[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to season two of Harry Potter and the First Time Readers. Very excited about this season. This season is with Lizzie, who's one of my best friends, and she has read the
[00:00:09] series once already but has forgotten pretty much 99.9% of it. Sorry, Lizzie, but you kind of have. Although this podcast has been so fun to record because Lizzie kind of remembers some of it here
[00:00:20] and there. So like later on in the books, the synapses are firing and they're starting to land on certain things. And we have currently wrapped up book six and we have all the recordings of
[00:00:29] that since or till book six. So we are going to release those very, very quickly. We're releasing all those probably in the next two weeks. And we are starting on book seven very, very quickly too,
[00:00:40] which will be on our YouTube channel. We are going to live stream those on a public setting because we were live streaming all of them to our members. But now we're going to start
[00:00:49] live streaming all the book seven discussions to everyone. So you can join us on our YouTube channel, which is First Time Readers. Just type in First Time Readers on YouTube and you'll find us. But Lizzie is brilliant. She's hilarious. Most of the discussions on season two are less
[00:01:03] about theorizing for what's going to happen and more so about ethical questions and which sounds strange, but it's really interesting discussions in season two. Like Lizzie, as you saw from the sneak peek of season two, is much more interested in about like some of the ethical questions that
[00:01:18] wizards and witches and the whole Harry Potter universe has. So we end up in some serious discussions and she's probably changed my mind more than anybody else has on anything that's in Harry Potter. She has given me some really, really fascinating and interesting theories
[00:01:31] and she's completely changed my mind on a few really, really fascinating things. So stay tuned for all of season two coming out, which is going to be very, very quick. Season two, book one,
[00:01:43] all of the podcasts in book one are going to be released tomorrow. Yes, that is right, tomorrow. And then books two, which is the chamber of secrets is going to be released probably all on
[00:01:54] Friday. And then almost every two or three days, we're going to release an entire book until we get to book seven and book seven will be released like the normal probably every Monday until we
[00:02:04] get caught up. So that is something to be looking forward to. We're going to release all these podcasts kind of in one go. But I also want to say that Lizzie started reading Lord of the Rings
[00:02:15] and I told her to stop because neither of us have read that. And so initially we were going to record the fellowship of the first time readers and we kind of both held off on that, but that is
[00:02:28] really the primary thing that me and Lizzie are going to do. So we are as soon as we finish Harry Potter, we're going to transition into the fellowship of the first time reader. So if
[00:02:36] you're a Lord of the Rings fan, jump on for that. It'll be released on the same exact, it'll be just called fellowship of the first time readers and the podcast probably will be renamed to first
[00:02:46] time readers. So we can do a bunch of different books and call it the first time readers of whatever fill in the blank book. So if you are interested in Harry, not Harry Potter,
[00:02:54] if you're interested in Lord of the Rings, you can jump on for that as well as we're very, very excited for everything that's going to happen. Got lots of other plans. Season one crew
[00:03:01] is going to come back pretty quickly. We're going to record some intermittent episodes. So don't worry, they're not leaving. Season one crew is still alive and well and kicking. They're excited
[00:03:10] for their second read and we're going to go into some other books and do some other stuff with season one crew. But enjoy season two. It's really fun. And this is a full episode, just an intro of
[00:03:20] Lizzie. So yeah, enjoy this. And I hope that you guys give me your feedback, rate the podcast, review it, let me know what you think. Okay, the first thing of what I'm looking for you to do,
[00:03:49] can you introduce yourself and just tell me your experience with Harry Potter, how you first started reading it, why you started reading it. And if you liked it, give me like a little bit of
[00:03:58] background on it. Okay, my name is Lizzie. Hi Lizzie. I started reading it because you told me to read it. And I'm one of those people that you started off in Harry Potter and I just really
[00:04:11] I fell in love with it. I put it right back on the top of my TBR like I got to go back, got to do this again. And then it's like two years later, and it's I finally made it back. So
[00:04:22] we're doing it again. But I love it. It's gonna be fun because I feel like in the beginning of the podcast, I mentioned that I recruit a few people to read this. And we're like,
[00:04:32] I'm like starting to have them all on the podcast. You Eric, I'm like, we can do David and we can do Emma, we can have like a bunch of random people that I've recruited to read this on the podcast
[00:04:44] and you just talk about how good this book is. You liked it when you first read it, right? Yeah, I think I approached it like, it's not all that like I didn't have
[00:04:53] like a great expectation for but then I actually like, I was like, wow, this is good. Why are you reading it for the second time? I feel like I forgot a lot of it. And I wanted to. Well, I started listening to the podcast.
