Kierra Lewis Returns, and MuggleMail (Are We Too Hard on Draco?)

Summary

MuggleCast: The Harry Potter Re-Read Podcast
Episode: Kierra Lewis Returns, and MuggleMail (Are We Too Hard on Draco?)
Release Date: April 8, 2025

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1. Celebrating 700 Episodes

[01:30] Kaley Cuoco:
"Welcome to MuggleCast, your weekly ride into the world of Harry Potter for 700 episodes and counting."

The hosts—Kaley, Micah, Laura, and Eric—kick off the episode by celebrating a significant milestone: 700 episodes of MuggleCast. They reflect on the podcast's journey, expressing surprise and gratitude for its longevity. The hosts share their excitement about continuing to explore the Harry Potter universe, especially with the upcoming Harry Potter TV show on MAX.

Notable Quote:
Micah: "[...] a TV show is coming right around the corner. So if they think we don't have enough to talk about now, which they're totally wrong about, they would have to acknowledge that there's going to be plenty to talk about for about the next decade once the show comes out." [03:13]

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2. Guest Interview: Kira Lewis

[05:50] Kaley Cuoco:
"We are now joined by Kiera Lewis. Welcome back to MuggleCast."

Kira Lewis, a dedicated Harry Potter fan who recently completed her first full re-read of the series, joins the podcast to discuss her experiences and insights.

Key Discussion Points:

• Emotional Journey:
  Kira shares her emotional connection to the series, expressing a mix of joy and sadness upon finishing the books. She mentions attending the Wizarding World theme park shortly after completing her read.

  Kira Lewis:
  "I'm missing the Harry Potter world for sure." [06:39]

• Favorite Books:
  Kira cites Goblet of Fire and Half-Blood Prince as her favorites, appreciating the deeper plot developments and character backstories.

  Kira Lewis:
  "Just seeing my cousin come out on top, it made it all worth it for sure." [10:20]

• Character Perspectives:
  She discusses her evolving views on Dumbledore and Snape, highlighting the complexity of their characters and her growing empathy towards Snape.

  Kira Lewis:
  "Snape, he's one of those where you think you hate him, but you find out his reasons for everything and you just... I can't help but to be compassionate and loving towards him for sure." [09:48]

• Theme Park Experience:
  Kira describes her visit to the Universal Studios Wizarding World, emphasizing the immersive experience and authenticity of the attractions.

  Kira Lewis:
  "I feel like they just got the entire wizarding world and just plopped it in Universal Studios." [11:36]

• Future Excitements:
  Looking ahead, Kira is excited about the Cursed Child play, the upcoming TV show, and possibly exploring the Fantastic Beasts series.

  Kira Lewis:
  "I'm excited for tomorrow. I'm going to see Cursed Child Play and I'm meeting the cast." [12:29]

Notable Quote:
Kira Lewis:
"The story is just so powerful and it's very timeless." [10:20]

---

3. Game Segment: "Recall Who Said It"

[22:48] Eric:
"I figured it would be a lot of fun to reflect back on some prior episodes of Mugglecast. [...]"

The hosts engage in a nostalgic game where they attempt to recall quotes from previous episodes and identify which host said them. This segment not only entertains long-time listeners but also highlights memorable moments from the podcast's history.

Sample Quotes and Attributions:

• Mason (Old Ad Guy):
  [23:36] Eric:
  "I feel like most people should be able to get."

• Jamie:
  [25:07] Eric:
  "Dumbledore's eyes twinkle brightly behind his spectacles..."

• Ben:
  [26:05] Eric:
  "Muggle Net on Halloween, so this Halloween is going to be my two year anniversary."

• Laura:
  [27:57] Laura:
  "I think it might sound more like something Ben might say."

The game concludes with humorous reflections on how well or poorly they remember past episodes, emphasizing the podcast's extensive run and the camaraderie among the hosts.

---

4. Mailbag Segment: Listener Emails and Discussions

[33:39] Laura:
"We have a voicemail from one of our listeners. [...]"

In this segment, the hosts address listener-submitted questions and topics related to the Harry Potter series, fostering a deeper community engagement.

Highlighted Discussions:

1. Are We Too Hard on Draco?
   [37:38] TJ's Email:
   "I think you're being a little too hard on Draco during the Order of the Phoenix reread."
   The hosts debate Draco Malfoy's characterization, acknowledging his struggles and the pressures he faces.

   Lauraa:
   "I would say that his privilege has brought him to a place where he does not have to live with any of the consequences of his actions..." [37:42]

2. Hermione's House and Sorting Hat Decision:
   [43:49] Joan's Email:
   Discussing why Hermione was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw, emphasizing her values over pure intelligence.

   Eric:
   "Hermione's values more align with Gryffindor than with Ravenclaw." [43:49]

3. Weasley Clock and Umbridge's Control:
   [46:26] Maida's Email:
   Inquiring about the functionality of the Weasley clock and Molly Weasley's overprotectiveness.

   Laura:
   "It's kind of part of the reason it's so insidious what she did is it's a slow, kind of gradual move to totalitarianism." [36:53]

4. Blood Status Clarification:
   [55:03] Isla's Email:
   Questioning why Harry is considered a half-blood despite both his parents being magical.

   Micah:
   "For example, Ron and Hermione's kids are half bloods, right?" [55:17]

5. Alternative Professions for Snape:
   [58:05] Bev's Email:
   Suggesting alternative careers for Severus Snape outside of teaching, sparking creative discussions.

   Micah:
   "Honestly, I could see Snape being a coder..." [60:47]

6. Teaching Styles and Hogwarts Faculty Critique:
   [73:37] Abby's Email:
   Comparing real-world teaching methods to Hogwarts teaching styles, advocating for better oversight.

   Laura:
   "I always hated being lumped together by the principal at staff meetings with blanket statements..." [61:08]

7. Blaming Hermione for Harry's Actions:
   [57:40] Helen's Email:
   Addressing concerns about the podcast placing undue blame on Hermione for Harry's choices, highlighting the importance of personal responsibility.

   Eric:
   "Our actions can also have consequences for other people." [76:15]

Notable Quote:
Laura:
"As a teacher I spent hours carefully crafting engaging lessons...Much like a Hogwarts lesson..." [73:46]

---

5. Quizzage Segment: Trivia Challenge

[84:54] Laura:
"This week's question. Capable of reaching a length of roughly 19ft and weighing around 28 pounds, what is the largest known venomous snake species in the world?"

Listeners are engaged with trivia questions related to both the real world and the Harry Potter universe, enhancing interactive participation.

Sample Questions and Answers:

1. Trivia Question:
   "Capable of reaching a length of roughly 19ft and weighing around 28 pounds, what is the largest known venomous snake species in the world?"
   Correct Answer: King Cobra

2. Upcoming Question:
   "What is the nearest prime number to 700?"

Notable Quote:
Micah:
"I want to hear the hosts duke it out if they read this one. Honestly, I would want to be a beater." [82:16]

---

6. Special Announcements and Celebrations

[80:08] Kaley Cuoco:
"Rachel said Begin at Hogwarts for live MuggleCast from the Great hall..."

To celebrate the 700th episode, listeners submitted creative ideas on how the hosts would celebrate in the Wizarding World. The suggestions included visits to iconic locations like the Great Hall, Hogshead, Department of Mysteries, and engaging in activities such as Quidditch and themed parties.

Notable Quote:
Kaley Cuoco:
"Things I've learned from my time as a student. Hufflepuffs are the best overall. Slytherins are the coolest by far those kids." [78:53]

---

Conclusion

In this landmark episode, MuggleCast not only celebrates its impressive run of 700 episodes but also deepens its engagement with the Harry Potter community through insightful interviews, interactive games, and thoughtful listener interactions. The hosts demonstrate their enduring passion for the Wizarding World, promising continued exploration and discussion in future episodes.

Final Notable Quote:
Kaley Cuoco:
"For the 700th time, I guess we'll see you next time. Bye, everyone." [87:40]

---

Excerpt Note:
All timestamps are approximate and correspond to the provided transcript. Quotes are presented as they appeared, capturing the essence of the discussions and interactions among the hosts and guests.

Transcript

[Kaley Cuoco]

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[Micah]

Go to your happy price.

[Laura]

Priceline. Wow, this house is cute.

[Micah]

But can I really get in the.

[Laura]

Game in this economy? I do have savings and I am responsible. Ish.

[Micah]

I should bury it.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I'm being wild. But what if I'm not being wild, though? Could I actually score a kick off.

[Eric]

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[Micah]

At New Balance, we believe if you run, you're a runner, however you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Things the right way, you're free to discover your way.

[Kira Lewis]

And that's what running's all about. Run your [e-mail] running.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Welcome to Mugglecast, your weekly ride into the world of Harry Potter for 700 episodes and counting. We are your Harry Potter friends, talking about the books, the movies, and the forthcoming Harry Potter TV show. So make sure you follow the show in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. Micah, Laura, Eric, congrats. 700 episodes. Wow.

[Micah]

Yeah. Congrats to you.

[Kaley Cuoco]

We brought. A couple of us brought a celebratory drink today. I think Micah has a shot. Ooh, I am just gonna have a beer today. Hold on, let me crack this open.

[Micah]

Let's see. I have a Lacroix.

[Laura]

I have a Kirkland sparkling water.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Ah, wonderful. Is there a shot in that? I'm kidding.

[Laura]

Yeah, I bleed the fifth on that.

[Kaley Cuoco]

But Eric did bring balloons.

[Laura]

I got balloons.

[Kaley Cuoco]

And you're wearing a suit as well.

[Laura]

Oh, of course. I had to dress up. They. They say congrats. The balloons do to yourself. Congrats, guys. Yeah, I bought them for us. Really?

[Kaley Cuoco]

All right. Well, can you all believe it? 700 episodes. I don't even know what to say. We never thought it'd last this long.

[Laura]

Certainly that's true. You know what's. What's the next big milestone, I guess. Seven, seven, seven.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Save the balloons for a year and a half from now.

[Micah]

I was about to say that's right around the corner.

[Laura]

They'll be upside down because we'll have to hang them from the ceiling.

