Hogwarts Professor

I’m still not sure if this is a joke or not, but it’s funny even if it is just a test of our gullibility. Which is funnier, the possibility that a man spent the time and treasure to build the Hogwarts Castle pictured in the newspaper article out of a gazillion matchsticks or that I find it credible that a human being would do this (as a warm-up, no less, for his Minis Tirith scale-model)? How about the guy making his living as a “careers advisor at a local community college”? He tells other people how to get a life.

Speaking of Elvendorks, yesterday was the ninth anniversary of the publication of Goblet of Fire. Where were you on July 7, 2000? I was with my Gang of Seven preparing for a party and an all-night out-loud reading of the fourth book. We had just finished the first three books and they all dressed up for their first of four Midnight Madness Potter-parties (this one was at the Border’s Book Store in the renovated art deco movie theatre on Shepherd Street in Houston, TX). Some very happy family memories!

I suppose this could have been predicted (and, in fact, it was, back in 2001). Harry’s popularity and Hedwig’s beauty being what they are, children have been asking for and receiving owls as pets. They are, of course, a little more to deal with day to day than one of Arabella’s tabbys. Defrosting the mice every night for the next day’s breakfast, chores like that. Owl Rescue habitats, consequently, are filling up with abandoned Potter Pets. And the folks who provide the owls for the movies are having their troubles, too.

Wands make a better gift than an owl. Hard to train, but docile and very little mess, even if they have a mind of their own. And they can be purchased online from a host of vendors without registering with the Endangered Species Ministry.

I’m not sure how many of the 64 languages any Harry Potter has been translated into are just now getting an edition of Deathly Hallows, but you can check Hindi off the list. It will be a few years before we get the Latin, Attic Greek, and Welsh versions; it’s a relief to know, though, that our Indus Valley Elvindork friends can now read the series finale in their own language.

Reading the article Hindi Edition of Seventh Harry Potter Book Released (from IANS, Posted: 9:30p.m IST, June 27, 2008), I stumbled on an obvious error which led to my learning of an error of my own. Make that “two errors” I had made. The article claims: [Read more…]

Probably just colloquial usage rather than a pointer to literary alchemy per se, but Jason Isaacs (Lucious Malfoy) uses the word correctly and even profoundly, I think, in discussing the possible effect of the stories on the movie version’s principal players:

CS: Can you talk about how they have matured over the years? How have they stayed grounded through all of this?

Isaacs: In the beginning all of us grownups got to patronizing a little bit. Now they have gotten a thousand hours more screen time than any of the rest of us put together – and bank balances to match. They are not just very accomplished actors, they’re very seasoned and mature individuals. They have learned to handle this very enormous stress and this kind of global fame. Frankly, I marvel at how well they have turned out as human beings. Like the mystery of “Harry Potter” and the magical alchemy that happens in the stories, the scripts and the books, something very magical has happened to those young people because by rights they should have turned into monsters, but they are still delightful to be around.

Of course, this could just be Hollywood pablum and the Harry, Ron, and Hermione actors and actress could be monsters for all we know. Let’s hope not. Hat-tip to David for his discovery of this reference. Could alchemy be a subject of discussion on the movie sets?