Harry Potter: latest news & rumours 

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Harry Potter: latest news & rumours

Rowling\'s Fantastic Beasts script is finished... The latest news, rumours and stories about Harry Potter and JK Rowling

Aspiring wizards have at last got the chance to brew up potions, play Quidditch, and live, eat and sleep in a castle just like Hogwarts, thanks to The College of Wizardry.

In November, a four-day live-action roleplay event in Czocha Castle, Poland, saw 190 people from 11 different countries come together to create a Harry Potter school, and term will recommence in April next year.

"We got swamped by sign-ups and in two days the event was sold out. None of us had seen that coming," says Claus Raasted of Rollespilsfabrikken, one of the organisations behind the Potter school. "And here we are now with quite a bit of global interest for something that is in essence just a small, fan-made event."

You need to be over 18 to go to wizarding school, which costs £220 excluding travel. You can read the full story here, including which houses you can look forward to joining (and what robes you\'ll get).

JK Rowling has been working hard and now her first ever film script, for Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, is complete. Harry Potter producer David Heyman told us on the red carpet for his latest film, Paddington, that Rowling is done and the script is "wonderful".

In another interview with The Telegraph today, Heyman added: "Jo’s a good scriptwriter, too,’ Heyman says. ‘She is so smart, and her turn of phrase, the precision of the language she uses, is a joy to behold."

Heyman told us that was all he could say, but here\'s the story in full for a few more details on filming and direction.

Warner Bros has released a timelapse video, which depicts a team of workers covering a scale model of Hogwarts in snow.

While Durham Cathedral and Alnwick Castle in Northumberland in the main stood in for Hogwarts in Warner Bros\' series of Harry Potter films, the model shown in the video was used for additional exterior shots of the courtyard tower and turrets.

The miniature Hogwarts can be seen at the The Harry Potter studios tour, which is currently being billed as Hogwarts in the Snow. Visitors tempted to touch the snow might be surprised: it looks authentic, but is actually made from salt.

Read the full story and wtach the video here

Don\'t get too excited - it\'s not coming from Warner Bros. In fact, its creators want it to exist to give an antidote to the Harry Potter films, if it gets funded.

A group of students from Manchester are looking to raise £40,000 by the end of November to produce a film based on the Harry Potter book series by JK Rowling, the BBC reports.

Cameron Cairnduff, the Potter fan behind the project, said: "We want to make something people will want to watch and we want to create our own opportunities. There are no good Harry Potter fan films - they\'re all American and have low production values."

How he will top production values on a budget of £40,000 remains a mystery. Read the full story here.

Just as we had gotten over the excitement of the new JK Rowling writing that appeared on Pottermore last Friday, the Potter publishing site has lured us back wih a new Duelling Club. Promising the possibility of "becoming as talented as Professor Flitwick in casting spells and duelling", the Duelling Club can be joined by any Pottermore members, but you do need to buy some spellbooks from Flouish and Blotts and practice against your housemates before you challenge a rival from another house to a duel. Just remember: Expelliarmus!

"The extract about Umbridge is the longest and most revelatory, after Rowling’s admission that her treacly villain was based on one of her own teachers (though she has declined to say which one). Rowling is very good at villains and Umbridge remains one of her most vividly unpleasant creations. We discover how the young Dolores grew into the barbaric Ministry official who divided her family and then banished them from her life. Thankfully, Umbridge gets her comeuppance and is sent to Azkaban.

The other passages are uneven: a disappointingly flat section on the Naming Seers wouldn’t look out of place on Wikipedia. The piece on Thestrals is too short. Yet the history of Azkaban is so delightfully grisly I wish it was 5,000 words long, rather than a few hundred."

Forget trick or treating - if you are a Harry Potter fan, you\'re already guaranteed several treats this Halloween in the form of new essays by JK Rowling.

The best-selling author has published new work on her website, Pottermore, today.

Featured among the essays is 1,700 words on the unpleasant Hogwarts professor Dolores Umbridge, who was installed in the school\'s Defence Against The Dark Arts department by the Ministry of Magic. Umbridge is the only person aside from Lord Voldemort to physically harm Harry, and her draconian teaching methods are a mere hint of her darker intentions.

With his new horror film, Horns, coming out this weekend, the Harry Potter actor is making a lot of press appearances – and with such style. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and showed off his rap skills with what Fallon deemed "one of the trickiest, fastest songs I know". We\'ll let the video do the talking:

Daniel Radcliffe\'s Reddit AMA gave away amazing behind-the-scenes facts

Harry Potter\'s star, Daniel Radcliffe, took to Reddit to do a session on their Ask Me Anything forum last night and gave away all sorts of fascinating facts from his time on set. For instance, who knew that Snape actor Alan Rickman was as scary but, ultimately kind, as Severus himself? Even better, from this anecdote Rickman is clearly quite the practical joker too - even Peeves the Poltergeist would be put to shame:

"There\'s a shot of all the kids sleeping in the Great Hall, and the camera starts very wide, and comes in so that it\'s an inch from my face, a very long developing set. Alan Rickman decided he would plant one of those fart machines in my sleeping bag, and they waited until the camera had come in for this huge DRAMATIC developing shot, and then unleashed this tremendous noise in the great hall.

