Harry Potter鈥檚 long spell
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
In the book series,听Harry Potter is known as The Boy Who Lived. And despite the fact that the concluding 鈥淗arry Potter and the Deathly Hallows鈥� came out in 2007 and the final 鈥淧otter鈥� movie was released in 2011, somehow Harry and his friends still live large in pop culture.聽
It may seem as if author J.K. Rowling has moved on. She鈥檚 now releasing books as mystery writer Robert Galbraith. And the Cormoran Strike series is for a very different audience than the 鈥淧otter鈥� books. The highly anticipated third installment, 鈥淐areer of Evil,鈥� is due out Oct. 20.聽
So why haven鈥檛 鈥淧otter鈥� fans moved on as well? The web of fansites, podcasts, fan conventions, role-playing games, landmark tours, documentaries, and music groups dedicated to Harry鈥檚 gang seems as strong as ever.
In fact, Rowling still tends to the 鈥淧otter鈥� universe. She鈥檚 an active presence on Twitter, often revealing 鈥渁ll new鈥� information about the world of 鈥淧otter鈥� in pithy tweets. And then there鈥檚 the website Pottermore, where users are students at the wizard school, Hogwarts. (They are 鈥渟orted鈥� into one of the school鈥檚 four houses, practice making potions, and participate in duels.) Occasionally, Rowling adds new content with a thoughtful essay.
Soon there will be more new stories set in the 鈥淧otter鈥� universe. The screenplay for the coming movie 鈥淔antastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,鈥� to be released November 2016, is by Rowling herself. The film tells the story of wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), who is an expert on magical creatures.
And of course, readers keep returning to the original books. Harry鈥檚 story is 鈥渁 very powerful coming-of-age narrative,鈥� Signe Cohen, who teaches a 鈥淧otter鈥� course at the University of Missouri, says. 鈥淓veryone can relate.鈥�
Ms. Cohen also believes another pastime has kept the 鈥淧otter鈥� community engaged and active: fan fiction, in which budding authors write their own stories about the much loved characters. 鈥淭he author has created such very vivid characters ... it appeals to their imagination,鈥� Cohen says.
