Epic Wizarding Adventures Await in Orlando!

June 5, 2025 by 1 Comment

On May 22, 2025, Universal Studios opened its eagerly awaited Epic Universe park in Orlando, a new attraction guaranteed to dazzle and amaze! While theUniversal Epic Universe Opening Date & Tickets existing park areas already have Harry Potter sections, the new Wizarding World at Epic Universe is its own dedicated trip into the universe of the Wizarding World. The tentpole attraction, for now, anyway, is the Battle of the Ministry, an adventure involving Dolores Umbridge’s escape on the day of her trial and her attempt, via Time-Turner, to change the past, but there is much more to the Wizarding World area.

Follow me after the jump for some links that will allow you to visit the park without leaving your home, and some thoughts on the other attractions to be experienced in this epic universe and beyond!

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Filed Under: Elizabeth Baird Hardy, Fantastic Beasts, Potter Fandom Tagged With: ,

The Hallmarked Man – Synopsis Released

May 29, 2025 by 6 Comments

ImageIn what looks like a case of mistaken early release (again), The Strike and Ellacott Podcast found the cover for The Hallmarked Man displayed on the Apple Books site as far back as 23rd May. A bare four hours later J. K. Rowling confirmed the cover with her own tweet, and an intriguing detail about where inside the building depicted we should be looking:

The cover is, of course, Freemasons Hall in London, previously seen in Rowling’s Twitter header. Wikipedia tells us that Temple 17:

Temple No 17 was largely funded by the Freemasons of Buckinghamshire, and has a very large carved swan (the symbol of Buckinghamshire) on one wall; it also enjoys a more than usually ornate decorative style, with extensive oak panelling, and is used in particular by the most ancient lodges in London, including the three remaining lodges (of four originals) which pre-date 1717 and the formation of the Grand Lodge itself.

We had to wait another four days for S&E Podcast to again come up trumps with a look inside Temple 17, and that Buckingham swan:

So far so good, but because of the unconventional release of the cover design, we were missing the synopsis, traditionally released at the same time. Well yesterday Robert Galbraith marketing finally caught up and released the tag line:

Time would tell whether he’d just done something foolish… or not.

And a little time later, the synopsis in full:

A dismembered corpse is discovered in the vault of a silver shop. The police initially believe it to be that of a convicted armed robber – but not everyone agrees with that theory. One of them is Decima Mullins, who calls on the help of private detective Cormoran Strike as she’s certain the body in the silver vault was that of her boyfriend – the father of her newborn baby – who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.

The more Strike and his business partner Robin Ellacott delve into the case, the more labyrinthine it gets. The silver shop is no ordinary one: it’s located beside Freemasons’ Hall and specialises in Masonic silverware. And in addition to the armed robber and Decima’s boyfriend, it becomes clear that there are other missing men who could fit the profile of the body in the vault.

As the case becomes ever more complicated and dangerous, Strike faces another quandary. Robin seems increasingly committed to her boyfriend, policeman Ryan Murphy, but the impulse to declare his own feelings for her is becoming stronger than ever.

There is a LOT to unpack here… We are perhaps inured to police incompetence in the Strike series, but how dismembered must a body be, for a DNA match to an already convicted armed robber to be unreliable? Since 1995 the DNA records of everyone convicted of an offence has been held. If the armed robber was released before 1995, with a typical imprisonment of 18 years, he is no spring chicken. What about a DNA paternity test for the newborn baby? Or is it the baby that has mysteriously disappeared? Louise Freeman suspects possible police corruption linked to Freemasonry.

Then we have the name Decima Mullins. Decima, as well as meaning the tenth child for unimaginative parents of large families…

Decima was one of the three Parcae (known in English as the Fates) in Roman mythology. The Parcae goddess Nona was responsible for pregnancy; Decima was responsible for measuring a person’s lifespan; and Morta was charged with overseeing death. They distributed to mankind all the good and bad things in life, and according to some classical writings even Jupiter had to bend to their will. Decima measured the thread of life with her rod, like her Greek equivalent Lachesis. In some accounts, her mother was Nox the goddess of night and her father was Scotus the god of darkness; while in other accounts, her parents were Jupiter and Themis.

