FAQ: alt.fan.harry-potter Frequently Asked Questions
Petrea Mitchell
Nods to alt.fan.harry-potter.creative
LV added to abbreviations
Additional comments regarding spoiler-protecting articles on
the latest book
This is not the official FAQ for alt.fan.harry-potter, because there is
no one true official FAQ. There are other FAQs, which can be found at
<http://www.hogwarts-library.net/reference/>. Of all the general FAQs,
this can only claim to be the wordiest.
An HTML version of this FAQ is available at
<http://www.m5p.com/~pravn/hp/faq.html>. The absolute final official
archived version is at <archive URL to be added when I can confirm it>.
1. THE NEWSGROUP
1.1 How does this thing work?
1.2 What's on topic for this group?
1.3 What do these abbreviations mean?
1.4 What's a "spoiler"?
1.5 What sort of things need spoiler space?
1.6 What's "canon"?
1.7 Do I need to check the Google archive before posting?
2. THE BOOKS
2.1 What are the official Harry Potter books?
2.2 When will the next book be out?
2.3 Why was there such a huge gap between the release of the fourth
and fifth books?
2.4 Why is it the Sorcerer's Stone in the US and the Philosopher's Stone
everywhere else?
2.5 What will books 6 and 7 be called?
2.6 Where can I download the books?
2.7 No, where can I download illegal copies of them for free?
2.8 Will there be an eighth book?
3. THE MOVIES
3.1 When will the next movie be released?
3.2 Will GoF be adapted as one movie or two?
3.3 Will the same cast be in all the movies?
3.4 Are the movies canon?
3.5 Where can I download the movies?
3.6 No, where can I download illegal copies of them for free?
3.7 What did Lucius Malfoy say when he began that spell near the end of
the CoS movie?
4. ELECTRONIC VERSIONS
4.1 How do I get to the deleted scenes on the extras DVD for the first
movie?
4.2 Is there another ending to the Chamber of Secrets tour?
4.3 Where can I find cheats for the video games?
5. WEB SITES
5.1 Where are the official sites?
5.2 Where can I find Harry Potter news?
5.3 Where can I find fan fiction?
5.4 What about reference sites?
6. LEGAL STUFF
6.1 Is my fan site illegal?
6.2 Is fan fiction illegal?
6.3 What's the Stouffer lawsuit about and how is it doing?
7. PLOT POINTS
This section will cover the most frequently asked/debated plot and
continuity questions. As the release of OotP will probably change this
substantially, I'll wait until things settle down after that to write
this section.
1. THE NEWSGROUP
1.1 How does this thing work?
Go to the newsgroup news.announce.newusers and read the articles there
to get started. If you just reached us by following a link on a Web page
and are staring at a totally unfamiliar interface for the first time,
you can reach that group by typing "news:news.announce.newusers" (no
"http"!) in your browser's address window.
1.2 What's on topic for this group?
Just about anything relating to the Harry Potter books, movies, or
merchandise, or to J. K. Rowling. Fan fiction, and detailed discussion
thereof, should go to alt.fan.harry-potter.creative.
1.3 What do these abbreviations mean?
a.f.h-p, afh-p, afhp, AFH-P, AFHP - alt.fan.harry-potter
AK - Avada Kedavra
CoS, COS - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
DADA - Defense Against the Dark Arts
DE - Death Eater
GoF, GOF - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
JKR - J. K. Rowling
LV - Lord Voldemort
MoM, MOM - Ministry of Magic
MWP&P, MWPP - Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
OotP, OOTP, OoP, OOP - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
PoA, POA - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
PS - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
SS - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
V - Voldemort
1.4 What's a "spoiler"?
In the broadest sense, any information from a book or movie someone
hasn't seen yet. For instance, if you haven't read _Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets_ or seen the movie yet, an explanation of what the
Chamber of Secrets is would be a spoiler for you.
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.
