Harry Potter ; One word for it

Here's the video from the Empire magazine's latest edition which is on stands now, Harry Potter stars sum up their Harry Potter experiences in one word. Fun to listen, eh!

ENJOY!

"Harry Potter" cast sums up experiences in one word - Celebrity Circuit - CBS News

Harry Potter experience in a WORD

(CBS) In commemoration of the final "Harry Potter" film (which hits theaters on July 15), Empire magazine rounded up the cast of the films and asked them to sum up their experiences in one word.

Surprisingly, only one person called the memories "magical."

That was Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in all eight films.

Rupert Grint struggled to find a word to define his experiences playing Ron Weasley, while Tom Felton summed up playing Draco Malfoy as "life-changing" (then acknowledged that's actually two words). Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny, called it "inspiring," and Alan Rickman simply said playing Severus Snape was "good."

And what how did Daniel Radcliffe describe playing The Boy Who Lived? "Unforgettable."

The video is part of Empire's "Harry Potter" issue, which commemorates the end of the blockbuster series. The magazine is on newsstands now.

Severus Snape Emotional about the END

Severus Snape Emotional about Harry Potter...

British actor Alan Rickman has marked the upcoming end of the Harry Potter franchise in an emotional letter praising his now grown-up co-stars, as well as creator J.K. Rowling.

The wizard movies will conclude this year with the release of the final instalment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, and Rickman, who plays wizard teacher Severus Snape, has shared his thoughts about the end of Potter.

In a letter written to Empire magazine, Rickman reveals he realised the enormity of his 10-year stint in the Potter franchise when he saw a grown-up Daniel Radcliffe recently performing on Broadway.

"I have just returned from the dubbing studio where I spoke into a microphone as Severus Snape for absolutely the last time," he wrote.

"On the screen were some flashback shots of Daniel, Emma, and Rupert from 10 years ago. They were 12. I have also recently returned from New York, and while I was there, I saw Daniel singing and dancing (brilliantly) on Broadway. A lifetime seems to have passed in minutes. Three children have become adults since a phone call with Jo Rowling, containing one small clue, persuaded me that there was more to Snape than an unchanging costume, and that even though only three of the books were out at that time, she held the entire massive but delicate narrative in the surest of hands.

"It is an ancient need to be told in stories. But the story needs a great storyteller. Thanks for all of it, Jo," he wrote.

Battle of Hogwarts!

Harry Potter - ties of emotion

Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves has admitted that he wanted battle scenes in the final film to focus on the characters involved.

Speaking to Empire, Kloves and production designer Stuart Craig explained how they had worked on the sequences for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two.

"The battle, as a battle, didn't particularly interest me," Kloves said. "I knew [director] David Yates and his team would come up with the scale and the spectacle, but David and I at one point talked, and agreed that we wanted to tie character and emotion to everything that happened. So it wasn't just, 'Oh wow, look at that blow up!'.

"We wanted Neville involved, or Seamus. That was the hardest thing. I literally spent about three months working on the battle sequence, going back and forth with David Yates, putting dialogue in and giving the battle rhythm."

Craig said: "We've all seen battle sequences where you don't understand who you're with, where they are and it becomes a melee. We were determined that you'd be clear where everyone was, so we established a rocky hillside opposite the entrance to the school where Voldermort was, with the focus of his attack on the main entrance into the great hall.

"Also the courtyard where the defenders would assemble wasn't big enough, so at David Yates's request, I made that much, much bigger."

Discussing some of the sets featured during the battle scenes, Craig confirmed that his team had created new ones "from scratch".

"The novel, and Steve Kloves's script, talked about the battlements, so we had to decide what those were. where they were and what they looked down on," he said. "We found a place within the existing geography, which overlooked the courtyard, and you could see Dumbledore's tower. Then we invented a huge interior and exterior space, an attic with the battlements alongside.

"It served the narrative; it was a place for one of the confrontations between Harry and Lord Voldermort. They're locked in this life and death struggle and Apparate together into the courtyard, and their personal battle continues there. Being interior and exterior made it more interesting and was more fun - which was often our reason for doing things."

Tom Felton Talks Spooning With Daniel Radcliffe And Life After Harry Potter

Tom Felton on Harry Potter and its future

Coordinated chants of "yummy" greeted a blushing Tom Felton as the Harry Potter star took the stage at the Big Apple Comic Con this weekend. Costumed fans, who proudly declared that they had been stalking him all day, asked Felton everything from his take on fan fiction to what he thinks his life will look like when he's no longer Draco Malfoy.

