The Official Harry Potter Thread

[kissmesweet]

The eight-movie DVD set's coming to the UK and I'm ordering it right now.

 

[sobriquet87]

J.K. Rowling listed as No. 2 top influencer of Britain's reading habits

The Guardian and Observer has compiled a list of the Top 100 people exercising the greatest influence over the UK's reading habits - right now.

Harry Potter author and founder of Pottermore.com, J.K. Rowling was listed in the No. 2 position behind only Jeff Bezos - Founder, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Amazon.

The article stated:

If anyone ever doubted that there was life in the young wizard yet, they were proved wrong with Rowling's announcement of the arrival of Pottermore.com, the website dedicated to all things Harry, which will raise its curtains for business this October. But this isn't just a fansite: it's a virtual world in which dedicated Potter fans of all ages can navigate their way through Rowling's imagination, collecting "house points" and chatting to their new friends in the process.

mugglenet

 

[Label Basher]

YAY I finally got my email and I'm all signed in. I've already got Friend invites but I don't even know who the hell they are lol. It's weird like are you just friending people cause they are from the same country as you or cause you like the name.

So how do I get sorted?

 

[MissKateCherie]

^
you have to wait until you get to chapter 7 when the sorting happens...people are friending me to and they're not even from my country

 

[kissmesweet]

Yeah, the problem is that when people friend you, you don't know who they are.

 

[MissKateCherie]

^
at least they can't bother you since there isn't a way they can talk to you

 

[kissmesweet]

Oh yes, definitely. That kind of makes the adding friends thing... slightly redundant though. Sending things to friends is just boring. Hope that Pottermore starts running smoothly soon!

 

[Label Basher]

^ What! Chapter 7. I don't have a lot of time right now for reading that much. But I do understand that's that part in PS when Harry gets sorted so yeah.

 

[Alvedansen]

you don't have to read a lot though, it's not the whole book online and you don't have to click on the additional material, you can always go back. you just need to collect the hidden objects, buy your stuff in Diagon Alley, get your wand and then you take the quizz to get sorted.

 

[Label Basher]

^ Damn there's a quiz. I might have to PM you for the hidden objects if I get stuck lol.

 

[Label Basher]

This is interesting -

Pottermore: Not as successful as expected?



J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore says that all 1 million Magical Quill registrants have received their Welcome E-mail! What’s surprising is less than half of those people have been sorted as of right now. The Pottermore Insider blog was updated with this blurb:

• Earlier today, we sent out the one-millionth Welcome email – which means that everyone who successfully registered for the Beta should now have access to Pottermore.

• We’re expecting the site to be extremely busy over the next 24 hours as people log in and explore Pottermore for the first time. As such, you may have to wait to sign in but please keep trying if you aren’t able to gain entry straight away.

A quick check of Pottermore’s Great Hall reveals that only 500,000 people have been sorted. So that means there were a serious number of people who either got multiple accounts or are not very interested in the site. What gives?

hypable.com

 

[Alvedansen]

well not a quiz really, just pick one of a few options, you don't need any knowledge...
i don't think you need the hidden objects to get sorted and you can always go back to previous chapters, the only thing you really need to not get stuck is the shopping list for Diagon Alley

 

[sobriquet87]

I haven't been sorted yet, because I haven't had time...but I'm going to do it this weekend.
I'm praying for Ravenclaw.

 

[Label Basher]

well not a quiz really, just pick one of a few options, you don't need any knowledge...
i don't think you need the hidden objects to get sorted and you can always go back to previous chapters, the only thing you really need to not get stuck is the shopping list for Diagon Alley

Thanks bb. I will take note.

 

[sobriquet87]

From USA Today Educate:

Is the hottest sport in college… Quidditch?

The Daily Kansan described the sports match-up in three words, each getting their own sentence: “Rivalry. Competition. Broomsticks.”

The article by Kansas University student Hannah Wise previewed a recent “Border Showdown” between KU and the University of Missouri. As the last word of Wise’s opening description hints, the sport is not one most people associate with intercollegiate athletics.

Along with football, soccer, field hockey, and cross country, many students are competing this fall within the wide world of Quidditch.

Among the many phenomena the Harry Potter book and film series has spawned– a theme park, post-Potter depression, the Pottermore website, HP fan fiction, and Daniel Radcliffe’s film career– perhaps none is quirkier and currently en vogue than Quidditch.

The sport, based in fiction, is catching on among real-world students at an astonishingly high number of schools globally. Students play on the ground instead of in the air, but dutifully take on the various roles described in JK Rowling’s books including keepers, seekers, chasers, and beaters.

In a UPIU report last spring, University of Tampa student Cristina Valcarcel-Lopez described Quidditch “as a sport combining elements of rugby and basketball; the exception: players are running with a broomstick in between their legs.“

All rules are adapted from the books simply to ensure “muggles” can participate “without magic’s contribution to the game.” At times, these adaptations can be tough for non-HP fans to follow. For example, in a report last spring, The Mirror at the University of Northern Colorado explained how “the golden snitch” is utilized in the human version of the game. “Because enchanting the ball to fly on its own is not an option, there is one player dressed in all yellow hiding and running from the seekers,” Mirror staff writer Samantha Fox noted. “The game ends when a player gets the tennis ball in the sock stuck into the back of the snitch’s pants.” Got that?

According to Valcarcel-Lopez, college Quidditch is roughly six years old. It sprang to life in Vermont. Middlebury College students formed the first intramural league and the International Quidditch Association.

Currently, hundreds of teams have formed at schools in almost every state and more than a dozen countries. A Quidditch World Cup is held. The NCAA recognizes the sport. And rivalries have begun to form, including between KU and Mizzou.

And so it was that on a recent Saturday the Kansas Quidditch squad defeated the upstart Missouri team (playing for the first time off campus) in an epic three-game match. Playing before “Potter fans young and old . . . in witch and wizard robes,” KU employed its superior speed and aggression to win convincingly. Among the cheers, perhaps the best was the one voiced repeatedly by the referee. As he screamed simply to both squads to start each game, “The snitch is loose!”

What do you think? Are students playing Quidditch at your college or university? Will matches be shown one day on ESPN or held in gigantic stadiums?

 

[heelscatchfire]

^ that's awesome! I would love to play Quidditch!

 

[sobriquet87]

^My old university started a team right after I graduated and it's now hugely popular on campus.
I want to play so bad. My new University doesn't have a team though.

 

[chic stranger]

I don't think this quidditch thing sounds that fun, how the hell do you run around for a whole game with a broom between your legs? and the snitch is a person dressed up? I actually feel a little bad for whoever gets that position non? everyone going after them... give me a call on the day you can actually fly on a broom and then we'll talk.

 

[Alvedansen]

it's so silly, it's good again. i'd love to play it, it sounds like so much (stupid) fun

 

[sobriquet87]

This is a little segment from a special feature on the upcoming DH2 DVD called, "The Women of Harry Potter"