A Very Potter Musical and its appropriately named sequel, A Very Potter Sequel, are musicalparodies of the Harry Potter books that were written and performed by Team Star Kid (a group of former and current students of the University of Michigan) and released as a series of videos on their YouTube channel. The plots mash together a lot of elements from all the books in the series, but the musicals are very much their own work, with unique subplots and very unique takes on the characters, so unique that a character page can be found here. They run on Rule of Funny and Rule Of Cool almost exclusively, and definitely aren't afraid to take Refuge in Audacity.A Very Potter Musical (performed and later released in 2009) begins with Harry's second year at Hogwarts. Professor Quirrell, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, reinstates the House Cup Tournament, and a champion from each House is chosen to compete. But when Voldemort uses the tournament to fulfill a plot to return to his body, things take a turn for the grim for Harry and his friends, who must find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes before it's too late. The story takes most of its elements from books 1, 4, 6, and 7.A Very Potter Sequel (performed and released in 2010*
after the video of the show was first premiered at Infinitus, a Harry Potter convention
) begins immediately after the events of the first story, when Lucius Malfoy decides to use a time turner to go back to Harry's first year at Hogwarts and kill him before he can defeat Voldemort. As Harry, Ron, Hermione, Malfoy and the rest of the characters meet for the first time, Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban and the Ministry of Magic responds by sending Delores Umbridge to the school to watch out for Harry, and Remus Lupin also comes to Hogwarts to take up the job of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Its story is mostly from books 1, 3, and 5.If you are a fan of this work, it is highly recommended you also check out Little White Lie, Me and My Dick, and Starship which were also written and produced by Team Star Kid. You can visit the Team StarKid store to get the soundtrack of A Very Potter Musical for free, as well as links to where you can buy some of their other music or totally awesome t-shirts.Recently, Team Star Kid announced their plans for a third Very Potter Musical. Their intention was to stage and premiere the threequel in the four-and-a-half months between Starship and the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2. However, the availability of Darren Criss (who plays Harry and writes the majority of Team Star Kid's music) was in question since he was cast as a regular on Glee, and the project was indefinitely postponed... until it was announced at the StarKid Funtastic Slamaganza that it has been rescheduled for some point in 2012.The musicals have a Character Sheet.
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A Very Potter Musical
The Ace: Cedric Diggory, who looks and sounds exactly like the typical Disney prince.
"Join me next week, where my guest will be a pterodactyl."
American Accents: Dumbledore, Molly, the exposition newsies, and some of the extra Death Eaters all have Jewish New Yorker accents. Cho has an over-the-top Dixie accent, and Lavender Brown speaks like a Valley Girl.
Despite Draco's statement to the contrary, Mars has an atmosphere. It's not one humans could breathe in, being mostly carbon dioxide, but hey.
Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: Draco wants a "galaxy-traversing rocketship" to get to Mars. It's... sort of unnecessary to need a ship which can traverse the entire galaxy when you're going to a planet in the same solar system as Earth.
Ass Kicks You: When Draco tries to horn in on Harry and Ron's Man Hug, Ron does this to him.
Beam Me Up, Scotty!: Cedric's accentuation of the word "find". He actually only says it once.
He only says the word "find" by itself once. The rest of the time he works it into the conversation.
Cedric: Tell me more about this Pigfarts. I find it to be very interesting.
Beta Couple: Cho and Cedric, who despite being initially set up as a Love Triangle scenario with Harry and Ginny, are actually a very happy and loving couple... for the time being.
Betty and Veronica: Harry (Archie), Ginny (Betty), and Cho (Veronica). Cho (Archie), Harry (Veronica), and Cedric (Betty). Hermione (Archie), Ron (Betty), and Draco (Veronica). Voldemort (Archie), Bellatrix (Veronica), and Quirrell (Betty-Just Friends though...maybe).
Note that the Archie ends up with the Betty in all of these. Until Cedric dies, of course.
Well, most likely. Quirrell/Voldemort is under the banner of bromance, but right down to the language they use they're fooling no one. We never do see Voldemort lusting after another guy, though, while he definitely mentions other women besides Bellatrix. Could be a case of If It's You, It's Okay.
Book Ends: "Back to Hogwarts" is the opening song and is also played over the credits.
Bowdlerization: Apparently, there is a version that is somewhat raunchier than what was put up on the internet. They didn't cut a whole lot and the play will by no means stop being hilarious without it, though admittedly one of the scenes cut was probably the funniest.
They did put it on the internet, but took it down and replaced it with the family-friendlier version after it started to go viral and kids were watching it. Of course, some of us had already downloaded the original by then... It includes such gems as:
Dumbledore: Severus Snape and I share a kind of love that I don't think you will every fully understand, Harry. I would give him the clothes off my back. I would share my bed with him. If a snake bit him, I would suck out the poison. Even if that snake happened to accidentally bite him on the wiener.
Several scenes later, after Snape takes a snake to the... well, trouser snake.
Harry: Well, someone's gotta suck out the poison.
Ron and Draco: Ohh.. no. Nope. No.''
Snape: I wish Dumbledore were here...
Harry: Okay, I mean, well - Hermione, do your thing.
Ron: No, no, no, no! I think we should just let Snape die - sorry - and go on with our lives.
And let's not forget Snape's "What the devil is going on here?"
"Did somebody say (name of the character)?"
And there's always Snape's "That's ABSURRRRRD."
Draco consistently delivers the word "Mars" as "Maaaaaaaaaaars."
"(Number-usually twenty) points from Gryffindor." Even when it's Draco's fault.
And "Jelly-legs Jinx!"
Character Development: A surprising amount of it (Harry, Draco, Ron, Ginny, Voldemort...), and part of what makes the show not just a good parody but a great story.
Chekhov's Gun: The part of Voldemort's soul inside Quirrell.
Clark Kenting: Dumbledore's fake brown beard (which he pops on over his own beard...) makes him utterly unrecognizable.
Cloudcuckoolander: No shortage of them. Draco, for example, is always slithering everywhere, always talking about some school called Pigfarts ... on Mars ... run by a lion... who can talk... named Rumbleroar.
The writhing on the floor was remarkably reminiscent of Tobias Funke's 'falling and then pretending it was deliberate by assuming strange position'. Some of the deliveries on Cedric's lines also had the Tobias vibe to them. It could be a small homage to Arrested Development by using some of the absurd but hilarious slapstick that worked for AD.
I thought the lounging was referencing Draco's tendency to lounge on any available trees/couches in the movies. Either way, it's hilarious.
Lauren, the girl who plays Draco, actually said that the tripping and rolling around on the ground is how she portrayed how Draco is; always trying to make himself look cool, eventually tripping over himself but tries in the end to make it look like it was intentional.
The Cuckoolander Was Right: Pigfarts exists and has been a closely-guarded secret for hundreds of years.
Coconut Superpowers: Floo Powder consists of running in a circle shouting "Floo Powder Power!", while Portkeys are running in a circle shouting "Portkey!"
Disapparating involves shouting "Disapparate!" and running offstage while everyone looks confused about where you went.
In the films, the conjoined Voldemort/Quirrel was portrayed using CGI. In this show, it's portrayed by... the two actors standing back-to-back beneath a gigantic robe.