Professor Freeman also links Decima with her Greek equivalent’s appearance in Lethal White. 

“Playing stupid, eh? Lachesis,” said Chiswell, “was one of the Fates. She measured out each man’s allotted lifespan. Knew when everyone’s number would be up. Not a fan of Plato, Mr. Mallik? Catullus more up your street, I expect. He produced some fine poetry about men of your habits. Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo, Aurelia pathice et cinaede Furi, eh? Poem 16, look it up, you’ll enjoy it.”

Lethal White Chapter 21

“Think about the lachesis pills. You’re the one who thought they were significant. Think about all those odd things Chiswell kept doing: taunting Aamir in front of everyone, saying Lachesis ‘knew when everyone’s number would be up,’ telling you ‘one by one, they trip themselves up,’ looking for Freddie’s money clip, which turned up in his pocket.”

Lethal White Chapter 65

Intriguing as all this is, its the third paragraph that has set the fandom on fire! “Robin seems [this word is doing a lot of heavy lifting] increasingly committed to her boyfriend, policeman [and possible Freemason?] Ryan Murphy, but the impulse to declare his own feelings for her is becoming stronger than ever.” Hasn’t Strike already declared his feelings?

Strike and Robin had once before sat in this office, after dark and full of whisky, and he’d come dangerously close to crossing the line between friend and lover. He’d felt then the fatalistic daring of the trapeze artist, preparing to swing out into the spotlight with only black air beneath him, and he felt the same now.

‘—she knew I was in love with you.’

A stab of cold shock, an electric charge to the brain: Robin couldn’t quite believe what she’d just heard. The passing seconds seemed to slow. She waited for Strike to say ‘which was her spite, obviously,’ or, ‘because she never understood that a man and a woman could just be friends’, or to make a joke. Yet he said nothing to defuse the grenade he’d just thrown, but simply looked at her.

The Running Grave Epilogue

Has the romantic miscommunication been going on too long? What is meant by “Time would tell whether he’d just done something foolish… or not.”? Let me know what you think in the comments!

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Golden Trio Cast for HBO+ Potter Shows

May 28, 2025 by 1 Comment

The new Harry, Ron, and Hermione have been cast for the HBO+ and Bronte Studios adaptations of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels.

From the author’s website, JKRowling.com:

The HBO Original HARRY POTTER television series has cast screen newcomers Dominic McLaughlin in the role of Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.

Francesca Gardiner (Showrunner, Executive Producer) and Mark Mylod (Director of multiple episodes, Executive Producer) said:

‘After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and we cannot wait for the world to witness their magic together onscreen. We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It’s been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there.’

Rowling, an executive producer for the adaptation (not to mention her ownership of Bronte Studios), tweeted about the casting:

Which response generated a Daily Mail article of its own, ‘J K Rowling gives decisive four-word verdict on new Harry Potter child stars fronting TV series.’ MuggleNet, which seems to have forgotten its aversion to all things profiting Rowling, Inc., because of her supposed “bigotry” and “transphobia,” has posted a stream of articles about the teevee adaptation casting decisions as well as the Universal Epic Theme Park’s Wizarding World attractions which opened this week in Orlando.

Team Rowling invited MNet to the opening so it seems they have been brought back into the fold and their all-in condemnations of Rowling’s Gender Critical feminism have been memory-holed. Emma, Rupert, and Daniel should be so lucky…

Three quick thoughts on the casting choices:

(1) Black Hermione? Read all about it at Horse and Whip’s ‘Arabella Stanton’s Parents: What to Know About Her Ethnicity and Race.’ The Daily Mail came at the issue side-ways to dodge the racism charge in their piece, ‘Stunned Harry Potter fans claim new Hermoine star Arabella Stanton is spitting image of huge Hollywood actress – gasping ‘I can’t unsee it now!‘ (That would be Jenny Ortega.)

