Reliving The Greatest Month in Potter Fandom History

Summary

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MuggleCast: Reliving The Greatest Month in Potter Fandom History

Date: December 30, 2025
Podcast: MuggleCast: The Harry Potter Re-Read Podcast
Hosts: Andrew, Laura, Micah, Eric

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Overview

In this lively bonus episode, the MuggleCast crew—Andrew, Laura, Micah, and Eric—reminisce about July 2007, widely considered the “craziest month in Harry Potter fandom history.” That extraordinary month saw the almost-simultaneous release of the Order of the Phoenix movie and the final book, Deathly Hallows, creating a whirlwind of excitement and emotion for fans and the hosts themselves. The group fondly remembers red carpet experiences, after-parties, international travel, personal milestones, and the bittersweet closing of a formative era in the fandom.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Scene: July 2007 – The Fandom’s Pinnacle

• Context: The hosts note that July 2007 was unparalleled: the Order of the Phoenix film premiered, and just 10 days later, Deathly Hallows—the final installment—was published.
  • “It was probably the craziest month in fandom history.” – Andrew (01:27)
• The group jokes about MuggleCast being older than both the Order movie and Hallows book.

The Build-Up: Movie Release and Book Anticipation

• Eric: Reminisces about seeing fans’ excitement at movie theaters amidst his own travel confusion.
  • He can't pinpoint where he saw the film due to hectic travel, “I was just all over the place.” (03:17)
• Micah: Didn’t see the movie immediately, leading to playful teasing.
  • “Why took you so long? Again? Why? Why? Traitor. You're a fake fan.” – Andrew (05:28)

The LA Premiere: Red Carpet, Parties, and Potter Celebrities

• Andrew: Attended the LA premiere, covered the red carpet, remembering being trusted with expensive camera equipment.
  • Notably, he and Emerson asked Imelda Staunton (Umbridge) to go “heh heh heh” on camera—“which like, lives rent free in my head.” (05:49)
  • Miley Cyrus (pre-fame) attended.
  • Interviewed Jeff Foxworthy.
• Laura: Recalls her unexpected ticket to the premiere and the after-party—her first and only red carpet walk.
  • “Very last minute, I get this text from Andrea that was like, I got a ticket for you. And I was like, f-ck yeah, you do!” (07:15)
  • Jamie handed her his after-party ticket, preferring chicken and waffles over glitzy events.
• After-party Antics:
  • Ben tried to make a move on Emma Watson (09:16), with her bodyguard promptly intervening.
  • Laura ended up chaperoning Mason, who was dealing with a hangover during the trio’s “hand, foot, and wand” ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Personal Milestones and Fandom Revelations

• Andrew: Came out as gay to a close friend (Mason) during this time, and jokes about losing his virginity that week.
  • “I also lost my virginity that week.” (12:01)
  • “Welcome to my Harry Potter world, Mason. I'm gay and Ben's throwing up on jeans in the hotel room...” (13:09)
• The group laughs over “deep lore” fan moments and inside jokes, e.g., Ben’s mom shadowing them at events (13:32-13:48).

Book Release in London: The Midnight Moment

• Several hosts flew to London, hosted an event at Waterstones Piccadilly for the Hallows release.
  • “Jamie cried at midnight. He was so emotional.” – Andrew (14:55)
  • BBC and international outlets covered the fandom’s reactions.
  • Actors hired as Snape and Hagrid, communal hotel reading sessions, and an early livestream (Ustream) to share reactions.
    • “We hopped on Ustream and we reacted to Deathly Hallows... thank God the Internet worked well enough.” – Andrew (19:06)
• Micah: Stayed stateside, got special access to a Borders midnight release thanks to a friend.
  • Was mildly spoiled on early deaths due to leaked spoilers from Kevin. (20:05)

Reflections, Firsts, and Travel Tales

• Core Memories:
  • “For me, it's losing my virginity. I mean, come on.” – Andrew (23:13)
  • Eric recalls experiencing the Bangkok airport—a first outside Europe—en route to New Zealand.
  • Micah cherishes the Enlightening 2007 conference in Philadelphia, applauding its Hogwarts-style venue with “great acoustics.” (25:44)
  • Jamie, underage in the US, tricked bartenders with a UK ID formatted to seem older—enabling extra alcohol purchases at events.
    • “On the UK ID, that would be backwards, so July 12th. Right. And that made him 21...” – Andrew (26:42)
  • Laura recounts her first international travel and the milestone of moving from high school to college amidst the frenzy.

