Support for the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller certainly isn’t talked up as much now as it was back at the console’s launch, but Hogwarts Legacy still looks to be going all out with its implementation. Detailed in a new PlayStation Blog post — and indeed a trailer featuring old footage — it’s confirmed the pad’s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback will both be utilised.
The resistance of the adaptive triggers will be used to make each spell feel unique once you cast it. “We’ve specifically isolated these effects to the right side of the controller to let the DualSense become an extension of the wand you hold in the game,” said community manager Chandler Wood. “And when you deflect a spell with Protego, you’ll feel the sizzling of the magic being reflected and absorbed by the Shield Charm.”
Haptic feedback and adaptive triggers will be used for more than just spells, though. The two features also come into play during Potions class when you’re crushing ingredients, during Herbology when a Mandrake decides to scream, and whilst flying aboard your broomstick or a hippogriff. Another neat detail is the PS5 controller will be lit up with your house colours outside of combat.
The blog post also confirms fidelity and performance modes on PS5, allowing you to either boost the frame rate or up the visuals. Load times are also said to be speedy, no matter whether you’re fast travelling through the Floo Network or exploring on your own two feet.
Hogwarts Legacy is still slated to release on PS5 and PS4 at the end of 2022. Will you be attending the school of witchcraft and wizardry come the end of the year? Await your acceptance letter in the comments below.
When the opening title of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore appears on screen, the first part is initially barely visible, in tiny letters compared to the much larger second half. It’s a clear, immediate indication of the direction that this Harry Potter prequel series has taken, straying further from the whimsical adventure tone of its inspiration and emphasizing Blockbuster bombast and franchise expansion. There are very few fantastic beasts in this third installment, which is full of fan-baiting references and appearances tying it even closer to Harry Potter continuity.
There aren’t a lot of secrets, either, which makes the title doubly misleading, although it does promise and deliver plenty of Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), the powerful wizard who will one day become the headmaster of Hogwarts, where Harry and his friends enroll to study magic. In the 1930s era of this movie, though, Dumbledore is a younger man, troubled by the rise of his rival and onetime lover Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen). After years of hints and promises from franchise creator J.K. Rowling, The Secrets of Dumbledore finally makes the romantic relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald central and unambiguous, although the intimate moments between the two are all clouded by talk of magical battles.
And where is the ostensible main character of this series as Dumbledore and Grindelwald face off over the future of the wizarding world? He’s there, too, although increasingly superfluous in his own movies. Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and his briefcase full of (mostly unseen) magical creatures are part of Dumbledore’s team assembled to defeat Grindelwald, who’s agitating for an all-out war between wizards and humans. Also part of the team is bumbling human baker Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), who’s been with the series since its first installment, although previous central character Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) is MIA for almost the entire movie, given only a flimsy explanation of what she’s busy doing while the other characters are saving the world.
The Secrets of Dumbledore is less hopelessly convoluted than 2018’s second installment, The Crimes of Grindelwald, but it’s still full of largely meaningless reveals and fakeouts, all constrained by the knowledge of where events will end up by the time period of the Harry Potter movies. Replacing the ousted Johnny Depp (one of several problematic figures associated with this franchise), Mikkelsen brings more serious menace to Grindelwald, and he and Law have some tender interactions. But there’s no emotional core to these movies on par with the three main characters in the Harry Potter series, which always formed a compelling coming-of-age story even when the grand spectacle rang hollow.
Newt remains a dull, slightly annoying character, thanks to Redmayne’s twitchy, whispery presence, and the previously sweet love story between Jacob and his witch fiancee Queenie (Alison Sudol) is sidelined so that Queenie can become a generic Grindelwald lackey, without any of the moral conflict she experienced in the previous movie. Screenwriter Steve Kloves, who wrote all but one of the Harry Potter movies, joins Rowling as co-writer, perhaps streamlining some of the author’s more unwieldy ideas, but The Secrets of Dumbledore is still full of half-formed concepts, including a sloppy allegory that positions Grindelwald as a sort of Nazi stand-in.
