"Harry Potter" by J.K. Rowling: amazing facts and places of worship. Rowling family

"Harry Potter" by J.K. Rowling: amazing facts and places of worship. Rowling family

The fame of the young wizard Harry Potter has spread all over the planet! To date, 7 books have been written about this unusual boy, which have been translated into more than 60 languages. For each book, pictures were shot that have no less stunning success. The world created by the writer in these books is actively discussed in the media. So who wrote Harry Potter? Who is the person who could infect the whole world with his idea? The author is the Englishwoman J.K. Rowling. On the covers of her books, you can see the following initials: "J.K. Rowling". The letter K. stands for the name "Kathleen" - that was the name of the writer's grandmother. The fact is that the publishing house was afraid to publish Joan's first book, as they feared rejection from the readers. After all, Joan is a woman, and teenage boys were considered the main target audience of the future bestseller. Who would have thought that the book "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" printed on an old typewriter would bring Joan world fame, and people of all ages would read the novel. But then no one knew about this success, so the writer had to introduce herself through initials.

The first book was followed by six others, which were no worse than the first. Perhaps soon J.K. Rowling will delight us with the continuation of the Harry Potter story. In the meantime, we can enjoy wonderful films and computer games.

The novel "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was published in 1997 and was recognized as the best children's book of the year. Now J.K. Rowling is the richest woman in England, and all this thanks to her work. In addition to seven screened novels, J.K. Rowling has released another book directly related to the previous ones. It's called Harry Potter: The Backstory (2008).

Films based on books are gathering full cinemas. The first two books were screened by Warner Bros. Thanks to her and the famous director Chris Columbus, the world saw magnificent films, in which the role of the main character was played by a very young Daniel Radcliffe. This was followed by film adaptations of all the following books.

Interesting facts about J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter:

  • In 2006, J.K. Rowling was named Britain's greatest contemporary writer.
  • J. Rowling was born July 31, 1965 Harry Potter - July 31, 1980
  • The writer created the site pottermore.com, where she promised to post new information about Harry Potter.
  • Once the family of the writer moved to live in the town of Winterbourne, where four-year-old Joan met and made friends with children named Potter.
  • Joan wrote her first work at the age of six. It was a short story about the adventures of a rabbit.
  • The first Harry Potter book was sold to Bloomsbury for $ 4,000. After that, Joan did not need to work as a teacher anymore, and she devoted herself entirely to creativity.

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J.K. Rowling or a success story

The material was "taken away" from the site http: // site /

There is hardly a person who would not have heard this name at least once in his life. This British writer went down in history as the author of the most sensational children's series, a wizard boy who lost his parents early and grew up in his aunt's family. With the appearance of an owl with a letter in the house, the boy's life changed dramatically, and his world was transformed.

A famous pilgrimage site for Harry Potter fans is Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station. Installed in honor of the writer who used it in her books as a gateway to the world of magic ...

The famous "Potteriana" includes 7 books that have been awarded several prestigious awards and have sold over 400 million copies worldwide. Thus, they became the most popular series of books, which laid the foundation for a number of films, in turn, became the highest grossing in the history of cinema. The scripts of the films were approved by the writer herself, she also controlled the entire creative process of shooting and even produced the last part herself.

In addition to books about a wizard boy, she also published books for adults "The Accidental Vacancy" (2012) and a series of books about the detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin - "Call of the Cuckoo" (2013) from her pen under the pseudonym of Robert Galbert. ), "Silkworm" (2014) and "Career of Evil" (2015).

Having learned the history of the creation of her first novel, I was shocked by the strength of the spirit of this courageous woman who, in five years, managed to go from unemployed, living on social benefits to a multimillionaire with world fame.

The history of the creation of Harry Potter

Rowling began writing as a child. I read my fantastic stories to my sister. A thirst for knowledge and an interest in philology was instilled in her by her great-aunt. in adolescence was difficult. The mother was sick, and the relationship with the father did not work out: they did not speak. The future writer studied at the Weidin School, where her mother was an employee of the science department. According to Rowling herself, Hermione (the know-it-all girl from the Harry Potter books) is her own caricature - the one she was at the age of 11, and who, by the way, was not particularly proud of. The image of Ron Weasley (Harry's best friend) is partially borrowed from Sean Harris, the best friend of the future writer in the sixth grade. By the way, he just had a turquoise Ford Anglia car, which served as inspiration for the magic car in the books.

Rowling studied English, French and German. I passed the final exams with two excellent marks and one good mark. Having failed her exams at Oxford University in 1982, she was admitted to the University of Exeter. After a year in Paris, Joan graduated from Exter with a BA in French and Classical Philology in 1986. After moving to London, she received the position of secretary-translator at the research department of Amnesty International.

The idea for a novel about a wizard boy who went to Hogwarts School of Wizardry came to her suddenly during a train ride from Manchester to London in 1990. The train was delayed for four hours on its way to King's Cross station, which would later become a popular destination for tourists who read Harry Potter, where it appears as a kind of portal to the wizarding world. According to Joan, she herself does not know where the idea of ​​creating the book came from, but it all started with the name Harry, and the rest of the characters and situations surfaced by themselves. Never before had an idea captured her as much as that day. She did not have a pen at hand, and she was ashamed to ask her fellow travelers, and therefore she simply sat and pondered the plot of the future book. In the four hours that the train stopped at the station, a thin, black-haired boy with glasses with a scar on his forehead became more and more real to her. The first few pages of The Philosopher's Stone were written that evening, but they were still very far from the book's finished idea.

31 july is not only the birthday of the beloved character of millions of people around the world, Harry potter , but also the author of a series of books about the "boy who survived" - Joanne Rowling ... Probably everyone knows that Harry was born in 1990 on a napkin, while Rowling, who was still barely making ends meet, was waiting for the train, but not everyone knows that:

The need for initials, concealing the gender of the author, as conceived by the publishers, forced Joan to choose some letter in addition to "J" and she decided to stop at "K" in memory of her beloved grandmother. By the way, due to the fact that it was initially unknown who wrote the saga about Harry - a man or a woman - the first letter from a fan began: "Dear sir." Itself J.K. said then: "It was the decision of the publishing house, but they could call me whatever they wanted, even though Inid Snodgras, I didn't care - I just really wanted the book to be published."

One of Edinburgh's coffee shops, where Joan wrote her first books, accompanied by her sleeping daughter Jessica.

There is a very personal reason why King's Cross plays such an important role in the lives of Harry and his friends (it is from here that young wizards leave platform 9 3/4 each year to study at Hogwarts). This London station is the meeting place for the parents of today's birthday girl. “For me, King's Cross is a very, very romantic place, the most romantic train station solely because my parents met here for the first time. Therefore, this place has always been a part of our family“ folklore. ”I wanted Harry to get to Hogwarts by train and, of course, he had to go from King's Cross ", - said in an interview with Joan. By the way, besides Rowling's and Potter's birthday, there is one more fact in common - both fathers' name was James.


"Usually real people inspire character creation, but once they are in your head, they turn into something different. Professor Snape and Gilderoy Lockhart both" started "as exaggerated versions of people I know, but on the pages of the book they turned out differently. here Hermione looks like me at 11 years old, only she is much smarter. " Apparently, this is why Hermione's Patronus is Rowling's favorite animal - the otter.

At 25, Joan became a single mother after a brief "disastrous" marriage. In an interview, the writer and screenwriter said: “It dawned on me what a mess was going on in my life. We were as poor as possible, without becoming homeless, living on welfare. And at that moment I fell into the deepest depression. this is a state to someone who has never been in it, because it is not sadness. I know sadness. When you are sad, you cry, you feel something. Depression is a cold lack of feelings, emptiness. These are the Dementors. "


Quidditch was invented in a Manchester hotel after an altercation with his then-boyfriend. “I was thinking that sport unites society, that men are acutely worried about the events on the playing field, angry that it was very useful in that state of mine,” Rowling wrote in a book dedicated to the most popular game, The Potterians. Joan considers basketball to be the Muggle version of Quidditch. In an interview Amazon she said: “There was a need for a game for wizards, and I always wanted a game with more than one ball. This idea struck me as funny. I had a lot of fun making up the rules - I still have a notebook with diagrams, diagrams and all the names for the balls that came to my mind before I settled on the Quaffle, Bludger and Snitch. "

"After finishing the books about Harry, I realized that the character with whom I would like to have dinner is Dumbledore. We have something to discuss and I would be glad to his advice. I think everyone in life would like to meet Dumbledore," she said then Rowling, adding that she often dreams of Albus. The name "Dumbledore" has its own background - it means "bee" in Old English, and the author chose it because "she imagined the professor humming to herself."


