Potterheads, occasionally we call on you to rise up and do something great for the Harry Potter fandom. Today is one of those days.

The epic conclusions of both the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movie franchises (after trumping Twilight and Narnia most easily) are going head to head in moviefone's "Summer Sequl Smackdown"

And we need your help to make sure the right fandom brings the smackdown.

As fans ourselves of both, we know it is unfair to make you choose - but we have elected to make you do it anyway! As both of these films (Deathly Hallows - part 2 and Return of the King) are epic cinematic masterpieces, to judge them based on special effects, direction, acting, or even the sheer amount of academy awards is one way to assess these films and come to a logical decision as far as your vote today.

Logic would make sense, right, if fan-hood were logical that is! To be a fan of something is so much more - you feel it - and the kind of fanatical attachment you develop allows you to connect with other people around the world who feel similarly.

At the end of the day, how did each of these movies make you feel? While Harry, Ron and Hermione had their adventures on screen a whole generation of kids (myself included) felt like we were growing and attending Hogwarts with them. That sort of connection between audience and film in the Harry Potter fandom speaks to a particular kind of magic which I would argue Lord of the Rings simply does not match.

Then again, Lord of the Rings comes from a different generation of storytelling that doesn't include you and engage you the way Harry Potter movies do. So because of this we believe Harry Potter should win in the "fantasy" category of the Summer Sequel Smackdown - not because it presents a better fantasy, not even because it's a better fantasy flick, but because each film was made in such a way that the "fantasy" became real for so many simultaneously.

That's pretty magical. Make Dumbledore proud and vote for Harry today!

 

Bonnie Wright - who portrayed Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter film franchise - will be making her stage debut as she is set to star as The Girl in Peter Ustinov's The Moment of Truth at London's Southwark Playhouse beginning next month.

According to Playbill, the play is a revival of Ustinov's play that has not been on stage since 1951 and deals with the mechanics of toppling governments, the pretences of war and the power of propaganda.

Bonnie Wright announced her debut on Twitter earlier today with the following tweet:

The play will run starting on June 26th, but officially open June 28th and go until July 20th. The play is directed by Robert Laycock, co-founder of The New Actors Company, who has previously directed JB Priestley's They Came to a City at Southwark Playhouse in 2011. It is designed by Alex Marker.

To book tickets, contact the box office on 020 7407 0234, or visit www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk.

 
 
 

Lord Voldemort is the second most powerful wizard the world has ever seen, and that entails being able to do a lot of impressive things, the most terrifying of which is his ability to possess.

We’re first introduced to this concept in the very first novel, in the form of poor Professor Quirrell. Failing to obtain the Philosopher’s Stone on his own, the Dark Lord possesses him. At this time, Voldemort is what the fandom loves to call “Vapormort” or as Voldy himself describes it: “less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost” (GOF, p. 566, UK). What we can glean from this is that he was an incorporeal or nonphysical being. One might go so far as to say he was purely a soul confined to the physical realm.

Here, his ability to possess Quirrell or any other living thing is easily understood; as a soul or pseudo-spirit, he would merely enter a body and take over it. This fits the stereotypical understanding of possession found in media.

Next let us look at Chamber of Secrets, and Ginny Weasley’s possession:

Riddle

This example of possession is much more interesting, because we have a fragment of Voldemort’s soul in a horcrux (the diary). This soul fragment, however, is still very powerful and clearly has his power of possession…but is it the same? Remember, Riddle was only able to possess Ginny once she had poured her heart out to him and become emotionally attached to the diary, whereas Quirrell and the animals mentioned in Goblet of Fire are easily possessed. Furthermore, Quirrell was conscious of the possession, while Ginny was not.

Harry

The last example of possession is when Voldemort possesses Harry in the Ministry of Magic. What makes this case curious is that Voldemort is no longer an incorporeal being; his soul has been restored to his body. This means his soul has been ‘re-chained’ to a body, so to speak, and so does not have the freedom of his disembodied state to possess people. How then was Voldemort able to transfer his soul to Harry, and again why was this a conscious possession?

Having laid out the groundwork, it’s your turn fans. How do you think possession works? What is the difference between possessing someone as a spirit and when one’s soul is still attached to a body? Why are some victims conscious, while others have no recollection?

 

According to BBC News, an extremely rare Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone book receives amazingly high bid at auction.

A first edition print of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone that had 43 pages covered with illustrations from author J.K. Rowling sold at Sotheby's for 150,000 GBP (or close to $300,000 USD). It was a bidding war between two buyers as the auction raised a total of 439,200 GBP for English PEN, which campaigns for freedom of expression.


A sleeping baby Harry on the Dursleys' doorstep is
one of 22 original illustrations by JK Rowling

Rowling's 22 original illustrations include drawings of an Albus Dumbledore chocolate frog card, an image of Severus Snape brooding about, Norbert, and Quirreldemort. There are also annotations that include references to the entire series as a whole and the film adaptations.

Is this a book that you would love to have in your collection if you could afford it? Let us know in the comments below.

 

As MuggleNet previously reported, Potter actor Warwick Davis has established The Signature Shop and recently included Matt Lewis among their signatures available for purchase. Now, it has been announced on The Signature Shop’s website that the shop will have a signing with Evanna Lynch on June 6th!

The Signature Shop, which sells licensed signed photographs at affordable prices, is taking pre-orders for signed photos, including personal dedications from Evanna Lynch, up until June 5th, and can ship worldwide.

Be sure to check out The Signature Shop’s Facebook page for more information! Will you be ordering any of their available signed items?

 
 

What a week for Harry Potter fans! After MuggleNet posted about J.K. Rowling’s handwritten spreadsheet, we now have yet more handwritten material from J.K. Rowling, this time in the form of annotations in a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, as featured in The Guardian.

Occurring on the title page, one annotation includes an original drawing of one draft of the Hogwarts crest. This drawing depicts Hufflepuff house as being represented by a bear instead of a badger, and J.K. Rowling writes:

Perhaps Hufflepuff house would have the respect it deserves from the fans if I'd stayed with my original idea of a bear to represent it?”

The annotation in chapter eleven, Quidditch, tells of the circumstances under which Quidditch was created, reading:

“[beneath 'Quidditch'] '-was invented in a small hotel in Manchester after a row with my then boyfriend.”

We have certainly enjoyed reading these annotations, as well as the previously released spreadsheet, and hopefully there will be more to come.

Let us know what you think of these annotations in the comments below.

 
 

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July 2000 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is released in the United States and the United Kingdom simultaneously (July 8th). It was the first Potter book to be released in the US and UK on the same day.
 
 

Question : What charm does Ron say he can use while driving a car instead of using the vehicle's mirrors?
 
Supersensory Charm
Substanstive Charm
Revealing Charm
 

Potter, I will assist you to become an Auror if it is the last thing I do! If I have to coach you nightly I will make sure you achieve the required results!

Minerva McGonagall
Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 29, Page 665
In the Spanish translations of the Harry Potter books, Neville Longbottom's toad, Trevor, has been translated as a turtle instead of a frog.
 
 
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May 2nd, 2013


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May 2nd, 2013


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May 15th, 2013


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