I’ve written what I want to say on the subject of diversity casting in ‘‘Black Severus’ versus ‘Black Hermione:’ Similarities and Differences in Casting.’ I’d only add what many others have said about the new Golden Trio; one can only hope that their parents and guardians of these children have carefully considered what their accepting these roles will mean for the rest of their lives and that they will do everything possible to protect them from the madness that will be the actors’ day-to-day life for the next decade.

(2) Rowling’s Birthday Resurrection It’s been quite the fortnight in Rowling Land.

First, the Sunday Times published a not quite hagiographic but certainly laudatory article, ‘JK Rowling: ‘Nobody who hasn’t been poor can understand what it means.’ It is a detailed review of the author’s more than generous philanthropy with respect to causes ranging from orphan children, women needing funding to seek judicial action in the Trans Wars, medical research, and a women-only shelter.

Then Hallmarked Man’s cover was released to the delight of all Cormoran Strike readers.

Then the Universal Epic theme park opened which excites that part of fandom that enjoys the 3D experience of the Wizarding World.

And then the Golden Trio casting was announced, the three players that Harry Potter screen fans are most interested in and excited about.

Rowling celebrates her 60th birthday at the end of July. I think the gods are smiling on her, the stars are coming into alignment, or the plans carefully laid out by the trio giants of Rowling’s marketing team are coming together so that this landmark celebration will see as much of a full-on rehabilitation of the author’s public image as is possible. It certainly helps that she has won the Trans Wars, with the scientific community, court decisions, and public opinion now lining up behind her with respect to the fact that sex is fixed and binary and women’s places must be protected from trans-identifying men.

I think Rowling’s more than positive press in the last two weeks on all fronts is evidence of a coordinated campaign, i.e., her marketing team’s hard work, to restore her platinum status among celebrities. Good on them. There will be naysayers in the comment threads beneath articles about Rowling on 31 July because there is no pleasing everyone but the great majority will be notes of admiration from fans of her writing, her philanthropy, or of her feminism.

The timing of this casting news announcement, in other words, probably is best viewed as part of a larger project and as one that is progressing very well indeed.

(3) So What?

I like to end posts and podcasts with an answer to the question, “So What?” I want the reader or listener to walk away from the conversation we’ve been having with the key points I’ve covered and why it matters.

I cannot think of a single reason that anyone outside the families of the young actors involved should care about this casting announcement. Given the history of child actors since the invention of moving screened images, those families should be alarmed. Given the proven hysterics and volatility, which is to say “mental instability,” of Harry Potter fandom leadership and twitterati (cf. their Trans War long knives for any and all not chanting “T-W-A-W!”), they may soon wonder why they didn’t refuse HBO+’s offer.

Which is none of my business, I know.

What is my business as the “Dean of Harry Potter Scholars” (TM) is to discuss the artistry and meaning of the work written by the world’s most famous and influential writer, J. K. Rowling. She is also, as I’ll argue in a future post, the world’s most famous and influential philanthropist and the world’s most famous and influential feminist. The “So What?” of these discussions is that, man being the story-telling animal and Rowling’s being the most popular stories globally in human history, understanding why and how they work — their structure, symbolism, allegorical and anagogical substance — reveal important ideas and information via reflection on imaginative experience about what it means to be human.

Talking about twitter headers, speculating about the covers of not-yet-published books, fan-girl-ing pre-adolescent actors, planning vacations in Orlando to ride exteriorized and packaged experiences erasing your imagination’s picture or to attend fan conferences? I’ve done all that. I’ll take a pass on those efforts in the run-up to Rowling’s birthday.