"I'm hoping that they'll remake in twenty years and I'll get to play Lucius," Felton joked. Although with Hollywood's penchant for remakes -- Felton himself stars in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" this summer -- who knows if future opportunities to revive Malfoy may occur?

While Felton admitted to questioning whether acting was his true passion, (he dabbled with the idea of "agricultural work, fishing…"), filmmaking has since become the young actor's intended path.

"I'd love to [direct]," Felton said. "I'm very interested in the sort of passion that David Yates has cemented in me for not just acting but certainly for all filmmaking… sounds, stunts, whatever it may be."

But Felton is by no means done with acting. He even has a wish list.

Dream role? James Bond. Dream film? "Me and Daniel have always been saying that we want to do I film where I'm the hero and he's the villain," he said. "We will only work together again with that stipulation in mind."

Soon conversation of Felton and Radcliffe turned more scandalous.

"I must stress [that the pictures in fan fiction] aren't real, I promise, Daniel and I have never spooned in bed," Felton exclaimed. "It's weird when people want me and Dan to date. That would have been a twist [in the movies] wouldn't it? Well, if Harry had the chance…"

Rupert Grint : beyond Hogwarts

Rupert Grint : beyond Hogwarts

A few weeks ago we told you about an upcoming special edition for Harry Potter in the UK’s Empire Magazine. Rupert Grint and his co-stars not only took part in the interview but they did a special photoshoot just for them. The first one was released online to promote the issue, but as the date nears – May 26th – we have yet another great photo of Rupert. The Sun has an exclusive preview which includes Rupert and his co-star Emma Watson discussing the franchise. You can read the entire thing here. One of the great quotes can be read below:

He admits it is odd not to be working with the rest of the cast any more, saying: “These films account for 11 years of my life, so it’s really very strange to finally have finished them.

“Potter gives you a safety net, so that if you go off in between you always know you will be coming back to Potter.
“Suddenly that will be taken away, so on a professional level it’s a bit frightening.”

Wizarding World of Harry Potter hits all the magical notes - San Jose Mercury News

Harry Potter - the Wizarding World

Foaming mugs of butterbeer, chocolate frogs at Honeydukes, fire-breathing dragons and broomsticks. Muggles, rejoice. It's all here at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The new amusement park, part of the larger Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Fla., drew plenty of hoopla when it opened last summer -- and it's no wonder. Potter fans can't help but be transcended by the iconic turrets of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that tower over the charming, snow-topped village of Hogsmeade.

With the last of the Harry Potter movies headed for the big screen in July, the world is likely to become even more focused on this magical corner of the theme park world. But if you go, be prepared: As awesome as this Wizarding World is, size-wise it's like one of the lands -- Tomorrowland, for example, or Fantasyland -- that comprise Disney's Magic Kingdom, but with fewer rides.

Somehow, we Hogwarts fanatics were under the impression that what opened last summer was just the beginning of what would ultimately become a sprawling, magical landscape, something that would keep us firmly planted in Harry-heaven -- riding rides and spending money profligately -- for days on end.

On the latter, two dragon coasters take off simultaneously, then whip, swerve, twist and bend in a mad race, at one point coming within 18 inches of each other. To fully appreciate the ride, you need to go around twice, once on the blue dragon (a Hungarian Horntail) and once on the red (a Chinese Fireball). We do not recommend accomplishing this feat back-to-back.

After the first round, one of us had to go sit down in a quiet, dark place until she could remember her own name -- and the locker number where she'd stashed our purses. The other, more intrepid reporter gleefully boarded the dragon for a second go-round -- then spent a few minutes in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom trying to stop the world from spinning.

But it's the Forbidden Journey ride that makes the Wizarding World of Harry Potter worth the price of admission. And judging by the crowds elbowing their way through Hogsmeade to Hogwarts' castle, it appears to be the attraction that is keeping Universal, with its dated attractions -- including salutes to "Jaws" and "Men in Black" -- swimming in sickles, galleons and Muggle dollars.

The ride is pitch-perfect on every level, from its welcoming greeting from a Professor Dumbledore projection, to the talking portraits and familiar bickering between Ron and Hermione. When Harry offers to sneak you into a Quidditch match, the ride's creators have ensured that there's no problem with the whole suspension-of-reality thing. It all feels absolutely real, from the smell of wood smoke to encounters with Dementors, the Whomping Willow and, thanks to Hagrid, a fire-breathing dragon. Riders are turned upside down, spun around and left absolutely dazzled at every turn.

