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Dutton's in Brentwood is hosting Harry Potter party complete with Harry Potter-themed games and snacks prior to the countdown to 12:01 when "Deathly Hallows" officially goes on sale. The event is free to the public and the store, located at 11975 San Vicente Blvd., will open its doors at 11 p.m. on July 20.
Book Soup in West Hollywood will host a free weekend-long Harry Potter release carnival starting Friday July 20 and promises to be event-packed all day Saturday and Sunday.
Daniel Radcliffe said the shooting the scene after Harry Potter kisses Cho Chang reminded him of something out of "The Usual Suspects."
Emma Watson said the set where they shot the Dumbledore's Army scenes was like walking into an oven.
And Rupert Grint liked shooting the scenes for the Quote of Prophecies.
The three actors talked about filming "Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix" during a press conference in England last week.
Listen to Daniel Radcliffe talk about seeing himself grow up in the Harry Potter movies:
Goblet of Fire screening
Listen to Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson talk about the biggest indulgences since being Harry Potter stars:
Indulgences
Listen to Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson talk about filming the Dumbledore's Army scenes:
Dumbledore's Army
Listen to Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint talk about filming their favorite scenes:
Favorite scenes
Among the topics that were brought up were the fate of their characters, working with a new director and seeing themselves grow up in the movies.
This is the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series and the first for director David Yates. He will be back to direct "The Half-Blood Prince." All three actors said they were happy that Yates is returning.
All three were asked to talk about their favorite scenes to shoot during the filming of the movie. Radcliffe chose the scene after he kisses Katie Leung, who plays Cho Chang in the movie.
He said everyone in the scene was in a genuine, giggly mood and it reminded him of the scene from "The Usual Suspects" when the characters in the line up were doing the scene and laughing uncontrollably.
Watson said she has some uncomfortable memories of shooting the scenes for Dumbledore's Army. The walls on the set were covered in mirrors and fire was used to create some of the effects in the scenes.
"It was like walking into an oven," Watson said.
One of the reporters then asked if anyone passed out during the filming of those scenes. No one did, according to the actors.
"We weren't cruelly treated," Radcliffe said.
For Grint, filming the scene for the Quote of Prophecies stands out.
"There was nothing there, no set at all," Grint said. "It was all green screen. Looking back, watching it was really weird."
Not that any of the actors have any insight to how their characters fare in the final book, but the three have some ideas of how they would like to see "The Deathly Hallows" end.
Watson said she doesn't want any loose ends.
"It would be nice to wrap the characters up," Watson said after Grint jokingly suggested that all of them should die.
"The Harry/Voldemort connection will hopefully sort itself out," Watson said. To which Radcliffe replied, "It's not that simple."
Hollywood.com has new clips from "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," including scenes with Dolores Umbridge, Snape, Sirius and Dumbledore's Army.
Go to http://www.hollywood.com/content/trailer_detail.aspx?id=4326044&r=8&f=1&pref=1 to see them.
Is Dumbledore dead?
Who lives and dies in the "Deathly Hallows"?
Is Snape evil?
Do Ron and Hermione get it on?
And how tight are the Chamber of Secrets at the publishing houses of the final Harry Potter book.
Time.com tries to answers all these questions and more.
The Web site has a detailed package of stories, photos, predictions and revelations about the final installment of the Harry Potter saga.
From a timeline of when JK Rowling wrote the final word of her manuscript to a harrowing encounter at an airport security station, Time tells the story of how the "Deathly Hallows" will get from the author's pen into the minds of millions of readers around the world.
Very interesting stuff.
For more go to: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1637886,00.html
Bookselling bohemoth Barnes & Noble announced today that 700 of its U.S. stores will be host to "Midnight Magic Costume Parties" on July 20. The stores will stay open late to sell "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" at the stroke of midnight when it officially goes on sale.
The good people at The Leaky Cauldron have given us, and now you, access to Pottercasts, weekly podcasts currently broadcasting from different U.S. cities. An L.A. podcast is slated for July 8. Pottercast.com will become a permanent link on this site, but for now, you can start listening to past and current podcasts by clicking right here.
Associated Press national reporter HIllel Italie writes on the Harry Potter series becoming a phenomenon of pop culture and literary history, citing fans and not marketers as the driving force. He writes:
True phenomena are never planned. Not "Star Trek," a series canceled after three seasons by NBC; or "Star Wars," rejected throughout Hollywood before taken on by 20th Century Fox, which didn't bother pushing for merchandising or sequel rights. The public knew better _ the young people who screamed for the Beatles or watched "Star Wars" dozens of times or carried on for years about "Star Trek" after its cancellation.
For the full story, click below.
NEW YORK (AP) _ As the Harry Potter series wraps up this summer, we can look back at two remarkable narratives: Potter the boy wizard and Potter the cultural phenomenon.
Potter the wizard's fate will be known July 21 with the release of "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows," Book 7 of J.K. Rowling's fantasy epic. Worldwide sales of the first six books already top 325 million copies and the first printing for "Deathly Hallows" is 12 million in the United States alone.
Potter the phenomenon doesn't compare for suspense, but like the wizard's tale, it is unique and extraordinary and well placed in tradition. Like "Star Wars" and "Star Trek," it is the story of how a work of popular art becomes a world of its own _ imitated, merchandised and analyzed, immortalized not by the marketers, but by the fans.
"Every phenomenon is a kind of myth unto itself, a myth about how a phenomenon becomes a phenomenon. The story of how the public embraced Potter only gives more momentum to Potter in our culture," says Neal Gabler, an author and cultural critic whose books include "Walt Disney" and "Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality."
True phenomena are never planned. Not "Star Trek," a series canceled after three seasons by NBC; or "Star Wars," rejected throughout Hollywood before taken on by 20th Century Fox, which didn't bother pushing for merchandising or sequel rights. The public knew better _ the young people who screamed for the Beatles or watched "Star Wars" dozens of times or carried on for years about "Star Trek" after its cancellation.
In the beginning, "Harry Potter" simply needed a home. Several British publishers turned down Rowling, believing her manuscript too long and/or too slow, before the Bloomsbury Press signed her up in 1996, for $4,000 and a warning not to expect to get rich from writing children's books. An American publisher had bigger ideas: Scholastic editor Arthur A. Levine acquired U.S. rights for $105,000.
"I can vividly remember reading the manuscript and thinking, 'This reminds me of Roald Dahl,' an author of such skill, an author with a unique ability to be funny and cutting and exciting at the same time," Levine says.
"But I could not possibly have had the expectation we would be printing 12 million copies for one book ('Deathly Hallows'). That's beyond anyone's experience. I would have had to be literally insane."
For the media, the biggest news at first was Rowling herself: an unemployed, single English mother who gets the idea for a fantasy series while stuck on a train between Manchester and London, finishes the manuscript in the cafes of Edinburgh, Scotland, and finds herself compared, in more than one publication, to Dahl.
"In fact, if there is a downside to Rowling's story it is the distinct danger she will be called 'The New Roald Dahl,' which would be an albatross around her slender shoulders," the Glasgow-based The Herald warned in June 1997 with publication of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," the first Potter book.
"Philosopher's Stone" was released in England during business hours with a tiny first printing. Bloomsbury suggested that Rowling use initials instead of her real name, Joanne, out of fear that boys wouldn't read a book by a woman.