[00:05:12] And then I was like remembering all these great things that I had forgotten. And I was like, okay, I just need to start over again. And it's funny because I have like, these memories of the overarching themes. Like I know who I liked, I know I disliked,
[00:05:25] but then so much in between that is gone from my memory. And I'm just like reading and I'm still having these moments of like, oh my gosh, that's why a second time read is so much fun because you
[00:05:35] read it for the first time and nothing all everything doesn't like sink in completely. It does for Danny who's reading it for the first time because he's literally taking meticulous notes on every little page. But for someone who's just casually reading for this for the
[00:05:48] first time and like if you were trying to read it fast, your mind's like a sieve. It's like, you know, things are gonna fall through. But who were your favorites when you first started reading? First of all, what's your house?
[00:05:58] Okay, I'm Gryffindor. But I'm also I'm confused because I was like, I feel like Slytherin too. Oh, wow. I feel like Harry Potter in that sense. It's like you should be Slytherin.
[00:06:15] I'm Gryffindor. So that because I took multiple of the tests, not like trying to come out with a certain outcome. But the first time I took it when I was reading it the first time I got
[00:06:24] Gryffindor. Okay. And I was like, happy. That's great. And then it said my second was Slytherin. And then like another test I took, he told me I was Slytherin. I was like, well, I don't know what to do anymore. Now I feel bad.
[00:06:37] Now most people are multiple houses. Everyone who takes it I know they have like a primary and a secondary house almost. Like I'm mostly a Hufflepuff. But in some tests that I've taken,
[00:06:51] I've gotten Gryffindor. So it just depends. I could see how it for me it's Gryffindor or Slytherin. I can see like both of that. Maybe we'll get into it as we go through. But like
[00:07:05] there's bits and pieces. But I don't hate Slytherin. I'm not like, I'm not a Slytherin hater. Well, okay. So this is one thing. I'm going to go on a lot of rants in this one because
[00:07:16] you've read it before so I can go on these rants. And I've been waiting to go on these rants for a long time. Is when you first read the series, Slytherin are always just seen as the bad guys.
[00:07:25] But when you read it for another, like a second time, a third time, on your 10th read, you're going to realize how good Slytherin is. There are some Slytherins out there like Slytherin has great attributes to it. Now
[00:07:38] there's dark wizards because they crave ambition. But like Slughorn was, yeah, I mean he's like a little slimy, but he's like a kind of a good wizard. Everyone still wishes in the movies that
[00:07:49] there were some Slytherins who stayed back in the fight, like the Battle of Hogwarts. But Slytherin is a good house to be in. It's a good house to be proud of. Who are your favorite
[00:07:58] characters? Or who was your favorite character if you have one? My favorite is Sirius. Why? 100%. I just love him so much. Like everything he says, I just love how he speaks. I love
[00:08:11] like his character development from just like you think he's the bad guy. Yeah, this is great. Now that we have all this freedom to talk about this. You think he's a bad guy. Yeah. You think he's
[00:08:20] out to kill Harry. And then they kind of just like have this awesome development. And then it's crazy. I think he dies, right? Yeah. I've like read. I'm up back to Azkaban. Okay, so I
[00:08:31] have to read. Yeah, four, five, six, seven. But he like falls into something and I just remember like almost crying and being like my favorite character is gone. Like how am I supposed to get
[00:08:40] through this? It was funny too because you were one of the people that when you started reading and you were like just expressive when you're reading. I was like you need to just record yourself reading. You were like some of the initial thoughts of this podcast because you're
[00:08:55] I remember you sent me a video or you like posted on TikTok of you like reading this. And I was like your expressions are so good. I'm like just record yourself reading. Yeah. And
[00:09:04] just post that somewhere because people are dying for that. Can I just say that's mortifying going back and looking at that? Because I was I remember some of the texts I sent to you because I was
[00:09:14] reading it like and I would text and be like what's going on? So I was reading as a prisoner of Azkaban and I was like I needed just to jog my memory. I was like I don't like the suspense. So
[00:09:25] search it up in our messages and I like spoiled something for myself again like through our text. Really? And I was like what am I doing? I need to like stop looking at this. And then I found