In books about the "boy who survived" the number seven - one of the most powerful magic numbers - has a special place:

  • seven books about Harry;
  • training at Hogwarts lasts seven years;
  • there are seven players on the Quidditch team;
  • Voldemore has seven Horcruxes;
  • the Weasleys have seven children;
  • there are seven locks on Professor Moody's chest;
  • seven times Harry escaped death at the hands of Voldemore before killing him.

Living in Winterbourne, near Bristol, little Joan met and became friends with the Potters - brother and sister. The girl liked their last name more than her own, which was always either mispronounced or transformed into nicknames like rolling pin, that is, "rolling pin".


Rowling's eldest daughter, born in a short, as we remember, marriage with TV journalist Jorge Arantes is named after Jessica Mitford: “Mitford has been my idol since I was 14 years old. My great-aunt told how, at the age of 19, Jessica fled from home to Spain, to the very epicenter of the civil war, while secretly buying a camera with her father's money. It was the camera that hooked me, and I began to ask about the further fate of this girl. "


In 2001, Joan got married for the second time - a doctor became her chosen one. Neil Murray, with whom the writer has two children in common: a son and a daughter. Due to the overwhelming popularity of her books, Rowling had to buy her wedding dress incognito, resorting to disguise for the first time: "I just wanted to marry Neal without any fuss." But how and with the help of what the camouflage was carried out, we did not know. “What if I have to use it again?” Joanne told inquisitive reporters.

"A bracelet hung with charm pendants at first glance seems just a cool little thing. But what other piece of jewelry is so filled with memories? These are personal amulets. For 20 years I had an adored bracelet, but one day it was stolen from my apartment in Manchester, along with I lost not only the bracelet, but also the jewelry that I inherited from my mother, who died just three months before. Compared to the loss of my mother, this was a trifle, but I was very upset. Jewelry does not change, does not deteriorate, it's kind of a guide to the past, "Rowling shared with her readers. Harper "s Bazaar... On the day of the publication of the seventh book about Harry, the editor Bloomsbury, Emma, ​​gave Joan a gold bracelet with "Potteriana" charm charms: a little gold snitch, a silver car Ford anglia, a whirlpool of memory and a patronus in the shape of a deer and a philosopher's stone, and, according to the writer, this was the most expensive jewelry for her after the wedding ring.


Both actors admitted that at one time they were in love with "Hermione" and the awkwardness associated with this circumstance sometimes prevented them from concentrating on the text of the script. However, when the feelings subsided and the young actors became just friends, it was also not easy to shoot some scenes: for example, during Daniel and Emma's kiss, "Ron" laughed so hard that he had to be taken out of the set. By the way, according to the director's idea, before the filming began, this three, inseparable in the plot, had to write a short essay about their characters in order to "get to know" them better. The result was in the spirit of Harry, Ron and Hermione: Emma Watson completed 16 pages, Daniel limited himself to one sheet, and Rupert did not pass the essay at all.

This Canadian girl adored Harry and, alas, was terminally ill. Her mother asked Rowling to write a letter to Natalie. The message reached the writer too late, and Joan's response, in which she told her fan about the future fate of each of the heroes, was received by her heartbroken mother. The women corresponded and subsequently became friends, and Natalie became part of the Gryffindor House for her courage and resilience in the face of leukemia.


From a short essay posted on the website Pottermore We learned that Joan felt guilty about death Floriana Fortescue- the owner of an ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley: “I made it so that he was kidnapped and killed for no reason. He is not the first wizard to be killed by Voldemore, but only because of him I feel remorse, because I alone was to blame for his death. " "A guide" in the search for clues, so I introduced him to Harry at the very beginning of our story. The problem was that when I started writing the key moments of Deathly Hallows, I decided that Phineas Nigelus Black would be a more convenient source of information. "


One of Rowling's dearest things is the first edition of Jane Austen's book: "She's my favorite writer, I've read her books so many times that I've lost count ... If I could become a literary character, I would be Elizabeth Bennett, of course. "Another book heroine, sunk in the heart - this is Joe March from" Little Women ", because" she had an explosive character and an irresistible desire to write books. " would like with Charles Dickens.

But Rowling is not at all worried about this. She also did not watch the film and does not plan.

And her first loyal reader was her younger sister, Diana. The book was about a rabbit named ... A rabbit who did a lot of things atypical for his eared companions. “As soon as I realized that books are being written, I realized the concept of writing stories, all I wanted to do was write. I don’t remember that I wanted to do something else in my life,” Rowling said in an interview with the TV channel. ABC.



"I am very sorry to upset my fans, and perhaps some of them will be angry with me, but to be absolutely honest, recently, moving away from this story aside, I understand that I made a choice in favor of Ron. purely for literary reasons and in order not to change the originally planned plot, "- said Joan in a recent interview. "Mrs. Weasley" agrees with her: "I am sure there are fans who also doubt whether Ron could have made Hermione happy", - believes Emma Watson.

After finishing work on the seventh book, she left the following inscription on the bust in a Scottish hotel room Balmoral: "JK Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) January 11, 2007"... But this is far from the most highly artistic painting of the author, dedicated to her beloved Harry - in Rowling's house there is such a independently decorated chair:


Having lived on the brink of poverty for so many years, she is not fully aware of her current well-being. When Oprah Winfrey asked if she accepted the fact that now she will always be rich, Rowling replied: "No, and you?", Referring to the psychological, not the monetary side of the issue. But periodic outbursts of concern for the well-fed future of her family do not at all prevent Joan from doing charity work: helping orphans and funding funds to support people suffering from incurable diseases.


We sincerely congratulate "Cinderella of the World of Literature" on her birthday and hope that she will continue to delight us with new books both under her own name and !

An English writer best known by her pseudonym J.K. Rowling (J.K. Rowling, Joanne Katheline Rowling), author of a series of Harry Potter novels translated into 64 languages. In 2001, J.K. Rowling won the Hugo Prize for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor (2009).


Born July 31, 1965 in Yeith, Gloucestershire (16 km northeast of Bristol). Parents - Peter James Rowling and Anne Rowling, before marriage - Volant. Sister Dianne (Di) was born 2 years later than Joanna - June 28, 1967.

When Joan was 4 years old, the family moved to the village of Winterbourne. In Winterbourne, she and her sister played with a girl and a boy named Potters. Joan attended St. Michaels Elementary School, founded over 200 years ago by William Wilberforce.

The mother gave all her time to her daughters. Ann loved to read books to children. By the time she was five, Joanna almost knew all children's books by heart. At the age of six, she showed her mother her first story about the adventures of a rabbit named Rabbit.

The family moved again when she was nine years old - to Tutshill near Chepstow in Forest of Dean. When Joan was 15, her mother fell ill. The diagnosis is multiple sclerosis.

In her senior year, Joanne decided that she would go to Oxford. She successfully passed the entrance exams, her last name was included in the list of candidates, but she never became a student at a prestigious university. Joanne decided not to try again and not to waste a year, so she applied to the University of Exeter (Exeter) in Devon, where she was enrolled in 1983. She wanted to study her native English, but at the insistence of her parents she chose the French department.

After graduating from university, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree, Rowling moved to Forks, where she changed several jobs. She worked as a secretary-translator for the London office of Amnesty International and briefly at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

In 1990, J.K. Rowling moved to Manchester.

On December 30, 1990, at the age of 45, Joanna's mother died, who was practically paralyzed for several years before her death. After that Joan decided to leave England for Portugal.