The book quickly became a commercial and critical favorite and just kept selling. In July 1998, the Guardian in London noted that Rowling was more popular than John Grisham and declared "The Harry Potter books have become a phenomenon." At the time, "Philosopher's Stone" had sold 70,000 copies.
The first book came out in the United States in September 1998, renamed "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" for young Americans and promoted by "Meet Harry Potter" buttons. Potter was first mentioned by The Associated Press that November, when Rowling was interviewed in New York during a five-city U.S. tour. Potter appeared a month later in The New York Times, cited well down in a roundup of holiday favorites.
"When the Potter books first came out, we didn't know they would sell millions of copies, but we all read them and loved them and we thought they were the kinds of books that would really grab a child. We hand-sold the heck out of them, the same way we would with any book that was so well written," says Beth Puffer, manager of the Bank Street Bookstore in New York City.
By January 1999, the AP was calling Potter a sensation, noting in a brief item that "Joanne Rowling has gone from hard-up single mother to literary phenomenon." In July 1999, the "p-word" appeared in long articles in the Los Angeles Times, Publishers Weekly and the Times, which observed that "Hannibal Lecter and Harry Potter are shaping up as the summer's must reads," but then added, with a bit of a wink, "Harry who?"
By 2000, Harry was a friend to millions, the toast of midnight book parties around the world. For a time, the first three Potter books held the top positions on the Times' hardcover fiction list of best sellers, leading the newspaper to create a separate category for children's books. The fourth work, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," had a first printing of 3.8 million in the United States alone. The release date became 12:01 a.m., sharp, "so everyone could come to it at the same time _ no spoilers!" according to Scholastic spokeswoman Kyle Good.
Potter was pulling in all ages. Rene Kirkpatrick, a buyer for All for Kids Books & Music, an independent store based in Seattle, says the appeal to grown-ups set Potter apart. She began noticing that adults not only read Rowling, but would browse through other titles in the children's fantasy section.
"People were beginning to realize that there was some extraordinary literature written for people under 19," she says. "It doesn't feel odd anymore for adults to be seen reading children's books. ... Potter has made a big difference."
"Potter has greatly expanded the real estate for young adult fiction," says Doug Whiteman, president of the Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA). "The teen section of a bookstore is now quite a substantial area, shopped in not only by teens, but by parents."
Meanwhile, Potter was alive and breeding on the Internet, thanks to fan sites such as http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/ and http://www.mugglenet.com. Potter Web masters Emerson Spartz of Leaky Cauldron and Melissa Anelli of Mugglenet agree that between 2000 and 2003 the Potter galaxy exploded again, from publishing phenomenon to cultural phenomenon. Spartz notes the release of the first Potter movie, in 2001. Anelli refers to the three-year wait for book five, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."
"Around 2000, message boards, mailing lists, blogs were starting to form into the community hubs we have now. So the fans, who were desperately awaiting word on the fifth book ... obsessed together on the Internet, writing their own fan fiction, having huge discussions picking every last piece of the canon apart and finding whatever way possible to make the wait tolerable," says Anelli, who is writing a history of Potter, due out in 2008.
"This built on itself exponentially until, by the time the fifth book came out in 2003, there was a rabid, active, flourishing online community that was spilling off the Net and into bookstores."
No longer was Rowling called the new Dahl. Now, publishers looked for the next J.K. Rowling. Countless works, from Cornelia Funke's "The Thief Lord" to Christopher Paolini's "Eragon," were compared to Potter. Again, a common symptom, like all the "new Bob Dylans" or the science fiction projects that followed "Star Wars," including the first "Star Trek" movie.
Along with imitators come the products: Beatle wigs, "Star Wars" sabers, "Star Trek" clocks, Harry Potter glasses. And along with the products come the spinoffs, whether business books such as Tom Morris' "If Harry Potter Ran General Electric," or Neil Mulholland's "The Psychology of Harry Potter" or John Granger's "Looking for God in Harry Potter."
"I think the reason that authors write books about J.K. Rowling's works and readers buy them is because being a fan of Harry Potter is about much more than just reading and enjoying Ms. Rowling's book series," says Jennifer Heddle, an editor at Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster that is publishing Anelli and has released more than 100 "Star Trek" related titles.
"I think it is similar to 'Star Trek' in that it takes place in a richly imagined world that invites fans to immerse themselves in every aspect. I think it's even closer to 'Star Wars' because it's also a very mythic story that appeals to a broad audience that crosses all age and gender lines."
Unbounded by age or format, phenomena are amphibious creatures: The Beatles were sensations on television and film and in books, which continue to come out, and sell, more than 30 years after their breakup. "Star Trek" produced a string of popular TV spin-offs and was adapted into a series of hit films, video games and novels, just as "Star Wars" inspired its own line of best-selling books and games. A live-action TV series is planned for 2009.
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth Potter film, is a guaranteed blockbuster. The first four Potter movies have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, and sales for the soundtracks top 1 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks the retail market. Potter is the rare literary series to inspire a video game and is expected to have a theme park, in Orlando, Fla., by 2010.
While fads fade out, phenomena last, thanks to the same folks who got them started: the fans, the people who hold "Star Wars" conventions, play Beatles songs for their children, post their own "Star Trek" videos online or the Potter fans around the world already vowing to continue.
"I think we'll always have Harry Potter conventions-conferences, and the appeal won't end once it's off the 'new releases' shelf," Anelli says. "The mania will never be this intense again but this series will have life in the real world for a very long time."
"When something has staying power, it's because it strikes some kind of fundamental chord," Gabler, the cultural critic, says. "Kids identify with Harry Potter and his adventures; they identify with his empowerment. It's all very circular. We feel empowered by making a phenomenon out of something like Potter and Potter itself addresses the very idea of empowerment."
The BBC reports Thursday that Bloomsbury, the British publisher of the Harry Potter series, announced that export orders were up 17 percent for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the last installment of the series. While their annual profits dropped 74 percent in 2006, a year without a Potter book, the company says that it has a solid plan for life after a publishing phenomenon.
In a statement Bloomsbury said it was confident that the company had developed a strategy for the "medium and longterm." British analysts weren't quite so buoyant. The BBC quoted a Hargreaves Landsown equity anaylist Keith Bowman saying, "Whilst Harry Potter remains a key ingredient in the group's future success, management are now having to look beyond the initial euphoria created, with new authors and acquisitions being sought."
Bloomsbury also announced it has set a date of Oct. 1 for the release of a box-set of all seven books.
Leo Lewis of the London Times was at Virgin Cinema Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan, for a screening of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."
He said the film was a solid, occasionally spectacular, wizarding romp which struggles unsuccessfully to give us the thrills and fun we have not already had in previous installments.
No kidding.
Lewis makes the startling realization that the kids from the first four Harry Potter books are actually growing up. Instead of having typical kids problems -- sports, dating, homework -- compounded by the fact that they are also kid wizards and witches, Harry, Ron, Hermione and their classmates now face some adult predicaments. Self-preservation, duty, commitment, loyalty to friends and family take the place of passing potions class and finding a date to the Yule ball.
It is far crueler than its predecessors and begins to introduce properly the idea that we are no longer in an amusing magical playground, but are en route to an epic confrontation with real victims.
Last week we announced that Scholastic's Harry Potter Knight Bus will be making two stops in the L.A. area as part of a national tour, one at the the Mid-Valley Regional Branch library in in North Hills and one at the Central Library downtown. It should be noted that pre-registration is required for both events for a spot on the bus, which is limited to 225 people. Spots are available on a first-come first-served basis and you must be present to register beginning Monday at 10 a.m. at both branches. Minors must have parental approval. The bus is also handicap accessible.
