On July 21, at 12:01 AM, many Harry Potter fans embarked on a speed-reading marathon to finish ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,’ but less than a week after its release, there are still fans who haven’t finished the book and are not ready to talk about what happens to Harry and his friends. One teen found a creative way to keep spoilers at bay—buttons that say either "I'm not finished, no spoilers please!" or "I'm finished, let's discuss."
Just days after the successful release of DG, J.K. Rowling tells the TODAY show that once she finished the last book, she cried and was devastated about ending her 17-year relationship with Harry and his world. “And that was just hard to deal with for about a week, “she said. She added that she was not fun to be around during those few days. More of the interview can be seen on TODAY, Thursday and Friday.
Harry Potter fans had 39 hours to read "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" before the first Web cast discussion of the book, hosted by popular Web site The Leaky Cauldron. Some fans took less than that.
The country’s biggest Harry Potter bash was in Naperville, Ill. Friday night counting down to the release of DH. The Party that Shall Not Be Named brought thousands of people from around the Chicago area and other states as well.
Were you one of the thousands of kids and adults queuing up in line all over the Chicago area at 12:01 AM Saturday to get your copy of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,’ the last book in J.K. Rowling’s series? Did you stay up late reading the book? The reviews so far are very positive. Here’s a review from the Associated Press. It has spoilers so beware! Here’s another review from England, Harry’s home.
In a few short hours, we will know the fate of Harry, Hermione, Ron and all the other Harry Potter characters that have been part of our lives the last few years. In an interview, J.K. Rowling says that writing the final words in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ was “like a bereavement.” Rowling says the book is definitely the end for Harry’s story but what about her plans for other books?
Well, a well-respected U.S. newspaper (aka: ‘it which shall not be named’) has already posted an early review of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ complete with spoilers. Arggh! What idiots! A Harry Potter fan site, www.the-leaky-cauldron.org, is asking Potter fans to write letters to the editor to ‘it which shall not be named’ taking them to task for this bone-headed move. Maybe Fred and George Weasley can come up with a nice present for them as well. The Leaky site is experiencing tons of traffic so keep trying!
In a few hours we will know the fate of Harry and his friends. In the meantime, we can amuse ourselves with other Potter mania. You’ve heard of March Madness; how about the Potter Madness brackets? If the characters in the Potter books were to meet other fantasy heroes, who would rule? Would Captain Jack Sparrow from “Pirates of the Caribbean” outwit the dreaded Lord Voldemort?
The U.S. publisher of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ is taking legal action today against two companies which they say are the source of leaks hitting the Internet. DeepDiscount.com and Levy Home Entertainment are accused of breaching the on-sale agreement by sending the books through the mail early so that some people received them before July 21.
Spoilers for ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ are spreading on the Internet. Some purport to show the final chapter and others the entire book. The U.S. publisher has filed legal action against some, but as Leaky Cauldron Web Master Melissa Anelli says, "This is exceedingly wrong and mean-spirited. Let people enjoy their book, for Pete's sake.”
Harry Potter fans across the ocean are breathing a sigh of relief Tuesday after the second largest supermarket chain in Britain, ASDA, apologized to the publisher of the Harry Potter books, ending a dispute that had threatened to keep ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ off the stores’ shelves. The tiff centered on the price for the last book in J.K. Rowling’s series of the boy wizard.
The release of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ is being subjected to intense security—at a pretty hefty price tag . Among the measures being taken to prevent anyone from leaking its contents before July 21 are guard dogs and satellite tracking systems. In Britain, some print factory employees ‘reportedly had to work in near-darkness to prevent them reading the book.’
MuggleNet posted on their site what they say may be the opening of the first chapter of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.’ The excerpt originally appeared in the newspaper, ‘The Guardian’ in an article they published about an upcoming documentary on J.K. Rowling.
We’re all talking about how we think ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ will end, and many sites have fans submitting their own ideas—anywhere from the last chapter to the last few paragraphs. Some people are also wondering what will happen to Harry and the gang AFTER ‘Deathly Hallows’ – assuming they are not killed off in the final book. One of the funniest stories I’ve read is written by Meg Cabot, writer of the Princess Diaries.
Daniel Radcliffe, star of the Harry Potter movies, told Conan O’Brien on the talk show late Wednesday night that he’s not planning any wild parties to celebrate his 18th birthday, two days after ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ comes out. ‘That doesn’t appeal to me,’ he said. Conan also seemed to be intrigued by Dan’s eyes—calling them hypnotic and ‘luminous.’ The audience got a kick out of Dan’s response, ‘I could hypnotize the whole nation.’ Another Potter star also hit the talk-show circuit.
So for those of you who were at the midnight shows for ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,’ what did you think? Was some stuff from the book omitted that should have been in the movie? One reviewer commented that the movie has taken a darker turn, “leaving innocence behind.” But didn’t the book do the same thing?
Thousands of Harry Potter fans have grown up reading the series. An example is Candice Dobson. When she was 9 years old she read "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.” Now in her mid-teens, she has read and re-read all the books and has been involved in a mix of Potter activities through the years. She says she’s "utterly addicted."
In the past, J.K. Rowling has said that ‘scar’ is the last word at the end of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,’ the last installment and Book 7 of the boy-wizard series. But Rowling revealed during a recent interview that at the ‘eleventh hour’ she changed the last word and it’s no longer ‘scar.’
