Max bundle plan starting at 16.99amonth. All these and more streaming soon. Visit Disney Plush hulu hbo max bundle.com for details. Yeah, so I thought it'd be fun to look back on those early episodes of Mugglecast, and I pulled some predictions that all four of us made to put the show's launch in perspective for everybody. We launched Mugglecast just about three weeks after the Half Blood Prince book was published by so fans were feverish for ways to discuss and think about what might happen in Deathly Hallows. So let's pull out the Time Turner and look at some of the earliest predictions that we were making.

[Eric]

This comes from episode two. Kevin and Andrew predicted that Snape either had a relationship with Lily or that he had a crush on her. If he had a crush on her, it would explain why he hates Harry so much. He may have become bitter over his and Lily's friendship getting destroyed because she chose James.

[Andrew]

That was.

[Eric]

We just ended the show there. We got it, you guys. Wow. Let's look no further. I don't think we should. I don't think we're going to find a more accurate prediction.

[Andrew]

Some of us. We got some good predictions.

[Laura]

We did.

[Andrew]

Yeah. Back in the day. Yeah. And that was the fun of the show.

[Micah]

We should have read that in a Kevin voice.

[Andrew]

Thank you. I nailed that one.

[Micah]

Well, not long after that, on episode three, Jamie asked the question if Albus Dumbledore is really dead. To which Eric said, yes, Albus Dumbledore is dead. Jamie cried and didn't return for the rest of the episode. Will he be coming back in another way though? Possibly. There is always the portrait in his office that Harry could talk to. So a better question is, yes, he is dead, but is he really gone?

[Eric]

Man. My first episode of Mugglecast, I predicted the cursed Child. Unbelievable. Harry's talking to Dumbledore's portrait in his office. My God.

[Andrew]

Do you all remember there was the website Dumbledore is not dead.com as well. With all these theories trying to argue he didn't actually die. I thought that website was awesome. Website?

[Micah]

Is this what birthed Dumbledore's Tower of Terror?

[Andrew]

Maybe it partly was inspired by that theory and book. Yes. Or website.

[Laura]

I was going to ask you, Andrew as well. Is that website naming convention what inspired you to purchase Dumbledore is not Gay dot com?

[Andrew]

Yes. Oh, I forgot about that. Yeah, that was bad of me. In hindsight, I shouldn't gay deny it was satire. Yeah, yeah.

[Laura]

All right, next one here is from episode five. In this one, Eric predicted that there would be a big chance that one of the remaining Horcruxes would be at Hogwarts. Possibly the Sorting Hat, Gryffindor sword or something entirely unknown to us.

[Andrew]

Ding, ding, ding.

[Laura]

Dang, Eric, look at you. I think I was on those shoulders.

[Micah]

I was three for three.

[Eric]

Yeah. Hair flip. I think that I was overwhelmed by how much was left for Harry to do following book six. And so it made sense. Just kind of looking back, maybe it made sense to have a Horcrux be at Hogwarts. Also, because Hogwarts is such an important part of the books, I maybe speculated that we'd be going back.

[Andrew]

Important to Tom Riddle too.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Hogwarts.

[Eric]

That's a good point.

[Micah]

I think it's time that you put Eric in their place.

[Andrew]

So on episode six, Jamie responded to a fan theory that Harry could be a Horcrux. Voldemort put a part of his soul into Harry on accident. And it happened when the spell backfired and it definitely wasn't on purpose. Eric and Ben disagreed.

[Eric]

Would never happen. It would never happen.

[Andrew]

But in Eric's defense, that was a hotly debated theory.

[Laura]

That was a hot debate.

[Eric]

Everything was Horcruxes. You guys don't understand. Like three weeks after book six, the introduction of Horcruxes, we literally were getting voicemails. So many that we had to ask people to, in the earliest episodes of Mochocast, stop sending in questions about Horcruxes.

[Andrew]

With peace and love. Peace and love. No more Horcrux series.

[Micah]

Peace and love back then.

[Eric]

No, no, no, no. But it's fun to retcon it because that's kind of the tone. No. You know, the thing of it is, this is amazing. This is what's amazing about all of us getting a to question and predict like all of this is spot on. The fact that Harry is a Horcrux, but it's not an intentional thing. That's right in there. That's dead on.

[Micah]

What I love about this, though, is this is what made the show so much fun early on, was all of these different theories that were being thrown out there and that we could literally sit for hours on end and debate whether or not we thought they were actually true.

[Andrew]

Yeah, because you could find arguments on both sides all over the Internet. On cosforums.com, that was mogganette's forums and all the other forums. We were getting tons of emails like Eric is saying friendships died over the Harry as a Horcrux debate, like that was tearing people apart. It really was.

[Eric]

Oh, you're not wrong.

[Laura]

I definitely remember there was also a movement to go through the books with a fine toothed comb to find every inanimate object that has ever been mentioned ever. And that just launched a thousand theories about what the Hork cruxes were. Do you guys remember that?

[Andrew]

No. That does not surprise me.

[Eric]

I do remember getting. Because we learned about the locket and there was that theory that the locket they all couldn't open in book five would come back and was the locket at the end of book six. So we knew that the author was the kind of person to put these clues in and inanimate objects seemed perfect for it. So here's one from Moving Ahead in time, episode 14 of Mugglecast. Ginny and Harry's relationship will not be a big part of book seven. Them being together will not depend on whether Harry defeats Voldemort or not. Harry and Ginny will have moments together in book seven, but they won't be in an actual relationship until Voldemort gets defeated because there will be too much going on before that. Laura, this was your opinion then have to say you were right, girl.

[Laura]

Yeah, no, I mean, I'm just perceptive like that. Yeah, she's bigger fish to fry. No, there were bigger fish to fry.

[Eric]

There was right love.

[Andrew]

They put a pin in love. They'll circle back to it later.

[Micah]

There's battles to be fought.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Eric]

You know, Kyle says in the Discord, it's also wild to me how strong Harmony still was after Half Blood Prince. And you guys would have to navigate those tides in messages. Harmony, of course, being the Hairy Hermione. Shippers occasionally get still get mentions on this show from time to time, but that was a big swath of people.