Director David Yates, now on his seventh franchise movie, delivers some of the requisite large-scale set pieces, but most of The Secrets of Dumbledore is a lot of flashy bluster signifying nothing. It’s poorly paced and overly busy, crammed full of characters whose motives are jumbled and whose goals are only incrementally advanced, with any actual resolution postponed until the disappointingly inevitable next chapter. ♦
Whether you came to the fandom with the books or the films, each person’s attachment to the Harry Potter franchise is unique. You might think one is better than the other, or maybe you prefer one of the movies to the book or vice versa, but if you’re an avid reader, you know they changed more than a little bit from text to screen.
If you’re not obsessed with the print material, then you might not know these 11 favorite movie moments weren’t in the books at all.
“I like in The Sorcerer’s Stone when they’re at the zoo. The glass disappears, and Dudley falls in the cage and gets trapped.
In the books, the glass disappears, but Dudley doesn’t fall in.
I know it isn’t a big difference, but I think it’s a really funny moment in the movies that gives Dudley what he deserves for bullying Harry, and it should have been in the books.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told university students across Canada via video link Wednesday that his country remains committed to democracy nearly four months after Russia invaded.
“We’ve already surprised the world,” said Zelensky, who spoke through a translator. “We’ve come together to do the impossible and we shall prevail against all the odds for the free and democratic future.”
The University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy is hosting the event, which is focused on how Canadian universities can help Ukraine during the conflict, which NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently said could “last for years.”
Zelensky, who was introduced by Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s finance minister, took questions from students across Canada, touching on a variety of topics. He spoke about how international communities could best support the besieged country and what prompted him to leave acting for public service.
“I wanted to share my energy, my strength, my experience, my openness,” Zelensky told an audience of students and scholars across Canada that enthusiastically welcomed him.
Anya Broytman, an incoming student at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Policy, said she was surprised by “how approachable and genuine President Zelensky is and how spontaneous and humorous he is in his reactions.”
Broytman asked the first question on Wednesday — a question that made Zelensky smile and his audience chuckle. She noted that Zelensky had been compared to so many famous leaders, including the fictional Harry Potter. She asked who he counted as role models and where he got his inspiration from.
Zelensky said he drew strength and inspiration from ordinary Ukrainian people, but he acknowledged the comparisons.
“We know who is Voldemort in this war and we know who is Harry Potter,” he said, “so we know how the war will end.”
It’s reactions like that that set Zelensky apart from Putin, said Broytman, who was born in Moscow. “Every interaction of this kind with Putin is carefully scripted,” she said.
WATCH| Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses Canadian students:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to students across the country during a special event hosted by the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs Public Policy.
Broytman said she welcomed the opportunity to ask Zelensky a question as a way of supporting friends living in Russia who oppose Putin but cannot do so openly without facing fines, arrest, imprisonment, “or worse.”
“I cherish the opportunity to be here for them,” she told CBC News. “I know the world right now is very bitter … and that’s understandable, but I just wanted everyone to know that Putin does not represent all of Russia.”
While Zelensky said he is grateful for international support, including weapons, he said information has proven a powerful weapon for Ukraine — particularly thanks to the internet and social media.
“We can cut distances between our countries and other countries, between the government and society,” he said. “For us, internet is a kind of weapon because we can show what’s going on.”
Showing the world the details — which cities have been conquered, how many victims there are, how many casualties — “means freedom,” Zelensky said.
“Information… sometimes can give a bigger blow than some types of weapons,” he said.
Zelensky urged people not to “become tired of the war” and to continue rallying their communities to action.
“We need weapons, we need financial support, we need humanitarian support, and we need permanent 24/7 sanction pressure,” he said. “No matter how many times I repeat this, it will never be one too many while the war is going on.”
Students tuned in from the University of Calgary, University of Saskatchewan, Université de Montréal, University of Prince Edward Island, University of Alberta, and University of Manitoba.
They also tuned in from across Ontario, including at Western University, Queen’s University, the University of Waterloo,and Wilfrid Laurier University. Students from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia are joining as well.
In the upcoming HBO Max’s reunion special “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts,” the cast got candid about their on-set crushes during filming.
Emma Watson admitted to “falling in love” with Tom Felton when they were younger. But for Radcliffe, he declared his crush on Helena Bonham Carter.
