Prop Design and Final Thoughts

War is here, and the official Game of Thrones podcast is back to unpack the new season of the HBO original series House of the Dragon. I'm Jason Concepcion and I'm Greta Johnson. Together we will be discussing every new episode of House of the Dragon with the show's writers, cast, and crew. You will do things that your heart would have recoiled from before you came to the throne . You can watch us on HBO Max or listen wherever you get your bodcasts Good evening, Professor Dumbledore . Are the rumors true? Elvis ? I'm afraid so Professor , the good and the bad . And the boy ? Hagrid is bringing him. Do you think it wise to trust Hagrid with something as important as this? Ah, professor, I would trust Hagrid with my life . Hello and welcome to Harry Potter The Official Film Podcast where we deep dive into the magical details that define our love for the wizarding world as we look back through the entire series one film at a time. I'm Rihanna Dylan , and I have always been obsessed with Harry Potter ever since my best friend gave me the first two books when I was ten, and I just so happened to have made a career as a film critic and broadcaster . So getting to talk about Harry Potter on an official Harry Potter podcast I'm living the dream. As we look back at each film, I'll be joined by guests who famously love the series almost as much as me, and together we'll revisit each film with a quick recap, not that we could ever forget. And then we'll dive even deeper discussing our hottest takes, calling out the tiniest details, and digging into the behind the scenes magic that made this series so special. And you can watch every Harry Potter film along with us on HBO Max. Today we're starting at the very beginning, Where else? The first half of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone or Sorcerer's Stone, as my American friends might say . Here with me to share his love of all things Harry Potter is actor, gamer and streamer, who you might know from his online Hogwartsg Lacey playthroughs, or as the character zero in the film holes, it's Cleo Thomas. Hi Clio. How are you doing? Thank you for having me. Thank you so much for being here with us. I'm really excited because I look around and I see everything I want to like own. Set is amazing . Is that everything in here? I need it's gorgeous. Yes . So are you equally a Harry Potter obsessive? Yes. I don't want to say equally though because you, you, it's a whole different level of things. This is what you live and breathe. Breathe this. And it's amazing to see just the joy and the happiness that comes from you when it comes to talking about anything, Harry Potter. I do feel like you really know your stuff though. And also your world goes beyond the movies and the books because you're into the game as well. So love Hogwarts Legacy, although I'm very slow. What do you mean? I take my time with Hogwarts Legacy. I get it. Like you get to explore the world . So why not? Why not see all of the little intricacies that make that game what it is? I agree. Yeah. First things first, I am sort of adorned with my house. Okay . You might be able to tell I have yeah slitherin' representing all over me.. I see What is your house ? You know, when I went through the sorting hat experience, I was very honored to join the Gryffindor house. Of course the courage course you're a Gryffindor. Big Gryffindor Bill. Big Gryffindor status, you know? Yeah. So you were happy with that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure, for sure. I mean, look, when you watch the films, you're really seeing it from that house only, really. Yeah. That perspective of everything that's going around. It's going on around Harry and Ron and Hermione. So Griffendor was really happy to be able to put and my favorite color is red, so for sure. Nice. What was your sort of first entry point into the world of Harry Potter? I had a cousin, I had a cousin who was reading the books at the time. You know, I'm in the video games, I'm doing trading card stuff, and he would be in the corner just reading these books. And then I remember him getting really excited about the moment the films got announced and I didn't really understand. I'm like, oh okay, they're doing okay, cool . And then I went and watched the films and I said, Okay , I get it. I get it because I get it. I mean, I get it. You're fully immersed in this space , man. And the moment even you start hearing the score , right from the very beginning, you're in. You're transported into this whole new world. So yeah, it was that for me. But do you have one moment from theilos Pophher's stone that you remember thinking, Okay, I'm in. The first moment for me, you said philosophy from source fine. We can argue about this all day. Yeah man. The first moment for me was when we see Harry walking through Diagon Alleywood Hagrid. Yes . And there's a moment where he's getting ready to go into, I believe, the leaky cauldron . And I didn't notic ited immediately . Like it wasn't until later on that I'm like, wait, was the sign always on? And I had to ask my cousin about that. And he was like, No , as they're walking in, like the sign gets more and more visible . It's because they can see it because they're actually wizards. Wait what that's a small little visual trick that made it so much more cool Yeah but there are people listening or watching that don't realize that you've just given them a little go back. Reason to go back , go watch it again. We were talking, of course, about houses . But did you do your patronist? Do you know what that is? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Depple Grey Mare. Oh yeah. So micajest gorgeous making sure to look over the land in the forest and protect. So yeah Dapple gray mare as somebody who I don't have a fear of horses I? just like they',re just very big. They're very big . You can't be scared of your patrolist. I understand that, but that the patrolist I'm not scared of. But the actual thing in which it's based on, I'm like, this would be me. Okay, I guess there's a, you know, it must have been something there yeah. Yeah, so yeah, it was definitely a Dapple Graymare. Fine. Yeah. What's yours? I'm like a calico cat. Okay. And I feel like I don't love cats in real. I mean, I like cats a lot, but if you were to ask me, I'm more of a dog person , but actually I do think I have the temperament of a cat. Of a cat. Yeah I'm pretty stubborn. Okay. Can be aggy if you poke me? Okay , but I'm also very loyal and I feel like cats when they love you, they love you, right? Yeah. As someone who's allergic to cats, I wouldn't know, but I can understand the interest of it. Maybe animals is not your fault. No, no, no, not really. Now, if any of you out there haven't yet done so, then head to harry potter. com to get sorted into your house and to discover your patronus. Maybe you'll be afraid of it too like Cleo. Maybe you'll form an immediate bond, who knows . Now, when this film premiered back in two thousand one, it brought author JK Rowling's book to the big screen for the very first time. It's kind of mad, that was twenty five years ago, quarter a century ago. Wow. I know. twenty five years old ancient? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bones have become a lot more brittle since yeah. All right, twenty five years. Yeah, but since then, as you say, like that first eye opening experience, I feel like everybody's love of Harry Potter has just grown and grown and grown. Can you remember like what kind of kid you were? Like what you were interested in because I feel like Harry Potter kind of changed who I was Yeah. And there was like life before Harry Potter and life after Harry Potter. Can you remember that like kind of Clear before and Cleo after? Yeah, I can because I always grew up playing sports a lot of basketball and football as a kid. Yeah, yeah. And then even video game wise, the games that I was into had a sense of whimsy and magicalness to them. We were using certain potions and elixirs, like I knew these words because of my video games. Oh, okay. So then you go and watch this film and you're seeing kids in a world living that are using these same things . So it allowed me to understand that there are other people out there like myself because when I'm talking to my teammates who play basketball and football with me, they have no ide a what an elixir is in a phoenix down, none of this stuff . But that was when I felt really accepted and knowing that there's other people in this world like myself who can enjoy these kinds of stories being told. So yeah, that's what it did for me. Yeah. It's also very aspirational Yeah. All of everything that happens in Harry Potter , you can sit in your bedroom and you can dream of that world and you can put yourself into it. Absolutely, yeah, I agree. So let's dive in. We meet our hero Harry Potter living a genuinely bleak childhood with the Dursleys. He's ignored, he's bullied, sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs. He doesn't know it, he's but essentially the Dur zy's house elf. Oh wow. That is crazy . I know he is he is . For Harry, things never seem to go his way. Even a trip to the zoo results in a mysterious snake related miss out that gets him punished for weeks. But when invitations to Hogwarts come barreling through the letter box just before his eleventh birthday, Harry's entire life changes in an instant. Give me that That's it . We're going away . Fall away when I come find us. Daddy's gone murdered, hasn't he As the letters arrive, Uncle Vernon has an OVB and drags Harry and the fam off to a hut in the middle of the sea where Hagrid literally knocks the door down and delivers the most life changing sentence in history You're a wizard Harry Chills Widdle Chills Do you remember ever thinking a letter might come for me?. Still waiting Still waiting for my letter actually. I don't know. Hey, whoever headmaster is still here. Maybe it's a muggle. Whoa. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. Come on, how you are gonna have me here and throw that word at me? Oh still waiting on it, man. You know, look, I don't know who headmaster is. Hey, listen, you know, I'm trying to be a part of the next graduating class , you know, talk to me, man. I think me and you are like pretty much exactly the same age. We're like a few days apart . And I remember always thinking like, what 'cause we were growing up with them. Yeah, right. And I remember being like, What if they can, surely I can. Yes. 'Cause you're watching them go through this experience and it's like I want to go to potions. I don't want to wait potions with Snape Ready? Listen, listen, I have an appreciation for Snape , but also the actor. It's that thing for me. I have an appreciation for him for for what he brought to that character. But yeah, I'm a big man hooch fan. I love her. We'll talk about that. We'll get into that . Yeah. All right, so you ready? We all gonna join Harry as he heads off into the wizarding world . Let's go . You're a wizard, Harry. I'm a what? A wizard and a thumpin' good night, Wager, once you trade up a little. No, you've made a mistake, I mean I can't be a wizard . I mean, I'm just Harry . Just Harry . Well, just Harry . Did you ever make anything happen? Anything you couldn't explain when you were angry or scared? Hagrid whisks Harry away from the Dursleys and Off to Digan Alley, and here , Harry gets his first real taste of the wizarding world and realizes that he's a pretty big deal, even if he's not sure why. He meets Grip Hook in Green Gots, the bank that's impossible to break into, apart from those times where someone broke it. Shall they say? Grip hook will obviously become a major part of Harry's story a few years down the line as well Olivander who teaches Harry that the wand chooses the wizard and that Harry's new Phoenix feather wand has a curious connection . I'm sure that's not really important though, right? No, no, no. Actually, currently . What would your wand be like? What would its properties be? It would be pine wood , dragon heartstring. Wow, you've really thought about this. Thirteen inches? Oh my goodness. Rigid. Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, it would keep that thing ome. Keep it on me. So yeah, for sure, that would be Did you learn that on the wand experience on harrypotter dot com dot I did, I did. Cool. As somebody who has like a lot of friends who three D print , I'm like, now I want to just design them mine and then make my own custom one. Should based off of those stats. So yeah, be on the lookout for that on my Instagram. I'm definitely doing that. I love that for you. Yeah, yeah, excited. So jealous. So we've got a wands. Next up is platform nine three quarters. Run at the wall. Don't even think about it. Just get on the Hogwarts Express and off to school we go. That's brave to tell somebody, hey, run directly at this wall and you're gonna go through it . Listen, have you not thought about it? Like have you been in moments where you've been like, you know, getting ready to take the train it's like lent slowly against the I've never run at it. I've just lent against. Okay, all right, just to make sure all right, so I know I'm not alone now . Harry meets Ron Weasley, his first real friend and gets a taste of wizarding world snacks will take the lot, along with Hermione Granger, who is already correcting people that she's known for all of twelve seconds. I loved Ron when I first met him because he was so funny, but then as I got older, I like I fel apptreciated Hermion e more and more because she gets so dismissed for being a know it all, but she is always right and they should have always listened to her. The fact that our first introduction to her is just this , as you mentioned, know it all snobby kind of character . It's like you want to hate her a little bit, but you can't which I give all the praise to Emma Emma for bringing that character to life. It's all the little intricacies. It's the eyebrows, it's the chomp. It's all of it. I'm like, I love what she did. She does have great eyebrows. Yeah , lovely. Very good acting eyebrows. Yeah. So the trio lands at Hogwarts, floating candles, high ceilings , very big feelings. A talking hat. At the sorting ceremony, Drake is mean. The hat is kind of terrifying, perhaps because the house that you land in dictates your entire future, potentially. The sorting hat senses something slither iny about young Mr Potter, then Harry whispers not Slytherin, not Slytherin. Fine, better be Gryffindor . We meet our professors and school is in session. Snape stares at Harry with what looks like, I'm gonna say hatred. McGonagall is austere but very fair. Flitwick is an absolute darling. I love him, and Quirrell is anxious as hell for some reason. Dumbledore smiles like he knows everyone's secrets and