The Potter Discussion: Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and the Wizarding World Fandom

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In this episode, we discuss some major updates for the Harry Potter TV show from an interview with some of the executives. Enjoy!
Topics/Summary:
· Read the article here

· 1:18 The first season will be eight hours long. That is a heck of a lot longer than the few hours we had for the first film, so what might this mean? The hope is they won’t face problems of time. If the season comes out and they make some excuse about cutting something for time, we will know something was up.

· 8:21 30,000 submitted tapes? Wow. That is the number of people who auditioned for the trio. Now we have to continue to ask the age-old question, who will they cast? Will the actors play the characters from the film or the book? They had better be really good at acting and find a middle ground between the characters we know and the names on the page.

· 19:08 Peeves will be included. That was an explicit statement they made. Hopefully, this will tell us that they are in fact trying to include as many things from the books into the show as they can.

· 21:16 They will keep the iconic sets and expand what we haven’t seen. They said that they want to explore the aesthetics of the castle further, while keeping the iconic sets such as the Great Hall. This is great news! Changing the original and iconic sets would be a certain disaster.

· 25:40 “No one can replace Alan Rickman, but we can find the next generation.” This is great news. Alan Rickman is impossible to top, and it is good that the filmmakers have realized this. Snape is technically 31 in the first film, and Rickman has a much more ancient air about him. It is good that they aren’t trying to replace who we know and love, but expand upon their characters and show us more facets of who they are.

· 29:09 Mark Rylance and Cillian Murphy and are two names that have come up for Dumbledore and Voldemort respectively. The filmmakers themselves have thrown Rylance’s name around before. He isn’t perfect, but it might work well depending on how they spin it. Ralph Fiennes himself put a stamp of approval on Murphy’s name for Voldemort, but Murphy seems just a bit too young to capture Voldemort essence.

· 33:25 “We have a much larger sandbox.” I hope what they mean by this is they are going to use the basis of the films to expand into places we haven’t seen and characters we haven’t met. They have such a good chance to make this a fantastic series, all they have to do it grab it.

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In this episode, we discuss more would you rather questions. Enjoy!
Summary/Topics:
· Listen to Would You Rather Part 1 here!

· 1:40 Would you rather kill Professor McGonagall or Molly Weasley? Let’s weight the pros and cons. McGonagall has a very strict moral compass and values that drive her to do the right thing. She knows the ground of Hogwarts and can defend it if she has to. Molly is such a kind person, acting as a mother figure for Harry. She will defend her loved ones till her very last breath. As wonderful as Molly is, it makes more sense to kill her because without McGonagall, the Battle of Hogwarts would be very different.

· 9:19 Would you rather Snape or Draco be a friend to Harry from the beginning? Both tortured Harry for his entire time at Hogwarts, and though they both became friends of Harry’s at the end, getting there at the beginning could be a big change. Draco might make more of a difference. Snape perhaps came to like Harry more than Draco at the end, so if Draco was Harry’s friend the story would be changed for the better.

· 16:33 Would you rather Muggle studies or care of magical creatures be required for students to take? Both subjects are a joke among the students when taking at least one would be hugely beneficial. Muggle studies would give wizards a perspective on Muggles that might reduce prejudices. Care of magical creatures would give a new look at magical nature. However, Muggle studies might help resolve more problems so that is the subject that should be required.

· 20:23 Would you rather werewolves or house elves get another chance in society? Werewolves are hated and feared, and house elves are seen as nothing, just a way to do the laundry. The reason why house elves is the right choice is werewolves can still lead a normal life. A werewolf can still have friends that support them, but a house elf is all on their own.

· 23:36 Would you rather Umbridge stays or Hagrid goes? We get a taste of both. Umbridge presides over the school in the Order of the Phoenix, and it wasn’t very pleasant. Hagrid wasn’t there in the same book and that also wasn’t very nice. However, Umbridge staying would be the worst. She led with fear and pain, torturing the students to get her way and forcing them to follow the rules.

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In this episode, we discuss some of Ginny Weasley's best moments. Enjoy!
Topics/Summary:
· 1:49 “Have you seen my jumper?”. This first scene isn’t exactly a show of strength or intelligence, but it is a fantastic benchmark for Ginny’s later relationship with Harry. It gives us good perspective to see how they started out with Ginny not being able to stay in the same room to married much later on.

· 5:09 Ginny tries to tell Harry and Ron about the Chamber of Secrets. Ginny was very much outside her comfort zone and put herself out there to try and tell Harry and Ron about her secrets and her relationship with Tom. She plucked up the courage as a first year to come forward against everything Tom was telling her and tell the truth. She had the power to take the whole operation down, and even though she didn’t, if Percy hadn’t taken her seat, she just might have.

· 9:43 “Reducto!”. This is Ginny’s moment. She’s a fourth year at this point and has learned some pretty substantial magic. She goes to the Ministry with Harry, and the Death Eaters corner them. Ginny steps up and casts her mean Reducto and takes the entire hall down. It is a fantastic moment! We can see her confidence and power shine.