[Kaley Cuoco]

But it is amazing. We can do 700 episodes podcasting about Harry Potter and we still have new Harry Potter content to look forward to. Of course. We're very excited for the Harry Potter TV show. The wizarding world continues to expand. You know, I still get asked, what are you a podcast about? I'm like, we're going chapter by chapter through the books. Duh. There's a lot to talk about. Hello.

[Micah]

And I also love reminding people that a TV show is coming right around the corner. So if they think we don't have enough to talk about now, which they're totally wrong about, they would have to acknowledge that there's going to be plenty to talk about for about the next decade once the show comes out.

[Kaley Cuoco]

And if you listen to one episode of this podcast, you know, we have a lot to talk about.

[Laura]

We're passionate. I got to say, 700 episodes. Everyone I've been a part of has been fun.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Micah]

Not the one where you lost your audio though.

[Laura]

That was decidedly not.

[Eric]

Well, which one?

[Laura]

The first one was probably pretty good. The second one I was a little peeved. Yeah, I had to re record. Yeah.

[Eric]

What I really love about putting together these episodes is that we get to hear directly from our listeners. So there's probably no better way to celebrate 700 episodes than by doing a mailbag episode. Because we get to hear feedback and get questions. And I think that's always what has made this show so much fun to do, is answering the questions, theorizing, hearing from listeners, incorporating them into the conversation.

[Laura]

That's been in our DNA ever since. I think the. On episode two of the show, we really, really, really early on, people were like Skyping in with their voicemails for us. It was just absolutely amazing to hear. But we were as passionate as they were and we just loved the new theories.

[Kaley Cuoco]

And Mugglenet was always a community driven place for Harry Potter fans as well. Not just the forums, but we had a comment section on every news post. And I was looking back at the original mugglecast post on mugglenet.com a couple. There was hundreds of comments on the Mugglecast announcement post. I was like, wow.

[Laura]

People were the first ten of them were first, first, second, second, fourth, eight. Remember how they used to do that?

[Kaley Cuoco]

And we're excited that we Have a guest on today. We're going to be joined by Kira Lewis in a few minutes and I think it's fitting we're going to have her on today because we've been in the world of Harry Potter for 20 plus years now. Kiera has only been in the world of Harry Potter for about a year and yet she has been as moved by the Harry Potter series over the course of the last year just like we were 20 plus years ago. So I think it just speaks to the timelessness of Harry Potter.

[Laura]

We had her on about a year ago for episode 649 for the first time. So pretty cool to check back in with her now that she's completed her read through of the series.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Well, actually, why don't we just jump right into the interview with Kira today to kick things off.

[Laura]

Let's do it.

[Kaley Cuoco]

We are now joined by Kiera Lewis. Welcome back to Mugglecast. Kiera. What's going on everybody? It's great to have you back and for anybody who doesn't know, but I hope everyone has because it's been an awesome experience. You have been documenting reading the Harry Potter series for the first time on your social media channels and you just finished a few weeks ago finally.

[Kira Lewis]

Yeah, it's been a journey for sure.

[Kaley Cuoco]

It was fascinating.

[Laura]

Some balloons.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Well, first of all, I have to say I think I speak for all of us and then everybody watching, like every time I saw one of your videos come up, I was so excited to see what you were going through. I know it was painful, but it was a joy for us to watch.

[Kira Lewis]

Oh, I bet, I bet.

[Micah]

Oh yeah.

[Kira Lewis]

Motion's all over for sure.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yeah. Do you feel relieved to have finished and what's the. What feelings are you experiencing?

[Kira Lewis]

Um, well, I finally started processing my emotions a couple of days ago because right after I finished a book I had to catch a plane to go to the Wizarding World and Universal. So I was wanting to cry but I was like, no, I know cousin Harry will want me to be joyful there, but the emotions finishing the book, Honestly I'm not even relieved. I kind of just want to jump back into the story. If anything, depressing me and being in the story. But now it's kind of now I got to face the real world so I'm missing the Harry Potter world for sure.

[Laura]

You can always do a reread. That's what we've learned in our many years.

[Kira Lewis]

I'm saying I'm saving it for the TV series so I want to read it right beforehand. So My memory will be fresh.

[Laura]

That sounds good. Now, this is an easy question, but at the same time we have to ask it. What's your favorite book from the Harry Potter series?

[Kira Lewis]

Oh, I was just thinking about this earlier today. So it's kind of a tie between Half Blood Prince and Goblet of Fire. Just because I know some people is their favorite, but Goblet of Fire, I like it just because I got to see them be kids. The Triwizard cup and then Half Blood Prince. Even from the first chapter, I feel like the author just had me so engulfed to the story. Finding out about the Ministry of Magic, all the backstory of Baldi Valdi and. Yeah, those are my topics.

[Laura]

No, those are great answers. There's no wrong answers, by the way, when we ask that too. So it's always very satisfying.

[Kira Lewis]

The only wrong answer is Chambers of Secrets. That book.

[Laura]

Why does everyone dislike that book? Oh, my God.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I'm like.

[Kira Lewis]

It never does it for me. I'm not even. Yeah, it feels good. But that's my least, least, least favorite.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Okay, that's fair. I mean, everybody's got to have a least favorite, right? So that's yours. Fine.

[Kira Lewis]

Yeah.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Well, you mentioned Half Blood Prince being one of your favorites, so I'm curious, how is your perspective on certain characters like Snape or maybe Dumbledore changed throughout the course of the series? I know there's been a lot of emotion along. Along the way.

[Kira Lewis]

Yeah, I would say for Dumbledore, I'm still pro Dumbledore, but in the beginning I did see him, which I feel like there's certain people in your life, whether it be your parents or your grandparents, where you just see them as just this God given, just. I can't do any wrong type of person. But then hearing about his backstory, I did break my heart a little bit. But I am understanding in a sense of like, your past is one thing, but how he died. He died, I feel like, for the greater good for everybody else. Like, he had his intentions in mind with everything. So, yeah, I don't resent him. I just. If anything, I see him more as a human. We're eye to eye now. And then Snape, oh my God, that was. It was a roller coaster of a snake. One minute I hate him, the next chapter, I love him. Again, I would say he's one of those as well, where you think you hate him, but you find out his reasons for everything and you just. At least. I can't help but to be compassionate and loving towards him for sure. Which I know is an unpopular opinion. A lot of people. Hey, my boy. Snake. That's okay.

[Micah]

Yeah, I think that's a fair approach to take. You know, there's just, there's a lot of nuance in this series. Right. And so it does force you to hold multiple truths and be able to accept them. But kind of with some of the tougher moments of the series in mind. There were some moments when you were reading where you were ready to stop the Harry Potter series altogether. So I'm wondering, did the series ultimately give you what you wanted and are you glad that you actually stuck it out and finished?

[Kira Lewis]

Oh, it gave me way more than I wanted and expected. Way more. Like I said, I thought it was just going to be a light hearted series. And I mean, whether it reflected me and my life stories with my family or just like the current world that we're in right now, I just feel like it was just. Honestly, the story is just so powerful and it's very timeless. And then your second question. Oh, I'm so glad I didn't stop 100%. I think people had to remind me that this was a story. The last book was about war, so there was going to be a lot of devastation of death and of course it hurt me. I had to take days off from it. But getting to the end, it was so worth it. Just seeing my cousin come out on top, it made it all worth it for sure.

[Eric]

You mentioned earlier that you were at the theme park recently. I'm curious, what was that experience like for you coming off of just having finished the books? And I'll ask a follow up question. I saw you rode Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and I thought you had a great line. Now you know why Harry doesn't like riding with Hagrid. Did you ride in the motorbike or the sidecar?

[Kira Lewis]

So I rode in the. I rode in the motorbike. So I was happy.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Me too.

[Eric]

Me too. Okay.

[Kira Lewis]

And I know, I know there's a different experience for both, but one was enough for me. I'm not a big Royal fan.

[Eric]

Me too. 100%.

[Kira Lewis]

I was like if Kyle Hagrid was driving or. No wonder Cousin Harry was not a fan of it. But it was amazing. Honestly, I feel like they got, I don't know if they replicated the studios or whatever, but I feel like they just got the entire wizarding world and just plopped it in Universal Studios. From the Butterbeer to whether I was riding the rides or going into the wine stores. The Ollivander, his shopping store. The whole experience was amazing.

[Kaley Cuoco]

So. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, now that you've finished the books and you've experienced the theme park, what else are you most excited for in the Wizarding World? Are you going to explore the other books like the Fantastic Beasts or the TV show? Like, what are you most looking forward to?

[Kira Lewis]

Oh, I mean, there's. So I'm excited for tomorrow. I'm going to see Cursed Child Play and I'm meeting the cast, so that's exciting. I decided.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I know.

[Kira Lewis]

I feel like. And I haven't read the script.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Script book.

[Kira Lewis]

So I'm going in blind, so I just really want to. Yeah, that's what everyone tells me. So I'm. I still need to watch the last three movies, so I want to do that. And possibly I've debated. I need to see more about Fantastic Beasts, but I know people would love to see that from me too. And. Yeah, that. And hopefully go to the London studios. Maybe this fall for my birthday.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Okay, cool. Well, you mentioned rereading possibly before the TV show starts airing. Is there any scene or one book in particular you're looking forward to being. Adapting. Being adapted for the TV show?

[Kira Lewis]

Okay, let me think about that. I know for sure we got to have my boy Peace. I want to see Peace and I want to see Spew. We need to. Hermione needs to have her group there, so those two. But as far as books to shows, probably because I haven't seen Half Blood, so I can't say that. I would honestly say probably Goblet, because that was my favorite book. But when I watched the movie, not that it was bad, but I was kind of let down because I feel like so many scenes were missing from it, which understandably, it was a movie and they couldn't put all the scenes in there.

[Kaley Cuoco]

But that is the beauty of the TV show. They'll be able to fit everything. They're really not going to have an excuse.

[Kira Lewis]

I'm pro TV show. I know some people are like, we got the movies. I'm like, you got the movies? But now they got more time to get the details of the things they weren't able to get in the movies. Some pro TV series.

[Kaley Cuoco]

We wholeheartedly agree with you here.

[Kira Lewis]

Hello.

[Micah]

Yeah, give us the winky subplot.

[Kira Lewis]

Oh, my God.

[Micah]

So much in the movie, you know?

[Laura]

So, Kira, have you dabbled in any fan fiction that people have written?