I immediately thought: \'This is one of the other kids f---ing around, and we were going to get in trouble.\'

But as it turns out, it was one of the members of Britain\'s acting royalty."

Radcliffe also spilled the beans on why he wasn\'t allowed to put his name in the Goblet of Fire, what he learned from director Chris Columbus and what he thought of late Dumbledore actor Richard Harris and more. Read the 12 things we learned from Daniel Radcliffe\'s AMA here, and check out the full AMA here.

Well it would be rude not to. Telegraph reporter Harry Wallop went and road-tested the rooms himself, and claims that "the atmosphere is certainly fun". Read his full report.

Katie Leung talks Cho Chang and Harry Potter

Katie Leung, the actress who plays Harry\'s love interest/Dumbledore\'s Army member Cho Chang, has said that although she\'s grateful for the role, she\'s glad she\'s escaped typecasting. Leung was named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit on Monday night and told The Telegraph about how Harry Potter affected her career: "I’ve been lucky enough to do gritty roles that takes me away from the Harry Potter Cho Chang character that I was.

I was incredibly grateful for it, but there is that fear that you’re never going to get away from the stereotype of that casting. I couldn’t have done anything more different after Potter.

"I wouldn’t even call that training, when I was doing Potter, because it was nothing I’d ever experienced before. It wasn’t like I had acting in mind at a young age, I just fell into it. It took me a long time before I could really decide that acting was something that I wanted to do for a long time."

Sadly, this Leaky Cauldron-esque accommodation isn\'t located in Diagon Alley. However, Potter fans heading to the Diagon Alley set at Warner Bros Studios can spend the night in a \'Wizard Chamber\' in Victoria\'s Georgian House Hotel.

The intention is to give guests the experience of a night in Hogwarts, with four-poster beds, potion bottles, cauldrons and other magical props. Midnight calls from Professor McGonagall or hooting from owls is, sadly, not included.

Read the full story for further details and prices here.

Ever wondered how Dolores Umbridge became so evil? A new story from JK Rowling promises to fill fans in when it arrives next week. On 31 October a new 1500 word story about the infamous Hogwarts professor on Pottermore which will be "filled with many new details, as well as Rowling’s revealing first-person thoughts and reflections about the character."

Lest we forget, the seemingly saccharine Dark magician is the only person other than Lord Voldemort to leave a permanent physical scar on Harry, after she made him write lines into his own skin. Surely something published on Halloween is bound to be a little scary?

The bad news is that Potter publisher Bloomsbury\'s ebook sales are down. However, a spokesperson from the company has promised that there will be "a huge surge in public interest in Harry Potter" in 2015, and new books to meet that demand.

The Telegraph reports that over the following year Bloomsbury will launch new children’s editions of the series and has commissioning artist Jim Kay to produce yet another edition with illustrations on every page. More beautiful books? Sounds good to us.

Take a sneak peak at the Dark Arts centre

The countdown has started: it is only weeks until Britain’s streets are flooded by children dressed as students at Hogwarts, the school for wizardry and home to Harry Potter – the boy who lived.

While studying at Hogwarts remains off limits to Muggles, the world of Harry Potter is easier to visit, and from October 14, the villains open their doors in a new Dark Arts exhibit at the Warner Bros Studio Tour.

Check out all the photos of the studio\'s dark side before it opens.

If that wasn\'t exciting enough, Bloomsbury have officially announced a Harry Potter book night on February 25, 2015.

The publisher promises that the event will give " new and existing fans a chance to share the wonder of J.K. Rowling’s unforgettable stories and, most excitingly, to introduce the next generation of readers to the unparalleled magic of Harry Potter. You are hereby invited to embrace the magic and banish the midwinter blues!"

Schools, bookshops, libraries and community groups will be invited by Bloomsbury to host early-evening events that celebrate Harry Potter Book Night, and are offering a kit to help "plan and host an unforgettable evening".

If you\'re a bookseller, librarian or teacher you\'re eligible to get the kit as long as you register by 28 November here. In the meantime, you have just over four months to start planning your party.

Harry Potter tops list of Facebook users\' favourite books

Have you named the 10 books which influenced you most greatly on Facebook? Because hundreds of thousands have, and of 130,000 status updates, Harry Potter has been mentioned in 21 per cent of them.

How Jonny Duddle re-imagined Harry Potter for a new generation

Jonny Duddle, children\'s illustrator and author, tells The Telegraph about his work and inspirations for drawing the new Harry Potter covers - including the consultation on process with JK Rowling and what the fans have said about his new Harry.

Rowling has picked up her quill again to reveal more about wizarding singing sensation Celestina Warbeck, who has eight homes, three marriages and a flock of pure-bred rough-coated Crups.

