Once again you guys endlessly crack me up. ;p This is my first official comment on the site. I kinda felt I needed to post after I heard my voicemail on the Prequel discussion show. Glad you appreciated the voicemail, it was just a ramble of things I’d wanted to say forever but hadn’t gotten around to…

I know Comic Con is out for this year, but perhaps next is what I meant. I didn’t think you could swing it so close to Prophecy and all.

Lost podcast… I am not giving up hope on it. ;p

Also, don’t think we all didn’t enjoy the latest Patterns in Potter just because we didn’t comment on the theme/book in particular. I have enjoyed all of them.

Totally enjoyed the Prequel discussion, especially the idea about their shirts possibly being related to the Order. I myself was thinking more along the lines of a band or something, ie The Weird Sisters, but I like your idea much better.

Agree with Greg on the Prequel being a reality sometime down the road as well. Here’s my two cents on it… 1) I’m almost positive that she’s said before “Never say never” when it comes to another Potter book. Yes, she said she’s done with Harry, but I’m pretty sure she also did say that line. 2) Doesn’t she have that notebook full of the story, backstory, etc.? I remember seeing an interview where she talked about it. Something with all her notes and ideas and the main story that she had since the beginning. I’m pretty sure that like George Lucas, she had the backstory all worked out already, even though both claim(ed) they weren’t going to use it for later stories.

Anyways, just my thoughts…
Amy, the final cylon

I don’t remember ever hearing anything about that. My guess is they did not speak – Snape had no “closure,” as they say.

It was good to have some new Prognosticating. I agreed with Penny in that I would have rathered that the prequel took place in the magical world. I also would have like to see something between Lily and James – like why she loved him. I would really have liked to see something about Snape – but the guy could never cut a break so I just would have been depressing. I also would not have minded a Post Hogwarts story but the fans have been so divided on the epilogue that it is hard to imagine she would go near it with a 10 foot pole.

As far as the future, well, I agreed with the caller who said that they would like a reread through the series. I thought when you guys started your Patterns series that you were going to comment in light of the conclusion of the series. Maybe most would think these things are trivial… For instance, in my reread of OotP, I was at the part where Dumbledore was talking to Harry after Sirius’ death. He tells Harry, “I know how you feel.” Well, we know now that he did know how it felt to feel responsible for a loved ones death! I know, these re-reads take a lot of time.

A natural topic, in my opinion, is the fandom. I think fanfic recommendations, fan art, WRock, other podcasts, Videos, conference organizers/attendees, history of the fandom experts, crafters, bloggers, shippers, reccers, etc. You could tie this in the interviews of people within the fandom – an area (interviewing) in which I think the 2 of you excel!

Interviews of people who have things to say about the books – rather like the convention topics – would also be interesting.

Plus, there is still tons in the news – even is some turns out to be false rumors. There is always that search for the elusive HBP teaser trailer.

Don’t give up on HP!!!

Hey, what do you get when/if a griffin and a horse mate?

Anyway, what Greg predicted made total sense – once again. And the Phoenix t-shirts even add to that should they still be in Hogwarts. I also think that JKR is working or will start working on something like this Prequel because there are a lot of hints and stuff that could [should?] we explained a little bit more.

And I think you should do a BSG podcast. I never imagined I’d like a sci-fi show but was talked into watching it and was hooked after the Miniseries. Penny should start watching, now that she has enough time to catch up until the second part of S4 starts.

she is trying to give them personalities

But what was much worse was that they potentially put the policemen in danger by leading the Death Eaters straight to them. Sirius and James could have flown off in a different direction at any time, but chose to use the policemen as a distraction to escape the Death Eaters. If the distraction had failed, the Death Eaters might well have killed the policemen, although I don’t suppose the notion of failing ever entered James and Sirius’s heads. And what will happen when the Death Eaters regain consciousness? If the cops are still there, the Death Eaters will probably kill them. Hopefully the policemen will have fled by then, but what if their car is too damaged to drive? Or what if they foolishly try to bring the Death Eaters to the station to question them?

And I’m probably reading too much into a quickly scribbled ficlet, but I can’t help feeling sorry for the cops, who will probably be punished by their bosses for damaging the car. Can you imagine them trying to explain how it floated in the air and then three men on broomsticks ran into it? (Assuming that the car suffered serious physical damage, which is likely, considering that the three Death Eaters ran into it, and then it fell to the ground.)

And you know, I find it a little weird that so many people think that James and Sirius scaring the wits out of the hapless policemen is funny. Because after all, *we* are all Muggles–we’re the sort of people that the wizarding world looks down on, makes fun of, or at best, finds quaintly amusing. Muggles in the books tend to be portrayed as buffoonish, like Dudley and the policemen here, or at best, helpless against the wizards, like the prime minister in Book 6, or the family tormented by Death Eaters in Book 4–which is rather odd for a series that preaches against prejudice and for tolerance. But I guess most readers naturally tend to identify with the wizards, since Harry is the protagonist, which then puts them in the ironic position of looking down on the Muggle characters. I’m not saying that all readers think Muggle-baiting is okay, but after browsing through reactions online, the impression I get regarding the prequel is that most fans see it as James and Sirius having a little harmless fun, without really trying to look at it from the policemen’s point of view.

Bill

if you don’t like that i’m thinking a the office podcast

I finally got high speed internet and a new job where I am at a desk all day. I have spent the last couple of weeks since I found you guys listening to all your episodes so this is my first comment. I would like to see you do a comparison of the books to the movies and highlight the major points that should have been left in the movies to clarify things, or were thankfully left out of the movie such as S.P.E.W., skrewts, etc…

I have read the books 8 or 9 times each in the last two years since I started reading them. When my husband, a friend and I went to see OOTP, I spent most of the movie explaining things that were left out of it. I am wondering how many others have had to explain major points of the plot to other people that watched the movies, but haven’t read the books for one reason or another.

Great show. I don’t watch Lost so I don’t want you to do a Lost podcast. For purely selfish reasons I think you should do a 24 podcast.

Travis had an extremely insightful take on the name Wilberforce – http://britishfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_harry_potter_prequel

I think I can make a very strong case for my “Trusing Others” theme for book six. Moral ambiguity plays into this theme very well. At the same time it is only one (crutial) component out of many.

In all seriousness I really think that it would be awesome to distill “Patterns in Potter” into book form.