Harry Potter Time

One young fan asked her whether she planned one day to write books about an adult Harry. She replied: "You have to wait and see whether he survives to be a grown- up...

Warning: If you haven't read Order of the Phoenix, this contains major spoilers:

The Toronto Star has posted an obituary (notice of death) for the character who dies in Order of the Phoenix. And about time, too :-)

On the official site: Fresh photos from the upcoming film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. A gorgeous photo of the Knight Bus, and a fun one with Hermione pointing her wand at Draco! Don't miss it.

Mike Newell has agreed to direct Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth film. Newell is known for directing such critical and popular successes as Four Weddings and A Funeral, Enchanted April and Donnie Brasco. Production on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is scheduled to begin in England in April, 2004.

Read more at ComingSoon.net!

The Order of the Phoenix has been knocked off the top of the book charts by Dr Robert Atkins's Diet Revolution, according to The Times. (via Ananova)

According to Ain't It Cool News, John Cleese won't be appearing in the film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. From the interview:

QUINT: IN "HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN."

JOHN CLEESE: Oh, I'm not in it.

QUINT: YOU'RE NOT IN IT?!?

JOHN CLEESE: No... or at least I don't think I am. The producer tried to get a hold of me at some stage, but I think he got embarrassed. I heard that I wasn't in the third one, but that I was going to be back in again for the fourth. I haven't spoken to anyone involved in the HARRY POTTER movie about it.

QUINT: WELL, I'M GLAD YOU'RE STILL IN "GOBLET OF FIRE..."

JOHN CLEESE: Well, I haven't heard from them for ages, but I was told I was going to be in the fourth one.

Read the whole interview.

Of course we've known this for a long time now, but it's good validation nevertheless! The word "Muggle" has earned a place in the Oxford Dictionary of English.

Read more on Sky News.

Vicki Marson, of Christchurch Lane in Lichfield, has created a Harry Potter-themed garden, featuring witch and wizard-shaped willows and a willow spider. There is also an atmospheric castle ruin, gothic arches, stone owls and floating candles.

Dobby the house elf appears as a water feature and there is a large pentagram in the middle of the garden.

The garden - complete with ghostly lighting - will be open to local children on Halloween to raise cash for the Burton Breast Fund.

Via Express & Star News.

Superstar tenor Luciano Pavarotti is such a huge fan of Harry Potter, he wants to turn the wizard adventures into a kid's opera. The Italian singer and his 33-year-old partner Nicoletta - the mother of his baby daughter - are hooked on JK Rowling's fantasy series, and Pavarotti confesses he'd love to take the bespectacled boy wizard to the stage.

(via HPana)

The titles of the final two Harry Potter books may no longer be a secret after two new trade marks were registered with the UK Patent Office. Harry Potter And The Mudblood Revolt and Harry Potter And The Quest Of The Centaur are reported to have been registered by a company called Seabottom Productions six weeks ago.

The key word here is, of course, may: Potter fans pointed out that other titles had been registered over the years - such as Harry Potter And The Pyramids Of Furmat - which have never seen the light of day.

UPDATE: The official title has been released, and it's Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. You can preorder it from Amazon now.

Ex-Neighbours star Michelle Ang is tipped as the favourite to take on the high profile role of Harry Potter's love interest in the fourth movie. The 19-year-old New Zealander recently quit the role of Lori Lee on the soap and auditioned for the role of Cho Chang in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

But she faces competition from two other hopefuls, Korean pop sensation Kwan Boa and sexy British-born Californian model Jennifer Nguyen.

(via Godric's Hollow)

Entertainment Rewired has posted what may be the very first review of the third Harry Potter film. But caution: read at your own risk, as it contains spoilers. Read it here.

Actress Rosamund Pike (of Die Another Day fame) has reportedly been cast as Rita Skeeter in the next Harry Potter film. This has NOT been confirmed by Warner Bros., but is supposedly based on an interview with Miss Pike wherein she stated that, "It's a dream to be in a Harry Potter movie, and working with Mike Newell is such a honor, I admire him a lot".

(via Godric's Hollow)

At J.K. Rowling's appearance at the Edinburgh Book festival, she had this to say about Harry: "I know what's coming for him so there is no way I would want to want to be him." - even for a day.

Read more in this article from rediff.com

In the upcoming Goblet of Fire movie, Parvati Patil will be played by Shefali Chowdhury, while Padma Patil will be played by Afshan Azad.