The End of an Era

• Prophecy Conference (Toronto, August 2007):
  • Marked by a “pajama party live podcast,” it seemed to close the formative phase of Potter fandom for many.
  • “That felt like the end of the fandom, kind of… It definitely felt like an end of an era.” – Andrew & Laura (29:28–29:40)
• Bittersweet Goodbyes:
  • Post-conference blues after returning home, leaving behind the only friends who truly understood their passion.
    • “We were always bummed after a conference... It was like this fantasy world... and then it was back to reality.” – Andrew (30:38)
    • “Back to my closeted Harry Potter, like, weirdos. Shit. Now Mason knows I'm gay.” – Andrew (31:12)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the wildness of July 2007:
  • "Can you even imagine at this point leaving Order to the Phoenix in the movie theater? You see it, you have a great time, and then you're like, holy crap, I'm now 10 days away from the final Harry Potter book." – Andrew (01:27)
• On the emotional weight of the finale:
  • "He was crying because it was all over... It was bittersweet. I mean, how could you not feel emotional that night?" – Andrew (15:20)
• On fandom togetherness:
  • "We were all sharing a hotel room... hopped on Ustream... and we reacted to Deathly Hallows." – Andrew (19:06)
• Summing up the era's end:
  • "That felt like an end... There were a lot of firsts." – Laura (29:40, 28:07)
  • "We certainly didn't think we would be doing this podcast almost... 18 years later." – Micah (30:32)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:27 — Setting up July 2007 as the peak of Potter fandom
• 03:17 — Eric and Micah's movie premiere confusion and recollections
• 05:49 — Andrew's LA premiere stories; red carpet hijinks
• 07:15 — Laura’s last-minute ticket and after-party adventure
• 09:16 — Party stories: Ben and Emma Watson, hungover ceremonies
• 12:01-13:09 — Andrew’s personal milestones (coming out, losing virginity)
• 14:55 — London Waterstones book release memories; Jamie’s tears
• 19:06 — First live “reaction” webcast post-Hallows
• 20:05 — Micah’s bookstore experience and spoilers
• 23:13+ — Each host’s core or “flashbulb” memory
• 25:44 — Enlightening 2007: setting and venue anecdotes
• 26:42 — Jamie’s ID trick, underage drinking in the U.S.
• 28:07 — Laura and Andrew: “summer of firsts” and transition periods
• 29:28 — Prophecy conference/pajama party/live podcast; sense of closure
• 30:38 — After-conference blues, returning home
• 31:12 — Final thoughts: personal changes, looking back

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Conclusion

This lovingly chaotic episode captures the excitement, absurdity, and emotional highs and lows that characterized July 2007 for Potter fans and the MuggleCast crew. The hosts' personal and collective stories—of premieres, parties, book releases, travel, and transitions—highlight how Harry Potter brought people together during a cultural milestone, with effects lingering even as the original saga closed. Their memories serve as both a nostalgic celebration and a testament to the unique magic of communal fandom experiences.