Composite Character: Draco has some elements of Luna Lovegood. Snape also takes the place of Peter Pettigrew. Cho and Malfoy take the place of Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum during the House Tournament, and Quirrell fufills the role of Barty Crouch Jr. Lavender Brown and Pansy Parkinson become Ravenclaws in order to give Cho her Girl Posse.
Draco also semi-fulfills the Victor Krum role by getting into a love triangle with Hermione and Ron during the Yule Ball.
Harry: That's because he's dead you dumb motherf...
Dark Mistress: Bellatrix. and unlike her literary counterpart, she actually is Voldemort's girlfriend.
Dark Reprise: Inverted. "Different As Can Be" was peppy enough the first time, but the reprise is absolutely euphoric (even though they're singing about murdering Harry.)
It's really more of a subversion. "Different As Can Be" was a song about a quirky relationship between two people who just happen to be villains. The reprise is about the happiness of them learning to get along, except they still just happen to be evil.
A more straight example of the "sarcastic echo" variant occurs during Draco's solo in "Back To Hogwarts". Everyone else is thrilled to be back, but he's switching the solo melody to a minor key and singing about his future takeover of the world. Needless to say, it's played for laughs.
Next year, you bet, gonna get out of here,
The reign of Malfoy is drawing near
I'll have the greatest wizard career
And it's gonna be totally awesome.
Look out, world, for the dawn of the day
When everyone will do whatever I say!
And Potter won't be in my way
And then I'll be the one who is totally awesome!
Death by Adaptation: Cornelius Fudge. His ultimate fate is unknown in the books, but he was alive in his last appearance. In the musical he's killed by Voldemort in his takeover of the Ministry, making this version of Fudge a Composite Character of Fudge and Rufus Scrimgeour.
Death of the Hypotenuse: Subverted. Cedric dies, leaving Cho available. But by then Harry's pretty much over her.
Description Cut: Done several times when Dumbledore assures people of Snape's true allegiance.
Devil in Plain Sight: Done for laughs with Quirrell's turban. Also, Snape in general, especially in act 2 thanks to a certain incident.
Did Not Do The Bloody Research: Draco, one of the few characters that actually had a British accent, mentions that Voldemort would fold his knickers. Although knickers means pants in the US, in Britian it's used to refer to ladies underwear ]
Dope Slap: Ron uses an unusual Dope Slap where he slaps his hands together right in front of Ginny's face whenever he berates him. Apparently he gets it from his mother, who can do it so well that it cascades down her line of children.
Hermione: Snape just happened to pick you out of hundreds if not five possible Gryffindors.
All the students that aren't Gryffindors or Draco double as miscellaneous death eaters. Draco and Cho Chang are also the dragon Harry fights. Molly and Pansy are the same actress, Cedric reincarnates as Cornelius Fudge, Goyle is also Rumbleroar, and the newspaper-sellers are Bellatrix, Cho, Lavender Brown, and Goyle.
Epic Song: "Get Back to Hogwarts" and "Voldemort is Going Down".
Equal-Opportunity Evil: Unlike their movie counterparts, the Death Eaters have much more women and other minorities among their ranks.
Harry: "Hey guys, well, I guess all the professors are dead, so... Butterbeers on me!"
Also:
Molly: I came down here with the rest of the Order; Lupin, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Sirius, and your brother Fred.
Ron: Oh awesome, where are they?
Molly: They're all dead.
Estrogen Brigade Bait: Voldemort after he gets his body back. Even before you get a look at those abs there were plenty of comments saying "Voldemort is...hot?"
Subverted slightly in that only the guys want Zefron.
Everyoneis Bi: One could asume this about almost all of the male characters. Every male character gets at least 1 Hoyay moment with another male character. The only named and not one-scene male character who escapes this is probably Cedric.
Evil Brit: The nice guys keep the actors' American accents and the bad guys have Fake Brit ones.
Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Most of the spells used are performed, not by saying magic words, but by saying the name of the spell.
Goyle: "I can't believe I couldn't figure out that the countercurse was just Unjellify!"
Voldemort: I'm willing to offer you positions in my new world order... [aside] ...as my slaves.
Final Love Duet: The very end of the show, when Quirrell and Voldemort are reunited. Subverted in that it's not the two of them singing, but the rest of the company.
First Name Basis: You know how Voldemort usually insists everyone call him "Dark Lord" or something to that effect? Quirrel's the exception.
Voldemort: Okay, just relax with the "Dark King"... I watch you wipe your butt daily. You can call me Voldemort. We're there. We've reached that point.
The Hero: Harry. Was he ever going to be anything else?
The Lancer: Draco. Constantly trying to be as cool as Harry and failing. He has a heart but he doesn't show it off often. He also serves as the Sixth Ranger as he joined the group later and teased with being evil beforehand.
The Smart Guy: Hermione. She is the Only Sane Man after all. And she's the only person to study at Hogwarts at all.
The Big Guy: Ron. He can also be considered The Lancer but he is definitely the group's muscle.
The Chick: Ginny. In addition to being the Love Interest, she genuinely cares for everyone in the group (even Draco, who no one else can stand) and inspires Harry when no one else can.
Flat Earth Atheist: Fudge tells Voldemort to his face that he doesn't believe he's back, and insists his death by Avada Kedavra is a heart attack.
Foot Popping: Ginny does this during her and Harry's first kiss.
Foot Focus: Quirrell is barefoot while in his Azkaban uniforn
Foreshadowing: Considering the play wastes no time in lampshading the practice of foreshadowing with Snape's pop quiz on Portkeys and dramatic devices, it's impressive just how much effective foreshadowing there is: Voldemort's love of Zac Efron and Malfoy's reference towards Hermione being Ron's "stupid Mudblood girlfriend" to name two examples.
After the whole 'Dark King' business.
Voldemort: "We're there! We've reached that point!"
Harry's guitar when Ginny is singing "Harry". The audience's outbreak of laughter at the seemingly innocent scene says it all.
Dumbledore's description of Quidditch.
Friendship Moment: Many, many between Voldemort and Quirrell. Ron and Harry have one after the Horcrux is destroyed, and Ron and Hermione coming to join in on the "Not Alone" song counts as well.
Good Is Not Nice: The heroes are still heroic but act like major douchebags in their time off, while Voldemort himself is actually a very personable guy when he's not putting on a threatening facade.
Groin Attack: Snape gets one with a snake, in a twist of his original death.
Ham-to-Ham Combat: Act 2, part 2 has Draco, Voldemort, and Snape together on one stage — this scene was the original inspiration for the trope, in fact.
Harmless Villain: Considering how much everyone hates and makes fun of Draco, it's worth noting that up until the point where he conspires with Voldemort to smuggle the Death Eaters into Hogwarts he never actually does anything that evil. He just snarks at Harry's group, calls them names and is a general nuisance. True, one of those names was a racist slur but it was still just a name (and he gets his comeuppance for it immediately). It's no wonder he does a Face Heel Turn when you consider how everyone has treated him up to that point.
He Who Must Not Be Seen: Despite being mentioned, Hagrid never appears onstage. A couple other characters get this treatment as well (i.e. The Patil twins).
Moaning Myrtle is referenced in both musicals. She seems to be the ultimate standard against which uncoolness is measured.