he probably does and Hermione cannot stop raising her hand in class. It's Levi O sar, not Levi Osar Yes . So you've alentioned potions . Is that the class that you think you'd excel in because you were talking about elixirs earlier? I feel like you're very drawn to the liquids. Yeah, for sure. I think that maybe comes from like being a gamer and like having to craft a lot of stuff in my gaming. So yeah, I definitely would have been in the potions class, you know. And I also love science . I always love science . So it was one of those things that immediately saw the connection with that. So being able to come up with some kind of concoction to do some kind of thing I would like disappear, maybe like , you know, listen, maybe me and the twins would have got along quite well. Got up to so much mischief. Those would have been my boys for sure. Those would have been my boys. I'd rock for Fred and George for sure . Yeah . I think Charles would have been my 'cause I'm lazy. Okay. And I feel like Charles is like the spells that you learn for shortcuts in life. How many phone screens do you think you would have been able to fix in your lifetime with a charm spell? Yes, think about that. So many. Yeah, all these phones we've dropped over our time, we wouldn't have had to give up nobody. Like Harry's glasses, the Hermione keeps repairing with Oculus Repairo. Exactly. Fonus repair us No, phonus is terrible. What's the Latin? There can't be a Latin name for phone. They're not there can be there can't be a Well No, it's in this generation. So once I take it, phonus repair . Fonus repair is the official charm spell that was created on this project. First as we continue classes, flying lessons do not go well for Neville , but one wizard's misfortune is another's opportunity and now Harry is on the Quidditch team. Go Harry, snatch that snitch. Hey, this art guy. This is the star. This is the rookie at the year. It's Harry Potter. You said that you loved Madame Hootch earlier. What do you love about Madame Hooch? Because she is an undersung character, really . The design. Okay . I loved when you see her walking and I guess the shot is set up is quite far . And then the moment she turns around and you just see that one up of her and her eyes and how she delivered, I was like, who is this? I want more of her. I just loved her. Look, that's what has drawn me to Madame Hooch, which yeah, now looking at my face and yeah, that might have played a part . Look at her. She's quite like feline. Like she has quite feline eyes she but also Zoe Wanamaka who plays her has this incredible gravelly voice. Okay so distinctive and I love it so yeah yeah I was just like she's the P teacher that we all had. Okay . She used that voice to shout. Yeah, well. Stern a lot of ways and is trying to get you to, you know, the goal of whatever she's teaching at that moment. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Then with everyone, you know, saying up and it's it's such a great scene, especially for Ron . Like, it's such a great moment for Ron. Yeah . Shut up, Harry. Shut up, Harry . One evening back at the castle, the trio get turned around on a changing staircase and they end up in the forbidden third floor corridor. So many forbiddens in this first film. They run straight into fluffy and not so friendly, three headed dog, guarding something very important , but at least they don't get killed or worse, expelled Come on her mind she needs to get her priorities in check, man. What are we talking about here? Halloween arrives and a giant troll is on the loose . We're all faints, everyone panics. There are troll bogeys everywhere or boogers. Harry and Ron saved Hermione's life and Hermione saves Harry and Ron from detention, which I feel is kind of equal weight life detention. With that, the trio officially becomes the golden trio that we all know and love, and Hogwarts mints three new rule breaking best friends. Yeah. Then just as Harry seems to be settling into Hogwarts, his new Nimbus two thousand tries to kill him mid Quidditch match. Snape is looking very suspicious and Hagrid mentions a guy called Nicholas Flamel . Something dodgy is definitely going on and the message is clear. Welcome to Hogwarts. You definitely belong here , but you may not be very safe. There's a line somewhere in the film where there was like this noble place safer than Hogwart . It proves in this film that is a lie. This is the most dangerous place ever. There's trolls coming in here. There's giant three headed dogs , forbidden corridors. You can't go down everywhere here. It is a very dangerous goal. Yeah. Great. And yet the wizarding world, yes, send them off to Hogwarts. We'll be proud of them. What is your favorite exploration moment in Hogwarts . It has to be when we first see Fluffy. It has to be because even how they set that scene up, you don't see him at first. The characters do . And then it's revealed and he looks great. As a kid, I remember being like , whoa, in other different media, video games or in animated films, you've seen a three headed dog. We've seen. We've seen her . But this looked so real at the time that I was like, I hope I would get a chance to really meet an animal like this. Yeah , being gigantic like that's a guard dog forever. Wait, you can't be afraid of horses and then not and then want to meet a three headed dog like Fluffy. Okay, let me let me try to explain what Greg telling me even if I don't agree it all. I have like being around horses they are very gigantic animals. They're huge, they're muscular. You can see the like the mass of this animal. So it's more of that for me. And then you see Fluffy and then kind of we have the trick. We know the trick of how to make Fluffy calm down. Wait, do you play any instruments? No. Right. You don't even have that. No, no, no, but I have a phone that was recently phones repaired that I can just play the music off of. Come on now. The generation of yeah, you know what you're right. Yeah, they do mind you, it wouldn't work in Hogwarts because technology doesn't work in Hogwarts. What is your favorite stand up performance in the first half of this film? Because obviously we're introduced to so many of the characters and we're introduced to so many of the kids but also the teachers and we stayed with them for the entire ty of the film. So we kind of have to fall in love with them straight away. Yeah. So who do you remember falling in love with the quickest? Ron. Ron. It was Ron for me, man. Like yeah, he's the he's the heart a lot of this and yes, you get to see it through Harry it's Harry Potter story. Yes, absolutely. But Ron being there and having a solid friend like Ron from the moment they meet , they're just in. And you could tell the kid has a great heart and you know, you see his brothers. So it's wrong for me. So Rupert Grin is like your yeah, like favorite. He's very funny. Yes. He's just so natural. His comic timing is excellent. That's what was kind of blowing me blowing me away as even as a kid as young children, they're nailing this. Yeah. And I got it, yeah, that had to be an incredible experience, man. And also, I guess, because there are so many amazing British character actors in this, it's kind of like you mentioned Anne Rickman earlier as being just so incredible . I think for me , maybe Hagrid, I think Roby Coltrane's Hagrid was the one who encompassed exactly what I read in the book like so exactly it was so perfect. His performance, the casting of it, everything, the movements, what he was wearing, he was just my imagination come to life on the screen. Whereas with the others, I was like, Oh, okay, this is a different interpretation, but I love it or Hagrid was just perfect for me. This is the all stars of UK actors. Yeah. All of them. