Hindsight is 20/20. It’s easy now to say, “Of course an actor should be in a Harry Potter movie” after eight films and billions of dollars. But in the moment, almost two decades ago, there must have been actors who passed. In fact, one big name that’s in the films almost did just that.
For the cool price of $1.3 million, you can own the the charming cottage just outside London where Voldemort killed James and Lilly Potter. Imagine all of the enthralling stories you could tell guests when they came over for dinner.
Hardcore Harry Potter fans, prepare to geek out a bit. Production is now underway on the second film in the Fantastic Beasts series, and we’ve just learned that Nicolas Flamel, the creator of the Sorcerer’s (or Philosopher’s) Stone, will play a role in the sequel.
I mean, I’m sure there are other rooms you could slather with Pottery Barn’s five-years-too-late collection of Harry Potter items. But one of their suggested room ideas is for a Gryffindor cushy lounge, so obviously that’s all we can think about now.
The start of September is the traditional period of going back to school, whether you’re an actual student or a fictional wizard, but today—September 1st, 2017—holds a very particular place in the hearts of Harry Potter fans: It’s the day the “19 years later” epilogue of The Deathly Hallows is set.
Sidekicks. Always there to lend a helping hand, or sword, or wand, as the case may be. A hero is nothing without his or her sidekick, but these companions rarely get the recognition they deserve. A few second bananas may get the spotlight on occasion—your Robins, your Chewbaccas, your Igors—but they all originated in…
Even though it’s been nearly 10 years since the last Harry Potter book was published, there are still people who’re discovering the story about The Boy Who Lived every single day. Take this fellow, for example, who was shocked to discover that he’d been mistakenly reading Potter fan fiction instead of J.K. Rowling.
The Hogwarts Sorting Hat, a core part of the Harry Potter mythos, has become one of Western culture’s best-known psychological tests, bigger than Myers-Briggs or whether you’re a Carrie. It’s inspired real-world personality quizzes at BuzzFeed, Pottermore, the Guardian, and many other sites. Recently TIME Magazine…
Is there nothing neural networks can’t do? And while the paint colors, metal bands, recipes, and so on were fun, a computer’s attempt to learn about fanfic and reproduce its summaries has filled me with a joy greater than anything else on Earth.
Twenty years ago today, a book was published that changed many of our lives forever. That book was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, later renamed Sorcerer’s Stone in the U.S. It was our first taste of a wondrous world of witchcraft and wizardry that has inspired billions around the world. Here’s how that…
Harry Potter turns 20 today. (Technically, because of how the publishing world works, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone turns 20 next year, on September 1, when the US version came out.) Pottermania is so well-entrenched that all you need to see is a red and gold scarf to instantly know a lot about the person…
If you were wondering how Harry Potter got his name, then J.K. Rowling has finally given an answer. She’s also explained how it was that there were no wizarding grandparents to take in Harry after his parents died.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them wasn’t exactly magical, but Harry Potter completionists will want to own it anyway, and it’s already down to $12 complete with a digital copy.
Walt Disney World has finally opened its Pandora—The World of Avatar attraction in Florida, so Universal Studios is doing what it can to keep tourists flocking to its theme parks. This past weekend Universal Studios Hollywood revealed an amazing nighttime light show at its Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but you …
J.K. Rowling may be busy working on the second film in her Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them trilogy, but one fan film is getting reading to tell us a much cooler story: How He Who Shall Not Be Named became, well, He Who Shall Not Be Named.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is obnoxiously overpriced, small, and pretty gimmicky. And yet it is a much better experience for a Harry Potter fan than Fantastic Beasts, Cursed Child, or any of J.K. Rowling’s endless Pottermore essays.
The places that characters frequent in movies or TV often become characters themselves. Homes, hideouts, workplaces, these locations can often be as important to your love of something as the fictional people who dwell in them.
A one-of-a-kind Harry Potter prequel has been stolen, and author J.K. Rowling is eager to get it back in the right hands.
We knew this play was coming, but now we have an official opening date.
Since 2015, J.K. Rowling has made it an annual tradition to apologize on the anniversary of the fictional Battle of Hogwarts for killing off a Harry Potter character. This year’s selection was not met with the usual mourning.