1.5 What needs to be protected with spoiler space?
One category absolutely needs spoiler space: *any* plot information
about an as-yet-unreleased book or movie. Other than that, it's a
judgement call. The more significant the information is to the main plot
arc, the bigger a surprise it is, the later a book it comes from, the
more you should think about putting spoiler space in front of it. Also,
keep in mind that there are many people reading this group who haven't
rushed out and bought/seen the latest installment already (like, for
instance, everyone who's still waiting for the fifth book to come out
in their native language...).
If you're going to use spoiler space, remember to keep the spoilers
out of your subject line, too.
1.6 What's "canon"?
The official version-- any information about the plot, characters, or
world of Harry Potter coming from the books or from Rowling herself.
1.7 Do I need to check the Google archive before posting?
No. Even if the topic you're raising has been discussing before, you or
someone else who has joined this newsgroup in the meantime might have
something new to say about it. Reading the rest of this FAQ before you
post might be a good idea, though, and it is a good idea to check before
posting a breaking news item to see if it's already been posted.
2. THE BOOKS
2.1 What are the official Harry Potter books?
The main books:
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
Supplementary books:
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Quidditch Through the Ages
Anything else is unapproved by Rowling or her publishers, no matter how
official it claims to be.
2.2 When will the next book be out?
Next Tuesday. (That's this group's shorthand for "We don't know when.")
The best guess at the moment is that it'll be released in the summer or
fall of 2005.
2.3 Why was there such a huge gap between the release of the fourth and
fifth books?
The official reasons are the enormous size of the fifth book and a
desire to avoid the errors that got into the fourth book when it was
rushed out. If you prefer a juicy rumor, pick any or all of the
following: marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, writer's block, easy living,
and the Stouffer lawsuit.
2.4 Why is it the Sorcerer's Stone in the US and the Philosopher's Stone
everywhere else?
Philosopher's Stone is the proper term. Arthur Levine, the editor
handling the US version of the book, wanted to change it because he was
concerned that American parents would not understand the reference and
would be put off by the academic connotations of "Philosopher". The
change was made with Rowling's input and approval. Both Rowling and
Levine have expressed regrets since.
2.5 What will books 6 and 7 be called?
We don't know yet.
2.6 Where can I download the books?
They do not appear to be available in eBook format.
2.7 No, where can I download illegal copies of them for free?
There are undoubtedly copies circulating out there somewhere, but don't
come crying to us when the FBI breaks down your door.
2.8 Will there be an eighth book?
There will be exactly seven books describing Harry's adventures, no
more. However, there are already two supplementary books (see 2.1), and
Rowling has raised the possibility of doing a "Hogwarts Encyclopedia"
after the whole series has been published. She is not contracted to do
it, though, and hasn't even said that she's definitely planning to.
3. THE MOVIES
3.1 When will the next movie be released?
The movie adaptation of _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ is
scheduled for the summer of 2004.
3.2 Will GoF be adapted as one movie or two?
Both options are still being considered.
3.3 Will the same cast be in all the movies?
The adult actors have had to commit to appearing in all the movies their
characters are in. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint are
signed for the first three movies only but have indicated interest in
continuing past that. We don't know about the other child actors.
3.4 Are the movies canon?
No. The scriptwriter, Steven Kloves, does consult with Rowling, but we
have no way of knowing whether information which is not in the books
originally came from Rowling or not.
3.5 Where can I download the movies?
Warner Bros. has not made them available for download.
3.6 No, where can I download illegal copies of them for free?
There are undoubtedly copies circulating out there somewhere, but don't
come crying to us when the FBI breaks down your door.
3.7 What did Lucius Malfoy say when he began that spell near the end of
the CoS movie?
Some people hear "Avada"; some hear "Vada", "Vera", or something along
those lines. Closed captioning differs from region to region. We have no
definitive answer. If you ever get a chance to ask Jason Isaacs, please
let us know what his answer is.
4. ELECTRONIC VERSIONS
4.1 How do I get to the deleted scenes on the extras DVD for the first
movie?
Settle in, this is a long trip. From the main menu, go to Diagon Alley.