Here are the dates, times and addresses again:
Saturday 7/7
9-12noon
Mid-Valley Regional Branch Library
16244 Nordhoff Street
North Hills, CA 91343
(818) 895-3650
2 to 5pm
Central Library
630 W. 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 228-7000
Log on to Scholatic's web site for more dates and locations near you.
TLC reports that J.K. Rowling has updated the links section of her website with information about resources to help a find a missing British girl named Madaleine McCann. From the homepage, click on the pair of glasses. When you get to the links section, click on a book that says LOOK! Missing Madaleine.
What will the stylish Gryffindor wear to the theater see "Order of Phoenix?" What will a fashion-forward Ravenclaw sport to a midnight book release party for "Deathly Hallows?" Why, Sassy Tails, of course. The company offers everything from silk scarves in Hogwarts House colors to fun and funky buttons and hair ribbons for the excited little witch or wizard in your family.
Scholastic headquarters in New York City will turn into Harry Potter Place on July 20.
To coincide with the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," Scholastic, the U.S. publisher of the Harry Potter book, will host Harry Potter Place, which is being described as a magical and interactive street celebration for kids and adults.
Harry Potter Place will open to the media July 20 at 8 a.m. with an unveiling of the first U.S. edition of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" signed by JK Rowling. Harry Potter Place opens to the public at 5 p.m.
For more information on Harry Potter Place go to http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/index.htm.
The Harry Potter kid correspondent for Amazon.com is August Rosenberg. He is a 10-year-old from Los Angeles and will be going into the sixth-grade at the Los Angeles Center for Enrichment Studies near Culver City.
He earned his post with Amazon.com by making a video and discussing his favorite character from the Harry Potter stories. He chose Severus Snape.
"I think he is a very intriguing character," Rosenberg said.
In addition to being a Harry Potter fan, Rosenberg is working on a novel of his own. It is a fantasy-based story with wizards, elves and dwarves battling global warming.
Part of his duties as a kid correspondent is to interview some of the cast members from "The Order of the Phoenix" to be posted on Amazon.com. He will also be participating in a message board on Amazon.com.
To see his video and participate on the message board, go to www.amazon.com/kidcorrespondent
This is why Keith Olbermann is awesome. He offers up his rather studied opinions on "Deathly Hallows" and the series in general. This is no pop-culture reference fan, no sirree. Olbermann knows what he's talking about: He's actually read the books. Olbermann's on the fence about whether or not Harry will live or die by the end of it all, but remains in the somewhat practical camp about the ultimate outcome.
Consider it from the marketing standpoint. Book number seven, “Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows,” reaches sweaty palms on July 21st. But the movie reaching theaters July 13th, “The Order of the Phoenix” is only the fifth film. What is the box office going be like for that one if eight days later Potter is killed off?
The Sci-Fi Network has posted an interview with Oscar-nominated actress Imelda Staunton, who plays the deeply horrible Professor Dolores Umbridge in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."
Staunton had this to say about her role: "I sort of thought, 'Well, it'll be a lot of wand pointing, and it'll be a lot of effects and a bit of silliness,' but actually it was a very serious piece of work."
Standing up for yourself.
Questioning authority.
Daydreaming.
When did these become had habits?
Rebekah Richert, an assistant professor of psychology at UC Riverside, apparently believes these themes present concern for parents who have children fans of the Harry Potter books and movies.
“This is particularly problematic when discussing ‘realistic fantasy,’ as in the case of Harry Potter, whose ‘fantastical’ world involves a number of realistic elements," such as the presence of the Muggle world, which gives the stories a realistic feel and the very real existence of paganism outside of the Harry Potter series, Richert said on the UC Riverside web site.
Growing up, I was a big fan of "The Lord of the Rings" books, "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy," "Star Wars" and Indiana Jones. Fighting back against oppression, evil, the ridiculous and the righteous were central themes in all those stories. Questioning the will and desire of leaders was also a key ingredient. Twenty years ago, those were valuable lessons. But now, it seems fighting for what you believe in is no longer a worthwhile venture. That's sad.
And all those stories, all those fights, took place in fantasty worlds that were not unlike our own.
It wasn't hard to separate the fantasy worlds in Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings with the real worlds in the fifth grade.
To think that children cannot differentiate between the two is a little silly.
But Richert suggests otherwise.
Research suggests that children often enjoy and persist in entertaining fantastical possibilities -- which has also been connected to factors like increased creativity -- but they are also fully able to reason rationally about those fantastical possibilities when a situation demands such reasoning, she says.
“If parents are concerned about their children’s exposure to fantasy worlds like Harry Potter's, they should take whatever action they feel is appropriate, whether it’s reducing their children’s exposure to the fantasy altogether or engaging their children in conversation about it,” she says.
MySpace users will get a chance to see a Black Curtain screening of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" two weeks before it is released nationally.
Rules and instructions on how to gain access to the Black Curtain screenings can be found at http://www.myspace.com/blackcurtain
Theaters in eight cities are participating in the Black Curtain screenings. Unfortunately, Los Angeles is not one of them. The closest anyone in Los Angeles will get to a Black Curtain screening is Sacramento.
But MySpace will be sending one user to Hollywood for the premiere of the movie at Grauman Chinese Theatre on July 11.
The Black Curtain screenings are scheduled for June 28.
MTV reports on its movies blog that a key character was very nearly cut from the upcoming movie, but got a reprieve in the form of the author herself, J.K. Rowling.
During press conferences in London over the weekend, the cast and filmmakers from “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” answered lots of questions — do they want to see Harry die in Book Seven? What was it like to film Harry’s first kiss? — but one tantalizing tidbit remained unanswered: Which character were they referring to, when discussing how they were going to cut someone out of the film, until J.K. Rowling advised them to keep the character in instead? “Jo reads each draft,” David Heyman had said on Saturday, “she reads each screenplay, and she said, ‘You know, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Or you can, but if you get to make a seventh film, you’ll be tied in knots.’” “Which character was it?” the Boston Herald asked. “I thought you might ask that,” Heyman teased. “I’m not going to say.”
Heyman eventually gives up the info. Without wanting to spoil anything here ... click the link, above, to find out who it is.
Ascribe Newswire reports that Kansas experts are weighing in with their "Deathly Hallows" predictions. The two professors stop short of saying that ALL SIDEKICKS DIE, but Tim Haddock take note, one of them doesn't have high hopes for Ron.
MANHATTAN, Kan -- J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter series will hit bookstores in July and there is no shortage of anticipation among Harry Potter fans. Kansas State University’s Philip Nel and Karin Westman are no exceptions.Nel, associate professor of English, is the author of “J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Novels: A Reader’s Guide”; and Westman, an associate professor and head of the department of English, is completing her book, “J.K. Rowling’s Library: Harry Potter in Context.” Both teach a course on Harry Potter at K-State and have some predictions for Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” to be released July 21. Westman and Nel both have concerns about Harry’s fate, as well as the fates of other key characters in the final book.
“I’m a little concerned about Harry. One of the features that is emphasized about Harry is his willingness to
sacrifice himself for others,” Westman said. “We’ve seen a character sacrifice himself before when Dumbledore
sacrificed himself in the sixth book, so I don’t know who will be the character who puts their life on the line
in this book.”