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Transcript

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[Laura]

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[Andrew]

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[Laura]

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[Laura]

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[Andrew]

Hey everyone, Mugglecast is off for the holidays, but we wanted to share with you a bonus Mugglecast episode from earlier this year in which we reminisce over the craziest month in Harry Potter fandom, July 2007 in which the Deathly Hallows book and the Order of the Phoenix movie came out in the same month. We released two bonus Mugglecast episodes every month and you can get access to all of them plus ad free episodes, recording studio access, a new gift sent via owl to you each year, and lots [e-mail] mugglecast visit there now and sign up with a 7 day free trial. When you join our community, you'll also get access to our latest bonus episode in which we share lots of gossip about working for Mugglenet in the old days. It's one of my favorite bonus Mugglecast episodes that we have recorded this year and I think you will love it. So enjoy this episode and we'll see you all in the new year. This is bonus mugglecast and it's July 2025 and I thought, well, because we're doing the Order of the Phoenix reread right now and the Order of the Phoenix movie came out 18 years ago this month, let's look at that month in Harry Potter history because also that same month Deathly Hallows the book was released such A huge month for us. Like I said in the main show, it was probably the craziest month in fandom history. Can you three think back to that time? And first of all, I can't believe Mugglecast is older than the Order of the Phoenix movie and Deathly Hallows book. But can you think back to this time and can you even imagine at this point leaving Order to the Phoenix in the movie theater? You see it, you have a great time, and then you're like, holy crap, I'm now 10 days away from the final Harry Potter book.

[Eric]

You know what's funny? I'm looking at my photo albums from that month and there's a photo of me at a movie theater with a standee of the Silver Surfer. So the Fantastic Four movie, the other Fantastic Four movie, we were at least two Fantastic Four movies ago is what I'm remembering for a time capsule. But I mentioned a few weeks ago, I don't remember the exact circumstances during which I saw movie 5, even though I remember the London trip very well for book seven, two weeks later, I was just all over the place. And I have to say, I. Either. So I've narrowed it down. Either it's when I saw this Silver Surfer Sandy, which is back in Wellington after my US trip, or it's in New York because there's a photo of me and Leanne and Haya in front of a US poster for Order of the Phoenix, the movie. So I definitely saw it in July. I just still can't pinpoint exactly when.

[Micah]

Well, the funny story for me was that for a long time I did not see Order of the Phoenix.

[Eric]

And I remember you just had stuff getting away.

[Micah]

Honestly, I just can't recall offhand because Order of the Phoenix premiered in la, right? It didn't premiere in New York.

[Eric]

That's right, yeah. There was deliberately not a New York premiere.

[Micah]

You know, I'm not saying I didn't go because there wasn't a New York.

[Andrew]

Premiere, but New York snob Micah has.

[Eric]

To be the star treatment and everything.

[Micah]

But offhand, I just don't recall why it was that I didn't go and see it. But I do distinctly remember us being at Enlightening 2007 in Philadelphia on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, and we were all together discussing the Order of the Phoenix movie. And I think many of you, Andrew, you might remember offhand who all was there. I remember Jamie and Ben being there. There might have been. Was Kevin there too? But you all were getting ready to go to London for the Deathly Hallows book release. And you're all excited very much to talk about Order of the Phoenix. And I'm just kind of sitting there twiddling my thumbs because.

[Andrew]

Why took you so long? Again? Why? Why? I don't. Traitor. You're a fake fan.

[Micah]

The thing is, I still haven't seen.

[Eric]

It, actually, even though we've done a commentary on it.

[Micah]

Yeah, I was. I was just faking it.

[Andrew]

I was like, first time.

[Eric]

Well, Micah, I know then that I didn't see. That I didn't see the movie in New York, because if I did, we would have seen it together.

[Micah]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Andrew]

So the mystery continues. But, yeah. So I was in LA for the Order of the Phoenix premiere. I covered the red carpet with Emerson, which was very exciting for us. I was looking back at old photos, and Mikey B. Lent us one of his fancy film cameras. And looking back at that now, I'm like, I can't believe Mikey trusted me with this equipment that was surely, like, well over $2,000. I give him a lot of credit for trusting me with that camera in a hectic place like a movie premiere, where, you know, that thing could easily, like, fall and I could. I could damage it. But that premiere. What? I remember Emerson. I don't know if it was Emerson or me who had this idea, but one of us had the idea and Emerson was conducting the interview. We asked Imelda Staunton, who plays Umbridge, to go, which, like, lives rent free in my head, but Miley Cyrus was there. And if you look at our premiere interviews from back then, like, she doesn't even look like the Miley Cyrus we know today. First of all, she has changed her hair color significantly. I think it's in these interviews.