In 1991, at the age of 26, Joanna went to Portugal to teach English. She gave lessons in the afternoon and evening, and composed in the morning. During this time, she began work on her third novel (the first two are cast as "very bad"). The new book was about a boy who discovered that he was a wizard and went to a wizarding school.

In Portugal, in August 1992, Joan married student journalist Jorge Arantes. Their daughter, Jessica, was born in 1993. The couple divorced the same year. After the divorce, Rowling and her daughter moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, closer to Dee's younger sister.

In Edinburgh, Joanna went to paint Harry Potter at the Nicholsons Cafe, owned by her sister's husband.

The Scottish Art Council gave her a grant to complete the book and, after a series of rejections, she ultimately sold Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to Bloomsbury UK for US $ 4,000. During this time, Rowling works as a French teacher.

A few months later, Arthur A. Levin / Teaching Literature buys the American rights to the book for enough money to stop her from teaching.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was released in June 1997 and became a sensation - the novel by an aspiring and unknown writer was recognized in Great Britain as the best children's book of the year. The rights to publish the novel were acquired by the American publishing house of Arthur Levine, and in October 1998 the book was reissued in the United States with a slightly changed title, Harry Potter and the Wizard's Stone.

Subsequently, J.K. Rowling never adapted the titles of the novels for the American audience.

The first novel was followed by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince "(2005). The seventh and final novel of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows series went on sale in the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as several other countries in 2007. Rowling has repeatedly assured that the seventh novel will be the last in the series, but on the eve of its release, she did not rule out that she would write a continuation of the adventures of her heroes in the future.

In 1998, Warner Bros. bought the rights to film two of Rowling's novels.

In 2001, the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was released, directed by the American director Chris Columbus, famous for the films "Home Alone", "Bicentennial Man" and "Mrs. Doubtfire". He also became the director of the next film based on the works of Rowling "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." Adaptations of Rowling's third, fourth and fifth novels appeared in 2004, 2006 and 2007, and the sixth film (The Half-Blood Prince) was released in 2009. The seventh book will be divided into 2 films, which will be released in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

The Harry Potter series has been translated into over 60 languages. More than 250 million books have been sold worldwide.

The success of the series with readers, as well as films based on the novels, brought Rowling worldwide fame and fortune. Since 2004, J.K. Rowling has been the richest woman in the UK. Forbes magazine in 2008 estimated her fortune at $ 1 billion.

J.K. Rowling has won numerous prestigious literary awards, including Nestle Smarties Gold Award (three times), British Book Awards, Children 's Book Award (twice), The Booksellers Association / The Bookseller Author of the Year Award (twice), Scottish Arts Council Children 's Book Award (twice), the Spanish Prize of the Prince of Asturias.

In 2000, Rowling was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

On December 4, 2008, in 25 countries, including Russia, a new book by J.K. Rowling "Tales of the Bard Beadle" appeared in bookstores. All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to The Children 's High Level Group, a charity that advocates for children's rights in Eastern Europe. However, Beadle's Tales will not end Potterianism. Rowling said she plans to write an encyclopedia of all parts of the novel. ...

Rowling is actively involved in charity work. In particular, she supports the Single Parents Foundation and the Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation, the disease from which her mother died.

On December 26, 2001, J.K. Rowling remarried the Edinburgh anesthesiologist Neil Scott Murray. In March 2003, the couple had a son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, and in January 2005, a daughter, Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray.

(eng Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray).

Name

The real name of the writer is Joanne Rowling, not Joanne Kathleen Rowling, as many think. Before the first publication, the publisher feared that boys would be reluctant to buy a book written by a woman. Therefore, Rowling was asked to use initials instead of full name. In this case, it was required that the initials consisted of two letters. Rowling did not have a middle name and chose her grandmother's name, Kathleen, for the second initial, J. K. Rowling. She also chose this name because of the alphabetical consonance - in the English alphabet, the letter K comes right after the letter J. In December 2001, the writer got married and took her husband's surname - Murray, but continued to write under the name J.K Rowling.

Keywords: When was J.K. Rowling born? Where was J.K. Rowling born? How old is J.K. Rowling? What is J.K. Rowling's marital status? What is J.K. Rowling famous for? Whose Citizenship is J.K. Rowling?

(J. K. Rowling), - British writer.

Aliases: J.K. Rowling, Newt Scamander, Kennyworthy Whisp, Robert Galbraith.

J.K. Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury in Gloucestershire, near Bristol, and became the eldest of two daughters in the family. When the future writer was nine years old, the Rowlings moved to the town of Chepstow in County Gwent (Wales). After graduating from high school there in 1983, Rowling entered the University of Exeter, where she studied French. This gave her the opportunity to spend a year in Paris.
After graduating from university with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Rowling moved to London, where she changed several jobs. She spent most of her time with the international human rights organization Amnesty International. In 1990, the future writer moved to Manchester, and then she first came up with the idea of ​​a children's book about a wizard boy. In the same 1990, Rowling's mother died of multiple sclerosis. A few months later, Joan got a job as an English teacher in Porto, Portugal's second largest city.
In Port Rowling met her future husband, TV journalist Jorge Arantes. They got married in 1992, from which they had a daughter, Jessica. Pretty soon Rowling and Arantes parted: her husband, according to the writer, literally kicked her and her daughter out of the house. By Christmas 1994, Rowling returned to the UK. Together with her daughter, she moved to Edinburgh, where her younger sister Dee lived at the time. By this time, much of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, had already been written. In an effort to complete the book, Rowling did not take a permanent job and was finishing the novel in cafes, including in the popular Nicolson's, owned by her relative.

In 1995, Rowling sent a whitepaper version of the novel to two literary agents, and the first returned the text almost immediately, not considering it promising, and the second - Christopher Little - nevertheless undertook to attach the manuscript. He succeeded a year later: "Harry Potter" interested a small London publishing house Bloomsbury. His collaborator Barry Cunningham in August 1996 offered the writer a modest advance (£ 1,500), which Rowling readily accepted.
The first edition of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" came out in 1997 and amounted to only a thousand copies, half of which went to children's libraries. The book did not make much of an impression, but it was noticed by critics. Scottish organization The Scottish Art Council has provided Rowling with a grant so that she can begin the second volume of the "Potterians".
In the same year, at the professional fair of children's literature publishers in Bologna, Barry Cunningham managed to sell the rights to the American edition of Harry Potter to the Scholastiс publishing house, which offered the writer an unusually large advance for a debutante - 105 thousand dollars. The writer had, however, to change the title of the book to "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" ("Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone"). Subsequently, she never adapted the titles of the novels for the American audience.
The second Harry Potter book ("Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets") appeared in 1998. In the same year, the Warner Bros. bought the rights to film two of Rowling's novels. They were released in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Both were directed by Chris Columbus. Rowling herself wanted to see British Terry Gilliam as the director of the films, but the choice remained with the studio.

The third and fourth novels ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", in Russian translation respectively "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire") were published in 1999 and 2000 years.
Right after Christmas 2001 (December 26) J.K. Rowling remarried. This time, Edinburgh anesthesiologist Neil Scott Murray became her chosen one. The birth of two children (in March 2003 the couple had a son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, and in January 2005, a daughter of Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray) slowed down work on new sequels to "Potteriana". The fifth book ("Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix", "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix") was published in 2003, and the sixth ("Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince") - in 2005.
The seventh and final novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, hit stores in the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as several other countries, at midnight on 21 July 2007 local time. The premiere of Rowling's book was preceded by a series of leaks: several hackers and pirates posted synopsis, and then digital photos of the American edition of the book on the Internet. An investigation undertaken by the Scholastic publishers revealed the sources of the leaked photographs: they turned out to be Levy Home Entertainment (LHE) and DeepDiscount.com, which, despite the embargo, delivered approximately 1,200 copies of the novel to American readers. Someone from the buyers uploaded the reprinted pages of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" to the file-sharing networks. In addition, two days before the publication of the novel, The New York Times published a review of the novel, written by the leading critic of the publication Michiko Kakutani. The author admitted that she bought the book from one of the New York stores, which also violated the embargo. Rowling and publishers Bloomsbury and Scholastic have asked those who already have copies of the novel to "not spoil the pleasure of other readers."
Adaptations of Rowling's third, fourth, and fifth novels appeared in 2004, 2006 and 2007, respectively. The sixth film ("The Half-Blood Prince") was released in 2009, the seventh ("Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows") is expected to be released in two parts. The first part of "Deathly Hallows" was released in 2010, and the second - in 2011.