“I’m also concerned about Ron. He has shown himself to be willing to sacrifice himself in a previous book and
that may be a parallel that Rowling draws on in this book,” she said.
“One reason I think you might see Ron be the character who sacrifices himself in the new book is because he
is the best friend, and we all know that that is the role of the best friend -- to be the sacrifice,” Nel said.
“I don’t think Rowling is going to kill Harry. I think Harry will survive, but I definitely don’t think it will
be an easy or uncomplicated survival.”
“I think there will be a lack of resolution on some of the questions that have come out of the novel. For
instance, I don’t think there will be an answer to the question over which side Snape is on,” Nel said.
Westman said she is also interested in the role Ginny Weasley will play in the last book.
“She has become increasingly strong as a character and important to the group of friends; she is definitely a
character to be reckoned with. Also, I think that we, as readers, would like to see Ginny and Harry together as
a couple,” Westman said.
“Clearly, Hermoine and Ron are part of Harry’s adventure,” Nel said. “Harry is always saying he wants to go
on alone and they never let him, so they are certainly going to be a part of the alliance against Voldemort,
but I think we can expect that Ginny will be a part of that group as well.”
While Harry’s story is ending with the final book, both Nel and Westman say fictional characters really live
forever.
“Rowling has said quite clearly that Harry’s story will end with this last volume,” Westman said. “Even
though his story will end, it is important to remember that Harry Potter will live on in the fan fiction that
is a portion of the fan response to the series.”
“Harry Potter will continue to live on for readers now and readers in generations to come,” Nel said. “That’s
the nice thing about fictional characters. They never really die; they’re always there and you can go back and
spend time with them whenever you want simply by picking up a book and reading.”
According to Nel and Westman, the success of the “Harry Potter” series is due to many factors.
“One thing that makes it successful is that it appeals to both children and adult readers,” Westman said.
“Young readers relate in terms of their experiences as schoolchildren. Adult readers can enjoy it, too, because
Rowling writes about an adult world as well as a world that children inhabit.”
“Rowling is someone who has read widely and successfully synthesized her many influences into something that
seems new, that seems original,” Nel said. “From Jane Austen to C.S. Lewis to E. Nesbit to Dorothy Sayers, and
even to the Greek and Roman myths Rowling read in college, she has been able to take elements from all of those
influences and create something unique that is in itself a work of art.”
“Another thing that makes the series successful is the mystery component of the book,” Westman said. “For
example, you keep reading in the first book to figure out whether Harry and his friends are going to figure out
what the philosopher’s or sorcerer’s stone is, and you read later to try and figure out who Sirius Black is and
whether he’s going to be on Harry’s side or on Voldemort’s side.”
“The great thing about the series is that it is both plot and character driven,” Nel said. “If you’re someone
who needs a page-turner, you get that. If you’re someone who enjoys getting to know characters and developing a
relationship with them, you get that, too.”
The Associated Press has this story with star Daniel Radcliffe and director David Yates discussing the dark and dangerous tone in the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."
LONDON (AP) _ Storm clouds are gathering over the world's most famous wizard in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth film to be adapted from J.K. Rowling's magical saga.Daniel Radcliffe's teenage Harry has acquired stubble on his chin and angst in his soul, facing a sense of isolation, a showdown with his evil nemesis, Lord Voldemort and _ just as scary _ his first screen kiss.
"He is very troubled," Radcliffe, 17, told The Associated Press recently, a few weeks ahead of the film's opening. "He's troubled by the fact that he doesn't think anybody is believing in him, his friends don't seem to understand him ... He lets that out in various ways. He lashes out."
To read the rest of this story ... click below.
"Order of the Phoenix," which opens in the United States July 11 and Britain the next day, is directed by David Yates, a Briton best known for the multilayered TV thrillers "State of Play" and "Sex Traffic."
Yates brings a touch of grittiness to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which as the film opens is undergoing a creeping takeover by the bureaucratic Ministry of Magic and its emissary, the deceptively rosy Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton).
That, combined with nightmares that link Harry ever more closely to the dastardly Voldemort, bring a sense of impending doom to the wizarding world as Rowling's saga takes a turn for the darker.
Yates said his goal was "to introduce a real sense of emotional and spiritual angst and danger. The series is ready for that."
"I wanted to push (the actors) _ and they really wanted to push themselves," he added.
The actors, in turn, say they loved the challenge.
"David got us at a time when we were ready to be pushed, we all knew that, and he knew it and he was damn well going to push us," Radcliffe said. "I couldn't thank him enough for that."
The result, Radcliffe says, is a more mature and complex Harry Potter _ a hero with magic powers but human frailties.
"It's nice to know that he's real and he experiences real anger and rage and frustration and loneliness," Radcliffe said. "That's what makes him a proper hero as opposed to the Superman perfect-at-everything sort of hero. Harry's a genuine hero because he's flawed."
Apart from the angst, it's Harry's first kiss with fellow student Cho Chang (Katie Leung) that will likely attract attention from moviegoers.
Radcliffe _ who earlier this year appeared nude onstage in the play "Equus" in London's West End _ admitted to some trepidation about the kiss.
"I was a bit nervous about doing it because I've known the crew and everyone for so long," he said. "It was a little bit strange. But it was Katie, and we were both very professional about it.
"This isn't a particularly sexy or exciting kiss _ it's very sweet and very clumsy, like all first kisses are. "
The Harry Potter books have been translated into 65 languages and sold more than 325 million copies since the first volume, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," was published in 1997. The frenzy that now attends each new book launch is reaching a climax with the publication of the seventh and final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," on July 21.
Radcliffe and co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who play Harry's friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, have been at the center of the Harry Potter storm for almost half their lives. They seem remarkably levelheaded _ a quality they attribute to the support of their families, and of the Harry Potter filmmaking family.
Asked about the greatest extravagance their wealth has let them indulge in, Watson says an Apple computer, while Radcliffe expresses an interest in collecting art.
"I've never really been into cars, so I'm not going to splash out on a classic-car collection, which I think people expect me to," Radcliffe said.
Grint, at least, has bought the vehicle of his dreams.
"I've recently got an ice-cream van," he said.
All three stars have signed up for the final two Potter films, the first of which _ "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" _ starts shooting in September.
Until "Deathly Hallows" is published, the actors have no more idea than ordinary Muggles about how the series will end, and whether the prophecy Harry discovers in "Order of the Phoenix" _ that neither he nor Voldemort can survive while the other one lives _ means the young wizard will die.
"A couple of years ago I said I would like Harry to die because it's a conclusive ending," Radcliffe said. "The next day the headlines were 'Radcliffe Wants Harry Dead.'
"I think he might (die)," he added, "but that's based on absolutely nothing."
All three young stars have begun to look toward life after Harry Potter. Watson wants to attend university and would like to appear in a costume drama. Grint, too, wants to carry on acting _ "and if it doesn't work out, I've still got the ice cream van."
Radcliffe has already begun to branch out, appearing in the Australian film "December Boys" _ due for release later this year _ and making his stage debut in "Equus."
Radcliffe says he knows some people will always see him as Harry. But he is determined not to be typecast.
"I know it's naive to think that if I do one thing that's different, people will suddenly think, 'Oh, he's not just Harry Potter, he's an actor,'" he said. "It's going to take a hell of a long time. But I will work as hard as I possibly can."
The Order of the Phoenix IMAX trailer is out with some new scenes in the upcoming movie.
http://www.pottermaniac.net/pmcvision/videos/trailers/HP5-5-vo.wmv
Tim Haddock's trying to get all literary on me.