Lupin, Tonks, Made-Eye Moody, Sirius, and Fred, are mentioned but are already dead by that time.
Hook Hand: Snape gets one. It is, of course, thoroughly ridiculous.
Hufflepuff House: Lampshaded of course! Ravenclaw also gets this treatment but nowhere near to the extent of Hufflepuff.
Cedric: Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders!
Dumbledore: What the hell is a Hufflepuff?
Ho Yay: It definitely turns into this from Heterosexual Life Partners during some moments. Mostly in Act 2, where Voldemort spends the whole time getting no pleasure from killing after betraying Quirrell, and calls Bellatrix Quirrell on many occasions.
Quirrell: You came back?
Voldemort: I came home.
One scene in Act 2 has Snape complimenting Voldemort on his new body and then basically giving him a backrub
In the Director's Cut, when Ron is under the invisibility cloak behind Harry, his "wand" digs into Harry's back and...let's just say that Ron "relieved" himself two times while in that position.
Hypocritical Humor: Harry tries to stand up to Draco, who immediately orders his brute to defend him, dives under a bench (hanging under it upside down) and declares "Not so tough now, are you, Potter?"
Quirrell mocks Harry while manipulating him via the Imperius Curse, for looking like a girl. It would be funny enough with Quirrel's prior characterization if not for the fact that moments later, Voldemort spins him as part of their dance routine.
Implausible Deniability: Fudge refuses to believe that Voldemort is back. Even when he's right in front of Fudge. Killing him. "Ooh, a heart attack!"
Ignored Epiphany: Voldemort, during his final confrontation with Harry Potter. He even breaks the fourth wall by pointing his wand at the guy playing the emotional background music and thus silencing him.
I Meant to Do That: Word Of God says this is the reason Draco rolls around on the floor. He strikes a pose to look cool, messes it up...then tries to make the messing up look like part of the plan.
Improbable Age: Despite the romantic subplots and the fact that his actor is obviously college age, Harry says, on multiple occasions, "I'm just a twelve-year-old kid!" It probably references that it's supposedly happening during Harry's second year. For those who haven't seen the movies, it's also a refference to the obvious difference between the actor(Daniel Radcliffe)'s age and that of Harry, the character he plays. Take a look at the obvious five-o-clock shadow on that "15" year old kid.
Ginny: Yeah but the whole point of Spider-Man 2 was that Peter and MJ could be together.
Harry: Yeah but the whole point of Spider-Man 3 is that that all goes to shit! And I don't want my life to be like Spider-Man 3, I hated that movie.
"I Want" Song: "Get Back to Hogwarts" has elements of this, especially Draco's part. Draco tries to sing a more standard one about Pigfarts, but Musicalis Interruptus prevents us from hearing more than a couple lines. Also,"Granger Danger"
Jerkass/Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ron, Dumbledore, and even Harry to a subtler extent display some (hilariously) jerkish behavior, especially toward Hermione and Ginny. However, it's all for humor and a major part of why the play works...it's much more poignant when they do act nice. Ron in fact acknowledges this behavior:
Large Ham: Voldemort, Draco, and especially Snape. Dumbledore slips into this occasionally.
Late Arrival Spoiler: The musical spoils a bunch of major plot points in the series.
Probably the best example of this is during Mrs. Weasley's scene where she kills Bellatrix, who just killed Snape, and then proceeds to spoil almost every major death in the series.
Draco: Perfect! You're going to the dance with me.
Love Redeems: For Voldemort—ironic, huh? And for Draco too, sort of.
Love Triangle: The show has a couple with Ron and Draco being in love with Hermione, pining from afar. The other relationship is slightly more complicated with Ginny liking Harry who likes Cho who is dating Cedric. It's resolved once Harry realizes he loves Ginny back. Bellatrix and Voldemort are previously involved before Voldemort loses his body, and an attempt is made to rekindle the relationship that fails due to Voldemort's new, ahem, friendship with Quirrell.
Mondegreen: A dialogue example. Many viewers first thought Dumbledore's line "Why'd you have to invite the fatties?" was "Why'd you have to invite the faggies "
Mood Whiplash: several, most of them from Act 2. A notable one is when Voldemort kills Harry, the mood surprisingly dark and dramatic for the play. It goes back to humour the minute the kill is over.
Most of the deaths are with humor undercutting the scene to try to avoid this but you will get major whiplash during Dumbledore's. Immediately following is a comical scene that leads up to probably the saddest song in the show: Missing You. Your neck will ache.
Hell, that song itself is an epic Mood Whiplash. Harry's verse is excellent at conveying his loneliness, while Quirrell's part is mainly played for laughs.
There's also, late in Act 1, the scene where Quirrel is betrayed by Voldemort and tortured by Bellatrix, punctuated with jokes about She's All That.Ouch.
Moral Guardians: After the musical became popular, its creators edited a few lines out of it to tone it down to a more PG-13 tone. Some of the trope entries here refer to the old version of the play.
Mr. Exposition - Dumbledore and Snape at times; Rita in the sequel is a very glaring example given how awkwardly forced it sounds in context.
Voldemort: Well, I believe everything has it's place. Muggles have their place... Mudbloods have their place... and So. Do. Your. Clothes! Namely, A DRESSER!
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: If Malfoy is to be believed which he should be, because he's right, Pigfarts is a wizard school on Mars and the headmaster is a wizard lion named Rumbleroar.
Who can TALK.
And lets good students and Dumbledore ride on his back.
No Fourth Wall: This trope rears its head a few times, the most egregious example being Ron getting a snack from one of the musicians.
An almost literal example is in Act 2 when the students barricade the door to the castle. Voldemort just walks around it.
He about a minute later then threatens one of the musicians when they're playing sad music to make him feel remorse.
Harry: There's gotta be one person, one thing in your life that you miss that you regret. (sad music plays)
Voldemort: Well... Maybe there's one... NO! (points wand at musician, who raises his hands in surrender) There isn't!
Snape points to the audience and adresses them directly in the begining of the show.
Non-indicative Name: Ginny assumes the only Asian girl in the cast is Cho Chang. Turns out that's Lavender Brown and Cho is a white girl with an extremely Southernaccent.
Considering that certain props and allusions make it clear that this version is set in the present day, and "freshman year" is mentioned, it can be assumed that the musical both modernizes and Americanizes the books in order to create humor.
Snape and Draco aren't exactly trying either - Snape in particular sometimes sounds less like he's British and more like he's constantly passing a kidney stone.
Snape sounds like Stewie Griffin. Who is supposed to sound like Rex Harrison, so there you go.
Molly Weasley shows up just to do her scene with a Jewishaccent.
RUMMMBLEROAR!
Only Sane Man: Hermione, at the beginning, but Harry gets his turn at the beginning of act two.
Original Cast Precedent: Sometimes played straight (Lupin's mustache and Lucius' long blond hair, for instance, are carried over from the films) and sometimes subverted (Neville is blond, as the book character is according to Word Of God, rather than dark-haired like in the movies).
Paper-Thin Disguise: Dumbledore's beard (worn over his normal beard), Quirrel's turban, and the sparkly, hot pink Invisibility Cloak, which almost covers the Trio's shoulders.