Rowling has repeatedly assured that the seventh novel will be the last in the series, but on the eve of its release, she did not rule out that she would write a continuation of the adventures of her heroes in the future. Her agent also announced that the writer plans to publish an encyclopedia of characters and realities from her novels.
The total worldwide circulation of the first six Harry Potter novels was 325 million. In March 2007, the fortune of 41-year-old Rowling was estimated by Forbes magazine at a billion dollars.

Harry Potter novels have brought the writer numerous awards, including the Nestle Smarties Gold Award (three times), British Book Awards, Children 's Book Award (twice), The Booksellers Association / The Bookseller Author of the Year Award (twice), Scottish Arts Council Children 's Book Award (twice), Spanish Prize of the Prince of Asturias. In 2000, Rowling became a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Rowling does a lot of charity work. In particular, she supports the Single Parents Foundation and the Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation, the disease from which her mother died.
Rowling is named among the close friends of Sarah Brown, wife of the current British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

20.10.2010 Lenta.ru J.K. Rowling became the first recipient of the Andersen Prize
British writer J.K. Rowling is the first recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Literary Award, CBC News reports. This newly established award recognizes children's writers for their closeness to Andersen's ideas.
The award ceremony took place on October 19 in Andersen's homeland, in the Danish city of Odense. The monetary remuneration for the laureate of the prize is 500 thousand kroons (about 100 thousand dollars).

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley lived at number four Privet Drive and always proudly declared that they were, thank God, absolutely normal people. From someone, and from them it was impossible to expect them to find themselves in some strange or mysterious situation. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were very disapproving of any oddities, riddles and other nonsense.

Harry Potter enters the second year of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Elf Dobby warns Harry about the danger that awaits him there, and asks him not to return to school. The young wizard does not follow the elf's advice and becomes a witness to the mysterious events unfolding at Hogwarts. Soon, Harry and his friends learn about the existence of the Chamber of Secrets and face new adventures, trying to defeat the dark forces.

J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Face of the Serpent

In recent years, J.K. Rowling has not written children's books. Her latest work - the novel "The Accidental Vacancy" amazed readers and critics with an abundance of "dirty" bed scenes and swearing. That is why fans of the Boy Who Lived were so anxiously awaiting the release of the eighth series of the Harry Potter book. And J.K. Rowling lived up to the fans' fears. Here is an abstract of the last book of the famous saga.

From translators:
This is the first popular translation of Harry Potter and the Cup of Fire (Book 4 - December 4, 2001 version - last revised Jan 28, 2002). All books are being edited. The corrected version and continuation on the website: http://harrypotter.internetmagazin.ru Write your comments and suggestions to the project coordinator - Polina:
When using excerpts from translation, a link to the site is required.

For the umpteenth time in house number four on Priyuchinny proezd at breakfast a quarrel was in full swing. A loud hoot coming from Harry's nephew's room woke Mr. Vernon Dursley at night.

It was never easy being Harry Potter, but when he became a husband, a father of three children and an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, it didn't get any easier. As Harry struggles with his past, his youngest son Albus is faced with a family legacy that he never wanted.

Jack Thorne's play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" is based on a new story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne. This is the eighth Harry Potter story and the first official stage production. A special rehearsal edition of the script - a continuation of the journey of Harry Potter, his friends and family - was released simultaneously with the premiere of the play in London's West End on July 30, 2016 and immediately became a bestseller.

The story of J.K. Rowling, whose books have been among the most popular in the world for many years, is like the tale of Cinderella. From an almost impoverished inhabitant of foggy England, thanks to the tales of Harry Potter, she turned into the favorite writer of millions of children and adults. How did she manage to achieve all this and not get sick with such a contagious "star" disease?

Childhood years of the future writer

J.K. Rowling was born on the same day as her literary "child" Harry Potter - July 31, but in 1965. Her parents - Peter and Anne Rowling - were ordinary people who did not live well.

A little less than 2 years after Joan, her younger sister Dianne was born, with whom the novelist has always been very close.

Rowling's fortune, even in his best years, was modest, so the sisters had to earn extra money from a young age, cleaning in the local church, even in winter. They paid very little for this work, but it was the only opportunity to get their own money for young Dianne and J.K. Rowling.

The biography of the future writer formed the basis for many episodes of her books. Perhaps that is why they look so realistic, despite the fact that they are fairy tales. So, for example, the girl's parents met at the King's Cross station, and Joan received her education at St. Michael's Primary School, which became the prototype of Hogwarts. And its director was named Alfred Dunn, so it's easy to guess what name he appeared in the epic. Sean Harris - Joan's childhood friend - became the prototype of Ron, and the writer She portrayed herself during her school years, and it is worth noting that Sean had his own Ford Anglia car, which played a key role in the book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Rowling developed an interest in the writing profession very early on. While still a schoolgirl, she composed fairy tales and read them to her younger sister. Not surprisingly, after graduating from high school (in 1982), Joan went to study French and German philology at the University of Exeter.

Death of J.K. Rowling's mother

Despite the fact that the family of the novelist was not rich, Joan recalls her childhood years as one of the happiest in her life. Before her mother began to show symptoms of multiple sclerosis (from which the woman later died), Anne Rowling constantly arranged holidays for her daughters, for which she baked delicious cakes. However, when the fatal illness began to manifest itself, and the doctors sent the unfortunate home to die, the life of the family became a real hell.

Ann tried to hold on to the last, but her health deteriorated at a catastrophic rate. This period was deeply traumatic for Joan. Subsequently, it was because of this that J.K. Rowling made her books so gloomy and sad.

There are things the novelist regrets the most in her life, in particular, the fact that her mother never found out about her daughter's new romance, although at the time of her death (1990) Rowling had already fully thought out the plot of Harry Potter and the Philosopher "s Stone.

Relationship with father and work in Portugal

The death of Anne Rowling was very hard for the family. To help his daughters cope with all this, Peter Rowling did not allow the girls to see their mother dead, which Joan could not forgive him.

Because of this tragedy, each family member became withdrawn into himself, and the relationship between father and daughters became increasingly cool. And then they completely went wrong, not resuming to this day.

After graduation (1986) Joanne Rawlin worked as a secretary in London. But she soon left for Portugal to teach English at an evening school.

J.K. Rowling and the young wizard with the scar

It was here, in between classes at school, that J.K. Rowling wrote the first 3 chapters of the future novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The writer wrote the plot of this work much earlier, when one day she was traveling from Manchester to London. On that day, the train was delayed for 4 hours. Suddenly Miss Rowling had the idea to write a fairy tale about a wizard boy. Taking advantage of the forced expectation, she managed to think over the plot of the entire novel, so when she got to the pen and paper, she wrote down her idea.

However, she was able to fully engage in the novel only in Portugal, when she moved at least a little from the worries about the death of her mother. But at that time it was not destined to finish writing his masterpiece J.K. Rowling. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" came out of the writer's pen later, because she got married and had a child, and due to these worries, she did not have time to write. But when she broke up with her husband, the writer did not have the opportunity to stay in Portugal with her four-month-old daughter in her arms. Therefore, she returned to her homeland.

But I couldn't find a job. At that moment, Rowling began to feel depressed, because of which she felt that life was over, and there was no hope. More than once at these moments, the future writer was visited by thoughts of suicide, but the woman managed to overcome them: she decided to finish writing her novel and try to publish it. For months, living on unemployment benefits, constantly fearing that social services might take her daughter away from her, Joan typed her novel on an old typewriter. When he was ready (1995), the woman managed to find a literary agency, Christopher Little Literary Agents, to represent her interests. The manuscripts of the book were sent to many publishers, and 12 of them refused to print it. In the end, Bloomsbury agreed to publish J.K. Rowling's debut novel (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) and paid her £ 1,500 in advance.

