Harry Potter // Fan Club

[Shining Raichu]

Hey Zayphora, welcome!

Originally Posted by RubyJB88

JKR and Sony have partnered up for a new PS Move game called "Book of Spells" at today's E3 conference.

I watched that unfold at E3! I was so excited I nearly jumped out of my skin when they first mentioned JK Rowling's name, but I was actually disappointed with what it showed. The spell book idea is pretty cool, but to be honest the execution looks kinda lame. Unfortunately though, I'm going to have to buy it, because it's going to feature original writing by JK Rowling and there's no way I could ever miss that. I must see it all. Damn my franchise loyalty .

I still have to finish Book 1 on Pottermore too, before Book 2 is released haha. I couldn't get my interest back after they sorted me into Slytherin.

Originally Posted by Zayphora

If I start discussing my clearly insane theories that the Veil is a portal to another dimension....feel free to tell me to shut up. XDDDDD

Insane or no, I want to hear your theory. Gogogo.

As to the Marauders dying in reverse order, I never noticed that! That's really cool! But if she did plan that, why? What purpose did that serve to the story? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!

[Zayphora]

I actually didn't notice it either, my friend told me...She probably did it as a sort of creepy symbolic thing...

So basically one day I saw this GIF that said something along the lines of
"What happened to Sirius when he went through the Veil? He went to Narnia."
It was pretty stupid but hilarious, but that got me thinking(because as he's my favorite character I am always grateful for a possible explination that would mean he's not dead, lol) What if he didn't actually...die? WHAT IF THE VEIL ISN'T JUST A CREEPY ARCHWAY THAT EATS PEOPLE, HUH?

<.< Told you it was insane.

[Shining Raichu]

Yeah OK that is pretty insane haha - though again I'm dumbstruck by the amount of people who call Sirius their favourite character!

I guess it surprises me so much because he really wasn't in the story that much. He was a great character, but he was only in the end of the third book, sporadic communications in the fourth and more dominantly in the fifth - but in a story with a wealth of amazing character like the Harry Potter universe has, it just shocks me that people would single him out as their favourite when others got the opportunity for shine twice as bright for twice as long.

[Zayphora]

Oh and Shining Raichu- Don't worry, they put me in Slytherin too...xDD

[Zeffy]

Originally Posted by Zayphora

So basically one day I saw this GIF that said something along the lines of
"What happened to Sirius when he went through the Veil? He went to Narnia."
It was pretty stupid but hilarious, but that got me thinking(because as he's my favorite character I am always grateful for a possible explination that would mean he's not dead, lol) What if he didn't actually...die? WHAT IF THE VEIL ISN'T JUST A CREEPY ARCHWAY THAT EATS PEOPLE, HUH?

Well, yeah, the veil is sort of a barrier. Like the one in Platform 9 3/4 (ehh, sort of). The veil is a one-way trip to the land of the dead, so one cannot go back once they've entered. I suppose you already know this. If not, well, then more knowledge for you!

[Shining Raichu]

I still never really understood the point of the veil. Bellatrix used the Killing Curse on him, so he was dead anyway. I don't understand why it needed to conveniently happen right next to the portal to the realm of the dead

I think it would have had more impact if she'd hit him with a Stunning Curse or something and it made him stumble backwards into the veil - because that way it would be more tragic as it were a curse that wouldn't have killed him otherwise; it was just a terrible choice of location that made him die.

[Zayphora]

My friend and I have actually argued about that. In the book it says specifically that the light shot off by what Bellatrix shot at Sirius was red. Isn't the Avada Kendavra green? Forgive me if I'm just clueless.

The Veil scene confused me too. I read the fifth book when I was around 10 and I was confused. I got that he was dead, but I really sort of forgot about the whole Veil thing until I convinced myself to reread the 5th book. (I had gotten mad right after I read it for the first time and said that I would never read it again. EH WHAT A WEIRDO I WAS I actually like the fifth book a lot now.) And when I reread it I came up with my insane conspiracy theory, which I hope all of you forget I ever said, as it's embarrassing.

Two semi-random things-
1. If the chapter is called "Beyond the Veil" then why didn't the illustrator lady use a picture of the Veil as the illustration at the beginning of the chapter? To keep from giving a little spoiler, maybe? Or maybe to make the Veil itself even more confusing? Anyway, I just don't think that a picture of flying brains was the best one for that chapter.

