[NOTD] News Of The Day 30/04/07

Leaky Re-Opens PotterParties.com, the Place to Find and List Deathly Hallows Parties!

We're VERY happy to announce that almost three full months before Deathly Hallows hits shelves, PotterParties.com is live again!

What is PotterParties? It is a comprehensive, free listing of Harry Potter book parties all over the world. There are ALREADY 1,163 parties listed in our database! You can search your area for Potter Parties and find out which nearby bookstore is throwing the kind of release party YOU want to attend - and bookstore owners and managers can list all their plans for making their party the BEST Harry Potter release ever. It's all super-easy, as well as custom-designed and custom-programmed for this exact use.

This is also the place to go if you're planning a Harry Potter party: We've listed, literally, hundreds of activities, recipes, decorations and costume ideas to make sure you have all the tools you need to party like it's 2007.

Since PotterParties depends on cooperation from bookstores and party planners worldwide, here's the part where we ask for your cooperation: Get the word out! Tell your friends and local booksellers that if they want to get the most Harry Potter fans inside the store on the big day, they need to submit their party NOW.

This could NOT have been done without our Super!Alex, who coded this whole system, based on our former one coded by Nick Poulden in 2005. John Noe designed the site, while Chantelle Berg gave us the beautiful art that graces its front. We have also had wonderful, huge, tremendous amounts of help from our moderators and helpers: Doris, Lizzie, Kadi, Gina, Miranda, Sillyputty, SunnyElf, libbysmom, NYBookworm, mjk, andy the house elf, Pyxis, You_wont_know_who, LunasLion, SusannahMio, Jose~Madalia, Dragonsinger, Questauthor, danae24, lilinferi, Punky, Seven of Nine, mikey, ladymadaysia, HPFan731, and accio_lily.

PotterParties was originally conceived as Meet Up and Read-In by BK Delong in 2005 and created by the LeakyStaff as PotterParties.com in the same year.

These guys will be working to make sure PotterParties.com is up to date with safe, confirmed information, from here through July 21. We have A LOT of updates coming here in the future so stay tuned and THANK YOU! Here's to the worldwide PARTY coming July 20!

New NECA Weasley Clock, Quidditch Snow Globe and More

New Alan Rickman Photos, Video of Interview on "Weekend Today"

Actor Alan Rickman (Professor Severus Snape) appeared last night at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York for the premiere of his new film "Nobel Son." You can now see some new photos of the actor here in our galleries.

Also, as we reported earlier, Alan was due to appear on the Weekend Today show. We now have the video for you here in our galleries. Mr. Rickman does briefly mention his role as Prof Snape, but prefers not to divulge too many details in order to maintain "the mystery of the character." Indeed! :) Thanks Erna!


Thanks to UHP for the heads up

Happy Birthday, Corner Booth

As we are getting closer to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, many fans are eager to discuss and learn new ideas and theories about what may be ahead in Book Seven. One way to take part in these discussions is in our Corner Booth chat area on the Leaky Lounge, which has been open for a year as of today. In our live chat, many different types of topics have been covered, ranging from those involving our Reading Groups, Wize Wizard Wednesday chats, Scribbulus chats, special events, and PotterCast. As we thank the members and staff who have worked hard and helped make our forums such a fun place to visit, be sure to stop by today at 3pm for a discussion on the Molly's Tribe essay about the Weasley family, found in our HarryPotterSeven.com section. Enjoy!

Emma Watson on Ron and Hermione: "A Perfect Couple"

A new interview with actress Emma Watson appears in the latest edition of the Italian magazine "Donna," and thanks to TLC reader Stefano we have the scans here in our galleries and translation of this article. In this new interview, Emma speaks about her role as Hermione Granger for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as well as her desire to go to University, and perhaps travel more and live in France someday. Emma gives her thoughts on this new film, and says of Hermione:

"Yes, but some things change this time: Hermione takes a stand against professor Umbridge, who is attempting to prevent student from learning and understanding. Hermione, who is so clever and willing to learn, can't accept this, and becomes the leader of the rebellion. Which is quite strange indeed, considering how she's always been against rule-breaking and everything. In this film she learns to see things from different perspectives."

The young actress also goes on to speak about J.K. Rowling, saying she does keep in touch with the author and calls Jo "always very witty and modest." Emma Watson also discusses the novels, and more importantly, the relationship of her character Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley.



You can read the entire translated interview below. Thanks very much Stefano!

