Awesome Facts for Potter Fans – The Unofficial Collection

Awesome Facts for Potter Fans – The Unofficial Collection

“Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus” is the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry slogan. Translated, it means, “Never tickle a sleeping dragon.”

A Proper Name

J. K. Rowling is one of the most famous authors in the world. However, some may not know that Rowling does not have a middle name. The “K.” is for her grandmother, Kathleen. The initials appear on the book covers because her publisher feared a fantasy book about a male wizard wouldn’t sell well if people knew it was written by a female author. Therefore, he insisted that Rowling use her initials instead of her full name. The problem then was that the name “J. Rowling” wasn’t exciting enough, so she added the “K.” for Kathleen.

The Magic Newspaper

The world of wizards in the Harry Potter movies was created with great effort. Every detail had to be perfect – even the individual pages and articles of the Daily Prophet or the Quibbler. Over 40 issues of the Daily Prophet were brought to life by the graphics department, and over 25,000 pages of the Quibbler were printed. Every article is unique; even advertisements and horoscopes found their place inside the newspapers. References to actors were often hidden in the texts for the crew's entertainment.

Rowling Does Not Know Harry Potter

J. K. Rowling is known for interacting with her fans. She answers questions and even participates in lively discussions concerning Harry Potter. However, even she gets in trouble sometimes. When Rowling tried to join a conversation anonymously in a chatroom called MuggleNet, she was told to be quiet because she did not know enough about the books.

Just Like Ron Weasley Would Do It

The third Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, was no longer directed by Christopher Columbus. Instead, Alfonso Cuarón took his place. This change brought new challenges for the actors. Cuarón asked the young wizards to write an essay about their movie characters. Emma Watson – always the model student – wrote sixteen storming pages about Hermione. Daniel Radcliffe made it to one page about Harry. Only Rupert Grint did not write a single word about Ron. Well, his movie character would probably have done the same.

Short & Sweet

In his first movie, Harry Potter doesn’t cast a single functioning spell with his wand.

Professor Dumbledore not knowing Harry Potter? Yes, that’s possible. Michael Gambon, the actor who has played the headmaster since the third movie, had not read a single Harry Potter book before accepting the part. On set, he relied only on the script.

If J. K. Rowling taught at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she would love to be a professor in charms. As an alternative, she would also be content with employment as an author of spells.

Despite being the longest book (768 pages), the fifth Potter book (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) has the shortest movie adaptation of the series. It only counts 138 minutes.

Snowball Battle with the Dark Lord

Lord Voldemort is considered the most dangerous wizard in the Harry Potter universe. Of course, that’s no reason for Fred and George Weasley to spare him from a good old snowball fight. The jokers were only trying to hit Professor Quirrel with the bewitched snowballs. They succeeded, unaware that the Dark Lord was hiding under Quirrel's turban, on the back of his head.

Tiny Lice, Significant Impact

If only you could get rid of them by magic. In the magical world, you probably can, but things look a bit different in the real world. The little animals called lice can even bring a whole film set to a halt. That was the case when the crew tried filming Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second Harry Potter movie. The shooting had to be stopped due to a lice outbreak among the many young actors.

A Stone with Many Names

Even though the US and Great Britain are both English-speaking countries, they have differences in naming things. For example, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, as the first book is called in the UK, was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the American market. Those responsible thought the new name better fit the American audience. This change affected not only the books but also the movies. Several scenes had to be filmed twice – one take for the British and one for the American version.

Alohomora!

The door to the Chamber of Secrets is not opened that easily. A simple spell like the unlocking charm doesn’t work on that particular kind of door. You need to speak Parseltongue to open it. The door itself then works mechanically. In the movie, not a single animation is required. You can even check out how that impressive work looks in real life when visiting the Warner Bros. Studio Tour near London. The big door regularly opens there – without the need of Parseltongue.

Wrong Pronunciation

Lord Voldemort is a name rarely spoken in the Harry Potter universe. Maybe it’s not just because he’s called “He-who-must-not-be-named” but because most wizards don’t even know how to pronounce his name correctly. The name “Voldemort” has a French origin, and the “t” at the end is silent. The name even has a meaning. Loosely translated, it means something like “flight of death.”

Not Enough Research

Snowy owls are primarily active during the day and are – especially the females – very quiet. J. K. Rowling obviously got to know of that too late when writing the second Potter book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. At that point, Harry’s pet owl had already showed her “special character” by her nightly adventures and blaming shouts directed at Harry. Maybe that’s because Hedwig isn’t just an ordinary snowy owl but a magical one.