During the pair’s sit-down, the 32-year-old read a note he gave to the actress, 55, during filming.
“Dear HBC,” read Radcliffe, as quoted by Page Six on Wednesday. “It was a pleasure being your costar and coaster in the sense that I always ended up holding your coffee.”
The pair laughed about the pun and Carter urged the star to continue reading the note.
Daniel Radcliffe had a crush on his co-star Helena Bonham Carter. (Getty Images)
“I do love you,” he continued. “And I just wish I had been born 10 years earlier. I might [have had] a chance. Lots of love and thanks for being cool.”
During his confessional, Radcliffe also shared that some of his first girlfriends and kisses were through the film franchise.
“Every part of my life is connected to ‘[Harry] Potter,’” he explained. “My first kiss is connected to someone here. My first girlfriends were here. It all spirals out from the part of the set somewhere.”
While Radcliffe didn’t name any names, he did describe asking Watson, 31, for dating advice.
Actor Daniel Radcliffe (L) and actress Helena Bonham Carter attend the world premiere of ‘Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows’ at Odeon Leicester Square on November 11, 2010, in London, England. (Photo by Jon Furniss/WireImage)
“If she was texting a boy or I was texting a girl, I would be like, ‘She sent me this many kisses back. What do I do?’” he recalled. “This is a nightmare.
The special will become available for streaming on Jan. 1.
At age 11, Radcliffe achieved international stardom when he was cast as the lead in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in 2001, which was based on the beloved best-selling fantasy novel by British writer J.K. Rowling.
Not only did the film become a box-office sensation, but the eight-film series spanned Radcliffe’s late childhood — and set him up for life. The franchise ended its run in 2011 and skyrocketed the young actor’s net worth to nearly $100 million.
FORMER ‘Harry Potter’ STAR DANIEL RADCLIFFE EXPLAINS WHY HE WOULD BE OPEN TO DOING A PUNK BIOPIC
While ‘Harry Potter’ provided Daniel Radcliffe immense wealth, he isn’t interested in enchanting audiences on screen with the same magic formula. (AP, File)
Back in 2017, Radcliffe told Fox News his success on “Harry Potter” has motivated him over the years to show audiences what he’s capable of as an actor.
“I think I felt a lot of that pressure in the beginning,” Radcliffe said at the time. “I don’t know what the percentage is, but there’s a percentage of people who will absolutely be willing to see me as different characters. There’s a percentage of people, probably smallish, that already do. But there’s a percentage of people who will never see me as anything other than Harry Potter. And I’m not going to worry about that.
“I’m also very happy with that. I loved the part. And if that’s the way I will remain in some people’s minds until the end of time, then that’s fine… The fact that I’m able to do stuff that I’m proud of, if I just carry on and do the things that I want to make, hopefully, they will reach more and more people.”
Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.
It is truly sobering when the realisation hits how twenty whole years have past since Harry Potter first premiered on the big screen. Despite the two decades since, the franchise feels like it has always been around – like a natural part of the geekosphere. It is also not very often for a franchise to continue to remain relevant for as long as the Wizarding World has (just look at Game of Thrones). Better still, the franchise continues to reveal new and incredible Harry Potter facts as it matures.
With the above in mind, it is fair to say modern geek culture would not be what it is today without Harry Potter – both the books and the films. Love or hate them, Harry Potter has played a massive role in the influence of many childhoods around the world. As such, and with recent 20th anniversary celebration of The Lord of the Rings trilogy on the mind; it makes perfect sense for us to produce and curate the same, but this time for Voldermort’s living horcrux.
#20 – “It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live”
One of the most striking and iconic scenes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was when Tom Marvolo Riddle rearranged the letters of his name to spell out “I Am Lord Voldemort”. The scene was so powerful that instead of cutting it from all the translated versions of the film, Voldemorts real name was slightly changed to make the anagram work. For example, in the Swedish version, his name is “Tom Gus Mervolo Dolder”, and in the French version, his name is “Tom Elvis Jedusor”. It is also a loving call back to the books and their many translations.
