Potter Puppet Pals

This article is not part of the Harry Potter universe.
This article covers a subject that is part of the real world, and thus should not be taken as a part of the Harry Potter universe.

The Potter Puppet Pals (or PPP) is a puppet show web series directed by Neil Cicierega. It is a parody of the Harry Potter series.

Development[]

In 2003, the series was launched with two flash, animated episodes entitled "Bothering Snape" and "Trouble at Hogwarts".

In 2006, it was launched again, debuting a live-action puppet show with the episode "Potter Puppet Pals in Potions Class". The web show then proceeded to the following episode entitled "Wizard Angst" and then "Potter Puppet Pals in The Mysterious Ticking Noise". The show launched six episodes between 2006 and 2009. Since then, they have put out seven other live-action shows, shorts, special videos and a short film. In 2017, they put out a new version of the original video in 4K for the tenth anniversary.^[1]

Characters[]

A scene in "The Mysterious Ticking Noise"

Character personalities and traits have been exaggerated or designed to contrast to their book version in Potter Puppet Pals. Harry Potter behaves like an arrogant, vain teenager who insults others. Hermione Granger's intelligence was very out of proportion, and she tends to just point out the obvious ("I know a thing or two about books, and that's a book!"). Ronald Weasley however, was written to be very unintelligent and is loyal to Harry, despite the fact that Harry often insults Ron and calls him "fat".

Main characters[]

Harry Potter - highly arrogant and sarcastic, and flaunts a sense of superiority over the others. In The Vortex, he claims that "no one can have more testosterone than me!" and he spends much of the show singing about himself and insulting others.
Ronald Weasley - weaker than in the books, and very unintelligent. In Snape's Diary, Ron couldn't write words and just wrote a couple of letters, and spelled parents as "parants" in Ron's Parents. He's a close friend to Harry, even though Harry often insults Ron and he is constantly labelled "fat".
Hermione Granger - a very exaggerated version of her book character, but even less strict about breaking the rules. She's first seen in the second show "Trouble at Hogwarts", unlike Harry and Ron who appear in the very first show.
Albus Dumbledore - portrayed to be insane, senile, and likes to strip naked until he's only wearing a hat for "naked time". He has knowledge of a one-minute-long swear that he teaches to Harry, Ron, and Hermione and he was later found to be a gay android. In The Vortex, he owns something called the Problem Stick, which he uses to get Ron out of the vortex.
Severus Snape - very like the book version, and living a very depressing life. He was slightly disturbed, and in one episode he had a dream in which he was "a beautiful milkmaid". In Snape's Diary, he's shown to have suicidal thoughts because he was unpopular and unloved by anyone. Harry and Ron don't help, taunting Snape and finding the pain he showed in the diary very funny.

Minor characters[]

Neville Longbottom - Does not have a puppet, instead being portrayed as a butternut squash with a face drawn on it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione bully him in Wizard Swears. During his birthday episode, Neville was killed (and cannibalised) by Harry, Ron, Hermione, Snape, and Dumbledore. He was later shown to be a ghost.
Tom Riddle - less threatening than in the books and polite to others including Harry. He sang a song called "AVADA KEDAVRA!!!" in which he claims "killing people has never been this much fun". In the song, he says he can tap dance "The Dark Lord of Tap!"
Rubeus Hagrid - first appearing in Ron's Disease, he's portrayed as a filthy, slow-witted hulk of a man and prone to hitting people. Harry, Ron, and Hermione do not know him. He has a cameo in Neville's Birthday.
Draco Malfoy- Draco only had one appearance in the show, and it was in Draco Puppet. He was just a small puppet that Harry held. Harry made up a song that taunted Malfoy, and eventually put him on the stove and burned him.
Ginevra Weasley - Ginny appears in the webisode Ginny. Harry openly finds her extremely attractive and attempts to ask her out until he notices how similar she and her brother look (the Ginny puppet was actually the Ron puppet with added felt for hair and a bow). Ginny never talks in the episode.
Cedric Diggory - Cedric doesn't have a puppet. He was just a face drawn onto writer Cicierega's foot, and only has one appearance in the show (in Neville's Birthday).