However, before the book was published, a long 2 years passed, during which Rowling continued to live in poverty. Her philological education turned out to be useless to anyone in Great Britain, so she began to study at the Pedagogical School of the University of Edinburgh in order to have the right to teach in England.

After the release of the debut novel about Harry Potter (1997), its creator instantly became famous in her homeland and received an 8000th grant to write a sequel to the novel, which was released the following year and confirmed that "Harry Potter" is not a one-day story. Now, almost every year, Rowling wrote one book, which children around the world enjoyed reading. Her fees grew exponentially. And when Warner Bros. bought the rights to film adaptation, the former impoverished single mother turned into a millionaire.

Soon (2001), the first motion picture of the cycle was released, and now even those who have not read Rowling's books have become fans of the epic based on them. It is noteworthy that the status of a cult was acquired not only by the books and characters themselves, but also by their creator. Children and adolescents all over the world were just crazy about her, because she was the only one who knew the secret of the future Harry Potter and his friends. For her autographs, fans from all over the world stood in lines for hours.

However, with the advent of fame, her unpleasant companions also came. So, having become the most famous children's writer of our time, Rowling has become a frequent heroine of the yellow press. She was accused of all mortal sins, including a creative crisis. In addition, Joan and her family were persecuted by reporters and fans everywhere, and sometimes went as far as rummaging through the trash near her home.

Fortunately, the novelist managed to cope with all this with dignity, and when in 2007 she completed the seventh novel of the cycle - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the writer believed that she was putting an end to this topic.

New Potter book

However, years passed and she changed her mind. Thus, in 2016, the play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" was published as a separate book.

J.K. Rowling in this long-awaited work for many fans told how the further fate of her heroes developed.

In the same 2016, the play was staged in the UK, and for the first time in its history, Hermione was played by a black actress.

Soon after the release, the writer was offered to sell the rights to the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. J.K. Rowling refused this, motivating her act by the fact that the book was written for a theater production. However, Warner Bros. just in case, created the brand Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, if Joan, known for her fickle temper, still allows her to make a movie based on this work.

Rowling's charity books

In addition to the novels about the fate of Harry and his comrades, in 2001 the writer wrote 2 short stories: "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "Quidditch: From Antiquity to the Present." Both of these books were read at different times by the young wizard Potter.


It is noteworthy that these stories were intended for a charitable foundation, which raised almost 16 million pounds for their publication. And in 2016, Part I of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was filmed. Its sequel is due out in screens in 2018.

New Literary Horizons: The Accidental Vacancy Novel

In addition to books about wizards, Rowling also has other successful works. The first of these was the social novel The Accidental Vacancy. J.K. Rowling created it for young people and adults. It tells about various social problems in a small provincial town with the fictitious name of Pagford.

Of course, the book could not reach the level of popularity of the Potter novels, but it also turned out to be very profitable. And in 2015, based on her motives, the TV series of the same name "The Accidental Vacancy" was filmed. J.K. Rowling, by the way, actively participated in writing his script, as, indeed, in all other cases of film adaptations of his books.

A detective story with Robert Galbraith

The story of the investigation into the murder of supermodel Lula Landry by veteran Cormoran Strike was liked by the readers, but they were not particularly impressed - in 3 months the stores sold 449 copies. But after one of the mainstream literary publications (The Sunday Times) noted that Call of the Cuckoo was too good for a debut writer, critics suspected that a more experienced writer was hiding under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

After matching the name of the publisher and the editor, as well as conducting a linguistic analysis of the novel, Richard Brooks (editor of The Sunday Times) suggested that the real author of the detective story is J.K. Rowling. Later, these suspicions were confirmed, and sales of the novel increased fantastically.

The writer herself was unhappy that her deception was so soon revealed. However, she did not abandon the detective genre and a year later published a sequel - the book "Silkworm".

J.K. Rowling: personal life and children

For the first time, the writer went down the aisle with the Portuguese TV reporter Jorge Arantis. Pretty soon after they met, the lovers began dating. And in October 1992, they officially formalized the relationship, after it turned out that the future author of the Harry Potter series was pregnant.

Jessica Isabelle Rowling-Arantish, who was born 9 months after that, became a real joy for her mother. However, the baby did not have time to turn 4 months old, as her parents divorced. According to biographers and Arantish himself, he beat his wife, and this became the reason for the separation, although Rowling herself never once confirmed this fact.

Despite the disaster with the first marriage, the writer still risked getting married again. Her new chosen one turned out to be a divorced anesthesiologist Neil Michael Murray. Despite the fact that both spouses had a bitter experience of family life behind them, Neil and Joan were able to find a common language and build a strong family.

In addition to the eldest daughter from his first marriage, Rowling has two more children: David Gordon Rowling-Murray and Mackenzie Jean Rowling-Murray.

J.K. Rowling's charity

Having experienced what need is, the writer, having become rich, began to use part of her funds to help others - she organized her own charitable organization, Volant Charitable Trust.

This institution focuses on helping single mothers and disadvantaged families. In addition, Rowling actively sponsors research on the treatment and prevention of multiple sclerosis.

The amount of funds donated by the writer is measured in tens of millions a year, which is probably why the real state of Rowling is less than that attributed to her by journalists.

"The Magic of Words: The Story of J.K. Rowling"

The biography of this storyteller interests her fans no less than her works. Therefore, the famous storyteller is constantly interviewed and invited to all kinds of events. Also, several documentaries and films have been filmed about her fate. The most detailed is the 2011 tape - Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story.

Unlike other projects (for example, JK Rowling: a Year in the life), this one is a full-fledged movie in which the actress Poppy Montgomery played the adult J.K. Rowling. The biography of the writer in this tape is presented not in chronological order, but through the prism of various flashbacks.

Despite numerous shortcomings, Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story is a worthy attempt to tell the audience about the backstory of the appearance of "Harry Potter".

Interesting facts

  • Joan is a quarter French and a quarter Scottish maternal.
  • The writer's parents really wanted their first child to be a boy. When the girl was born, they wanted to give her a male name, but later changed their minds and named the girl JK Rowling.
  • The biography of the writer is full of paradoxes. So, some religious leaders call her books satanic, although for Joan herself this is strange, because she sincerely believes in God, even if she does not agree with official church doctrines in everything.
  • Initially, Rowling dreamed of studying at Oxford, but she was not accepted there, and had to be content with Exeter.
  • Individual print media periodically declared the owner of an impressive fortune - 500 million pounds to a billion. However, Rowling denies that she is so rich. Talking about your money is bad form, she said. However, she admits that she has long been a millionaire.
  • Every week, the writer receives 1000-1500 letters. Interestingly, only half of them are from fans, because more often charitable foundations write to her with requests for donations.
  • As for wealth and charity. Joan believes that owning a large fortune imposes certain obligations on its owner, in particular, the need to take care of those who are less fortunate.
  • The popularity of the writer contributed to the appearance of J.K. Rowling in films and even in animated series. So, in The Simpsons, its main characters once went on an excursion to the UK, where they met the "mother" of Harry Potter. By the way, in this episode (season 15, episode 4), the novelist voiced herself.

Today J.K. Rowling, despite wealth and fame, does not stop writing. According to her, she does this because she gets real pleasure from the process of creating a new work. Therefore, the fans of the writer have a real hope that she will write more than one novel about the fate of Harry Potter.

Since June 1997, many readers began to ask themselves one question: “Who wrote Harry Potter?” It was at that time that the first of the books about the adventures of the young wizard was published. author Joanna, and the middle name - Kathleen - she invented herself, as the publishers demanded. Initially, the publishing house decided that the reader should think that the one who wrote "Harry Potter" was a man, since the editors were afraid that the boys would be reluctant which was written by a lady, so on the cover there were only initials instead of the name of the writer. Fortunately, these fears were not confirmed.