[00:09:35] those videos of me reading and I was like I can't believe I sent this. This is like so crazy. Those are so good because that is I will tell you like our podcast has gotten success on like these niche
[00:09:47] little channels because I cannot tell you what people would give up to be able to read this for the first time again. Yeah. Like that's the same thing with me like and I remember the first
[00:09:57] recording that we did this podcast. I almost could have put it into words how much I wanted to read this for the first time. It's like a series that just has stuck with me and it's just such a well
[00:10:06] written series. So people are and people were I mean you haven't read it for the you're reading it for the second time but people are envious of people who read it for the first time like to see
[00:10:16] like you know where the mystery is like where the plot holes are not necessarily potholes like even the serious reveal. It's crazy that in one almost a page you go from hating serious and thinking
[00:10:27] he's the worst person that he wants to kill Harry to like he's like Harry you want to come stay with me for the summer? Yeah. You're like yes go Harry this is the best. You're gonna have a great summer
[00:10:37] and then you're devastated because then he has to go on the run. It's like how she plays with your emotions it's so good. And like the more you read it the less you're on the edge of your seat
[00:10:45] yeah which is annoying which is great that I forgot so much of it because I can experience it halfway again. Yes. But because you didn't because I'm like wait why did I love serious?
[00:10:55] Yeah. Because I'm reading this thing because I was like I thought he was like the heartthrob almost and then I'm reading his like teeth are yellow his hair is like matted down. You're going
[00:11:05] through a phase when you're reading it for the first time. Yeah I was like what was I doing here like let's let's recircle back to this because this is not okay. I mean different at different time periods
[00:11:14] there are different characters who are different heartthrobs for sure when you read it for like a few different times different characters are you know more or less attractive to you to be honest
[00:11:23] that's like there's tons of people who are in our like subreddit and are in our like discord and people have huge crushes on Lupin but some people are like Lupin's like weird. Well let's also add
[00:11:34] that I haven't watched the movies when I am like super pure with my imagination. No way. Which is part of the reason why I don't remember so much because I totally am not immersed in it because
[00:11:47] I don't look at the memes I don't look at all like the photos and the clips because I just want to maintain my perfect imagination of who everyone is. I am so jealous of that. And in theory like I know what
[00:11:58] Snape looks like yeah and I know what Voldemort looks like but really those are Snape, Voldemort and the trio like Harry, Hermione, Ron is like the only people that I actually know what they look
[00:12:11] like in the movies but I still can get to a point where I'm not picturing them which I think is so cool. That is you know how rare that is? You are like an absolute rarity when it comes to it because
[00:12:23] I'm a purist. Yeah I'm so jealous. Well one of the interesting thing was when I when I first started reading the series the movies were coming out so I had finished like book three and then I went to
[00:12:32] go see the movies so up until book three or four I had it was my imagination and then that got ruined because the movies I just have the movie character stuck in my head but one thing that got that helped
[00:12:43] me like fix that was uh the illustrated version I talk about this all the time in the podcast uh Jim Kay did an illustrated version of Harry Potter and when I re when I like looked at the
[00:12:53] images that he drew of like Harry and Ron I was like it like set my mind free from the movie characters and I really think of that but it brought me back to some of the characters I
[00:13:01] initially thought of in my own imagination which is like that's how I thought that's really how you want it that's I'm so jealous. Are the illustrations based on the book descriptions? Yeah yeah so
[00:13:11] they're like pretty pure yeah they're so good they are unbelievable they're so good but some things I know I'm imagining them completely wrong and then starting over I'm like oops that's not
[00:13:23] that's not what they look like. That's what like you can like refine your imagination on that which is kind of cool. Now I'm actually curious to know how much you remember about the series so like you