[Kira Lewis]

Not yet. I'm trying to process the Harry Potter, but I do have a couple of, like, all the Young Dudes.

[Laura]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Kira Lewis]

Okay, so I've heard good things about that. People Want me.

[Laura]

Yeah, that one's good. They're depending on what, like, era you want to read about, what characters. There's so much that's been, you know, over the years has been very good.

[Kira Lewis]

That's what I've heard. So that and Dramani, but I don't know. I'm so pro Ronnie, Hermione. I don't know if I can handle anything that's not them right now.

[Laura]

Well, give yourself the time and the space to kind of separate it all out in your head and then dive in for fun for sure would be my recommendation.

[Eric]

Hello, Laura, do you have any recommendations? Laura used to run or help run the fanfiction section of mugglenet.com way back in the day.

[Micah]

Yeah, a million years ago, it feels like. But honestly, all the Young Dudes is probably the first one that I would recommend to you. And it sounds like you already got that one on lock. It is so, so good. There is a really popular Dramiony fanfiction called Manacled, but I will say that one is very dark and I don't know. I don't know if it really like. If you're looking for a romance story. Yeah, I don't think that's the story, but it is very well written. It's just kind of tough to read most of her.

[Laura]

Then there are ones that you can read just for fun, like My Immortal as well, which is Early My Mortal. My Immortal, early classic. If it evokes the song from Evanescence, it's just like that. It stars Ebony, Darkness Dementia, Raven Way, a transfer student from the US who's into Snape and the Dark Lord. And you know, it's. It's written like early 2000s Tumblr post.

[Kira Lewis]

Oh, I love this. Wait, what's it called? By mortem.

[Laura]

My Immortal.

[Kira Lewis]

My Immortal. Okay, I'm going to have to check that one out. Anything I'm a fan of.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Hello. Well, and any two characters that you've imagined pairing somebody else has definitely come up with a fan fiction for. I think one that Laura cites quite a bit. Laura, you've jokingly referenced. Well, the very real McGonagall Giant Squid fan fictions. Do I have.

[Kira Lewis]

Oh yeah, Getting creative now.

[Micah]

Yeah, somebody submitted one of those and it was too graphic to go on Mugglenet fan fiction, so it was rejected because that was a family website. Yeah.

[Kira Lewis]

People talk will eat something like that up because they love. They must.

[Eric]

Oh yeah, we know that you read with so much passion. You react with so much passion. Were there any noise complaints as you were reading through the Harry Potter series? And if so, how many?

[Kira Lewis]

I hate to be a disappointment, but I've gotten zero. Wow, that's great. Now, I don't know if it's because either my neighbors could be working because most of the time I read during the day, or I like to think that just our walls are thick too. So it's like I. Which is a saving grace because yeah, without that, I think I probably would have gotten 100 or so or I would have been living somewhere else.

[Eric]

Or they could just be supportive.

[Kira Lewis]

I will say, when I lived in Nashville while I was reading Harry Potter series, my neighbors, I didn't tell them that I did booktok, but one day they just saw me out and I guess I just popped up on her for your page. So she found out I was doing book related videos and she said that she could hear me but she would just laugh about it. So I'm like, I did have a situation where she was cool with it and understood, but yeah, in this case, we're good so far. But knock on wood. Knock on wood.

[Laura]

And that's it. Everyone on your block just supported you the whole way through.

[Kaley Cuoco]

There was. I'm sure you saw this, Kira, but there was a great TikTok of somebody pretending to be your neighbor listening. Yeah, it's just your audio in the TikTok.

[Kira Lewis]

They kept backing up. Oh my God.

[Kaley Cuoco]

So funny. Well, Kira, those are our questions for you. Thank you so much for coming on. Congrats again on finishing the series and all your success. And we can't wait to see what you read next. Like, I'm sure everybody's so excited to continue following your reading journey.

[Kira Lewis]

Hello. Well, thank y'all for having me. My y'all are my cousins from miles and miles away.

[Micah]

Hello.

[Kaley Cuoco]

We love you too. What? What are you reading now or what? What's next?

[Kira Lewis]

So next is Hunger Games. I am taking a break. I was gonna start it this week, but I'm like, I think I just need to give my mind clear before I go into this emotional journey. But yeah, I've seen the movies, haven't read the books, along with staying with Harry Potter. So I'm excited for it. And I hear the last the newest book is good.

[Laura]

So we loved it.

[Kaley Cuoco]

It is. Yeah. A few of us have finished it already and yeah, we love it.

[Kira Lewis]

Did y'all cry?

[Kaley Cuoco]

I was getting emotional. I didn't cry, but I was getting emotional. Yeah. Well, listeners, Kira is Kiera Lewis 75 on TikTok and then on Instagram. Kiera Lewis 1 Anything else you want to plug or.

[Kira Lewis]

I think it's just those two. Maybe keep it simple. Instagram TikTok yeah awesome.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Well, thank you again Kira so much for joining us.

[Kira Lewis]

Thank y'all for having me.

[Kaley Cuoco]

McDonald's meets the Minecraft universe with one of six collectibles and your choice of a Big Mac or 10 piece McNuggets.

[Kira Lewis]

With spicy nether Flame sauce.

[Eric]

Now available with a Minecraft movie meal.

[Kaley Cuoco]

At participating McDonald's for a limited time.

[Kira Lewis]

A Minecraft movie only in theaters.

[Laura]

I was never really a runner. The way I see running is a.

[Micah]

Gift, especially when you have stage four cancer.

[Laura]

I'm Ann.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I'm running the Boston Marathon presented by bank of America.

[Micah]

I run for Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

[Kaley Cuoco]

To give people like me a chance.

[Micah]

To thrive in life even with cancer.

[Laura]

Join bank of America in helping Anne's cause.

[Kira Lewis]

Give if you can@b of a.com supportann.

[Laura]

What would you like the power to do?

[Kira Lewis]

References to charitable organizations is not an endorsement by bank of America Corporation.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Copyright 2025.

[Laura]

It's spring black Friday at the Home Depot. So what are you working on? If you're sprucing up your lawn, you know there's no such thing as too much mulch, so don't miss this special. Buy five bags of Scott's EarthGrow mulch for a only $10 at the home Depot. Promote healthier soil, prevent weeds and beautify your yard with mulch that maintains its color for up to 12 months. Shop 14 days of deals during spring Black Friday now through April 16th at the home Depot.

[Kaley Cuoco]

All right, that was a lot of fun having Kiara on the podcast. Listeners, make sure you check her out on social media. We'll have links to all of her channels in the show notes. Also, a special announcement. Since this is episode 700, we are excited to announce the remaining inventory of our mugglecast 19 years later. T shirts, which I am wearing today, are now available in the overstock store. All sizes are currently available. If you're a patron in the U.S. you also have access to free shipping. We dropped a promo code to access that free shipping in the Patreon chat, so make sure you check that out. These T shirts are only available while supplies last and this is a great way to celebrate this milestone episode of Mugglecast. Also, we would really appreciate your Support on Patreon. Patreon.com Mugglecast is where you can pledge and you'll get instant access to dozens, actually over a hundred bonus Mugglecast episodes. You'll also get access to ad free episodes, a new physical gift every year, the chance to co host the show one day, and a lot more. So please check that out as well. Support on Patreon is the only reason why we have reached 20 years and 700 episodes. So special thank you to our patrons today for getting us to this milestone.

[Laura]

Absolutely.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Well, we have more fun today. Micah, you put together a game for us, right? Yeah.

[Eric]

I figured it would be a lot of fun to reflect back on some prior episodes of Mugglecast. And what better way to do that than to see if we can all recall who said it right? There's been some iconic moments in Mugglecast history. Some of them may be included here, some of them may not. But are you up for playing a little bit of a game?

[Kaley Cuoco]

I'm scared, but yeah.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Eric]

So I'm going to put a softball out there to start this one. I feel like most people should be able to get. Okay, okay, okay, I got the deal you need. Andy, check this out. Transfer your domain to GoDaddy for as little as 6.99 and get a free one year extension plus guaranteed renewal pricing.

[Kaley Cuoco]

That's our old ad guy, Mason. Is that who that is?

[Eric]

Laura, Eric, you agree?

[Laura]

I concur with Andrew.

[Eric]

All right. Yes, that was indeed Mason.

[Laura]

Okay.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I wasn't expecting him to be a.

[Micah]

Question today, but that's a really good. Like a test question.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yes.

[Micah]

Right.

[Eric]

All right, you ready for the next one?

[Laura]

Absolutely.

[Micah]

Yep.

[Eric]

The audio quality was bad, the content was bad. It was poorly planned. But hey, you live, you learn.

[Micah]

I'm going to say Andrew.

[Laura]

I think the hint is you live, you learn. Because that's not a saying I would utter. But yeah, I'd go with Andrew.

[Micah]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Final answers.

[Laura]

I mean, he said sounds like him, so I'm gonna guess that, right?

[Eric]

You are all incorrect. This was said by Ben on episode 50 of Mugglecast. He was referring to the first episode ever recorded.

[Laura]

I love.

[Micah]

Okay, well, that's a little harsh. Like.

[Laura]

Yeah, well, each milestone, you know, each milestone that grants us the opportunity for reflection is a gift. So I like that. Even on episode 50, we were like, we've improved so much since then because if we stuck to that by 700, we'd be pretty good.

[Eric]

The next one, when Dumbledore's eyes twinkle brightly behind his spectacles, you had better be glad he's wearing his glasses. Otherwise the brightness of that twinkle would burn a hole right through you.

[Laura]

Isn't that Eric, maybe Jamie.

[Eric]

One Eric, two Jamie's and one Eric. The correct answer is Jamie. These were Dumbledore Norris facts. Do you remember these?

[Micah]

Yeah, yeah.

[Laura]

Some of them were ripped straight from the early Internet's repository of Chris Norris facts with slight changes. Like underneath Dumbledore's massive beard is not a chin. It's another fist.

[Micah]

Fist. Yeah, exactly.

[Eric]

This was a very popular segment early on in mugglecast history.

[Laura]

Oh, I love that. Micah, thank you for coming.

[Eric]

Episode 55. Our next quote. I will preface it by saying, Laura, you said to this person, I was actually hired to work on Muggle Net on Halloween, so this Halloween is going to be my two year anniversary. To which this person said, that was a sad day in Muggle cast history. Muggle Net history.

