An HTML version of this FAQ is available at <http://www.m5p.com/~pravn/hp/faq.html>. For the truly official version, the latest edition posted to Usenet can be found at <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/alt.fan.harry-potter/FAQ%3A_alt.fan.harry-potter_Frequently_Asked_Questions>.
This part is for questions that require spoilers to answer. Even the question list has major spoilers, so don't follow that link unless you've read all the books.
If you're coming to us through Google Groups, it's possible that you can also access this newsgroup locally through your ISP with a dedicated newsreader. To test this, try going to "news:alt.fan.harry-potter" (no "http"!) with your browser and see what happens.
If you stick with Google Groups, here's a quick tutorial on how to get it to use to Usenet-style quoting, which will make your posts more comprehensible to the rest of the world: <http://www.safalra.com/special/googlegroupsreply/>.
Articles which contain important spoilers should precede them with a warning-- be sure to mention which book the spoilers are from-- and lines of "spoiler space" so that a reader does not see any spoilers in the first screen of the article. This gives them the chance to skip to the next article to avoid being spoiled. You can put just about anything you want in the lines of spoiler space, although it will help out the blind readers, who have to use text-to-voice translators, if you don't use a bunch of random punctuation.
If you're going to use spoiler space, remember to keep the spoilers out of your subject line, too.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (or Sorcerer's
Stone, in the US)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Supplementary books:
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Quidditch Through the Ages
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Anything else is unapproved by Rowling or her publishers, no matter how official it claims to be.
Harry Potter and the Alchemist's Cell
Harry Potter and the Pyramids of Furmat
Harry Potter and the Chariots of Light
Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch
Harry Potter and the Pillar of Storge
Steve Kloves is being brought back as the scriptwriter, and David Yates, who directed OotP, will be directing this one too.
Some people have reported that they can jump to title 80 (completion of the key puzzle) and continue from there to the deleted scenes. Some can't. If you try it and it doesn't work, you will need to restart your DVD entirely to make the long way work.
Rowling's official site is at <http://www.jkrowling.com/> and does have a "text version" with more limited information at <http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/>.
Also, Dark Horizons <http://www.darkhorizons.com/> and Counting Down <http://www.countingdown.com/>, which are general movie news sites, sometimes originate Potter-related news.
Fan Domination <http://fandomination.net> (General fanfic site)
FanFic.Net <http://www.fanfiction.net/> (General fanfic site)
Fiction Alley <http://www.fictionalley.org/>
Forever Fandom <http://www.foreverfandom.net/> (General fanfic site)
Harry Potter Fan Fiction <http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/>
Marauders Archive <http://fanfiction.bitter-rain.net/>
Phoenix Song <http://www.phoenixsong.net/>
The Sugar Quill <http://www.sugarquill.net/>
Or, check your favorite news archive for articles on the newsgroup alt.fan.harry-potter.creative.
Harry Potter Lexicon <http://www.hp-lexicon.org/>: Complete character information from the books, timelines, explanatory articles, and more.
The Akashic Record <http://www.m5p.com/~pravn/hp/>: Basic information from the books, with etymologies, symbolism, and cultural information, organized by spoiler level. (Warning! The author of this FAQ is touting her own site here.)
Harry Potter Facts <http://www.harrypotterfacts.com/>: Important facts by chapter, and extensive speculative discussion.
Harry Potter Reference Spreadsheet <http://www.stobb.net/Harry_Potter_Characters_Spreadsheet.htm>: Exhaustive lists of facts in categories such as character names, places, passwords, and more.
Hogwarts Library <http://www.hogwartslibrary.net/>: Reference and discussion site organized in support of this newsgroup, now defunct and living at the HP Lexicon.
Adding a copyright acknowledgement or a link to an official site isn't going to help you if one of the copyright or trademark holders disapproves of what you're doing. However, if you still would like to include a disclaimer, "SteveD3" reports that when he asked Warner Brothers for official permission for his Web site, they suggested the following:
"HARRY POTTER, HOGWARTS CREST, GRYFFINDOR, RAVENCLAW, HUFFLEPUFF, and SLYTHERIN characters, names and related characters are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2003. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions on this site are those made by the owners. All stories (fanfiction) are owned by the author and are not subject to copyright law. This site © 2003 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED."
If you are a real stickler for details, change "2003" to the release year of the most recent movie.
You can read the full text of the original judgment at <http://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm>. A report on the appeal is available at <http://www.entlawdigest.com/story.cfm?storyID=3094>.
The case was heard in April 2008. The judge's ruling was that the Lexicon book was sufficiently transformative of the main series, but not of the two companion books, since those were already structured as reference books. The Lexicon book was permanently barred from publication in that form, and WB was awarded the minimum possible damages of US$6750.
The trademark part of the case, which was about cover elements that WB thought could imply an official endorsement of the book, was settled out of court.
A modified Lexicon book is to be published on January 16, 2009.
Transcripts of the trial are available here:
<http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/system/files/Trial+Transcript+Day+1.txt>
<http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/system/files/Trial+Transcript+Day+2.txt>
<http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/system/files/Trial+Transcript+Day+3.txt>
(Tables of contents are at the end of each file.)
Most legal filings in the case (including the final decision) are available as PDFs at: <http://news.justia.com/cases/featured/new-york/nysdce/1:2007cv09667/315790/>
July 18-21, 2009: Azkatraz, San Francisco, California. Run by HP Education Fanon, Inc., a spinoff of The Leaky Cauldron. (Replaces "Level Two", which was to be held in San Jose.) Web site: <http://www.hp2009.org/>.
Summer 2010: Infinitus 2010, Orlando, Florida. Run by HP Education Fanon, Inc.
This
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Hermione joined the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures where she was instrumental in greatly improving life for house-elves. She then moved to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement where she was a progressive voice who worked to repeal oppressive, pro- pureblood laws.
Ron took Fred's place at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
Ginny played with the Holyhead Harpies for a few years, then retired to start her family with Harry and be the Daily Prophet's Quidditch correspondent.
Luna became a famous naturalist, and later in life would marry fellow naturalist Rolf Scamander, the grandson of Newt. She kept an open mind, but did eventually accept that there were no Crumple-Horned Snorkacks.
Percy returned to the Ministry.
George also married, and named his first child Fred.
The precise order of 2-5 is not clear. And yes, this means Voldemort split his soul into eight pieces, not the seven he intended.
In fact, Snape was never the master of the wand. Draco first defeated Dumbledore by disarming him (as Dumbledore pointed out at great length before he was killed). This made Draco the master of the Elder Wand. Harry then defeated Draco at Malfoy Manor.
So when Voldemort faced Harry at the very end, Harry was the true master of the Elder Wand. That was what gave Harry the upper hand, allowing his spell to ricochet Voldemort's Killing Curse back at him.
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