His claim that Ron Weasley's going to die because "all sidekicks die" is one of the worst arguments for a character dying of all the arguments that could be made, mostly because isn't true.
Sancho Panza. Samwise Gamgee. Dr. Watson. Robin. Han Solo. Barney Rubble -- all sidekicks, all alive at the end of the story or episode. Maybe one or two died of old age in someone's fan fiction, maybe someone wishes they were dead so they could see Princess Leia in a metal bikini, but the idea that ALL sidekicks must die is, well, wrong. Sidekicks are there for support, and to offer faith and encouragement to the hero. Sure, some are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that totally sucks, but they don't ALL DIE.
Tim's other argument, that Ron has to die to move Harry forward on his journey, is also off the mark. Apparently, Dumbledore's death, the death of his parents, the death of his godfather, Sirius, his own near-death experiences, and those of his friends, not to mention all the other icky things other characters have done in the past and present in the name of evil haven't meant anything to this kid. He just wants to kiss girls, play sports and get in trouble.
*sigh*
No. Harry has been aware of his destiny since the very beginning, even if he didn't know what it all meant. Harry is ready now. Dumbledore's death did that in a way nothing else could. However, no one else is ready. Ron, the sidekick, is still aggravatingly self-centered. Everyone else must to step up for the hero to complete his journey.
It won't take another "important death" to light a fire under this kid, but more deaths will occur to get the others prepared for battle. If I were a bettin' woman (and I'm not, ask anyone), I'd put all my money on someone who's beloved in BIG way, as it would rally a school, a community.
I don't know who this Gabriel is, nor do I believe his claims that he knows the identies of the goners in the seventh and final book. So, I say this to my esteemed colleague: IGNORE HIM.
Gabriel the Hacker claims to know who gets killed in the "Deathly Hallows," the final installment of the Harry Potter books.
He's wrong. Or perhaps partially wrong.
One of Harry's friends will die in the "Deathly Hallows." But it won't be the one Gabriel chose.
Ron Weasley has to die in the final chapter. He must die for a number of reasons -- most of which I will go into now.
First, Harry does not have the motivation to kill anybody. Even Lord Voldemort. Harry has exhibited no homicidal tendencies at all through the first six books. Even though he knows Lord Voldemort killed his parents, Harry has few memories of his parents. They were never close to him. It's not that they weren't important to him, but Harry hardly knew them.
Someone close to Harry has to die for Harry to muster the desire to kill. Who better than his best friend, his confidant, his sidekick.
Which brings me to my second point.
Being a sidekick is a mark of death in any story. All sidekicks die. Throughout the history of literature, the sidekick has always died.
But Ron has to die for reasons other than to give Harry the motivation to kill.
He has to die to unite the Weasley family. He has to die for Percy to see the error of his ways and return to his family. He needs to die so that Fred and George will stop fooling around with jokes and pranks and use their powers to fight Lord Voldemort.
But mostly he has to die to release the fire that's burning inside of Hermione. She will play a big part in Lord Voldemort's demise. JK Rowling has big plans for Hermione, and one of them will be to become a heroine in the fight against evil.
Ron's death will bring out the heroes in most of the characters close to him. His brothers, his girlfriend, but mostly his best friend. Harry needs a reason to want to kill Lord Voldemort. He doesn't have it yet, but if Ron dies at the hand of Lord Voldemort, it will be more than enough to push Harry over the edge.
It makes too much sense for Ron to die.
Amazon.com has chosen its own Harry Potter expert for the Los Angeles area. He is 10-year-old August Rosenberg.
He was one of eight kid correspondents chosen by Amazon.com for their knowledge and appreciation of the Harry Potter books.
August has a particular interest in Severus Snape. His winning video can been seen at www.amazon.com/kidcorrespondent.
Click on August's name to see his video, and I assume his little brother.
Harry Potter fans under the age of 18 can win a copy of "The Deathly Hallows" in a contest announced by Amazon.com by writing a 300-word essay on their favorite character.
The Harry Potter Owl Delivery Writing Adventure will award nine winners with copies of the final installment of the Harry Potter books at midnight on July 21. The prize package also includes hundreds of dollars worth of Harry Potter memorabilia.
Three entries from three age groups (6-8, 9-12 and 13-17) will be chosen. To enter the Owl Delivery Writing Adventure, a parent or legal guardian must complete an entry form http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_4991572_2/002-7888142-7787241?ie=UTF8&docId=1000098641&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=19DKYS809686TMJR6JRT&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=294448301&pf_rd_i=1084186"here.
The deadline to enter is 11:49 p.m. on June 27 or when 1,000 eligible entries have been received.
The part of Lavender Brown is open for the next Harry Potter movie: "The Half-Blood Prince."
The only real problem, for those of us in Los Angeles, is that the search is going on in London.
According to Internet reports, the makers of "The Half-Blood Prince" are holding open casting calls for two roles in the next chapter of Harry Potter movies. The biggest role is Lavender Brown, who becomes the obsessive, possessive girlfriend of Ron Weasley, Harry's sidekick and best friend.
Finding a moody, irrational, unpredictable 16-year-old girl shouldn't be too hard.
Another big role up for grabs is Tom Riddle, otherwise known as the boy who would become Lord Voldermort.
Again, finding an outcast, oversensitive 16-year-old boy shouldn't be much of a challenge.
The casting calls are at Earls Court Exhibition Centre on July 1 and 8 in West London.
Reports are circulating through the British tabloids that the actor who plays Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter's nemesis and rival, is related to witches. The Salem witches of Massachusetts to be exact.
Tom Felton, who plays the treacherous and vile Draco Malfoy, is descended from alleged witches who were hanged during the Salem witch trials of 1692.
According to The Sun Web site:
Researcher David Nelson said: “I have discovered concrete proof of a link between Tom and some of those who were executed.
“He is a distant relative of John Proctor — who was hanged on August 19, 1692. I have informed Tom’s manager about witches in his family tree.” Mr Nelson, of Salt Lake City, US, has been probing the Salem witches’ history for four years.
He found the teen star is also related to seven others involved in the most infamous witch hunt in history — which was the subject of Arthur Miller’s celebrated play The Crucible.
Another distant relative of his is Lt Nathaniel Felton, who was a defence witness in the trial sparked by two young girls suffering fits and mysterious illnesses in Salem, Massachusetts.
Wal-Marts around the world will be holding midnight readings of the "Deathly Hallows" on July 21.
But first you have to make the pledge not to spoil the ending.
More than 2,900 stores across the United States will be holding Harry Potter festivities starting July 20.They will culminate with a 12:01 a.m. reading of the book on July 21.
Other activities planned for the night include:
-- Getting sorted into Hogwarts’ houses of Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff with color bands to ensure their place in line for the book
-- Trivia challenge and giveaways held throughout the evening
-- Customers and associates dressed in Harry Potter character attire
In some locations awards will be given for best costume and there will be additional engaging entertainment throughout the store, including special features broadcast on Wal-Mart TV.
To make the pledge, go to http://www.makethepledge.net
The Wal-Marts in Canyon Country and Palmdale, which are open 24 hours, will be participating in the midnight reading and festivities.
Get a wizard name of your very own right here ...
http://www.star-wands.co.uk/Harry_Potter/modules.php?name=NameGenerator
She's coming ... are you ready?
