I'd even dare to say that the books are written on multiple levels so that different demographics can enjoy different things about it. Shakespeare did the same thing with his plays, as did Jim Henson with his Muppets.

Chris

Chris, you hit the nail on the head! Also, I must say that the HP books and movies can only be good for magic in general and our brand in particular.

Bill

One of the more fascinating aspects of the HP phenomenon is that she (not unlike Tolkien who did this on an even greater scale) created a universe in which the magic can happen. Rowling has enough notes about the wizarding world to fill a book... without resorting to HP and his fellows.
She knows how the magic works, why it works and what its limitations are. It was all thought out... That's what makes it great in a way. Just read some of the books ABOUT the HP phenomenon and you'll be impressed by the amount of research that went into it.
This brings us to "consistency"... Tolkien had it, Rowling has it... but how many of us have it ?
Max Maven once referred to bizarre magick as "suggesting that there's a magical world beyond the borders of the performance"... We're a link to that world...
That having said, Rowling WILL publish her notes as an encyclopedia of the wizarding world... I'm sure that it will be - just as the novels - nothing less than awe-inspiring...

Sounds familiar...
What astonishes me the most, is the rejection of that kind of world by the non English speaking European so-called magicians.

Indeed, but then... What's the point of calling themselves magicians anyway... Clever tricksters, sometimes great entertainment... But magic in the sense of "enchantment" is rarely found...

I think this mentality is so inherent in the "brotherhood" that it'll be hard to change it... Perhaps Eugene Burger was right when he said that magicians were afraid of magic, but sometimes I think that the problem lies somewhere else: Not in fear, but in a lack of interest in "enchantment" (yes, I love using that word) and a fixation on techniques, secrets and in the best cases entertaining the audience...

I love the term enchantment too.

Yes, "enchantment" is what it is really all about, isn't it? "Enchantment" as in the awe and wonder inspired in a child hearing fairy tales. We in our "rational civilization" have lost much when we gave up a world populated by spirits, fairies, ghosts and demons, but deep down inside we remember, we remember. Maybe we are relearning that the world is not the rigid, explainable, rational world we believe it is.

Which leads to this question:

With Harry Potter officially 'done', what will replace him?

There are, obviously, three more HP movies to make, though with the kids all grown up I don't know how they'd handle casting.

And there's the 'Hobbit' movie being talked about, though it's at least three years away.

But with HP over and done with, and LOTR tapped out, what will be the next vehicle to inspire a love of magic in the general populace?

HP may be done, but who knows about further adventures is that world?

She may take a year or two off and do a prequil, then the adventures of Young Dumbledor. Who knows...

Scrye, Baba, Mystician, Higley, Chelman, DeNomolos, Dayton, Magus, Palmer, Scolman, Shane

and of course...Iger ;-)

Chris

P.S.--Sorry, I couldn't pass up on this one, and any omission of a name is due to haste to post before anyone else can have a "mutual discovery."

The New Adventures of Old Valdimort

Heh, that's what I call Wallmart now, "Volde-mart".
;)

Rowling has already written two books outside the Harry Potter story arc, but within the actual "universe": Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Quidditch Through the Ages. The books have "note" scribed in them by Potter and friends, but they're really not part of the story arc; just sample textbooks from Hogwarts.

Aaah, but fellows... the truth is out there...
http://www.jkrowling.com/

The easter eggs on this site taste real good, btw...

BTW, her name is pronounced "Row - ling", as in, "Row, row, row your boat".. not like "growling", nor like "bowling".

For those who care, of course.
(To me, it's a simple matter of respect - I hear people butcher my last name all the time, which is one reason I don't use it here or anywhere else where I can get away with it, for that matter.)

Ooooh! I see!

This has turned into the Latin thread?

The way I speak, bowling and rowling sound the same except for the B vs the R.

Any way, with her having over $500,000,000 in the bank, and excellent creative ability, I'll call her whatever and however she wants me to.

How 'bout wife ? ;-)

Actually, she's kinda a hottie, I think.. at least, in one interview I saw, she looked pretty good.. Prisoner of Azkaban DVD, maybe .. ? I'd love to spend a night talking with her.

Yeah Harley, Latin part duex lol.. I was thinking that !
But I saw on her site (or somewhere) how it bugs her.. but she gets a kick out of some of the butcheries of "Hermione" she hears.

Yeah, four possible pronunciations for the last three letters...at least, that I can think of. But that's without getting into Scots dialect, which adds another.

One thing can be said for the bunch of us...we is literit!

Hail Pogo!

Now that you mention it, yeah, we are a literate bunch - at least, relative to most Internet posts I see. We be edju-mo-cated.
Nothing says "loser" like someone who spells it, "looser" !

I'm thinking of picking up Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (I'm thinking the corner pub !) and "Quidditch Through the Ages" .. anyone got 'em, and if so, whatcha think ?
I might just get them for the sake of the charity donation, actually.

I would also recommend her (unauthorized) biography. In it you'll see where she got the "fuel" that got her wild inspiration going...
And Mystician, I'd love to talk to her all night too. About literature, of course !