The Wizarding World is getting even bigger, and it will do so by getting a little smaller.
A new mobile game based on the Harry Potter universe is coming from the developers of Pokemon Go. Titled Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, it will follow the same premise as the popular Nintendo mobile game. Players will explore the real world and search for magical creatures and artifacts from the Wizarding World in an effort to conceal them from Muggles.
Image Via Wikipedia
With Pokemon Go grossing billions of dollars in revenue, and the Wizarding World more popular than ever, the move to mobile gaming seems like the next logical step for this beloved franchise. Developer Niantic is excited about the prospect of not only bringing the Wizarding World to people’s phones, but getting people out there and becoming more social because of this game:
“We want to get people out and about and find out more about their world through exploration and discovery.”
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite doesn’t have a release date yet, but it is scheduled to come out in 2019. Here is the game’s first trailer:
Forum Auctions has a first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for auction. and you can buy it if you got between £20,000 and £30,000, or $25,456.30 and $38,184.45.
Image Via Imgface
Forum Auctions described the book as being a “first edition, first printing (one of 500 copies), usual light browning to text margins, ex-library copy with ink stamp to title verso and front free endpaper with barcode sticker and think line of abrasion, but without any other markings, original pictorial boards, spine ends and corners bumped, laminate peeling, chipping to joints, extremities a little rubbed and chipped, still a very good, bright copy, preserved in a fine example of a later dust jacket, 1997.”
Image Via WiffleGif
In case you’ve been absent from society for the past twenty years, here’s the skinny: J. K. Rowling wrote seven books and the first one is called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which was later re-titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone because British publishers weren’t confident American children would know what a ‘philosopher’ was. On June 26th 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher’s Stone with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries. The series made serious money— sky rocketing its author to becoming the world’s first person to gain billionaire status from book-writing alone— and those original 5000 copies are highly valued.
The crazy part? According to Forum Auctions this super rare book is “rare in any condition and a far better ex-library copy than [is] usually encountered.”
Exciting news for both Harry Potterfans AND fashion fans! According to Buzz the shoe brand Vans have unveiled a first look at their Harry Potter themed collection of upcoming shoes! The collection will feature shoes named after each of the Hogwarts Houses. Sk8-Hi for Gryffindor, Era for Slytherin, Authentic for Ravenclaw, and Classic Slip-On for Hufflepuff. Each shoe contains colors and details connecting them to their respective classes, with the official crest logo and distinct material. Vans had been building up to this reveal for quite a while, teasing the fanbase with a video on Instagram.
The official release date has yet to be announced, it has been confirmed by Vans that the shoes will be available to both men and women. The shoes will be supplanted by a line of Harry Potter accessories as well. Below, you can see a few of the photos from the line that have been circulating online:
Image Via twitter
Image Via Twitter
Image via Twitter
Gryffindor will be a mix of red and gold, Slytherin will be a snake-like green, Ravenclaw will be its signature blue, and Hufflepuff will be all-black with subtle yellow striping. There is no further information yet but you can follow Vans on their website to see further updates as they come! Until then, we’ll be hyping ourselves to get these and wear them!
Pottermore, the website dedicated to all things Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, is getting a name change.
Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling announced a joint venture called Wizarding World Digital, a new digital distribution network that aims to expand on the content that Pottermore currently publishes.
“This venture will widen and deepen what we have been able to do on Pottermore so far. There’s no reason now why we won’t be able to do something because there’s a rights issue. The only limits will be our imaginations and what technology is available.”
It is unclear what new content will come to the site, but the idea that the film studio behind the Harry Potter films are teaming up with the creator of the universe is exciting.
So what happens to Pottermore? As of May 15th, all quizzes, features and articles will move to WizardingWorld.com. It is unclear if current subscribers to Pottermore will have to re-subscribe or their accounts will shift to the new site.
Do you subscribe to Pottermore? Are you excited about this news?