Precision F-Strike: "I love you all. Except you Draco, I can't fucking stand you."
Race Lift: Cho Chang is a southern white girl (played for humor because of her name.) Likewise, Lavender Brown is now an Asian girl.
Bellatrix is played by a black actress, but it doesn't alter how the charatcer is portrayed.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: "No! There isn't! The joke's on you Potter, I don't care about anybody!" "I know. And that's why you're such a piece of shit."
Voldemort's pre-Avada Kedavra speech to Harry is straight from the finale of Avatar The Last Airbender. Ironically, this seems to be the one dramatic moment the audience doesn't reflexively laugh at.
Ginny tells Harry, "We kissed at the Yule Ball, and, well, I thought we were going to be together forever.... but we're not." This is almost identical to what Aang says to Katara in The Ember Island Players (though he refers to the invasion of the Fire Nation).
And the scene when Ron and Hermione first kiss is the scene between Aang and Katara before the fire nation invasion where Aang kisses Katara. The dialogue leading up to the kiss is almost identical.
Voldemort (in the Zefron poster) shouts "You gotta get'cha head in the game, Weasley!" which is a reference to a High School Musical song, "Getcha Head In the Game". And no, I am not ashamed to know that.
"How many times do I have to kill you, boy?" from their second confrontation is a direct quote from Disney's Aladdin.
When Harry and Ginny are dancing they quote from Anastasia, "We've stopped spinning."
"You came back?!" "I came home!" is a quote from Tarzan, though it's used even more dramatically here.
Dumbledore's description of what would happen if Harry didn't compete in the tournament, and Hermione's reaction — "Total protonic reversal!" — is a Ghostbusters reference.
Goyle's big scene is a shout-out to Billy Madison: "Oh, Goyle rules!"
When questioned about Snape, Dumbledore recites a variation of what the soldiers in The Manchurian Candidate were programmed to say about Raymond Shaw.
Word Of God says that "Voldemort is Going Down" was originally meant to be modeled after "Now or Never" from High School Musical 3, complete with basketball showdown. The creators have said they are High School Musical fans.
And, of course, a lot to the Harry Potter books, specially bits and characters that aren't really in the Musical.
"It's like the movie She's All That! Do you remember? We watched that together."
In the background of one scene, Goyle does that... thing the Globo Gym Cobras do in Dodgeball. You'll know it when you see it.
Goyle seems to be channeling Ogre when growling "NERDS!"
Draco's rolling around on the floor could be seen as a reference to Fitzwilliam from The Big Gay Sketch Show, also an English schoolboy (and coincidentally also played by a girl).
It's more of a shoutout to the way Tobias from Arrested Development always rolls around when he messes up a pose and trys to make it look like intentional.
One Death Eater's nickname for Dumbledore is Bumblesnore, which sounds suspiciously like "Bulbasaur".
Harry and Ginny's and Ron and Hermione's in AVPS romance is compared to Spider-Man and Mary Jane.
The guitar intro to "Granger Danger" is exactly the same as the intro to the Suzanne Vega song "Marlene on the Wall".
Several times, you can hear lines sung to tunes from Wicked. "Different As Can Be" gives us the lines "We share some hands and fingers" "and yet, the feeling lingers" lines sound very much like part of "What Is This Feeling". Arguably, even, Voldemort and Quirrell could be seen as Elphaba and G(a)linda. "To Dance Again" gives us the line "And when I'd start to sway/I'd get carried away", which is a near quote from "Wonderful".
The melody of "To Dance Again" is also identical in tune to "Wonderful" at the beginning of their chorus part.
Wizard of Oz: Won-derful.
Voldy: To dance agaaaaaiiiiin.
"Never tell a girl you like her, it makes you look like an idiot" could be a reference to line by Daniel Desario in an episode of Freaks and Geeks.
When Cedric is introduced he pushes the Trio+Ginny to the floor parodying the scene in GOF where Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny crash to the ground after using the portkey and Cedric lands perfectly like the perfect mr perfect he is.
The sequel inplies that he's actually trying to replicate his dad's style of dancing around.
Small Name, Big Ego: Draco is a petite blonde soprano who struts around bragging about the most nonsensical of things, while attempting to strike cool poses and failing epically. His overall manner is so bizarre that Harry and friends have trouble responding to his bullying.
Smooch of Victory: After defeating Voldemort, Harry and Ginny have a moment of wild abandon. Ron is totally okay with it.
"When I rule the world, I'll have flowers!" "When I rule the world I'll have...snakes!"
Suspiciously Specific Denial: Draco would never, ever take Hermione to the Yule Ball. Ever. Not even if they were the last couple on Earth and she looked so beautiful in her ballgown that every time he looked at her he got butterflies in his tummy. Not even then.
Ron: If I had a Horcrux, I would drop it in the bottom of the ocean. Or I would put it in a pyramid with King Tut and all of his jewels. Or I would blast it into space with a monkey who knew nothing about Horcruxes.
Hermione: Or it could be hidden somewhere around the mundane British countryside. Our search could entail months of depressing camping, breaking into Gringotts, and drinking boatloads of Polyjuice Potion.
Harry: Well, the medallion says that's dumb, so we're not gonna do that.
They don't pull any punches on Polyjuice Potion either. Or the Time-Turner.
Quirrell has a subtle one at the Triwizard Tournament from the book... in reference to there being two teams from Hogwarts:
Hermione: Kind of like a Triwizard Tournament!
Quirrell: Yes, sort of like the Triwizard Tournament, except no, not like that at all There are four houses, how can it be the Triwizard Tournament with four teams?
There's digs at other works too, such as the Spiderman movies and Lost.
This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: In addition to a paraphrase of Mrs. Weasley's famous line, we get "Voldemort out, bitches!"
Title Drop: Not with the play, but with the company and, perhaps accidentally, the company's YouTube account. When Draco is going on about Harry having a rocketship he says, "Moonshoes Potter? Starkid Potter."
Three Teacher School: The only teachers we see are Snape, Quirrell, and Headmaster Dumbledore. And all end up leaving the school.
Harry: Well, looks like all the professors are dead so... Butterbeers on me!
Two Act Structure: Despite the light-heartedness of the whole show, there's a noticeable change in tone for the second act that comes from following the events of the books.
It is probably unintentional but the structure of the two acts seems to be an invert of the structure of RENT. In Rent, the first act is set on one night and the second is an entire year. In this show the first act is set in the first half of a school year (from arrival to Christmas) where the second act takes place on one day.
This somewhat mirrors the events in the final book, where the first 25 chapters (roughly just more than half of the book) encompass nearly nine months, and the last 11 chapters comprise two days of action.
Unholy Matrimony: Voldemort and Bellatrix had this relationship, though it's seriously strained due to Voldemort's guilt over betraying Quirrell.
Unnecessary Combat Roll: Minus the combat. Basically, Draco is always trying to strike a cool pose but instead ends up falling on the ground. He then acts like he did it intentionally and ends up looking even more hilariously ridiculous.
Villainous BSOD: Voldemort spends most of the second act in one over his betrayal of Quirrell, though he's surprisingly casual about it.
Villains Out Shopping: Voldemort's first scene has him bickering with Quirrell about laundry.