[Micah]

Maybe we didn't because she hadn't partied in the USA yet.

[Andrew]

Yeah, you know what? I have to find that video clip. But we interviewed Jeff Fox. Foxworthy.

[Micah]

Oh, my gosh.

[Andrew]

For some reason, I was either.

[Laura]

Oh, my God.

[Micah]

It doesn't seem up his alley, to be honest. But, hey, you never know who's a Harry Potter fan.

[Laura]

Actually, Andrew, I don't know if you remember this, because you were. You were busy working the red carpet that day. Like, I remember you so busy with the red carpet. I know. Well, I remember you were out really, really early. And I had come out to LA for the premiere, but also because we were going to be doing a live show at Borders, and I don't remember if we did that live show before or after the premiere, but I do remember I went out There with no expectations about getting into the premiere. I was like, I'm just going to be there for the live show and to see my friends and that'll be fine. But actually, because you never. I don't think you ever entirely know how many tickets you're going to end up with to get into a premiere. And very last minute, I get this text from Andrea that was like, I got a ticket for you. And I was like, fuck, yeah, you do. So I ran down there and I got my ticket and I got to walk the red carpet because that's how you get into the premiere. You get. You walk the same red carpet as everyone else. One and only time I've ever done that. So that had a big impression on me. The other thing that happened that I ended up getting a surprise ticket to was the after party because Jamie didn't want to go go. And he gave, like, literally there was a bus that took everyone from the premiere to the after party, if you had tickets to go to that. And I ran into Jamie outside of the theater and he was just like, I don't. I don't give a fuck about this party.

[Andrew]

Oh, Laura, I can't be lost. You take it, please.

[Laura]

It was. He was going to eat chicken and waffles. That's.

[Andrew]

He was like, hit on a girl, too.

[Laura]

And he just gave it to me. But the bus was already gone, so I had to figure out where. I had to figure out before Uber Right Studios was. So I was just walking around for Laura.

[Andrew]

I don't know where this is.

[Laura]

I found it eventually.

[Andrew]

It was. It wasn't far, but it was like walking. It was a bit of a hassle, I think, to walk there. A drive, it's probably like two minutes, but walking might be a little longer. And, you know, you're in a city by yourself that you're not familiar with with, you know, not the safest situation, but you're not missing that party. I remember Ben was trying to, like, make a move on Emma Watson during that party, too. We all remember that story.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Laura]

And her bodyguard. Like, didn't he sit down on the.

[Andrew]

Couch next to her to block probably one surprise me. Another great story I remember. And Micah. This, I think, is exactly why they. They did the premiere this year in la. They wanted. They were doing a hand, foot and wand prince ceremony at Grauman Speeder. The trio were gonna have their hands, feet and wands imprinted grommen cere. You know, like all the stars do. It's still there to this day of Course. But my favorite. One of my favorite stories from this week was. I guess this ceremony was the day after the after party. Laura. I'm thinking the premiere.

[Laura]

Yeah. I have a story.

[Andrew]

I remember waking up and we were all too. We were invited to cover it as press. We were all so frickin hungover. We gave it to one of our friends to go and cover it for us because we could not get out of bed. I can't remember who we sent. I want to say Adam Bromberg, but I might just be making that up.

[Laura]

Right?

[Andrew]

Just like, here, have our tickets. We can't. We have the worst headaches in the world right now. You go. And we were in a hotel that was basically attached to Grommens. We had no excuse not to get there and cover this ourselves.

[Laura]

You know what's funny? Another vivid memory from this is during all of that, I also. Because I think you had offered me tickets too. And I was like, I don't really care about this anyway.

[Andrew]

All of us are so fricking entitled.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Eric]

This all sounds awful. Yeah.