Since "Harry Potter" itself, millions of readers have fallen in love. According to data for 2011, more than four hundred and fifty million copies have been sold. All 7 novels were translated into 67 languages, including Russian. Thanks to this, J.K. Rowling is today one of the most translated writers in the world.

From childhood, Joan was an inventor and constantly wrote various fantastic stories. She wrote her first story at the age of six, and the main character in it was a rabbit. At school and college, the future star continued to compose stories - a lot of them were written during her studies. Even after getting a job, she continued to write instead of performing her official duties, which her employers did not like very much.

Once, on the train from London to Manchester, Joan was staring out the window, and suddenly an image of a boy appeared in her head. He had a scar on his forehead, and on his nose - Since Joan had no pen with her, she mentally complemented this image for the rest of the journey. The same evening, when the writer returned home, and the first book of Harry Potter adventures was started.


It is very difficult for many readers to imagine that whoever wrote "Harry Potter" is one person and not a team of authors. What a fantasy, what liveliness of mind, in order to describe in such detail the world in which the heroes already loved by everyone live! This series of books contains a mixture of various literary genres, including a teen novel, fantasy, thriller, and detective story.

Fans and fans studying the author's biography are constantly finding new ones.For example, the mysterious bus driver Ernie and the conductor Stanley are named after Joan's grandparents. And the birthday of the protagonist of the series of novels surprisingly coincides with the birthday of the one who wrote "Harry Potter" - J.K. Rowling herself.

Today, Rowling is the world famous writer and the richest woman in Britain. This became possible thanks to the adaptation of her novels. In addition, all books about the young wizard Harry were released in audio format. Joan herself has received many prestigious literary awards, and in 2001 she was awarded the Order. In 2011, the writer received an award for her contribution to the development of British cinema along with the creators of the Harry Potter films.

Magic world

The exclusive rights to the Russian edition of Harry Potter are owned by Rosman Publishing House.

Harry Potter movies

The first 6 books are filmed, the seventh is filmed in two parts. Income from books, films, computer games brought the writer to the 620th place in the list of the richest people in the world. In particular, Rowling is richer than Queen Elizabeth II of England.

Official Harry Potter Games

For the premiere of each film, games of the same name are released (with the exception of the game "Harry Potter: Quidditch Cup") on all major platforms, including PS2, XBox 360, PS3, and, more recently, Wii.

In 2001, for the premiere of the first film, the Harry Potter Trading Card Game was released by Wizards of the Coast. At one time, the game was the second best-selling toy in the United States, but at the end of 2002, the game was discontinued.

History

There is a widespread belief that the book has become popular due to extremely active advertising. In reality, the small publisher had no reason to advertise for a children's book by an unknown author, nor the money for such a campaign. Moreover, JK Rowling herself, at that time a poor single mother, did not have the money for advertising campaigns. The book became popular due to positive reviews and also because readers recommended it to each other. Unexpectedly for the publishers (and perhaps for Rowling herself), the book gained immense popularity and became a bestseller. Rowling began writing sequels, and the following books became even more popular than the first.

The books have been translated into many languages ​​(about 64 so far). The translation into Russian was made by the ROSMEN publishing house. In the translation, the names of some of the characters in the book were changed (that is, they were adapted into Russian). It is worth noting the name of the Terrible Eye. In the original, he was named Alastor Moody, but due to the similarity with the Russian euphemism for genitals, Moody was renamed Moody. However, when the Soft Club company flatly refused to include the name "Moody" in the translation of a series of games of the same name, the publishing house Rosman had to pay $ 15,000 for the Soft Club company to agree to use the name Moody. However, the pirated (unofficial) translations of the games retained Moody's surname.

Description of the world

The action takes place in our world, in England, in the 1990s. Unlike the real world, among ordinary people there are wizards, or magicians, who have magical abilities, the main of which is the ability to use magic wands, the main thing in the life of a magician. Ordinary people - Muggles - do not know about their existence. There are much fewer wizards than Muggles, for example, about 3 thousand wizards live in England. Nevertheless, wizards have their own governments (in the UK - the Ministry of Magic), schools (English school - Hogwarts), newspapers, "radio", money, banks, etc. There are even their own games - the sports game Quidditch, spit- stones, magic chess and others. The community of magicians is closed and self-sufficient, lives among Muggles, but does not depend on them and tries not to come into contact. Wizards use their own shops, restaurants, they have their own interests. Children of two magicians can be born as wizards, as well as children of a muggle and a magician (but such connections are very rare, most often wizards create connections within their world). Also, in very rare cases, a child can be born a wizard to Muggle parents. The government of the wizarding world finds out about this, and it explains everything to the parents with a request to keep their world a secret and let the child go to the school of wizards.

In addition to magicians and muggles, there are also squibs - children of magicians who do not have magical abilities. They know about the world of wizards, but it is difficult for them to live in it. There are very few Squibs in the world. In addition, there are many varieties of magical creatures that wizards also hide from Muggles, for example: giants (giant creatures similar to humans and possessing intelligence, albeit small, live in the mountains), centaurs (half-humans, half-horses, wise and proud creatures, live mainly in forests), goblins (work closely with wizards, although they often underestimate these small humanoid creatures), house elves (usually the wizards' domestic help), trolls, phoenixes, dragons and others.

Wizards

For the society of magicians, two features are defining.

First, its members know how to use magic. The ability for magic is innate and morally neutral, and the ability to conjure purposefully and effectively is acquired through long training. A person devoid of the ability to magic cannot be taught to conjure. Magic permeates the entire life of wizards, both in the form of an almost universal tool and in the form of enchanted objects. A lot can be done with magic, from finding missing objects to killing.

Secondly, the magicians are sure that the Muggles with them will not be able to peacefully coexist. Muggles are unaware of the existence of wizards, and this situation did not arise by itself, but is a consequence of a number of measures taken by wizards (in particular, the Statute of Secrecy). In particular, underage wizards are only allowed to use magic in school; it is forbidden to enchant objects belonging to Muggles; any deliberate discovery of magical abilities is punished. Should Muggles find anything that makes them suspicious of magic, a special division of the Ministry of Magic will take care of erasing the corresponding memories.

Muggles who are allowed to know about magic are the spouses and closest relatives of wizards and the highest echelons of power (in England, most likely, only the prime minister; books practically do not mention other countries).

Magic abilities

A wizard whose ancestors were Muggles is called muggleborn... If only one of the ancestors was a Muggle, the wizard is called half-blood... An insulting name for muggleborns and half-breeds - mudbloods... If all ancestors were wizards even before the second generation, it is called purebred.

Among purebred wizards, there is a kind of racism - a prejudice against non-purebloods. Especially such wizards hate their fellows who have married or have married Muggles - they are called "blood traitors." Almost all of these racists mentioned in the book are negative or repulsive characters. Many of them deceive themselves into thinking that all their ancestors were magicians for hundreds of years. Sometimes they believe that magical power is determined by the purity of the blood, but this is not the case. In fact, some of the most powerful mages were half-breeds or Muggleborns.

Some mages have abilities that are rare even in their world. So, Harry Potter, like Tom Riddle, is snakemouth, that is, he understands the language of snakes, and another Rowling hero - Nymphadora Tonks - is metamorphine, that is, it can partially change its appearance. Also in the wizarding world there is werewolves- people who, under the light of the full moon, involuntarily turn into a ferocious wolf (for example, Remus Lupine or Fenrir the Greyish). Any person (even a Muggle) can become a werewolf if he was bitten by another werewolf in the guise of a wolf. The magical government keeps a close watch on werewolves and other magical creatures. Also the wizard can be animagus, that is, it is able to turn into a certain animal at will. This can be learned. However, this ability must be officially registered with the Ministry of Magic (of all the animagi active in the books, only Minerva McConnagal is a recognized animag).