Villain Song: "Dance Again", which starts with Voldemort tap dancing and ends with a Death Eater kick line.
Draco's solo during "Goin' Back To Hogwarts" ("This year you bet I'm gonna get outta here / the reign of Malfoy is drawing near"), though not really any other times he sings, as he's nicer by that point.
Visual Pun: Another possible interpretation of what it is Malfoy's always doing: "slitherin'".
Voldemort: Quirrell, we are going to get you laid.
A Very Potter Sequel
Actor Allusion: Darren Criss refers to his actual hobby of covering Disney songs.
Harry: ...I make weird covers of Disney songs, who does that?
Harry also gets sorted as Metrosexual which is quite amusing considering how Camp Straight Darren Criss actually is.
Both in A Very Potter Sequel and Me and My Dick Nicholas Joseph Strauss-Mathathia's character leaves in the end of the play, and even uses the exact same piece of dialogue: "I could travel the world. I've always wanted to see Venice."
Actress Brittany Coleman plays Dean Thomas, who sounds just like Gary Coleman.
Arc Words: The idea of "going back to Hogwarts" goes from a callback to the original musical, to an allusion to all the time travel, to a final speech about returning to Hogwarts each year that highlights the specialness of Harry Potter and Starkid fandoms themselves.
Draco: I am Draco Malfoy. I am a racist, I despise gingers and mudbloods, I hate Gryffindor house and my parents work for the man who killed your parents. Do you want to be my friend?
Harry: You hate Gryffindor house? Get out of my face, Malfoy!
Attractive Bent Gender: The best way to do this trope... THE UMBRIDGE WAY! Okay, who put the extremely well muscled, very handsome guy*
Joe Walker
into the short, tight pink dress with cut-off sleeves? Don't look at me like that, his muscles ripple through the shirt! This costume for Umbridge is almost as distracting as his shirtless costume for Voldemort!
Author Filibuster: Brilliantly used at the end before "Get Back to Hogwarts" to provide praise for the source material. Think of Hogwarts as a metaphor for the Harry Potter series.
Harry: We spent time here, we made friends here, and that's a part of us. 'Cause Hogwarts is bigger than us, it's bigger than any of its founders. And it's gonna be around long after we're gone. Maybe we'll see our kids come here one day. That's the thing about Hogwarts: no matter how long you're away from it, there's always a way back.
Blatant Lies: "....Yes! Probably the work....of that infamous Hogwarts jaguar."
Book Ends: A "Back to Hogwarts" song - at the end, a reprise of "Get Back to Hogwarts" from the original.
Brick Joke: "600 elves die in toilet related accidents every year."
Butt Monkey: Once again, HERMIONE, even more so than in her second year. And also Draco again. Neville is beaten up by Harry and the other students, because Cho is crying. Harry explicitly attacks Neville without any belief that he's responsible simply because it's simpler than finding out why.
Snape might also qualify, as he seems to get shot down at every opportunity, in addition to being repeatedly called a "butt trumpet".
Umbridge: Guess who gets to be Headmaster/Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher now?
The Scarf of Sexual Preference and the Sorting Hat are set up for their wedding and honeymoon.
Sirius is the one to tell the boys to never tell a girl you like her, it makes you look like an idiot.
At the end, Dumbledore discusses the candidates to replace Lupin as DADA teacher.
"I've got it down to Gilderoy Lockhart, Mad-Eye Moody, and some fella named SQUIRREL! Now I don't want anyone dangerous, so I think I'm gonna go with the Squirrel."
Luna Lovegood's absence in the original is explained.
There are some jokes about Pigfarts and Rumbleroar, which are left unexplained when Draco tries to pass them off as mature things that Past!Ron is too young to understand. Luna seems to have already read about Pigfarts from the Quibbler.
Dumbledore invites Umbridge to take a dip in Hogwarts' secret swimming pool; this is after the waiter at a restaurant refers to them as two "Strapping young gentlemen."
Dumbledore's first line is "Draco, ya little shit!"
Shortly followed by "Call me Dumbledore, or else."
The blue headband Ron wore in AVPM is used by Harry to cover his scar. He later gives it to Ron.
Spider-Man is used again as an example during some heart-warming dialogue between Ron and Hermione.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, this timed joined by Yaxley, yet again call out less mainstream character names in order to figure out a mystery. In the first musical, it was who betrayed Hogwarts. In the sequel, it's who was Malfoy's father.
Ron says the line "We are in such a pickle."
Dumbledore restores the Zefron poster to it's place of glory at the end of the show.
Complete with Voldemort sticking his head through it. "It's good to be back."
"From now on, boy, you and me - we're tight."
Unlike Crabbe, Goyle and Lucius, Sirius knows that the countercurse to the Jelly-Legs Jinx is just "Unjellify!"
"I'm bleeding!"
Draco wants you to know that "He's really nice now!"
"Well chocolate frogs! Harry Potter did it y'all!"
In her first scene, Umbridge promises the girls that this year is gonna be "totally awesome".
Voldemort motorboated Bellatrix in AVPM; here, Snape says he wanted to do it to Lily.
Using magic to do something mundane: Ron using "Accio" on a double-stuff Oreo; Lupin using "Alohamora" to open his flask.
The reprise version of Get Back to Hogwarts.
The sting from Seinfeld playing whenever Ron enters a scene.
Harry and Ron insist that you can't have more than two friends, providing an explanation for why they were so reluctant to include Ginny in their adventures in AVPM. Ron also pushes Future Draco away from the Trio when they make contact just like he did with Ginny in AVPM.
Draco thinks Hogwarts is "going to the dogs".
Dumbledore is yet again described by Gryffindor students as "the wisest, kindest, most beautiful wizard."
Draco tries to sing a song again only for the stage lights to go down and him be cut off again.
Jim Povolo yet again plays a talking non-human who asks some characters to jump on his back before wistfully saying "To *insert wizarding school name here*!"
In his self-introduction, Malfoy admits that he's "a racist." That'd explain his "Go home, terrorist!" comment when he first meets Quirrel in AVPM.
Ron and Hermione's description of Dumbledore to Harry is nearly identical to Harry and Ron's description of Dumbledore to Hermione in AVPM, complete with the inclusion of the apparent line flub by Darren Criss
The very brief mention of house elves dying from potty-related accidents.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: So, did Cedric Diggory meet and fall in love with Cho Chang between her first and second year, in some Grease-like summer fling which continued on after he transferred to Hogwarts? (We know, of course, that it's because his actor is playing Lucius but still needs a mention).
Well, it could make sense, seeing as Harry doesn't know who Cedric Diggory is at the start of the original.
And where did Seamus and Dean disappear to during their second year?
Dumbledore, too, much more so than in the original.
Umbridge: "you chubby little f* ck!"
Coconut Superpowers: Apparently, time travel works by spinning around in place. Unlike Floo Powder, Apparation, and Portkeys, you don't have to yell TIME TURNER!
Continuity Nod: It's not mentioned but Dumbledore can be seen wearing his G-Unit bling which is actually a Horcrux seeking medallion.
Sirius' proclamation of "Harry, I am homeless," when Harry asks if he can live with him. Slightly subverted, since Sirius isn't really as crazy as, say, Lupin. But he's close.
