“Hogwarts will always welcome you home,” said J.K. Rowling during the premiere of the last Harry Potter movie in 2011. While it seemed at the time that it is the end of an era, the wizarding world is apparently just as exciting and just as magical now, with new materials for Potterheads to pore and obsess over.
Almost 20 years since the first book was released and 15 years since the first movie was shown, Hogwarts—and friendship, and magic, and wonder—is truly here to stay. Whether you are a new fan, or a diehard who has stuck with Harry through and through, or even just a passing Muggle, here is a run-down of the biggest Potter news this year.
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Movie Updates
Photo credit: Fantastic Beasts on Twitter
Based on one of the well-loved textbooks of Hogwarts students, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will feature the adventures of renowned magizoologist Newt Scamander played by Eddie Redmayne. Quite possibly the most highly-anticipated release in Rowling’s Wizarding World franchise in recent years, the movie’s screenplay is written by the author herself and set in the year 1926 in the United States—70 years before the events in the main Harry Potter series took place.
Photo credit: Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly released a handful of exciting photos giving us a first look at Redmayne as the Hufflepuff globe-trotting, briefcase-carrying wizard studying magical creatures, whose adventures found him in Roaring Twenties New York.
Because Fantastic Beasts takes place in the United States, Rowling revealed that the terms, customs, and institutions that Potter fans have become familiar with in the original series will be quite different in the American Wizarding lexicon. Muggles—non-magical folk—are called No-Maj (as in no magic, pronounced “no madge”) in the US, and the Magical Congress of the United States of America (or MACUSA) is the equivalent of the UK’s Ministry of Magic.
Photo credit: Entertainment Weekly
Redmayne is joined by Katherine Waterston as MACUSA employee Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein, Alison Sudol as Tina’s sister and Legilimens Queenie Goldstein, and Dan Fogler as No-Maj aspiring baker Jacob Kowalski. Colin Farrell also joins the cast as Graves, a powerful Auror and the right-hand man of the MACUSA President.
The first part of the Fantastic Beasts trilogy is set to be released in November 2016.
2. The Opening of a New Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Photo credit: Universal Studios on Twitter
2016 is proving to be quite the year for Potterheads as a new Universal Studios Wizarding World of Harry Potter is set to open in spring 2016 in Hollywood. The third Potter theme park will take visitors on a magical journey of the books and the movies—including a visit to the shops of Hogsmeade village such as The Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes, Hog’s Head, and Zonko’s Joke Shop.
Photo credit: Universal Studios
Visitors will also get to experience a thrilling adventure with various rides and attractions such as a 3-D ride through Hogwarts classrooms and corridors in the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and a hippogriff experience with the outdoor family-friendly coaster Flight of the Hippogriff. The Wizarding World will also be abuzz with school spirit as delegates to the Triwizard Tournament from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang parade and perform for the Triwizard Spirit Rally. Fans can also get to dine the wizard way with butterbeer and pumpkin juice, and experience buying—or rather, being chosen by—wands at Ollivander’s.
“The momentum behind J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world is as strong as ever and we are incredibly excited to bring Hogwarts to Hollywood,” said Brad Globe, President of Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “Fans around the world have experienced the magic at ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ in Orlando and Osaka and we look forward to continued success with our partners at Universal Studios Hollywood as we offer more fans a chance to step into this immersive environment.”
3. The Release of the First Illustrated Edition of Harry Potter
Harry Potter and Professor Albus Dumbledore
Photo credit: Scholastic Publishing
The first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Philosopher’s Stone in the UK), has been released this October in its full-color illustrated glory. Illustrated by award-winning artist Jim Kay, the new edition features a vivid interpretation of the characters and the magical world fans have known and embraced since Philosopher’s Stone was published in 1997 in the UK.
Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy
Photo credit: Scholastic Publishing
“Seeing Jim Kay’s illustrations moved me profoundly. I love his interpretation of Harry Potter’s world, and I feel honored and grateful that he has lent his talent to it,” said Rowling. All the seven books in the series will be published in full-color illustrated editions, by Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the US.
Hagrid’s Hut
Photo credit: Scholastic Publishing
“From my point of view it is, without doubt, the commission of a lifetime …to design the characters, the clothing, the architecture and landscapes to possibly the most expansive fantasy world in children’s literature, well let’s just say I’m extremely excited about it,” said Kay in an interview with Pottermore. “However, I am also mindful of the huge responsibility this represents. I want to make sure I do the best job I possibly can.”
4. The Eighth Potter Story as a Play
Photo credit: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
The Epilogue—Nineteen Years Later—of the final Potter book and movie felt very much like the story’s definite conclusion. But after the hubbub with Rowling’s tweets about a Potter play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is formally announced as the “eighth Harry Potter story” to be presented on stage at the Palace Theatre London in July 2016, with previews in late May.
Due to the epic nature of the story we’ve been working on, Harry Potter & the #CursedChild will be in two parts! @HPPlayLDN
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 24, 2015
It seems like Harry and the rest aren’t up for an easy happy ever after, 19 years later, as “Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs,” and his youngest son “struggles with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted.” Serving as the sequel to the seventh book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the Cursed Child will follow the story of Harry’s son, Albus Severus, and will be divided into two parts.
John Tiffany, J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne
Photo credit: J.K. Rowling/Pottermore
The play was developed by Rowling together with writer Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany. “The story only exists because the right group of people came together with a brilliant idea about how to present Harry Potter on stage,” Rowling told Pottermore. I’m confident that when audiences see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child they will understand why we chose to tell this story in this way.”
5. More Content and Updates from the All-New Pottermore
Photo credit: Pottermore
Dubbed as the “digital heart of the Wizarding World,” Pottermore has shifted from an interactive gaming site to a news site and the repository of new writings by Rowling about the world of Hogwarts and beyond. The site’s content is a mix of materials from the books, the films, and the previous artworks from the previous Pottermore version.
Gryffindor Common Room
Photo credit: Pottermore
If you, like me (username DragonThorn18071), miss brewing potions, competing for the House Cup (#RavenclawsRepresent), and casting spells during duels, the new site might seem to be more of a blog instead of a full Potter experience from the “old” Pottermore. But The Pottermore Correspondent assured that “new stories, new magical experiences, new interviews, and new sneaky-peeks behind the scenes every day until the end of time and/or the Internet” will be made available for everyone, without the need for a username and password. Back stories of the characters, deeper analysis of the lore, and interesting bits and pieces of trivia are strewn all over the site for Potterheads to find and enjoy.
Photo credit: Pottermore
Being “officially” sorted into your Hogwarts House was one of the highlights of the old iteration of Pottermore, but a test to determine the form your Patronus will take seems to be already in the works. Meanwhile, Potterheads can delve deeper into the wizarding world by reading up on various topics such as the Potter Family, 16 pearls of wisdom from Professor Dumbledore, an ancient but dying practice of consulting Naming Seers, and reasons why you should date a Hufflepuff.
In the words of the wise Luna Lovego–, Evanna Lynch: BRB, resuming hardcore Pottering.