2. Is "Veil" capitalized like that anywhere but in fan descriptions? I mean, was that something that JKR intended or did we make it up? (Or am I the only one who capitalizes it like that?

Derrrp>.>

[Shining Raichu]

Oh, so it wasn't the Killing Curse Bellatrix shot at Sirius? Well that does make it a lot better then - I haven't read the book in ages, I was just going by what I remember from the movie, and in the movie she definitely says "Avada Kedavra". I guess they changed it for the movie to dumb it down for people who wouldn't realise he was dead otherwise

Also you must be American or something in the Australian/English copies of the book there are no illustrations at all, so you're lucky you get any haha. I agree though, the flying brains were definitely not the main event of that chapter. Perhaps the Veil is alluded to somewhere in mythology and if people had seen what it looked like they might have remembered it and knew somebody was about to die? Just spitballing here lol

[Sakura Rain]

Originally Posted by Shining Raichu

Yeah OK that is pretty insane haha - though again I'm dumbstruck by the amount of people who call Sirius their favourite character!

I guess it surprises me so much because he really wasn't in the story that much. He was a great character, but he was only in the end of the third book, sporadic communications in the fourth and more dominantly in the fifth - but in a story with a wealth of amazing character like the Harry Potteruniverse has, it just shocks me that people would single him out as their favourite when others got the opportunity for shine twice as bright for twice as long.

):

I call Sirius my favorite character. Or at least one of my favorites. I just think he's fascinating, and I thought it was so cool that he broke out of Azkaban just to protect Harry and kill peter but really who cares about him but I do wish he'd been given more screentime. He got reckless in OotP, and I didn't much appreciate him saying to Harry, "You're less like your father than I thought." but I think if he'd managed to hang around longer we would've got to see a lot more of him.

@Zayphora YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS WE ARE UNITED IN OUR LOVE FOR PADFOOT <3 and yeah, I saw that, but I don't see what kind of difference it would make. Well, besides making me sadder. not for peter though I HATE PETER

...will I be considered a traitor to the fandom if I don't get the game?

[Shining Raichu]

Nah you won't be considered a traitor for not getting the game - in fact I've thought about it and I probably won't either. The original content will probably end up on YouTube or another random site I can just look up and the game itself looks absolutely terrible, so I won't bother. It's cute that they made it tie into Pottermore, but I think Pottermore is basically a huge flop itself as well. Does anybody even still use that site?

But onto Sirius - can you shed some light on what makes him fascinating? Maybe it's just because I haven't read the books in so long, but I can't remember anything that particularly stood out to me about his character. I always liked Sirius, because he was on the side of good and he made a great father figure for Harry, but beyond that I've never understood why everybody thinks so highly of him. I guess I just missed what was so special lol.

[Lightning]

I still sign onto Pottermore every so often and I still really love it. I've been trying to make time this last week to read the first chapters of Chamber of Secrets that went up. I'm really excited for new content!

So long as you look at Pottermore as a companion site to the series rather than the full-fledged social networking/web game site they were sort of implying it was in the beginning, it's a great resource for additional information and interesting facts. The minigames, sorting, and social networking are just a bit of a bonus. :3

Originally Posted by Shining Raichu

Also you must be American or something :P in the Australian/English copies of the book there are no illustrations at all, so you're lucky you get any haha.

This post is a little old but I've been MIA in this forum for a while and didn't see it till now. Replying anyway.

I think I vaguely knew that the American books had illustrations at the head of each chapter, even if they're just more thumbnail-ish of an item/setting from the chapter rather than full-fledged illustrations of scenes (right?) but I never felt that not having them affected my enjoyment of the books. If anything, I feel luckier for not having them: instead of going into a chapter with expectations or already having part of the chapter visualized for me, I got to create the whole world in my head with no influence except the words on the page and the cover of the book :(. I really think I prefer my reading experience that way.

(Btw, do the Australian versions use the same illustrations as the British version? Ours do. I prefer them over the American ones. :P)

[RubyJB88]

I just got an email saying the first few chapters of CoS is now available for me to read. I don't think I've finished Book 1 yet.