#19 – “Yer a wizard Harry”
When rewatching the Harry Potter films today, it is noticeable how well they are still able to withstand the ravages of time. One of the biggest reasons for the mostly graceful ageing process is the minimal reliance on computer-generated imagery (CGI), much like The Lord of the Rings franchise. An example of this would be the mail-carrying owls. A big part of the magic of the wizardry world was watching letters get delivered by owls. Instead of handling this with CGI, the production team spent months working with a trainer to train all the owls used in the film to actually deliver the letters seen on screen – including all the handwritten Hogwarts acceptance letters delivered to the Dursley house in the first film.
#18 – “The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution”
One of the most incredible Harry Potterfacts is how all of the outside shots of Hogwarts used throughout the series were created by filming a full-scale, room-sized, animatronic version of the beloved castle. As seen in the films, the model was incredibly detailed and is currently on display at the Warner Bros. studio lot in the United Kingdom.
17 – “There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them”
One of the more bizarre Harry Potterfacts to come out after the films were released, was how Russian state lawyers had once threatened to file a lawsuit against Warner Bros. These lawyers claimed Dobby’s appearance was created to mirror that of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. They wanted Warner Bros. to apologise and change Dobby’s appearance, as using the presidents image in such a way was discriminatory. Warner Bros. never changed Dobby, nor did they address the lawsuit publicly other than to point out the design of Dobby’s ears was based on a dog named Max who used to always run around on set and often sit under Dobby’s designer’s desk.
#16 – “Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes”
Many things were happening in the background while filming the Harry Potter movies. When filming originally started on Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, most of the cast were ten-year-old children. Given how they had to grow up on screen, so too did they have to deal with growing pains: like losing teeth. In order to prevent a situation where, for example, Ron has a complete set of teeth in one scene and is missing one in the next, every kid in the cast had to get casts of their teeth made before shooting even began. An assuredly toothy Harry Potter fact.
#15 – “When in doubt, go to the library”
When director Alfonso Cuarón first came on board to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he assigned each of the three leads with an assignment. Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe were each asked to write an essay on their characters. In true form, each of their submissions perfectly mirrored their characters. Emma’s essay on Hermione ended up being a whopping 16 pages. Daniel submitted one single page on Harry, and Rupert forgot to do the assignment altogether, which he noted was “quite a Ron-ish thing to do”.
#14 – “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities”
One of the more ambitious builds for the Harry Potter films was the Knight Bus. Since the bus had an elongated design, thus making it top-heavy, over 3600 extra kilograms had to be added to the bottom to keep the bus from tipping over while in motion. Making this Harry Potterfact even more interesting, is how although the scene of the bus travelling at high speed was filmed in the streets of North London; the “speed” effect was created by having the bus drive at average speed and all the cars around it just barely moving. Later during the editing phase, the footage was sped up, and the result was the adrenaline-pumping scene viewers now know and love.
13 – “Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself”
In the first two films, Richard Harris portrayed the beloved Albus Dumbledore before sadly passing away. In an interview with him before his passing, Richard revealed how he only accepted his role in Harry Potter after his eleven-year-old granddaughter, a massive fan of the books, threatened never to speak to her grandad again if he rejected the role.
#12 – “I solemnly swear I am up to no good”
One of Harry Potters most recognisable features, after his scar, is his signature glasses. Many do not realise how much work the prop department constantly put in to make Harry the wizard he was. Throughout the eight movies, Daniel Radcliffe went through over 160 pairs of glasses as well as 60 different wands.
#11 – “Honestly, am I the only person who’s ever bothered to read ‘Hogwarts: A History?”
A stand out moment in the Harry Potter films is the Yule Ball from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was one of the first times audiences got to see a different and more “carefree” version of Harry, Ron and Hermione; along with their teachers and classmates. It was a scene many could relate to and compare with their own experiences. Watching it again, one might notice how Harry is one of the only cast member to only be shown dancing from the waist up. It was later revealed how Daniel Radcliff could not make it to the dance classes between his filming schedule, and when the dance scene came, he kept stumbling over his feet. Producers decided to instead go for a close-up shot of his scenes in an attempt to hide his non-existent dance skills from the world.
#10 – “Mischief Managed!”