Accio, Props!

When a great movie or series comes to an end, many props are left. But what exactly happens to all those things? Sure thing, the actors take them as souvenirs to always remember their time on set. Daniel Radcliffe, therefore, took not only the first but also the last glasses Harry Potter ever wore. Rupert Grint can now steal the light in his home with the Deluminator he took from the set. Furthermore, he took home a second prop: the sign of Privet Drive, number four. The one seemingly not wanting to quit being a witch was Emma Watson. She now claims as her own a wand, a Hogwarts cape, and a time-turner. Rupert Grint could have used the latter when he tried to steal a golden dragon egg from the set of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He was caught then and had to give it back.

The Hogwarts Dinosaur

Every now and then, a new name comes up that was inspired by the magical world of Harry Potter. Mostly, that is the case with naming newly discovered animals. But the long-forgotten ones can benefit from that kind of process, too. “Dracorex hogwartsia,” a dinosaur, has been called the “Dragonking of Hogwarts” because of that.

Short & Sweet

The line “I didn’t know you could read” was improvised by Draco actor Tom Felton. The line can be heard in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry wears his glasses despite being turned into Malfoy’s crony, Goyle. When Draco asks about the glasses, “Goyle” responds that he uses them to read.

Harry Potter significantly impacted J. K. Rowling’s life. Before the books, the writer and billionaire relied on supplementary benefits.

It’s no coincidence the Weasley family has a Ford Anglia as a magical flying car. A former schoolmate of Rowling had such a car – but without the flying mechanism.

Rowling invented the game Quidditch after she fought with her boyfriend. No wonder the game is such a violent one.

The Great Hall of Hogwarts is big enough to hold twenty-two double-decker busses.

When J. K. Rowling announced the death of two important characters in the last Potter book, she had to deal with the accusation of being a sadist.

According to the British retailer Lost Universe, Birmingham houses the most Slytherins. This claim results from a sentiment analysis counting the purchase of all Hogwarts-house-related merchandise in several British cities.

Potter Peanuts

Warner Bros.just needed to pay about two million dollars to get the movie rights. Today, this price would be far higher. Only the first book about the young wizard had been published in the US at the time of the purchase and only a few people knew about Harry and his adventure. So the price for the rights to get it on the big screen was relatively low then.

Early Departure

Some actors of the Harry Potter movies would have loved to leave the set earlier. Daniel Radcliffe wanted to quit his role as Harry after the third movie. He feared that he would only ever be identified as Harry Potter, making it hard for him to get other parts in the future. Later, he stated that he was fortunate to get the role and would continue to play the young wizard. His colleague Emma Watson considered quitting after the fifth movie because of her education. She was scared that the work on set would affect her time at Brown University. Warner Bros. later offered her a deal that made it possible for her to attend the university and stand in front of the camera.

Gone with the Wind

The Weasley family’s house, also known as “The Burrow,” is depicted as a very comfortable and cozy home in the movies and maybe a little chaotic, too. With such a big family, that isn’t unusual. What is truly remarkable is the fact that the whole house seems kind of crooked. The set constructors did that on purpose and removed several beams or shifted a few walls. The house should get a unique look fitting the family living there. Well, mission accomplished.

Magical Age

The magic of Harry Potter enchants people all over the world. That his magic also seems to affect the age of the actor playing the young wizard is relatively unknown. Whereas book-Harry was born on July 31, 1980, actor Daniel Radcliffe did not come into this world until July 23, 1989. The actor, therefore, is nine full years younger than his movie self. An even more significant age gap can be spotted when looking at Moaning Myrtle and her actor. The 14-year-old ghost was played by a 36-year-old actress.

Haley-Harry

Daniel Radcliffe was almost not who we see as Harry Potter. At first, Haley Joel Osment was rumored to get the role before Daniel Radcliffe showed up. Osment was known for his role as the young medium in The Sixth Sense. Daniel Radcliffe won the race in the last moments as one of nearly 3,000 participants.

Devotion to the Job

The film crew on the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets set must have loved the job. They didn’t shy away from climbing into the London sewerage to find inspiration for the environment of the Chamber of Secrets. The adventure was worth it.

The Portraits in Hogwarts

The walls of Hogwarts’s staircase are decorated with numerous colorful paintings depicting famous witches and wizards. In reality, several show the movies’ crew members.

A Professor to Fall in Love With

Sir Kenneth Branagh plays the charming professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the second Potter movie. The actor would have almost been a different one: Hugh Grant. He was on the verge of accepting when he noticed it would interfere with his schedule for his part in the movie Two Weeks Notice. In the end, he had to decline the offer.