[Micah]

Excuse me, that was Ben.

[Laura]

I'd say nobody heckled Laura like Ben heckled Laura.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yeah, yeah, I agree with that.

[Eric]

You are all incorrect. That was Kevin.

[Micah]

Okay, yeah, well, okay, well, that's different. He just liked to needle everybody. That's fine. He didn't mean it.

[Laura]

You got some rare Kevin needling. That was very satisfying.

[Eric]

That was episode 70 of Mugglecast. So I had to go back a little bit. I wanted to go as far away. I didn't want anything too recent for this game show. Next up, why would you create a theme park? The countless hundreds of millions of dollars spent on a theme park for a character who's gonna die. What?

[Micah]

Oh, gosh.

[Eric]

I think the thought was we were still theorizing at this time about what was gonna happen and this comment was, why would you create a theme park for a character that's going to die?

[Laura]

This is hilarious.

[Micah]

I actually feel really stumped by this one.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Jamie, was it Ben?

[Micah]

Laura, was it Micah? Micah, was it you?

[Eric]

It was me.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I was just thinking, we need a Micah answer.

[Laura]

It was funny then and it's funny now. Man, that is.

[Kaley Cuoco]

That is a good. I do remember kind of thinking at the time, it's gonna be sad going through the theme park if like Harry is no longer alive or Ron or Hermione. But yeah, we learned to live to enjoy the park while Dumbledore's dead.

[Eric]

That was episode 95.

[Laura]

Wow.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Okay.

[Eric]

We should have a new segment called homework or something where we assign the listeners homework. To go and find the things that we talked about 50 episodes ago and remind us so that we know.

[Laura]

Eric, the quote about being forgetful goes straight to me.

[Kira Lewis]

You know what?

[Laura]

I'll probably agree with that. Was it me?

[Kaley Cuoco]

I'll guess myself.

[Eric]

The correct answer is Laura.

[Kira Lewis]

Oh, Damn it.

[Micah]

I'm the asshole.

[Laura]

We're like 12 for 8 on these. I love it. I love that they're funny and challenging at the same time to go back, but it's worth shouting out. We've had several listeners throughout the years bring us their findings from ep. Like, they'll listen and they'll be like, you know, I thought it would be fun, you guys, to compile all the predictions you ever made. Or we've asked our listeners in the past to help us tally who was on each episode, which we've touted those stats on previous hundred episodes. We don't have them for today, but, you know, our listeners have been a very invaluable resource.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I.

[Laura]

We love, and I've always been very touched that they engage with the show, but then also have allowed us to continue celebrating the show throughout the years.

[Eric]

Well, hopefully you'll enjoy this next one. Let's move on to chapter by chapter. This week we're talking about the penultimate chapter. You guys like that word penultimate?

[Kaley Cuoco]

That has to be me.

[Laura]

Really?

[Kaley Cuoco]

I love the word penultimate.

[Micah]

Do you? Okay, because also, I'm thinking this could be Eric maybe.

[Laura]

I feel like either I read it in a transcript recently, or I remember vaguely 20ish, 18ish years ago, geeking out about penultimate. I'm gonna say it's me, but I think, correct me if I'm wrong, Micah, no matter who said it, that might be the title of that episode Penultimate.

[Eric]

I don't know offhand, but we can check because it was on episode 151 and it was Andrew.

[Micah]

Oh, dang. Okay, so we each take turns.

[Laura]

Really?

[Kaley Cuoco]

No.

[Laura]

The episode 151's title is Google. Define goat.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I do think you're right, though, Eric. I vaguely remember an episode being titled Penultimate.

[Kira Lewis]

Penultimate.

[Micah]

I remember that too.

[Eric]

Eric very much likes the word titular. That comes up quite a bit.

[Laura]

Titular. You know, one of the first things we source our listeners on it was like, maybe episode six or so. I said, you hear about primary and secondary a lot, but what comes after primary and secondary? And they wrote in and they were like, it's tertiary. That was the first word I learned since starting Mugglecast.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Oh, wow.

[Eric]

All right, a couple more here before we wrap up this game. Next one. I was in the right place at the right time because I just moved back to London. If I moved back six months later, someone else might have gotten it.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Well, this is genius. You would think.

[Micah]

I mean, like, process of elimination here.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Elisa wasn't. I mean, she was in Oxford.

[Micah]

Yeah, but the quote says, I moved back to London.

[Laura]

This.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Did Jamie ever live in London?

[Laura]

I thought so, but it's about. Wouldn't have gotten it. So I wonder if it's a role that was like. This is somebody we interviewed.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Oh, Ivana Lynch. Is this Ivana Lynch? Could be.

[Laura]

I'm gonna guess Ivana.

[Eric]

Laura.

[Micah]

I'll go with Ivana.

[Eric]

Unfortunately, you are all wrong. This is David Haman.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Oh, all right.

[Eric]

Imagine if he never.

[Kaley Cuoco]

No, I could not.

[Eric]

Yeah, got it.

[Laura]

The what if on that is too depressing to contemplate.

[Kaley Cuoco]

That is a good trick question, though, because we gravitated towards the hosts.

[Eric]

Episode 200 of Mugglecast. Accept defeat.

[Laura]

Defeat.

[Eric]

Admit defeat. Yes. I was going to use that one, but Eric, I figured that was due.

[Laura]

Yeah, we know that one.

[Eric]

For folks who don't know, David Heyman played the Dueling club with us back on episode.

[Laura]

He got pretty excited.

[Eric]

200 of Mugglecast.

[Laura]

Yeah, he got pretty into it.

[Eric]

All right, last one. And I figured that this is an appropriate way to wrap up this game. I think Harry is a lover, not a fighter.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Okay.

[Micah]

This has to be Eric.

[Laura]

I don't think there's been one for me, which is nice. You really kept the word count down.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Okay.

[Micah]

Keep the word countdown.

[Eric]

Yeah, if I just ran on for five minutes, we would know.

[Laura]

No, no, I'm glad none of my quotes are here. They would have been too long. Especially back then. I had no filter. I'm gonna guess me only cause I haven't been. But I think it might sound more like something Ben might say.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I'll go with Eric too, Laura.

[Micah]

Oh, Eric, for sure you are.

[Eric]

All right. So the perfect way to end this fun segment. And thanks to Meg and all the transcribers over the years. Because without them, I would not have been able to go back.

[Laura]

Including you, Micah.

[Eric]

Segments. Yeah. Way back in the day.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yeah.

[Laura]

You were the first transcriber for Muglacast.

[Eric]

I was.

[Laura]

What episode was that last quote from?

[Eric]

19.

[Laura]

Yeah, that was a great segment. I think that solidifies it that we don't know what the heck we said or who said.

[Eric]

How is that even. Yeah, it's impossible for us to remember everything that we've said over the years.

[Laura]

But we had fun doing it, I think.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Well, it's time for the mailbag portion of today's episode. First of all, Micah, 700 episodes. We said we were each having a drink today. We should tell our audience what we're actually drinking. What's the shot you've been sipping on?

[Eric]

A little bit of bourbon.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Ooh, fancy. I'm drinking a lager, but it's not like a basic lager, it's one in partnership with Patagonia, the like hiking gear company. It's called a Kernza Lager. Bright, crisp and wildly drinkable. So yeah, that's what we're having. For anybody wondering.

[Laura]

Love that. And as said before, I have the Kirkland Lime Sparkling water.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I do love those. That's what I'm normally drinking while recording mugglecast oh yeah, well, to kick off the mailbag portion of today's episode, we have a voicemail from one of our listeners. Hey Mugglecast, this is Karen and I am a Hufflepuff and I have read the series many times, but on this reread I found myself thinking about the individualistic nature of the ways that Harry and Hermione tried to resist Umbridge early in the Order of the Phoenix, with Harry and Hermione both doing some version of just speaking up alone and then getting punished. And on this reread I was wondering what impact more collective actions like some of those I've taken as an active member of my Graduate Student union might have had on Umbridge, on Hogwarts, or maybe even the Ministry. So like for example, what would have happened if Hogwarts students had written an op ed in the Daily Prophet or another media outlet about how they weren't learning anything useful? Would the public have rallied behind them? Or how would the Ministry have responded if students had their parents sign and or circulate a petition? What if students went on strike from the Dada lessons until they learned something practical? I would imagine, or at least hope that Umbridge doesn't have dozens of blood torture quills, so it would have put pressure on her in a different way because she couldn't detention to everybody all at the same time. And also, I'm also thinking that these kind of actions might have been somewhat familiar to Hogwarts students, given that industry wide strikes are far more common in Europe than they are in the us. Anyway, thanks for listening and I would love to hear if y'all have other ideas about what kinds of collective actions the students could have taken in response to Umbridge's educational malpractice and physical abuse. Thanks for all you do. Great question. I do think the Ministry would have tried to spin what the students were saying somehow. They wouldn't just put their hands up and be like, you got us.

[Laura]

Yeah, it's questionable if the Daily Prophet would have published that op ed.

[Kaley Cuoco]

That too. Yeah, could be published Elsewhere though, Quibbler.

[Laura]

Quibbler would have been an option. Yep, absolutely. Which Harry ends up using. I think that I like all of these suggestions and I'm wondering if, you know, really sitting out of the Dada lessons, you know, she can try and pass an educational decree that's going to punish students for not showing up, but like she really going to put everyone in detention just like Karen said. So I really love these ideas. I don't know that I have any to add. Yeah, yeah, but the time to act is always sooner than later. Before Umbridge got complete and full control of the school by passing all the decrees she needed to, to get, you know, control of the teachers and all of that, the real time for all the students to oppose her was, you know, it's kind of part of the reason it's, it's so insidious what she did is it's a slow, kind of gradual move to totalitarianism and they weren't ready to resist or fight back. Very few people even agreed that she was there for any untoward reasons because so few people agreed Voldemort was back. So it was the whole thing.

[Kaley Cuoco]

All right, well, let's move on to some emails now.

