The Daily Prophet

August 2002

US web reviewer opens Chamber of Secrets!

BBC: The first review of the new Harry Potter film has appeared on a US movie site.

A famous website called Aint It Cool News has loads of spies inside the American movie industry and one of them reckons they've already seen the film.

Of course it's not completely finished just yet because it's not going to be in cinemas until November, but according to the review it's looking good so far.

They say that all the actors are loads better than in the first film and that the film overall is funnier and spookier.

The mystery reviewer also has good things to say about Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart, even giving him an outside chance of an Oscar.

The only bad thing about the film seems to be the same as the first one - it's too short to fit in everything from the book, making it seem a bit rushed in places.

Saturday 24th August 2002


JK Rowling voted one of Greatest Brits ever

BBC: JK Rowling and David Beckham have made it onto the list of the top one hundred greatest Britons of all time.

But who is the greatest Briton ever?

The BBC asked more than 30,000 people that question and they're answers included - Tony Blair, King Arthur, David Attenborough, Guy Fawkes, Paul McCartney, J.R.R. Tolkien, William Shakespeare and Robbie Williams.

But this Autumn as part of a BBC show called Great Britons you will be asked to cut that number down to just one.

To help you make your mind up, guest presenters will try and persuade you that their choice for greatest Briton is the best one.

When the series begins, you can cast your vote, by visiting the Great Britons site.

Wednesday 21st August 2002


Fed-up Potter fans make their own magic

BBC: Millions of Harry Potter fans are so fed up of waiting for Book 5 - The Order of the Phoenix - to come out in 2003, they have started writing their own stories about Harry, Hermione and Ron.

It's called fan fiction and thousands of people are reading it on the internet. Over 58,000 web pages from all over the world relate to Potter fan fiction.

They make no money out of it and most have disclaimers to say they are not stealing JK's ideas.

As one author puts it: "I'm simply trying to create a series of stories that explores what Harry Potter would be like growing up with a muggle family that cares for and encourages him, though they may not always understand him."

One fan fiction webmaster told CBBC Newsround Online: "I have friends who never could write well, but after they read Harry Potter they started to write fan fiction and the stories are really good."

And it's on CBBC Newsround message boards too. Users wait eagerly for stories from users like Kitkat2000 and Danlover.

Stories are posted in separate instalments, but there are fan quizzes and votes too.

Many take specific characters from Hogwarts and write about them in entirely different surroundings and with separate storylines to JK's.

But the stories are not meant to be substitutes for Book 5. They introduce new, completely made-up characters like Harold Margaven.

He appears in Knight Haze by Rachel, about two magic friends who get mixed up in Voldermort's plans to rule to the world - long before Harry's time.

Then there's Andrea, a telepathic, mysterious new girl on exchange from the US who tries to befriend Harry.

Some stories are set outside Hogwarts in Russia or China where Harry's on a special school exchange programme.

Loads of the websites are organised too with a real community feel.

They have fan fiction e-mail lists, message boards for reviews and comments on stories, and entire webrings taking fans to all the best places for stories.

There are "What If" and crossover stories which, for example, write about how Harry's life could have been different.

So there's plenty for true fans to read until autumn 2003.

By the way, Harry Potter publishers Bloomsbury were unable to comment on fan fiction!

Friday 16th August 2002


Potter 5 may not be out till autumn 2003

BBC: Sorry everyone - we may have to wait till autumn 2003 for the fifth Harry Potter book. That's according to the man behind the Harry Potter movies, who's a good friend of JK Rowling.


He said: "With the first two books there was no pressure. By the third book there was a little pressure. And with the fourth book, she faced huge pressure.

"Right now, Jo is just taking the time to write the best book that she can."

Part of the problem is the time it will take to get the book ready and printed - probably five months once JK has finished the book.

So, even though publishers Bloomsbury said in May that it might be out by the end of 2002, it's now almost impossible we'll get our hands on it this year.

Sunday 4th August


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