Crosscast Role: In addition to the examples from the original, Dolores Umbridge is played by Joe Walker, the actor who played Voldemort. Dean Thomas is Britney Coleman who played Bellatrix Lestrange. When the kids go back in time, all their "past selves" except Ron are crosscast, which in Draco's case makes it a guy playing a girl playing a guy. Hermione was played by Richard Campbell,or Neville Longbottom, Harry was played by Sango Tajima, or Lavender Brown, and Draco was played by Jim Povolo or Goyle. Also, most of the Weasley boys are cross cast in their cameo, as they just cast all of the extra actors according to their height.
Death by Adaptation: Lucius Malfoy is implied to be killed by Werewolf!Lupin
Demoted to Extra: Ginny goes from main Love Interest to cameo character, as she wasn't a student that year. Her actress, Jamie Lyn Beatty, plays Rita Skeeter instead.
Even though he had a small enough role in the original, Neville's stagetime is now divided between him, Dean, and Seamus.
Averted with Tyler Brunsman. In AVPM, Cedric sings one verse of a song, dies before the end of the first act, and is little more than a rival with Harry for Cho's love. In the sequel however, he has no less than two songs and is a regular scene stealer as Lucius Malfoy.
Estrogen Brigade Bait: Lucius with his long hair, pants that are tighter than what scientists thought possible, and an army of death eaters stroking him sensually. Then there's the centaur... and Lupin who at one point lies on the ground coated in blood and wearing nothing but tight briefs.
As mentioned a number of times on this page, Joe Walker as Umbridge. Has his own fangirl brigade, which is kind of understandable. They keep putting the very attractive, well-muscled guy in tight/revealing clothing, even if it is Attractive Bent Gender of him.
Fan Disservice: The thought of Draco (or Lauren) being spanked is very hot. The thought of Draco being spanked because he has a messy diaper is not.
Your Mileage May Vary on how you perceive Joe Walker in makeup and a pink dress. Many people still found him insanely attractive and were impressed by the the fact that Mr. Walker shaved his legs and got a french manicure for the role, but some have found the character a little bit too strange (although they may just be disappointed that the role didn't require him to go shirtless).
Please disregard the above statement. Everyone knows that Joe Walker is sex on two legs.
Fandom Nod: Luna Lovegood's cameo and explanation to why we don't see her in the original.
It's explained why Dumbledore was able to Dissapperate inside Hogwarts in the first Musical when Umbridge questions it after his escape- he never did, he just seems to say "Dissapperate" whenever he leaves a room.
Fantastic Arousal: Firenze seems to have a case of this when Ron runs his hand down his mane and back.
Umbridge is played by Joe Walker, Voldemort. Voldemort killed Cedric, so obviously Umbridge would be Team Jacob.
Malfoy's main form of transportation is rolling and stumbling because he keeps trying to imitate his dad's main form of transportation — dancing — and keeps mucking it up.
The kids rarely swear at first, but curse like sailors in AVPM — it's because they learned it from Lupin.
Malfoy was concealing a sword in his robe until Umbridge forced him to remove his weapons. Presumably, he had either brought it with him from the future or had gone out of his way to obtain one once he went back in time. After all, as another future wizard stated in the last musical, "All wizards should use swords, not these stupid drumsticks!"
Even though the Patronuses aren't matched with their casters, it's obvious that Hal Jordan is Hermione's... after all, Spider-Man is only her second favorite superhero.
In the first musical, there is no mention of Deathly Hallows. That's because Umbridge snapped Dumbledore's Elder Wand in half.
In the original, the Dumbledore asks "What the hell is a Hufflepuff?", which is justified, because they are not mentioned once in the entirety of A Very Potter Sequel, unless you count Lupin referring to them as "Jigglypuff" at one point.
After the heroes realise that Scabbers isn't Peter Pettigrew, Ron reveals that they didn't kill him, but that he was already dead. Of course he was - in canon, that Scabbers has lived as long as he had was a clue that he wasn't a normal rat, which should have died years ago.
Draco's father wants him to stop his whining and learn to use the potty like a normal human.
Lucius to Draco: "If you were any kind of real man you'd finish me off yourself!"
Part this, and part Fridge Logic - Draco telling Hermione of his feelings for her means that she knew throughout AVPM that he'd end up falling for her within the year, and thus she was deliberately manipulating him at a couple of times. This actually makes sense, weirdly, though it makes Hermione one hell of an awesome manipulator.
It's subtle, but Lucius joins in with Snape when Snape is lamenting about how big a douchebag James was. This is odd, but later it makes sense when it is revealed that Narcissa, Draco's mother, had an affair with Dobby the house elf, which is how Draco was conceived.
When Dumbledore first mentions Quidditch, Dean Thomas says "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout Dumbledore?" The actress who plays Dean is named Britney Coleman.
Fridge Logic: Draco laments all the horrible things he did to Dobby, his biological father, which implies he was there throughout Draco's childhood. How long did Lucius wait to banish him after taking in Draco?
There are five spellcasters, but only four patronuses. Where's the fifth?
In canon, Word Of God says that Snape was the only Death Eater who could produce a Patronus. Whether or not the writers were even aware of this is questionable, but it's the most straightforward explanation out there.
Friendly Enemy: Ron & Snape, even more so than in the original. Even though he repeatedly says how much he hates Snape, they dance together and exchange high-fives during "Hermione Can't Draw", Snape leaps into Ron's arms when Sirius breaks into the castle, and Ron later tells Hermione that she may not be "...as fun as Harry, or as hot as Cho, or as cool as Snape..." in his Pet the Dog moment. He also asks "Snape?" hopefully both times Umbridge asks "Guess who the new Headmaster/Defense teacher is?"
Gag Penis: Centaurs. Ron has to see it for himself.
Remus Lupin: Oh shit! You guys are kids! I've got to watch my damn mouth around you little bastards! I'm sorry... Shoot! I've got to watch my damn mouth around you little bastards.
I need to interview for the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I've got it down to Gilderoy Lockhart, Mad-eye Moody and er, somebody called Squirrel. I don't want anybody dangerous though so I think I'm gonna go with the Squirrel.
Humiliation Conga: Literally, Hermione is humiliated and all the guys conga out of the room, singing about how she can't draw.
Draco: My name is Draco Malfoy. I am a racist. I despite gingers and mudbloods. I hate Gryffindor House, and my parents work for the man who killed your parents. Do you want to be my friend?
Harry: You hate Gryffindor House? Get out of my face, Malfoy!
Kick the Dog: Future!Draco lies to Past!Ron and tells him that he doesn't get Hermione.
You could also interpret that as Malfoy's statement making Ron realize he does want her, as part of the Stable Time Loop.
He doesn't seem to care too much about the Stable Time Loop when he talks to Hermoine alone right before the final scene. If she returned his feelings (which he clearly hopes she does) the loop would be interrupted.
Umbridge has a whole scene with the girls for this purpose but the moment that really does it is when she makes fun of Harry's parents.
Lucius crumpling up the drawing Draco gave him.
After Lucius' big revelation to Draco, he tries to torture him, but instead hits Hermione. After seeing how much this affects Draco, he continues to torture her simply to spite Draco.
Also, earlier in that scene
Lucius: Surrender yourself Potter, or I'll torture your friend.
