Beyond Hogwarts: The only Harry Potter on-line discussion conference http://www.beyondhogwarts.com en-us Beyond Hogwarts (rss@beyondhogwarts.com) Copyright © 2002-2008 David Haber. All rights reserved. 2008-04-30T22:00:32-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/the-five-principal-exceptions-to-gamps-law.html Elemental transfiguration is the magical art of physically converting one thing into another. But as with all types of magic, there are limitations to what you can do with transfiguration, as we learn in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when Hermione mentions the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. But she only tells us one of them. What are the other four? I think we know two more, and can guess another. Beyond Hogwarts 2008-04-30T21:43:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/comments/the-next-harry-potter-back-to-the-future-or-the-past.html Should J.K. Rowling write some new books that also involve the world of Harry Potter? Or, in the words of the Beatles, should she Let It Be? And if she does, what should they be about? Would you like to read books about Albus Severus Potter and his adventures at Hogwarts? Or would you like to know more about the times of James, Sirius and Remus? How about going all the way back to the time of Dumbledore and Grindelwald? Or even further? Beyond Hogwarts 2008-03-19T09:42:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/comments/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-parts-1-and-2.html Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is dense with information that is crucial to the overall story. It's definitely too much to stuff into a two hour movie. So, do you think it's possible that the final Harry Potter adventure, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be made into two movies? And if it is, where would you end movie number one and start movie two? Beyond Hogwarts 2008-02-16T16:46:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/doing-the-math-how-many-kids-are-at-hogwarts.html On October 16, 2000, in an interview, J.K. Rowling was asked, "How many students attend Hogwarts, and how many students per year per house?" and she replied, simply, "There are about a thousand students at Hogwarts." And because she said it, this has persisted as the proper answer accepted by most fans. But I don't see how that could be correct. Beyond Hogwarts 2007-12-02T22:45:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/the-repeating-history-of-dumbledore.html When we first meet young Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I believe J.K. Rowling is wording descriptions of events with it in mind for us to see similarities between Tom Riddle and Harry. But now that we know the end of the story, and now that we know more about Dumbledore himself, I have lately been thinking more about similarities between Tom Riddle and Gellert Grindelwald. Beyond Hogwarts 2007-11-25T22:57:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/jks-surprising-revelation-about-dumbledore.html Just a little over a year ago, on August 2, 2006, J.K. Rowling made a statement at her reading in New York City, at Radio City Music hall, that was big news and related directly to what we talk about on this web site. Well, tonight she's done it again. This evening, again in New York City, this time at Carnegie Hall, J.K. Rowling dropped a bombshell on the Harry Potter fan community. Beyond Hogwarts 2007-10-19T23:06:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/the-secrets-of-the-fidelius-charm.html The Fidelius Charm is a powerful charm that is central to the Harry Potter tale. The house at Godric's Hollow, 12 Grimmauld Place, and Shell Cottage are three properties that are protected by the Fidelius Charm, three properties that have been secured against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. But within each property we see differences in the way the Fidelius Charm works. Beyond Hogwarts 2007-09-26T22:06:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/sinking-our-teeth-into-the-character-of-snape.html I've personally strongly believed for a long time, and still do, that Severus Snape is a vampire, or at least, is part vampire. There are clues in all the books that point to this conclusion, over the years, J.K. has (sort of) denied that he is, and yet she continued dropping these hints even throughout book 7. Beyond Hogwarts 2007-09-01T13:36:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/the-trials-of-the-hogwarts-it-director.html Headmaster: I regret that I must resign my position, effective two weeks ago, at least. It is simply impossible under these conditions to create a modern, integrated, flexible IT architecture aligned with the school's educational mission and objectives. Despite my best efforts, Hogwarts' IT communications infrastructure will remain dependent on owls, talking letters, the use of Floo powder and a fireplace network, and of course, divinations, dreams and visions. Beyond Hogwarts 2007-08-17T14:03:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/comments/severus-snape-heel-or-hero.html Is Snape a hero? Would James and Lily be alive now if not for him? Would Harry be dead now if not for him? Did he ever care about Harry, or only Lily? At the end of the epilogue, Harry says that Severus Snape was the bravest man he ever knew. Did he feel that way only after years of reflection? How do we feel now, while it's still fresh for us? Beyond Hogwarts 2007-08-01T08:00:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/jk-rowling-goes-beyond-the-epilogue.html J.K. Rowling has announced in a new interview with that the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was vague on purpose. She admitted her original epilogue was "a lot more detailed," but now that Book 7 is in our hands, J.K. no longer has to hold back any information about Harry Potter, and has now given us a lot of new details about the story and the characters. Beyond Hogwarts 2007-07-26T10:59:00-08:00 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/the-aftermath-we-were-all-correct.html Sometime a week before Book 7 came out, someone commented that Harry would die, but then come back. I think most everyone on the site thought it was a silly idea. But I told several people at that time that I thought that just might be the perfect solution, although I couldn't figure out how J.K. could make it work. J.K. did, of course! So, the half of the Harry Potter fans in the world who thought Harry would die were right! And the other half who thought he would live were also right! Beyond Hogwarts 2007-07-22T12:15:00-08:00