[MoonDancer]

Roseviolet thank you for posting the articles. I haven't read any of the online stuff about the book and my friends and I had a very complicated discussion about whether Harry and Voldemort were related. They didn't believe me and this article proves it.

[kaylafresh]

Have you guys heard of any of the Harry Potter Bands? Some are so awesome. Whomping Willows comes to mind, an all girl band called Parcel Mouth and Remus Lupin -- I assume they all have My Space pages. I know Whomping Willows has a song that goes, "Harry and Draco sitting in a tree, S-N-O-G-G-I-N-G." He's outting Harry!!! Hilarious.

[pollystyrene]

I guess I just picked up on it, and thought, "this is like a Tennessee Williams character!" (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, specifically)

[kittenb]

I just saw that! I am with RV in that I don't normally think of the teachers in that way (esp. Snape, sorry fanfic writers ). But I think it is great.
Now, admittedly, Rowling waited long enough for the "big reveal" and it's not like it can hurt sales now or anything, but it is still kind of cool.
It does, unfortunelty, reinforce the tendency to make any gay character the victim of tragic love, but I'll take what I can get.

(I think my spelling skills fell out of my head while I spelt last night, or something.)

[roseviolet]

The issue had never entered my mind. Honestly, I've looked at the teachers the same way students do - just ignoring the idea that they may have any sexual desires at all (Eeeeeeeew! Gross! ).

I am THRILLED to hear that Jim Broadbent is joining the cast! He's fabulous!

[pollystyrene]

Was anyone really surprised by this?

[bunnyb]

Jim Broadbent is going to be Slughorn in The Half Blood Prince!

Now they just have to cast Stephen Fry as Scrimgeour.

[Callani]

I think what the directors have done is to tell the story to people who might not read the books. It'd be impossible to get every single detail right, especially since so much changes from one reader to the next. For example Luna in the movies is exactly how I pictured her but loads of people think she'd completely wrong.
Of course the other major problem with making the films is that they're being made for children and so they leave out loads of details to "keep it interesting".
Ok, that's my two pence.

[kittenb]

I'm with you. Despite a very talented cast the movies have never measured up to the books. I blame the directors. They have yet to find the right balance b/w too much info from the book (movie 1) and too little info from the book (movie 5.)

[snow white]

roseviolet, i mean do the movie characters measure up to the characters you imagined? honestly to me, the movies have always felt pretty "off", Prisoner of Azkaban was the only movie i actually got into (so far). the only movie characters i find to be utterly perfect are bellatrix and snape (like i said before). anyway, i've always wondered how other potter fans felt about the movies.

imdancing, delores umbridge was excellent, the woman who played her was also in "sense and sensability" and played a total pill. i guess she's good at that.

it took me two days to read the 7th book (i hightailed my ass out the door first thing to get that book!), i'm disappointed it's over but it was a great ride.

[ImDancingBarefoo...]

Thanks for posting the articles, roseviolet.

Heard about the Encyclopedia. I am so excited. Finished Book 7 a few days after it's release but only now found this thread. Don't know how to block things out so . . . yeah. I'm bummed it's over. I do have Magical Creatures and the Quidditch books that I have yet to read. And there are still the movies.

I thought the woman playing Dolores Umbridge was perfect. I pictured her a little rounder, but she was played . . . absolutely hatefully. She was perfect. I kept wanting to throw things at the screen.

Any knitters in this thread may want to check this out: http://www.amazon.com/Charmed-Knits-Projec...1615&sr=1-1

Saw a few wand making tutorials and some other neat Harry Potter crafts. Didn't really get to get crafty for the book release and movie (stupid life getting in the way of Harry Potter!) but there are two more movies coming!

[roseviolet]

I must admit ... I've never much cared for Lupin. His character never struck me as terribly interesting for some strange reason. [shrug]

Here's a link to Stephen King's article on the Harry Potter books. It's nice to see that he's a fan.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20044270_2...0050689,00.html

[snow white]

I just saw OoTP and absolutly loved Bellatrix Lestange, Helena Bonham-Carter and Alan Rickman make the movies for me.

Anyone else slightly disappointed by the other characters in the movies? (like um...Remus Lupin, for one.)

P.S. sassygrrl, I read that article by King and it was good, he touched on all the stuff I thought about the books

[sassygrrl]

Really great article by Stephen King in EW this week about the book.

[LustfullyPink]

It doesn't... They say something about "Vampire-like qualities" but it never says he is one.

[kittenb]

What? Where does it say that Snape is a vampire?

[roseviolet]

Cute shirt, blanche!

Today I came across some cute fan artwork. Lots of Snape-oriented stuff in this person's gallery.
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/31493350/

[roseviolet]

Here's a link to the transcript of that interview with J.K.R.
http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/1156
She talks a lot about what happens to various characters after Book 7. Great stuff! And chock full of spoilers, of course.

[bunnyb]

thanks october!

I wonder who is the new headmaster, if not Neville... Percy?

I think it's pretty obvious that Harry, Ron and Hermione had to return to Hogwarts in order to get jobs at the ministry; although, perhaps they bent the rules for three of the people with the most experience ever to apply for a Ministry job...

It's still very vague but then the futures of most characters in books are vague and left to our own imagination.

I do wish, though, that she had retained the more detailed epilogue.

Did anyone else read about the rumoured castings for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? They've supposedly been debunked by the actors' representatives but interesting nonetheless: Naomi Watts as Narcissa Malfoy, Joseph Fiennes as young Voldermort and Stuart Townsend as somebody ... Bill or Greyback?

Joseph Fiennes playing the younger version of the character his older brother plays is pretty inspired and hopefully will come to fruition. The casting for the HP films has been spot on from the very first film - Alan Rickman, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon (although in tragic circumstances) will remain the characters they play and when reading the books I cannot imagine anyone different; and the latter castings of Mad Eye (Brendan Gleeson is fab), Umbridge and Bellatrix LeStrange have, again, been perfect.

[octobersky]

None of my links are working. Crap. Just go to mugglenet.com and there are two stories on the home page with links that actually work - it was the "Today Show" one I was trying to post. Sorry 'bout that.