New information is coming thick and fast for Book 7, which we now know is called The Running Grave! Are you, like me, confused about ancient Chinese divination? Do you know your yarrow stalks from your divination coins? What on earth can this have to do with Norfolk? Help is at hand: Beatrice Groves, Research Lecturer and tutor at Trinity College, Oxford, and author of Literary Allusion in Harry Potter, has written a Hogwarts Professor Guest Post: The Running Grave: Strike 7, the I Ching and the Yarrow Stalks.
Beatrice Groves – The Running Grave: Strike 7, the I Ching and the Yarrow Stalks
Beatrice Groves – The Winter Solstice and Beira, Queen of Winter
We are today (21st December 2022) at the darkest part of the year for the Northern Hemisphere: the winter solstice. The shadows are long and the golden days of Summer seem a long time ago. Now is the perfect time to push your stool a little closer to the fire, and warm your hands on a mug of tea the colour of creosote. Beatrice Groves, Research Lecturer and tutor at Trinity College, Oxford, and author of Literary Allusion in Harry Potter, has written a Hogwarts Professor Guest Post: The Winter Solstice and Beira, Queen of Winter. [Read more…]
Rowling Library Magazine – the Christmas Edition
Always eagerly anticipated, the latest Rowling Library Magazine has dropped with a special Christmas feature from Beatrice Groves:
The Rowling Library Magazine #72 is out!💫⚡️🎄@ofhorton and @beatricegroves1 wrote about Christmas and Harry Potter + we have forums again + @Fausto_Giurescu's Famous Wizard Card + and more!!
Read it online here 👉 https://t.co/fWC6T6SfR5 pic.twitter.com/svt3cIjK3i
— The Rowling Library (@rowlinglibrary) December 12, 2022
For a wonderful exploration of how Harry Potter, The Christmas Pig and indeed Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women all use Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress as story scaffold and Christian message, do check out Beatrice’s Potter’s Progress – The Christmas Pig and Harry’s quest.
Beatrice Groves – Silkworm and Ink Black Heart
As the first flush of excitement after the publication of Ink Black Heart has passed, many serious readers are now on to our first (or more!) re-reads. We are fortunate to have some enticing revelations from J. K. Rowling delivered during both her scripted and unscripted Q&A sessions. Beatrice Groves, Research Lecturer and tutor at Trinity College, Oxford, and author of Literary Allusion in Harry Potter, has written a Hogwarts Professor Guest Post: Silkworm and Ink Black Heart.
Dobby’s Grave Pilgrimage Site Preserved
#HarryPotter fans are ecstatic that the real life 'grave' of beloved Dobby is here to stay😭❤
[THREAD] 🧵 pic.twitter.com/njChXp3DZ1
— Daily Star (@dailystar) November 2, 2022
It turns out that Harry Potter fans believe they have found the location of Shell Cottage and Dobby’s grave on the coast of Wales — and turned it into something of a pilgrimage site. Read the Daily Star twitter thread above and follow the links there for the whole story.
If you find the idea of making pilgrimage to the real-world locations of fictional events where make-believe personages ‘lived,’ or, in the case of Dobby, ‘died’ exotic, peculiar, fascinating, or preposterous, check out this podcast, ‘So What Is a Harry Potter Pilgrimage?‘ featuring Beatrice Groves, who in addition to her other areas of expertise happens to know an astonishing amount about religious and literary pilgrimages.
And then go to PotterPilgrimage.com — I kid you not! — and schedule your own tour of the UK’s Hogwarts Saga principal points for homage, reflection, or imagination re-shaping. Enjoy — and let us know what you left as a token at Dobby’s grave on your visit!
Recent Conversation