Mentioned characters[]

Dobby - In Wizard Angst, Harry says he has nightmares of Dobby eating his skin clean off every night. In Wizard Swears, "Dobby's sock" was a wizard swear.
Argus Filch - In Wizard Angst, Snape names some punishments for his students, one involving a drunken Filch. In Snape's Diary, Snape said in one of his diary entries that Argus said he smelled of broccoli and left not wishing him a happy birthday.
Minerva McGonagall - In Snape's Diary, Minerva was mentioned in a diary entry for pointing out that Snape lost a button on his cloak.
Lucius Malfoy - In Snape's Diary, a diary entry mentions that Snape was late for golfing with Lucius.
Tobias Snape and Eileen Prince - In the first entry in Snape's Diary, Snape wrote that he thought of his mother, and cried. In the last one, after he mentions Argus Filch leaving without wishing him a happy birthday, he said that he thought of his father, and cried.
Arthur and Molly Weasley - In Ron's Parents, Ron writes to his parents, referring to them as "Mr & Mrs My Parants," or just "my parants."
Augusta Longbottom - In Wizard Swears, Neville says he was forbidden to join in swearing by her.
Alice Longbottom - In Wizard Swears, Harry, Ron and Hermione use the "Elder Swear" to insult Neville's mother.

Gallery[]

Episodes[]

Flash animations[]

Episode	Date	Events
Bothering Snape	27 September 2003	Harry and Ron introduce themselves and decide to set out to bother Snape using their trick by attacking him with Bother. After a while, Snape cannot stand it any more and kills them with Avada Kedavra. Snape then is scared when Dumbledore shows up and sneaks away. Dumbledore steals from them thinking that they are taking an afternoon nap. The animation finishes with Dumbledore dancing naked, which he calls "naked time".
Trouble at Hogwarts	15 December 2003	Harry, Ron and Hermione proclaim their love for something. Hermione loves to learn. Harry loves magic. Ron loves Harry. Then, Dumbledore comes to warn that Voldemort is attacking Hogwarts. The animation then proceeds to Voldemort who is confronted by Snape (who was obviously not a Death Eater) who attempts to kill him with Avada Kedavra, but the spell fails. Voldemort then kills Snape with the same curse. Then, Ron runs away and when they see Voldemort, Harry and Hermione do the same. Ron uses Bother on Voldemort and then runs away. Ron then forms a plan to defeat Voldemort. After luring him into the right spot by playing Hide and Seek with him, they use submachine guns to shoot him, seemingly killing him. Then, magically, Snape shows up and Harry, Ron, Hermione and a naked Dumbledore hug him, leaving Snape confused.
Follow the Butterflies	15 December 2003	An Easter Egg hidden in "Trouble at Hogwarts", found by pausing the video when Snape was killed and watching it in freeze frame mode until a star showed up on Snape's face. Clicking the star led to the short episode in which Ron plays with butterflies, singing, "Follow the butterflies, follow the butterflies, whee! Lalalalala." Hermione then casts a spell and Ron's head then popped off and onto the ground.

YouTube episodes[]

