Ian Brown Holding Real Book In Prisoner of Azkaban

Now that we have the DVD of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban at our disposal, it is possible to uncover all kinds of fun facts about the movie.

For example, in the very first moments of the scene in the Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, ex-Stone Roses rocker Ian Brown, a friend of director Alfonso Cuaron, has a quick cameo in which he plays a wizard magically stirring his drink and reading a book.

Wizard News has learned that the book he’s holding is a real book, and it turns out the book is also an inside-joke related the storyline of the movie.

The book is A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, by Stephen W. Hawking.

Using the book was a cute inside-joke on the part of someone on the set of the movie, since the story of Prisoner of Azkaban is so involved with time-travel.

Here’s a description of the book from its inside flap:

In this landmark volume, Professor Stephen Hawking shares his blazing intellect with nonscientists everywhere, guiding us expertly to confront the supreme questions of the nature of time and the universe. Was there a beginning of time? Will there be an end? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries? From Galileo and Newton to modern astrophysics, from the breathtakingly cast to the extraordinarily tiny, Professor Hawking leads us on an exhilarating journey to distant galaxies, black holes, alternate dimensions–as close as man has ever ventured to the mind of God.

Cogently explained, passionately revealed, A Brief History of Time is the story of the ultimate quest for knowledge: the ongoing search for the tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space.

Sounds just like the kind of book Hermione would love, doesn’t it? Also, since a Wizard is reading the book in a magical pub, does this imply that Professor Hawking is perhaps not a muggle?