[Lightning]

I've been meaning to get to them for a week now. Finally taking the time to go through them now. There's an excellent piece on Muggle Technology (and how Wizards use/avoid it) in Chapter 3 of CoS.

Forgot how much I love learning new stuff through Pottermore. T_T

[Shining Raichu]

Originally Posted by Lightning

(Btw, do the Australian versions use the same illustrations as the British version? Ours do. I prefer them over the American ones. )

The Australian versions have no illustrations at all, not even with the chapter titles. It's completely illustration-less. I assumed the British copies would be the same way since our book covers are the same as the British ones, but maybe I'm wrong.

I agree with you on the overall feelings about illustrations as well - I prefer they not be there because often illustrations are cartoon-y and make me imagine the scenes going on in a cartoon-y way, whereas I prefer my imagination to work like a live-action film.

[GolurkIsDaBomb]

How have I never noticed this before? I want in!

I'm in Ravenclaw according to Pottermore.

My wand is 10 3/4 inches, Poplar, Phoenix Feather, Hard.

Yellow!

My thoughts on current topics (it's long, so I spoilered it)

Spoiler:

I always kinda liked the illustrations :/ I found them a little fun and liked the little hint they would give me for each chapter. It made me excited to read them, (unlike Game of Thrones where I'm 100% not excited to read Catelyn's chapters, but that's another story) which was hard enough when I was like 9 when the 800-something paged 5th book came out. (I love it now)
I found/find Pottermore really disappointing. When it first came out (I had the beta) I was like, this rocks! (and the beta was like 2 months late) And then 9 months or so happened before it was even released to the public. The second book is just coming out now, in chunks. I bet the 7th will be here when I'm 80. That's my main problem with pottermore - there isn't that much to do. I've read all the things, collected everything (and I get housepoints for grabbing a teacup?) and there's just...nothing. I feel like if it was updated more frequently, I'd be A-okay, but since the updating of the site is so terrible, it doesn't really make me want to come back. As much fun as it is to wait an hour for a cauldron to blow up in my face/press P, then P then T then T the F then F... And why is there one spell that's miles above the rest? That makes dueling REALLY boring!
I knew it wasn't going to be all that I hoped for, but I was really hoping, and then they were kinda dashed...
As for the Veil... I always found that really interesting. First of all, I feel like the Veil is something really old, that would never move (like the pyramids) so how did they get it there? Was the Ministry of Magic BUILT around it? Was it originally built TOO study it? And I really do like the concept that there is a pathway between our world and the world of the dead (even if I don't really believe in the afterlife, but again, another story) I do know that JKR based the Harry Potter books (their values at least) on whatever denomination of Christianity she is... does the Veil have to do with that? And I loved how only those who had seen death could hear the voices (Luna, Harry, Neville) Are thestrals like the gate keepers, or from that world or something? So many unanswered questions...

Hope I'm able to join

[Daniel Evans]

Why didn't I see this before? I want in too!
What house would you like to be in?: Gryffindor
Wand description (Wood, Length, Core): Ebony|13 inches| Veela hair
Sunshine daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat...: Yellow.
Hope the Sorting Hat won't have me as the first rejection.

~Always.

EDIT:
@ The "Sirius' death by Veil" Topic:
They were originally gonna have Arthur Weasley die, when Nagini attacked him, but instead J.K. Rowling switched to killing Harry's father figure instead. And also, the veil is somewhat of a portal to death, or something like that.

[Lightning]

Welcome, guys! :>

Originally Posted by Shining Raichu

The Australian versions have no illustrations at all, not even with the chapter titles. It's completely illustration-less. I assumed the British copies would be the same way since our book covers are the same as the British ones, but maybe I'm wrong.

I agree with you on the overall feelings about illustrations as well - I prefer they not be there because often illustrations are cartoon-y and make me imagine the scenes going on in a cartoon-y way, whereas I prefer my imagination to work like a live-action film.

I meant cover illustrations. I was curious whether the Commonwealth sticks together when it comes to Potter. :P

[NeoPsychedelia]

What house would you like to be in?: Ravenclaw. On a large RP/fansite hybrid, I'm one of Ravenclaw's Prefects.
Wand description (Wood, Length, Core): Redwood and veela hair, 11 3/4 inches.
Sunshine daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat...: Yellow.