If putting together a list of 20 facts about The Lord of the Rings has taught anything, it is how sometimes actors like taking home a few forbidden “mementoes” from the sets they spend so much time on. Alan Rickman was no different. Jason Isaacs, the actor who played Lucius Malfoy fondly recalls how Alan, who played Professor Snape, was a master at pocketing props. A few of the items from the set, which found their way to Alan’s home, were Snape’s wand, cloak and a good few Gringotts coins. Quite a salacious Harry Potterfact, indeed.
#9 – “But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light”
When casting for Harry Potter, Harry Melling was the perfect choice for Dudley Dursley. Dudley was rather chubby in the books, and for the first few films, Harry was exactly that. However, as Harry grew up, he started to lose a lot of the chubbiness that made him a perfect Dudley, so much so that recasting him was seriously considered. Ultimately, the filmmakers decided they would not be able to replace Harry, and instead, they put him in a fat suit for the final few films.
#8 – “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided”
One of the more memorable scenes from the series would be the kiss shared between the Horcrux version of Harry and Hermione. The scene was incredibly tough to film because of the close, sibling-like relationship between the main cast. Each time Emma and Daniel would go in for the kiss, Rupert would start laughing uncontrollably, which would set them off. Eventually, Rupert ended up being kicked off the set for the day so they could get the scene finished without breaking into giggles and laughter.
#7 – “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals”
By the time filming had commenced on the third Harry Potter film, Tom Felton, who played Malfoy, was the only member of the cast to have all of his cloaks pockets sewn shut. The reason behind his pockets essentially being removed was to get the actor to stop constantly sneaking sweets onto the set in his pockets. Tom has confirmed this Harry Potter fact as being 100% true and said he has no regrets about his sweet sneaking ways.
#6 – “Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go”
The Harry Potter movies were almost drastically different from the ones we have today. Originally the plan was for Warner Bros. to adapt the books into a series of animated films specifically aimed at young children. When the studio eventually decided to scrap the animation idea and instead go the live-action route, the first talks were to combine parts of all the books into one movie. The reasoning behind this was concerns over the child actors ageing too fast and no longer being able to portray their characters believably. It was only after a year of debate that the studio finally decided to take a chance and adapt each book as its own movie.
#5 – “Anyone can speak Troll. All you have to do is point and grunt”
Many of the props built for and used during the filming of the Harry Potter movies have found their forever home in the United Kingdom. All on the very same film lot that made them famous. The location, now known as the Harry Potter Studio Tour, is open to fans who want to get a behind the scenes look into the magical wizarding world. However, one piece of Harry Potter history is notably missing from this lot and can instead be found sitting in the garden of a One Direction member. Back in 2015, One Direction’s Liam Payne bought the Weasleys flying Ford Anglia, the exact one used in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and its new home is in the garden of the singer’s £5.1 million mansion. Talk about an expensive Harry Potter fact.
#4 – “We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are”
The brooms used throughout the series are props viewers never really gave much thought to. Most tend to think of them as regular prop brooms the kids would carry around, and then CGI would take care of the rest. In reality, the brooms were all crafted from aeroplane-grade titanium and in any scenes where the cast had to use the broom, it was mounted onto a motion-control base set up by a greenscreen.
#3 – “I mean, it’s sort of exciting, isn’t it, breaking the rules?”
While rewatching the Harry Potter films, eagle-eyed fans started to notice how J.K. Rowling had been hiding small, subtle clues about the future of the series within the earlier movies. A notable example of this would be the Deathly Hallows symbol, which can be seen on a shelf in Dumbledore’s office during the fourth movie. The fourth movie was released in 2005, two full years before the final Harry Potter book would be published, and readers would be introduced to the Deathly Hallows for the first time. Easily one of the best Easter egg Harry Potter facts on this list.
#2 – “Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure”
Many full-sized animatronics were built for the actors to interact with while filming, particularly in order to ensure a minimal use of CGI (as much as possible, anyway). Some of the more notable ones were the baby mandrakes, Hedwig, The Monster Book of Monsters, and Buckbeak. These animatronics were built so well and were so detailed that they were used in most of the close-up shots. Buckbeak, in particular, had eyes that would blink and follow the actors. He could even ruffle his feathers and bow.