[Eric]

First one comes from TJ talking about us being too hard on Draco. What TJ said. Hey Mugglecass, never thought I would say this, but I think you're being a little too hard on Draco during the Order of the Phoenix reread. Maybe it's because I've been listening to your Half Blood Prince chapter by chapter recently, but year five is really the last good year Draco will have in the series. After this, he's forced to kill Dumbledore and is terrorized by the Dark Lord in his own home. Cut Draco some slack and appreciate the Fun Times this 15 year old boy has with his friends this year, as those are the last laughs he'll have in a while.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Well, but he doesn't know that this is his last good year.

[Laura]

So the kind of laughs Draco has are by bringing misery to others. I actually, I don't want to be controversial. I would say we not going too hard on Draco. I would say that his privilege has brought him to a place where he does not have to live with any of the consequences of his actions and that some of the events of the later books, while harrowing for him, do him some good and his character some good.

[Eric]

TJ goes on to say, on a slightly related note, I can't wait for you to get to the Deathly Hallows chapter by chapter. I've gone all the way Back to episode 121 to start the only Deathly Hallows chapter by chapter you guys have done. And oh, boy, did I forget how different things were from hearing Andrew and Matt learn about what Twilight is. From Laura.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Whoa.

[Eric]

Having flashbacks to listening to imprint, to Andrew reading a Facebook message he got from a listener offering him wacky tobacky and yelling about only having two co hosts on because Laura was studying for finals and Eric was in New Zealand, but at least Micah was excited to say his name. Second, when you all introduce yourselves because of it, I love how unhinged it was. I love how unhinged it all was and kind of wish we had some more unhinged Mugglecast energy back in our lives. Keep up the amazing work, tj.

[Kaley Cuoco]

How can we create an unhinged Mugglecast today? We are open to suggestions. We can get Micah a second shot right now. I can maybe pound this beer instead of politely sipping it. If anybody wants to offer me more wacky tobacco, I'm open to that.

[Laura]

It was just that energy that came straight off of living in one of the most magnificent times for who we were, for what our passion was. Laura, you.

[Eric]

Totally.

[Micah]

Yeah, totally. It was just this really odd time where we caught onto something that really blew up to be a lot bigger than I. At least than I imagined it could be at the time. And when you're that young, having something get that big and having that big of a responsibility is exciting, but also kind of terrifying. And there were definitely times where it did kind of feel like we were all flying by the seats of our pants. But that was kind of what made it fun at the same time, too. So, yeah, it was fun. Those were like the scrappy days of Mugglecast. I miss it, too.

[Kaley Cuoco]

And the scrappy days of podcasting in general. Yeah, we've improved, not just in sound quality, but we try to put together a more organized show for different reasons, including giving, you know, kind of like a broader audience, you know, something a certain thing to expect every week. But that said, we never refuse having some fun. We're always doing something a little goofy on the show, but yeah, we'll keep that in mind. The unhinged energy.

[Eric]

I'm unhinged. Most weeks, Andrew just edits it out.

[Laura]

That's. Yeah, we don't want to get canceled.

[Kaley Cuoco]

The bonus Mugglecast episodes that we record, too. We still need to do more of this, but we could dig deeper into our history to get a little to bring up some of those wilder memories, which I know people like as well. But yeah, thanks for the feedback, tj, and for sticking with us. I didn't realize Laura introduced Matt and I to Twilight. That's cool.

[Micah]

I didn't realize that either, but it kind of makes sense. Yeah, because I started reading it because my college roommate was reading it and I saw the COVID with the hands holding the apple and I was like, oh, that's pretty. And then I burned through it and Elisa had read it too. So we were talking about it and I think that was when we were all thinking about what's the next, like, book podcast we all want to do together. Yeah, so I think that's how it worked out.

[Kira Lewis]

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[Kaley Cuoco]

And most of those people maintained skin.

[Micah]

That'S still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[Kaley Cuoco]

EVGLIS Lebricizumab, LBKZ, a 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms.

[Eric]

With moderate to severe eczema.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, that is.

[Eric]

Not well controlled with prescription therapies used.

[Kaley Cuoco]

On the skin or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to ebglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe.

[Laura]

Eye problems can occur.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Ebglis. Before starting epglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection searching for real relief.

[Kira Lewis]

Ask your doctor about ebglis and visit eglis. Or call 1-800-LilyRx or 1-800-545-5979.

[Kaley Cuoco]

This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. It's tax season, and we're all a.

[Laura]

Bit tired of numbers, but here's one you need to $16.5 billion. That's how much the IRS flagged for.

[Kaley Cuoco]

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[Laura]

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[Kaley Cuoco]

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[Kaley Cuoco]

Alright, next email is from Joan on Hermione being in Ravenclaw. Hey y'all, I'm listening to episode 697 and Micah posed the question of why the Sorting Hat ultimately put Hermione in Gryffindor over Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw. I think Hermione answers this question herself in book one and Joan paraphrases books and cleverness. There are more important things like friendship and bravery. Hermione herself values Gryffindor traits over Ravenclaw and that is why she was sorted there. She may have traits that Ravenclaws value, but the traits that she herself values pull the most weight during sorting. Great point, Joan. I love that.

[Eric]

Yeah, I think that goes to what Eric and Laura both talked about in that episode of it looks at your values, right? And Hermione's values more align with Gryffindor than with Ravenclaw. At least at that particular moment.

[Micah]

All right, our next Muggle mail comes from Maida, who's writing in on the Weasley clock and Molly's overprotective nature. Also disclaimer. If I pronounce your name incorrectly, please let me know because I hate butchering people's names. So Mida says. This is Mida, your fellow Ravenclaw from Lahore, Pakistan. So I have a two part discussion I want your opinions on. Firstly, while listening to recent episodes from the Order of the Phoenix and how Molly is overprotective of her family and wants to keep her kids at Hogwarts safe, this reminded me of the Weasley clock and how it tells when someone is in mortal peril. This got me thinking about how every time the trio is on their adventures and Ron thinks he probably gonna die and the clock says mortal peril. What does Molly do in this situation? Does she contact Dumbledore at that time and tell him about how Ron is in danger because the clock says so? And is that how Dumbledore knows what's going on with the trio and when they are on their adventures? Is the clock basically his source for the timing of the adventure? Because he probably knows what the adventure is, considering he usually mates hot, he usually makes Hogwarts a security nightmare. Also, how does the clock know when someone is in mortal peril? Like is it attuned to like heartbeats or vitals? Kind of like how STAR Labs know when Barry is in danger because they can monitor his vitals through the suit. Is it. Is that Also, how it knows when someone is dead and their handle falls off from the clock. I totally forgot that happens when someone dies. She goes on to say. Secondly, I was listening to some of the older episodes and it occurred to me, how does the curse on the Defense against the Dark Arts position work? Why did the curse on the Defense against the Dark Arts? Consider Moody's one year completed when he wasn't even teaching. Like, does the clock for the year start when they sign the contract and when real Moody signed it, that's when the curse started. Or does it work on the magical signature of the person? Because in that case, Moody's one year never even started as Fakey was the one teaching. Would love to hear your thoughts.

[Kaley Cuoco]

So, first of all, you would think Molly is panicking when she sees that clock switch to Mortal Peril, given how we see her react in other scenarios. So, I don't know, maybe. Yeah, Dumbledore is just like, oh, no worries. No, he's totally cool. You know, we have the safest school on the planet. It's all good.

[Laura]

I wonder why they would even put the Mortal peril thing on the clock. I mean, would you really want to know? Would you really want to see that?

[Kaley Cuoco]

It's like Find My Friends. If you start watching somebody too closely on there, you start getting paranoid. Oh, why are they here? Why they on the highway but not moving? Why are they not moving in a forest? You don't stalk your friends on find.

[Laura]

My friends 2 snap map.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Okay, yeah, that's. I would advise not sharing your location on a snap map. First of all, don't do it.

[Laura]

It's pretty weird.

[Eric]

Wasn't there a point in the series, though, when Molly says that they've been stuck at Mortal Peril for.

[Laura]

That's right.

[Eric]

Weeks, months? I forget the exact moment that that happens or what book. But I do like this idea. Molly would be monitoring the clock, would likely be in correspondence with Dumbledore, but I'm not sure he really cares all that much, to be honest with you.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Leave me alone.

[Laura]

Yeah, I like the clock. I'm less sure about how it works. What I would say, though, as far as the Moody and the Dada curse part of the question, I've always viewed it as the curse that's on the Dada position is not something where Voldemort lifted his wand and set an incantation. That's not what's going on there. That is something where an incredibly powerful magical being in Voldemort has a subconscious will to prevent someone from occupying a position that he covets. And so through whatever means, our will has the way to affect random chance. It's like Felix Felice's level, random chance that it's tapping into. That's the kind of magic that Voldemort is working by not, you know, essentially. It's not like he uttered a spell. It's not that Voldemort would even be conscious of it. But the universe is bending around Voldemort's will because he's a powerful, you know, magic person. So that. That's kind of always been my guess. And then regarding Moody, I don't think we know that Alistair Moody wanted to ever teach Dada, especially after the year that he had in the trunk at Hogwarts. Like, it's not like he couldn't come back and actually teach. We. I don't think there's a magical barrier preventing him. But right around that time, the stuff in the books is heating up and Moody has an order to be a part of. And so he wouldn't teach at Hogwarts, even though he's back on retirement, because he's essentially unretired.

[Micah]

I also feel like that could be kind of traumatizing for the students. Like, even though intellectually they know this is the real Mad Eye Moody, they just spent the entire previous year with an imposter. And that would make me uneasy, especially after some of the lessons that imposter did like teaching them. Unforgivable curses.

[Eric]

Yeah. I always thought, though, that what happened to Moody was part of the curse. Right. So he. That normally we see the professor, for the most part, be able to fulfill their term. But in this case, the curse affected Moody in a different way. It impacted him before he started term, so it was in a way preventing him from coming back for another year because his situation was that somebody took over and impersonated him.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yeah. Yeah. And I think we can kind of take a more bird's eye view, look at the curse and say, the rules of the curse are there will be a name teaching at Hogwarts this year. That same name will not be teaching the following year. Something like that.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I don't think it really has to.

[Laura]

Do with all who occupied this role.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yeah. Next year you will have a new professor come hell or high water.

[Laura]

Honestly, like Remus Lupin got away easy.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yeah.

