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Fan
Sites
The
Boy Who Lived
Formerly The Harry Potter Guide UK
This
young webmaster recently made international news when she
stood up to Warner Brothers after they threatened to sue
owners of Harry Potter fan sites who refused to give up
their Harry Potter domain names. Claire has since won the
right to keep her domain name and her site, which provides a
lot of general, detailed information about Harry Potter's
world, including an excellent introduction to Hogwarts
School.
The
Daily Prophet
Perhaps
the cleverest site in the Potter cyber-universe combines fan
fiction created as news reports from no less than 26
reporters and columnists with real news about the Harry
Potter books and J. K. Rowling. Attractively designed and
easy to navigate, the Daily Prophet includes such
sections as Defense Against the Dark Arts, International
News, Sports (Quidditch, of course), Magical Creatures and
Muggle Studies. There's even an advice column, advertising,
and classified ads. We can only hope that the teen creators
of this site will have the time and energy to keep it
up.
Harry
Potter and the Freakish Fans of
Linlithgow
This
self-described "sad and deluded realm of several sixteen
year olds with time on their hands" offers Harry Potter
information with a wry edge. One of the most unusual
features of this site is the collection of creative but
edible recipes for Potterian delicacies such as Chocolate
Frogs, Exploding Bonbons, and Toothflossing
Stringmints.
The
Harry Potter Challenge
Atera
of Slytherin and Sorrel of Gryffindor invite you to compete
for house points by taking a series of quizzes that test
your knowledge of Harry Potter and by looking for specific
details in the Harry Potter books. You must begin by getting
sorted into either Slytherin of Gryffindor (the other houses
may be added later) and getting the house password so you
can enter the game. A nicely designed, original site that
lets you compete for house points without getting involved
in an intricate RPG.
Harry
Potter-World
In
addition to general information about Harry's world, Ross
and Peter have a Peeves page that is appropriately annoying!
You can also also enter one of the four houses of Hogwarts
after you register with the site, get sorted and receive a
password. Ross and Peter are two of the kids who were
threatened by Warner Brothers due to their domain name, so
they also have information about their involvement in the
fight.
Harry
Potter's World of Magic Theme
Park
A
mother and son team have combined their considerable
creative talents to produce the most original Harry Potter
fan site on the web. After hearing that Warner Brothers was
thinking of developing a Harry Potter Theme Park, Andy and
Ali began to imagine what such a park would be like, and now
you can visit their version yourself on the World Wide Web.
Not only will you get to enjoy their imaginative rides, food
stands, shops, shows, and games, you can also click on
"creators' secrets" to learn how and why they created
various attractions. Don't miss the Top Ten lists, the
character interviews, or the "About Us" section where you
can learn about the webmasters via cleverly designed wizard
cards. Just like a real theme park, you could spend days
wandering through here and still feel like you hadn't seen
everything yet. Be sure to participate in the poll, too, to
vote for your favorite site for the park. Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, is definitely the dark horse candidate at this point,
but at least it's edging out Paris.
Hogwarts
Haven
Created
by one of the founders of the Harry
Potter for Grown Ups club
(see below), this site has in-depth information on the
books, including a complete roster of characters, a weekly
puzzle, polls and predictions, and favorite songs at
Hogwarts (not surprisingly, Professor Lockhart's favorite
song is "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story and
Hagrid likes "Puff the Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul and
Mary). One of the most distinctive features of this site is
a collection of message boards, divided by age groups: Kids
(12 and under), Teens (13-17), Adults (18 and older), and
All Ages.
Ministry
of Magic
Formerly
the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizarry
This one may well become the mother of all Harry Potter
sites. The entire site is based on the setting for the Harry
Potter books, which includes Hogwarts, Diagon Alley,
Hagrid's Cottage, the Forbidden Forest, Hogsmeade, and
Muggle World. Unfortunately you need to have the latest in
computer equipment and lots of plug-ins to fully appreciate
it all.
MuggleNet
An
extremely comprehensive and well-organized site that has a
lot of trivia, games, puzzles, and humor in addition to
general information. One of the best sources of up-to-date
news about the Harry Potter books and movie. It's all easily
accessible due to a "Search This Site" feature.
Society
of Severus Snape
There's
a lot of excellent original art in this very clever shrine
to Snape and all things Slytherin, appropriately presented
in black and green. You'll find out more about Snape and his
house, and you can communicate with other Snape fans, either
through a message board or a mailing list. From Snape's site
you can take a little jaunt over to its rival club, the
Shrine
to Sirius Black.