Peeves the Troublemaker

There is another spirit wandering Hogwarts halls in the books and the videogames of the Harry Potter franchise: Peeves, the poltergeist. He is always up to some kind of mischief and pranks – much to the chagrin of Argus Filch, caretaker of the Hogwarts School. The poltergeist has been completely deleted from the script in the movie version because he did not significantly impact the story. Comedian Rik Mayall even shot a few scenes as Peeves for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Eventually, the film crew changed their mind and deleted Peeves entirely from the script.

On behalf of a charity event, J. K. Rowling wrote a prologue to Harry Potter. It takes place three years before the birth of the young wizard and has been sold for about 28,000 dollars.

A Loan for Harry Potter

Without the loan from a friend, J. K. Rowling would have never been able to create the Harry Potter books. The former welfare recipient took a loan of about several thousand pounds to get back on track. The single mother used the money to pay for her living and was able to get started with the first Potter book because of that. Of course, she paid back her debt and rewarded her benefactor with a flat in the middle of Edinburgh. That present now is worth over 250,000 pounds.

Dancing Lessons on the Set

All the actors had to take special dance lessons on the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire set to train for the dancing scene at the Yule Ball – everyone except Daniel Radcliffe. He had so many scenes in the movie that he just didn't have any time left for the dancing lessons. While the others trained for about three weeks, Radcliffe only had four days to learn the proper steps. While dancing, he was only filmed from his hips to his head, never showing his feet. That way, his poor dance attempts did not affect the scene.

Short & Sweet

Despite Harry’s snowy owl, Hedwig, being female, the owls playing her in the movies were all male. The reason is the feathers of the male and female owls look different. The females have more black patterns, whereas the males are more white-colored.

J. K. Rowling finished her work on the second Harry Potter book shortly after the release of the first one.

Fred is the older one of the Weasley twins.

The movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows holds a little Easter egg for those paying attention to detail. In the café scene, a poster can be seen in the background, advertising a play called “Equus.” The play is a real one starring Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths.

The little slip of paper showing Harry’s name in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was not written by Daniel Radcliffe himself. Allegedly, his writing wasn’t legible enough.

J. K. Rowling loves details. For the family tree of the Blacks, she not only came up with about 70 names but also with the relationship between the family members.

Lupin actor David Thewlis initially tried to get the role for Professor Quirrel. In the third movie, he was cast for the part of Remus Lupin instead.

More Fans Than Ever

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone reached about eight million dollars at the box office in China when first released. In 2020, things looked different. A special version of the movie in 3D and 4K optics fit for the Chinese market lured way more viewers in the cinemas. On the first weekend, the movie made a profit of 13.6 million dollars, almost doubling the numbers from the first release.

A Title without Explanation

Although the movie explained that Professor Severus Snape was the one behind the mysterious “Half-Blood Prince,” the origin of the name was never revealed there. Book readers do have a head start concerning that question. In the books, it is explained that Snape’s mother was a witch. On the other hand, his father was a muggle, making Snape a “Half-Blood.” The “Prince” part of the title could be due to his mother’s surname – Prince.

Talent Is Needed

In the fifth movie, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” many young wizards learn to cast the Patronus spell. One who is never shown casting that spell is Hagrid. For those wondering which form the magic would take on when released by the Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts: It would have no form at all. According to J. K. Rowling herself, Hagrid cannot perform such a demanding spell.

Harry Potter and the Search for Names

Choosing the right name for every character in the book can be tricky. J. K. Rowling seems to have had trouble with that, too. Several character names were initially different. Hermione Granger was first called Hermione Puckle, and Draco Malfoy was almost known as Draco Spinks. Even Luna Lovegood and the Patil sisters, Padma and Parvati, were originally on the class list as Lily Moon and Madhari and Mati Patel.

Truly Bad

Lord Voldemort is the main villain in the Harry Potter series. Or isn’t he? One person is even more feared than the Dark Lord: Dolores Umbridge. She is the most fearsome character in the whole story. Horror author Stephen King claimed the pink-clad woman is one of the creepiest film characters of all time. Only Hannibal Lecter would rival her psychopathic demeanor.

Owls Are No Pets!

One of the most loved characters in the Harry Potter world is Hedwig, Harry’s snowy owl. The feathered hero was so famous that fans even considered buying an owl to keep as a pet. Of course, that is not animal friendly at all, so J. K. Rowling urged them to abandon that idea.

