The Origins Of Harry Potter In Edinburgh
After her years in Porto, Rowling moved to Edinburgh. It was here, frequenting quaint coffee shops, that she finished the first novel in the series. In fact, ten years later she also finished the last lines of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in a hotel in Edinburgh.
Youll be surprised to see the interesting comparisons between Edinburghs Victoria Street, and the famous Diagon Alley. You can discover all this and much more during the Harry Potter Free Tour.
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
Movie:;Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.Shot:;St Pancras Renaissance Hotel was used as the entrance to Kings Cross station in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets.Fact:;The Renaissance Hotel has been seen worldwide by millions as a filming location for not only Harry Potter films, but also 102 Dalmatians, Batman, Richard III and others.Closest tube station:;Kings Cross St. Pancras, 5 min walk.Price:;Free.
Awards Honours And Recognition
The Harry Potter series has been recognised by a host of awards since the initial publication of Philosopher’s Stone including a platinum award from the Whitaker Gold and Platinum Book Awards , three Nestlé Smarties Book Prizes , two Scottish Arts Council Book Awards , the inaugural Whitbread children’s book of the year award , the WHSmith book of the year , among others. In 2000, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel, and in 2001, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire won said award. Honours include a commendation for the Carnegie Medal , a short listing for the Guardian Children’s Award , and numerous listings on the notable books, editors’ Choices, and best books lists of the American Library Association, The New York Times, Chicago Public Library, and Publishers Weekly.
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How To Watch Harry Potter Movies In Order
Everyone came into the Wizarding World through the Harry Potter books and movies, which introduced us to a gifted 11-year-old, his friends Ron and Hermione, and their hallowed school of magic, Hogwarts. Watching the Harry Potter movies in order, seeing the story unfold chronologically in-universe, used to be as easy as finding the one where Daniel Radcliffe looks youngest and starting from there.
But the series has expanded now with the Fantastic Beasts movies, set some 70 years before The Sorcerers Stone. So to watch the Harry Potter movies in order, your journey now begins with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, set in 1926 and starring Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scarmander. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is set in 1927. The third Fantastic Beasts intends to release July 2022, with two more movies to close out the Scarmander and Grindelwald saga.
Then the story of Harry himself begins, starting with Sorcerers Stone and concluding in the second-part of The Deathly Hallows, for eight Certified Fresh movies in a row. Theres also a Harry Potter series early in development for HBO Max. For now, see our guide below on how to watch all Harry Potter movies in order.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave Hogwarts to complete Dumbledore’s task: to search for and destroy Voldemort’s remaining four Horcruxes, then find and kill the Dark Lord. The three pit themselves against Voldemort’s newly formed totalitarianpolice state, an action that tests Harry’s courage and moral character. Voldemort’s seizure of the Ministry of Magic leads to discriminatory and genocidal policies against Muggle-borns, fuelled by propaganda and fear. According to J. K. Rowling, telling scenes are when Harry uses Cruciatus Curse and Imperius Curse, unforgivable curses for torture and mind-control, on Voldemort’s servants, and also when he casts Sectumsempra on Draco Malfoy during the bathroom fight in the sixth book. Each time shows a “flawed and mortal” side to Harry. However, she explains, “He is also in an extreme situation and attempting to defend somebody very good against a violent and murderous opponent.”
Harry experiences occasional disturbing visions of Draco being forced to perform the Death Eaters’ bidding and feels “…sickened…by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort,” again showing his compassion for an enemy.
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Madam Malkin’s Robes For All Occasions
Madam Malkin’s is a clothing shop next to Flourish & Blotts. It sells robes and other clothing, including the standard Hogwarts-required plain black work robes, and dress robes. Inside the shop, Madam Malkin and her assistants will tailor the robes to fit. Malkin is an archaic term for a crotchety old woman.
Harry has two meetings with Draco Malfoy in Madam Malkin’s shop. This is where Harry meets the first wizard of his own age, Malfoy, for the first time, in Philosopher’s Stone. Harry is rather bewildered by the questions Malfoy asks, because Harry is still unfamiliar with many aspects of the wizarding world. A second meeting occurs just before the beginning of Harry’s sixth year, in Half-Blood Prince. This meeting is far more unpleasant, and escalates quickly into a near-duel before Malfoy and his mother leave in disgust.
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
In the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic has been waging a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore, disputing their claims that Voldemort has returned. Harry is made to look like an attention-seeking liar, and Dumbledore a trouble-maker. A new character is introduced when the Ministry of Magic appoints Dolores Umbridge as the latest Hogwarts’ Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor . Because the paranoid Ministry suspects that Dumbledore is building a wizard army to overthrow them, Umbridge refuses to teach students real defensive magic. She gradually gains more power, eventually ousting Dumbledore and seizing control of the school. As a result, Harry’s increasingly angry and erratic behaviour nearly estranges him from Ron and Hermione.