[Laura]

Comparatively, compared to like Gilderoy Lockhart, who will never be the same again. Here is an email from Jerry about Umbridge almost catching Sirius in the fireplace when the chapter by chapter discussion went over. Just what control umbridge might have had over Sirius when she almost caught him talking to the trio in the fireplace. I was reminded of an earlier strange use of Floo powder that I don't recall ever getting much discussion on how it could impact situations like this. Back in the third book when Snape questions Harry after Draco had seen his head in Hogsmeade and Snape finds the Marauder's Map and while trying to figure it out, gets insulted by Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, he wants to discuss things with Lupin. To do this, he throws Floo powder. Although unnamed in this chapter, it's described like it was earlier in Chamber when Harry uses it to travel to Diagon Alley into his fireplace in his office and he calls out Lupin's name. Then Lupin suddenly appears out of the fireplace. This is never explained in the books, nor do I remember ever encountering an explanation on Pottermore or of the author' writings. Does it only work if both people slash fireplaces are inside Hogwarts? Or could Umbridge use this to call any suspected teacher or even student to her office if they happen to be near a fireplace? If she had realized that it was serious, could she have called his name and forced him to appear in her fireplace? I admit this sort of a plot hole. Book two saw the introduction of flu powder and I think she was playing with it without considering the implications for future books. But it certainly could come in useful or harmfully at times. In Order of the Phoenix and later books. Wow, Jerry. Because I think I don't remember ever talking about that brief moment with Snape and Lupin.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yeah, that's a cool call out and that would certainly help explain. And at the same time I agree that Rowling was probably still working through the rules of flu powder and how that would all work. But yeah, I like that idea how Umbridge was able to track down Sirius.

[Laura]

I also think it is a case of Hogwarts being like an inside line. Like if you're in your local school network. Because back in the early 90s, not to date myself there in our classrooms in like our first, second, third grade classrooms, there were actually little intercoms in every classroom that the office could communicate to the teacher and you would just hear a voice. Maybe it would be like beep first, but you would just hear a voice come over and then it's basically like the kind of stuff you have at your apartment door now, you know, kind of a comm system and it's just like that where you wouldn't even need to dial out. So I think anyone within Hogwarts would be on the same Floo, you know, small network and be able to travel inter fireplacely. Yeah, but you can't imagine how exhausting it was before Floo powder was invented.

[Micah]

I was thinking about that too this entire time. Early inspiration for the Hogwarts Flu Network work.

[Laura]

Amazing.

[Eric]

Our next email comes from Ben. More about Fluing wants to know why was Molly okay with Sirius fluing the trio? Hey all, just a quick thing about chapter 17 for you to think about. Molly Weasley isn't okay thinking about her kids taking part in Dumbledore's army, but is okay with Sirius using the Flu Network to talk to them when she knows all kinds of contact in and out of the school are being monitored. Ridiculous. Thanks Smugglecast. That's a good point. I don't really have any more to say on that, but yeah, it's a good point.

[Kaley Cuoco]

This is why we love having feedback from listeners, because they're giving us perspectives we might not have thought of. This next email is from Isla on Harry's blood status. Hey guys, my name is Isla and I've been listening for a while now and I do have a question. So in the Golden Trio, Ron is known for being pure blood, Hermione is a Muggle born and Harry a half blood. But we all know that Lily and James went to Hogwarts together and lived in Godric's Hollow as adults. So why is Harry considered a half blood if both of his parents were magical? Love the show hashtag Ravenclaw Pride. So James is considered pureblood, but Lily was Muggle born. So that's why he's considered a half blood. It's not just about his parents, it's about their parents, so on and so forth.

[Micah]

So for example, Ron and Hermione's kids are half bloods, right?

[Eric]

Well it's presumed that somewhere in Lily's lineage there was somebody of magical blood.

[Laura]

Yeah, that was.

[Eric]

We have to track it all the way back.

[Laura]

I think that was an interview question. Yeah, that there are no real out of nowhere Muggleborns, but definitely for the Mudblood thing or like the Muggleborn versus half blood thing. I don't think it's 100% consistent. Voldemort himself lies about his own status, but I don't think it's 100% consistent over you can call someone a half blood even if their grandparent was not magical or Lily gets called it at one point. So yeah, I think it's a little Inconsistent. But ultimately we've answered, I think, why it is that she gets referred to that way.

[Micah]

Well, and the whole point of it is that it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And the whole caste system that the wizarding world has around blood status is very similar to how in certain regions and during certain periods of time, depending on where you were from or what your particular ethnic background was, certain societies would determine the level of blood purity on the basis of, you know, those protected aspects of yourself. And they would come up with very similar, not exactly scientifically specific names. Like technically, you know, if somebody, like, let's say somebody is a half blood, but then they have children with someone who's pure blooded, that person would that that child would colloquially also be considered a half blood. But what does half blood really mean if you have two people who have different quantities of half blood background in them? It's just, it doesn't make sense, it's stupid. And I think that's by intention to point out how ridiculous it is to even split people up on the basis of blood status.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I do love though that the trio, each member of the trio is a different blood status. Ron, pure Hermione, Muggle, born Harry, half. That's cool. I hadn't really thought about that before.

[Eric]

And the pure Blood is presumably the.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Worst wizard, but he's our Ron, our Wanwan. He couldn't be further from a Malfoy.

[Micah]

Next email comes from Bev, who's writing about alternative professions for Snape. Bev says, hi, y'all. Listening to your episode called the High Inquisitor. I wonder what alternative career might have been better for Snape.

[Kira Lewis]

Snape?

[Micah]

He's clearly not suited to teaching at all. So what about dark wizarding academia? Writing books, research and writing, not lecturing, Maybe potions inventor. There may be a better op. There may be better options for him, of course. But yeah, Bev just wanted to see what our thoughts were. If, if we were career counselors or if we were sending Snape to a job fair, what do we think might be good for him?

[Laura]

I like the dark wizarding academia. From what I understand from friends that are in academia, it's a very. What's the word? Toxic kind of space where you can write a paper discrediting or heavily implying that your colleague is a dunderhead. And I think Snape would really love that. And so I can easily see him writing some very sternly wording letters. My colleagues aren't taking this seriously enough kind of thing.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I could see him as a Twitch streamer, maybe playing the Sims in Rollercoaster Tycoon. And he's drowning his Sims in the pool. Or making his park attendees fly off a roller coaster and die. Or drown. That's what I see for him.

[Laura]

They all are thinking, I want to go home. Well, here's a path. A footpath that doesn't go anywhere.

[Kaley Cuoco]

No, I mean, I know Bev said couldn't see him as a professor, but I could see him in higher education. He doesn't work as well with kids. Kids are not for him.

[Micah]

Honestly, I could see Snape being a coder and hear me out. He's smart enough to be a coder, but generally speaking, if you're a coder, you're spending a lot more time with your code and a lot less time interacting with people. Mark even refers to himself as a code gremlin. He's like, I want to be in my cave and I just want to code and I don't want to talk to anyone. So actually, I think this would be an ideal job for Snape.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I think that's a good one because Mugglenet's old coder developer, Damon, he was a total Snape. That guy was a vampire. He was mean. The only time he was nice to you was when he was nerding out about his passion of coding. Any other time, he was horrible to talk to. Bless you, Daemon. I hope you're well.

[Eric]

I can see Snape working at a museum.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Really? Like what? Giving tours?

[Eric]

Just handing out the pamphlets?

[Kaley Cuoco]

Dusting the fossils at night. Maybe night guard?

[Eric]

I would say anything that doesn't require him to interact with other human beings is probably best suited for Snape.

[Laura]

As a kid, I really wanted to impress Damon. I wanted him to approve of me, me.

[Kaley Cuoco]

And he. He never gave us his approval.

[Laura]

It never happened.

[Micah]

No, I don't think any of us ever got that approval.

[Laura]

No. So our next email is from Jen. It's slight, bit of a long one, but I love it. Dearest Mugglecast. Oh, dearest, thanks. First, I love you all so much. Thanks for keeping me company at home for the last four years and for all you do. I work from home by myself and regularly yell at the pod until Eric says my thoughts out loud for me. Thanks, Eric. Second, I need to jump in and defend against all of the Hogwarts teacher hate. Well, not all of it. Feel free to continue to hate on Snape and Bins and maybe Trelawney too. They deserve it. Okay. Okay. So cherry picking the teacher hate, but calling us out at the same time. As for the rest of it though.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Eric, this is your fan.

[Laura]

I'm a little. I don't know how I feel about it. There's still 10 more paragraphs to go. I think it's been a bit unfair. We ultimately spend very little time in any teacher's classroom. Aside from Snape, Bins, Trelawney and Dada, they represent the worst and the best Lupin and Moody's Dada in the eyes of Harry, so of course he's going to complain about and delight about them respectively. As for the other regular non Dada teachers, we only get small glimpses into their lessons in class classes. But in all honesty they sound pretty engaging. Or at the very least they sound well planned, with true attempts to make them engaging by the professors. They start with short introduction of facts and or demonstration, followed by time for the whole group to practice and then individual and partner practice. We see this in Flitwick's introduction to Leviosa, Sprout's introduction of mandrakes, McGonagall's introduction of vira Verto, and more. In the entire series we only see a maximum of four to five snippets of each subject out of hundreds of lessons that we don't see through the years. Are we certain Flitwick doesn't teach a unit on household and healing charms? Do we really believe that McGonagall would let them leave Hogwarts without attempting to help them understand the purposes of transfiguration in the real world? And here's the explanation for these thoughts. I was a middle school social Studies teacher for 14 years and am now a curriculum creator. As a teacher I spent hours carefully crafting engaging lessons. I worked hard to ensure that no more than 10 to 15 minutes of a class was notes and lecture. And when it was a lecture I turned things into gossipy soap opera style stories to help students remember. My average lesson was very much like a Hogwarts lesson above a short 10 to 15 minute introduction of facts, usually with notes because I didn't have reliable textbooks. And then the rest of class was activities, reading, writing, drawing or creating with groups, partners or independently. At the end of the year when you asked my Hermione students what we did that year, they would summarize all the projects and contests and activities. If you asked my Hairy students what we did, they would tell you we took notes and maybe mention one of their favorite projects. And of course if you asked my RON students they would probably say I don't know, we took so many notes I think you can see my point. Does Dumbledore need to be doing more to regulate his teachers? Definitely. Do you know how many evaluations, teacher development sessions, educational committees and seminars I went through each year? I think Snape, Trelawney and even Hagrid could have potentially been decent teachers if there had been the slightest bit of oversight. The simple accountability of having to turn in a weekly lesson plan with some direct feedback to questionable lessons would have turned Trelawney and Hagrid's classes around. The knowledge that Dumbledore could pop in at any moment for an evaluation would hopefully keep Snape from being such a frequent bully to his students. Bins was probably a lost cause, but I doubt Dumbledore ever even tried to change him, so who knows? I always hated being lumped together by the principal at staff meetings with blanket statements like, quote, we are slacking on turning in our lesson plans on time. End quote. Nope. It was like three slacker teachers that needed to be addressed by admin. Just like at hogwarts. Justice for McGonagall. Love y'all, Jen, aka Muggle McGonagall. Wow. Wow.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Well, thank you for the teacher perspective, Jen.