From JKR's Web site
In October I will be touring the USA for the first time since 2000. The Tour will include four events, three to be held for schoolchildren in the Los Angeles, New Orleans and New York City and one event in New York City for any U.S. Harry Potter fan who wins a ticket through a sweepstakes to be held by Scholastic, my US publishers. At each event, I will ready from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, answer questions about the entire series, and sign copies of the latest book.
If you or someone you know is a little hyped about the next book, then keep an eye out for the Knight Bus -- Harry Potter mania on wheels -- which will be visiting several Los Angeles-area locations in July.
Saturday 7/7
9-12noon
Mid-Valley Regional Branch Library
16244 Nordhoff Street
North Hills, CA 91343
(818) 895-3650
2 to 5pm
Central Library
630 W. 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 228-7000
Log on to Scholatic's web site for more dates and locations near you.
A kiss isn't always a kiss in with Harry Potter (especially when certain ones are designed to kill you) and I must confess, at first I wasn't sure JKR would have made such a great romance writer. I mean, the first kiss between Cho and Harry was more than awkward, it was actually depressing. Cho is grieving over her dead boyfriend and trying to move on, but just can't. Talk about adult themes in a children's book ... . The scene, I'm sure, was meant to be humorous, but it was really heavy and fraught with anxiety.
I guess JKR makes it up to us in Half-Blood Prince, the next installment, when Harry kisses Ginny, FINALLY. But then she breaks them up at the end of the book because ... in the immortal words of Pee Wee Herman ... Harry Potter's a loner, a rebel. You don't want get mixed up with a guy like him.
If Harry Potter does survive the next book, the kid deserves one heck of a makeout session.
Much is being made of Harry Potter's first kiss. The story from the set of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is that the crew had to be removed to shoot the scene in which Harry kisses Cho Chang. Apparently it was a moment most of the film crew did not want to miss.
That's understandable. First kisses are always special, probably even more so for the boy who lived.
But there are two problems with Harry's first kiss.
First, he kisses the wrong girl.
Second, JK Rowling doesn't exactly have a fondness for kissing.
Ginny Weasley gets so cheated in all this. Yeah, thought I was going to say Hermione, didn't ya.
No. Ginny's had a crush on Harry since the Sorcerer's Stone. She finally gets to Hogwarts, gets to spend some time with Harry away from her parents, and he decides he has a crush on Cho Chang. Moody, unpredictable Cho Chang.
Personally, I don't see the attraction. Silly Ravenclaw. Thinks she's so smart and creative.
Ginny's tough. She can fight with the best Gryffindors. She's not afraid of her brothers or her professors.
But most importantly, she treats Harry like another kid. At first, she is a little intimdated by his celebrity. But by the time she gets to Hogwarts, Harry is just another wizard in training, not the boy who lived.
That's all Harry wants to be. The one person who recognizes it is the one who gets dismissed.
But this might be an intentional oversight because JK Rowling doesn't like kissing.
All I have to point to is the dementor's kiss. It kills people. Not only does it kill people, it sends them to the darkest, coldest place imaginable. It steals the soul. It destroys happiness. It consumes with fear and hopelessness.
Rowling REALLY doesn't like kisses.
So maybe it is by design that Harry kisses Cho Chang first. In Rowling's mind, it's not that big a deal. First kisses are a little silly anyway. They always have high expectations and very rarely reach them.
Which got me thinking: What are the most anticipated movies kisses that actually lived up to the hype.
1. The Princess Bride -- The self-proclaimed best kiss ever, at the end when Wesley kisses Princess Buttercup. Highly overrated. Not even their first kiss. But still passionate and encompasses the definition of true love.
2. The Empire Strikes Back -- The near kiss between Han Solo and Princess Leia. Great tension. Good bitterness. But it doesn't really count as a kiss because it didn't happen. Close. But Princess Leia comes to her senses and conveniently slips away before becoming overcome with her emotions.
3. Casablanca -- Rick and Ilsa did more than kiss. Rick even tells Laszlo, Ilsa's husband, that she pretended she still loved Rick and well Rick let her pretend. Ataboy Rick.
4. The Godfather II -- Best sequel ever. And the kiss of death shocked everyone, especially the recipient.
5. Lady and the Tramp -- Meatball scene always gets me. And dog kisses are some of the best kisses around.
We'll have to see if the Order of the Phoenix kiss can crack the top five.
MTV News reports that Arthur Levine, Scholastic's American editor of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" says it's nearly impossible for anyone, hackers or otherwise, to have gotten an advance peak at the hotly anticipated seventh book. Scolastic didn't exactly shut down the claims of a hacker calling himself Gabriel, issuing a statement saying, ""There is plenty of material circulating on the Internet, and you can't believe everything you read."
Levine assures fans that that advance peaks you may have seen on "The Colbert Report" or the "Devil Wears Prada" aren't for real, "No one has it. Meryl Streep doesn't have it; Stephen Colbert doesn't have it." ...
Shoot. I really believed that.
The first-edition "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" book that a student at Oxford University was auctioning sold for 7,200 pounds or, upon further review, $13,839.84.
The BBC News Web site reported that Toby Rundle's copy of the first Harry Potter book brought in less than half of what was expected. The auction house conducting the sale said in earlier reports that the book could be worth as much as 15,000 pounds.
Rundle, a 19-year-old student from England, was selling the book to help pay for school.
There were only 500 copies of the book produced. Only about 100 of them made it into actual bookstores, the BBC reported. The rest of the books are probably in libraries, said Chris Albury, from Dominic Winter auctioneers, on the BBC News Web site.
French muggles enjoyed a little Potter magic today courtesy of Warner Bros., as fans got a chance to ride aboard France's own version of the Hogwarts Express. The train begins a tour of France to promote the fifth movie, but the more disturbing part of this story is that, apparently, French don't think Harry's gonna live either. Agence France also reports that London bookies ARE taking bets on who will have blood on their hands.
Lord Voldemort is the obvious choice, with Severus Snape coming in a close second.
For the full story, click below.
WITH a month to go before the final volume of the Harry Potter saga, hundreds of fans young and old queued up at Paris' Gare du Nord train station overnight for a ride aboard France's own Hogwarts Express. The train, complete with Severus Snape's mystery potions and Dolores Umbridge's inky torture weapons, is to remain at Platform 15 until later today when it steams off for a tour of France to promote the fifth Potter movie – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, being released in most countries July 8.But as a young magician hired by Warner Bros and France's SNCF rail
wowed the snaking queue by floating a table with a wave of a wand,
much of the talk was over the July 21 release of JK Rowling's last
book in the series – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."Harry will die because (the author) will kill (evil Lord) Voldemort
in the book and because they have the same blood he will die too,"
said 15-year-old Mareme Fall, visiting the train with her younger
brother. "It's a pity it's the last book, I love the way the story's
told, and the magic."Luca Asta, 13, disagreed. "Voldemort will try to kill him but will
kill himself," he said. Harry's best friend Ron, he opined, would
however die.Rowling triggered a swirl of Potter-prophesy after saying she would
kill off two characters, but keeping quiet on who. Betting in London
was all on the eponymous hero dying.So bookmakers William Hill opened bets on "which rotter will pot
Potter?" In those stakes, Lord Voldemort is favourite at 2-1, Severus
Snape is 5-2, Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley and Potter himself are 6-1
with Neville Longbottom at 12-1. Some even believe Harry could be the
rotten worm in the tale.It was obvious, said 15-year-old Emmanuelle as she visited the
Hogwarts train with her grandmother, that Harry had to go."I want him to die," she said. "He's grown up now. The character has
to go."But she would miss him. "I always felt I was just like him," she
said. "I don't have my parents either, I only have my grandmother."