Rowling says she put Harry through extreme emotional stress to show his emotional vulnerability and humanitya contrast to his nemesis, Voldemort. ” a very human hero, and this is, obviously, a contrast, between him, as a very human hero, and Voldemort, who has deliberately dehumanised himself. And Harry, therefore, did have to reach a point where he did almost break down, and say he didn’t want to play any more, he didn’t want to be the hero any more; and he’d lost too much. And he didn’t want to lose anything else. So that; Phoenix was the point at which I decided he would have his breakdown.”
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Off To Hogwarts We Go: Glenfinnan Viaduct Lochaber Scotland
This viaduct, 100ft above ground, is captured in several Harry Potter films on the route to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You can journey through this magical landscape just as Harry and friends did, aboard the Jacobite steam train used as the Hogwarts Express in the movie.;
See if you can spot where, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Arthur Weasleys baby-blue flying Ford Anglia lands on the viaduct. The head of the Weasley family modified it to fit eight people, six trunks, two owls and one rat.
Top Sights Where Harry Potter Was Filmed
Harry Potter’s story is set in a magical, largely fictional Britain, but the film series used many real locations as evocative backdrops. Other settings, like Diagon Alley, exist only at Leavesden Film Studios .
Many of the real-life filming sites are closed to visitors, far out of the way for most travelers, or an unmagical disappointment in person for all but the most committed fan. But plenty of locations are worth visiting for their own sake; these are my top picks.
London
Harry first realizes his wizard powers;in The Sorcerer’s Stone when talking with a snake at the London Zoo’s Reptile House.
When Hagrid takes Harry shopping for school supplies, they enter the glass-roofed Leadenhall Market and approach the storefront at 42 Bull’s Head Passage the entrance to The Leaky Cauldron pub .
Harry catches the Hogwarts Express train at King’s Cross Station. Inside the glass-roofed train station, on a pedestrian sky bridge over the tracks, Hagrid gives Harry a train ticket. Harry finds his way to the magical platform 9¾ with some help, but these days it’s well-signed, with a luggage cart that looks like it’s disappearing into the wall, and a cleverly located gift shop. Expect a 30-minute wait for a photo with the cart.
In The Prisoner of Azkaban , The Leaky Cauldron’s exterior was shot on rough-looking Stoney Street, at the southeast edge of Borough Market, near The Market Porter pub. En route there, the Knight Bus squeezes between Muggle buses on Lambeth Bridge .
Near Bath
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Casting The Roles Of Harry Ron And Hermione
Daniel RadcliffeEmma WatsonRupert GrintHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2Trafalgar SquareLondon
In 2000, after a seven-month search, lead actor Daniel Radcliffe was discovered by producer David Heyman and writer Steve Kloves seated just behind them in a theatre. In Heyman’s own words, “There sitting behind me was this boy with these big blue eyes. It was Dan Radcliffe. I remember my first impressions: He was curious and funny and so energetic. There was real generosity too, and sweetness. But at the same time he was really voracious and with hunger for knowledge of whatever kind.”
Radcliffe had already established himself as an actor in the 1999 BBC television production of David Copperfield in which he played the title role’s childhood years. Heyman persuaded Radcliffe’s parents to allow him to audition for the part of Harry Potter, which involved Radcliffe being filmed. Rowling was enthusiastic after viewing Radcliffe’s filmed test, saying she didn’t think there was a better choice for the part of Harry Potter.
Also in 2000, the then unknown British actors Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were selected from thousands of auditioning children to play the roles of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively. Their only previous acting experience was in school plays. Grint was eleven years old and Watson ten at the time they were cast.
Completion Of The Series
In December 2005, Rowling stated on her web site, “2006 will be the year when I write the final book in the Harry Potter series.” Updates then followed in her online diary chronicling the progress of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with the release date of 21 July 2007. The book itself was finished on 11 January 2007 in the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh, where she scrawled a message on the back of a bust of Hermes. It read: “J. K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room on 11 January 2007.”
Rowling herself has stated that the last chapter of the final book was completed “in something like 1990”. In June 2006, Rowling, on an appearance on the British talk show Richard & Judy, announced that the chapter had been modified as one character “got a reprieve” and two others who previously survived the story had in fact been killed. On 28 March 2007, the cover art for the Bloomsbury Adult and Child versions and the Scholastic version were released.
In September 2012, Rowling mentioned in an interview that she might go back to make a “director’s cut” of two of the existing Harry Potter books.
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Pets And Other Creatures
Buckbeak the hippogriff
Hagrid had a good relationship with most of his pets and other magical creatures, most notably Fang, Aragog, and Buckbeak. His relationship with most magical creatures was arguably better then the ones most other wizards had.