Afterward, you are left to wander Hogsmeade with little else to do but wait for your brain to stop spinning -- so you can ride again.

Universal's amusement parks have never quite lived up to the pristine, almost-militaristic precision that is Disneyland. But they've come close with Harry Potter. In Hogsmeade, the shops remind us of all the things we love about J.K. Rowling's series.

A mandrake wails in a shop window, owls hoot and turn in the rafters outside the Owl Post Office, and even the ATM gives a nod to magic as a branch of Gringott's, the wizarding bank. Myrtle's disembodied voice floats out of the stalls in the girls' restroom -- maybe the boys' too, we didn't check that one out.

And you can buy amazingly delicious butterbeer at the Hog's Head as well as from street vendors. (Butterbeer is a nonalcoholic drink. If you're looking for something stronger, the kilt-wearing bartender has a number of dusty bottles of fire whiskey that may do the trick.)

So it's no surprise that long lines loop through Hogsmeade as families wait 45 minutes or more, even during the offseason, for the chance to visit Ollivander's and have a wand "choose" you.

It's billed as the amusement park's fourth attraction but really, it's 20 people at a time crowding into the small, iconic shop to watch as one lucky child tests wands. Drawers bang around alarmingly, and a blast of wind makes the child's hair gently wave as wand No. 3 picks him -- low-tech special effects but cool anyway, especially if you're the kid.

(If all you really want is to buy a wand -- starting at $29.95 -- in atmospheric surroundings, enter the shopping portion of the store from the back of the building without any wait at all. If your heart is set on watching the magic, brief as it is, wait till late afternoon when Hogsmeade is in deep shade and the lines shorten dramatically.)

Express passes, which cost $29-$49, depending on the day, will shorten the wait for most rides, but not, we're sorry to say, for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Wait times here ran anywhere from 10 to 90 minutes in April.

Don't want to wait that long? Hit the ride at the end of the day, when exhausted Muggles have headed home. Or if you've already ridden the ride once, take the single-rider option. You need to experience the long lines first, otherwise you'll bypass the magic inside, which includes a visit to Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Dumbledore's office and other walk-through spectacles that we still found riveting on our second, third and fourth trips through.

By the sixth (ahem, yes, we rode it six times), we were content with rabbiting our way past the lines and becoming singletons, ready to leap into a four-seater car with someone else's group.

Less-fanatical fans may prefer interspersing an afternoon at Hogwarts with trips to Epcot and Orlando's many other attractions. But we managed to spend two and half days here, mixing visits to Universal Studios and other locales in Universal's Islands of Adventures with return treks to the Three Broomsticks for more butterbeer. And we'd go back in a heart beat.

But if Universal wants to put an extension charm on this Wizarding World and expand, we've got some ideas involving small rickety carts, goblins and Gringott's tunnels. Give us a call. Or send an owl.

Harry Potter : the Great Hall, Severus Snape and the closing

Harry Potter : the Great Hall, Severus Snape and the closing

The Great Hall — the cafeteria of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry — is the oldest standing set inside Leavesden Studios, the drafty Harry Potter movie factory located outside London. So much drama has been staged inside its towering walls of ersatz stone over the past decade, from the ritual of the Sorting Hat to the intrigue of the Goblet of Fire. But its days are numbered. On a dreary afternoon in March 2010, the fabled hall is seeing some of its final moments of action, as is one of the characters, Severus Snape. We are witnessing the first salvo in the Battle of Hogwarts — the very beginning of the final act ofHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2. The Great Hall's long tables and benches have been shoved aside for Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and a small army of allies — including Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) — to rumble with Snape (Alan Rickman), the apparently loathsome professor of potions. The day's work involves Radcliffe and Rickman exchanging a couple of snarls and threatening quips, and the stunt doubles for Rickman and Smith engaging in a wand duel that resembles an Olympic fencing match. Filming lasts late into the evening. When his part is complete, an emotional Rickman quietly acknowledges the ovation from cast and crew and quickly exits without comment.