[Micah]

Yeah, I mean, I agree with you. I have no notes. I just agree.

[Laura]

Did you like lesson planning, Laura?

[Micah]

I actually loved lesson planning. I thought it was a lot of fun, but it is a lot of hard work as well. Especially, you know, in, in the real world. You do. Especially when I was a new teacher, you had to submit your lesson plans pretty regularly for evaluation. And yeah, there were also some surprise visits where people would come and just sit in on your classroom and watch you do your thing and give you feedback afterwards. So yeah, it is, it's a hard job. It's really. It can be intimidating, like some of the bureaucratic movements that happen behind the scenes. But I agree with Jen here that what's really missing is that administrative support from Dumbledore to hold all of the teachers to the same standard instead of just saying sink or swim, which is. I feel like what he basically does because there is is such inconsistency. I mean, McGonagall, I feel like she is objectively a great teacher. But then you look at someone like Hagrid who clearly has the raw potential to do really well with teaching care of magical creatures. But he didn't have any training, presumably. And that's on Dumbledore.

[Eric]

I do like the way though that she laid out comparing some of the students to Harry, Ron and Hermione and how they would react just based on who they are at the end of each of the semesters. That was definitely cool. I will say, though, I feel like the characters that she allowed for criticism at the top of her email are generally the ones that we criticize. I don't think we should throw a whole lot of shade on Flitwick or McGonagall or Sprout. Snape would be the one head of house exception. I mean, he's clearly brilliant, but I just don't think, as we said in the prior email, he connects well with children. So there's that.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I also think if. If we're saying that we only see some snippets of each subject, can we really be sure that these teachers aren't teaching other things? If we say that, shouldn't we also be able to say that maybe Dumbledore is helping these teachers out behind the scenes and we just don't know? I know there's evidence to suggest that maybe they could. They. They've definitely needed more training and aren't receiving it. But I guess my point just is there's so much we don't know. And that's one of the great things about this podcast, is that we can speculate about what is or isn't happening behind the scenes and maybe we can paint some pictures ourselves. But look, I got to back up my boy Aldous. I just think. I think he might be working a little more behind the scenes than we actually know.

[Laura]

So I have a high opinion of Flitwick's classes, even though I don't really get a chance to say that on the show. I bet he's probably one of the coolest teachers at Hogwarts. I bet he would give you all the time that you needed. He would answer any of your questions. He's clearly passionate about the subject that he teaches. And I love Jen's idea that he would teach, like, household remedies. I think that would be really, really good. I mean, he prescribes, after all, cheering charms, right during a particularly depressing time of year. So I think there's some good stuff.

[Eric]

Our next email comes from Jennifer, who says, I fell behind during the holidays, so I'm catching up on episode 685. I love this episode so much. It was so much fun and had really great debates. Please have Rex back again. He fits so well with y'all chiming in on the prefect debate. I like Ron, but seriously, Dean or Neville should have received prefect over Ron or Harry any day. I do like that Ron finally gets something, especially in front of his family. But this role should not be it Dumbledore giving it to Ron is still him choosing candidates like a popularity contest. I dislike the frequent argument that poor Ron is the unknown or unpopular kid I call Shenanigans. He's a Weasley, he's Fred and George's little brother and Harry's best friend. Would he have gained this popularity or notoriety without others? We don't really know, but it doesn't matter here he is not just some unknown. I would bet my last sickle that more people at Hogwarts could pick him out over someone like Theodore Knott or Lisa Turpin. At this point in the story Ron has consistently been described as an average or below average student that frequently relies on Hermione to correct and in some cases do his work for him, especially in the first few books. Book Ron is not unintelligent, just lazy, which makes his mediocre student status even more frustrating. That combined with his penchant for breaking the rules with Harry does not speak to the idea that he would make a strong prefect at this point in the story. Personally I think Neville by Hermione's side would have been better and pushed him to become leader Neville so much sooner. If Dumbledore is simply going by needs an ego boost then what better candidate than Neville? He like Ron is also frequently described as a mediocre student but he's seen determinedly working to succeed on his own. Except Potions, but that's on Snape. That alone makes him better the better candidate for prefect year one to four. Ron is just not the man for the job. Not yet. Love you and love the show Jen. P.S. the episode where Eric's point of reference of winning a criminal trial was air bud and his reference for shadowy characters with Dr. Claw and Giovanni from Pokemon brought me immense joy. Thanks for always speaking my Hufflepuff thoughts.

[Laura]

You're welcome Jen. I take great pleasure in when airbred references come to me.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I like the idea of Neville being the chosen prefect, but I have to say would the students in Gryffindor house take that seriously?

[Laura]

I think they'd have to.

[Kaley Cuoco]

I'm sorry Neville. I know. Well, I'm foreseeing some bullying there if Neville got the role and I don't think he could handle it.

[Micah]

I mean I'm not trying to be mean, but do we think anyone actually takes Ron seriously as a prefect?

[Laura]

And I love Ron, but fewer people bully him the way they would bully Neville because he's Harry's friend. But that proves Jen's point Point like.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Harry And Hermione would have Ron's back. I mean, they'd have Neville's back. But not to the same extent, I don't think.

[Eric]

But Ron doesn't even really seem like he wants the title of prefect just by his actions, like he wants it. But Hermione is the one that oftentimes has to do the role, the legwork. Yeah. She's the one who's going out there and reprimanding people. He's too scared, actually.

[Laura]

And he's only ever grudgingly doing his prefect duties. I think what I love most about sort of Gen Z Mel, besides the nice bit at the end, was the idea that Dumbledore. Well, let's make this more passive voice for Andrew's ego. The situation causes a student that was not chosen to be prefect by whatever powers it be, to be at a loss. Like, we often think about what someone got, but what about the kids who didn't get to be a prefect? Where did they lose out? So Neville, in this case, the idea that it would have brought his character arc sooner is actually really titillating to me. I like that.

[Kaley Cuoco]

This next email is from Abby on teaching styles. Hey, y'all. I wanted to comment on. I do. We do. You do. This is a teacher thing in the US I teach 5th through 12th grade band in Ohio. And this is something I do all the time. It falls in the realm of scaffolding, which is just another way of saying a student does something with lots of support, then a little less, then none. For example, I will be teaching a new note to fifth grade. We start with me playing the note, then we do it together, then they play it on their own. I'm not sure what teachers in other countries do, but this is definitely common practice in the US Especially in grade school. Okay, good to know.

[Laura]

I love this.

[Kaley Cuoco]

And was this. We were talking about this in relation to Dumbledore's army.

[Laura]

I think that probably makes a lot of sense, actually.

[Micah]

Yeah. I think we were also talking about it in terms of what Hagrid could have done to make his thestral lesson better than what it was if somebody.

[Eric]

Brought it up and we just didn't have any idea. Right. What it meant. At least I'm assuming that's why they wrote in. Yeah.

[Laura]

Oh, yeah. So I think that with Hagrid, he could have absolutely taken more leadership with the thestrals than. And here they are. So. Yeah, I like this a lot. Also, remember when we didn't know all the music notes, you guys and could still learn that I'm getting nostalgic for middle school. I don't know why.

[Micah]

Oh God, I can't think of anywhere I want to be least than my middle school experience. Next email comes from Helen. Helen's writing about blaming Hermione for Harry's action and she says, hi guys, I just finished listening to your discussion of Order of The Phoenix Chapter 12. As part of the discussion of the interactions between Umbridge, Hermione and Harry, there was a lot of blame being put on Hermione's shoulders for what Harry said and did in Umbridge's class. As a therapist, this was upsetting to me on so many levels. I spend countless hours with clients working to untangle years of self blame for things that are not their responsibility or out of their control. Then I find myself listening to a discussion blaming Hermione for Harry's choices. Harry's words and actions are his responsibility and his alone. I mean, okay, an argument can be made that Voldemort, the Horcrusthe Horcrux was directly impacting his brain, but that still does not make it Hermione's fault. The bigger picture here is the idea that we are somehow responsible for the actions or emotions of others can be very damaging to an individual and also at the extreme end of the spectrum. Spectrum. This is the site. This is the psychology that traps people in domestic violence. It's my fault he got mad at me. If I hadn't done this he wouldn't have hit me. Etc. But as your comments on the show demonstrate, it is definitely an idea that pervades the collective psyche, which is why I spend so much time with so many people working to unravel this. The only person responsible for one's actions, words and emotions is that person and no one else else. Thanks for listening to my soapbox. That discussion just hit a big nerve with me. Well, thank you for sending that in. I agree with you.

[Laura]

Yeah, sometimes we get it wrong and sorry to have hit your nerve. I think everything you said makes a lot of sense.

[Eric]

I do. But I also think it's important to remember that our actions can also have consequences for other people. And you could make the case for that in this particular instance by Hermione doing what she did. I'm not saying that she's fully responsible for Harry's actions, but it does lead him in the direction of eventually responding in the way that he does to Umbridge.

[Laura]

One thing I'll say about the latest discussions as we go through chapter by chapter is that we're trying to kind of take the same chapter that we've already discussed in 2020 and spin it with a closer focus on a certain character that we certainly wouldn't have delved into as much before. I know I was, I think I was in charge of this Hermione discussion in the Professor Umbridge chapter, so I want to take responsibility if that discussion was unnerving. I know we wanted to take a more Hermione focused approach to that chapter in general, so I can easily see how that would have actually sounded like we were blaming Hermione for Harry's and others actions in the chapter. But that was only by the it was unintentional and it was based on the sort of formula of the chapter creation. But that's that's on me as well.

