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

In this episode, we discuss possible origins for well known magical ideas and wizarding practices. Enjoy!

Topics/Summary:
·      Listen to the episode where the challenge question came from here.
·      3:18 Why are spells in Latin? This is a simple answer. A plausible answer is that spells are in Latin because spoken magic was coming into being when and where Latin was popular. They used the words that made sense to them and conjured what they wanted. The Latin versions of spells have stayed around because casting a spell is an exact art, and it would be very difficult to move away from that without redesigning the entire magical system. 
·      9:05 Where did wands come from? This is a more difficult answer, as tracking the origins of a language are far easier than that of a wand. However, we can try. The basic explanation that makes sense to me is the shape of a wand just made sense. The shape that wands are is exactly how trees grow and it is very easy to find a wand-like twig. It is also natural, and it makes sense that the spell would come out of the end. A scene in the Half Blood Prince between Hagrid and Slughorn tells us that unicorn hair can get caught on bushes and trees and come out, which means that a lot of magical material in the woods surrounded by wand quality wood? It works. Not to mention a sign outside Olivander’s that says “Makers of fine wands since 382 B. C.”
·      15:41 An ulterior function of magical schools. Besides a place of education, magical schools are also the perfect place to act as a safe house for wizards in times of need. They are extremely well protected, with hundreds of spells protecting its every inch. Their locations are also kept secret, which is even more important. If a band of muggles were to stumble across Hogwarts, they would see a sign of warning and a rundown building. Very convenient. Harry’s year isn’t alerted because a threat like that hasn’t been around for a very long time. They don’t protect the location from Voldemort because he already knows where it is.
·      20:13 Why do wizards drink so much pumpkin juice? The UK produces millions of pumpkins every single year, and it would be suspicious to send millions of gallons of water to Hogwarts a year. Pumpkins, on the other hand, are less suspicious. However, it still might draw eyes, so they might just grow their own. Hagrid does, so why not the rest?
·      23:58 Why are muggle magic tricks so similar to real magic? Well, they came from the same exact thing. Wizards can show muggles low level magic and pass it off as good handwork, and muggles will buy it. The first muggle magic tricks evolved right around the same time and place as wizard magic. It makes a lot of sense for real wizards to be performing and inspiring the origins of muggle magic. 

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In this episode, we test our knowledge on the Ministry of Magic. Enjoy!

Topics/Summary:

·      Some of the information in this episode came from the Ministry of Magic page on Fandom. Thanks!
·      2:17 Warm up round.   
·      4:52 Question 1: How old is the Ministry?
·      10:14 Question 2: What is the succession of Ministers?
·      15:46 Question 3: What is the visitors entrance code? 
·      18:54 Question 4: On which level is the atrium? 
·      21:16 Question 5: What is the name, subject, and function of the fountain in the atrium? 
·      26:36 Question 6: How many levels are in the Ministry?
·      28:58 Question 7: What is the name for a magical jury?
·      30:46 Challenge Question: What is the name of the security guard? Tune in next week to hear the answer!


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In this episode, we discuss the best classes in Hogwarts. Enjoy!

Topics/Summary:

·      2:08 #8 Divination. What a surprise. Divination is a very specific skill that a very small amount of people can really use. Even true seers don’t have too many visions. Trelawney had about three in her entire life. Plus, she has a flair for the dramatic. Most of her class is spent predicting the death of Harry, which might be another reason why he doesn’t like it very much. Harry knows his time is somewhat limited, but it is unsettling for someone who can see the future tell you that death is in the future. Harry also doesn’t like how divination is opening the gap between him and Voldemort wider.
·      8:38 #7 History of Magic. History is a fascinating topic and magical history is even better, but Professor Binns makes the subject as dull as it could be. It is almost useless. If Binns put in the effort, there might be something there. But he doesn’t. 
·      13:05 #6 Astronomy. Though this is still not a great class, it is a bit better than the others on this list. Wizards can use the planets for more than just understanding more about science, however. Centaurs use the night sky to tell the future, which they did with one glance at Mars better than Trelawney did in all her years at Hogwarts.
·      17:28 #5 Transfiguration. It might seem low on this list, but transfiguration isn’t ever the center of magic ever in the story. It is a very specific kind of magic that can’t be applied to other areas of magic. That is also a plus, because in those moments where you need something specific, transfiguration might be the subject to use.
·      20:22 #4/Honorable Mention Herbology. Herbology is a slept-on subject that fades into the background which is why not a lot of people think about it. However, understanding plants is a very important part of all branches of magic and supports the areas that would otherwise collapse. 
·      21:53 #3 Potions. Potions are extremely powerful and has a wide range of skills. With the right potions, any battle can be won. However, there several drawbacks. They have to be prepared in advance, so you can’t just use an infinite supply. They also can wear off. Despite this, potions is still high on the list.
·      24:30 #2 Defense Against the Dark Arts. This is a fantastic class, even though there are some factors that change this. If there is no war, it isn’t as important. Also, if the teacher changes ever single year, it’s hard to get a well-rounded education. But even with all those reasons, DADA is still one of the most useful classes in Hogwarts.
·      28:06 #1 Charms. Charms is fantastic! All you need is a wand, it is fast, useful, and covers a wide range of subjects. The vast majority of spells that Harry uses in the story is learned in charms. There is also no cool down or preparation time before hand. They can also be very powerful, helping anyone with a good knowledge of charms class in a pinch.