#1 – “Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have”
Visual effects artists helped bring the wizardry world to life throughout the eight Harry Potter movies. From carefully crafting Voldemorts face with practical makeup, and then removing his nose digitally; through to giving life to fire-breathing dragons, they did it all. However, their biggest task would be a scene in Deathly Hallow when Harry is whisked away by the members of the Order of the Phoenix.
This scene saw George, Fred, Ron and Hermione all take Polyjuice Potion to transform themselves into Harry, but they could not just “be” Harry. For the visual effect to work, they needed to look like Harry while still having attributes of themselves that would shine through. This effect was accomplished by coating each actors face in UV paint and then having them stand and pull their faces many different ways while 29 cameras captured over 50,000 individual points of information. A 3D mesh cloud of their faces was then created, which could then be used to pull off the transformation.
After growing up alongside the cast of Harry Potter, it felt like a homecoming to watch the 20th anniversary reunion and return to a world has captivated so many childhood years. Using the 20th anniversary as an excuse to re-watch all the Harry Potter films also meant getting to relive countless childhood memories once thought to be forgotten, but instead simply laying in wait to be unbound once more.
Did you enjoy this list of Harry Potter facts? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below.
As far back as she can remember, Arielle has loved comics, tabletop games and staying indoors. Although she might be terrible at history, she can tell you exactly how Wanda Maximoff and Sabrina Spellman are linked. Ultimately, she works to fund her Stephen King addiction and can pretty much always be found somewhere online.
Most people considering buying Hogwarts Legacy probably know deep down that they shouldn’t.
The upcoming action role playing video game has already garnered significant criticism, and it isn’t due out until December. It is set in the Wizarding World universe, which is based on the Harry Potter series and Fantastic Beasts films – both of which are the intellectual property (IP) of our mediocre national hero, JK Rowling. It has also been accused of antisemitism. And its lead developer has defended sexual harassment.
Some of its would-be players will blame ‘cancel culture’ or ‘purity politics’ for the guilt they’re grappling with. Some will cry: “Let people enjoy things.” But maybe they should let people hate things which make a mockery of them.
Hogwarts Legacy is being developed by Avalanche Software and is published by Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment. Now that Rowling has taken the place of Katie Hopkins as the country’s most public reactionary, it’s curious that Warner Bros would make the decision to use her IP as the basis for anything (a move that is likely to make her considerable profit).
Warner Bros is clearly aware of Rowling’s record: it even felt the need to specify in an FAQ that “JK Rowling is not directly involved in the game”.
This is hardly reassuring. The same may be said of the vague statement made by Warner Bros about “inclusive culture” and the “responsibility to foster empathy and advocate understanding of all communities and all people”.
Warner Bros did not specify which events it was referring to and made no mention of Rowling by name. But its statement came after a highly publicised string of tweets (which I do not recommend reading if you’re affected by transmisogyny) by Rowling in 2020 that were widely condemned as being transphobic (an allegation which she denied) and recycled heavily debunked TERF rhetoric.
The media giant made no actual commitments towards any particular marginalised community. Nor did it say it would take any measures to avoid repeating Rowling’s own mistakes in the representation of marginalised people.
Warner Bros’ decision to press ahead with the game is even more curious given the behaviour of Hogwarts Legacy’s (now retired) senior producer Troy Leavitt in his videos on YouTube.
Leavitt has claimed that Warner Bros is aware of his channel and his views, and that his eventual departure from the company was unrelated to any pressure from the business.
Warner Bros has not publicly responded to this. Why not? What happened to the “responsibility to foster empathy and advocate understanding of all communities and all people”? Emphasis on the ‘bros’ in Warner Bros, I guess. (openDemocracy has asked Warner Bros whether any disciplinary action was taken against Leavitt, or whether Leavitt’s claims about the company are true, but has yet to receive a response.)
In response to the revelations about Leavitt, video game forum ResetEra decided to ban all discussions of the game. The move was a first for the site, whose admins said in a statement that: “This is a uniquely awful situation where both the creator of the IP and a senior producer on the game have unrepentant bigoted views.”
Antisemitic tropes
This is before we examine the content of the game – which, based on the previews we’ve had, looks horrendous.