During a break, Radcliffe takes a seat in Albus Dumbledore's chair at the head table and shakes his head in disbelief. ''Alan Rickman's last day. Bizarre,'' he says. ''For years, we felt: 'It's never going to end!' Now it's all starting to sink in.'' With his days as a boy wizard coming to a close, the young actor says one of the hardest challenges of shooting the last Harry Potter film has been relishing the moment and taking nothing for granted. ''I've become particularly aware on this film that I'm not always going to be able to play these action-hero-type parts,'' he says. ''You really have to enjoy it, make the most of it, have fun with it.''

Fans of Harry Potter should embrace that wisdom as well, because this is it, friends. The End. The climactic installment in the biggest movie franchise in Hollywood history (total domestic gross to date: $2 billion), and the final movement in a cultural phenomenon that began in the U.K. in 1997 with the debut of J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter novel. Part 2 — adapted from the second half of the author's seventh novel, which was published in 2007 — finds Harry, Hermione, and Ron (Rupert Grint) preparing to take their fight to snake-snouted despot Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) after spending much of Part 1 on the run. The estimated $200 million-plus production Deathly Hallows — Part 2 begins where Part 1 left off, with Voldemort raiding Dumbledore's tomb for the Elder Wand, one of three Deathly Hallows that can grant him immortality. Meanwhile, Harry and his friends, reeling from the heroic death of liberated house elf Dobby, are on the hunt for magical objects called Horcruxes that hold fragments of Voldemort's soul. The quest brings them back to Hogwarts, now run by Snape following the death of Dumbledore a couple of movies ago. ''The new film is just a relentless action movie,'' says Radcliffe. ''It. Just. Does. Not. Stop.''

Okay, it stops a few times — but for some of the most pivotal emotional moments in the saga. A ghostly reunion of departed friends and family. An encounter in limbo with Dumbledore's specter (Michael Gambon), who reveals dark secrets about his past. And, of course, Ron and Hermione's kiss. ''It has to be the most anticipated moment between the two of them in the whole series,'' says Watson. ''In general, though, Part 2 is just plain hell-raising and scary. I get to get my Lara Croft on.''

Both parts of Deathly Hallows were shot simultaneously over 261 days. Keen-eyed Potterphiles will note a number of tweaks to Rowling's climactic tale. The filmmakers have added a new structure to the sprawling Hogwarts campus — a glass boathouse where a certain iconic character will perish. (Hint: In the book, the scene takes place at the Shrieking Shack.) The final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort — a wand duel in the novel — has been expanded to include a chase through Hogwarts and a very physical brawl as the two foes ''apparate'' (i.e., teleport) toward and away from each other. At one point, the rivals seem to fuse, creating a striking, symbolically loaded visual effect.

One of the trickiest sequences for the filmmakers was the movie's epilogue, set 19 years after the heroes' graduation from Hogwarts. Director David Yates first shot the scene during the middle of production, with the young stars wearing makeup to look like the adult versions of their characters. ''I didn't want older actors,'' says Yates. ''If you spent seven movies with these guys, you know these kids, and you want to end with them.'' But looking at the footage, he felt the epilogue fell short of magical. ''We ended up with a scene that, for all sorts of reasons, not just the makeup, just didn't work,'' says the helmer. So late last December, months after the end of principal photography, Yates called the actors back for a do-over. ''We came up with a very simple solution — simple makeup, which may be enhanced slightly with special effects — that's really charming.'' According to producer David Heyman, the new epilogue also led to a change in the portion of the film that plays during the closing credits. ''We thought about a nostalgic look back at how the kids have grown over the previous films,'' says the producer. ''We decided against it because this ending captures all of that.''

Of all the moments in Deathly Hallows — Part 2, the one that may exude the strongest sense of closure comes right before the epilogue, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione stand on a bridge outside Hogwarts, looking back at the school. ''I like it very much because it wasn't just the actors playing the scene, it was the kids reflecting on growing up in this moviemaking world, and I believe a bit of that has ended up on [film],'' says Yates. ''For anyone who knows them or can identify with these three, as characters or actors, it's quite moving.''

Now they're all moving on — into adulthood as well as to new projects. Just a year after relishing his last moments as an action hero inside the Great Hall, Radcliffe is singing and dancing on Broadway in a well-reviewed revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying — and Harry Potter already seems to be in the actor's rearview mirror. ''My grieving period has come and gone,'' Radcliffe told EW last month. ''The end of Potter is exciting in its own way.... It's a [new] beginning for me.'' For the rest of us, graduation is still a few months away.