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger as the series goes on. Yeah. Everybody who was is anybody who's been in Harry Potter? Yeah , man. So we've been talking about the kids on set. I feel like it was maybe such a risk when they first cast these three characters, right? Dan Radcliffe Emma Watson, Rupert Grin. They had no idea how this combination was going to work and last across like ten years . And yet I think we can really feel like the bond and the pull between them. Why do you think they work so well together . You know do you, how think they balance each other out? Man, it makes me want to give a lot of credit not only to them as the actors, but maybe Chris Columbus, like him being able to set the tone day one first film of what was going to end up being a ten year run. Yeah, you know, whatever tools he gave those three to look at this as a marathon , not a race. This is going to be a long haul guys and it's you see it, you feel it, the camaraderie and the genuine love between the three of them. I think what they get so right is the kind of balance between them all because Daniel Radcliffe, I keep staring off in this direction because there's like a portrait of the three of them like just behind you on a set and I keep like being drawn to their faces because like Daniel Radcliffe playing Harry is kind of supposed to be almost like the straight guy, right? He's a thing that everything happens to. He has to react. He's the hero whose journey we're following . And then Ron, Rupert Grint gets to be kind of really wacky and he's the one who's like eating all the time and he has like these little fun quirks always and then Emma Watson as Hermione , I think those two feel like they are so in sync. Like I feel like there isn't much of a line between Emma Watson and Hermione. I feel like they are the same . And just like having like the thirst for knowledge and wanting to be the best and but also just like supporting the other two as well, just kind of I think like she's the one who rounds them out and like smooths everything over and makes them function . I feel like actually the two just by themselves rubbing along actually wouldn't function nearly as well. Listen, the dynamic duo of just Ron and Harry is a completely different story . It is fit . It's a completely different way to look at it. You need Armini there to , as you said, like reign them in. They had to do such an incredible job, such long days . For many of them, I think it was like their first time on a set, especially like the wider ensemble. Cleo, you were a child actor . So when you watched this film, do you sort of can you put yourself in the actors' positions? Do you remember what those like days on set were was like for you and what it was like working with a team of other kids as well? Like having a band . So this film came out in two thousand one. Yeah. Holes happens in two thousand three . So just wow right around the corner. So I had watched this seeing these kids tell this story and knowing that I had been on set, knowing the sheer amount of work that went into do a film this massive was something completely different I had never experienced. For us to do holes two thousand three we're in, the middle of the desert, one hundred and ten degree weather every single day. Like it was a whole different experience. When I look back on it all, man , I can't imagine what it was like to be them them and have this responsibility to tell this story these characters for the long haul . I think that is that's something that should be commended from everybody that was involved because they did it, like they accomplished the goal . It's a completely different experience. And I will say this as well. Like you see Hogwarts and it's literally all kids. Yeah . All kids. Not just the three . Like it's all kids. It's the extras, everyone else in the classroom is kids with holes, you know, it was myself and the main Detent Crew was really the only kids. Everyone else had just hit eighteen. Okay, so it wasn't a lot of kids but that I'm sure was a different experience because even for them like you want to go play like this is a professional job you're an actor, but you want to go play sure. You want to be on set and having a good time and I can only imagine what it was like at that time to understand the responsibility. We always talk about the trio and their relationships and their bond with each other. Does it really bond you an experience like that where you are sort of taken out of a comfort zone and put into this really strange environment. Yeah, it does, it does because it's it's all of you going through it all together , you know, and it's running the scenes, it's the rehearsals , it's the late nights, you know, like it's a whole totally different experience. Your cousins, your brothers and sisters, they're not, they don't know anything about this, but the people on this set with you and this experience you guys are having, you guys will have that forever. You know who I'm really curious? I would love to hear more stories from the parents. Yeah . I would love to because they had to show their own , they had to watch their children be there and create this amazing story. I would love to hear it from that perspective. It's a really good point . Yeah, 'cause when you're the kid, you're just there. You know, I have conversations with my mom all the time with things I completely forgot , but she remembers it and certainly loading it. She got it all . She's got the props, the photos, she's got it all . So yeah, I love it. You're proud. Yeah. So you know, the midpoint of this film is punctuated by a certain scene, which is basically the reason why I return to the Philosopher's Stone every December without fail. How would I come? Come on, how would I come Happy Christmas, Harry, Happy Christmas, Ron . What are you wearing ? Oh, mum made it . Looks like you've got one too. I've got presents. Yeah I love the delivery of those lines for Christmas hurry Merry Christmas front . What are you wearing? Martha, what are you wearing? He's like bro . Right, what? First of all, who made Harry like the fashion expert here? You've been wearing Dudley's old clothes forever. You're the guy who's gonna tell me that this is the rock. Stop Harry, stop. I do feel though that Hogwart s Christmases are just so iconic and is part of why I want to delve into the film. I want to literally jump into the movie is how they do Christmas at Hogwarts. We're kind of required to discuss , is this a Christmas movie? So what makes a Christmas movie? Is it just that it's on Christmas? Is it the things that are happening leading up to Christmas day ? What are the actual requirements for Christ amas morning? That's a really good question. I think it has to definitely take place at some point around Christmas , but also it has to like encompass everything that we love about Christmas, which is like family and food and warmth and coziness and love and presence. And it has all of those. It has all of those, correct? It has snow. It has snow. Lots of snow. We see it out the window in