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Sooooo... yeah. I know I said there would be an episode this week, but unexpected events have come up and unfortunately I am yet again away from the studio. See you next week!

In this episode, we discuss Deathly Hallows, and if it was a good end to Harry Potter. Enjoy!


Topics:


 All the unanswered questions! We never found out what happened to Lavender Brown for sure after being attacked by Fenrir Greyback. We also never saw several characters again, like Fluffy or the flying car.Was Dumbledore's plan good? And if he didn't exist, would the trio have still come out on top or would Voldemort have won? Dumbledore had a very large effect on the story, but the question is: was it good or bad?Why did Harry make such a bad decision when it came to the Elder Wand? He broke it in the films without fixing his own wand or any of the castle, and just left it be in the books after the Battle of Hogwarts. Did it never occur to him that a random person might stumble upon the wand and another Voldemort would appear?Much More!Having anything you want to hear or say? Click here for a voice submission or here for text.
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In this episode, we discuss different topics for a separate TV show. Enjoy!

Topics/Summary:

·      1:58 The Marauders. We don’t really know anything about that group, aside from who was in it, and what they did. An interesting spin on the story could be to combine the Marauders’ story with the first Order of the Phoenix. We go through their story, then Voldemort enters the scene, and we see the first battle between good and evil. It would be really cool to see the overlap of James and Lily’s story and Harry’s. It would be great to explore the lives of the people who we only vaguely get to know in the main story. 
·      9:08 Severus Snape also deserves to have his story told. He has had a lot of bad things happen to him and a lot of loss and pain. Was his transformation built from his childhood or the course of events later in his life? We know very little! There a lot of value from answering some of these questions, because we can more deeply understand the story and know why we makes the decisions he does. 
·      14:30 Though his past is a lot farther back than Snape, learning what happened in Dumbledore’s past is arguably the most important in the entire story. His time in Godric’s Hallow with Grindelwald, Aberforth, and Ariana is a very cloudy time that would do us well to become uncovered. Seeing his past and uncovering some of the stories that have molded who he is as a person today could show us secrets that have been covered up for far too long.
·      21:14 Going even farther back than Dumbledore, another element of the story that we know little about are the founders of Hogwarts, and their stories. There is an endless number of things that we don’t know, and different secrets to the castle that haven’t seen the light of day for hundreds of years. Could the castle be more sinister than it appears?
·      24:40 A TV show from the different perspective of someone far away from Hogwarts! Similar to the episode Magic Outside Hogwarts, I would love to see the Voldemort situation from someone who has a completely different set of values and lives in completely different world. What is their style of education, magic, and life as a whole?

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In this episode, we discuss the new Harry Potter TV show. Enjoy!

Topics/Summary:
·      2:04 So what’s going on? We are still in the very early days of this announcement, so we don’t have a great idea of what’s going on. Here’s what we know so far: the timeline is very spread out. The first season isn’t going to be released for several years. As far as we know, there are going to be seven seasons with each season covering a book in the story. We should look to the future to see what comes next. 
·      6:08 What is the benefit of a TV show? We are going to be able to explore more of the wizarding world that we haven’t seen. Things like the Quidditch World Cup and SPEW and Peeves; things and people that we haven’t seen. The show will also be an opportunity to right the wrongs of diversity in the story. TL;DR There is very little. HBO will hopefully foster more diversity in the casting. There is also the issue of the signature Harry Potter things, like Harry’s scar, Hogwarts, and Hedwig’s Theme. It would be great for the show to branch out, but these themes are some of the things that keep the magic alive and create such a fantastic world. I would personally like to see some of the things like Hogwarts, filming location, and robes to be the same. One thing that would be great to see is classes. Really diving into a class and seeing how it works would be fascinating. Are they going to close Leavesden? Maybe. They could save a ton of money be reusing some of the things at Leavesden for the filming. It would be great to see some of this overlap, but they still shouldn’t rely on those original props to carry to show.
·      22:34 Is the show going to include more movie-isms or book-isms? I’ve been going back and forth, but scenes from the book seem to make the most sense. They show is going to have a lot more time per season to explore the story, so the things that were cut from the films because of time have no excuse to be cut from the show. They might also include things that weren’t in the book like Neville and Luna’s backstory and the duel between Dumbledore, Aberforth, and Grindelwald. There is an endless supply of questions to be answered that will make the story all the more magic.

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