The Potter author\'s piece reads a bit like a Warbeck Wikipedia entry, with information on her fundraising efforts for St Mungo\'s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries (where Neville Longbottom\'s parents spent a lot of his childhood) and her disagreements with the Ministry for Magic over Hallo\'ween celebrations. There\'s also an audio clip of her song, You Stole My Cauldron But You Can\'t Have My Heart.

More relevatory, however, is a more personal exerpt from Rowling, in which she says that this "off-stage" character has existed as long as the Harry Potter series has: "I always imagined her to resemble Shirley Bassey in both looks and style...\'Celestina\' was simply begging to be scooped up and attached to a glamourous witch".

Daniel Radcliffe: \'I wasn\'t very good in Harry Potter\'

In an interview Radcliffe bemoaned his early break into acting, saying: "The moments I\'m not as proud of, mistakes other actors get to make in rehearsal rooms or at drama school, are all on film for everyone to see."

COMMENT: Daniel Radcliffe, stop getting caught in the past

Universal unveils Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Japan

A version of Florida\'s Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, and the Hogwarts film stars Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) and Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) turned up for the occasion. One question: when do we get one in the UK?

A Pottermore update written by JK Rowling in the guise of Rita Skeeter, the gossip columnist from wizarding newspaper The Daily Prophet, gives (dubious) insight into how Harry, Ron and Hermione are getting on in their adult lives.

Harry, now 34, is working as an auror and is spoting a mysterious wound on his cheekbone, as well as grey streaks in his hair. His wife Ginny is reporting on the Quidditch World Cup while her brother Ron has joined the Weasley\'s family joke shop business. Hermione, who is married to Ron, has naturally gone on to have a brilliant career as Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

WATCH: Harry Potter\'s return: three things we\'ve learnt from Pottermore

Texas shooting suvivor receives a letter from Dumbledore

Fifteen-year-old Cassidy Stay was the sole survivor of a shooting which killed her parents and four siblings. At their funeral, she read a quote from Hogwarts headmaster, Albus Dumbledore: "Happiness can be found even in the darkest times if one only remembers to turn on the light."

Her strength and tribute moved people around the world, and after an online campaign to arrange a meeting between Stay and JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author wrote her a letter in the famous purple ink favoured by Dumbledore. Stay also received a wand, an admission letter to Hogwarts and a signed copy of the third Harry Potter book.

The first cover of seven that have been redesigned by illustrator Jonny Duddle is revealed. Duddle says: "I couldn’t have asked for more enjoyable subject matter. It’s exciting, daunting and I feel the weight of responsibility, and I’m just hoping that my illustrations faithfully reflect the characters and world created by JK Rowling."

Cash burning a hole in your pocket? British illustrator Cliff Wright drew the original book covers and his sketches for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are going under the hammer.

JK Rowling can no longer be found in the Most Borrowed Children\'s Books list of 2013. Authors such as Jacqueline Wilson (Tracy Beaker), Francesca Simon (Horrid Henry), Daisy Meadows (Rainbow Magic), Lauren Child (Charlie and Lola) and Stephanie Meyer (Twilight) have taken her place.

In a rare public interview, Rowling admitted that she\'s known for 13 years - since 2000 - that she will never beat the success of Harry Potter. But the bestselling author is remarkably positive about that realisation, saying that her approach is: "how incredibly marvellous and liberating that I made money beyond my wildest dreams and I can affect issues I really care about".

Thankfully, Harry\'s runaway success won\'t stop her from writing.

Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara suggested that there could be more where Fantastic Beasts came from, and that they\'re "going to build a film franchise", giving the spin-off film the Harry Potter treatment.

Tsuijihara also said that the film will have a similar look and feel to the previous Hogwarts films, but there is still no information on a release date or filming location.

JK Rowling to make screenwriting debut in new Harry Potter spin-off

A new Hogwarts film will soon be upon us. Rowling will write her first ever screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, a textbook used by Harry, Ron, Hermione and other wizarding students and will follow the life of its author, Newt Scamander, in 1930s New York.

New Harry Potter story: everything you need to know

Aspiring wizards will get their chance to study magic in a castle in 2015

As Emma Watson picks up the Style Icon award at the 2014 British Fashion Awards, take a look at her style transformation from Harry Potter star, to fashion darling

Harry Potter producer: \'JK Rowling\'s Fantastic Beasts script is wonderful\'

David Heyman has shed more light on the Harry Potter spin-off\'s progress

Watch Warner Bros cover a scale model of Hogwarts in snow

From Aragog to Thestral, original concept art from the Harry Potter film series released in a magical new coffee table book

All the best films on release in cinemas this week plus our reviews of the movies to look out for

Harry Potter fans want to create the definitive fan film with £40,000

Manchester student Cameron Cairnduff to direct a new fan film based on JK Rowling\'s books

Watch: Emma Watson dedicates award to dead hamster

Harry Potter star delivers a peculiar dedication to her late hamster at Britannia Awards in Los Angeles

JK Rowling has published new Harry Potter material on Pottermore. Here\'s everything you need to know. Warning, spoilers ahead!

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