[Barrels]

...To eerily echo the previous two posts: how the hell am I not in this club? (I designed the freaking header, lol.) Laziness is baaad.

What house would you like to be in?: Lord knows (well, Rowling does). I want to be a Gryffindor because I'm just a great big cliché like that, but I have a feeling I'm more Ravenclaw. Wouldn't say no to Hufflepuff though. So, um, yeah. Have fun adding me to the first post, Mr Club Owner Sir.
Wand description (Wood, Length, Core): Pine, three feet long and three inches thick with a fiery burning core of dragon tail. Hell YES. This ain't just no wand, it's a big ol' stick for bashing with. When the going gets tough, m'wand gets smacking.
Sunshine daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat...: Pink. With purple stripes. And a cute little sunhat. Maybe some bunny slippers. Who says rats can't be adorable?

NOW ONTO THE DISCUSSION... *rubs hands*

My thought is that Sirius is loved by so many people because he was so important to Harry and we identify by proxy - it doesn't matter that he's not around a whole lot in GoF, because that adds to how much Harry misses him.

It just shocks me that people would single him out as their favourite when others got the opportunity for shine twice as bright for twice as long.

Yeah, but Harry never really had another father figure (unless you count Dumbledore, who's really more of a mad old grandpa, or Arthur, who doesn't interact with Harry all that much, or Lupin, who's more of a kindly but flawed uncle). It's having that particular parent substitute ripped away from him that sends Harry over the edge - he never freaks out anywhere near as much over a death as he does at the end of OotP.

Was the Ministry of Magic BUILT around it? Was it originally built TOO study it? Are thestrals like the gate keepers, or from that world or something?

That... is really interesting. :D Plot bunny ahoy!

They were originally gonna have Arthur Weasley die...

Poor old Arthur. He's been bumped off and resurrected at least twice now. BUT STILL!

Spoiler:

LUPIN AND TONKS!

*sobs*

The Australian versions have no illustrations at all, not even with the chapter titles. It's completely illustration-less. I assumed the British copies would be the same way since our book covers are the same as the British ones, but maybe I'm wrong.

Nah, the British ones don't have illustrations either... which I am so, so glad about. Let me imagine that world for myself, ta very much.

I think it would have had more impact if she'd hit him with a Stunning Curse or something and it made him stumble backwards into the veil - because that way it would be more tragic as it were a curse that wouldn't have killed him otherwise; it was just a terrible choice of location that made him die.

I was just about to agree... but it's Bellatrix, lol. Why would she shoot anything other than Avada Kedavra? She doesn't exactly strike me as a loving humanitarian. (Mind you, I never ever understood how duelling works, anyway. If you can't block Avada Kedavra, why doesn't everyone just spam that immediately? And don't whinge about 'morals', especially you, Mr Club Owner Sir Yes Sir. You're officially a Slytherin.)

As to the Marauders dying in reverse order, I never noticed that! That's really cool! But if she did plan that, why? What purpose did that serve to the story? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!

Did you notice the other stonker in OotP? xD

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by MuggleNet

In St. Mungo’s, when they are going to visit Mr. Weasley- 'They climbed a flight of stairs and entered the "Creature-Induced Injuries" corridor, where the second door on the right bore the words 'DANGEROUS' DAI LLEWELLYN WARD: SERIOUS BITES.' If you put these words on a sign, they would read:

Creature-Induced Injuries
Dangerous
Dai Llewellyn Ward
Serious Bites

Take the first word of each of these and what do you get get? Creature Dangerous Dai Serious? No - Kreacher dangerous, Die Sirius...

I couldn't get my interest back after they sorted me into Slytherin.

Ahem.

[Daniel Evans]

Actually, Kreacher's behaviour is a result of his pure-blood masters' hatred for Muggles and blood traitors, causing their attitude to rub off on him. A bit of kindness wouldn't hurt him, though. Bribe him a little...

~Always.

[Shining Raichu]

Oh my God I really suck at being a club owner this week haha - welcome to GolurkIsDaBomb, Daniel Evans, Barrels and NeoPsychedelia :D.

Originally Posted by Lightning

I meant cover illustrations. I was curious whether the Commonwealth sticks together when it comes to Potter.