Bookstr is bringing you Booze & Books, our weekly feature dedicated to drinking games and booze-book pairings. This week, we’re bringing you another booze & book pairing. Our recommendation? Any booze and any book. Since that’s a little too general, we’re going to be pairing cocktails with Harry Potter books.
We would recommend not drinking your way through the entire Harry Potter series—if only because the books are long and, consequently, your lifespan would not be. That said, the series is bound to stir up an intense emotional response in any of its fans. While many books after this series have been called the ‘next Harry Potter,’ the truth is, there’s no such thing. The story itself is deeply meaningful, but what makes the series so important to so many people is more than what happens on the page: it’s that instant return to childhood and all the wonder that entails.
Ingredients: Canned Pumpkin Puree – 2 tbsp, Canned Peach Slices (in own juice) – 8-10 slices drained, Sugar – 2 tbsp, Sparkling Apple Cider – 2 cups, Pumpkin Spice – 1 tsp, Maraschino Cherries – 2, Mint leaves – a few
No alcohol for this one. These kids are eleven, and it’s likely you were around that age when you read their story for the first time! Show some solidarity—Ron survived a near-death experience that ended with an unfortunate spray of troll snot without a drink, and so can you. Instead, drink up and envision that glorious taste of pumpkin juice in the Great Hall.
Ingredients: 2 oz honey-flavored whiskey (such as Yukon Jack), 1/2 lime juice
Okay, so twelve-year-olds aren’t really supposed to have alcohol either. But that doesn’t mean you can’t! With some hard liquor and a sour dash of lime juice, this drink has more bite than any basilisk. After you take one, make another the exact same way to pay homage to the way in which Gilderoy Lockhart copied other wizards’ achievements… and, like those wizards, you too will probably lose your memory.
Ingredients: An unwavering faith that you’ll survive whatever comes next
Yes, Pruno is prison wine (a.k.a. ‘toilet wine’), and it can be created from everything from bread, to fruit, to ketchup. It necessitates resourcefulness and is incredibly dangerous to consume, making it comparable to the book we’re pairing it with. There isn’t much happiness in Azkaban—what little there is doesn’t come from any of this this. (And, like dementors, Pruno can kill you.)
Note: Pruno can actually kill you. Bookstr is definitely not responsible for your death on the off chance you poison yourself with botulism. We may or may not be responsible for your Thursday drinking habits.
Ingredients: 1.5 oz. Fireball Whisky, 4 oz. Bloody Mary mix, 1 lime wedge, 1 celery stalk
Kick back, relax, and have some Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fireball. The Fireblood cocktail thematically encapsulates the intensity of the Triwizard Tournament, from the fire (think the Hungarian Horntail) to the blood (think Cedric Diggory’s horribly tragic character death). This drink is NOT a shot—so, like the climactic scene when Harry and Cedric touch the portkey, this one’s not gonna end quickly.
Ingredients: 1 1/2 ounce vodka, 1 1/2 ounce blue curaçao, 1 1/2 ounce white sambuca, 1/2 ounce cream
Any thoughts on what this beverage looks like? If you’re feeling particularly pensive, you might identify what memories this swirling blue liquid might stir up in Harry Potter fans. Book five is all about gaining insight into the minds of others, even when this insight is too personal or uncomfortable. Though Snape & Harry’s Occlumency lessons play a larger role in this installment than the pensive itself, you’ll wish you had one when you wake up after drinking a few of these.
Ingredients: 2 oz dark rum, 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice (optional), Ice, 1 candied ginger slice, 3 oz chilled ginger beer, 1 lime wheel
While most fans prefer the books to the movies, no one can deny that the film gave terrifying gravitas to Dumbledore’s death and the events leading up to it: dead hands reaching from the surface of the water, the echoed shouts in the remote cave. The Dark & Stormy captures the mood of that fateful evening in which everything we knew came undone… plus, it blunts the emotional impact.
Listen, the last book was an emotional experience for all of us, and this is the only drink that can handle the task at hand. “But this is a cocktails list,” you exclaim. “What are we supposed to mix it with?” Everclear. You’re supposed to mix it with more Everclear.