[Laura]

Your bestie Mason was also there, Andrew. And I think he was the most miserably hungover of everyone. And I remember during that ceremony, I had taken Mason down to some cafeteria and I was making him like drink blue Powerade and french fries to try and cure his hangover. But he. I think he was the most miserable of all of us. But I could hear the cheering and the shrieking from the ceremony because we were that close.

[Andrew]

Oh, yeah. Well, you know why Elsie was having a rough week.

[Laura]

No, I don't.

[Andrew]

He found out I was gay that week. Legit. Oh. Because he hurt. He. And it wasn't. It wasn't like a bad revelation for him. It was just so shocking. My good friend Andrew, who. We grew up together in New Jersey.

[Eric]

I think, you know a guy, he's.

[Andrew]

Gay and yeah, I also lost my virginity that week. So it was.

[Eric]

You had a really good week.

[Micah]

You had your own hand, foot and want ceremony.

[Andrew]

We just gave Michael the finger. He deserved that.

[Laura]

Wait, was he actually shook by this news?

[Andrew]

He had no clue. I think most of you didn't either. Well, maybe you three did at that point. I don't know.

[Micah]

You told me in la, but that. That was the year before, right?

[Andrew]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Mason didn't know. Nobody in my hometown knew. Nobody in my Muggle life knew.

[Micah]

Wait, when did. No, no, it was the year after. I'm sorry. When did we go for the podcast awards?

[Andrew]

That was 2006.

[Laura]

Yeah, that was 2006.

[Micah]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Laura]

Yeah, when Garth was there, right?

[Andrew]

That's where. That's where the magic happened for me. Not with Garth.

[Laura]

I hope not.

[Andrew]

Great guy. Miss him?

[Laura]

Oh, totally. But no, that would have been weird.

[Andrew]

Garth got me into Midori. Y' all remember Midori? That green core?

[Micah]

Yep.

[Laura]

I can't drink that anymore.

[Andrew]

Me neither. So, yeah, I think maybe Mason drank himself silly because he had just learned that his best friends for school was gay. And he's totally cool with it. It was just shocking for him. Welcome to my Harry Potter world, Mason. I'm gay and Ben's throwing up on jeans in the hotel room, and we're turning down after party tickets and hand feet and wine ceremonies.

[Laura]

And, well, also, don't forget Ben's mom was there.

[Andrew]

Oh, my God. Like, she was. Was she sharing a room with us? She acted like she was, but she.

[Laura]

Kind of followed us around everywhere.

[Andrew]

What was one of her classic lines? Like, God damn it. Band at that premiere or something like that?

[Eric]

Oh, that's where that comes from.

[Laura]

Oh, yeah, that's where that comes from.

[Eric]

No, this is essential lore. This is crazy, because I would hear it years later. No, I was gallivanting. I was glad to meet you guys in London for the book release, but I did not have a typical Muggle cast. July, everything is happening. You know, A million things are happening in the same day ceremony. I was in the US for the 4th of July. Went to the shore with my dad, the Maryland shore, and played mini golf in my hometown with a bunch of high school friends. Went to a baseball game, too.

[Micah]

That sounds like a traditional American summer weekend.

[Eric]

It was good. I had been home. I'd been away for six months at that point, and it was. It was winter in New Zealand, so to come home and go to the beach was insane.

[Andrew]

It was great.

[Laura]

Yeah, I bet.

[Andrew]

But you were involved, Eric, in our Deathly Hallows fun. Laura, Eric. Jamie. Not Micah. Kevin.

[Laura]

Kevin was there?

[Andrew]

Yeah, in London for. We hosted an event at Waterstones Piccadilly. Huge bookstore since gone. Yeah. Yeah. So we were all there. July 21, 2007. Jamie cried at midnight. He was so emotional. I think, you know, we all had a glass of wine, too.

[Micah]

Is that when he found out? No, no.

[Eric]

He was crying because it was all over.

[Andrew]

Yeah, it was. It was bittersweet. I mean, how could you not feel emotional that night? And what other memories, Eric, what memories do you have from that night? I remember.