Miss Watson, in the previous film your look already showed that Hermione was not just a girl anymore. Now it seems that she has really turned into a young woman.
"Yes, and it's not just about the look. For the first time the young characters really make personal decisions. For the first time they realise that it's not just Voldemort they have to fight, but also the so-called good people who are in fact abusing their power, like Fudge and Umbridge. The latter, in particular, acts as a dictator who wants to prevent the students from thinking in the first place. The whole film is a journey through the discovery of who really represents the authority; it tells us that the principle of authority can be questioned. Harry and his friends have to make difficult decision alone this time. They have to understand what is right and what is wrong. Yes, they really become adults. That's probably the reason why there's a lot more politics in this film." Critics has always considered politics as an important subject of the Harry Potter saga. Libration, a French newspaper– "I know what Libration is." Sorry. Libration said that Harry Potter is right wing, sexist, neo-conservatist and gives a degrading idea of women. What do you think about this?
"These things really upsets me. Whoever wrote these words can only be an idiot. Harry Potter has helped change loads of stereotypes. Where else, in fiction, can you find a character as clever as Hermione, who is an absolute feminist and won't accept to be second to none? Gosh! It's true that they're children books, but they cover most important subjects, like life, death, politics, the importance of friendship and the choices that need to be made. Harry Potter really makes children think, it's not just like any other production for teenagers."
What do you mean with politics being an important subject of the story?
"This film is closely related to the current situation. Somehow it talks about life after 7 July, the way people behave when they're scared, the way truth is often denied and all the things our society has to face. Facing the fact that the authority is corrupted means having a non-conformist approach to reality and power."
You are as brilliant as Hermione.In this film, is she the same good student she has always been?
Yes, but some things change this time: Hermione takes a stand against professor Umbridge, who is attempting to prevent student from learning and understanding. Hermione, who is so clever and willing to learn, can't accept this, and becomes the leader of the rebellion. Which is quite strange indeed, considering how she's always been against rule-breaking and everything. In this film she learns to see things from different perspectives."
What do you think are you going to do in 2010, when the Harry Potter saga is over and you're twenty? Are you also planning to take part in other projects in the meantime, like Radcliffe and Grint did? "I won't be appearing naked on stage with a horse, if that's what you mean. But I'm certainly doing something. I'm just waiting for the right opportunity. I don't know what my life will be like when I'm twenty, but I know that I would like to go to the University and travel a lot."
Will you leave Oxford, where you live with your mother, for London? In England it is usual to go to live alone very early.
"I'm just seventeen. I would like to live in France for a while, to improve my French, and spend at least a couple of years travelling around the world. Then, when I'm about nineteen, I'll have to think seriously about my future: the University – I would like to study Philosophy or Literature – and a home."
French – why? "Because I love France. Paris and Amsterdam are my favourite cities. I also like French cinema, I would love to work there. I actually like almost everything which is not English. Do you get many job offers?"Only things I don't want to do. Most of them are roles for the typical American high school student, which is, to be honest, my worse nightmare. I know I've been lucky so far, but I just need another bit of luck in order not to make mistakes in this particular moment of my life. Auditions are really hard, and being rejected is always a bad experience. But I'll keep trying."
Who rejected you? For which film? And who got the role instead?
"I'm not sure if I can tell... [speaking to her assistants:] Can I tell? No. But it was just a couple of them, not many!"
Have you, like Hermione, ever been in conflict with the authority? At school, at home, with your agent...?
"There have been times when other people thought that they knew what was better for me, and that the better for me was not to think. But I'm not a rebel. I usually do what I'm told, if anything I try to negotiate. I'm ready to fight for my rights, but I don't think it is worth playing the role of the teenager who wants to rebel against the world. I don't like it. It is overused."
J.K. Rowling says that Hermione is the character she identifies with the most. She says that when she was young she was a pain in the neck just like Hermione is. Did you get this impression when you met her?
"J.K. Rowling gives the impression of a very amusing, genuine and incredibly down-to-earth woman. And these are very rare qualities."
Especially for somebody as wealthy as she is.
"That's not the first thing that comes to your mind when you're talking to her, really. We keep in contact via e-mail sometimes, and she's always very witty and modest – even when she talks about her everyday life."
Do you believe she's good enough to win the battle against other fantasy sagas, like Eragon and The Chronicles of Narnia, which are getting very popular these days?
"Harry Potter can be read at so many different levels, by children as well as by adults, it is absolutely universal. I don't think that Jo needs a more developed fantasy or culture than Christopher Paolini. The only thing that matters is touching people's lives. And she does."
In The Order Of The Phoenix Harry gives his first kiss to Cho Chang. What about Hermione and Ron?
"Now it is clear to everybody that it is not just friendship between them. Everybody except them, of course. It is so typical, girls tend to end up with those guys who most annoy them, who most get them angry, who most behave horribly. Ron acts exactly like this towards Hermione. But their relationship will develop somehow, sooner or later. They will become a couple, I'm sure. Ron amuses her, which is what Hermione needs. And she keeps him in line. A perfect couple."

J.K. Rowling Portrait in Smithsonian, on New Rich List