The Harry Potter Passport

The Harry Potter Passport - is it really

The worldwide box-office take for the Harry Potter series of films is in the neighbourhood of $7-billion dollars and it's about to go up - and up significantly. 

Not only is the final chapter of the blockbuster series "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2" headed to theatres this summer - but in advance of said final chapter, Cineplex Entertainment and Warner Brothers Pictures Canada will present special screenings of the first 7 films consecutively beginning later this month.

Kyle Moffatt is Director of Communications for Cineplex and he tells 570 News that fans of the series can't wait for the finale - and have been talking about the first 7 since they came out.

In order to build the excitement to a fever pitch - fans can buy what is called the Harry Potter "Passport" for $24.99. The Passport is available at Galaxy Cinemas in Waterloo and it gives you tickets to see each of the first 7 films in the weeks leading up to the July 15th release of "Deathly Hallows Part 2".

Cineplex will present two special screenings each week of a Harry Potter movie starting with "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" on Saturday May 28th at 10:30am and Monday the 30th at 7pm. The complete schedule is listed below.

The tickets go on sale beginning Friday, May 20th and guests can choose which presentation time to attend, either Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m. local time or Monday evenings at 7 p.m. local time.

In addition to tickets for all seven movies, each passport will also include a promotional code for the earliest access to buy advance tickets to the final film, a bonus contest entry for a chance to win a trip to the world premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" in London, England. The package also includes a promotional code allowing passport holders to download-to-own the first six Harry Potter movies for $7.99 each from the Cineplex website.

The Passports are on sale at participating theatre box offices only, but tickets for individual movies can also be purchased for $5 each at participating theatre box offices, through the Cineplex Mobile Apps and online at www.cineplex.com or the mobile site m.cineplex.com. SCENE members will receive 700 points for purchasing a passport or 100 SCENE points per individual movie.

New Harry Potter Book - Dear Mr. Potter

Dear Mr. Potter - the book

It goes without saying that the "Harry Potter" franchise would be nothing without its fans, and now they're ready to give back.

A compilation of fan letters, photographs and artwork has been put together by "Potter" fan Lily Zalon to be released this summer in a new book called "Dear Mr. Potter." According to Zalon, the book is an attempt to capture the relationship between "Harry Potter" and its fans in their own words. In addition, "Potter' actressEvanna Lynch, best known as Luna Lovegood, shared her own experiences with the "Potter" franchise for the book.

“Until now, there's never been a truly in-depth exploration of why Potter accomplished such an unprecedented level of popularity and loyalty," Zalon said in a press release. "The letters and pictures in the book illustrate the intimate relationships millions of fans have had with the series."

Lynch's submission to the book detailed how J.K. Rowling's novels and, specifically, the character of Luna Lovegood affected her personally.

“Although it was always tempting to go back to that dark, lonely, secure place and although there was still that voice that whispered that I was too odd to risk just being ‘me’, you were always there to remind me that it was okay to be odd, particularly if one did it with aplomb," reads an excerpt from her letter to Luna. "Through you, Luna, I realised that being odd wasn't really odd at all.”

In addition to Lynch, Leaky Cauldron webmistress Melissa Anelli and "Looking for Alaska" author and YouTube celebrity John Green also submitted their own letters to the compilation.

"Dear Mr. Potter" is available for pre-order until June 31, 2011, and will be released on July 1, 2011, with all profits going to the Harry Potter Alliance. Zalon teased that fans who preorder "Dear Mr. Potter" will be automatically submitted into two secret raffles which will be revealed farther down the road.

Are you familiar with "Dear Mr. Potter" and planning on pre-ordering the novel? Share your personal experiences with "Harry Potter" in the comments section below or on Twitter!

Harry Potter Magical Facts

Harry Potter Magical Facts

1. As of 2008, Harry Potter books have sold over 400 million copies and have been translated into 67 languages.ⁱ
2. A picture of Gandalf the Grey (from The Lord of the Rings) can be seen in the collection of great wizards in Professor Dumbledore’s study in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.^f
3. Author J. K. Rowling recently revealed that Dumbledore is gay and he had a crush on the wizard Grindelwald, whom he later defeated in a wizard duel.^a
4. As every Potter fan knows, Dementors are deadly, magical, wraith-like creatures. Rowling revealed that they represent depression and that they were based on her own experience with the disease. The remedy to lighten the effects of a Dementor is chocolate.^e