Fang was usually Hagrid’s companion most of the time, although he was cowardly. Fang demonstrated some protectiveness towards Hagrid in spite of his cowardly nature such as when he attempted to protect Hagrid when Dolores Umbridge and some Auror’s attempted to sack and arrest him. Hagrid, in turn, was also protective of Fang as he was enraged when the Aurors had stunned him, carrying his unconscious body as he fled Hogwarts, and immediately went after Fang when he was afraid during the Battle of Hogwarts.
Harry Potters Us Publication Made It A Bonafide Phenomenon
Harry Potter did fine when it first emerged in the UK 20 years ago, winning a Smarties Award and garnering respectable sales for its publisher, Bloomsbury. But it only started to approach phenomenon levels when Scholastic bought the US publication rights for an astonishing $105,000, about 10 times more than the average foreign rights sale at the time.
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Arthur Levine, the Scholastic editor who acquired the books, had an excellent eye for British books that would work in the US, having already acquired the US rights to Redwall and His Dark Materials. But even he didnt know that Harry Potter would grow as big as it did. He just knew that he loved it and wanted to publish it. Scholastic President Barbara Marcus Barbara Marcus kept saying do you love it? and Arthur said yes, so we went for it, a Scholastic spokesperson recalled in 2002. I would have been willing to go further than that if I had to,” Levine said in 2007.
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The $105,000 sale granted Harry Potter two things: a built-in publicity hook, and a big budget.
The hook came from the press: Newspapers featured articles about the little English book that had garnered such a huge sale. Reviewers wanted to know what kind of book would justify that kind of money. It was a curiosity, and as such, it was a story.
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Harry Potter Film Locations
Youve read the books, youve seen the film now discover the superb film locations.
J.K. Rowlingss Harry Potter books are some of the best selling childrens books in history. The books follow the adventures of an 11 year old boy, Harry who lives in a cupboard under the stairs in a house with his aunt, uncle and spoilt cousin Dudley. Harrys own parents died when he was a baby, not as he believed in a car crash but in a fight with a powerful evil wizard who also tried to kill Harry. He is amazed to find out that his parents were also wizards and that he has inherited magical powers of his own! He is transported from his ordinary life to Hogwarts, a boarding school for wizards. There, he meets new friends, learns new skills and ends up confronting the evil person who killed his parents.
Our Harry Potter tour starts at the Dursleys house, Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey which is in fact an ordinary house in Martins Heron near Bracknell, Berkshire.
Several locations in London were used for the filming. The scene early in the film when the Dursleys go to the zoo and Harry talks to the snake, was filmed at London Zoo. Set on the edge of Regents Park, historic London Zoo is home to more than 600 species of rare and beautiful animals. It is in the reptile house here where Harry first learns of his ability to talk to snakes.
The interior and exterior shots of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are taken from a number of locations around England.
Warner Bros Studio Tours London
Experience the best of filmmaking on this highly rated and incredibly sought after tour of the Warner Bros. Studios in London. Explore iconic sets from the series, like Dumbledore’s Office, Diagon Alley, Platform 9 and 3/4 and the Cupboard under the Stairs. See the actual props and costumes from the eight films! Be privy to all the dark secrets of House Slytherin through the seasonal exhibit – A Celebration of Slytherin. Calling this tour exhilarating will be an understatement.
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Critiche E Dibattiti Religiosi
La saga venne colpita da varie critiche religiose, in particolare dagli ambienti cristiani evangelici, che accusarono l’opera di favorire una visione positiva della magia e di incoraggiare i bambini a dilettarsi nell’occulto. I libri vennero accusati di favorire la diffusione del satanismo tra i bambini. Ad Alamogordo nel Nuovo Messico, il 30 dicembre 2001, una locale chiesa evangelica bruciò una pila di libri. Un simile episodio avvenne lo stesso anno in Pennsylvania, quando quasi un centinaio di membri di una congregazione pentecostale bruciò libri della Rowling. Le scuole private negli Emirati Arabi Uniti soppressero i libri nel febbraio 2002 perché il governo li riteneva contrari ai valori islamici, anche se non vennero banditi dalle librerie. Nei libri non vi sono accenni ad alcuna religione e relativamente alle festività quali il Natale vengono presentati solamente gli elementi più tradizionali. Sono però presenti valori morali e spirituali che vengono esplicitati dai personaggi, in particolare da Silente, in particolare in riferimento all’amore, alla morte e al dolore e vengono presentati in particolare i concetti di bene e male e il tema della scelta.
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
During Harry’s fourth year, Hogwarts plays host to a legendary event: the Triwizard Tournament. Three European schools participate in the tournament, with three ‘champions’ representing each school in the deadly tasks. The Goblet of Fire chooses Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum, and Cedric Diggory to compete against each other. However, curiously, Harry’s name is also produced from the Goblet thus making him a fourth champion, which results in a terrifying encounter with a reborn Lord Voldemort.
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