What I hope to be sharing here before the end of July are my research into and conclusions about Rowling Studies ‘Fourth Generation’ subjects:

  • What is the most persistent ‘golden thread’ that runs through everything Rowling writes?
  • What ‘Lake’ event in Rowling’s younger life inspired her to write the Harry Potter stories?
  • What are the points of intersection or places of overlap in the Venn diagram circles of Rowling’s three lives as writer, philanthropist, and feminist?
  • Are Rowling’s signature characteristics as an author — the literary alchemy, ring writing, psychomachia, traditional symbolism, and intertextual notes (among others!) — best understood in relationship to one another or independently?
  • Are the parallels between the Potter novels and their equivalent number in the Strike mysteries a playful game between author and serious reader or are they meaningful? And will there be parallels with other Rowling work in Galbraith numbers 8, 9, and 10?
  • Just what kind of feminist is Rowling beyond “biology based” and “Gender Critical”? She’s outside the usual categories of “academic” and “movement” feminism as well; does she have a role-model, living likeness, or historical equivalent?
  • Quo vadis, Joanna-Robertus? Extrapolating from Rowling’s recent experience of intentional solve et coagula transformation in the Trans Wars, what might the future hold for her?

That’s a lot, certainly, and it’s certainly a lot more interesting and important than HBO+ casting news from Rowling, Inc., marketing Headquarters. At least to me it is, but, sure, de gustibus. I’m still as interested as the next Serious Striker in ‘Who killed Leda?’ and ‘Is Robin sterile?’ but, until the Big Birthday Bash, I’m going to be focusing on the seven points above.

Stay tuned!

 

 

Filed Under: HBO+ TV Adaptation, Hog Pro Notes

Shared Text: Hogwarts Baseball Uniforms (Hartford Yard Goats)

May 15, 2025 by Leave a Comment

You may not have ever heard of the Colorado Rockies Double A minor league baseball franchise, the Hartford Yard Goats, but they’re for real. They have a downtown Hartford, Connecticut, stadium — Dunkin’ Field! — a full-on website (well, it’s a page at MLB.com), even a Wikipedia entry, from which:

The name “Yard Goats” was selected as part of a “Name the Team” contest which drew over 6,000 submissions. “Yard goat” is a railroad term for a switcher, a locomotive that moves rolling stock within a yard. The stadium is adjacent to Hartford Yard. The logo features a goat chomping on a baseball bat and the team makes heavy use of animal imagery and symbolism.[7] The blue and green colors are a nod to the Hartford Whalers team that played in the National Hockey League from 1979 to 1997.[8] The team stages an annual Whalers Reunion weekend, with special uniforms resembling the hockey club’s and the logo has the goat chomping a hockey stick. The logo font replicates that used by the former New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad.[1]

Like all minor league baseball teams, the Yard Goats specialize in special promotions for almost every game in order to boost attendance. Fireworks Night, Kids Run the Bases Day, Double-Header Discounts, you name it.

Last week the Yard Goats rolled out their Gryffindor themed uniforms for Harry Potter Day at Dunkin’ Field. Here are some snaps taken by Ryan DeSantis for the Major League Baseball Instagram page:

Apparently every team in the minor leagues had a Star Wars Night on May the Fourth (free admission to those who come in costume! Baby Yoda, anyone?) so cultural touchstone special promotions are not unique to Hartford’s Harry Potter night. But still…

How many book series are so popular that themed uniforms would be instantly recognizable and celebrated by a crowd of sports fans, even a reason that they came to Dunkin’ Field to see and celebrate?

That’s right. Only one book series is the Shared Text of generations.

Here’s hoping that the Yard Goats merchandise page isn’t the subject of Culture warrior outrage. It’s a Yard Goat head necklace, team, not a Baphomet pendant!

Filed Under: Shared Text

J. K. Rowling Twitter Header Dolls

April 29, 2025 by 2 Comments

On 18th April J. K. Rowling updated her Twitter (currently known as X) header with what must be her scariest picture yet. Seven dolls, with multi-coloured hair, lying on bare floorboards. No hints yet whether this is a clue to Strike-Ellacott 9, or another project. The Twitter Strike Sleuths have been scratching their heads. Some internet lunatics commentators, have linked the header to scathing comments by Pedro Pascal, shown in most stories to be wearing a “Protect the Dolls” T-shirt. Unfortunately for this theory, the comments were made on 22nd April, four days after the header change.

All of J. K. Rowling’s Twitter headers can be found here.

Filed Under: Nick Jeffery, Twitter