Word on the street is that Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Tournament of Houses snatched the Golden Snitch among television ratings, with over 3 million viewers, making it the top cable news unscripted show of the year.
If you watched the opening match of Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, you know that the Badgers beat the Lions, and that Hogwartsprofessor.com’s own contestant recruit, David Martin, was the star player and an audience favorite. If you want some objective evidence in support of this view, I looked at a sample of the 10 top tweets that turned up with the hashtag, #tournamentofhouses. Three mentioned David by name. Only two mentioned the distinguished host, Dame Helen Mirren. I think that is called, “star power.”
A few of the choice Tweets about David:
@TBSNetwork: THE HERO NO ONE SAW COMING… BUT THE HERO WE NEEDED.
@sylvangreeneyes: As soon as I glimpsed him in the commercial, I knew Hufflepuff was a lock. David is an amazing teacher and incredibly kind person. If you have a chance to hear him present at a con, don’t hesitate. True embodiment of badger values.
@jennifer_mcgee: David was a badger beast! Happy to be a fellow #Hufflepuff with him!
@Emmy415: David would have defeated Voldemort.
@TielaKegs: The Houses are now: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and DAVID
@PuffCastPod: Congrats to the Hufflepuffs for winning round 1 of the #tournamentofhouses which means we are getting either first or second place overall! All participants did amazing and shoutout to David for really being the team anchor we don’t know we needed!
@claunight: I want David to be happy but i’m a #Gryffindor, help.
@jertheotterbear: David is the most Hufflepuffiest Hufflepuff of all Hufflepuffs.
@jessyymessii: David on #teamhufflepuff on the #TournamentOfHouses is everything I want to be when I’m a 77 year old Hufflepuff.
@JimtheLibrarian: Watching #TournamentOfHouses and my jaw dropped when David snagged that Roman numeral question. WELL DONE.
A few other trends I saw among the Twitter commentators, and my response to them, based on what I saw of the show as an audience member:
- Some folks thought the questions were too easy, and thought seeing the players “discuss” issues like what Lupin’s Marauder nickname was a bit contrived. My answer: The show was trying to find a balance of appeal to both the die-hard fans from their contestant pool, and the more casual viewer. Judging from the ratings, they succeeded. Teams were told to discuss answers with each other, even if they were obvious.
- Some complained that it was too movie-centric, and wanted more book-specific trivia. My answer: This was a Warner Brothers production, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first film. Its purpose is to continue to promote the movies, and related properties like the theme parks. They have no vested interest in future book sales.
- You expected them to recognize the Grangers’ couch? My answer: Well, that had to come up with something that would stump both teams. I think “Granger couch” could become slang for an impossible trivia question, just like “Flint” is now defined as a book continuity error.
- A Cursed Child question? That isn’t cannon! My answer: They told potential contestants, even in the early stages, that all things Potter were fair game, including Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts and other Pottermore/Wizarding World material.
Pending Warner Brothers approval, we hope to have more inside scoop on the life of a show contestant from David posted here soon, along with some information on his soon-to-be-released book of Potter essays. In the meantime, some of us will raise a flask of Felix Felicis, and hope that the high ratings will mean a chance to appear in Season 2.
Tune in tomorrow night for episode 2, Ravenclaw versus Slytherin, and, if you see a flash of grey hair in the Ravenclaw audience, that just might be me!
Cursed Child absolutely is canon.