Rowling is the first author billionaire

5. Rowling is the first person to become a billionaire (U.S. dollars) by writing books.ⁱ
6. In 2007, Rowling was runner up for Time magazine’s Person of the Year.ⁱ
7. The death of Rowling’s mother from multiple sclerosis significantly influenced her writing, and death is a major theme throughout the Potter series.^j
8. The actress who played Moaning Myrtle is actually 37 years old and is the oldest actress to portray a Hogwarts student.^g
9. Rowling discovered “witchy” sounding names such as toadflax, goutwort, grommel, and others in Culpeper’s Complete Herbal, a famous book of herbal lore from the 1600s.^h
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on July 21, 2007, and sold 11 million copies on the first day of its release, breaking Rowling's earlier records for the fastest selling book of all time.^a
11. Rowling said that if she were to be a teacher at Hogwarts, she would teach Charms. If she had a job in the wizarding world, she would write spell books.^c
12. Harry Potter’s pet snowy owl, Hedwig, shares her name with two famous saints. One is Saint Hedwig of Andechs (1174-1243), a former duchess noted for her benevolence and compassionate nature. The other is Saint Hedwig, Queen of Poland (1373-1399). The death of Hedwig in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows represents Harry’s loss of innocence and coming of age.^b

Wizards in Harry’s world primarily use owls to communicate

13. Owls are the primary means of communication between wizards in Harry’s world. However, in many parts of the word, owls are considered bad luck and harbingers of death.^b
14. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, dragon blood is revealed to be an effective oven cleaner.^g
15. Rowling’s books were the first children’s books included on the New York Bestseller list since E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web in 1952.ⁱ
16. When Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released in Great Britain, the publisher asked stores not to sell the book until schools were closed for the day to prevent truancy.^e
17. Several publishers rejected the first Harry Potter manuscript saying it was too long and literary, but Bloomsbury Publisher finally accepted it in 1996. The book’s publisher suggested Rowling use the name “J. K.” rather than her real name “Joanne Rowling” to appeal to male readers. She took the “K” from her grandmother's name Kathleen, but neither "Kathleen" nor "K" is part of her legal name.^c
18. Rowling’s series has stimulated children to read and has concomitantly boosted the sale of other children’s literature such C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia series and Lloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron series.ⁱ
19. A few scholars have suggested that the Harry Potter series is sexist because the three most powerful figures are male, females use their power in ways that make them less appealing than the males, and Hermione is less powerful and less poised than the boys. Other scholars say those claims are unfounded.^e
20. Colors play an important role in the Harry Potter novels. For example, shades of red represent goodness, such as Gryffindor’s scarlet robes, Harry’s red ink, and the crimson Hogwarts Express train. The Weasleys have red hair and a red roof. Green is largely associated with negative events, such as when Harry sees a flash of green when his parents die and the green-colored curse that made Ron vomit.^j
21. Numbers are symbolic in the series, especially 2, 3, 4, and 7. For example, the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione suggest the power of three and the spiritual trinity. Harry fatally wounds the basilisk on its third strike, and Hagrid knocks on the front door of Hogwarts three times. Students attend Hogwarts for seven years and there are seven players on each Quidditch. Sirius is also imprisoned on the seventh floor of Hogwarts.^j
22. Rowling said her favorite beast in the series is the phoenix, a mythical sacred bird who ignites into flames when it reaches 500 or 1,000 years old only to emerge from the flames as a new and young phoenix.^c