Harry Potter's gonna die, you say? Care to make a wager? Well, you can't make one in London. Apparently, according to Bloomberg News, bookies there are so convinced the boy wizard won't make it that they have stopped taking bets. For the full story, click below.
Harry Potter Fans Await Hero's Fate as Bookies Bet He's Doomed
By Mark Herlihy and Brian Lysaght
June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Millions of children and adults are waiting to
learn the fate of Harry Potter in the seventh and final novel of
author J.K. Rowling's series. Bookies are certain Harry's a goner.
William Hill Plc, a London-based bookmaker, is so sure of Harry's
demise that it stopped accepting wagers and shifted betting to the
possible killers. Lord Voldemort, who murdered Potter's parents, is
the most likely villain, at 2-1 odds, followed by Professor Snape,
one of his teachers, at 5-2.
``Every penny was on Harry dying, and it became untenable,'' said
Rupert Adams, a William Hill spokesman. ``People are obsessed about
this book.''
``Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,'' from Bloomsbury Publishing
Plc, goes on sale July 21 with a retail price of 17.99 pounds
($35.50). It's published in the U.S. by Scholastic Corp. for $34.99.
Advance orders put the book at the top of online bookseller
Amazon.com Inc.'s U.K. best-seller list eight hours after Rowling
announced the title Dec. 21.
Rowling, 41, caused a stir among Potter fans when she said two
characters will die in the new book. The six earlier novels about
Harry's adventures at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
have sold more than 300 million copies, earning Rowling a 545
million-pound fortune and making her wealthier than Queen Elizabeth
II, according to the U.K.'s Sunday Times Rich List.
Last Adventure
``It's gonna be huuuge,'' enthused The Leaky Cauldron, a Web site
devoted to all things Harry Potter. ``It's the end, and every last
plot string has to be tied up.''
Rowling has refused to give any clues about which characters will be
killed off. Writing on her Web site last month, she asked people not
to spoil the ending for fans by speculating about the outcome.
``I want the readers who have, in many instances, grown up with
Harry, to embark on the last adventure they will share with him
without knowing where they are going,'' she wrote May 14.
Fans of the books who gathered at London's King's Cross train
station, where Harry takes the train to Hogwarts from the fictional
platform 9 3/4, said they didn't want the bespectacled hero to die.
``I love everything about Harry Potter,'' said Daniel Jones, 12, of
Cambridge, England. ``They can't kill Harry; he's the best character
in the book.''
The station has marked the spot -- located near the real platform 9
-- with a baggage cart that appears to pass through the wall,
mirroring the method wizards use to access the station.
`I'll Cry'
``I think I'll cry if he's killed,'' said Becky Nickurak, an
18-year-old from Alberta, Canada, who had come to King's Cross
specifically to see the display and spent 15 minutes taking
photographs with her friend.
Across town at Piccadilly Circus, Shaun Jennings had no affection for
the teenage wizard.
``I hope Harry Potter does die in the final book,'' said Jennings, a
19-year-old from East London. ``I've never seen any of the films and
never read any of the books, and I don't intend to either. It's just
drivel.''
Booksellers have mixed feelings about the end of Harry Potter. While
the previous volumes reached No. 1 and spawned movies and computer
games, supermarkets and online sellers are offering discounts of 50
percent or more on advance sales of ``Deathly Hallows.'' As a result,
bookstores don't make money on Potter sales, said Tim Godfray, chief
executive officer of the Britain and Ireland Booksellers Association.
Philip Wicks, owner of two bookshops in Yorkshire, northern England,
said the discounters charge less than what he pays distributors for
the book. Since he can't compete on price, he plans to open his
stores at midnight the day the book goes on sale and hire a magician
to entertain waiting shoppers.
Midnight Reading
Rowling will mark the publication with a midnight reading for 1,700
invited fans at London's Natural History Museum.
Shares of Bloomsbury, the London-based company that has published the
series from the first novel in 1997, jumped 10-fold from January 1997
through the end of last year. That compares with a 52 percent gain
for the U.K.'s FTSE-100 Index. The stock has slumped 28 percent this
year. The company declined to comment on the end of the series.
``Harry Potter was the luckiest book deal in history,'' said Simon
Davies, an analyst at ABN Amro in London. ``Bloomsbury was able to
ride on the coattails of that success for a long time.''
While the books are ending, the films aren't. The fifth movie,
``Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,'' distributed by Time
Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., premieres June 28 in Tokyo.
The first four films, starring British actor Daniel Radcliffe in the
lead role, grossed more than $3.5 billion in ticket sales, according
to Web site Boxofficemojo.com. Warner Bros. will open a Potter theme
park at Florida's Universal Orlando Resort in 2009, the companies
said May 31.
Seeing Harry Potter in two more films may ease the disappointment for
fans of the book such as Erin Nault, 18, who also made the pilgrimage
to King's Cross.
``I'll miss the excitement of getting a new Harry Potter book,'' said
Nault, standing near platform 9 3/4. ``Once you start reading, you
just can't put it down.''
According to mugglenet.com, People magazine is publishing an article speculating on whether or not Harry Potter will survive in the seventh and last installation of the series along with tips for parents to help their children overcome their grief if Harry does, in fact, bite the dust.
The dude can teach others to brew glory and fame and stopper death. He's never once, in any of the books, talked about wanting those things for himself. In fact, our only information about what Snape wants is brought to us via other characters who are somewhat unreliable. Snape himself has never given up anything in the way of information. If all he wanted was fame and glory, then he'd have brewed a truckload of all of and moved to Hollywood. Again, what would he be preserving himself for? To live another day so he can annoy Harry Potter. To become the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?
And Snape wouldn't be the first character who acted in a manner that goes against the house he was sorted into. the truly horrible Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor, lest we not forget.
Snape isn't a classic villain in the way Voldemort is. Classic villains always have a goal in mind. They want something. Voldemort wants eternal life and power and Harry is an impediment to that. One would think that Snape wants Harry dead, but he's spent the last six books saving him from that fate -- which is good for Dumbledore, good for Voldemort, but what does it do for Snape. We already have a character in the book who's out for himself ... Peter Pettigrew, who Snape also hates. What would be the point of a character with the same goal?
Are you kidding me? We're talking wizards and betrayal and murder and you bring up Jane Austen? No offense, but Jane Austen has little to do with Snape and his evildoings.
First, let's explore Snape's motivation. He has accomplished much without the help of Voldemort and the support of Dumbledore. He has achieved great prestige and respect as a Hogwarts professor. But there are two things he has yet to achieve: power and immortality.
He is motivated by both. He makes no secret that he wants to be the Defesne Against the Dark Arts professor, a position of greater power than potions professor, and one that is believed to be cursed. Either Snape has the arrogance to believe he can brek the curse or he believes becoming the Defese Against the Dark Arts professor will lead to greater respect and prestige among the wizard world.
But his ultimate motivation is self-preseveration. As a member of the House of Slytherin, this is an inherent characteristic. All Slytherins fear death. Snape is no different. He will do anything, including murder, to secure his own existence. He has no loyalties, save unto himself, and fears death more than Voldemort or Dumbledore.
Snape is still evil. And I am beginning to think so is Jane Austen.