[Laura]

Yeah, shippers were Very serious back in the day. Not to say that the same themes don't exist today, but it was a whole other thing. People legitimately had fights in online forums, sometimes at conventions about ships, particularly the Harry and Hermione or the Ron and Hermione ship.

[Andrew]

It kind of makes me think that for the TV show, they should change some of the outcomes or plot lines a little bit. Like who gets together with who just to rock the boat and leave people surprised.

[Eric]

Oh, my God.

[Andrew]

Like Harry and Hermione should get together.

[Micah]

I think they should pair up, Harry.

[Andrew]

And Luna in a relationship that seems beautifully platonic to me, that friendship. But sure, if that's what you want. Micah. Micah's a no.

[Micah]

I was trying to get Ravenclaw some more action.

[Laura]

I was honestly, when Luna was introduced in book five. I know it's. We've talked about it on the show before. I thought that's what was being set up because she and Harry have so much in common and they can just connect on a deeper level that he hadn't been able to connect with anyone else up until that point. So I thought that's where it was going.

[Eric]

Yeah. I liked the possibilities. I liked that there were possibilities. There was more than one girl in the room. It was nice.

[Micah]

Well, on episode 21, responding to a voicemail from a fan who was wondering about Harry's scar and whether or not it was going to disappear or stay after Voldemort's death, all the hosts agreed that the scar would not disappear. It's there forever. And even if Harry got the choice to remove it, he would choose to keep it instead. He's proud of his scar and he wouldn't be complete without it.

[Andrew]

I wanted to include this one because of course, we were all expecting the book to end with scar and that didn't happen. But we were. We had some scar talk going on anyway.

[Eric]

I think that was originally what was supposed to happen. Right. That the scar would disappear or not. Not be visible. Yeah, I think the original. So we knew that the series was supposed to end in Scar and not all was well. Still angry about that. But I think the full sentence was later revealed to have going. It was going to have been only those that loved Harry could see the faint outline of his lightning bolt scar.

[Andrew]

That would have been nice.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Micah]

Yeah. All is well. I'm gonna bring back a segment right here, right now. Oh, it's called what's Bugging Micah?

[Eric]

What's Bugging Micah? Yeah, what's Bugging Micah?

[Micah]

It. It's too fairy tale. Ending.

[Laura]

Yeah, well, and also apparently it wasn't.

[Eric]

No, that's the whole point of Cursed Child. You're closing the door on Cursed Child there, Joe. Yeah, closing canon. That was a lot of the complaints, contemporarily.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Broke canon.

[Andrew]

Cursed Child broke canon.

[Eric]

Well, that's not all it did.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Or that's not the only place.

[Laura]

Yeah, true. Next one is coming from episode 23 on Fox. Not trying to save Albus Dumbledore in his last moments and how that could be a sign that Snape isn't bad and that the death was bad planned. Either way, Albus Dumbledore is definitely dead. Even if the curse didn't work, the fall from the Astronomy Tower would have for sure killed him. Shout out Astronomy Tower of Doom or whatever we're calling it.

[Andrew]

Tower of Terror Dumbledore.

[Eric]

Astronomy Tower of Terror.

[Laura]

Snape may have had an unbreakable vow with Albus Dumbledore promising him that he will kill him instead of Draco. During the Astronomy Tower scene, Dumbledore may have been begging Snape to kill him instead of begging him for his own life. Oh, and you're making me credit myself with this. Thanks. Thank. Thank you.

[Andrew]

It's just the order that.

[Laura]

I'll take it.

[Andrew]

It went in, that's all. But yeah, this one was spot on.

[Micah]

This was another big theory at the time that Snape was actually good and he was acting on Dumbledore's orders. The whole Severus please line. And I think in the movies Michael Gambon does a much better job of letting viewers in on what's going on just in his delivery of those words than maybe it would have been for us as readers reading it on the page. Because obviously we don't have the tone or the delivery. But I thought, I'm curious your all's thoughts having watched that, that it was pretty clear that Dumbledore was asking almost for mercy in that moment.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I can see that because he kind of said Severus.

[Micah]

He makes. He like pauses facial expression as well when he does it.

[Andrew]

Like he's ready. Yeah, I could see that. And we're talking about the audiobooks and the TV show. It'll be interesting to see how John Lithgow plays it. And of course now Hugh Laurie plays it as well. I mean we'll have to probably give the directors of the TV show and the audiobooks a lot of credit for moments like that. If they pull it off correctly from episode 45. The Hogwarts grounds will be where the final battle takes place. If that's really the case. The scene would be very emotional. Micah guessed that the final battle will take place at Godric's Hollow. I need to look up who actually.

[Micah]

Cursed child. It does take place in Godric's Hollow, doesn't it?

[Andrew]

I'm sorry, Micah, that doesn't count.

[Laura]

Not my canon.

[Andrew]

Yeah. This was my prediction that I made that it would take place on the Hogwarts grounds. Kind of a safe stretch, maybe. What? It's not a stretch. It's on the grounds.

[Micah]

Hogwarts.

[Andrew]

Oh. Oh. Ouch.

[Laura]

Yeah. I'm. I vividly remember being so against this idea. And I'm pretty sure there's recording of me out there saying that if the final battle is at Hogwarts, that'll be the stupidest idea ever.

[Eric]

Why?

[Andrew]

Why didn't you like it?

[Eric]

I still think it.

[Laura]

I honestly, it's kind of basic.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Laura]

Like.

[Eric]

Well, back to back books. Right. So.

[Laura]

Right.

[Eric]

Intrusion of Death Eaters at Hogwarts. No, I was with Laura, I think, at the time, if I'm remembering correctly, because there were so many amazing battleground places that it could have been. We could have gone back to the Department of Mysteries and that wouldn't have been stupid because it wasn't twice in a row or whatever. Whatever. Anyway, it's Hogwarts. I can't.

[Andrew]

Hoggy, hoggy Hogwarts Hoggy woggy Hogwarts Hoggy warty, Hoggy warty.

[Laura]

I don't know. Voldemort just can't get over high school. Like, that's the story of this franchise.

[Eric]

Unbelievable.

[Micah]

But Hogwarts was a character and I feel like it needed to be there in the final scene.

[Andrew]

Agreed. It was where it all began for Harry, really. True. Unless you want the final battle. Yeah, unless you want the final battle to happen like at Pripet Drive.