Episode	Date	Events
Potions Class	26 September 2006	Harry, Ron and Hermione turn up at Potions class and Snape starts to tell them the things that he could teach them (some which are from Philosopher's Stone). He continues like that for hours, and the things he claims he can teach them keep getting more and more ridiculous every time until eventually, he says he could teach them how to 'score hot babes'. He then dismisses the class. Dumbledore then asks him for out-of-date gorilla milk, but Snape won't give it.
Wizard Angst	2 November 2006	While in a bad mood, Harry insults Ron. He then decides to quit Hogwarts and magic, claiming to see nightmares of Dobby eating his face clean off and also to hate Goblins. He orders Ron to fight Voldemort, but Ron is too scared and consults with Hermione. Harry then finishes his cranky mood with Dumbledore's "advice".
The Mysterious Ticking Noise	23 March 2007	A ticking noise begins and Snape starts to investigate. Finding nothing, he starts to sing, "Snape, Snape, Severus Snape" over and over again. After each time, Dumbledore appears screaming, "Dumbledore!" Soon, Ron, Harry and Hermione sing too. Harry and Snape get into a struggle, but it's stopped by Dumbledore and Hermione. They then sing about Hogwarts. Ron finds the source of the mysterious ticking, which is a pipe bomb. Harry, Hermione and Ron laugh in happiness, but Snape and Dumbledore seem to be aware what the bomb means. It then detonates, blowing everyone up. Voldemort then appears and starts ticking with his wand and singing, "Voldemort, Voldemort, ooh, Voldy, Voldy, Voldemort!"
Wizard Swears	1 December 2007	Harry discovers there are "Wizard Swears" and starts to try them out, opposed to Dumbledore's new rules with Ron and Hermione. Snape discovers them, but Harry shouts, "Expecto Patronads!" and flees. They then find Neville, who they encourage to use Wizard Swears, but he says his grandmother forbids it. Harry eventually persuades him, but when he says something about Hagrid, Harry claims that Hagrid is ten times the man Neville will ever be and orders him to leave Hogwarts. Neville goes sadly away. The trio then decides to prank call Voldemort, who answers his phone cheerfully until Harry screams another wizard swear at him, to which Voldemort replies "WHAT? You kids! If I ever find out who's calling me, I will call the wizard law, and you'll go to wizard jail! And I'll kill you! Cause I'm Lord Voldemort! Stop calling me!" At that moment, Snape and Dumbledore show up, and Snape accuses them of breaking the Swear Rule. However, Dumbledore undoes the rule and Snape goes away angrily. Harry asks Dumbledore for an "Elder Swear" and Dumbledore tells them a 40-second long swear which he orders them to never repeat. Soon, they repeat it to Neville, insulting his mother.
School is for Losers	7 April 2008	Harry sings "I'm Harry Potter, school is for losers, I'm totally awesome..." until Snape shows up and accuses Harry of missing Potions for three weeks. To Harry, it all sounds gibberish except for when Snape says 'Harry Potter'. Harry punches Snape and plays his saxophone with background words "Harry Potter is awesome".
Albus Dumbledore Lists Your Good Qualities	16 May 2008	The shortest episode to date. Dumbledore appears once, then disappears. (This video was renamed several times. It was first called "Awakening of the Incorruptible", then "HOLY **,THIS VIDEO HAS OVER 2 MILLION VIEWS", "HOLY **, THIS VIDEO HAS OVER 3 MILLION VIEWS", "The Squeakquel", "Potter Puppet Pals: 2012", and finally, " Albus Dumbledore Lists Your Good Qualities".)
The Vortex	17 May 2008	Snape tells Dumbledore about his dream of being a milkmaid which is a "life-changing vision", until Harry kicks him down and screams that there's a magical emergency. They go to Hermione and a Vortex appears to have trapped Ron. Trapped in an alternate dimension, Ron heads into puberty. Dumbledore orders Harry to fetch his "Problem Stick". He gets Ron out of the Vortex, but Ron already went into puberty and has become a teenager. Hermione falls in love with him and Dumbledore claims Ron is much cooler than Harry. Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore begin dancing until Harry finishes it and casts a spell which causes Ron to rewind in puberty turning him into a normal Ron. Harry yells angrily at Ron, saying that no one is allowed to be cooler than he is. Harry dances and sings about his life while everybody stares at him.
Ron's Disease	13 April 2009	Ron gets "Wizard Lice." Dumbledore advises him to go to Hagrid. Harry and Ron go to his house where they find a sleeping Hagrid who then wakes up. After Harry and Ron explain the situation, Hagrid starts singing the cure, but Ron can't afford it. Hagrid cures him then by hitting on his head, crushing the Lice. Harry then decides to make Hagrid his servant. Hagrid then starts hitting on his orders Hermione, Snape and Dumbledore who gets no effect. Dumbledore claims to be a gay android.
Snape's Diary	15 July 2009	Harry finds Snape's diary and brings it to Ron and Hermione. Ron is punished within ten seconds for calling it "a young adult vampire romance novel". Snape's diary is full of depressing entries like his depressing dreams, Harry's, Ron's and Filch's bullying, Lily Potter's rejection and a button. Also, the episode is accompanied with visions of Snape writing the entries in candlelight. Harry writes an entry where he claims that Harry Potter is "awesome". Soon, Snape finds them and Harry immediately says that Ron stole the diary. Ron says that he liked the depressing button story. Snape then thinks, 'So do I, Orange One, so do I' and cries. In the credits, a vision is seen with Snape holding the diary in candlelight.