[00:13:34] were you said almost as a question did Sirius die? Yeah well like he fell into this like portal thing right yeah yeah so I'm I'm ridiculously forgetful like it's unbelievable that I can't
[00:13:49] do like a first time read again yeah unfortunately but I don't know I think I remember more tied to my emotions or like when Umbridge sent the Dementors I remember that because that was such
[00:14:05] a betrayal moment yes and I recorded that and I sent that to you and I re-watched that which is like again mortifying yeah but I remember that so then reading about Dementors in I think book two
[00:14:19] yeah three two book three really I'm like are they sent by Umbridge because I have like these like weird strings attached to everything that are not necessarily like the right way everything
[00:14:31] evil is Umbridge yes just group her in there but I don't know because then some things I'm remembering them wrong yeah and it's just so much information the plot is so complicated
[00:14:44] that there's just like no way I could remember it yeah and I think you said it in one of the episodes too where you're like even your favorite books you can't necessarily explain
[00:14:53] the plot of yeah so I am that yeah that is I'm not I'm like maybe a little bit of a forgetful person but I was just talking about that there was one of the these clues in a crossword that
[00:15:04] we were doing as a group and it was a book called Pachinko and someone asked me because I had read it and I didn't remember the author's last name and I couldn't really tell you what that book's
[00:15:14] about like most of the plot details have like faded through my mind and do you remember it like oh I love that person though yeah I remember that I love certain characters yeah there's a few
[00:15:26] characters in different books that I love that I truly love to the bottom like from the bottom of my heart but I don't remember what the majority of the story was about like the characters are
[00:15:37] really what stick out for me so there's two in particular that I love one was it was from a book called the Dutch house by Ann Patchett and the character's name was Maeve and she was just
[00:15:52] so cool like like I loved her so much I was like I want to read another character like this this is like the coolest character and then another one was uh Leah Price from the Poisonwood Bible I was
[00:16:04] I she's like one of my favorite characters and when I reread that I was actually a little disappointed when I reread it because I was like she didn't live up to the expectations that I had
[00:16:13] in my mind that I made it made out for her in the first time that I read it but she's still one of my favorite characters I love her so much yeah I feel like once you fall in love with a character
[00:16:22] you kind of uncontrollably morph them into something that's like even more up your alley yeah for sure for sure 100% yeah um do you remember maybe this is an emotional question but did you shed any tears when you read it for the first time shockingly no yeah okay like
[00:16:41] shockingly I cry a lot and I think I was in this time where I was like I refused to cry yeah and I didn't I remember almost crying at the end in the last book like during the battles
[00:16:54] but still I can't even tell you what that battle was about like I just remember people were dying do you remember where it was it was on the lawn right okay ish ish yeah I think it was in front
[00:17:05] of the castle yeah that's the other fun thing I have all these maps and places that are like my imagination that's kind of cool but that was really the only part almost um almost cried this
[00:17:16] time around when Ginny got taken down to Tom Riddle oh that kind of made me tear up for a second I was like whoa yeah because she doesn't deserve any of that she's so pure now I know she
[00:17:31] really is so I feel like this time around I'll definitely probably cry good and I will tell you every little detail um do you remember I have another few rapid fire ones to jog your memory but do you remember
[00:17:46] who the who what characters die in this nope serious okay um wow so this is kind of like a first time I'm serious again I know I'm this I'm this bad um wait some of the Weasleys die I think okay it is going
[00:18:04] to be different for you Neville dies right maybe I'm not gonna I'm like not gonna spoil things if you're wrong or right on some of this no because I remember there was such like a sad innocent death
[00:18:15] and I can't help but think that would be Neville I think this is what's gonna happen I think you don't remember them clearly now but when you're at when you're like a few chapters away from these