[Laura]

I mean, I don't know. I think there's a world of possibilities if you want to talk about expanding the universe. If we think about what happens if the International Statute of Secrecy gets blown right open, what happens to the wizarding world in 2025 when we have the Internet and smartphones and magic is going to be a lot harder to hide. Like, if they wanted to expand on this franchise and build out the universe so that they could tell more stories and make more money, those are some things they could do. But, you know, those are just some ideas. If you want to hire me, that's pretty good.

[Micah]

Hired.

[Eric]

And our last in this segment of fun old predictions. We should do this more often.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Comes from episode 55, where Micah predicts that the Weasley twins are going to die by the end of Deathly Hallows. I actually looked this up that episode. We were joined by Brandon Ford of the Mugglenet editorial, the Underground Underground Lake. Yeah, I know you're an avid reader. I was segment. But yeah, evidently it was revealed at Radio City Music hall that maybe two people were going to survive of the trio, or like at least Ron and Hermione. The question was, were two people spared? And Micah, you said, I think the Weasley twins are going to get it. It's at the very end of episode 55.

[Laura]

I mean, you were half right.

[Andrew]

Yeah, you were half right.

[Micah]

If I'm to try and remember what I was thinking back then, which, yeah, such a sick thought, but probably because when you look at a family as large as the Weasley family, the probability is high. The probability is pretty high.

[Eric]

This is ironclad.

[Micah]

What almost happened to Arthur in Order of the Phoenix. And I also think that. Okay, now I know why I said this. Because of what happened to Molly's brothers, Gideon and Fabian Pruitt. They died in the first war. And we know that, at least in part. They are named. Fred and George are named for Gideon and Fabian. So history may have a way of repeating itself a little bit.

[Andrew]

Fred rhymes with dad. It was written in the stars.

[Eric]

George rhymes with porridge Gorge.

[Andrew]

My brother's gonna get gorged to death.

[Micah]

Well, George does get maimed. It's not like he gets away from it scouting.

[Eric]

That's true. They both get pretty clay. He's cursed. His ears are stuck.

[Micah]

St. George.

[Eric]

Oh, man.

[Andrew]

Eric mentioned doing this more. I want to give a shout out to Kim, one of our listeners who at one point a few years ago went through every episode pre book 7 and logged all of our predictions that we made. And we have the timestamps, we have the episodes. It's a 47 page doc. So we could do this more often. We were doing it a few years ago, but it's just wonderful to have this resource where we can look back at all of our old predictions.

[Laura]

Totally.

[Eric]

Thanks, Kim. Yeah, this was fun to read.

[Micah]

The Saints.

[Andrew]

Yeah. And later in today's episode, we'll be making some new predictions about the future of the fandom. So stay tuned for that.

[Eric]

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[Laura]

How fast are we talking?

[Eric]

We're talking puzzle toys and lick pad.

[Laura]

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[Andrew]

Fast.

[Eric]

Pads, cooling mat, peg, hammer, Fast and fast.

[Laura]

And Those training T R E a.

[Eric]

T s faster than you can say sit fast.

[Laura]

And now we can all relax and order these matching hoodies to get cozy and cute. Fast, fast. Free delivery.

[Andrew]

It's on.

[Eric]

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[Andrew]

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[Micah]

Blend designed to hydrate better than water.

[Andrew]

So you can lose more sweat and raise your game.

[Eric]

Gatorade is it in you?

[Andrew]

So I thought 20 years later, we could ask ourselves, if we could change one thing about the show's past or our presence or personality on the show in the past, what would it be? Because we've changed a lot in 20 years. We're different people. And that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. But this question is inspired by how we get different things out of the books as we have reread them over the years. So if we listen back to early episodes, maybe is there anything we wish we did differently? Maika, I'm going to be really nice to you to kick things off here. Oh, so you were the, you were the. You were the Michael cast news anchor, you had the new studio and for a while, I don't know how long exactly, you just were our newsman and you would pop in to read the latest headlines and then we would discuss them. But then eventually you just came onto the show full time. So my wish is that we broke you out of the newsroom dungeon sooner and you were just a regular panelist. Sooner.

[Eric]

Yeah, yeah, we made him wait 11 weeks. So nearly three months before we were like, join us, Micah.

[Andrew]

Do you remember back then thinking like, why are they relegating me to this two minute MP3 file every week?

[Micah]

Well, no, not really because I felt in part I needed to earn my way on.

[Andrew]

Darn right.

[Eric]

We're still waiting, by the way.

[Andrew]

Oh.

[Eric]

You crushed those segments. Those segments were some of the biggest laughs of those early episodes. They were amazing.

[Micah]

Yeah, I had a lot of fun doing the news segments and like you said, Andrew, they were pre recorded. So it wasn't like I was live with the rest of you when you were recording. And I think the joke finally was when I popped up post news airing that everybody was shocked that I had somehow found my way onto the show. But I do actually like the fact that the news became recorded during the show because it allowed for more conversation, interaction. It's just exactly. Very weird. Early on recording it and then having you all react after the fact. Like, I feel like sometimes you had to edit in, like if I made a joke or I made fun of another co host you would have to insert certain things in there because otherwise there would be no kind of natural reaction to it. So it was probably more work on your end at times or whoever was editing it.

[Andrew]

Maybe it did just feel backwards for us to have you read all these different news items. And then we kind of like backtracked and discussed everything you just said.

[Eric]

Well, it was good to have a. I thought it made us sound so professional to have like a pre recorded news roundup. And, and then as soon as it stopped being a thing, it's like, okay, we don't need that. But it was really, really cool to begin with, especially because Micah did such a good job of it, curating it. I mean, I've told this story too. But like my favorite joke that you've ever made on the prerecorded news segment was there was some trailer, I think it was for Goblet of Fire that was going to be premiering on ABC or something. And it was going to be premiering before Joey the Friends spin off. You're like, seeing as how there are only five people that watch this show and we know who you are. We asked the former cast members of. To send in the tape. Oh, wow. Just like, oh my God. The shade. The shade. It's amazing.

[Micah]

I, I like I said I had a lot of fun working on those new segments.