Socks:
A Shrine to Dobby
Who
says house elves get no respect? Courtney's cleanly designed
tribute to Dobby includes a well-documented essay about
Dobby and other house elves' role in the Harry Potter
stories. It also includes general information about the
books, the author, and other characters.
The
Sporadic Prophet
The
Daily Prophet meets The Onion in this hilarious
send-up of news from Harry Potter's world. True to form,
Professor Trelawney provides the monthly horoscope with some
dire forecasts ("your lifelong quest to find Margaritaville
will come to fruitation this month when you drown in a vat
of Jose Cuervo Gold") and the Sporadic Classifieds run a
continual ad for a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at
Hogwarts. Tourmalina's Travelog documents her travels
through the muggle world in search of giant creatures of
America; photos show her posing next to a giant pumpkin in a
place called "Blue Earth" and a "60 foot jovial green king."
Best of all are the news articles with headlines such as
"Dark Lord Feels World Domination Plot, Mass Destruction,
Misunderstood" and "Mad-Eye Moody Upgrades Eye to Pentium
4." The editor-in-chief claims to have spent her formative
years in Baraboo, Wisconsin, where she got her start by
learning "the finer points of throwing refuse at
clowns."
Tealin's
Harry Potter Page
Regular
visitors to the Unofficial Harry Potter Fan Club will be
familiar with Tealin's accomplished fan art, as she has has
a very distinctive style. Her Harry Potter page has a great
deal of her artwork, accompanied by her own witty commentary
about it. She is especially interested in one generation
removed from Harry and friends -- Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot
and Prongs, whom she calls The Formidable Four and about
whom she has written some fan fiction. Another highly
original section of her site is devoted to dreams readers
have had about Harry Potter. Tealin invites visitors to
submit their own dreams and to suggest Harry Potter scenes
-- real or imagined -- for her to draw.
Unofficial
Harry Potter Fan Club
So
great it should be official! One of the earliest Harry
Potter sites, this one just continues to grow in popularity
and substance. Created by an adult fan who's a professional
webpage designer, it is by far the most interesting site to
date. With a creative approach and appealing design, it
offers reliable information that is continually updated, and
its message board has the best ongoing Harry Potter
cyber-discussion around. The Encyclopaedia
Potterica
is an excellent resource for quick information about the
Harry Potter books; you might also want to browse
through it to read the definitions by fans and see their
artistic renderings of such characters as Crabbe and Goyle,
and Madam Hooch. The sections of Fan Fiction and Fan Art
elsewhere on the site are not to be missed. Jenna has also
organized a book drive on her site to get Harry Potter books
into the hands of children who couldn't otherwise afford
them.
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Official
Sites
The
Official Mary GrandPre Fan Club
The
illustrator of the U.S. editions of Harry Potter has her own
fan site sponsored by 11-year old Jordan. Jordan invites you
to join his club for $9.98 to get an autographed photo of
Mary GrandPre and a chance to have your questions answered
by her personally. There's also info here about the artist
and her other books.
Warner
Brothers
In
Diagon Alley, you can download bookmarks, coloring pages and
screen savers, and in the Wizards' Shop, you'll have a
chance to buy merchandise. Best of all is the Daily Prophet
section which has up-to-the-minute news about the movie,
including a preview you can view on your own computer
screen. Proceed with caution through Platform 9 3/4,
however; it invites you to submit info about your own Harry
Potter fan site, as WB has become notorious for cracking
down on Harry Potter fan sites. See the Potter
War
site below for further information.
Miscellaneous
Teaching
With Harry Potter
Lesson
Plans, Classroom activities and printables.
Harry
Potter Editorial Cartoons
A
special section of Daryl Cagle's Pro Cartoonists Index is
devoted to editorial cartoons from daily newspapers which
mention Harry Potter. All cartoons have been reproduced with
permission of the artists.
Harry
Potter Fan Fiction by Kim
Kim
is a recent college graduate who writes book-length fan
fiction based on Harry's universe, but set in other
countries. Her first two novels are posted on this very
elegantly designed, easy-to-access site.
Harry
Potter for Grown Ups
A
lively forum for adults to discuss the Harry Potter books in
depth, as well as issues related to series, such as
merchandising and the movie. This club sponsors
chapter-a-week discussions of the new books as they come
out.
J.K.
Rowling Interview on All Things
Considered
Scroll
nearly all the way down the page and click on the Harry
Potter link to listen to Margo Adler's excellent NPR
interview with J.K. Rowling which originally aired December
3, 1998.
J.
K. Rowling's Second Interview on All Things
Considered
Nearly
two years after her first interview, NPR's Margot Adler
caught up with J. K. Rowling once again to discuss how the
author is dealing with fame and fortune, and to find out all
the latest news on Harry Potter. An edited version of this
interview originally aired on October 27, 2000.