[00:18:24] moments you're gonna it's gonna like come back to you in a storm and I think you're gonna like have emotional moments before the deaths actually happen because you're gonna remember that and
[00:18:31] you're gonna be like no I know what the character this character is fate that's so true I mean Voldemort dies I remember at that end they're in like this big white thing that's like what is
[00:18:42] this place and that was like a tiktok on audio like uh yeah they're like is this am I I don't even know how it goes am I live is this whatever yeah I remember that part I remember being so
[00:18:53] confused I was texting you at like three in the morning spamming your phone I might have been crying at that point I don't know but I just sent you like 30 texts in a row I was like what is going
[00:19:03] on I'm so confused so good so Voldemort dies they're in this like liminal space of death but they don't actually die yeah I do kind of have a theory that like um Dumbledore like is dead
[00:19:16] and he's like reincarnated because he's like so all-knowing that I feel like there's no way that he's not like already like taken some potion or like maybe he did the thing with the sorcerer's
[00:19:29] stone and isn't saying it because Dumbledore is such a liar oh wow so I just think I don't know there's like why do you say he's such a liar well even just in the first book there's been
[00:19:42] so many times he's withholding information yeah absolutely he is kind of manipulative with the way he tells information and I just I first time I read this I approached it like Dumbledore is not
[00:19:57] good Snape's not bad yeah Harry's not all that blah blah blah like everything is square one I'm not I have no expectation and I feel like that kind of helped me because I'm not just like oh I
[00:20:10] love Dumbledore because I don't know so I still don't trust him in like some way yeah for sure and it's your second time read so like up until when you read it for the first time he's like
[00:20:21] your favorite then he dies and you're like oh that's so sad and then the seventh book Dumbledore dies you kind of lose your trust in it you don't remember that what I don't know what book does he
[00:20:31] die in yeah you just said you wouldn't I know that's the one that's well there goes my theory no it still could be your theory because he could die a second time if he's reincarnated or something
[00:20:42] like that or some magical second dead maybe he's a cat and he has nine lives maybe he's crookshanks there are some theories on crookshanks actually we'll talk about that when we get the crookshanks
[00:20:55] um do you remember how Voldemort stays alive he well there's like a bunch of different opportunities for him to do so but I know he has to feed on the life of other people
[00:21:12] okay he's like a little parasitic yeah because on Quirrell is that how you say his name yep he like becomes the back of his head which is like so interesting um and then I know like they had
[00:21:26] to drink the unicorn blood yeah which I hate that scene I know crazy um but he is so oh like horcruxes yeah there you go okay okay we got there um yeah he like divides his soul up and then he's barely
[00:21:45] human and then he has to survive I don't know there's like there's a big hole in my knowledge this is gonna be great because I didn't know yeah again when you read it for the first time like a
[00:21:59] lot of the plot details kind of fall through your head but he has to kill Harry because he has to destroy the horcrux right who has to destroy the horcrux
[00:22:17] no this is gold this is such gold because I want to it's actually fun that you don't remember as much as um this is like one and a half times reader like we're not quite there
[00:22:31] um no this is gonna be great because it's gonna be like you're experiencing things for the first time again but we can still have deep dive discussions on a lot of things that happen in
[00:22:40] this so it's gonna be this is gonna be great I can't wait I'm gonna try to not spoil as much as I can for you like some of the huge details but I mean how bigger can you get than Dumbledore
[00:22:53] dying that's kind of true that was like but I feel like it's not really a spoiler yeah like you can have freedom because it's not gonna shock me okay in the same way that I would the first
[00:23:03] here's another side question do you remember how many horcruxes there are I think there's seven or six what they are okay um here comes my knowledge from listening to the podcast Harry himself okay okay so that's really all I wanted to know if you remember that Harry
[00:23:22] himself that's like the only one I remember I was gonna see if you remembered everyone except for Harry himself then we were gonna have some interesting discussions no and when I was listening