[Andrew]

Another thing I would change and I can't beat ourselves up over this. They're mainly business focused items. We did come up with Pickle Pack very early. That was like Patreon before Patreon. But it would have been cool if we did something even earlier or if we came up with like a mailing list, started collecting people's emails to notify them about new episodes of the show or just starting our social media channels sooner. We also gave away a lot of free advertising. It kind of felt like. Which I wish we didn't do. Maybe I'll save that for a bonus Mugglecast sometime behind the paywall. But I feel like we gave people more free promo than they probably deserve. That sounds mean.

[Laura]

I like no, but. No, no, no. I mean, I think there's something to that. Right. Because we've talked before on the show about how we were all so very young when we were doing this that we didn't know what we were doing. Like nowadays, stuff like that that would be immediately obvious to us because we're adults just wouldn't be. When we were that young. It was kind of a, it was a really unique point in time where like the Internet in Terms of, like, finances was also kind of the wild west.

[Eric]

Yeah. Yeah. There weren't laws written yet to say how it was supposed to go.

[Laura]

Right.

[Eric]

You know, or even web traffic. And that kind of thing was just like, okay, you'll give me what. All right. That seems fair, not knowing what's going on, but yeah, that's. I'll kind of go for. For my thing. It was very to do with early, like, social media also. I mean, we really, as a show, like, we predate YouTube, being out of beta. Facebook, social media itself wasn't like it was. If it was a thing, because there was MySpace. It really wasn't what it is today. The world just didn't work like that. The Internet didn't work like that. And a couple of years into our show, like two or three years in 2007, 2008, is when some of our friends in fandom started to get big on YouTube through doing web vlogs and things like that. And my. I'll say regret, but if we, you know, we had a time turner and could do things differently, I would say that that would have been the time to really get on YouTube. We could have ridden sort of that first wave of chronically online teens who could have boosted our signals. Our channels could be, you know, even larger than they are through, but again, through hard work and regular content posting. But I always wonder what could have been. I always wonder, you know, now we're on YouTube now we record video and it works very seamlessly and it goes on YouTube. And there have been many videos over the years that get a lot of views because we publish them to our YouTube. But to have utilized YouTube in a. In the way that some of those early, you wouldn't even call them influencers at the time used would be an interesting alternate timeline to see how things would have developed over there.

[Laura]

Well, yeah, especially if you look at some of the people who were on the cutting edge of YouTube at the time, and they. I mean, we're all around the same age, so they were teenagers, early 20s, doing their nerdy shows about things they were really into. And a lot of those creators are huge on YouTube now. So not to make anyone feel bad or anything, but it is one of those things that you do reflect on. For sure. I would echo that.

[Andrew]

How about you, Micah?

[Micah]

I don't know that I would necessarily want to change anything about the content of the show. I feel like we evolved the way we did because of all the different things that we faced along the way. I was just kind of thinking about this the last few minutes, and hopefully this doesn't come across as somewhat controversial, but I do think that looking back on it at the time, having the author on the show prior to all of the things that have since transpired would have been something that I think we all would have liked.

[Eric]

Yeah, yeah.

[Micah]

Now we all feel very differently as of August 7, 2025. But I look back on the fact that she did go on pottercast and she did talk with Melissa and John and was it sue at the time?

[Andrew]

Probably.

[Micah]

And I remember there were people who had said to me that they felt that we had at least earned that same right through what we did and, you know, putting the show on. And so, again, I hope this doesn't come across in any way as being controversial, but I do think that back at that point in time, that would have been something that we all would have appreciated.

[Eric]

So, yeah, yeah, we idolized her.

[Andrew]

And to be honest, we would have asked really good questions.

[Eric]

I think that's the loss. That's the loss that I feel. It's not never having met her. It's never getting to ask those crazy, wild questions like, why is the Ministry abandoned? Was it a pizza party? I need to know.

[Andrew]

I take it as a compliment that she didn't come on because she was afraid of us. She knew the questions we would ask.

[Eric]

Were we would poke holes too good. We would poke so many holes, the series would just collapse, Collapse. There would be no more Harry Potter. I feel like had that been a huge priority of ours, we could have then made it happen. But there were various interactions throughout the years. Right. We had a letter from her at one point saying, do you know we exist? And she said, yes, I know. You know, as soon as pottercast had their interview with her, we wrote a letter saying, do you know that we are also a thing? I mean, I didn't write the letter. So what did it. What was it actually about?

[Micah]

Laura did, didn't you?

[Laura]

Yeah, I did. It was just on our. All of our behalf, thanking her for everything she'd done, you know, and we also sent her a charm bracelet that I bought at the mall. It wasn't any dollar.

[Andrew]

It was cute.

[Laura]

It was cute. But, like, I was 18, okay? It's. I worked at Target. That was all I could afford.

[Eric]

So, you know, that's right up there with what Emerson gave her, which was the key to the city of LaPorte, Indiana. I mean, that and the friendship bracelet are real close, right? Gifts.

[Laura]

So we didn't get a reply back for two years. And one day in my sophomore year of college, my mom texted me randomly and was like, you're never gonna believe what just showed up at the P.O. box.

[Andrew]

Did you buy the charm bracelet from Spencer's?

[Laura]

No.

[Andrew]

Hot Topic.

[Laura]

Oh my God.

[Eric]

Did it have Jack Skellington on it?

[Laura]

No, no, I would never. That's not her vibe. She's not.

[Eric]

No. Laura would buy that bracelet, but she'd wear it herself because she was, you know.

[Laura]

Duh.

[Eric]

Yeah, duh.

[Micah]

There were some other things too, that I thought about, you know, if. If the show had started earlier, maybe around when Goblet of Fire came out. Just thinking about that was such a major kind of pivotal point in the series because Voldemort is officially back and we're heading to Order of the Phoenix, where the tone of the series really starts to shift. And yeah, if we thought that we had theories, you know, after Half Blood Prince was out, I can't imagine the theories that were floating around at the times of books four and five and kind of where the series was ultimately going to go. So, I mean, that would have just given us more episodes, but yeah, no.

[Andrew]

It'S a good point. It would have been wonderful to speculate. Pre Half Blood Prince as well. Or pre Order of the Phoenix.

[Eric]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, there was some doing of that on Mugglenet, but not in the audio sphere. I mean, to be fair, podcasts weren't really a thing. Certainly not in the 2000.