Select bricks in any order until you get through the wall. Select the
key at the bottom of the sign, then select the stacks of coins. Go back
out to Diagon Alley and into Ollivander's. Pick any three wands; the
third will be successful. Return to the main menu and go to the
classrooms. Select the pedestal by clicking *twice* on it. Select the
flute. Select the key with the broken wing (it's the one way in the
back). Select the round potion bottle. Select the stone in the mirror
and you will at last be at the first deleted scenes menu.
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.
4.2 Is there another ending to the Chamber of Secrets tour?
No, there's just the one way out.
4.3 Where can I find cheats for the video games?
There are a lot of sites that carry them-- enter "harry potter cheats"
and the game platform you are using at your favorite search engine.
5. WEB SITES
5.1 Where are the official sites?
For books, <http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter>, and for the movies,
<http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/>. Be warned that these sites are
spectacularly incompatible with anything but the latest popular browsers
running with plug-ins and no security.
5.2 Where can I find Harry Potter news?
The Dark Mark <http://www.darkmark.com/>: General news.
Godric's Hollow <http://www.godrics-hollow.net/>: General news.
Harry Potter International <http://www.iharrypotter.com/>: General news.
Harry Potter's Page <http://www.harrypotterspage.com/>: General news.
The Leaky Cauldron <http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/>: Semi-
professional news and activism.
MuggleNet <http://www.mugglenet.com>: General news.
The Snitch <http://www.thesnitch.co.uk/site/>: Primarily movie and
merchandise news, but carries major items of general interest.
Wizard News <http://www.wizardnews.com/>: General news, sorted into
several categories.
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.
5.3 Where can I find fan fiction?
The following is an incomplete list of general Potter fan fiction sites.
Left out completely are the countless pages that specialize in
particular characters. See your favorite search engine if you want to
find one about your favorite character(s).
Checkmated! <http://www.checkmated.com/>
Fiction Alley <http://www.fictionalley.org/>
FanFic.Net <http://www.fanfiction.net/> (General fanfic site)
Gryffindor Tower <http://www.gryffindortower.net/>
The Sugar Quill <http://www.sugarquill.net/>
Or, check your favorite news archive for articles on the newsgroup
alt.fan.harry-potter.creative.
5.4 What about reference sites?
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.
Hogwarts Library <http://www.hogwarts-library.net/>: Miscellaneous
reference and discussion site organized in support of this newsgroup.
6. LEGAL STUFF
6.1 Is my fan site illegal?
It depends on exactly what you have on your site, how you're using it,
and whether any of the copyright or trademark holders has asked you to
stop. The entertainment industry is aware these days that it is in its
best interests to allow online fan communities to flourish, so you're
unlikely to get a cease-and-desist letter unless you are doing something
like distributing unauthorized copies of the books or movies from your
site.
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 & (C) 2003. Harry Potter Publishing Rights (C) 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 (C) 2003 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED."
6.2 Is fan fiction illegal?
As you can see from the above, Warner Brothers at least is not concerned
about it. Traditionally, the official position on fan fiction is left to
the author, but Rowling's feelings about it aren't known-- she probably
doesn't know how much there is out here, and she can't read it anyway
for legal reasons.
6.3 What's the Stouffer lawsuit about and how is it doing?
Nancy Stouffer, another children's author, sued Rowling for allegedly
stealing material from her stories to use in the Harry Potter books. In
September 2002, a judge ruled not only that the similarities between the
two authors' works were "minimal and superficial", but that some of
Stouffer's evidence was fraudulent, and fined her $50,000. Stouffer said
that she would appeal the decision, but has not been heard from since.
7. PLOT POINTS
Coming probably in the September posting...
--
/
Petrea Mitchell <|> <|> <pr...@m5p.com> <mit...@osm.com>
"I'm poor, I'm Welsh, and I'm not Richard Burton yet. Do you hear me? I'm
poor, I'm Welsh, and I'm NOT RICHARD BURTON YET!" ---MST3K