Draco: Daddy! Daddy, it's me! Would you really torture your own son?
Lucius: Draco? ...Surrender yourself Potter, or I'll kill your friend!
Lame Excuse: When Rita Skeeter finds him in in his underwear and covered in deer blood, next to a freshly eviscerated deer, Lupin claims that it's a Gryffindor Quidditch tradition. He then forces a crying Neville to eat some of it to reinforce this.
Later he claims a jaguar is what caused all the damage the werewolf did... including messing up his office.
Remus Lupin: (coughs) Lupin shouldn't have to pay for that.
Lampshade Hanging: Constantly. There's even a bit of a metafictional one at the start, when Lucius laments that there "literally" isn't any way to move forward. This might refer to the writers being stuck in a corner by writing so much of Deathly Hallows into the first show without expecting to do a sequel, so they have to do (more or less) a prequel instead.
Large Ham: Snape, Lucius, Umbridge, Arthur, Rita Skeeter, and to a lesser extent, Firenze.
"Days of Summer", which morphs into a reprise of "Get Back to Hogwarts" at the end.
Metaphorgotten: During Ron's speech to Hermione about Spider-Man.
Mood Whiplash: Snape tells Dumbledore that "My actions caused the death of the only person I ever loved...", to which Dumbledore replies "Well my story's a hundred times funnier than that!"
In "Harry Freakin' Potter":
Harry: [sombre] But this is all so sad, I mean, my Mom and Dad were killed long ago...
Cheery background chorus: Long ago, they died!
After Lucius destroys Draco's picture, he exits by trust-falling into the arms of (and being dragged out by) a death eater.
At the end of "Stutter" when Harry tries to save Sirius from the Dementors.
"Guys Like Potter" has a very sad subject matter (Snape's worst memory) but the lyrics are hilarious.
Snape: "So many assholes in this place; so many assholes in my face!"
Lucius: "But now you're alone, left to pout and moan, 'cause you were totally pwned."
During the Mirror of Erised we start with a touching song, slip into a few quick spell jokes in the middle then its back into the, now, even more heartwarming song.
Mr. Exposition: Ron and Rita Skeeter both play this role in "Harry Freaking Potter".
Musicalis Interruptus: If you listen when the gang is singing, "Lupin Can't Sing", Lupin tried singing, "I'm Remus Freaking Lupin".
Also, once again Draco tries to sing a solo before the big quidditch game, but only is able to sing a few notes.
My Name Is Not Durwood: Type C. During their first year, nobody can get Hermione's name right, and the variations they come up with are quite hilarious. Harry finally gets it right while assuring Hermione that they really are friends, only to forget it again immediately once he realises this.
In their defense, "Hermione" is a hard name to pronounce. This troper used to pronounce it "HER-moyne" until book 4.
Lucius apparently doesn't know how to pronounce Draco's name. Unless, of course, Lucius is pronouncing it correctly and Draco is getting it wrong.
Mythology Gag: Since Sirius's Animagus ability is never mentioned in the musical, Rita Skeeter's description of him as a "murderous dog" is this instead of foreshadowing.
Never My Fault: "Look what you've done now Potter!!", says Draco after ripping his own drawing (that he had given to Harry to make fun of him, and then stolen back).
Non Identical Selves: When the kids go back in time and they see themselves in the past, they're all played by people in the play who look nothing like them. Draco is played by the tallest guy in the show*
Jim Povolo a.k.a Goyle
Hermione is played by a husky man*
Richard Campbell a.k.a Neville
, Ron is played by a much skinnier guy*
Brian Rosenthal a.k.a. Seamus
, and Harry is a petite Asian girl*
Sango Tajima a.k.a. Lavender Brown
in an afro wig.
Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Once again, almost everyone—Draco, Snape, and Lucius being exceptions. Also, Seamus Finnigan, whose main character trait in the books is being really really Irish, is played with an over-the-top cockney accent (intentionally for humor, of course). Rita Skeeter's accent also veers from Southern to New York, with a little English mixed in.
Not His Sled: Ron deliberately points out Scabbers during his first scene and mentions in a painfully offhand manner that his parents found the rat on the same night Harry's parents were killed. Everyone knows the "twist" that's coming, right...? Wrong. Scabbers has been dead for years and Peter Pettigrew was somehow hiding in a poster of Taylor Lautner.
Not so Different: Umbridge sees a younger version of herself in Hermione. This revelation causes Hermione to break down crying.
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Joe Moses (Snape) drops his over-the-top British accent during "Guys Like Potter" when he says "I don't need help from a filthy little Mudblood like her!" during the flashback about Lily and James in their school days. Although it might have been on purpose, i.e., he only became the bizarre and eccentric model we now see because he lost her.
Overly-Long Gag: When Harry goes into the train compartment with Professor Lupin, he opens the (imaginary) door, walks in and shuts it. A few moments later Ron comes along and engages in a complicated routine involving vault locks, thumbprint and retinal scanners, codes, door chains, more locks, keycards and two sets of doors to get into the same compartment. The routine is topped off when he finally makes it into the compartment and the sting from Seinfeld plays.
Pædo Hunt: When Umbridge accuses Lupin of doing inappropriate things with his students (teaching them about Patronuses) he exclaims "Cho, I was only joking!"
Paper-Thin Disguise: The Death Eaters when they try and kill Harry on the train and the Quidditch field. They even keep the distinctive Death Eater mask.
Politically Incorrect Villain: Draco's first scene has him casually admitting that he's a racist (who hates gingers, mudbloods, and Gryffindor house).
The most memorable line from "The Coolest Girl," also qualifies.
Precision F-Strike: Lucius. "Haven't you always wondered why you're afraid of the potty? Or why your "d" is so small? IT'S BEACUSE YOU'RE A FUCKING ELF!"
Harry: "A year ago, I was a Muggle doushebag living under some stairs. But now, I can fly, turn invisible... and I just travelled the f*ck back in time!"
"Did you get my text?" "Yes." "Well you didn't text me back."
"As James's best friend..."
Draco "learning to use the potty".
Someone insulting someone else in a ridiculously silly fashion, and then asking the insulted party if they feel foolish. (Usually Lupin.)
"Who looks stupid now? You do!"
Lupin's swearing causes all the kids to gasp and cover their ears... despite the fact pretty much everyone else swears.
People misidentifying Lupin in werewolf form as another kind of monster.
Lupin (and Sirius) calling Snape a "butt trumpet" (which he even admits to having in one scene).
Crookshanks popping out of nowhere.
People calling Hermione a "night troll".
Seamus's cursing. He keeps "Bloody" in there, but only uses the traditional "hell" once. He then follows it up with ass, tits, bitch, etc.
Snape trying to take empty jobs; he tries to get both Dumbledore's and Lupin's jobs, but they are both taken by Umbridge.
Umbridge: Now that Dumbledore's gone, guess who gets to be Headmaster now?
Snape: Me?
Ron: Snape?
Umbridge: NO! Me! Your mama, Umbridge!
The Scream: Dumbledore's reaction to finding out Umbridge is a woman.
Screw Yourself: After using the Time Turner, Harry's first thought upon seeing his past self is "Oh my God, I think I'm in love!"