[Andrew]

We also asked patrons what popular topics they would like us to revisit or reflect on. Carly thinks we should revisit the ways in which our Muggle world has started to become more like the Wizarding world over the last two decades. Like now. We have live photos that are similar to how pictures in the wizarding world move. We have ChatGPT, aka a quick quotes Quill, we have our own fudge in office, etc. I'd love to hear everyone's other thoughts and observations of similar inventions, moments that make our world slightly more magical, for better or worse. Yeah, that's a great idea.

[Micah]

I think that's a bit harsh on Fudge.

[Eric]

Yeah, that's a fair point. Yeah. I mean, we do occasionally comment, certainly as we're going through the books, when we spot a current relevance. But I like the implication of AI and whether that is something that is akin to stuff we see in the Harry Potter books. There's definitely a topic there for sure.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Sam says, I miss all the silly segments that always got unhinged. Hahaha. Make the music connections what's bugging Micah, which we had tonight. Jamie's jokes, et cetera. All the early days are such a joy to listen to. Really feels like going back in time. I agree. There was a certain unpolishedness that would give us all heart attacks. Now at this age we tried to recreate, let somebody like Jamie loose. It wouldn't be. It wouldn't work out.

[Andrew]

Yeah, we're all still for having fun here. But yeah, it's gotten a little more. And I think this is just how the podcast industry has shifted to. It's a little more regimented. Maybe don't forget to follow us in your favorite podcast that people have to hear that stuff. So that's why we said.

[Eric]

Yeah. No, I. But that. That is a call to action for us. I think that Sam said of like. Like, let's continue to keep the spirit of. Of like our unhinged teenage selves. Yeah. Keep it weird, y'. All.

[Andrew]

I'm starting to think maybe we should start getting a little more adult on the show.

[Micah]

Oh, finally.

[Laura]

Wow. Strategy meeting in the middle of the recording.

[Andrew]

We gotta. We gotta grow up. Parents unsubscribe now.

[Eric]

We gotta slap that E rating onto every episode, onto our Harry Potter.

[Micah]

And as I think we've mentioned on other episodes, it's hard for us to do make the music connection because.

[Laura]

Right.

[Andrew]

We're not really allowed to play. Yes. Yeah.

[Micah]

And the show will get pulled down and we don't want that. Y. Rachel says love make the music connection. The theories and predictions and the first reactions to the wizarding world at Universal. There have also been so many lines that have made me laugh out loud in so many conversations and topics that have made me feel so seen and were exactly what I needed to hear.

[Laura]

Oh, I love that.

[Micah]

Thanks, Rachel.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Laura]

Carly added that they loved the house focused episodes. Those were so fun.

[Andrew]

That was a fun.

[Laura]

Those are some of the more recent. More recent episodes in our catalog from the last few years. But those episodes were so deep.

[Eric]

Yeah.520something was those526 was in defense of.

[Andrew]

Slytherin and house focused episodes are probably something we could do more of. There's a lot of to dig into there and comparing and contrasting the houses can resort people. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.

[Eric]

Yeah. That's always fun.

[Andrew]

Michael said old Mugglecast Mugglenet lore is always fun. Inside joke origins, what some of our old friends are up to, favorite early show memories, etc. Yeah. And I think we'll be doing more of that in bonus Mugglecast on Patreon. Behind the paywall, we can open up more. We can reveal the secrets. Maybe we don't want prying eyes or ears to be seeing. So you can look forward to topics like that. And all of these topics today are great for Bonus mugglecast that we're reading from our patrons, because right now we're pretty busy with chapter by chapter. Whereas Bonus Mogulcast opens up the opportunity to talk about other aspects of the wizarding world outside of chapter by chapter. And what better time to do it than in our 20th year?

[Laura]

Yeah. Are you saying that we're gonna get wormtaily?

[Andrew]

We're gonna get wormtaily. Yeah.

[Laura]

Bonus.

[Andrew]

Yeah, yeah. Wormtaily, part 1, part 2, part 3.

[Eric]

Keep the secrets.

[Andrew]

Keep the secrets. Yeah. That. Yeah.

[Micah]

Don't keep the secrets.

[Andrew]

Well, listeners must keep the secrets that we share.

[Eric]

Oh, yeah, yeah. We're gonna give them badges. They're gonna get little pins.

[Andrew]

I still have some of those keep the secrets buttons. They were handing them out during the Cursed child shows because they were trying to stop people from spoiling.

[Micah]

You're going to put them on ebay.

[Laura]

So now here's what we're keeping them for. Myself, before you can listen to this episode of Bonus, we're just going to have you sign this piece of parchment.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Laura]

And don't worry about it.

[Andrew]

You pledge to keep the secrets always and forever.

[Eric]

James says pick a peck. Where the darn origins of Rabbit Rabbit came from. A seven word summary of the past 20 years of podcasting. Lara's Pants. Revisit. What went wrong with the Fantastic Beasts movies. May be revisiting thoughts on the theme parks. Yeah, there could be an idea of taking stock of what Harry Potter experiences currently exist, what conventions are still going, what gatherings are still happening, what theme parks there are. I think they're opening a Universal in England next.

[Andrew]

I saw Rumor. Yeah, yeah, they're talking about it.

[Eric]

There's a podcast about it now, so. From some of our friends.

[Andrew]

So, yeah, the origins of Rabbit Rabbit, Rabbit Rabbit. You say at the start of a month. And it's a little like good luck charm. So that's Rabbit Rabbit.

[Micah]

Wasn't that Matt who first introduced that on the show? I feel like he was the one who I first heard it from.

[Andrew]

I don't know.

[Laura]

Yeah, maybe.

[Andrew]

But James also said a seven word summary of the past 20 years of podcasting. Why don't we just do that right now? I'll load up the theme.

[Eric]

Yeah, you got it, Laura.

[Andrew]

We'll do the host order.

[Laura]

Bringing it back.

[Andrew]

No, Laura, you might only have to go once. You might be off the hook here. All right, Here we go. Seven word summary of the last 20 years of podcast.

[Laura]

Wait, where are we typing it out?

[Andrew]

I'll type it right here below the question. Mugglecast explores literary magic for all time. Oh, okay. There we go.

[Laura]

That was great.

[Andrew]

Wow.

[Micah]

We haven't lost this to worried about.