The Price of Youth

Working with young actors takes its toll. Snape actor Alan Rickman learned that first hand when Rupert Grint and Matthew Lewis stained his car with milkshakes while filming the fourth Potter movie. Why the two young actors were even in his car is unknown. When Rickman showed up with a new car on set, he ensured the two troublemakers would never come near his car again.

The “Stars” of the Magical World

The Black family appears to like astronomy very much. Many family members own the names of astronomical objects such as star constellations. By the fifth movie, names like Sirius, Cygnus, Arcturus, Pollux, and Cassiopeia appear on the family tree.

Hidden Details

Some movies include jokes during the credits. A small detail was included in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Voldemort’s role isn’t titled as such but called “He Who Must Not Be Named.”

Short & Sweet

The choice of Adrian Rawlins for the part of James Potter must have been fate. The actor shares his birthday with his movie character: March 27.

Rowling wrote the first version of the Battle of Hogwarts very early and then put it into a safe. Back then, she didn’t like the idea.

In 2010, J. K. Rowling reached the top of the list naming the UK’s most influential women. Even Queen Elizabeth had to queue up behind the author.

The Harry Potter fanbase is significant. And it has quite the influence. Since the fifth novel, fans have even voted for the book covers in Germany.

Lucky Number Seven

The magical number seven is mentioned quite a lot throughout the Harry Potter series. There are seven books about seven school years and the destruction of seven Horcruxes. There are seven Weasley kids to count. Seven players make a Quidditch team. Hogwarts consists of seven floors and teaches seven core subjects. The number is mentioned several more times at minor occasions and big events alike.

Giant Wands

It’s no wonder Potter fans might have felt the need to celebrate their passion for magic in a special kind of way in 2021. The year marks the 20th anniversary of the wizard’s first movie adaptation. Maybe a good way to celebrate would be to pass through a walkway consisting of giant wands. People did have the chance for such a magical experience. An installation in Leicester Square, London, made it possible by showing off fifteen-foot-tall wands forming a 60-foot walkway. The wands were exact replicas of those in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies.

Trouble in Paradise

Everyone knows the scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where Hermione hits the bullseye of Draco Malfoy’s face. It leaves viewers wondering: Is that a real hit or just excellent acting? Looks like there really is a backstory. Emma Watson had a crush on Tom Felton. Felton made it clear that he only saw her as a little sister. A relatively short love story resulted in a satisfying clip for both the viewers and Watson herself.

Hogwarts Up Close

The world of Harry Potter is incredibly detailed. To ensure that all of these details were celebrated and contradictions were avoided, production designer Stuart Craig asked J. K. Rowling for her help. She was asked to explain the geography of Hogwarts so that the school and its environment could be shown in the best way. Rowling then drew a map on a DIN A4 sheet of paper. This map showed the Quidditch pitch, the Great Lake at which the castle was located, and the positions of important landmarks such as the Whomping Willow, Hagrid’s hut, and the Forbidden Forest. The sketch was so detailed that it was still used as a reference years later.

Short & Sweet

In many movies, Easter eggs are hidden in certain scenes. Looking closely at the people roaming the Quidditch World Cup campground in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, one can spot the house-elves Dobby and Winky riding by.

Even before the Deathly Hallows are mentioned in the movies, one can spot their symbol in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It hides in Dumbledore’s office.

Not even the number of inhabitants of Germany, Italy and France added together can match the number of copies sold of the Potter books.

J. K. Rowling is the only author who became a billionaire with her bookselling only.

For Adults Only

Potter, the trouble-maker, made quite a mess when his first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, came out in Germany. Many children watching the film in the late evening hours were so excited that it resulted in many complaints. The kids could not calm down and started a ruckus. There were many calls for silence, so the cinemas enacted a ban for children to watch the late-night show of the movie. Tickets then would only be sold to adults. The only exception was when children were accompanied by their parents.

Delivery from Above

While pigeons are known for delivering letters, owls doing the trick can only be seen in the Harry Potter universe. Maybe it’s because of the long training time the owls need to perform such a stunt. For the movies, they were trained over several months. However, the crew occasionally resorted to another method. They tied the packages or letters to the owls’ feet and loosened the knot right over the dropping spot.

Short & Sweet

A wand made with a dragon heartstring is said to turn to the Dark Arts faster than any other wand. It is no wonder Lucius Malfoy’s wand contains that core element.

Professor Dumbledore’s full name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

The Quidditch match Harry watched in his fourth adventure was the 422nd World Cup final. Ireland won the game against the Bulgarian National Team, 170–160.