[Kaley Cuoco]

All right, final email from she who Shall Not Be Named this is a chicken soup for the Mugglecast Soul Hi Mugglecast. Your podcast has created a surreal and fantastical period of my life. I am no Muggle, but a former witch of Universal's Wizarding World. They mandated I go undercover after leaving. Of course this job is as fun as you'd imagine, but it would have eventually become mundane had you four not kept me within the world of magic. Mentally, I listened as I filled Ollivander's wand shelves for the night, dusted odd things in Hogwarts, and sat on the empty Hogsmeade street watching the castle lights and listening to frog choir rehearsals. Your episodes made all of those moments feel otherworldly. They also helped me keep up with the six year olds who knew the names of the Peverill brothers. Can't thank you enough for your ramblings. Reach out for park tips anytime. She who Shall Not Be Named so if I'm reading between the lines here, she would work at the Wizarding World theme park while listening to Mugglecast.

[Micah]

Yeah, love that.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yeah, that's pretty cool.

[Laura]

And just the idea that we regularly and weekly help people like like stay connected to the Wizarding world is is very nice to hear.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yeah, keeping up with the six year olds who knew the names of the Peverell brothers. That's funny. P.S. things I've learned from my time as a student. Hufflepuffs are the best overall. I was so wrong about them as a kid. Slytherins are the coolest by far those kids. 10 out of 10. I'm suspicious of their confidence, but I also want one as a life coach. Ravenclaws are either warm, kind, deep thinkers, or blunt and bitchy and Gryffindors come off as generic. It's true. Random ass personality. It doesn't matter because we'll still sweep y'all. And Quidditch signed a Gryffindor. So wait, this person is judging the Hogwarts? That the Hogwarts house is based off of the tourists coming through the Wizarding World land? That's not fair. There's a lot of fake fans that go through the turnstile theme park. Yeah, I think that's very funny, but also I think it's a little unfair. All right, Micah, we have a links line today, right?

[Eric]

Yeah. We asked our patrons over on patreon.com mugglecast how would we celebrate 700 episodes in the Wizarding World? Uh oh, and I have to say the biggest through line I saw here was the Hogshead, of course.

[Laura]

Classic.

[Kaley Cuoco]

That's where I always want to go.

[Laura]

They know us very well.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Rachel said Begin at Hogwarts for live Mugglecast from the Great hall, followed by getting their portraits done in the Room of Requirement because it'll have all the art supplies. Then it's all aboard the night bus to travel around to place their portraits. Micah's will go in the Hogshead, Laura's will go in the Department of Mysteries because she was so sure the trio would revisit it in Death With Hallows. Eric will put theirs on the Hogwarts Express, and Andrew would have tried to put his next to Dumbledore's but settled for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes instead. End the day with a magnificent magical fireworks display over the lake. Lake Aww.

[Laura]

Michael says if Micah isn't visiting Aberforth at the Hogshead, something suspicious is going on.

[Eric]

Zachary says, I can see the day starting off with a bonus Mugglecast recording at Flourish and Blotts, followed by a trip to the Leaky Cauldron, then around lunchtime a Floo Powder trip to the Three Broomsticks for lunch and a Butterbeer after lunch. I can see y'all going on a tour of Hogwarts, maybe try a game of Quidditch and then a special recording of Bugglecast in the same iteration of the Room of Requirement that Potter Watch aired to finish the night. You all end up at the Hogshead, where Aberforth and Micah get lost in conversation about goats. Andrew and Eric kill time by cracking jokes of the adult nature while Laura sips her drink while laughing and rolling her eyes at the nature of the conversation.

[Micah]

Yeah, you get it. Leah says seven is the most powerful magical number in this series. So I'd have to say something like a pickup game of Quidditch with all four hosts and their three partners playing to make a team of seven versus Snape, Neville, Newt, Luna, their first date choices plus or. And their first date choices plus Harry, Ron and Hermione, who's playing which position? I'd love to hear the hosts duke it out if they read this one. Honestly, I would want to be a beater.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Oh, good.

[Micah]

I just gotta get that frustration out, you know?

[Laura]

Yeah, Jacer. Sounds fun. Especially if our partners are allowed to play. We could both pass the quaffle to one another.

[Eric]

Keeper.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Keeper. Okay.

[Laura]

Ooh. Micah wants the stressful job.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Ashley says clearly it would begin in the Hogshead with a few pints perhaps. Micah in particular is also several shots of fire. Whiskey deep. Yeah, he is. Andrew and Eric are firing off some Weasley wizard wheezes fireworks in each other's general direction. Laura shakes her head, muttering to the witch at the corner table how nonsensical and frankly, hazardous this practice is. Oh, whatever, Laura. We're gonna have some fun. Though she is secretly enjoying the chaos. I should have read that sentence first.

[Micah]

Yeah, that is actually pretty on brand. Go on.

[Kaley Cuoco]

A local Hogsmeade band takes the floor and begins to play a ballad about a particularly daft troll and a lovesick wizard. Suddenly, we look over and realize that Micah is now slow dancing with a goat and commenting about the intoxicating odor of its hooves. A grand time is had by all. Micah. Is this really the. The label you want on yourself? You. You caused this. All these goat jokes.

[Eric]

I'm not. If you go back and look at the transcripts, I'm not entirely sure that I started this, but. But we can check on that for next week's episode.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Oh, this is the path you have chosen, Micah. You have chosen the path of goat.

[Eric]

Nicole says room of requirement, unlimited booze.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Ooh, best answer.

[Micah]

Hell yeah. And Jen, bringing us home here, says shots, shots, shots. Starting with breakfast in the Great hall, leading to a day of apparition to all of the hotspots, the Department of Mysteries, Diagon Alley, the Borough. Catch a quick Quidditch game and maybe take in the sights at Tom Riddle's cave, Just to just make sure to only drink the shots you brought with you there. Followed by a trip on the Hogwarts Express with a dinner provided by the Trolley Witch, and end with a big ass party in the Hogshead with the fabulous Chloe and Pam and all of us. Oh my God. I Love this.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Aww.

[Micah]

Cute.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Thanks everybody who participated. Special thank you again to our patrons. Again, you are the reason we have reached 700 episodes. We launched the Patreon with the goal of doing more episodes of Mugglecast and you all really came out to help us and we can't thank you enough. And even if you don't support us on Patreon, we're very grateful for your listenership. Whether you joined us just this episode or you've listened to all 700 episodes or anywhere in between, thank you so much for your support. Now it's time for Quizzage.

[Laura]

This week's question. Capable of reaching a length of roughly 19ft and weighing around 28 pounds, what is the largest known venomous snake species in the world? The correct answer was a king cobra, which is that. And that's the most venomous snake species. There are larger snakes, but they're not venomous. They're constrictors like Anaconda.

[Eric]

They'll just eat you. Yeah.

[Laura]

Correct answers were submitted by a Healthy Breeze Buff Daddy. Correct Harry Potter answer. Basilisk Grop Tua. Lupin's Lady. Merry Pop Lock and drop Ins. Micah's voice makes my Butterbeer extra frothy. Muggle McGonagall. Hey, we heard from her. Patronus Seeker. Seriously, the best Sneaky Snek. Thanks, amigo. The milk for Nagini. These questions are strange lately. This is my first time. Am I doing it right? And Tofu Tom, here is next week's quizzage question. What is the nearest prime number to 700? The number 700. If you'd like to submit for next week's Quizzage question, any you math nuts out there or anyone with Google handy, submit it on the Quizzitch form on the mugucast website, mugucast.comquizzic or click on Kwizzitch from the main nav.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Don't forget that to celebrate 700 episodes, the remaining inventory of our mugglecast 19 years later t shirts are now available in the Overstock store. There will be a link in the show notes, but just go to mugglemillennial.etsy.com to pick up one of these shirts. It's a great way to celebrate 700 episodes and help support the show. Also, if you love the show and want to help us out in other ways besides Patreon, we have MugglecastGold. On Apple Podcasts, we have the Mugglecast Merch Store. Not to be confused with the overstock store, that's mugglecastmerch.com. we'd also appreciate if you left a review of the show in your favorite podcast that app. Make sure you follow us in your favorite podcast app. And if you have any other Harry Potter friends in your life and you think they could use some more Harry Potter fun in their lives, tell that friend about the show. Cheers, y'all, to 700 episodes. Here's to the next 700, where we'll be discussing the rebooted reboot of the Harry Potter TV show in animated form.

[Eric]

But next week we're going to St. Mungo's.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Yes. Chapter by Chapter will resume next week. Thanks, everybody, for listening. I'm Andrew.

[Laura]

I'm Eric.

[Eric]

I'm Micah.

[Micah]

And I'm Laura.

[Kaley Cuoco]

For the 700th time, I guess we'll see you next time. Bye, everyone.

[Micah]

Bye, y'all.

[Laura]

This weekend only at Macy's.

[Kira Lewis]

It's our lowest prices of spring. How low?

[Kaley Cuoco]

Diamond rings, pendants and earrings only $399. Originally $1,500.

[Kira Lewis]

Ninja blenders now $89.99. And $395.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Men's designer suits only $99.99.

[Laura]

So if you're wondering why you should.

[Kira Lewis]

Shop Macy's lowest prices sale.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Well, the name pretty much says it all. It's our lowest prices for one weekend only.

[Laura]

Starts tomorrow at Macy's.

[Kira Lewis]

Savings off, already reduced prices. Exclusions apply.

[Kaley Cuoco]

This weekend only at Macy's.

[Kira Lewis]

It's our lowest prices of spring. How low?

[Kaley Cuoco]

Diamond ring, earrings, pendants and earrings only. $399. Originally $1,500.

[Kira Lewis]

Ninja blenders now $89.99. And $395.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Men's designer suits only $99.99.

[Laura]

So if you're wondering why you should.

[Kaley Cuoco]

Shop Macy's lowest prices sale. Well, the name pretty much says it all. It's our lowest prices for one weekend only.

[Laura]

Starts tomorrow at Macy's.

[Kira Lewis]

Savings off, already reduced prices. Exclusive.