[Eric]

Let's pat ourselves on the back. We still got a whole nother book before we can bring that segment back properly, but.

[Andrew]

And we did that in 20 seconds. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Micah]

All right. Scar Barry writes in to say that his favorite episode to recommend to people is the differences between Fred and George. That episode is so fascinating. And a top five mugglecast for him. And any episode y' all talk about, Jacob Kowalski, him sending that happy birthday message was sick. Yeah.

[Andrew]

The actor, Dan Fogler. Yeah, that was great. Yeah. That Fred and George episode was one of my favorites, too. Telling them apart. How to tell them apart.

[Eric]

It's. It's. It's. It shocked me what. What we learned on those episodes where we take a closer look and then learn. Oh, yeah, you actually can. Like, there are distinctive personalities because I always kind of skim.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Eric]

The twins said this. The twins said that. They both didn't die, though. They are different, so.

[Micah]

And thank you all again very much for that special birthday message from the one and only Dan Fogler. Kawalski.

[Andrew]

I don't think he knew we were going to play that on a podcast.

[Micah]

I don't think he knew he was recording the video, to be honest with you.

[Laura]

Do you think he remembers? And finally bringing us home. Robert has a couple of recommendations. The first is a fun one saying, I'd love a trip down memory lane about your reaction to seeing Cursed Child as opposed to reading it now. The serious recommendation or the serious comment here? I'm so proud to call myself a Mugglecast fan because of your very powerful author episodes detailing not only her views and actions, but your staunch opposition to them. I'd love to know how it felt to plan and discuss such a hard topic, in addition to the strength you have to keep pushing positivity as a way to combat the hate. That's really sweet of you to say, Robert. And that feels good. I think that's exactly the tone we were hoping to strike with that. Yeah, you know, yeah, just encouraging people to be a little more open. And rather than jumping on top of, like, you know, the ugly rhetoric that you see on social media and in the news, like, take a step back and actually try talking to someone Who's a member of the trans community before you start, you know, painting with a broad brush like the author does, I think.

[Eric]

Yeah, just checking in with ourselves too, and each other is a great resource. We have this relationship that we've culminated over 20 years, cultivated over 20 years, and makes it very easy to have even hard conversations because we have a lot of respect for each other. So, yeah, that was a great. I mean, it was. Conversations happened, but it worked out. I'm glad that that was well received.

[Andrew]

Well, thank you to our patrons for sharing what popular topics they would like us to revisit or ones they remember most. Really fun reading through those. We ask our patrons questions on our Patreon every week and then read their answers on air. If you would like to participate, become a member [e-mail] mugglecast and don't forget, we currently have a special offer. Use code 20 years. That's 20 years at checkout to get a discount on an annual membership. Now, we were experiencing some of our predictions we made in the earliest episodes of Mugglecast. Let's predict the future. So 20 years from now, what official Harry Potter 2045, what official Harry Potter or Wizarding world things will exist that we don't currently know about? And I'm encouraging you all to think big here. Like what? Because, you know, we have the TV show coming. We had the Fantastic Beasts, the film series, we had these new audiobooks coming, stuff like that. I'll kick things off, I think.

[Micah]

Oh, I know you're not doing that in a normal voice. You're predicting.

[Eric]

You want to prophesize. Andrew. There you go.

[Andrew]

Thank you. The power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. I predict a Harry Potter animated TV show will arrive about the adventures of the Weasleys. And I think it'll be set at the borough at the start of every episode. And we'll just see the daily antics that are happening within the house. And when you think about it, the Weasleys, they're like a perfect sitcom family. You have the quirky dad, you got the bossy but caring mother, you got the mischievous twins. And then of course, you got some kids with really good heads on their shoulders. So I think the rapport between all of them in an animated TV show would be awesome and animated. Think of the Weasleys. Animated. Think of that burrow. Animated. It would. The color would just be so vibrant. So that's what I want.

[Eric]

I like that a lot. It kind of got me wanting a Adventures of Martin Miggs. The Mad Muggle comic book too, which is a comic that Ron has maybe. Oh, remember how on children's TV there used to be like, God, what was it? Garfield had half of every episode that was actually the Farm Creatures or something and it was like 15 minutes of Garfield with the farm. Maybe they could do that where it's the Weasleys at the borough and then also Martin Miggs Muggle somewhere as like a twofer cartoon series. Hire me. Thank you. That would be great.

[Andrew]

Now it's your turn, Eric, to make a prediction.

[Eric]

It's a big mantle to take on. I don't have the glasses.

[Andrew]

You don't have to do the voice. It's very. It strains the vocal cords.

[Eric]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Micah]

Celsius.

[Eric]

I will say that within the next 20 years, if I were betting them, I would say there will be a Hogwarts Hotel. It will be furthermore, somewhere unexpected like North Carolina for some reason and having learned nothing from the Star Wars Hotel.

[Micah]

Is Southern Hagrid gonna be the innkeeper?

[Andrew]

Southern Hagrid is gonna be the innkeeper.

[Laura]

They can just get Ch Jason Isaacs to do it because he did a great North Carolina accent. And White Lotus.

[Eric]

That's right. Anyway, the Star Wars Hotel, which has unfortunately failed, was highly immersive. And I always thought they should do that for Harry Potter. Now it didn't work. Star Wars Hotel is closing. But. But if they did that for Hogwarts, go and attend class, it would sell like hotcakes. Takes. People would pay whatever it took. So I think that it's not a source of revenue that they're thumbing their nose at. I think Hogwarts Hotel is coming. I think it's coming big. I think we're gonna get it in the next 20 years.

[Andrew]

That would be a pretty. Justin who is listening live, is looking at me with my Chuck with my Trelawney glasses and is calling me Chuck Schumer because I'm very much looking over the glasses right now because they don't fit on my head and they're very blurry. But that would be a good bonus Muggle cast for us sometime to dream up a Harry Potter hotel. Like specifically what that would look like.

[Eric]

Well, now that the White Lotus is out, I really have some ideas and.

[Andrew]

I do agree with you, Eric, that seems inevitable. Some sort of Harry Potter Hotel, Hogwarts Hotel, something like that.