there. Okay, so if I had to cast my vote , Is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone considered a Christmas movie? Yes . It's a Christmas film. Great. I'm so glad I've convinced you another reason to just run it back. I think it absolutely is. And of course it's directed by Chris Columbus, who did a very famous categorical Christmas movie home alone. That's right. I feel like he brings a lot of those sensibilities over from that to this. The parallels are really interesting because you have Kevin who is left alone on Christmas then. you And have Harry who's been alone like the majority of his life. And this film is like the first time that he's not really alone on Christmas and he's with everybody . He's with people who love him. And I don't know, I just but equally both, of those films bring out a magic of Christmas, but just in a different way. Yeah. Do you think that any of the other Harry Potter films are Christmas movies ? Which one's the old Balin? The goblet of fire? Yeah. I think that is that yeah, that's for me. I think so because they go really in and obviously Yule is kind of more like a seasonal thing and they go really big on it and it's beautiful and it's a different kind of Christmas at Hogwarts. Yeah to the, cozy , like fireplace one. This is like icy and massive. You know, everyone's very formal . It's just like it's like going to visit your relatives. You kind of have to be on your best behavior. Whereas like this Christmas in Philosopher's Stone is like you're at home in your gymnies. Yep, just like chocolate. Yeah. Yes, yes. Exactly. Coca with you. That's that gives me that vibration. It gives me that little when I think of myself as a kid, that's what my Christmas really did feel like. As you get older, you get winter formals and you got to do all this. Yeah. Right. That's where the change is for me. So that one I consider for sure. Now, one thing that we can't forget is that one of Harry's Christmas presents happens to be the invisibility cloak, which I just think is one of the most wonderful magical items that we ever come across in Harry Potter. It's sent by Dumbledore. It's passed down from Harry's father and that gift is gonna come in very handy down the line. I remember watching the film for the first time and seeing him wrap it around him and look down. He's just a floating head and it's like, you know, what? Yeah, this is magic. I want one of these. I would love one of these. Well, wouldn't it? You're literally invisible. You can go anywhere. And also I think just the tactility of it, like the way that it kind of folds, the way that you see like these beautiful patterns like etched into the cloak as well because it could have just been nothing, right? It could have just been literally invisible. Yeah. But the fact that they put so much effort into the design of it, I just really appreciated when I was younger because you really got a sense of what it would look like through Harry's eyes like wandering around in the library and how adorable that Harry, like you just said, you could use it to do anything and the first thing that Harry does is like sneak into the library Find out about the mystery of Nicholas Fermat. Come on, Harry, what are we doing here, bro? So sweet. Come on Wholesome. Yes, for sure . Draco Malfoy would not have been using it to that end. Yeah, see, they knew they knew not to give Draco that 'cause Draco is definitely gonna be up to no good with that whole situation. All right, it's time for Al Post. Cool. I know it's cool, right? Yeah. And Al has arrived from a fellow Potter fan, and we definitely will have thoughts on this. So this is sent from Julia M. from Virginia . She says, I think that the most perfectly cast role in all of cinema, not just Harry Potter, all of cinema, is Jane Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall. Reading the books as a ten year old and then meeting her as she greets the first years to Hogwarts, she was exactly as I pictured her. It was as if I was arriving to Hogwarts myself. I just love the way that she sneers at Malfoy when she talks about the house of Slytherin . And how can anyone forget the way that she says the word Gryffindor? That's such terrible acts. I'm so sorry I butchered that. I'm sorry, Day Maggie and I'm sorry, Julia. Everything that she put in the album, those are the moments that I remember the most when Trevor's hopping up there and then Neville comes and just the look of it's a very cold the hard stair. Oh , and then yes, even when they're on the steps before they walk into the hall to get sorted. In the experience, you have Draco over to the left in that shot and when she mentions Slytherin, she looks right at him . I'm like, she don't like Slytherin at all. He hasn't even been massorted at that point. And so she's already telling us that she knows. She knows . She knows his daddy. She know the granny. I know y'all. It's one of those things, right? Like especially in that accent . I know y'all, man. And that's so much being said with just a look and that's how amazing she was at this . So yeah, I can agree. Yeah. I also agree. And I think another favorite moment of my McGonagall favorite moment is when Harry and Ron are late for class and she like transfigures herself from a cat into herself, into her human form. And Ron is like, that was bloody, brilliant. And she's like, Well, thank you, Mr. Weasley. And she's so funny and witty, but never breaks , you know? She's just she never tells them off in a really unfair way . She they always deserve the tellings off that she gives them. And every time that they think they're going to be expelled because she looks so severe and then she goes and does something completely different or like takes pity on them or signs Harry up to Quidditch, you know? Like she's just I just love her nails it. Thank you so much, Julia. What an amazing chance to talk about Professor McGonagall, one of my favorite characters. So thank you for that. Now we really want to hear from you. Keep an eye on our socials at Harry Potter for your chance to send in your favorite moments, your burning questions and , your hottest takes. So for me, I don't know about you, but for me, everything starts with Hagrid's You're a Wizard, Harry, because it's Harry's introduction to the wizarding world completely. And he kind of finally learns that he has a place there or he hasn't felt that in eleven years. So do you think that this film is about like finding your community and that sense of belonging? Yeah, as when we look at Harry not coming at all from a world he was destined to be in? Yeah . It is a great moment when we see Hagrid , of course, say this iconic line. Can you do it a Hagrid impression? It was it's really nice because he leaned into it. You're a wizard, Harry. Oh, that was good. You know, it's also the physical of it. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, it's that for me. And then later on in that scene, we see we see Hager do magic when he's not supposed to do. You want his pink umbrella. So that is his for me, that's the moment it's like one thing to be told, but then to be shown and see that. And like he gave him a picture. You're so right. I never really thought about that being the very first thing that he sees it's one thing to be told it and we see his even in Harry's response, you know, he's Harry. Yeah. He doesn't really have that confidence to know what Harga is talking about. Then he sees that moment and I think that's the mag ic part of it. Do you think he's just like, Oh, I can get revenge ? Maybe it's a little bit of getting back at the bully. I think so many kids feel that sense of like not belonging or worrying about not fitting in , especially in that transient time between being a kid and being a teenager and like even like going to secondary school, like the age of eleven, the age that Harry's at. I remember being so anxious and nervous about going to a new school, having to make new friends. It was so terrifying. I still really feel that. So how much did you relate to Harry at the beginning of this, of just kind of being a bit of a misfit or being a bit kind of peripheral . Was that ever your experience as a kid? Yeah, for sure. Because I always knew that I was I was always up to something different in comparison to my friends. Right. I knew at a very young age I wanted to be an entertainer. I wanted to act. I wanted to be on TV and do film a. lot And of my friends, you know, they just want to play basketball and football. That's really it. So it definitely showed me the parallels of like there's places in which you may not be surrounded by people at all times who are just like you, but there are pockets in this world in which you will find your community . And that's what the film definitely taught me at a young age. Do you remember finding your community? Do you remember feeling like, Oh , this person connects with me in the same way that like Ron and Harry have that moment on the train. Yeah, yeah. And it was mostly castmates for sure. Anime and cartoons and video games. They were there but not you couldn't find people like yourself really . And it was once I found a community of people who could talk who I can talk to about Harry Potter other than my cousin. It's not just me and you look. Yeah, there's other people like us there was that for us, man. Yeah. It's so exciting when you do find somebody else who not just have to be Harry Potter. It normally is with me, but when you do have that person who just gets you. Yeah , and you don't have to explain. And I feel like that shorthand that the three of them have in this is such a special bond and I think that's why we love watching them because we feel like a part of the trio. Yeah, you know, but also like the wider experience of being at a school and having like these father figures and mentors for the first time. He's not had that before and Harry is suddenly got Dumbledore of course, but he's also got Hagrid . And I do feel like Hagrid is kind of underserved a little bit or he's kind of, I don't know, people don't always give him the accolades or the flowers that he deserves because not only is he the one that brings Harry into the wizarding world, he provides such comfort throughout. He's always there for Harry to turn to if he needs him. He sends him a Christmas present, he invites him over for tea. He's just a really safe pair of hands. He's always there when Harry meets him. We see him in the Chamber of Secrets . He like rescues him from Nocturne Alley . And just Hagrid as Harry's first father figure, I just feel like we need to kind of really pay tribute to that. And I agree with you. It's the fact that in the very beginning of this film, it's Hagrid that is flying Harry into Private Drive. Private drive. Yeah, and I'm like on the motorbike. That was like in the sense that was his baby. And as you see with Agrig, he loves his baby. Yeah, he loves his baby. So true. So it's that for him. I think it's that connection. Like he was there for him. He held him before he had to leave him at the dirty so yeah man. And he's also we'll talk about this later but he's also like the last thing that Harry sees at the end of the film and the goodbye from Hagrid and that's quite a wrench as well and it always makes me cry when he has to say goodbye to Hagrid. I'm so glad that we've got to talk about him. I think he's one of my favorite characters. When we do a watch through together, I'm just gonna keep a box next to you because you're going to tear up a lot during this first one. Thank you for indulging my obsession with Hagridge. I love it. So I want to talk about how this film basically set the tone for the entire series to come because of course you have the vision of Chris Columbus, the director, but then you also have this amazing crew that were all at Leveston who were kind of building everything and making it all come to life, the magic makers. Yeah . So what is your kind of favorite aspect of the world building in the philosopher's stone? Seeing Hogwarts. Seeing Hogwarts and seeing Digon Alley? Yes. I thought that was really cool as far as like some of the structures that we see in Digon Alley, they're actually never straight. Yes. Everything is diagonally. Yeah. That's the coolest little . There are no right angles. Love that. In Daganalley. Really, really cool. Incredible. It's small detail that means so much to building the world, like you imagine. I think also one thing that we kind of take for granted in the world of the props of Harry Potter because everyone has one is the wands , because the wands are so much a part of who you are as a wizard or a witch. But there is something so cool and tactile about being able to hold your own wand. I feel like they, I don't know, for the actors, they were just extensions of themselves, right? Yeah, it makes me wonder like, did they help design them? Because for me, it's like I always want no matter where I am, 'cause you just never know. Squish and flick poo who aren't watching, Cleo just pulled a wand out of his jacket. You gotta keep it on Beck, man. We gotta keep it on you, man. Who's wand is that? This is a serious blacks wand. It's so cool because it's got runes. Thank you. It's got runes up and down the side, swirls. And it's also very dark because it's a mahogany color , which does feel very serious. Come on , it's very cool. Yeah, man. Well, luckily for us, I had the opportunity to sit down recently with one of the magic makers who basically brought Harry's world to life. This is head prop maker Pierre Bahana. Let's hear what he had to say. Pierre Bahana, thank you so much for joining us on Harry Potter, the official film podcast. Oh, thank you very much for inviting me such a pleasure. Such a pleasure. So when you first joined Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, how much of the wizarding world was kind of already in formation, how much was just on the page? How much were you building from scratch? My first introduction and sort of joining a project and I was thirty years old the whole phenomenon of the potter just sort of was starting and the books and everything else. It was just starting to warm up. I hadn't read the books. So when I got asked, I thought, Oh, quickly to run out by philosopher Stone quickly read it before I went for my job interview. that's how it started really. Baptism of far into introducing to the subject. Because it was the first film, you were starting completely from scratch. What the ideas that Chris Columbus was coming to you with. Did he sort of sketch them out? Was he asking you to come up with designs completely off your own back? How did that all work? We were very much part of the art department and really underneath the sort of the umbrella of Stuart Craigan and all of that part. And we really facilitated and worked for him, initially him and Stephanie