Moustache Buddies	28 July 2010	Voldemort says to Snape that he wants a moustache. Voldemort does not want to be different, so he makes Snape get one with him because of Snape being a Death Eater. Then he asks Snape if he can Rollerblade, so he can invite him to his birthday party. Later, during Potions class, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are terrified at the sight of Snape's moustache and throw random objects at him.
Ron's Parents	28 July 2010	Ron is writing a letter to his parents when Harry comes in. Ron tells Harry that he is writing a letter to his parents. Harry gets mad because his parents are dead and he doesn't get to see them. At the end, Harry thinks he is a king and then Ron asks if he wants to go to his house for Christmas. Harry says "Yes" quickly.
Harry Potter Personally Welcomes You. Yes, You	28 July 2010	Harry starts off by talking about how he is the strongest wizard who lived. Then Harry says to check out his new YouTube channel.
INSANELY important Potter Puppet Pals news	28 July 2010	Harry finds out from Hermione that he is a puppet, and "a guy in his twenties who plays with puppets no less" controls him. He then goes on about puppet rebellions, and states that he will be the new god. Hermione pops out and tells Harry to tell the audience about the new YouTube Channel.
Harry's Nightmares	9 September 2010	Harry tells everyone about his worst nightmares, including Snape trying to kill him with a hammer, giving birth to Ron, Hermione trying to kill him also with a hammer, being middle-aged, Voldemort out-dancing him, and being a Muggle. After that, he says to tell about your worst nightmare in a comment or video response, and to subscribe. It ends with Hermione and Ron looking confused.
Draco Puppet	13 September 2010	Harry tells everyone that he keeps getting a comment that there should be a Draco Malfoy puppet, and makes one. But rather than being one like himself, he made a tiny puppet with a picture of Draco's face on it. He then mockingly sings a song about what Draco likes, and eventually burns him on a stove.
Ginny	29 May 2011	Harry tells Ginny (who never speaks in the video) that he thinks she's hot and brags to Ron about how he plans to date her. He also tells Ron that he is nervous and asks Ron to pretend to be Ginny while he practises asking her out, going so far as to almost kissing Ron but stops just in time with the words, "simulation complete". Harry sees Ginny again, who sports a new shorter haircut that Harry suggested she get. Harry realises the simmilarities between Ginny and Ron, and becomes extremely confused and uncomfortable, eventually using the Killing Curse on himself.
Neville's Birthday	16 November 2011	Harry, Ron and Hermione are forced to attend Neville Longbottom's birthday party by Dumbledore. In the end, Harry finally tells Neville that the party "is ruining my excellent life!" Neville himself activates the 'Neville Self Destruct' and blows up. The chunky remains prove quite tasteful as everyone begins to feast on Neville's remains. The episode ends with Neville's spirit explaining, "It's what's on the inside that counts," and winking at the camera.
(good morning, Snape)	16 November 2011	A secret video following the events of "Neville's Birthday", describing Snape's condition.
Apparate	17 June 2013	Harry after learning how to apparate, decides he never wants to walk again, and teleports everywhere, even a foot away, or even the same spot he was already standing in. He then sings a song about how much he loves apparating. He then accidentally teleports on top of Ron, assumingly his feet fusing with Ron's head, then they both accidentally apparate under Snape's cloak, Snape with the two under him looking like a totem pole, and then the three fall over on top of Dumbledore.
Magic Can Solve Any Problem	22 October 2013	Harry says that he hates problems, but magic can solve any problem. Ron arrives and tells Harry that Voldemort was trying to kill him (Harry). Harry casts a spell that gives Ron spectacles and a lightning bolt scar, saying that Voldemort was trying to kill Ron now. Hermione asks Harry if he wanted to study for their N.E.W.T.s, but Harry casts the spell and says "Now we don't have to." Snape scolds Harry for not showing up to his class for three months, but Harry does the spell and says, "You mean, my class." He does the spell on the audience and we now see everything through a spectacle and puppet hands. Harry asks if it is cool, but the camera starts shaking no. Harry responds, "WHAT?! What, would you rather be Ron?" The camera nods yes, and Harry says, "You disgust me..."
Dapper Ron		Ron arrives in a suit and says hi to Hermione. Hermione slaps him. Ron says that he was under a horrible curse and Hermione slaps him again.
Martial Arts		Snape is now teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. When he says the name of the subject, Harry arrives in a karate suit and says, "Did you say 'defensive martial arts'?". Harry then kicks Snape in the face and starts stomping on him.
The Mysterious Ticking Noise 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY	23 March 2017	A new 4K version of the original video, that has a new ending. The source of the ticking turns out to be "a 10-year old YouTube video" (the original). Harry works out if ten years have passed, they shouldn't still be in school and they leave right away. Snape and Dumbledore stay as the video ends.
Harryween	29 October 2015	A thirteen minute long video in which Snape tells a Hallowe'en story about Voldemort trying to capture a unicorn to drink its blood. He accidentally abducted Ron instead, who had dressed up as a unicorn for Hallowe'en. Harry then had to choose a costume to both ease past memories and save Ron.
Harry and the Potters - Where’s Ron? (featuring Kimya Dawson)	12 June 2019	For Harry and the Potters' new album "Lumos".