[Eric]

Yeah. So it was. It was really just a great experience. I remember being so envious of Jamie being so miserable that I. Because he did like an interview for one of the BBC or Sky News or somebody. And I wanted to also get interviewed and show how much of a wreck I was. And before midnight I actually did on some foreign. I don't know if it was German, I don't know if it was maybe China or somebody I interviewed. And I was like, it's the end. Like trying to poke my eye, getting myself to cry because I wanted to compete. But it was just sad. It was happy, it was lovely, it was sad. It was an extremely special party that, you know, Waterstones put it. They hired these actors to play Snape and Hagrid in episode 100's recording. You can still hear Hagrid introing all of us at the beginning and you know, just some guy they got to be in character. He did a great job getting the books at midnight. And I remember we did have a little bit of leisure time probably before the book came out to take in Abbey Road and Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross and Big Ben. I think I ended up walking around the Big Ben area with Kevin and Laura based on the photos that I have, but it's real lovely.

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[Eric]

Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[Andrew]

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[Laura]

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[Laura]

Don't miss blinds.com's year end blowout sale happening right now. Save up to 50% sitewide, plus a free professional measure. Rules and restrictions may apply. Yeah, we definitely did have leisure time because I think it was the night before the book release. We went out to a pub and we didn't even go out. It was the pub that was in our hotel. And yeah, this is well documented, but I got extremely drunk and I'm just very lucky that you guys are such good friends.

[Eric]

And that was the day we all lost our virginity.

[Laura]

Thank you.

[Andrew]

Wow. Laura just said we were good friends.

[Laura]

That's a deep lore revelation there. We have a never before revealed.

[Eric]

If it wasn't so funny, people would think it was true.

[Andrew]

But yeah, so like when we got the book, we went back to our room. We were all sharing a hotel room, at least for reading overnight. I remember being the last one to finish because I'm a slow reader. And then we all. You streamed. So before YouTube and Instagram, stream, Twitch and all that, there was Ustream, the letter Ustream tv and we hopped on Ustream and we reacted to Deathly Hallows. And I can't remember how many listeners we were had tuning in, but thank God the Internet worked well enough. I guess we did it on camera. It may have just been audio. I think we probably say it.

[Eric]

We probably say it during the episode.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I'm guessing it was listening. Yeah, true, man. If. If something like that happened today and we were in the position we were back in 2007, we'd easily have what, 50 to 100,000 people tuning in live, I think, or probably more.

[Micah]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

So that was crazy. What were you doing, Micah? Deathly Hallows RELEASE So if I remember.

[Micah]

Correctly, I don't think I could get off of work to be able to travel to London for the release. And I just ended up going to a local bookstore. I had a friend of mine who worked at a borders probably about 30 minutes or so away from where I live, and so drove up there. And because he worked there, he was able to kind of get me to the front of the line to get the book when it was first released at midnight. And I was able to get it, drive home and start reading it that night. But what I've distinctly remember as I was going through, because there were definitely some leaks early on and I think Kevin said, I read the leaks. Yes, yes. Thank you, Kevin. You're welcome. He had shared some spoilers with me because that's just how Kevin is. And as I was going through, like, I realized what he had found out was actually true. Like, yeah, it was like I think it was related to, like, Hedwig dying, Mad eye dying, things like that. And so I was a little bit spoiled in the first couple of chapters, but I don't even know that I got it all done in the first night. It might have took me a little bit until the next morning after I woke up to get through it, but I figured you all had it covered with this.

[Eric]

Yeah, well, and I think that's right, Micah, about you not being able to get off work. It must have been last minute because we announced that you were coming to London on, like, 98. On episode 98. You're one of the ones. Yeah, and I was not, because I was like a last minute. I think maybe some money moved around because my recollection is that Tom Sparts himself, like, paid for my ticket to go to London for some reason.

[Micah]

You paid for everybody's.

[Eric]

I was. Really?

[Andrew]

I think so, yeah.

[Eric]

Yeah. Because I found out kind of like last. Like, I wanted to go, but I was pretty convinced it wasn't going to be able to happen. And, like, within a week of it going on, I found out that I could go.