McMillan. So what was lovely was it was very collaborative. You know, it wasn't like I said, right, I'm going to make Harry's wand. This is it. They're going to film it. No one has a choice. It's not at all one. We had an art director affiliated to us in the set decoration department that was for worked for Stephanie and for myself and the three of us really we worked with sometimes with concept designers to really visualize start and visualizing stuff and everything was passed underneath Stewart's knows and appraisals. That's how it worked. He was never from one place. It was always about development , sampling, research, thought , discussion . So everything was very intense, you know, a wand could take three or four months to do if it was so wished . Is there a specific prop from the first film which you feel just sort of encapsulates the tone for the entire series . The most iconic thing of course is Wands. Go back to that, but that's another funny enough, the thing I like about Wands is that it's one of the few times you make a prop that is absolutely bespoke to the character that's using it. The thing I like about that is that it's not so much to do with magic, it's to do with taste and we all have it. We all wear jewellery, we all wear clothes, we all sit in, you know, hang pictures on the wall. We all make choices that are for pleasure and for comfort. And I always like the idea that wand's always that. When you see Lucy's mouth you meet and you see drawers wand and it's top of a staff and you knows snake teds and he didn't get that one he's eleven the whole from Oliver . She went back to him when he was a young buck of eighteen saying how do I get the girls? I said, Could you change this one to a star and of course , this would have been a bill , which is a very human attribute. I always love that about ones and it emphasizes the characters that we see and help embold them and help the performers be those people. And that was great fun to do. I can't imagine how much fun and especially now, I guess that gap between the wizarding world and the muggle world is so narrow when it comes to the wands because we can go to an Oliveander's and choose our own . How satisfying do you find that as a prop designer and knowing that there are people all around the world who get to have that experience choosing props that you help design? Yeah, it's a massive ego boost. Obviously, you know, all the other ones are made by Muggles. We only made a proper one, wizard ones, but apart from that, I love making things. I've always had the my team I had round her are all human but from the same crumbly rog that is about the joy of making this very human thing and and total was of was probably one of the most greatest opportunity for for people of our trade to really sort of delve and enjoy ourselves in that way. I mean, it is such an absorbing world and I think one particular aspect that I love is the world of Quidditch and I guess because that is so vastly different from anything that we have . So tell us about the design of Quidditch generally from the rooms to the quaffle to the snitch, which I think you've said before that you loved design ing. So tell us about kind of your entry into that world, the kind of conversations you were having about what that needed to look like. It was an incredibly difficult thing for the filmmakers to really visualize and create in the film makes sense. It was great to see that develop. The other lovely thing I loved, especially with philosopher Stone is the fact that when you see it 's the sport you play at school, it's the football, it's a rugby, it's a cricket, whatever. It hones so well to my experience of being a school at that time where all the equipment was completely knackered . There's always a, you know, and everything is well used and well worn and there was a wonderful slight lack of safety of the stuff of course not a modern thing but and it's all that kind of characteristics into components of the equipment for playing quidditch. Oh, you know, lovely worn out leather balls, the, you know, the Bludgers were this were frankly cannibals. I mean, you know, what's what good school sport wouldn't be without a cannibal and the Bludger Bats were and you know, just being used for like forty years of abuse. Like with the story of the Golden Snitch, like there is this kind of legend within the wizarding world about it being based on a bird called the Golden Snidget., etc You know, there is this whole law around it. But how much of that impacted your work when it came to designing the snitch? Stewart had found a Greek illustration in a sculpture and seen this wonderful ruining that happened and that really influenced the idea. So it's a wonderful, very simple ball with these raised detailed lines that pertain to where the wings wings came out and how it performed this lovely sort of balance of Is it magical? Is it clockwork? Is it just a lovely pitch? I absolutely pulled the rank on making it as well. I wanted it was like, yeah, it's, you know, you don't get a much chance of anything, but it was just like, well no, no, no, I could sit on my desk with the phone rest on my on my chin when I' whveittled away at a little plastic ball making it. It's funny when we go looking back on it now and often I talk to colleagues that we and I still work with a lot of the people that we worked with then but when I, you know, haven't met someone we often rem wereinis cing like mad old men in the pub . And that was a time that doesn't even really happen much now. It was amazing. You know, it was a great joy to be able to to spread your wings that much. Yeah. And that comes through in like every frame, I think of the series, every film, you really feel the love that went into designing it, making it . Pierre, thank you so much for joining us. It's been eye opening. It's a great pleasure and thank you . We really feel like we're starting to get our bearings in the wizarding world. Unlike Neville, when he attempts to fly a broomstick for the first time , on my whistle three, two . Mr Longbottle. Mr Long, Mr Longbottle. Talk about being scared of stuff. That would have scared me. Yeah. Being not in control of the broomstick and it's just nine. But then you would have had Madame Hooch come help Madame Hoch. You're so wished. Yeah, man. Anyway, speaking of lessons, it is time for a bit of trivia. Okay , are you ready? I'm ready. Which rather large and famous British athlete stood in for Hagrid for many of the early scenes in the film? I don't know his name. I just know he's a six hundred ten rugby player. I remember his stats. I'm like, why are you six ten playing rugby? Oh, well rugby you do need if you're a prop, you need to be massive. six, ten . My dad was tiny. My dad played rugby and he was tiny. So he was a flanker. Okay. And so but I always love the idea of him being really small next to like the massive props. Yeah , like this guy. Six, ten point rugby. I know. Okay, so you can't remember the name . I'm going to give you a half point. Okay. It's Martin Bayfield. Martin Bayfield? Yeah, Martin Bayfield. Thank you. English Robby player. Thank you for your legs, Martin . Thank you for your strength. Yeah. What is the name of the goblin who escorts Hagrid and Harry in Gringotts. Grip . Yes. Yeah. What's up? Grip. It's grip. It was played by Gone. Vern Troyer. Yes . But was still voiced by Warickw Davis? Yes. And then Warwick Davis, I