· 13:44 Fighting Bellatrix. Ginny holds her ground ageist Bellatrix and though she might not have any chance of really beating her and Molly has to step up, Ginny didn’t run. She didn’t turn her back, instead she held her ground and fought.

· 17:04 Crashes into Zacharias Smith after a quidditch match. Not only is this just a fantastic moment for her, but it shows her confidence. She came from being quiet and shy to making a spectacle in front of the entire school. She wasn’t afraid to draw eyes and make a statement.

· 21:13 Standing up to Malfoy in the bookstore. Malfoy is the big bad bully, and even in her young state, she isn’t afraid to stand up to him when he threatens her family and friends.

· 24:44 Hiding Advanced Potion Making. When Harry got his hands on a dark book, Ginny didn’t like it from the beginning. She put her foot down, and even though she knows that Harry wants it, but if he keeps it the risk will outweigh the reward. If he kept the book, there was a real chance that he could have gotten hurt. He almost killed Malfoy! She saw a problem and solved it.

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In this episode, we discuss if the first book of the Harry Potter was a fitting beginning to the series. Enjoy!
Topics/Summary:
· 1:38 Did Dumbledore make the right choice? This is a big topic and it is difficult to pin down a single answer. This was one of the only options because if he brought Harry to an orphanage, he might have become the new Voldemort. Luckily, he didn’t bring Harry to an orphanage, but the choice then becomes which family does he bring him to. But if McGonagall told him horror stories about the Dursleys, why would Dumbledore send him there? Well, his mother’s protection applies at 4 Privet Drive. And for that reason, we can say that Dumbledore made the right decision.

· 8:01 Do we get properly introduced to the characters? This is a much easier decision. We get a great introduction to all of the characters and though we don’t get to see all that much of each one, but despite that we get a window into each of the people that will become main characters later in the story. Harry is the only characters that we don’t fully meet in my opinion. We don’t see his bravery or any of the other traits that make him the person we later get to know.

· 13:13 It would have been great to see Harry to more magic. I know he did vanish the glass, but its more difficult to make the connection that its Harry. We don’t know Harry’s a wizard and it would be difficult to put two and two together. The vanishing spell is pretty advanced, and we’re basing our entire knowledge of the wizarding world on this one interaction.

· 17:34 It was a good choice to begin the story with Mr. Dursley instead of Harry. He knows the same amount about magic than us, so it is a great contrast between the muggle world and the magical one. He sees owls and wizards in the streets, and we can appreciate how strange it is along with him. Magic stands out much more when looking through Mr. Dursley’s eyes that Harry. Of course, it is a strange thing, but Mr. Dursley finds it even more alien.

· 21:29 Hagrid was a good liaison into the magical world. Hagrid is close enough to a normal person that muggles would look twice, but he is still a bit odd. He also knows how to talk to muggles and there’s nothing terribly magical about him so he can blend in. If Dumbledore apparated into the middle of the cottage and starts pulling out his magical watches and maps and all that stuff, the Dursleys would have a heart attack. Hagrid is also a good person and Dumbledore knew that he would become good friends with the trio.

· 26:58 Was the first book a fitting beginning to Harry Potter? Absolutely! It may not be 100% perfect, but this book is a positively fantastic entry to the story beyond.

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In this episode, we flip the script and discuss what would happen if Harry grew up with Sirius. Enjoy!
Topics/Summary:
· 1:22 The story wouldn’t be as good. It sounds strange to say, but it is true. The magic of the story comes from Harry’s ignorance for the first 11 years of his life, then the spark that comes from his realization that there is so much more to his life and an explanation why strange things happen around him.

· 7:29 He would be more powerful. It took just a few years at Hogwarts for Harry (or more accurately the piece of Voldemort inside him) to grow into a powerful wizard. But if Harry knew he was magical years earlier, he might have been able to land on his feet at Hogwarts and learn magic faster.

· 11:55 He would be more like James. That might also mean that he might be more of a bully. Dudley didn’t do much for Harry, but he did teach Harry humility. Harry wasn’t about to become a bully at Hogwarts after being tortured for years at home. But if he didn’t have that and he had a much bolder and James-like father figure at home, he might be a little different.

· 18:33 The Mirror of Erised might not show his parents. In the end, it probably will. Harry isn’t a completely different person after all. But, when he is with Sirius, he has the person who was the closest person to his father. Petunia was Lily’s sister, but they were far from close. Harry might miss his parents just a bit less with Sirius around.

· 23:00 The story wouldn’t happen. This is true of every Flip the Script. The differences would be smaller than others, but they would bump the story in such a way that would send it into a totally different direction.

· 25:40 Harry would have less character. He would still be famous, but nothing about him other than that would be different. He would just be another student from another wizarding household coming to Hogwarts.

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