[Micah]

So I decided to go with something sports related. But something I actually think could, could be a possibility. Quidditch, also now known as Quad Ball, is going to become An Olympic sport in the next 20 years. And here's the reason why I say that. Currently, it's played in more than 40 countries. It combines elements of rugby, dodgeball and tag with strategic gameplay. It's fast paced, it's high contact, it's multidimensional, and it's great for people to watch. And moreover, it's highly inclusive. Right. And if you look at some sports that are coming to the Olympics in LA in 2028, you have lacrosse, rugby and squash. And these are very similar to Quidditch. So I think there's a very high likelihood that at some point, maybe in the next 10 years, that we'll see Quidditch become an Olympic sport.

[Andrew]

That's. That's a cool theory. Because there's some strange Olympic sports.

[Micah]

Exactly.

[Andrew]

Unexpected ones.

[Micah]

Break dancing.

[Eric]

Yeah, but don't knock it till you can do it.

[Micah]

Well, I'm not knocking it.

[Eric]

No, no.

[Micah]

If you can win a gold medal for that, you can win a gold.

[Andrew]

Medal for Handsball is an sport.

[Eric]

What about basically, what about podcasting, you guys? There needs to be an Olympic.

[Andrew]

I'm in good shape for that.

[Micah]

So we can do it.

[Laura]

Yeah, okay. But just a reminder, 20 years in the future, we're all gonna be around 60, thriving.

[Eric]

Like pushing 60 and thriving.

[Laura]

Yeah. Oh, totally. But how many 60 year old Olympians do you know?

[Andrew]

Well, for podcasting, it'd probably be all about like projection.

[Laura]

Well, yeah, that's true.

[Eric]

Welcome to.

[Andrew]

See, I screwed it up. I. I already know I was in the top three.

[Eric]

Yeah, it's amazing you can just turn that on like that.

[Andrew]

Andrew, welcome to Michael Cast. Gold medal for Andrew. I like that prediction, Micah. That's cool. Yeah, they renamed Quidditch to quad ball to get around like the legal issues there. And maybe that was a step towards Olympic inclusion.

[Eric]

Yeah, I mean, actually you mentioned handball, but the USA Team Handball association helped develop rules for different versions of Quidditch throughout the years that were played live. So I don't know, but I think they're probably, probably pretty connected.

[Laura]

I want to add to the hotel's recommendation. I think hotels, I could definitely see full resort situations. But the thing that I really think is going to happen, I don't know if it's going to take 20 years, but I think it will happen. There will be a wizarding world cruise. There is no way this doesn't happen. There's a cruise for literally everything. If you have an interest in something, if you're really nerdy about something, odds are they have a cruise for it. So I think there's going to be a Harry Potter cruise.

[Eric]

Now I'm looking up if there's podcasting cruises. There are what?

[Andrew]

You know, Laura, there actually have been some rumors lately that Universal, who has the Harry Potter lands, is planning cruises. Because also remember Disney has a very successful cruise line, so it seems inevitable. Plus, Universal is expanding a lot. Eric mentioned that England theme park that's in the works here in Vegas. They're about to open a year round Halloween horror nights venue. It's opening later this month actually. I'm very excited about it. They're looking for new opportunities. So maybe there will be a Universal cruise with Harry Potter elements on it to start. Or they are just going to do a whole Harry Potter ship. That'd be pretty cool. I would like an adults only Harry Potter ship though. I went on an adults only cruise over New Year's and that was wonderful. Just being away from children was wonderful for a week.

[Eric]

Well, there goes Mugglecast junior Dead in the water.

[Andrew]

I'll be on a cruise when Michael cast Jr. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Eric]

No. You know, I was going to make a funny joke about a wizarding world cruise is that they will tease that the cruise will go to Rio de Janeiro and it never will. We will never actually get a cruise there. They will just talk about it. It will be the COVID photo on Twitter for several accounts, but we will never actually get there. They'll have a last minute change of plans.

[Andrew]

Laura, we got to do a bonus Mugglecaster on a Harry Potter cruise too. Now my mind is just spinning with ideas. I loved the cruise I went on a few months ago. I've got cruise fever now.

[Laura]

So there's some good ideas you could do and there are definitely some OG cast members who would totally go because that's the fun of being on these cruises. Like, if you go on a music cruise, the band that you're there to see is usually on the cruise. Unless it's Kiss, because from what I hear, Kiss just helicopters in for their performance and then they leave. So they're not on the boat the entire cruise. But a lot of times, you know, if it's a cruise celebrating a fandom or a band or whatever, prominent people from that thing will be there walking around and you can just run into them. Like that's half the fun. I think Tom Felton would go 100%.

[Andrew]

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. All right, well, we have some great ideas here. We'll revisit these in 2045 and see how right or wrong we were, you know, 20 years ago, we wouldn't have predicted we would have lasted 20 years. So I'm joking when I say we'll revisit these in 2045, but I'm also not.

[Eric]

Let's all agree right now to meet here 20 years from now. You know, even if the show is over, we'll, we'll do a special live.

[Andrew]

Yes, we'll meet on a cruise. Let's, let's print out this Google Doc, put it in the time capsule. Somebody set a Siri reminder to dig up that time capsule in 20 years from now. All right, so to wrap up today's show, we are going to bring back the chicken soup for the Mugglecast soul segment. But we're going to do more than one message today. We've got got three lined up to celebrate 20 years and to hear from our listeners.

[Micah]

Right, Micah, These are ones, too, that have been pulled from the Muggle mailbag over the years. Right. So these are ones maybe we didn't get to. The one from John is a little bit more recent, but we'll hear from two others. Chrissy, which is from 2023, and then Chelsea, which is from 2019.

[Andrew]

Okay. Okay, so let's start with the voice memo from John. Hey, Mugglecast, this is John from Colorado. I've been listening since about episode 20 and I just want to say how much I love the show. You guys have been with me through high times and low times. You helped me with. Through anxiety attacks and thoughts of suicide. So I just want to say I love you guys so much. Special shout out to Andrew and Eric, Micah and Laura, my Ravenclaw brothers from another mother Special shout out to Pam and Chloe, of course, and the other hosts who have come and gone over the years. Thank you, Matt, Elisa, Jamie, Kevin, Mikey B. And any other hosts that Andrew may or may not allegedly murdered and buried in Lake Me with Laura's true crime podcast, help. Love the show, guys. Excited for the TV show. See ya.

[Laura]

Oh, man. Well, John's got your number, Andrew.