[Andrew]

Actually, it may have been funded by Pickle Pack, too. Possibly. You remember Tom Sports, if you remember that, Maybe it wasn't Pickle Pack.

[Laura]

I mean, I just remember he booked my flight for me. I didn't get to choose.

[Eric]

That might be it. Yeah. I don't know where the money came from, but it was.

[Andrew]

You're gonna sit the back and you're gonna like it, Laura.

[Laura]

Yeah, here's the thing.

[Micah]

Like, it came from your hard labor anyway, Laura. So it's not like it was a free trip.

[Laura]

No.

[Eric]

It felt nice, though. At the moment, it felt like recognition is what it felt like. It's between the flight to London and a ball cap with Notre Dame's logo. Those are the two things that I've had monetarily from Mugglenet. My many years of service.

[Laura]

Yeah, I was not about to complain about that because I was so excited. Although I do remember my flight back landed in newark at like 11:30pm and my flight out of Newark to Atlanta didn't leave until like 7am So I had to sit in the Newark airport overnight.

[Andrew]

But I didn't thought you were going to insult my home state. I was.

[Laura]

I was not going to. I'm. Listen, I'm not here to yuck you. Yum. Okay.

[Andrew]

New York's better now, I promise. The airport, the city.

[Laura]

Okay. Okay.

[Andrew]

So what is a core memory for each of us from July 2007 one flash of time we'll never forget. For me, it's my. It's losing my virginity. I mean, I mean, come on.

[Laura]

That's a.

[Eric]

That's a big one. That's a real big one. Oh, can we do ones that don't have anything to do with Harry Potter?

[Andrew]

Excuse me. That was tied to Harry Potter. That was during the Harry Potter premiere.

[Micah]

It wasn't for that.

[Eric]

It was Harry Potter. You lost your virginity to Harry Potter?

[Andrew]

I was in Garth's apartment.

[Eric]

I don't think. Do I know your. Do I know the person that was your first?

[Andrew]

No. I mean, you probably met him there. He was Ben's friend, Francisco. Remember that guy?

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Still Facebook friends.

[Laura]

Good for you.

[Eric]

I would have to say.

[Andrew]

Hold on, wait. I just looked us on Facebook. Adam Bromberg is Facebook friends with Francisco.

[Laura]

Well, obviously, because you lost your virginity to him. Brogwork was like, I got to keep this guy in check on speed dial.

[Eric]

The thing for me that I think is like a flash shot of never forget is actually I had like a layover in the Bangkok, Thailand airport and it was the most pristine, like white glass airport that seemed like the like most. Yeah, just pristine place on earth. And I had to like exchange from British pounds to New Zealand dollars because it's going back east that way. And it was just a place that really felt foreign in a way that I had never been to. This is like my first non European country, you know, or my first non English speaking as a primary country. And being in the airport just for like two hours just felt very like. Like I had made it.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Micah]

I mean, from Harry Potter events that I was actually able to attend. I would say enlightening was a fun conference to be at. It was just. It was different. It wasn't like your traditional cons. And I know we're going to talk about another Harry Potter con in just a moment, but I just really like the venue. I know we've talked about this a lot. I forget what the exact name of the venue was, but it was just a very cool Hogwarts style setting to be doing a live podcast in in the summer of 2007. And as Andrew likes point out, the acoustics were great.

[Andrew]

They were.

[Micah]

It's like when you spoke, you could really hear yourself project in this particular venue.

[Andrew]

Yeah, it was the University of Penn, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah. Did you say that? Sorry, I missed that.

[Micah]

Yeah, I said it earlier, but I can't remember the name of the building we were in.

[Andrew]

Yeah, it felt like a church kind.

[Micah]

Of And I do remember going out to get beverages for folks because there was. You could purchase alcohol at the bars there and take them back to your, I guess, dorm or wherever you were staying. And I remember Jamie coming with me. And because Jamie's. Because of how British IDs are formatted, it actually made him older to the American bartender than he would otherwise be if he was in the UK.