Live performances[]

Yule Ball: a two-part adventure featuring favourite characters. There were many songs, including a puppeteer screwing up Ron and Hermione's voices.
Yule Ball 2010: Live episode of Snape hosting a Christmas pageant with Harry, Ron, and Hermione competing for the crown.
Yule Ball 2011: Taking place in the climax of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Harry looks back on the darker points of his life before he surrenders to Voldemort.

Songs[]

"Avada Kedavra" performed by Lord Voldemort.
"The Spell of Love" performed by Albus Dumbledore.
"Like Snape" performed by Severus Snape.
"The Mysterious Ticking Noise" performed by the entire cast.
"Harry Potter!" performed by Harry with 'shoobee doo wop' performed by Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore.
"Draco Likes..." performed by Harry Potter.
"Happy Hogwarts Birthday" performed by all Hogwarts students, led by Albus Dumbledore and with the lyrics on-screen.
"Apparate" performed by Harry Potter.
"Where's Ron" performed By Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Severus Snape.

Spells[]

Pantiloonious Poopacus (Wizard Angst): Causes Snape to create his 'Greatest Potion' (he defecates in his pants).
Ronicus Explodicus (Trouble at Hogwarts Easter egg): Causes Ron's head to explode off his body.
Pituitarius Shrinkidinkius (The Vortex): Causes Ron's pituitary gland to shrink thus, backtracking his development and rewinding his going through puberty, turning Ron into his original character.
Avada Kedavra (Bothering Snape, Trouble at Hogwarts, Yule Ball, & Ginny): The Killing Curse, but it doesn't seem to be permanent as Harry, Ron and Snape have been cast with it and they both simply returned to life without explanation. The spell requires great training and Snape failed to cast it in "Trouble in Hogwarts", but in the next episode, he killed Harry and Ron with it.
Expecto Patronads (Wizard Swears): Used by Harry when Snape hears Harry, Ron, and Hermione saying wizard swears. Not a real spell, it was used as a distraction to get away from Snape. A play on the real spell Expecto Patronum (and also, on the word gonads).
Neville Self-destruct (Neville's Birthday): Causes Neville to explode, hence killing himself. He returned as a ghost in the end.

Behind the scenes[]

"The Mysterious Ticking Noise" won the YouTube Comedy Award in 2007.^[2]
"The Mysterious Ticking Noise" has over 100 million views on YouTube as of April 6, 2011.
Modified portions of "Hedwig's Theme" are played at the beginnings of most Potter Puppet Pals videos.
An indirect reference to Twilight is made in "Snape's Diary" when Ron asks about Snape's diary, "Is it a young adult vampire romance novel?"
Dumbledore reveals himself to be not only be an android, but a gay android, likely a reference to his being revealed as a homosexual by J. K. Rowling.
The Potter Puppet Pals was a parody/mockery of Harry Potter, and has non-canon material.
Harry's saxophone appears in two episodes, "School is for Losers" and "Yule Ball".
Neville is often mistaken for a potato instead of a butter nut squash.
In the first three episodes, two were animations and one was similar to the current series. They were instead done at a sofa and don't have the introduction shown on a sign, while Snape always introduces himself as: "I am Snape, the Potions Master".
In "Moustache Buddies", Harry Potter tells Snape to "kill it" while things were being thrown at him.
In "Ginny", Harry describes Ginny as "hot, like a stove, like a zesty pepper" and "beautiful, like a Thomas Kinkade painting."

Wizard swears[]

In the episode "Wizard Swears", the web show states that wizards have their own swears. In "Neville's Birthday", they introduced new swears. The swears they invented in order of appearance:

Cauldron bum
Son of a banshee
Swish and flicker
Voldemort's nipple
Dragon bogeys
Expecto patronads
Rabble Rousers
Jiggery-pokery
Blast-ended skank
Broomhead
Hagrid's buttcrack (Neville's swear that offended Harry, who then asked Neville to leave.)
Leprechaun taint
Unicorn turd
Muggle f***ing troll-s**t
Floppy-wanded dementor buggerer
Dobby's sock
"The Elder Swear" (Your mother is a f*****ing ******lorem ipsum ********admitem venium **************traguna *******hippopotamus *************Republican ****************ng Daniel Radcliffe *****************with a bucket of ****************in a castle far away where no one can hear you **********************soup! ************with a bucket of d**************Mickey Mouse *************and a stick of dynamite *******magical ***************************************************************Alakazam!)
Goblin crotch
"What the slash fic?"

Notes and references[]

External links[]

[1] Potter Puppet Pals on Twitter - "The Mysterious Ticking Noise turns 10 today. Here's an updated version in glorious 4k!"

[2] Potter Puppet Pals wins at 2007 YouTube Awards

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