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

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In this episode, we reflect on our just finished season three of Tea Leaves, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Tea Leaves is a series where we make our version of the Harry Potter TV show, episode by episode. Next week will begin season 4, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Enjoy!
Topics/Summary:
·      2:03 We are entering the “Dark Hogwarts” era. The first three seasons feel like the introduction to the wizarding world and setting up the conflict. The fourth season represents the beginning of the true conflict of the story.
·      12:00 The best moments are the most personal, and we should see a lot of those. Harry’s past is going to come alive before our very eyes this season. We are going to see a much darker current emerge in the story, and that kind of story demands a different kind of storytelling. Humans are empaths so we should be able to feel what Harry is feeling.
·      18:38 Malfoy follows the pattern of the story to a tee. He is something of a static bully for the first three books, but the moment the fourth book begins he becomes something more. Malfoy’s journey as a Death Eater defines his arc and reflects the greater conflict, and the Goblet of Fire is the kicking off point of his journey.
·      24:54 Complexity. Characters like Neville have just as complicated a past as Harry, and now that the first three seasons are over, we can dive into their characters more deeply. 
·      30:14 This is getting real. That’s what we’ve been dancing around this whole episode. Now is the time; it’s finally beginning. Voldemort is on the rise, and Harry must rise to meet him.
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Nox

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In this episode, we discuss the season finale to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Dumbledore sends Harry and Hermione back in time to save Buckbeak and Sirius from their fates. Enjoy!
Topics/Summary:
·      1:58 Quick recap and Harry in the hospital wing. It’s important that we begin this episode with something quiet and calm after the crazy adventure last episode. Fudge and Snape walk in and tell Harry that Sirius will receive the dementor’s kiss any moment. Dumbledore gives Harry and Hermione their task and sends them back in time.
·      16:17 The insanity of the time turner. Harry and Hermione land in the hospital wing and make their way down to Hagrid’s hut. They narrowly escape with Buckbeak then make their way to a vantage point on the Shrieking Shack. Once they all emerge again, Hermione howls to draw Lupin away and they run to Hagrid’s hut to hide. Harry sees the dementors from the window and rushes to the lake, casting the famous patronus. They fly with Buckbeak up to the locked classroom with Sirius and send them away into the moonset. They make it back to the hospital wing just as Dumbledore closes and locks the door.
·      34:50 The end of the year. Lupin is resigning much to Harry’s dismay, and the trio packs their things and loads onto the Hogwarts Express. On the way back they get a tropical bird with an owl for Ron and a signed letter for Harry to visit Hogsmeade. We zoom out of the train and find Frank in a faraway English village looking out over the Riddle house. A light flicks on, and the screen cuts to black…
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Nox

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In this episode, we discuss Harry's patronus lessons with Lupin. Gryffindor continues to dominate on the quidditch pitch and Sirius Black breaks into Hogwarts again. The trio go on their Shrieking Shack adventure and Harry tries and fails to protect himself and Sirius from the descending dementors at the lake. Enjoy!
Topics/Summary:
·      1:31 I went to Scotland! Here is one of the tour guides I really loved who showed me around the Harry Potter world in Edinburgh.
·      7:26 Quick recap and Harry and Lupin’s lessons. The boggart dementor should be smaller than the actual thing so we can have some differentiation. When Harry is falling through his memory in the presence of the dementor, I don’t like the film version of the fade to black. I would rather see it through Harry’s eyes and watch the memory bleed into his reality. Lupin is there every step of the way, and we should really begin to trust Lupin in this opening.
·      26:18 Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw quidditch match. More dementors get on the field, but it turns out to be Malfoy. Lupin is still impressed with his production of a patronus. Afterward, they return to their dorms and celebrate. Black breaks back into Hogwarts when they go to bed, and he and Harry have a dramatic chase through the castle. We look into his eyes for the first time.
·      41:06 Episode seven opens with studying for OWLs. Harry and Ron are trying ot study for divination, but it’s hopeless. Harry goes into for his OWL and Trelawny has a real prediction. There is clearly something afoot…
·      43:26 The Shrieking Shack. This is the final sequence of this episode, and it is of course the famous Shrieking Shack chase. This scene should have the audience hating Sirius and turning on Lupin. We should see the horrible image of Lupin helping up Sirius and hugging him like a brother, but we soon learn the truth. Lupin transforms and the black dog defends the trio. Sirius collapses at the lake and Harry tries to defend him against the hundreds of dementors, but it’s no use. 
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Nox