Hogwarts Legacy, set in the same Wizarding World universe as the Harry Potter series, takes its antisemitic tropes to another level. The villains are hooked-nosed, beady-eyed goblin bankers, a well-known antisemitic depiction of Jewish people that dates back to medieval Europe and was capitalised on by the Nazis.
As Stacey Hanley puts it, caricatures of Jewish people “typically depict them as money-grubbing, secretive, manipulative, and the true keepers of power in the world”. In the Wizarding World universe, goblins are coin minters and metalsmiths, playing on this centuries-old trope of the “money-grubbing” Jew.
One of the lead villains in Hogwarts Legacy is a goblin named Ranrok. According to writer Mick Abrahamson, “his only spoken line is about kidnapping the main playable character, a 15-year-old child who learned late that they have magical powers… One of the most horrific antisemitic tropes used to villainize Jews is Blood Libel, or the accusation that Jews kidnapped and murdered non-Jews.” Gross.
Aside from the use of antisemitic tropes in her Wizarding World universe, JK Rowling has repeatedly and publicly made demeaning comments about trans women and opposed trans equality, including publicly opposing reform to the Gender Recognition Act to decrease the time it takes for trans* people to receive a gender recognition certificate. She has even written an alarmingly transmisogynistic novel (Troubled Blood) in which a cis man dresses as a woman in order to murder (cis) women.
The trope of trans women as femicidal men, dressing as women to murder (cis) women, is dangerous. It has been used to deny trans women access to resources and services and it increases policing, invasiveness and violence towards trans women. So much for Rowling’s claims to believing in trans rights and care about our safety. These are not just upsetting comments – they have real-world implications. They were even used by an anti-LGBT politician to block consideration in the US Senate of the Equality Act, a civil rights bill to protect people from discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”. Rowling is obsessed with trans women.
Hogwarts Legacy – a new game inspired by the famous Harry Potter book and movie series – is coming to the Switch later this year.
While Warner Bros., Avalanche and Portkey Games have already shown off the extensive gameplay reveal, and now they’ve released something a little bit different. This time around it’s an ASMR video featuring some of the environments from the game – from the castle grounds to Hogsmeade.
“The rain is falling on a calm spring evening in Hogwarts Legacy – time to unwind with a quiet stroll through the castle grounds and beyond to Hogsmeade. Enjoy the sounds of the wizarding world.”
The Hogwarts Legacy channel has also uploaded one other video since the initial gameplay reveals – featuring the development team talking about what to expect from this upcoming release, and how much it has drawn on the series’ lore.
When Hogwarts Legacy does arrive in ‘Holiday 2022’ players can look forward to an experience free of microtransactions. The game won’t have any online or co-op gameplay and is designed to be a single-player experience.
Will you be trying this game out on the Nintendo Switch when it is released later this year? Tell us in the comments.
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People across the world visit the grave of Dobby, the house elf, who conquered the hearts of Harry Potter fans with his cuteness. However, due to the high number of visitors, the grave on the Welsh shore might be relocated.
Local citizens now have until the end of May to cast their vote in an online survey on whether they want “Dobby’s Grave” to be removed and possibly relocated to another site due to overtourism, according to local media.
The Pembrokeshire landscape with its Wales Coast Path is already a popular destination for hikers – even more so since the site was used as the grave of Dobby in the Harry Potter films, Wales, Sept. 29, 2015. (dpa Photo)
The picturesque Pembrokeshire coastline was long a popular destination for tourists but has also attracted a steady flow of Harry Potter fans since the film, many of them scrawling “Here lies Dobby, a free elf” onto piles of stones in the area.
Others leave socks there in reference to how Harry Potter, in the films, was able to win the house elf’s freedom from slavery by tricking his cruel master into giving him a sock and thereby freeing him.
In addition to leaving a mark on the landscape and leaving waste behind, the area’s parking spaces and toilets are over capacity, the National Trust Wales says according to the BBC.
The organization, therefore, wants to seek the public’s opinion as well as suggestions for a more sustainable solution, which may include relocating the would-be grave to another site.
Victoria MacLean, a local Harry Potter fan, told the BBC: “I think if they took the grave away fans are just going to build another one, because there’s millions of them.”