Places of wizards

Wizards have created their own secret world in different places and keep it secret from the Muggles. The books mention some places that belong to wizards (most of them cannot be detected by Muggles thanks to protective magic): schools of wizardry (Hogwarts in the north of England, Beauxbatons in France, Durmstrang in Bulgaria and others), several wizard streets in London (Diagon Alley , Lute Lane and others), a village that belongs only to magicians - Hogsmeade (the only such village in all of England, next to the Hogwarts school), a special platform at London Kings Cross station, Forest, where the final of the Quidditch World Cup was held, Ministry of Magic of England near London, St Mungo's Hospital in London and many other places.

Translations

The book series has been translated into several dozen languages ​​(see Harry Potter in translation). However, many names have also been converted.

There are several well-known Russian translations of the series.

Historically, the first translation was created by Igor Oransky (only "The Philosopher's Stone"), published in 2000 by the publishing house "Rosman" (http://www.rosman.ru) - the official publisher of books about Harry Potter in Russian.

Marina Litvinova's translation (also "Rosman", 2nd and 3rd books; "adjustment" of the 1st book for translations) did not suit everyone and was criticized. In particular, they were marked with the anti-award "Paragraph" (2002).

Fans of the series embarked on network projects such as "folk translation" (http://harrypotter.internetmagazin.ru), where teams of fan translators translated books about Harry as they came out. Most of the translations turned out to be close to the first official translation of Orange.

There was also a discussion on the Internet about the feasibility of People's Translations. For example, the publication “ Benjamin serum", Responding to an article by one of the" critics "who took a pseudonym Benjamin Tolstoy.

Well, if you take into account how many publishers have lost a tidbit in the form of rights to the "world famous bestseller", how many translators have not received the coveted honor of seeing their name on the title page of a sensational book, the reason for the indignation is clear. If "Potter" were translated by ML Lozinsky or NM Lyubimov, they would have been anathematized with no less vehemence.

Book Translator (s)
Philosopher's Stone I. Oransky; processing by M. Litvinova
Chamber of Secrets M. Litvinova
Prisoner of Azkaban M. Litvinova
Goblet of Fire M. Litvinova, N. Litvinova, A. Lyakh, M. Mezhuev, E. Salomatina (edited by M. Litvinova)
Translation of poems - A. Lyakh
Order of the Phoenix V. Babkov, V. Golyshev, L. Motylev
Half-blood prince M. Lakhuti, S. Ilyin
Deathly Hallows M. Lakhuti, S. Ilyin, M. Sokolskaya

Wikipedia articles are translated by Rosman unless otherwise noted. Below is a table of correspondences of translations of some names:

Original Translation by Igor Oransky (original) Translation by Marina Litvinova (official) Folk translations (Internet) Translation by Maria Spivak
(ps. Em. Tasamaya)
Translation by Byalko-Levitova
Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry Hogwarts School of Wizardry Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Witchcraft Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Witchcraft
Ravenclaw Ravenclaw Ravenclaw Ravenclaw Ravenclaw Ravenclaw
Hufflepuff Hufflepuff Hufflepuff Hufflepuff Hufflepuff Hufflepuff
Slytherin Slyserin Slytherin Slytherin Slytherin Slytherin
Ron Weasley Ron Weasley Ron Weasley Ron Weasley Ron Wesley Ron Weasley
Hermione granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger
Neville longbottom Neville Longbottom Neville Longbottom Neville Longbottom Neville Longnoppp Neville Longbottom
Severus snape Severus Snape Severus Snape Severus Snape Villainous Snape Severus Snape
Voldemort Voldemort Voldemort Voldemort Voldemort Voldemort
Dursley Dursley Dursleys Desley Dursleys Dursley
Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody Alastor Moody ("Terrible Eye") Alastor Moody (Wild Eye) Alastor Moody ("Crazy Eye")
Gilderoy lockhart Gilderoy Lockhart Zlatopust Lokons Gilderoy Lockhart Sverkarol Charuald
Horace slughorn Horatio Slughorn Horace Slughorn Horace Slughorn Horace Divangard
Madam hooch Madame Hooch Madame Trick Madame Hooch Madame Moonshine madam hutch
Rita Skeeter Rita Skeeter Rita Mosquito Rita Vreeter
Privet drive Privet Drive Yew street Priyuchinny passage Biryuchinovaya street Elderly passage
Diagon alley Diagon Alley Diagon Alley Diagon Alley Diagon Alley Diagonal alley
Knockturn alley Lyutny lane Gloom Alley Trashy Alley

Other references to Harry Potter

I want to take a look at the lid of the box, ”Jake said as they joined her. Suzanne moved over and Jake lifted the lid and stared at her in admiration. On the lid, the face of a smiling boy was painted with a scar similar to a stylized image of a lightning bolt on his forehead, in round glasses. He was swinging like a magic wand at the flying snitch. Under the picture, they read:

"PROPERTY 449 SCADRON 24" SNITCH "MODEL" HARRY POTTER "SERIAL NO. 465-11-AA HPJKR Don't mess with 449! We'll blow your brains out! "

- But since so many books have been written about this, why then only a few have heard about your theory? - It's just that these books are not able to influence the generally accepted opinion that has developed over the centuries. Especially when you consider that the formation of this opinion was influenced by the bestseller of all times and peoples. Fauckman widened his eyes. “Don't tell me that Harry Potter is about the Grail! - I'm talking about the Bible. Faukman shivered. - I got what you mean.

Also mentioned in the series, J.D. says Elliot Reed about his brother: He's not some Harry Potter who lives in a closet under the stairs.

During the Human Rescue Challenge in the Tournament of Three Wizards, Harry Potter rescues her at the same time as Ron.

Orion Black

Augusta Longbottom

A very domineering and proud woman. He has his own opinion about everything, which he does not hesitate to express in a very straightforward manner. In some ways, they are similar to McGonagall: both are strict, but fair, both do not like lies and intrigue, both are excellent sorceresses. Although Neville's grandmother is many years old, she has not lost her skill or magical power. About people like her, it is customary to say that this is the "guard of the old school."

Augusta loves and is proud of her son, condescending to her daughter-in-law and loves her grandson in her own way. True, all feelings, except pride, Mrs Longbottom, it seems, considers a manifestation of weakness and tries not to advertise them.

Ollivander

At the time of the story, Mr. Ollivander is already very old. A distinctive feature of him is that he remembers all (!) Sticks that he ever produced, and remembers which stick got to whom. Moreover, careful measurements of the client's parameters (height, arm span, distance between different parts of the body, etc.) are required by the master only when selecting the first sticks. Subsequently, Mr. Ollivander is able to create a new wand for an old client without resorting to fittings. Ollivander creates a wand for Tail without much fitting, and he sent Luna's new wand to her by mail. He is an excellent expert in his field, but he is also interested in the relationship between the wand and the owner. In addition, he knows everything or almost everything about the Elder Wand, but has no idea about the rest of the Deathly Hallows.

In the summer of 1996, unexpectedly for many, Ollivander disappears from Diagon Alley, no one can say where. Just as unexpectedly, he is "found" in the basement of the Malfoy estate, where Luna Lovegood first gets, and then Harry Potter and his friends. It turns out that Voldemort needed the old man. First, the Dark Lord tried to figure out how to get around the relationship of his wand with Harry's wand, and then fished out of him information about the Elder Wand. The half-dead Ollivander is saved from captivity.

It must be assumed that after the victory over Voldemort, the old master returned to his work. Moreover, it is deservedly considered the best manufacturer of magic wands in the whole of Great Britain.

Gellert Grindelwald

Gellert Grindelwald(eng. Gellert Grindelwald) is a character in the Harry Potter book series. First mentioned in the first book (Harry Potter read his name on a card from a chocolate frog with a picture of Dumbledore), described in more detail in book seven. Grindelwald was the most powerful dark wizard in the world, second only to Voldemort. The only known evil wizard who did not study in Slytherin or even at Hogwarts.

Gellert Grindelwald spent the beginning of his life in Durmstrang, staging various experiments there. For this he was kicked out of school, and he went to his aunt in Godric's Hollow. There he met Albus Dumbledore. Gellert told him about the Deathly Hallows. They indulged in dreams of the rule of wizards over Muggles. Then they thought about how to find the Deathly Hallows. However, later, a terrible quarrel took place between Gellert, Albus and Aberforth (Dumbledore's brother), in the heat of which Ariana, the Dumbledore's younger sister, died. Immediately after the tragedy, Grindelwald fled.

