A better episode from the same series with a Quidditch reference (embed function disabled, alas) can be found here and here’s the actress who plays Penny talking about her love of Harry Potter. H/T to Lynn!
Mailbag: Whence Dumbledore’s ‘I Am With You’?
January 22, 2011 by 1 Comment
A question I’m asked at almost every Potter speaking event I do — after “Have you met J. K. Rowling?” and “Are you related to Hermione Granger?” — is “What it is like to be a Potter Pundit?” I even had a young man write me a longish note about his plans to create eventually a career in which he could spend all day reading Harry Potter and writing about his favorite books, just like I had done.
The best part of being a Potter Pundit, hands down, is conversations in person and through correspondence with serious readers. I’m not sure how anyone can position him or herself to become a Hogwarts Professor professionally; I certainly didn’t, unless Classics major, Marine NCO, miso maker’s apprentice, grocery store cashier, yurt sewer, and Latin teacher constitute a calculated career path. Regardless, I really enjoy the letters I get every day, often several times a day, from readers who accept the invitation that is in all my books to write me with their comments and corrections and from HogPro All-Pros like you who write via this site’s Contact tab.
Today’s question arrived just after midnight. “Is Dumbledore’s great line in Half-Blood Prince as he and Harry escape the Cave of the Inferi an echo of the Psalter or what?” Here is the note with question and my attempt at an answer, with an invitation as well for you to share what you think:
Deathly Hallows 2: Severus Dies In ‘Crystal House’
January 21, 2011 by 1 Comment
If you’ve seen the trailers for Warner Brothers’ adaptation of Deathly Hallows, you already know that we’re in for some major changes in the finale. Scenes of Harry and the Dark Lord in one-on-one battles around the Hogwarts campus are clue enough that liberties will be taken in the series’ film finish. We learned today, via an interview with the movie’s Art Director (?) on a Mexican movie web site discussed at HPANA and SlashFilm.com (H/T James), that (1) the death of Severus Snape will not be in the Shrieking Shack but in a ‘Crystal House,’ (2) that it will be visible from a boat house, and (3) that Ms. Rowling approved the changes with enthusiasm.
Can you believe we’re talking about this kind of thing six months before the movie comes out? Mission accomplished, WB marketing staff…
Shared Text: Rep. Giffords Reading Harry Potter
January 20, 2011 by 3 Comments
Like all of you, I was horrified by the shootings in Arizona two weeks ago and have followed the story of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ recovery, from the reports of her having died by an assassin’s bullet in her brain to her plans for a move to rehab as early as tomorrow. As we live in a Harry Potter universe, of course, I should not have been surprised that this story, which, for better or worse, overshadows even the murders of tens of thousands of people not far from Arizona, has a Hogwarts element to it. Prof. Freeman alerted me this morning to an article in Entertainment Weekly about the first book Rep. Giffords is reading since being shot: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
What else? Be sure to read the article to the last line. If the Hogwarts Saga were not this generation’s ‘Shared Text,’ could the reporter have used that as her exit line with surety that all her readers would ‘get it’? Of course not.
Quidditch World Cup: Video from the 2010 Games
January 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The PM Sports Newscaster knows nothing about Muggle and magical Quidditch or Harry Potter for that matter, and, be forewarned, there is some rough language. But the images from this summer’s Quidditch World Cup matches make it worth your time to watch the video. Those of you who were there, please let us know if this captures or diminishes the feel of the actual event!
Recent Conversation