[Andrew]

That was pretty sweet.

[Laura]

I think I'd watch out.

[Micah]

I think America's most wanted Horcruxes see what happens.

[Andrew]

Yeah. Yeah. We've heard from listeners over the years the impact the show has had on them in ways similar to what John is describing, especially offering mental health escapes. And I Remember back in 2006, one of our listeners telling us this face to face, like how important the show was to them and how it brought much needed light to their world and that just meant everything to us. And it's one of the reasons we still do the show today. We know the impact that this podcast has had on people and how the impact the fandom has had on people and just this community, how it's a positive light in the world. So we are thrilled to still be a part of it.

[Eric]

Yeah. Couldn't have said that better myself. Every time we hear a story like that, we're very grateful to have been shared on it and to have gotten to be a part of it.

[Micah]

Yeah. Our next chicken soup comes from Chrissy, who says, hey, Mugglecast, my husband and I recently got a new puppy. At this point, the puppy is probably a couple years old, but it at the time was her first time having one. Not sure if you've heard of the puppy blues, but I've had them big time. For the last few weeks, she's had tummy troubles and rough nights and I feel like I can't do anything right. Right. Just wanted to say that listening to you guys has helped me out and made me feel a little better. I'm loving all the HBO show discussion and can't wait to hear or sorry, can't wait to listen to you all for many more years to come. If you're up to it, that is. Thanks for being such great Harry Potter friends.

[Andrew]

Yes, we.

[Laura]

Sounds like a dare.

[Eric]

I was going to say. Well, I know I sounded it. Like, they're really deferring to us, you guys. Do we think that we're up to it? Like, only if your guys are up to it. Then I'll listen to.

[Micah]

Yeah, give it a little more inflection. I'm sorry.

[Andrew]

Yeah. Thank you, Chrissy.

[Eric]

Thank you, Chrissy.

[Laura]

Next one comes from Chelsea who says thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I've been listening to Mugglecast for two years and one month and have officially caught up on every episode and every bonus Mugglecast. I became a patron earlier this year so I could continue my obsession and help support the show. When I started listening, I had just had my second child. I was very lonely being at home every day with two babies and family far away. My marriage was falling apart and my life was just a mess. Since then, I've gotten divorced, sold my home and moved into my own place, fell in love again, and have well and truly picked myself up and moved on with my life. I want to thank all of you for this. For keeping me sane, for being my friends when they all deserted me, for making me laugh when I wanted to cry, for keeping me company while I looked two crazy Toddlers and tried to get a house ready for sale and for staying with me through it all. The one constant in my life was being able to turn on a mugglecast episode, hear your voices, and feel like I was sitting in a room of my best friends. Thank you for continuing to bring light into the lives of all of us Mugglecast fans. You are insightful, funny, detailed, bring a fantastic energy and I love that literally no theory is safe. Yours and magic, Chelsea. And this is from 2019, so we really have a few of these that have been sitting in there. I'm so sorry.

[Eric]

Got a couple of eight year olds now.

[Andrew]

No, it's nice to look back.

[Laura]

Yeah, it's very sweet.

[Andrew]

It is wonderful to be a constant in people's lives and you all have been a constant in our lives as well. The feeling is very mutual. And you've been our Harry Potter friends as well. When we started this podcast, we didn't have. At least I didn't have Harry Potter friends or Romanian friends in real life. So, you know, this was my escape to discuss Harry Potter with my fellow Harry Potter muggle. Net friends.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Thank you, Chelsea. Well listeners, if you have anything to add about today's episode, you can contact us by emailing or sending a voice memo that you record on your phone to mugglecastmail.com even if we take 6 years to read your email, we promise there's already an email on air. We promise we're reading your emails and listening to your feedback as it comes in. So thank you so much for submitting that feedback. It's always great to hear back from y'.

[Laura]

All.

[Andrew]

And next week on the show, chapter by chapter continues with Order of the Phoenix. Chapter 35 beyond the Veil. Look forward to our 2025 Patreon gift announcement next week and become a member. Now for Best best deal ever, 20% off an annual membership. Just use code 20 years at checkouts. It'll get you two gifts, bonus mugglecast episodes every month ad free chapter by chapter, a monthly zoom hangout with the four of us, and a lot more. You can also visit mugglecastmerch.com to buy official gear, including limited time patron gifts from years past. We'd also appreciate a review in your favorite podcast app and tell a fellow Muggle about the show. Finally, you can visit mugglecast.com for quick access to all of this information, our contact form, and a lot more. And if you want more of us, do check out our other podcasts, what the Hype and Millennial for more pop Culture and real world talk. Well, that about does it, y'. All. Any closing thoughts, comments? Prayers?

[Laura]

Prayers?

[Andrew]

I don't know.

[Laura]

Do you think something bad's gonna happen?

[Andrew]

No, I don't know anything.

[Eric]

Well, wishes, honestly, if you're here right now. Thank you. That's it. We've really. We always.

[Andrew]

What left is there to say?

[Eric]

We look forward to doing this show every week.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Eric]

And it's always been a joy.

[Micah]

It really has.

[Andrew]

Here's to the next 20 years.

[Laura]

All right, well, guys, I don't think this. I know.

[Andrew]

Oh, what are you drinking, Erin?

[Eric]

Cherry Pepsi.

[Andrew]

Oh. Oh, what do you have, Micah? What is that, wine?

[Micah]

It is, yeah.

[Eric]

Oh.

[Micah]

But I don't sip it during the show.

[Andrew]

Oh, Very professional.

[Micah]

Be prepared.

[Eric]

And you're aerating it.

[Micah]

Ready to zing you back.

[Eric]

You know, I. I do regret, if I have one regret, it's that we didn't do this episode in person so that we could then go out to, like, a bar and just drink Cheers and all hold each other.

[Andrew]

We'll rain check on that.

[Eric]

Yeah, rain check.

[Andrew]

Thank you, everyone, so much for listening. It is truly wonderful to have you as a listener. We are deeply grateful for your listenership and support, and we will be back next week. I'm Andrew.

[Eric]

I'm Eric.

[Micah]

I'm Micah.

[Laura]

And I'm Laura.

[Eric]

Bye.

[Andrew]

Bye, everyone.

[Eric]

Bye.