In case you forgot, Parvati and Padma are Harry and Ron's dates for the Yule Ball :-)

Angelica Mandy will play Fleur Delacour's younger sister, Gabrielle.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is coming on July 16!

A Harry Potter themed restaurant is apparently in the works!

"Would you like to go out to dinner at a Harry Potter themed restaurant? Well, according to the Business Journal, you might be able to make those reservations in the future. This article says that a new Harry Potter themed restaurant is in the works and will open in the future..."

- from The Leaky Cauldron.

70 very lucky children will be invited to join JK Rowling on July 16th to launch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Aged between 8 and 16, the children will travel in horse-drawn carriages to Edinburgh Castle, and will take home their very own signed copy of the book.

Here's a download we love: a video clip of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that shows a few new video interviews with the characters plus added scenes from the movie.

Download it to your computer from MuggleNet now.

Book Wholesalers, Inc., a book supplier to U.S. public libraries, has posted a small report on their recently received shipment of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" including a tiny picture of the backside jacket. If you're trying to stay spoiler-free, you might want to pass on this one although it's nearly impossible to see any detail. UPDATE: Scholastic has officially released a higher quality version of just the art on the back side.

We can stop holding our breath now: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is here!

The San Francisco Chronicle has published a review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Warning: SPOILER alert!

More reviews on the Half-Blood Prince book:

The Kirkus Review.
Charm still strong in sixth 'Potter'.
Harry Potter touches on current events, deeper themes.

From the upcoming Goblet of Fire movie (which we are eagerly anticipating), a photo of Cho Chang, played by actress Katie Leung.

Thanks to word from The Leaky Cauldron, we've seen the Goblet of Fire Film trailer, international version.

Watch the trailer:
Quicktime format
RealMedia format
or
WindowsMedia format

And here are some screenshots from the trailer...

This 3D painting of JK Rowling was recently unveiled at London's National Portrait Gallery. Painted by artist Stuart Pearson Wright, it shows JK sitting at a desk in a bare room, with a writing pad in front of her, along with three boiled eggs, to represent her three children.

In other news, Warner Bros. has released new photos from the upcoming Goblet of Fire movie.

Available for a limited time from Apple, this collector痴 iPod engraved with the Hogwart痴 Crest and the complete Harry Potter audiobook set.

"You値l be the envy of wizard and muggle alike with this color-display, 20GB iPod emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest. Designed by author J.K. Rowling herself, the crest illustrates the four houses that make up Hogwarts � Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw � and the Latin motto 泥raco dormiens nunquam titillandus.� (哲ever tickle a sleeping dragon.�) This magical iPod lets you sync all six Harry Potter books and still have plenty of room left over for your favorite tunes." - from iTunes Harry Potter.

I really, really, really want one. Now I just need to save up $548.00.

Scotland Today has posted their exclusive interview with Katie Leung, the actress who portrays Cho Chang in the upcoming Harry Potter film.

Apparently, all the "hate mail" stories are completely false:

Fresh from the Official Harry Potter website is the Harry Potter Crystal Ball Game. A memory game of sorts, the game features pictures from the movies, and is a good way to while the time away...

The casting department of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film are currently visiting schools across the UK to try and cast the role of strange fourth year Ravenclaw student Luna Lovegood.

Luna is definitely one of our favourite characters- she's a kindred spirit- and we can't wait to see who'll be playing the part.

The Isle of Man Post are commemorating the release of the Goblet of Fire film with a new set of stamps, due for issue on October 21st 2005.

Apparently, there are quite a few Harry fans in the Isle of Man! They also issued new stampe for the Prisoner of Azkaban film last December 2004.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire premiered in space- thanks to NASA! The movie was transmitted from Mission Control in Houston to International Space Station Commander Bill McArthur.

Wouldn't you love to visit Harry Potter Land? Get on a "Buckbeak Ride", perhaps? Or shop at a "real life" Diagon Alley? The possibilities boggle the mind... and what's so exciting is that they might actually come true:

The Walt Disney company is planning a Harry Potter theme park, much like Disneyland- a "huge complex with rides devoted to the Harry Potter stories".

Apparently, Disney has been in negotiations with JK Rowling and Warner Bros. to secure theme park rights.