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In this episode, we discuss episodes four and five of season three, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. After Sirius Black's break in, the air in the castle in intense. Harry plays a quidditch match against Hufflepuff where he sees dementors and the Grimm. He gets the Marauder's map and goes to Hogsmeade where he learns the truth about Sirius. Episode five follows the Marauders at Hogwarts. We watch their relationships grow and develop, and how they go off into the world. We spend the last few minutes from Peter Pettigrew's point of view as he betrays James and Lily. Enjoy!
Topics/Summary:
·      1:35 Quick recap and the tense atmosphere at Hogwarts. After Sirius broke into Hogwarts, the air in the castle is tense. There’s no telling where Sirius could be now, and the illusion of Hogwarts’ safety is broken. Snape teaches DADA in Lupin’s absence, his first lesson being werewolves. How interesting…
·      18:07 Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. This is the most intense quidditch match to date. Harry and Cedric are battling for the snitch through the impossible storm and cold. Eventually, Harry sees the great Grimm appear in the clouds, and then the dementors flying through the air. He falls from his broom and the screen fades to black.
·      32:34 Harry recovers in the hospital wing. He slowly comes to with his team all around him. They bring him the remains of his Nimbus 2000. Lupin is his final visitor. Lupin offers Harry lessons to defend himself against dementors, who agrees. 
·      34:45 The Three Broomsticks. Harry gets the Marauder’s Map from Fred and George, and he immediately uses it to get into Hogsmeade. He overhears a conversation in the Three Broomsticks where he finds out that it was Sirius who betrayed his parents and got them killed. Harry returns to the castle furious, devastated, and confused. The episode ends with Hagrid telling the trio that Buckbeak has been set for trial. The last shot is Harry staring at the Map in his bed, reflecting on the awful day he has had.
·      38:38 We open episode five with James Potter walking through the Hogwarts grounds. The first half of this episode should be spent with James, Sirius, Lupin, Peter, Lily, and Snape. They have a complex series of relationships that make a huge difference for the story to come.
·      44:50 They all go off and live their happy lives. We see everyone go off and continue being great friends. However, the whispers of Voldemort are spreading, and soon the conflict arises. We’ll take a closer look at the first war in later seasons, but we will visit the wreckage of the Potter’s house yet again in this season. Instead of following Sirius afterward, we follow Peter and his guilt. We end this episode with Sirius and Peter’s confrontation from Peter’s POV.
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In this episode, Harry explores Diagon Alley after escaping from 4 Privet Drive. He learns that Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban to find him, but he hopes that Dumbledore will keep him safe at Hogwarts. The trio meets a dementor for the first time on the Hogwarts Express, and Professor R. J. Lupin is there to help them. They go through the first few classes of their time at Hogwarts, and episode three ends with Sirius Black's break in to Hogwarts. Enjoy!
Topics/Summary:
·      2:22 Quick recap and Harry in Diagon Alley. He gets to explore a little bit and we get to go along for the ride. He spends a lot of time admiring the Firebolt. Ron and Hermione arrive after a while and they all go around buying their books and supplies. The night before they leave for King’s Cross, Harry hears Mr. and Mrs. Weasley talking about Sirius Black’s true goal being to find Harry.
·      17:53 Off to Hogwarts! They get Ministry cars from the Leaky Cauldron to King’s Cross. On the platform, Mr. Weasley takes a confused Harry aside to tell him not to go looking for Sirius Black. On the train, they have their first terrifying encounter with a dementor. They arrive at Hogwarts and the episode ends with the welcome feast.
·      32:36 Episode three begins with divination class. We learn about the wild predictions of Professor Trelawny, and then McGonagall dispels them. We have our hippogriff class with Hagrid, then off to the bogart. Lupin jumps in front of Harry when his time comes to face it, and Harry asks Lupin about it later. This episode ends with Sirius Black’s first entrance into Hogwarts, the Gryffindor dormitory door slams shut, and the castle is in chaos. 
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Nox