Then Grindelwald established a terrorist regime in Europe (a hidden comparison with fascism), killing many wizards there, including Viktor Krum's grandfather. His motto sounded like "For the common good." For those who disagree with him, he founded the Nurmengard prison.

Grindelwald's battle with Albus Dumbledore is hardly described in Harry Potter. It is known that the director of Hogwarts avoided meeting his old friend for a long time, largely due to the fact that he was afraid to find out which of the three participants in a terrible quarrel (Dumbledore himself, his brother Aberforth or Grindelwald) killed Ariana. However, the number of victims of the terror of Gellert Grindelwald grew inexorably, and it was impossible to remain on the sidelines further, although for some reason he did not use infernals. In the battle of 1945, after the end of World War II, Dumbledore was stronger. The Elder Wand was taken from Grindelwald in battle. Elder wand), and he was imprisoned for life in a prison that he himself built. In the seventh book, he was killed in his solitary confinement by Voldemort, who was looking for the Elder Wand.

Bathilda Bagshot

Andromeda Tonks

Magical creatures

Fawkes

First appearance in the first book, where Griphook accompanies Hagrid and Harry to the safe with money. In the seventh book, Griphook goes on the run due to the fact that he could be killed by the Death Eaters. On the run, he is accompanied by another goblin Krovnyak and Muggle-born wizard Dirk Cresswell, then Ted Tonks and Dean Thomas joined them. During a conversation that Harry and his friends overheard, Gryffindor reveals that the sword of Gryffindor, which he was entrusted with taking to the Death Eaters safe, is not real. Together with Dean, Harry, Ron and Hermione, the goblin is captured by the "huntsmen", further into the Malfoy mansion. From there, Harry Potter rescues him. The goblin is amazed that the wizard saved the goblin and buried the house elf. For a while he lives in the Shell cottage with Bill and Fleur. When Potter asks him to help them break into the bank, he agrees, but on condition that they give him the sword, because the sword belongs to the goblins. Harry gives him his word that he will give back the sword. Griphook doesn't fully believe him. Having considered the plan, the heroes get into Lestrange's safe, but when the guards come running, Griphook puts his sword to his paws in the confusion and runs away.

Krovnyak

Florenc

Time heals almost all mental wounds. A couple of years later, Harry asks Dobby about Winky, and learns that the elf still works in the Hogwarts kitchen, and she's drinking much less ...

Pets

Scab

Imagine the boy's surprise when it turned out that under the guise of a rat, the animagus Peter Pettigrew had lived in the Weasley family for twelve years! When Pettigrew's long-standing crime, because of which he, in fact, was hiding from everyone, became known to Ron, Hermione and, most importantly, Harry Potter (it was his parents that Peter betrayed), the cowardly "rat" chose to sneak away.

A rat named Scabbard has ceased to exist. If Peter became a rat again, no one called him by that name anymore.

Crookshanks

And in the wolfodave that then appeared near Hogwarts, he immediately recognized the wizard, Sirius Black. True, they quickly found a common language with Sirius and made friends. Now Crookshanks hunted for the Scab, not by virtue of ancient feline instincts, but to bring Peter Pettigrew into the arms of an old friend who dreamed of getting even with the traitor. But here, not only Ron, but also Harry Potter, who were completely unaware of the human component of the Ron's pet, stood up to guard the safety of the old rat. Peter in the guise of Scabbard perfectly understood who and why needed it there, outside the castle walls. He fakes his own death allegedly from the teeth and claws of Crookshanks and escapes ... Hermione's confidence in the innocence of her cat in the disappearance of Scabbard caused a serious quarrel between her and Ron.

Only after finding Scab, safe and sound, in Hagrid's cabin, does Ron apologize. And after the guys found out who hiding under the guise of Ron's pet, the attitude of that to the Crookshank changes dramatically. And the boy first of all brings his new pet, owlet Sychik, to the cat's face. For check. So, just in case. So as not to burn yourself a second time ...

Beech

Hogwarts students

Gryffindor students

Romilda Wayne

Romilda Wayne(eng. Romilda vane) is a student two years younger than Harry Potter. Known as the girl who fell in love with Harry and tried unsuccessfully to get his attention. Thoroughbred. Hair - dark, eyes - brown.

First described on the Hogwarts Express on the way to school. Romilda offers Harry to leave Neville and Luna riding with him and sit in another compartment, but he refuses, saying, much to the girl's surprise, that they are his friends. When Harry is recruiting the faculty Quidditch team, he tries out as a hunter, but does not even try to take off during the trials. Then, during his school year, he tries to trick Harry by giving him a box of chocolates with a love potion mixed into them. Harry took the candies, but did not eat them, as he was warned by Hermione about Romilda's plans. A few months later, this chocolate was accidentally eaten by Ron Weasley during his birthday and literally went crazy, starting out of the blue about his love for Romilda. Realizing what had happened, Harry took Ron to Potions Professor Horace Slughorn, who gave them the antidote. But Ron was poisoned and ended up in the hospital wing.

After the winning Quidditch match for Gryffindor, Romilda was outraged to see Harry kissing Ginny Weasley. Later, Ginny said that Romilda asked her if there was indeed a picture of a hippogriff on Harry's chest. To this, Ginny jokingly replied that a Hungarian Horntail was drawn there, as such a legend made Harry "a real macho" in the eyes of Romilda.

Oliver Wood

Oliver Wood(eng. Oliver wood) is a student four years older than Harry. The captain and goalkeeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team is an excellent strategist. Everyone knows his long and lengthy explanations of Quidditch tactics. He is passionate about this sport. Dreamed of winning the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup. After the match, lost to the House of Hufflepuff, due to the fact that the team's catcher, Harry Potter, fell from a broomstick when he saw the Dementors, Oliver was very depressed, but did not insist on a replay. I was incredibly happy when Gryffindor took the school cup.

In June, Oliver Wood graduated from Hogwarts and continues his sports career. He is credited to the second squad of Paddlemere United. He tells his former classmates about this when they all come together for the Quidditch World Championships.

Later, on May 2 of the year, he, along with the others, participated in the Battle of Hogwarts. It is mentioned that Oliver fights side by side with Neville Longbottom, and during an hour's break helps him to carry the bodies of those killed, in particular - from the battlefield.

Thoroughbred. Hair - dark, eyes - brown. In the films, Sean Biggerstaff plays the role of Oliver Wood.

Richie Coot

Richie Coot(eng. Ritchie Coote) is a Gryffindor Quidditch beater who was selected by Harry in the sixth book. Described as a "rather flimsy looking" but very accurate player. Hair - dark blond.

Cormac McLaggen

Cormac McLaggen(eng. Cormac McLaggen) - a student at Hogwarts, studying at the Faculty of Gryffindor. A year older than Harry Potter. In the book "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" he took part in the selection of the Gryffindor Quidditch team for the role of the goalkeeper. However, thanks to Hermione Granger, who stunned him with the Confundus spell, McLaggen was bypassed by Ron Weasley, and he was taken on the team. Went to the Slug Club Party with Hermione Granger. Hermione had been trying to get rid of him all evening and later told Harry that he had not asked her a single question about herself, but that he had always talked about the balls he had caught. Before the second game of Gryffindor, when the poisoned Ron went out of order, Harry Potter had to take Cormac into the team. McLaggen was arrogant. He began to give advice to other players, while playing worse. And when Harry reprimanded him, Cormac knocked Harry off his broom with a bludger, after which he was expelled from the team.

Jimmy Peaks

Jimmy Peaks(eng. Jimmy peakes) - a student three years younger than Harry, in the sixth book - a beater for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. A short, stocky, strong and rather aggressive player. During the qualifying tests, he hit the Bludger with such force that it left an impressive bump on the back of Harry's head; thereafter, the impressed captain immediately took him on board.

Before the Battle of Hogwarts, he tried to stay at the castle and join the fighting, but was stopped by Professor McGonagall.