[Eric]

Right.

[Andrew]

Because his birthday is December 7th, I believe. And on the UK ID, that would be backwards, so July 12th. Right. And that made him 21, which was really funny. Micah. We actually used this trick in LA too. Jamie used this trick. Yeah, yeah.

[Micah]

So I mean, I think it. There was only a limit to that in terms of what I could buy. So the fact that I had Jamie with me allowed me to, you know, purchase more.

[Andrew]

Dawn. Right. I was gonna say, yeah, I couldn't be asked to go to the after party, but I could be asked to go get some alcohol with you, mate.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

How about you, Laura?

[Laura]

I think for me it was more about the moment in time that this captured for me. I had just graduated high school, it was my last summer before I was going off to college, so that felt really momentous. And then it was also the most travel and benefit that I got from being part of the show and part of Mugglecast up until that point, because it was like, boom, go to LA for the premiere, then London for the book release and then a convention in Canada. So it also involved a lot of international travel. It was my first time ever flying over an ocean. It was my first time in England. So it just. There were a lot of firsts.

[Micah]

Yeah, there were. Yeah.

[Laura]

Well, I, I didn't lose my virginity that summer, so we can take that off the table. Uh huh. Well.

[Andrew]

And Laura, like you, that was the summer I was transitioning to in between high school and college. And actually I think it was Jamie and Ben. I can't remember the details, but they surprised me the night I graduated because I guess they came down from New York or something, I don't know. But we were gonna have we there. I was slated to attend a senior night because we all graduated. And to keep kids out of trouble, the high school puts on a senior night to keep the kids safely in school instead of drinking and driving elsewhere. But Jamie and Ben, I guess my mom, like, arrived at my high school. Just the senior night was getting started, I think, and they bailed me out of there and then we went back to my place. I guess that's a good.

[Eric]

It's very book Two of them.

[Andrew]

Core memory. Yeah. Right. And to put a bow on all this, there was a Harry Potter conference held in early August in Toronto. Toronto, Canada. And that felt. Yeah, prophecy. And that felt like the end of the fandom, kind of. Because the final book was out. It was the end of summer. Of course, we still had three more movies to go, but it still felt like that was the end of something big. Right.

[Eric]

So you put it to bed. Is that why everyone was in pajamas for the live show?

[Andrew]

I think we literally did that at midnight. Wasn't that the.

[Eric]

There was like a. There was a pajama party. Live podcast.

[Andrew]

Yeah. Yeah, that felt like an end. Right. Was it just me or that's my memory?

[Laura]

No, it's. It definitely felt like an end of an era.

[Andrew]

Yeah, for sure.

[Micah]

I remember specifically leaving Philadelphia, sitting in 30th Street Station, and just feeling the emotion of it all getting on the train to go back to New York, having just spent time with you, Andrew and Jamie and Ben. And again, I forget if Kevin was there or not. It was just poor Kevin. Poor Kevin. I feel like there was more there than just us, but we could look back at pictures. But, yeah, just the emotion of all of it. Right. Like the fact that this was a culminating event. I know the book had still yet to be released, but we certainly didn't think we would be doing this podcast almost. What would it have been 18 years later?

[Eric]

That's the craziest thing, is we've done 610 episodes after more.

[Andrew]

Right, right. We've done more post HP than pre HP, which is kind of crazy to think about, but, yeah, to your point, Micah, it felt like. It felt like the end of summer as well. We were always bummed after a conference. Right. It was like this fantasy world that we got to experience, literally and figuratively for a few nights in some often new city that we hadn't visited before. And then it was back to reality. Back to our real lives in the suburbs.

[Laura]

Yeah. Where we didn't have any Harry Potter friends that we could talk to about this.

[Andrew]

Right. Back to my closeted Harry Potter, like, weirdos. Shit. Now Mason knows I'm gay. Is he going to tell anybody in Medford? I had other fish to fry once I got back to town, but. All right, well, that was a fun look back at the craziest month in Harry Potter fandom history. And here's to.