think, went on to play him in later series. Look at us nerds. That's what we do. Which iconic UK location was used for the first flying lesson scenes, which we've just seen. Okay, look , as a as I mentioned earlier on this episode as somebody who grew up in LA , it wasn't even thought of really that there was a castle or space that big for the iconic vine list. So I got nothing wrong. So you're saying you don't know. I don't know that one. I'm going to give you multiple choice. Okay. Annicastle, Durham Cathedral or Oxford University. I'm sure to say Oxford University. Why would you say that you said is there literal cast le in the name of one of them. But we don't really do they be on sets? Are there green screens? I have to take all of that into consideration. I can't just say the castle because well, you're wrong. It was the castle. Which castle ? Anna Castle? It was Anna Castle? Yeah, yeah . Should have chose Anna Castle Where was the famous Harry Can Speak to Snakes Reveal Scene filmed in London? Now, again, you might not know, do I to need give you multiple choice? Yeah . The London Aquarium , London Zoo, or the Forbidden Forest set at Leaveston studios What was the second one? London Zoo I'll go London Zoo. Sometimes the simplest answers are the correct ones. It's the London. It's the London Zoo yeah. Can we talk about that moment for a second? Go on. The fact that this is the first time we see Harry talk to snakes? Yeah , but it's in English. I've always wondered about this. Are we whose whose what are we here? Yeah, is it like yeah? But I think he's he's translating it in his own head because when we see him talk to snakes in the Chamber of Secrets and we're kind of hearing what everybody else hears. Yes . Whereas when we hear him listening to the basilisk, we hear like we hear it in English because we're just hearing Harry translating it in his head. And so actually when he's hissing, he's he's really hissing, but we hear him translating it. I like that one. Okay, so I'll keep that way of looking at it next time. That's how I've always interpreted it. You did very well. Not perfect, but very well Gryffindor Grivindor. Yeah, you're not a ravenclaw, you can tell . So if any of you out there want to try your hand trivia, then visit harrypotter dot com forward slash quiz to test your knowledge and hopefully you'll do better than Cleo . Before we go, I like to call this section anything from the trolley Dance because like magic, a trolley full of sweets has arrived between us and we've got everything from peppermint toads to Bertie Bots every flavor beans, to fizzing whispies and of course the chocolate frogs which I cannot wait to try later . So I'm going to reward your hottest take or your strangest theory or any burning questions that you may have with the sweetest of sweets from the trolley . So what have you got for me? Harry Potter and the sorcerer stone I also think is a Halloween film. Oh , yes. Yes, there is a scene in Halloween. Yeah. Obviously the troll breaks in. Of course. Scary part there. It's very scary and fluffy . And fluffy. Fluffy makes it even more scary. He's a gigantic three headed dog. So my hot take is Harry Potter is a Halloween film. I think I'd have to agree with you on that. Can you take much? See, see , see ? Didn't take much convincing. I think yeah, you've got witches, you've got wizards, you've got a scary dog, you've got a troll. It doesn't get much more Halloweeny than that. Come on now. All right, I'm gonna reward you with something would from the trolley. What would you like? I would like to take this butterbeer barrel. I want this nice. I think you've got some butterbeer flavoured candy gummy things in there . Does this smell good? Does it smell like a lot of beer? Oh wish. Oh yes . Oh my god . Oh, that's like my childhood. Yes, I need a candle in my house and smell good. It's so nice. Yes. So I don't have a hot egg, but I have a burning quest ion , which is when Professor McGonagall goes to find wood from his defence against the Dark Arts class with Professor Quirrell. She opens the door. And Professor Quirrell is just holding an iguana and we never find out why . And so are Iguanas actually like magical creatures, maybe? Yeah , you're right. What is the purpose of him holding that iguana? Yeah, because it's not transfiguration. It's not like they've transfig ured something into one or vice versa . So maybe he's like, maybe Iuanas are actually dark evil creatures and anybody who has one at home in a tank is actually in real danger. That is a good point. I remember how big it is. It's not it's not a small one at all . It's gigantic in his hands. He's like cuddling. Yeah, because they grow to like the size of their environment, basically. Yeah . Okay, so now that's I'm gonna go back and watch it. I'm gonna turn the subtitles back on because you can hear he's talkingking as they're wal out . He is saying something Yeah, I'm gonna reward myself with a chocolate frog 'cause I've had my eye on it since this trolley arrives. Iconic a heavy. You got to go with the chocolate frog. It's enormous . That's huge . That's so big. Oh wow. I picked the right thing. They put Trevor in there. That is amazing. Can't wait to taste that later. Okay, Trotty be gone. Well, we have found ourselves at the end of the beginning of everything . But in the second half of this film, our story gets a little bit more mysterious as Harry and his friends embark on an adventure to uncover the truth behind some silly old stone. Some stone we've heard like rumors about stone. Some rock things that important. Yeah . So next time Cleo and I wind our way to the conclusion of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Truster's stone. If we can ever agree on what we're actually calling it Can't we? Join us on our film by film Look Back through the series and rewatch every Harry Potter film on HBO Max. In the meantime, we want to hear from you. Share your thoughts and keep up with the latest from us on social media at Harry Potter. As we make our way through the series, we'll be checking the comments to dissect your burning questions and hottest takes . Until then, mind the moving staircase and maybe don't go poking around any forbidden corridors. We'll see you next time. Bye guys. Bye . We have to see Professor Dumbledore immediately . I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for an He's gone, but this is important . is This about the philosopher's stone Someone's going to try and steal it . Harry Potter, the official film podcast, is produced by HBO Max, in partnership with Pod People. This podcast is hosted by me Rianna Dylan. Our head writer and lead producer is Angela Paladino, and our associate producer is Emily Mansfield. Our line producer and production manager is Hannah Pederson , casting by Brianna Freypart. Production design done by Liz Klakowski and her team, Kevin Fallon, Marcel Banks, Jeff Cross, and Amelia Casarez. Our technical director is Insung H, aluong withang camera operator Nick Gregorio, Her makeup by Allie Elizabeth. Production assistance by Sam Sanders IV. Our video editor is Susanna Vasquez and the show is mixed by Carter Wogan and Marina Payes. From the HBO Max podcast team, Alison Cohen Serrok , Michael Glockstadt, Becky Row, Kenya Reyes, and Erin Kelly. Special thanks to Emily Brandon and Rese gard from the Harry Potter digital team. Thank you for watching and listening . We'll see you next time