OH. My bad. Well yeah, the Queen is our homegirl so we stick together, even when it comes to Harry Potter

Originally Posted by Barrels

...To eerily echo the previous two posts: how the hell am I not in this club? (I designed the freaking header, lol.) Laziness is baaad.

What house would you like to be in?: Lord knows (well, Rowling does). I want to be a Gryffindor because I'm just a great big cliché like that, but I have a feeling I'm more Ravenclaw. Wouldn't say no to Hufflepuff though. So, um, yeah. Have fun adding me to the first post, Mr Club Owner Sir.
Wand description (Wood, Length, Core): Pine, three feet long and three inches thick with a fiery burning core of dragon tail. Hell YES. This ain't just no wand, it's a big ol' stick for bashing with. When the going gets tough, m'wand gets smacking.
Sunshine daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat...: Pink. With purple stripes. And a cute little sunhat. Maybe some bunny slippers. Who says rats can't be adorable?

NOW ONTO THE DISCUSSION... *rubs hands*

My thought is that Sirius is loved by so many people because he was so important to Harry and we identify by proxy - it doesn't matter that he's not around a whole lot in GoF, because that adds to how much Harry misses him.

Yeah, but Harry never really had another father figure (unless you count Dumbledore, who's really more of a mad old grandpa, or Arthur, who doesn't interact with Harry all that much, or Lupin, who's more of a kindly but flawed uncle). It's having that particular parent substitute ripped away from him that sends Harry over the edge - he never freaks out anywhere near as much over a death as he does at the end of OotP.

That... is really interesting. :D Plot bunny ahoy!

Poor old Arthur. He's been bumped off and resurrected at least twice now. BUT STILL!

Spoiler:

LUPIN AND TONKS!

*sobs*

Nah, the British ones don't have illustrations either... which I am so, so glad about. Let me imagine that world for myself, ta very much.

I was just about to agree... but it's Bellatrix, lol. Why would she shoot anything other than Avada Kedavra? She doesn't exactly strike me as a loving humanitarian. (Mind you, I never ever understood how duelling works, anyway. If you can't block Avada Kedavra, why doesn't everyone just spam that immediately? And don't whinge about 'morals', especially you, Mr Club Owner Sir Yes Sir. You're officially a Slytherin.)

Did you notice the other stonker in OotP? xD


Ahem.

Quoting this whole post because I just want to LMAO at most of the hilarious things you write, but quoting each individually is tedious . Particular honorable mention goes to that last link though. The title of that article had me on the floor (figuratively) for a good five minutes .

Oh and until you decide on a definitive house, you are going to be a Muggle! Whahahahahahaha

Anyway on the point of how Sirius died - I know it was Bellatrix that killed him and JK Rowling made the right choice logically in having her use the Avada Kedavra Curse. Because, as you said, it's Bellatrix. JK knows her characters inside and out and that's why she's such a great storyteller. I still think though that it would have had more of an emotional impact if the death were more unnecessary. On me, at least. If it were just this horrible, horrible luck and not necessarily the evil side's intention, it just makes the death even more needless. And the more needless a death, the more heart-wrenching.

[Jorah]

I was so weirded out by one of the Malfoy's liking Elizabeth. All I can imagine is Lucius Malfoy's actor and something that looks like Elizabeth's portrait together o__O I wonder if the Malfoy's nowadays knew of the "actual" reason they hated muggle-borns. Also, I hate whoever made that gnome game.

[Shining Raichu]

God I feel like such a terrible Potter fan for asking this, but... who is Elizabeth?

[GolurkIsDaBomb]

@Shining Raichu

This is what Jorah means:

"Though hotly denied by subsequent generations, there is ample evidence to suggest that the first Lucius Malfoy was an unsuccessful aspirant to the hand of Elizabeth I, and some wizarding historians allege that the Queen's subsequent opposition to marriage was due to a jinx placed upon her by the thwarted Malfoy."

(from Pottermore)

So you're not a terrible potter fan after all! :D

And I like the gnome game :/ even if at times it's somewhat infuriating. I HATE the stupid pudding hopping game. D:<

[Shining Raichu]

Oh! Oh. Man, I really need to go catch up on my Pottermore. I should just get over the fact that it put me in Slytherin so I can go get more of my original content

And is this the gnome game from the PS2 games? I love that game so much.