The
Leaky Cauldron
An
extensive weblog of current and archived news related to
Harry Potter, easily accessible and arranged in
chronological order. There is at least one new entry nearly
every day on this site.
Muggles
for Harry Potter
A
group that advocates for children having free access to the
Harry Potter books in schools and libraries. Sponsored by
the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the
Association of Booksellers for Children, the Association of
American Publishers, the Children's Book Council, the
Freedom to Read Foundation, the National Coalition Against
Censorship, the National Council of Teachers of English, and
PEN American Center.
Reviews
and Distinctions for the U.S. Editions of the Harry
Potter Books
This
page from the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the
UW-Madison School of Education includes citations and, when
possible, direct links to professional reviews of the first
four volumes in the Harry Potter series, as well as a
listing of U.S. awards and distinctions. It also provides
direct links to the varied adult critical opinions
concerning the series as a whole, from the right, left and
points in-between.
The
Snitch.co.uk
When
this site bills itself as "the ultimate Harry Potter movie
site," it's not idle bragging. Although Warner Brothers
probably think they have the ultimate site, the Snitch
actually has a lot more to offer, including the largest and
most easily accessible gallery of images, extensive
information on the cast and crew, international release
dates, up-to-date news, and a great message board. All this
in a clean, smooth, sophisticated design that makes surfing
the site a pleasure.
Stories
from the Web: Harry Potter Page
From
the UK Office for Library and Information Network. In
addition to an interview with J.K Rowling and a taste of all
the Harry Potter books, this site for kids also has related
activities, such as designing your own witch or wizard,
telling what you think will happen next in the Harry Potter
books, or submitting your own book review. You can also read
what other kids have written so far.
Wizards-Shop.co.uk
A
wonderfully designed site from England that features many
Harry Potter collectables not easily available outside of
Great Britain including Hogwarts House keychains and badges,
and plush toys that are different from the widely available
Hallmark and Gund versions. You can also try out a demo of
an original computer game called Broomsticks that's based on
Quidditch. And who can resist the Hermione Magic Reveal Mug?
Those wishing to place orders for outside the UK should
first contact helpdesk@wizards-shop.co.uk.
Yahoo's
Index to News Coverage about Harry
Potter
With
Harry Potter making headlines nearly every day, this site is
updated continually. Includes news stories from around the
world, as well as links to audio and video files related to
the Harry Potter phenomenon.
Role Playing
Games (RPG)
Calypso
and Artemis' Hogwarts Page
This
seems to be a break-off group from Mischief-Makers of
Hogwarts, which was the first Harry RPG, that unfortunately
became an exclusive club. In this new site, people 18 years
or younger can create a Potter-like character and attend
virtual Hogwarts classes. Participants earn House points by
completing creative academic assignments (e.g. "Write a
one-scroll report on your experiences with a
Boggart.").
Harry
Potter RPG
This
RPG, set at Hogwarts, has a combination of characters from
the books, as well as invented characters, both students and
staff. Since it's played through message boards and very
cleanly designed, it's a good RPG for beginners or for those
who are simply curious as to how an RPG works.
Hogwarts
MOO
Players
take on roles of invented characters who fit into a virtual
reality Hogwarts of 100 years ago. One of the most
sophisticated Harry Potter RPGs, players can attend classes
and interact with each other in character as they develop
their own subplots in Hogwarts history.
Hogwarts
RPG
An
intricate RPG that uses a series of message boards in
addition to email. After you get sorted into a house and
create your character, you can read about your classmates,
attend various classes such as Potions and Charms, play
Quidditch to earn points for your house or earn wizard money
by performing various tasks (such as writing fan fiction)
and then head for Diagon Alley to buy an owl or a
broomstick. This Harry Potter game uses all original
characters, many of whom are somehow related to the book
characters. Even if you're not into RPG, their individual
bios are definitely worth the click! I also enjoyed the
original spells, charms, and potions that can be found in
the classrooms.
Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
A
nicely designed RPG based on a series of message boards.
Once players create their characters, they are sorted into
houses, where they can engage in role play games by taking
classes with other students and professors. It's especially
fun to sit in on the Transfiguration class. There is also
quite an extensive Quidditch portion to this web site,
although as of yet there have been no matches. (Go,
Hufflepuff!)
Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
The
collaborative efforts of a group of creative teens who serve
as the Hogwarts faculty in this accessible rpg. Here
enrolled students earn house points by completing
assignments involving creative writing and by answering
questions based on a knowledge of Harry Potter. One
of the interesting features is that the students' completed
essays are posted. You may also enjoy reading the student
and faculty bios.
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