Series Continuity Error: In AVPM, Lavender Brown & Pansy Parkinson were Ravenclaws, part of Cho Chang's Girl Posse. Here, Lavender is wearing a Gryffindor necktie and Pansy is wearing a Hufflepuff necktie. This could possibly be because without Cedric (whose actor is playing Lucius) the house is unrepresented.
Actually given that Dumbledore says in A Very Potter Musical that he put "everyone who looked like a good guy in Gryffindor, everyone who looked like a bad guy into Slytherin and the other two can go wherever the hell they want," it kind of makes sense that they could switch places to be in the same house as Cho and join her Girl Posse, rather than stay in Hufflepuff House.
Ship Tease: Ron and Hermione, a strange example since we already saw them hook up.
When teaching the students about Patronuses, Lupin tells the children that they need a happy thought, which they reply in unison "Any happy little thought?"
In the same scene, Lupin complains that the DADA textbooks are so old, they still refer to "Dementors" as "Ring Wraiths".
Lupin lists the rival houses for Gryffindor: Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Jigglypuff.
Avatar The Last Airbender: Lucius telling his son that banishment was too merciful (Day of Black Sun Part 2) and Hermione telling Draco that she can't forgive past him but can forgive future him (The Southern Raiders).
"That's rough, buddy."
"Get those happy thoughts ready and don't cross the streams!" is another Ghostbusters reference.
Ron and Harry's first Red Vines conversation, which cements them as best friends, is a riff on a conversation with the exact same structure and purpose of bonding in Step Brothers. The variation is that here, each question has the same answer.
The running joke of Lupin and Sirius sniping over who really was James's best friend seems reminiscent of Barney and Marshall doing the same thing (over who is Ted's best friend) on How I Met Your Mother.
Umbridge first scene references Jurassic Park, with the sound of her footsteps proceeding her appearance. This is also a reference to Mad-Eye Moody's entrance in Goblet of Fire.
Umbridge tells Harry to "Sit on it, Potsie!", though in this case, she's telling him to sit on a knife.
Calling Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans "candy beans" is a reference to this scene (among others) from Arrested Development.
In "Harry Freakin' Potter," when the cast sings the word "superstar," they all fall to one knee and throw the peace sign in the air with both hands, much like Mary Katherine Gallagher.
One from the other musical Team Star Kid did, Me and My Dick, when at the end Sirius says he's always wanted to see Venice, just like The Old Snatch, the character Nicholas Joseph Strauss-Matathia played in the other musical.
Also: The pizza box with a hole in it? Anyone else getting MAMD Flashbacks?
The paintings on the third floor. "The dogs playing poker peed on the carpet! The screaming man has never looked so terrified! It took the entire last supper to calm him down!"
Also, am I the only one who thinks that the scenes where Lupin walks around naked is a Take That to Twilight? The werewolves in Twilight are hunky, muscular Native Americans who often go shirtless. While Lupin isn't ugly in the slightest, he's very pale, only wears tighty-whiteys after transforming back into a human, coated in blood after said transformation, and he does humiliating things while naked. If that isn't a Take That, I don't know what is.
Possibly a coincidence, but the central plot is rather similar to the 2009 Star Trek film. A villain who has lost everything travels back in time with his followers to when the heroes first met, planning to exact revenge. Meanwhile, one of the good guys, who is the hero's enemy in the past, travels back as well and helps thwart the bad guy.
When Harry says that "you can't have more than two friends", it's very similar to a line said used Sam Weir to justify not wanting to be friends with Cindy after she initially appears to reject him.
Arthur Weasley at calls non-magical people Moogles.
Neville claims the doe Lupin killed was Bambi's mom.
Slasher Smile: Umbridge, after Harry tells her to do her worst. The only thing that could've made it creepier was if Joe Walker was capable of rotating his head 180 degrees.
There's no damn way we're gonna go without a fight!
Smoking Hot Sex: After Firenze takes Umbridge to be his mate, he has a cigarette the next time we see him.
Stable Time Loop: The kids' first year at Hogwarts, according to Future!Draco. It was totally the same before and after before he got involved in time-travel; it just didn't make any sense until living it the second time through.
There's even a Stable Time Loopwithin a Stable Time Loop. Snape saves Harry and the others, allowing them to travel a few hours back in time, whereupon Harry convinces Snape to go and save his past self. There's also the bit about Lucius running right by the place where past!Harry and co. are hiding because he's seen future!Harry and co. a little ways on.
Stealth Pun: Cho Chang is upset that since she's not allowed to flirt, Flitwick will fail her. Flitwick teaches Charms.
Those Red Vines that Ron keeps eating and eventually uses to cast a spell, they're licorice wands.*
"Charms sucks, Potions sucks, Transfiguration sucks!" "Yeah, but Satanic Rituals, that one's cool."
Additionally, in the spirit of the originals, there are one or two at canon itself.
Dumbledore: Quidditch is a special sport just for wizards, and boy, is it silly!
Tastes Like Friendship: In their very first meeting, Harry and Ron bond over... Red Vines.
Teacher/Student Romance: Lupin hits on Cho in a "he's only joking if she's not up for it" way. Later she expresses disappointment they won't be able to act on it.
Also:
Cho: How am I supposed to remain abstinent when I've got a reputation to maintain? [begins to cry] Professor Flitwick is gonna fail me now.
That Makes Me Feel Angry: In a nod to Capslock!Harry from the books and the narmy scene from the third movie: "I'M IN A RAGE!... THIS IS THE MADDEST I'VE EVER BEEN!"
Hilarious, since he is, at worst, mildly peeved.
That Poor Cat: Harry throws Crookshanks to distract the werewolf.
Umbridge: Tell me, Sorting Hat, are you Team Edward or Team Jacob? Sorting Hat: I'm Team Dumbledore! Umbridge: What? Dumbledore ain't a fictional character!
Time Travel: The plot involves the Death Eaters and Draco of the present running around the previous year.
Too Dumb to Live: Yaxley, twice falling for the exact same trick.
Took a Level in Badass: Future Draco. Not only does he not stumble around as much as he did in his first and second years, he also became ruler of the centaurs and freed Sirius Black. Oh, and he also carries around a sword in his robe and a revolver in his sock.
Training from Hell: Umbridge plans to whip the girls into shape "The Umbridge Way", which includes doing 500 push-ups a day, and a diet consisting of "protein shakes, falcon eggs, and ROCKS!"
What Happened to the Mouse?: Year 1 Draco. Future Draco briefly mentions that he's bedridden with heartache in Slytherin dorms when he first appears, but he is never seen again, even when the year ends... unless that's him being friendly and singing with the Trio at the end.
Lampshaded at the end of the sequel: "Ah, Luna Lovegood, the girl who was mysteriously missing during our second year!"
Writer Revolt: It seems the writers/creators have mixed thoughts about their decision to censor and edit A Very Potter Musical to something worthy of a PG-13 once it caught on with younger audiences online. Though censored F-bombs and edits appear in the sequel too, Lupin and other new characters seem to been written specifically with Cluster S Bombs and similar frequent (but PG-13-appropriate!) profanity sewn into their personalities, and in a sly nod to the original censorship, the kid characters (now only eleven!) cover their ears anytime Lupin swears.
7 reviews 