Harry Potter and Rowling share a birthday on July 31st

23. Harry’s birthday is July 31, 1980. Rowling’s birthday is also July 31—but in 1966.^b
24. The name Voldemort comes from the French words meaning “fly from death,” and his entire goal is to conquer death. In the second Harry Potter novel, Rowling shows us that “I am Lord Voldemort” is an anagram of “Tom Marvolo Riddle,” which is his actual full name.^a
25. Harry Potter’s name may refer to a “potter’s field,” which is a cemetery in which people of unknown identity or the very poor are buried. This would be fitting because Harry Potter serves as a type of “everyman,” a powerful mythological archetype.^a
26. Rubeus Hagrid, one of Harry’s closest friends, is part wizard and part giant. Rubeus is Latin for something produced from a bramble or a thicket, which fits Rowling’s description of him as “wild.” Hagrid most likely comes from the term “haggard” which also means “wild” or “unruly.”^a
27. Cedric Diggory is one of four students to die in Rowling’s novels. Cedric is a common Welsh name, and Diggory is the name of the professor in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe who traveled to Narnia where he picked an apple to save his mother. The seeds from the apple grew into a tree from which the wardrobe was made.^a
28. Rowling said she may have inadvertently taken the name of Harry’s school, “Hogwarts,” from a hogwort plant she saw in the Kew Gardens in New York City.^b
29. So many fans visit King’s Cross station to take pictures of platforms 9 and 10 that the station management erected a sign that says “Platform 9 ¾” which, in the Potter books, is invisible to Muggles but acts as a gateway for witches and wizards.^c
30. Voldemort’s wand is made of yew. Yew is seen by some as having immense supernatural power and being a symbol of death and rebirth, the same immortality that Voldemort seeks. Historically, nearly all wizards have used a magical wand of some sort that channels a wizard’s power and acts a symbol of authority (such as a shepherd’s staff).^e
31. Golgomath (one of the largest giants in the Potter universe) may be a play on the word “googol,” a math term for a one with a hundred zeros after it—in other words, one of the largest numbers known.^a
32. Rowling said that when she took an online Sorting Hat quiz, it sorted her into Hufflepuff, one of the four houses of Hogwarts.^c
33. Rowling said if she could take Polyjuice Potion for an hour, she would become Prime Minister Tony Blair. She also said that she would be dreadful at playing Quidditch as she is “not sporty,” “not great with heights,” and is “clumsy.”^c
34. Quidditch is also known as Ikarosfairke or “Ikarus ball,” which refers to the Greek myth of Icarus who flew too close to the sun. His wings melted and he fell into the sea and drowned.^e
35. Rowling said that she would like to transform herself into her favorite animal: an otter. That is the Animagus shape of Hermione Patronus—which is not surprising, since Rowling has said Hermione is a lot like she is.^b
36. The curse used to kill Harry’s parents, “Avada Kedavra,” derives from a phrase in Aramaic Abhadda kedhabhra, which means to “disappear like this word.” It was used to make illness disappear, but there’s no proof it was meant to kill anyone. It is also likely the origin of abracadabra, which was used by doctors to cure fevers.^a
37. Harry’s godfather’s name, Sirius Black, comes from the name of one of the brightest stars in the sky, the “Dog Star” or Sirius (from the Greek word seirios, meaning “burning”). The star is a symbol of the goddess Isis and was central to the religion and philosophy of Egypt.^a
38. Sirius Black’s tattoos are borrowed from Russian prison gangs. The markings identify the person as someone to be feared and respected.^e

“Dumbledore“ is an Old English word meaning “bumblebee“

39. Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore is Dumbledore’s full name. Dumbledore is an Old English word meaning “bumblebee.” Albus is Latin for “white,” and Wulfric was the name of a twelfth-century saint who became a deeply holy man after seeing a homeless man in the street. Percival was a knight of King Arthur’s Round Table and may also mean “pierce the veil,” suggesting an ability to return from the dead. Brian is a Celtic name, meaning “strong.”^a
40. The original title of the first book was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and appeared on books in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other territories. It was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by the American publisher because “Sorcerer’s” seemed more exciting. Rowling later said she would have fought this decision had she been in a better position.^b
41. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone refers to a mythical object called a “philosopher’s stone.” In the ancient practice of alchemy (from the Arabic word al-kimia, or the transformation of metals, and related to the word algebra), alchemists searched for a magical substance called the “philosopher’s stone” that would turn ordinary metals into gold. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the “philosopher’s stone” is described as “blood-red.”^e
42. Hogwarts wizards use cauldrons (from the Latin calere meaning “to be warm” or hot, and which is related to “calorie”) to create potions. Mundungus (from archaic Spanish for “stinky tobacco”) Fletcher was known to peddle stolen pots. Cauldrons are one of the oldest and most widely known symbols of magic—older, for example, than broomsticks. In fact, people once believed that witches flew in cauldrons.^a
43. “Morsmorde” is the command that makes the Dark Mark (the mark of Voldemort) appear and means “take a bite out of death” in French, making it an appropriate call for Death Eaters.^a
44. The Death Eaters were originally known as the Knights of Walpurgis, which is a reversal of “Walpurgis Night,” the name of an old witch’s holiday on April 30th celebrating springtime—exactly six months from Halloween. One holiday ushered in the growing season; one marked its passing. On both nights, demons and witches were free to roam. Saint Walpuriga was actually the name of a nun who lived between A.D. 710-779.^e
45. The divination textbook used at Hogwarts was written by “Cassandra Vablatsky.” Her last name refers to a real woman, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky who founded the Theosophical Society. Cassandra was the daughter of the rulers of Troy (Priam and Hecuba) who was cursed by Apollo to prophecy the truth but never to be believed.^e
46. The Hogwarts school motto is Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus which is Latin for “Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon.” In the novels, the school is located somewhere in Scotland and has various charms to make it appear as an old ruin to muggle eyes.^b
47. Hogwarts was founded 1,000 years ago by Godric Gryffindor (fire/lion), Salazar Slytherin (water/serpent), Helga Hufflepuff (earth/badger), and Rowena Ravenclaw (air/raven). Its crest includes each of the animal representations of the four founders.^c
48. In the Hogwarts school, grades include Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, and Acceptable. The failing grades include Poor, Dreadful, and Troll.^e
49. Early in the series' history, the Harry Potter books received positive reviews; however, later books were criticized as bland and cliché.ⁱ