This has been the central question and mystery of the Harry Potter series and for this alone, it will be Snape whose character lives on in literary history as one of the most complex ever written. Here's the bottom line: Voldemort's gonna buy the farm. There's no mystery there. We just don't know how Harry will accomplish his classic Hero's Journey toward offing the bad guy, so the mystery, the climactic "gasp-worthy" moment, must come from another character in the form of either a betrayal or a redemption. Some believe that has already happened when Snape killed Dumbledore. I don't agree.
Snape has has no motive for continuing to be a servant of Voldemort. What would Snape get out of being Voldie's minion now with his all enemies dead? Power? Hardly. He's a master potion maker who is quoted as saying that he can can "teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death." What does he need Voldemort for? The babes? A cozy cottage in the Cotswolds and time to write his novel?
I think Snape is much like the Fitzwilliam Darcy character in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." Darcy is socially stunted and not very charming. And you don't really know if he's an upstanding guy because every encounter with the protagonist, Elizabeth, is a bad one. Since the book is written from the point of view of Elizabeth Bennett, we don't know what's really happening with Darcy or what kind of man he is until she knows it. However, we're repeatedly told that he's a great chap -- just misunderstood. This estimation always comes from other characters in the story who know him far better than Elizabeth. Elizabeth refuses to believe it because she's stubborn and chooses to believe lies, rather than the truth that was right under her nose. We can't disregard this literary device of "you can't judge a book by it's cover." It's a classic structure, and Jane Austen is one of Rowling's favorite authors, so ... you do the math.
It's the same here with Snape and Harry. Except for a few choice scenes, the entire book is written from Harry's point of view. Harry has no idea what Snape is really up to. The only people who know for sure are Snape and people close to Snape: in this case, Dumbledore, whose high estimation of his potions professor is repeatedly voiced by him in every single book.
Snape is a character whose off-the-page time is his real storyline -- good or evil. I'm not suggesting that he's actually a happy-go-lucky fellow who's playing the role of a cranky old coot. No, he's really a jerk. But there's something mysterious going on with him and has been since the very beginning of the series. and since the very beginning, Snape's off-page time has been more essential than any other characters', frankly, because has been a spy and may still be one. Snape is the only character in the all of the books who has actually been identified as a someone who spied in the past and spied in "real time" during the course of the books. And that's important to note. Spy stuff is supposed to go on under the radar until it's time to come forward (or be outed by, but that's a post for a Keith Olberman blog!!) The central conceit of a spy is that he or she acts in secret to achieve a goal. His off-the-page time is integral to the real-time plot even if we don't know it's happening. In other words, not all is what it seems when you're dealing with a SPY!!
Now, for Tim Haddock's cry of murder. First, I'm not condoning murder. And if Snape did murder Dumbledore, he should be strung up by his toes or be forced to spend 45 days with Paris Hilton. But if I may indulge in a bit of CSI Hogwarts-style criminal detective work, the circumstances surrounding the Headmaster's death are a little dodgy, not the least of which is how he reacted to the killing curse that night on the Astronomy Tower. First rule of Potter club? If Rowling repeats a fact, she means for you to remember it because it's important. His death was very different than the way its effect has been painstakingly described more than once in the books.
When you're hit by the Avada Kedavra curse, it is described, a person just keels over. No flourish, no acrobatic maneuvers, no drama. Dumbledore, on the other hand, did a dismount off the Astronomy tower that would have made Kerri Strug jealous. Then there was the exchange made between he and Snape right before the dastardly deed was done. Was Dumbledore pleading with Snape not to kill him or was Dumbledore pleading with Snape to settle up details of a previous agreement that may or may not have included killing Dumbledore as some sort of sacrifice? I think we have to set the issue of morality aside until a final book answers those questions.
J.K. Rowling's official Web site http://www.jkrowling.com/en/ is full of surprises. One I recently discovered was a page of notes she put together while writing the Prisoner of Azkaban. It includes a list of names she was kicking around for Buckbeack the hippogriff, plus a list of professors and what subjects they would teach. Still no professor for Muggle Studies.
Anyway, to get to the page, click on the hairbrush and then turn on the radio. It will give you instructions on how to get to the bonus page.
It's a little complicated after that. You have to go back to the main page, click on the eraser and then follow the instructions from the hairbrush and radio links.
I am still trying to figure out what Quirrel, Lockhart, Lupin, Pettigrew and Oakden Hobday have in common. Three were Defense against the Dark Arts teachers. Was she thinking Peter Pettigrew would be the next Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? And who is Oakden Hobday?
Cool stuff to say the least.
Good luck.
A computer hacker named Gabriel has claimed to have stolen an unpublished copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the final installment of the Harry Potter saga that is to be officially released in July.
He reveals the death of two characters on his website.
I made the mistake of actually clicking on the link to the web site and finding out who he says is killed in the book.
If the claim is legitimate, they are two very important characters, but two that most people would not have guessed.
The hacker also reveals a very sinister plot by Draco Malfoy.
I am hestiant to release the website, but for those who are more curious than patient, I may be coaxed into releasing it.
I hate hackers! They ruin it for everybody.
A student in England is selling his copy of a first edition Harry Potter book to pay his way through school, it was reported in the Telegraph web site.
Toby Rundle, a 19-year-old student at Oxford University, has a first-edition copy of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" which was released in 1997. There were only 500 copies of the book produced.
The original cost of the book was about 11 pounds. It is expected to fetch 15,000 pounds at auction.
The book will be sold at Dominic Winter auctioneers in South Cerney, Gloucestershire in England.
According to the Telegraph, Rundle received the book from his mother while he was at boarding school. He is working on a classics and English degree at Oxford.
Snape has always been a bad guy. He has treated Harry horribly from the beginning. It stems from a hatred of Harry's father James and godfather Sirius Black. They were all classmates at Hogwarts. Snape was mercilessly picked on by James and Sirius, among others, while they were in school. Now Harry is feeling the brunt of Snape's vengeance.
Snape begins to reveal the depth of his evilness in The Order of the Phoenix.
Sure Snape has done some mean things to Harry in the first four movies and books. Snape has taken away points from Harry's house, accused him of stealing potions and given him cruel detentions. But none of that compares to what he does to Harry in The Order of the Phoenix.
But it's what Snape does in the Half-Blood Prince that makes him a truly evil character.
He kills Professor Dumbledore.
For those of you who only watch the movies, sorry. Big spoiler there. But for the rest of us who are two books ahead of the movies, this is Snape's most evil deed.
There is no way to justify murder. Snape commits the greatest betrayal, the most vile thing one person can do to another: take his life.
For this reason and this reason alone, Snape is an evil character. He is a death eater, will always be a death eater and Dumbledore was a fool to trust him as long as he did.
It's not the only foolish thing Dumbledore has done throughout the books, but that's another discussion.
Suffice it to say Snape revealed his true self in the Half-Blood Prince: a cowardly, vengeful wizard looking to save his own skin rather than sacrificing it for the good of others.
He is the one character who deserves to die in the Deathly Hallows. Although I have a feeling his fate lies along another path.
J.K. Rowling announced on her web site (there is a link to the right) that she will be on a book tour in the United States in October. She will be at the Kodak Theatre on Oct. 15. She will also be in New Orleans and New York.
There are more details on her Web site. Scholastic will select schools from the Los Angeles area to attend the readings at the Kodak Theatre. There is a sweepstakes and schools can enter starting July 31.
To register beginning July 31, go to www.scholastic.com/harrypotter.
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