JK Rowling has revealed that she dreads starting work on book 7 as she can't imagine life without Harry:

"I contemplate this task with mingled feelings of excitement and dread. I can't wait to tell the final part, to answer all the questions. . . and yet it will all be over at last and I can't quite imagine life without Harry," she told The Sun, "I have been fine-tuning the fine-tuned plan of seven [books] during the past few weeks so I can really get to work in January. Reading through the plan is like contemplating the map of an unknown country in which I will soon find myself,"

But will she kill off Harry in the last book? A spokesman for the HPANA website said the Rowling was probably left with no choice but to kill the central character because if she didn't she would be under pressure to add to the popular series.

Could this girl be Luna Lovegood in the next Harry Potter movie?

According to the UK publication Shropshire Star, 14-year old Jessica Hoggins is hoping to hear in the next few days whether she has got into the next round of auditions to play the part of trainee witch Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix.

It's out on DVD now!

Young Sirius Black - James Walters
Young Remus Lupin - James Utechen
Young Severus Snape - Alec Hopkins
Bellatrix Lestrange - Helena Bonham Carter
Professor Grubbly-Plank - Apple Brook
Bane the Centaur - Jason Piper

- from HPana

On who will die in the last book:

"There痴 a lot of rumors going around but I don稚 know. I wouldn稚 mind. It痴 all right because you can always come back as a ghost, so it痴 not too bad."

On his relationship with Emma Watson and Dan Radcliffe:

"We see each other every day for most of the year, so we don稚 really need to see each other outside. We get on really well and that痴 with all the other cast as well, because we致e known them for six years. You get to know each other so it痴 good."

On the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:

"There痴 a lot of really cool scenes in this one actually. We池e just doing all the major fight scenes and little death eaters and Lord Voldemort comes back. It痴 a lot darker this one, so it should be good."

... And on the lack of Quidditch in the upcoming film:

"No, it was a bit � that whole Quidditch thing it didn稚 sort of come about. But it痴 such a big book they can稚 get everything in. I was a little bit disappointed, next year probably [could be for me]."

How do you feel about the lack of Quidditch in the film? Join the discussion in The Three Broomsticks.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final chapter of the Harry Potter saga. Pre-Order yours today from Overstock.

July 21, 2007 expected release date

To mark the finish of the last Harry Potter book, JK Rowling apparently scribbled a note in black marker on the back of a marble bust in Edinburgh痴 five-star Balmoral Hotel. It read:

笛K Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11th Jan 2007.�

It's just speculation, but according to Professor James Krasner, who teaches literature at the University of New Hampshire, Harry won't die in the Deathly Hallows:

Why won't Harry die? Because it would be a worse story if Harry died, and she's a good writer. The genre she's writing in (the British school drama), the main character doesn't die. (source)

Join the discussion on Book Seven in The Three Broomsticks!

The launch of The Last Book, which is how we refer to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows around here, is coming closer and closer every day. Yes, we池e excited, but more importantly- we池e deciding how to mark the occasion. I mean, this is The Last Book!

Our current plan is to throw a Harry Potter Party on July 21st, complete with Butterbeer, of course, and require all guests to show up in their best Harry gear- a fabulous idea we got when we discovered HarryGear.com, a shopping site we致e been asked to review.

At first we thought this has got to be too good to be true. From Gryffindor scarves to Slytherin neckties, Quidditch goggles to Mad-Eye Moony痴 eye patch ("see more than the average wizard�!), it made us want to whip out our credit cards and buy the whole collection for ourselves right there and then.

The little gem of a web shop is brought to us by Legendary Toys, so you can expect high quality products. Indeed, on their Frequently Asked Questions page, they state that all of their Harry Potter products are genuine and officially licensed through Warner Brothers. Which makes that pair of Harry Potter glasses all the more dear.

Our most favourite section of HarryGear.com is the Hogwarts Teacher Gear, which currently features three of Professor McGonagall痴 hats (witch, tartan, and feather) and Dumbledore痴 Tassel Hat. Very awesome.

But we致e saved the best for last, of course: they have their very own Sorting Hat (shown here), complete with a workable mouth and hidden compartment for your 努izard痴 treasures�! A definite must-buy for our Harry party... although ordering gear from here would probably be a party in itself for us.

Visit HarryGear.com (a sponsored, but completely objective post)

Is it just us, or is Dan Radcliffe- who will always be Harry Potter to us- getting cuter?

Check out his latest interview with IESB.net (it's video, so not safe for work :-)). Isn't he absolutely darling?

