Every day there is more and more to learn about the Potterverse (did I get that right?). For years there were the fan sites, fan fiction, and the movies which all stretched and expanded the original books in inventive ways.
I read book seven the day after seeing movie five. And I did notice when the descriptions of characters deviated from what I had just seen on the screen. Recently Rick Riordan wrote, “One thing I had trouble with (which has nothing to do with the book): for the first time as I read a Harry Potter book, I could not get the images of the movie actors out of my head. I kept seeing Daniel, Emma and Rupert – which I didn’t really want. Before, I’d always formed my own images of what the characters looked like, but the movies are just too hard to ignore.”
Now, most fascinating to me, we’ve got Rowling herself answering questions here and there about what happened to her beloved characters after the end. And she says she can’t wait for the theme park due to open soon in Florida.
So the story about the Boy Who Lived has gone out into the world in a way unlike any I can think of before. I mean, when has an author done what Rowling has done the last week or so? I’m not faulting her at all; I think it is great fun to hear what she, their creator, knows happened to all of them (although her speaking of them in the present tense is a tad odd). But it seems just so unusual.
What with two more movies to go and the theme park not to mention Rowling’s encyclopedia, the evolution of Harry Potter into a unique narrative continues. Blimey!, as Ron would say.