The idea of Harry Potter “strolled“ into Rowling’s head during a four-hour train delay

50. Rowling says the idea of Harry Potter just “strolled into her head” during a four-hour train delay.^c
51. According to Rowling, her favorite book as a child wasThe Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge.^c
52. An outbreak of lice among the children cast members occurred while filming Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.^f
53. When Coca-Cola won the rights to tie in its product with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Rowling insisted the company donate $18 million to the U.S. Reading Is Fundamental campaign to encourage children to read.^d
54. Natalie McDonald, who appeared in Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire, was based on a real girl Rowling knew who was dying of leukemia.^a
55. The driver and conductor of the Knight Bus, Ernie and Stanley, are named after Rowling’s grandfathers.^a
56. In 2003, members of the Jesus Non-Denominational Church in Greenville, Michigan, publicly demonstrated their concern over what they perceived to be evil in the Harry Potter books by gathering around a bonfire and burning Rowling’s books. In the Middle Ages, when books were rare, burning them was a radical statement.ⁱ
57. Rowling claims that her wizard-ing world is purely imaginary and she doesn’t believe in the kind of magic found in her books.ⁱ

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is  at Universal Orlando

58. A theme park called the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will open in 2010 at Universal Islands of Adventure in Florida. The park will include a Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Forbidden Forest, and Hogsmeade Village.ⁱ
59. Harry Potter books made the American Library Association (ALA) list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books for five consecutive years. A challenge is a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.ⁱ
60. Most parent protests against the books include arguments that the books glorify witchcraft, encourage children to break rules and defy authority, and dwell on dark themes and death. But other parents argue in favor of the books, saying they serve as a mirror for finding a young child’s full potential.ⁱ
61. When asked about the Harry Potter series, Pope John Paul II said the stories helped children see the difference between good and evil. However, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) said the books “erode Christianity in the soul” of young people and are “inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.” Ratzinger said the books were a “subtle seduction.”ⁱ
62. Nancy Stouffer, the author of The Legend of Rah and the Muggles and Harry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly. sued Rowling because she said Rowling’s books were based on her ideas. Stouffer lost her case in 2002 and was fined for making her claim with forged documents. No other author has claimed that Rowling stole an idea.ⁱ

References

^a Ark, Steve Vander. 2009. The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction and Related Materials. Muskegon, MI: RDR Books.

^b Beahm, George. 2005. Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter’s World.Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.

^c Boyle, Fionna. 2004. A Muggle’s Guide to the Wizarding World: Exploring the Harry Potter Universe. Chicago, IL: Independent Publishers Group.

^d “Coke Backs Harry Potter Literacy Drive.” BBCNEWS.com. October 9, 2001. Accessed: May 21, 2009.

^e Colbert, David. 2004. The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts. New York, NY: The Berkeley Publishing Group.

^f “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (Trivia). IMDB.com. Accessed: May 21, 2009.

^g “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (Trivia). IMDB.com. Accessed: May 21, 2009.

^h Leung, Rebecca. “The Magic Behind Harry Potter.” CBSNEWS.com. June 15, 2003. Accessed: May 20, 2009.

ⁱ MacDonald, Joan Vos. 2008. J.K. Rowling: Banned, Challenged, and Censored. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc.

^j Schafer, Elizabeth D. 2000. Beacham’s Sourcebook for Teaching Young Adult Fiction: Exploring Harry Potter. Osprey, FL: Beacham Publishing Corp.