Also not to be missed (this one's not a video): an interview with Dan and Rupert Grint over at Popcorn. Our favourite quote from this one:

Daniel Radcliffe turns up first, still smart in suit and tie. "You've got to make an effort," he says, though he reveals that the bottom of his tie is rammed into the top - "it slipped out during the press conference." He agrees that he presents a very different look to Rupert. "He's more casual - but I like to dress up. I am a suit man - and it makes you feel slightly taller. Plus -" and he nods to his waistcoat, "if you have three buttons on your waistcoat and only tie the top one, people's eyes go up there and it makes you look taller. But if you're small and you wear a baseball cap, it's actually easy to slip into a crowd and not get spotted."

We love that he makes an effort!

With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) drawing near, there's a little bit of panic as to what we'll be turning our attentions to once the series is complete. Of course our hearts will always belong to Harry, but today we came upon this list of books labeled the 'next Harry Potter'. Worth a look, in any case.

"Before I did the scene everyone kept coming up to me and asking if I was looking forward to it. It got me really, really nervous and I was having sleepless nights over it. But when I actually did the scene it went very well and Dan was great. He said he was nervous as well."

Katie Leung, who plays Cho Chang in the Harry Potter movies, was recently interviewed. Here's what she says about the Number One Question On Everyone's Mind:

"I don't want anyone to die. I really don't know. If anyone, probably Harry. But I don't want him to die."

The New Zealand Herald recently published a list of little known Harry Potter Trivia, which includes the following gems:

1. J. K. Rowling's manuscript for Harry Potter was turned down a staggering 15 times by book publishers. Makes aspiring writers like us feel better!


2. The Hogwarts motto, "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus" means "never tickle a sleeping dragon". Awww.


3. Although we know that Harry has a scar on his forehead, it's never specified in the books where it's actually located. I didn't realize this until now. Interesting.


4. Daniel Radcliffe spent approximately 42 hours underwater during the course of filming The Goblet of Fire. Wow, that's a LOT of water.


5. Steven Spielberg reportedly wanted Haley Joel Osment ("I see dead people") for the part of Harry. Thank heavens for Dan Radcliffe!

In preparation for the coming of the final book, here's a primer on the first six Harry Potter books:
BOOK ONE:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)

Major new characters: Harry Potter, a young wizard and an orphan; Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry's best friends; Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwarts gamekeeper; Draco Malfoy, a fellow student and Harry's nemesis; Severus Snape, Potions master who dislikes Harry; Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts; Lord Voldemort, an evil wizard almost universally feared; Quirinus Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Major plot points:

On his 11th birthday, Harry learns he is a wizard. For most of his life, he's been living with his cruel relatives, the Dursleys, who have kept his magical past a secret.

Voldemort killed James and Lily Potter but was unable to kill their baby son, Harry. Harry is known throughout the wizarding world for surviving Voldemort's attack, which left a lightning bolt-shaped scar on the boy's forehead.

Harry attends his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is assigned to Gryffindor, one of four houses. He shows a natural talent for playing the wizard game Quidditch.

Harry learns that Voldemort is trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone, which grants its owner wealth and immortality. He, Ron and Hermione fight to keep the stone away from Voldemort.

Memorable quote: "If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign ... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever." - Dumbledore to Harry

... and we're LOVING it so far!

Don't have your copy yet? Order Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)

Now that it's all over in the Harry Potter saga, we'd like to know what you think? Were you satisfied with the ending?

Given the usual state of Potter-madness in these parts, we're pretty much "neither here nor there"- we loved Deathly Hallows, but still can't believe that there won't be another book to look forward to. We're just glad the films haven't all been made yet.

Want to talk about how you feel about the End? Visit our Deathly Hallows forum at The Three Broomsticks- and kick back with a butterbeer or two.

Don't miss this video of Mary GrandPre (illustrator of the Harry Potter books) showing how she draws Harry:

Mary GrandPre Draws Harry Potter!

You have J.K. Rowling's permission to do so!

Rowling has given fans permission to write sequels to the Harry Potter books, as long as the material stays online only.

Rowling's lawyers confirmed she is happy for spin-offs to be published online as long as the publications are not sold and it is made clear she was not involved in the stories.

She also requested the follow-ups do not contain pornography or racism.

This is great news for those of us who write Harry Potter fan fiction! So get started already... and share it with the world in The Three Broomsticks!