[00:23:32] to the podcast I just started randomly in book six or seven okay so then that's when I realized I was like I forget so much of the build-up to this and I have to start over I know the build-up
[00:23:45] yeah these books are so good I'm gonna I'm gonna gush about these books yeah every single time but the writing itself is so good too yeah like it's just such an enjoyable read even if you know
[00:23:58] everything about it people discount that a lot people discount that like I took in some writing classes that I was in I had some teachers who discounted that she was actually a good writer
[00:24:09] and I'm gonna come up with a lot of counter examples of why she's actually a really exceptional writer like the foreshadowing that she puts in here like how she actually um I don't think a lot of a ton of fantasy writers are really really great storytellers
[00:24:26] I think fantasy writers are really good at world building yeah um but sometimes they are crap at like telling an actual good story like there's a few exceptions like I think C.S. Lewis
[00:24:37] is one exception where he actually knows how to tell a story more than he knows how to build a world but Tolkien was a world builder like there's all sorts of others like George R.R. Martin like
[00:24:47] the Song of Ice and Fire Game of Thrones the writer he's better at world building Dune the guy who wrote Dune is a world builder um which is like that's a Mark read that series and he's like
[00:24:57] you read like the first half of the first book and that's it you don't have to read any more because it's ridiculous after that and then there's like all sorts of others like Brandon Sanderson
[00:25:05] people like him but I tried to read him I'm like he's not as good of a writer as Jo Rowling is um so I think she's an exceptional writer I'm excited to talk about like her little writing
[00:25:17] tidbits later too I never read fantasy like I swear off fantasy and romance really yeah 100% I don't know I just what's your current genre of writing that you're reading the most of um
[00:25:32] memoirs are my favorite yeah for sure last year I was trying to read a bunch of memoirs um what's your favorite memoir oh I have no idea that's such a good question yeah um I really love
[00:25:45] traumatic memoirs um Glass Castle oh it's one of my favorites educated actually I like educated better I just relate to her like thought processes more yeah um I read one I think it's called the
[00:26:02] things they carried and it's a memoir kind of but it's about the war that was that was a trip that was crazy I love them I don't know I think it's cool because we'll get this out in the first
[00:26:15] the first episode but my little motto for reading is I read to gain empathy and grow my perspective so I feel like memoirs just lend themselves to that because I can put myself in other people's
[00:26:26] shoes they're both and yeah Zadie Smith once said that um like she's talking about education and she talks about how reading um stories is education of the emotions and that has stuck
[00:26:38] with me because I'm like why do we why do we actually enjoy stories why do we tell stories and I think it just educates our emotions it like helps us process through life figure things out
[00:26:48] and I think Harry Potter does that exceptionally well for kids that's why like you know because you've been in some book clubs that I've run like my obsession with children's literature
[00:26:56] yeah is fierce because if you can do that really well for children then I think you're one of the greatest living writers like E.B. White is one of my favorite writers because the guy writes
[00:27:07] Charlotte's Web and he writes like a story that is talking about death and making death approachable for kids and like how to process and understand death it's an unbelievable accomplishment that a writer can do that and how uh how J.K. Rowling actually is able to put themes
[00:27:27] of death and what true joy is and friendship and like how she's able to weave everything in this story so you actually like arrive at this incredible moral after it is an actual absolute
[00:27:37] accomplishment it's like just unbelievable what she's able to do I think yeah and it starts like from book one all the way to the end and you finish it and you just wow yep I know that's why
[00:27:49] I mean we can even jump into the books but that's why one of my favorite chapters is in book one because of everything that she like puts in book one and we were having a discussion about it with
[00:27:57] the season one crew and I'm actually excited to talk that talk about that one with you so we're gonna end this podcast here and we're gonna start on the on the books so thanks for joining us