Hello magical friends, and welcome to WZRD radio! I’m your hostwitch Bess and I hope the weather is as lovely where you are as it is here; perfect temperatures for a long, lazy broom-ride through the countryside.
Let’s soundtrack that ride, shall we? Here’s “The Ballad of Auntie Muriel” from Tereyagli Kedi.
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That was Tereyagli Kedi with “The Ballad of Auntie Muriel” [lyrics], “U-NO-POO” from The Snail Collective [lyrics], and Azkaban is Burning with a jam I play all the time around the house, “She’s Somethin’ When She’s Roused” [lyrics].
And now, to kick off Spooky Season, here’s that wandering wix, our Special Correspondent in the Field, DQ!
ScitF DQ: Happy Halloween listeners this is Special Correspondent in the Field DQ you with a spooky Fanfic Fieldwork just for you. Now we all know that Halloween is an important holiday in the wizarding world, even if we don’t know precisely why it’s so important to them, we know that there is a feast at Hogwarts every Halloween and we know that something tends to go wrong for Harry–as it usually does around holidays– but for this month’s fanfic field work we’re going to ask ourselves “what if, after death, Harry Potter was turned into a guardian?”
This fan fiction will make a lot more sense if before reading it you watched the film Rise of the Guardians, because this month I am offering “Guardian of Halloween” by Graveyard Baby which is available on FanFiction.net. The story was first published on March 19th–my birthday–of 2018 and it was last updated on July 22nd 2020. In all this fan fiction has six chapters and only 1,990 words so it’s something that will be easy to fit into your daily routine. And I think we should have a little sample, just to give you an idea of what you’re getting yourself into when you read it.
“All I could see was darkness. Then my body slowly stared to rise as I stared at the glowing full moon above me. A voice in my head caught me off guard as it said that my name used to be Harry Potter but I would now be know as Hallow Eve. As I touched the ground the earth beneath my feet turned a purplish black color. I could no longer hear the voice in my head but I knew it was the Man In The Moon. And that was that last I ever heard from him. But that was a very long time ago.
“Anna ate you ready to go trick or treating tonight.” A boy dressed as Jack Skellington said. “I’m almost ready Adam.” Anna said after putting the finishing touches on her Rag Doll Sally costume. “Come on Anna we have to go before Hallow Eve comes out.” Said Adam. “Oh come on Hallow Eve isn’t even real so stop being such a scardey cat already.” Said Anna. Suddenly a cold chil passed over the pair as they stated walking.
Hallow Eve was all but a myth to the children. Like Jack Frost who was pretty nice. They had only met on a couple of occasions but when they did it was amazing. They were like yin and yang with Hallows Raven Black hair and Jacks Snow White hair. And Jacks Ice blue eyes and Hallows Acid green eyes.”
Now I‘m not going to lie to you listeners, if you’ve spent as much time as I have dabbling on FanFiction.net, when you go to read this you’re probably going to notice that it can be a bit challenging in places to work out what the author was after. But what’s a little FanFiction.net without the occasional grammatical or spelling mistake? I think the spirit of the pieces there and besides FanFiction.net isn’t about being a professional writer, it’s about writing what’s in your heart and putting it out there in the hopes that other people will enjoy it as much as you do. Personally I always felt the film Rise of the Guardians was underrated and you know how i feel about the Harry Potter universe so I‘m hoping that this Halloween season you will enjoy reading “Guardian of Halloween” by Graveyard Baby on FanFiction.net.
This is Special Correspondent in the Field DQ saying I hope you have a safe and happy Halloween all those who celebrate. If you go to a haunted house, bring a friend; it’ll be more fun! You are never too old to trick or treat, and if you eat all your Halloween candy in one night don’t forget to brush your teeth when you’re finished.
Thank you for bringing that fic, that really put the “spooky” in spooky season. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
So here’s some music while I go read “Guardian of Halloween.” First up is The Fizzing Whizbees and “Man I Am.”
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We just listened to “Man I Am” by The Fizzing Whizbees [lyrics], JD and the Goats with their “This Year” [lyrics], and Sonorus and “Une Vitre Disparait.”
It’s October, and like DQ said, that means terrible things for Harry and wonderful things for us in the fandom. Here are just a few options:
Hutto, TX is hosting “Books & Butterbeer” at a local bookshop on October 3rd. [link]
Are you feeling hungry? There’s a Harry Potter food festival happening on the 6th in Fresno, CA. [link]
October 5th through 9th is “Harry Potter Week” in Salem, MA, at least at Witch City Hibachi. [link]
The Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg, FL is hosting “Spells & Potions at Imagine Museum,” which will include animal ambassadors and extra after-hours time in the museum. [link]
On October 24th in Penkridge, UK, there’s going to be a Harry Potter afternoon tea on a boat! [link]
Also on the 24th, the Devonshire Cultural Center will be hosting Hallowrock; a wizard rock halloween party! [email for more info]
And we can’t forget October 31st, when Waterbury Witch & Wizard Day in Waterbury, CT returns. [link]
And we’ve got some September music to soundtrack your travels, including:
“Full Moon Rising” from Chuck & Brenda. [link]
“Norbert(a) the Dragon” from the Bookish Hufflepuff and Puff the Magic Badger [link]
The Bandon Banshees put out “The Lot,” which was formerly on the Pedia Comp Club. [link]
And, of course, our beloved annual Sampler celebrated its 10th anniversary. [link]
If nothing here scratches your particular itch, why not try hosting your own wrock event and submitting it for inclusion here?
There are links to all these events and songs in the transcript, so you go check those out while I cue up our last music section. Here’s “here” from The Hogwarts Elevator.
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We just listened to the Hogwarts Elevator and “Here” [lyrics], “Sweet Wrappers” from NEWTs [lyrics], and Daniel Kelly’s “The Forbidden Forest” [lyrics].
And that’s the end of our episode! Except congratulating Comet and Lan for being on top of September’s theme of the 2023 Wizard Rock Sampler. I really appreciate your playing along.
If you heard your new favorite song, go to the transcript at WZRDRadioPod.com, follow the link, and buy yourself a copy. You’ll get a great new addition to your music collection and a wizard rocker will know they’ve got a fan. And you know what I always say: without our wizard rockers, we wouldn’t be here.
You can support WZRD and the Community Wrock Fund by joining the Patreon at Patreon.com/WZRDRadioPod. There are two, five, and ten dollar tiers that all get the same perks, including early episodes and bonus content, and support the Fund in helping our wizard rockers get their music out there.
You can still guess this episode’s theme on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok at WZRDRadioPod. You can also get in touch by commenting on the transcript or emailing me at WZRDRadioPod@gmail.com.
Until next time, magical friends!